February

 Molly went up to Plain City that first weekend in February to go to Fremont's Sweethearts dance with one of Chloe's friends.  They went bowling Friday night, to a trampoline park for Saturday's day date, had Maddox dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and went to the dance that night.  Molly's date was named Cole.  She had never met him although she had been texting with him a little back and forth in the weeks leading up to the dance.  He was nice but a little shy around her so it was a bit awkward I think.  She had a good time, a good weekend, but she loved spending time with Chloe and Chloe's boyfriend, Isaac, the most.  They made it really fun for her.

Chloe and Molly

? ?, Molly, Cole, Chloe, Isaac

Isaac, Chloe, Cole, Molly, ? ?

The beginning on February and Justin is so done with shoveling.  He went out one night and shoveled our driveway and it took him about an hour and a half!

Molly started driving down to Orem once or twice a week for soccer starting in January.  They have some tournaments coming up and they were hitting it hard at practice.  All these girls can drive but we don't actually let them drive down on their own so it's still up to the mom's to get them there.  It's been a bit of a hassle but mostly works out fine.  They occasionally stop for food, like this time when they grabbed a bite at In-N-Out on the way home.

Piper Hastings, Aspen Ivie, Molly, Natalia Wagstaff, Brigitte Ferreyra, Carley Anderson

The basketball hoop in the loft has been used a lot this winter.  At this point, we were still buried under a whole lot of snow with no sign of it melting anytime soon.  We needed any outlet we could find to get out some pent up energy.

About 18 months ago, one of Justin's priests made the decision to move in with his grandparents in Idaho and finish high school there.  His family is still in our ward.  Justin and some of the other leaders found out when his basketball team was having their senior night and a bunch of them carpooled up to Idaho to offer support.  It was three hours each way, but so worth it.  We love Bryson and these boys and leaders and are so grateful for Justin's association with them.

Chase Turman, Drew Whimpey, Bryson Allen, Dale Whimpey, Justin, JR Coleman (all three of those boys have been with Justin since deacons and will be leaving on missions in the next six months)

Molly didn't end up going to the Sweethearts dance here at Wasatch.  She played around with asking a few different boys but nothing ever actually panned out and, to be honest, she didn't feel too bad about it.  She ended up asking Justin on a "date" that night to Bombay House.  She had never been but has heard us talk about it enough that she had been wanting to try it for a long time.  She even went to the trouble of making a poster and everything...a Stranger Things theme was the obvious choice.  Justin was surprised and delighted!  They drove down to Provo, checked out some record shops, went to the DI, and to Bombay House where Molly loved the food, as we knew she would.  They ran down to IKEA to get a dresser we have been waiting forever to be in stock and then back home.  I asked Molly if she regretted not going to the dance and she said absolutely not.  She had so much fun with Justin and Justin enjoyed his date night as well!

Brynn taught her first lesson in Young Women's.  I helped her prepare and went to class with her to help if she needed.  I did very little, she probably could have handled it on her own. She did insist on doing all the writing on the chalkboard even if she had to stand on a chair to reach.  She did a great job!

Valentine's Day-

Valentine's Day is very, very low-key here, bordering on pretty lame.  We did a family dinner the night before since the day of was too busy.  I made homemade spaghetti sauce and we had French bread and caesar salad.  The kids drew months for their dinner dates with me and Justin.  We'll start those in March.  I had a lady in my ward make us so homemade macaroons for desserts and they were something that was different to try.  They were yummy!

Ivy was the only kid needing a Valentine box this year.  She made it on her own a couple of weeks in advance.  It was a puppy loosely based on Cash.  She was excited! She took Fun Dips to pass out.  I did double hearts in her hair.  I helped at the class party but it was so hands-on that I never took her picture.  I was in charge of the craft and we made contact paper window cling hearts.  It was very busy but Miss Crane helped me and it was a success. 

The rest of the day went like any normal Tuesday: piano lessons, homework, soccer practice, cheer.  I never even had a chance to make a meal and most of us ended up eating creamed eggs or something else.

I will make note here of a new-ish thing for our family...3 out of 4 of my children ended up with Valentine's at school.  Ivy got asked by a boy in her class named Griffin.  Brynn had a boy in our ward ask her to be his Valentine.  His name is Grahm and he is the cutest new deacon.  He is tiny like Brynn so they make a pretty cute pair (although way too young for that).  Grahm had one of his friends go up to Brynn during lunch and ask her if she would say yes if Grahm asked her to be his Valentine.  Brynn's response to the friend was to send Grahm over to ask himself...haha.  Molly was so proud!  Stockton also got up the nerve to ask a girl but he did it via text which I guess counts.  So there was that which Justin and I thought was pretty funny...but we kept that to ourselves.  Ivy didn't really have to do anything extra for Griffin but she did give him a little dinosaur notebook that I had got from preschool.  Stockton got Alyvia a stuffed animal and her favorite candy.  Brynn got Grahm a Crumbl gift card and a treat.  

