January 2024

Ivy got her room done after Brynn.  We made everything nice and tidy, ended up with plenty of stuff to donate or throw away, and snapped a picture when we were done.  Her room got a makeover a few weeks later so this is the last we'll see of her pink room.

**Molly and Stockton opted out of their room clean-outs.  I didn't push the issue but I might try to go back and sort through drawers or closet shelves little by little when they are at school.  Stockton actually did a his own big clean-out the day after Christmas and he did a decent job and got rid of a lot of stuff he wasn't using/didn't need anymore.  Molly's closet is questionable.

Molly and Brynn painted Books of Mormon for Young Women's.  We are so happy to be studying the Book of Mormon again this year!

First temple trip of they year was an endowment session with Justin at Provo City Center on a Saturday night.  I am trying hard to get to the temple more often this year as I am in a season of life that allows for that a little easier.  I usually try to make it down on Friday mornings.  The drive is not bad and it's a quick trip down and back but I will be so happy when our Heber Valley temple is finally built!

Ivy's actual Christmas dress came a couple of days after Christmas.  Then she was sick and couldn't go to church the last Sunday of the year.  So she wore it the first Sunday in January...and has worn it nearly every Sunday since then.  It looks so cute on her.

We got few good snowstorms.  Nothing like last year.  I thought for sure that church would be canceled one week but it wasn't (which was fine).  But it meant that Stockton had lots of work shoveling the driveway when he got home.

He and the little girls played outside for a long time that afternoon and it was a great way to get out some Sunday energy.

Justin and I were working on re-decorating Ivy's room for her birthday.  She wanted a yellow garden-themed room.  At first I had no idea what to do but after some research, I came up with a few ideas.  Molly was my helper for a flower garland I saw on etsy and thought I could recreate myself so that found us at Hobby Lobby on Monday morning, Martin Luther King Day, picking out bouquets of wildflowers.

Justin had sinus surgery on the 16th. He had this about 8.5 years ago after repeated sinus infections and it was magic and he hasn't had an infection since...until September...and November...and the pattern was repeating.  They completely knock him down and wipe him out so we wanted to get ahead of the problem by getting his sinuses taken care of...basically getting all the polyps scraped out, which the doctor told him are some of the worst he's ever seen.

Anyway, Justin (as well as me) had some anxiety about the recovery because last time he was miserable for a couple weeks and it was a nasty recovery...worth it in the long run but so not fun while it was happening.  We needn't have worried though-his recovery this time was amazing.  He didn't have to wear the "nose diaper" that he wore for at least a week last time, he had very little pain (only took pain meds one time), and he was up and painting Ivy's room the very next day.  It really was amazing the difference!  I'll refrain from putting the post-surgery pics on here, they are not super pretty.

In all of Justin's painting, he was finally able to paint Molly's one wall that had been needing it so badly.  We had her go with us to the paint store when we were picking out paint for Ivy's room so she could pick exactly what she wanted.  She wanted an earthy kind of green and the finished project looks so good and is just what she wanted.  She hung up her guitar and ukes and Justin plans to make some shelves for her many records as well.  She was so happy to have it done.

Stockton has had a friend-group change.  One of the boys that he hung out with almost every day last summer started changing once high school started and they started growing apart.  Stockton doesn't give a lot of information but I don't think he was being treated very nicely.  So he has distanced himself from the group that he was hanging out with.  It's unfortunate but seems to happen at the start of high school often.  Good thing we have an awesome group of kids in our ward because he seamlessly swapped groups and has been very happy.  It's a random group of kids, spanning from 10th grade down to 7th or 6th grade, haha.  But we love them all and are very grateful for the "gang" that has come together (literally what they call themselves).

Oakley Keys (cheer friend), Brynn, Kelton Webb, Stockton, Grahm Kelsey, Jacob Jones, Khloie Kelsey, Hallie Whimpey

Brynn has had the chance to do some private stunting lessons with a professional stunter.  He has won several awards and championships.  I like to go and watch, it's so fun.  The first time, he took Brynn through the basics to see where she was and then has progressed from there.  I don't know all the terms but he had her doing some impressive stuff...front handspring with a flip up to full extension on one arm...then she would do her lib, heel stretch, and scale.  I love watching her. It's been a really great experience for her!

A lot of cheer these last few days of January...including a comp.  We had to be in Sandy before 8 am which ruined my one day of sleeping in.  Boo. But worth it to watch Brynn do her thing-and we got home with plenty of day left.  I had mixed feelings about this comp.  Some of the girls on the team were struggling with their tumbling skills so the coaches had made the decision to drop a level.  While I recognized this was a good thing for the team as a whole, not so much for our Brynn who was doing great at the higher level and, honestly, just will remain stagnant at the lower level.  But not much I could do about it.  The girls were optimistic about their chances and they did well.  They placed third but were within one point of the first place team.  They also hit zero which is a big deal.  And all of that was after learning their new routine in only three practices.  The girls were happy and are looking forward to placing high at the next comp.

Ari Apostole and Brynn

Must make note here of our Tiana-girl getting married.  We were not at the ceremony but the pictures deserve a place here.  Corbin and Tiana Johnson, January 27, 2024.

 

Part of our clean-out tradition is to clean out the loft after the rooms are done.  The kids often decide that they want to keep toys but would rather not have them in their rooms any more...so they get put in the loft.  That makes it necessary to go through the loft and clean out the toys.  Ivy was my helper this year.  We went through every bin and basket and I let her keep it if she wanted to.  She kept a lot of stuff that was questionable but the pile to get rid of was quite large so I would call it a success.  I couldn't stop laughing at the glasses and hat she found and decided to wear...she looked too cute!

And on the last day of January, I took Stockton to lunch.  He was the last one who needed their Valentine date and we just never found a time to do it.  So this was what we did instead and it was great.  I got him from school during his lunch hour and we went to The Junction in town and then I took him back to school.  It was perfect.  Stockton is not much of a talker so it's always good to get him on his own and ask him some questions about what is actually going on in his life...at this moment in time it was upcoming baseball tryouts and the situation with a certain "friend".