Molly got asked to Prom by Jake Webb, a kid in our ward.  We have known his family forever.  After the last two dances with boys she didn't know that well (or at all), she was so relieved and really excited to go with Jake.  I'm excited for her.  Prom is not until the middle of April, the kids ask so early here.  This was only 4 days after the Sweethearts dance but Jake had heard that a few people wanted to ask Molly so he had to hurry and get it done before anyone else.  It was a race!

"Lettuce go to Prom.  Orange you glad I'm asking?"

Stockton had a percussion concert and Ivy had to tag along since no one else was at home.  He did amazing, even had a solo! I have video, no photos.  Ivy found Raina after the concert and they were overjoyed to run into each other so they danced on the stage while the boys helped put instruments away.

Ivy and Raina Cottle

Ivy and Raina

I can't remember the last time we have all been together for President's Day weekend.  This year was no exception.  Molly had a soccer tournament in St. George so Justin, Molly, and me went that way while Stockton, Brynn, and Ivy went the other direction, to the cabin in Bear Lake.  All the cousins were there and there was plenty of snow to entertain them all weekend.  They played in the snow and rode snowmobiles on the lake.  They had lots of grandma, grandpa, and cousin time.  They had a much better time than they would have had sitting through soccer games.

Gavin, Grant, Stockton

Tessa, Ivy, Brynn, Josie

Stockton and Harper

Josie, Grace, Ivy

Grant and Brynn

Harper and Brynn

Spencer and Ivy

Ivy, Grace, Josie, Lucy, Abby

Josie and Ivy

Ivy, Lucy, Josie

this is a landmark on the drive home

Molly was really nervous for this tournament.  She played with the team in July but only a few games.  Then there was high school season and winter and she was feeling really unsure how it would go and wanting to do really well.  Right before we left to head down to St. George she asked Justin for a blessing of comfort and that really helped her feel a little more calm.  Her first game was Friday night at 9:00.  It was chilly but it felt so good to be outside and for the girls to be able to play outside!  Molly started as left defensive wing (as she did the entire tournament) and played hard and played well.  They tied but felt good about the game.  They had some serious momentum toward the end of the game...the ref called the game early and that was frustrating because it felt like they were so close to getting a goal there at the end.  The Bingham's were down for one of their younger daughters so Callie and Jackie came to watch the game that night.

Molly with the ball

Callie, Molly, Jackie

She didn't play again until 3 on Saturday afternoon so we had a morning to kill.  Justin's work friend came over and got us into a Top Golf kind of place for free that morning.  Jackie and Callie came with us as well.  Justin loved that and it was a good way to spend our free time. We went back to our room so Molly could get ready and had some lunch at Viva Chicken before driving to Hurricane for the afternoon game.  About 10 minutes away from the destination Molly realized she had left her cleats in the room so we dropped her off, drove the hour round trip to get her cleats, and made it back with a few minutes to spare.  I still can't believe we made it!  She had warmed up with someone's spare cleats that were 2 sizes too small and was prepared to start the game that way.  They played a good game and won 3-1.

We love Thai food and wanted to find a good Thai place.  We got a local recommendation and went for dinner after the game.  We ordered green curry, yellow curry, and pad thai.  The pad thai was good but those curries were amazing.  I've decided that yellow curry would be my last meal if I had to choose one.  It was incredible!  We stopped at the store and got supplies for Sunday and went back to our room. 

We had packed church clothes but Justin wanted to watch our sacrament meeting so we stayed in our room to do that.  We had our leftover curries from the night before...yum! We had the entire day ahead of us and had been talking the day before about the seasons of Stranger Things and we were a little fuzzy on season two.  So we binged season 2 of Stranger Things right on Molly's pull-out bed.  I have never done that before and got a little antsy.  I had to move positions after each episode.  We also took a break about halfway through and took a drive to each of the temples.  The original St. George Temple, which is getting a remodel, and the new Red Cliffs Temple, which was huge and grand and quite gorgeous!  Again, it felt amazing to get outside and walk around in weather that was not freezing!  We made a simple dinner of chicken caesar salad wraps when we got back, finished our marathon, and then called it a night.

Game 3 was Monday late morning.  We had plenty of time to sleep in and pack up since we needed to check out before the game.  They played another great game and won 2-0 which put them in the championship game that afternoon.  We had some time to kill so we went and got some amazing greek food and the went back to the field to wait for the game.

They were playing the team they tied on Friday night.   It was a tough St. George team who had a huge advantage since they'd been able to practice outside all winter.  Our girls haven't been on a grass field since October.  We played tough and fought hard.  We had a horrible ref and I don't usually use that excuse.  We had control of the ball the majority of the game but in soccer that doesn't always matter.  We lost 1-0.  Losing in the championship is the hardest, the girls were devastated.  We left for home right after and made it to Heber around 11 that night.  I had to get the other kids the next morning.  I was proud of Molly and her team!  For being a new team and not playing together since July, this was a promising start to the season.  I'm excited to cheer them on all spring!

I love cheering all my kids on.  Brynn had her team pictures the night of Ivy's baptism and we got them back a couple of weeks later.  This has been such an amazing sport for her to experience!

We don't usually get too many deer in our yard in the winter.  This year has been the exception.  We have had so many.  Many of the lower branches of our pine trees have been picked off.  They especially like our big pine tree just off to the left of our front porch and they sleep under there most nights.  The most we counted was seven one Sunday morning when Justin left for meetings.  One afternoon I was doing dishes and looked up to see this deer just staring at me.  He was as still as a statue and blended in with the branches.

Justin and Stockton were driving back to St. George the very next weekend for a baseball tournament.  I stayed home with the girls.  The team did okay, they have never been a winning team but they have a new coach and a couple of new guys.  Stockton was just happy to be playing again!

Stockton is third in from left on the bottom

This is  picture of Ivy trying on Stockton's old baseball helmet.  Stockton has a big head and we always give him a hard time about it.  He doesn't mind.

I turned 41 on the 27th.  I love the tradition of meeting my mom for lunch and shopping.  She gives me money and I pick out my present.  It worked best to go on the Saturday before my birthday so all my girls got to go with me.  We met my mom and Abby at Farmington Station, shopped, and ate.  I picked out a new swim suit.  Abby and I share a birthday but have never shared our birthday shopping date so that was fun and we had to document the occassion.

Abby and me

My birthday was on a Monday.  No preschool so I had the morning free until piano started.  I made the birthday cake I wanted.  I picked up lunch and took it to Justin's work and we ate together in the back room of his branch.  I taught 3.5 hours of piano.  Justin brought home pizza and we ate the cake I had made earlier that morning.  I wanted a work coat for feeding animals and doing other outside chores and Justin came through with that.  It was a great day and I was happy we were all home for dinner that night!

*Note about my birthday, for me to remember: leading up to my birthday I was feeling like I wanted my birthday to be a day where I could do service, either for people in the ward or on a bigger scale.  I even checked JustServe for ideas. Nothing really came together (my fault) but at the end of the day I was able to look back and see a couple of ways where I was made available to {hopefully} help someone who needed it.  In the morning, I chatted to a family member who is struggling through a situation.  She can't necessarily vent to anyone but she was able to vent to me that morning and, what was supposed to be a happy birthday phone call, turned into an hour long phone call where I was able to mostly listen.  Hopefully it helped.

As I was finishing up my piano lessons, I had a single lady in our ward text me asking if she could call.  It's normally a bit of a crazy time in the evening but I texted her back and said Yes! so she called.  She was in tears and having a really bad day, to put it mildly. As we spoke, she started to calm down and I told her it was my birthday and that I wanted her to come over for pizza and birthday cake.  She accepted and was able to step away from the things that were weighing heavy on her and come and hang out with us.  She joined us for family prayer and we were able to specifically pray for the things she was needing and hopefully that helped her as well.  

Anyway, I feel like the desire I had to serve still happened, even if it was not in the way I necessarily expected and I'm glad I was able to be used in the way Heavenly Father needed me that day.  I feel like those two experiences were reminders to me to just be available and open for more experiences like that.  And that's all.

The snow on the garage roof can get pretty impressive when it slides down but not all the way off.  The kids always try to slam the door really hard to see if they can get it to fall to the sidewalk.  Then we make Stockton go scrape it off. It's hard to tell from this picture but the snow on each side of the sidewalk is at least as tall as Ivy.  It is getting hard to shovel snow onto the top of the pile because it's so high.  And this is the end of February!!

I finally finished reading Brynn's Christmas book to her.  She likes for me to read to her at night but it usually takes a while to finish a book since we don't have time every night.  She has cheer late Tuesday and Thursday and then there is Friday and Saturday when she usually stays up later.  Add Wednesday Young Women activities now and we only get a couple days a week.  We were determined to finish this book though and we did it!