February

February 1st was a Saturday which meant...a cheer comp! Yay! This was the last of those four-in-a-row and the girls went out and hit one of their strongest routines yet. It was so fun to watch them. They won their division and got high-point champion for their level...which meant they got sweatshirts! They also got a bid for another nationals competition, which is awesome but it's still not the one they were chasing (that wasn't up for grabs at this comp). Grandma and Grandpa love watching Brynn, they even stayed for awards and got to be part of all that excitement.

with Grandpa and Grandma Moyes

Senior Sargeants...Brynn is third in from right on the bottom

Stockton made a hockey stick from some random wood he found in Justin's shop. He likes to play in the house with a dryer ball or in the garage with a tennis ball. He can sometimes talk his little sisters into playing with him.

I got Stockton and Brynn to the temple one Saturday morning. Stockton got to perform the baptisms for Brynn and that was neat to watch. Molly was at work and Justin was conducting ward baptisms so they were out but I look forward when we can all go.

Valentine's Day was a bit of a bust this year. It fell on a Friday and Justin and Stockton were in St. George for a baseball tournament. We didn't even have a night that entire week that we could have dinner together. So I did my best. I made a red velvet cake and had it ready for Wednesday night when everyone was home from youth activities. We ate our cake by the fire because it was cold. The kids drew their months for their Valentine dates. And that was the extent of our Valentine celebrating. Pretty lame. At least we can look forward to our dinner dates over the next several months.

On the morning of Valentine's Day, we woke up to a white, white world. It had snowed so much the previous day and night that our school district even announced a two-hour delay. That is a big deal because it has never happened, despite there being a handful of times that it could have been justified. We thoroughly took advantage of the lazy morning. I made some pink powdered sugar donut muffins (something I wasn't necessarily planning on doing) and let the girls sleep in. Ivy and Brynn both panicked when they woke up and saw the time. And then they were fine when I assured them they were not late for school. The snow was really heavy and I had to go out and try to dig us out; luckily we had Molly's truck that managed fine. It took me a little longer to get Justin's Kia out of the garage-our driveway is gravel and you have to back out a tiny bit uphill to get out. (Justin had my Explorer since he was driving down south in the snow storm.) But I managed. The funny thing is that by the time Ivy was getting to school, the sun was out and the sky was blue. By that afternoon, most of the snow in my driveway had turned to slush (but only because I shoveled most of it off).

Cute Ivy off for 4th-grade Valentine's Day. You can't tell, but she actually let me braid her hair like a heart this year. Her class did not do boxes, they just had bags that they had decorated in class. They exchanged Valentine's, had an extra long recess, and had pink smoothies for a snack. She had a great day.

Brynn hosted a Valentine party for her friends that night. She had a bunch of her cheer friends over for pizza and fun. I made homemade dough and baked them in the oven after they had put on their own toppings. They each brought a treat to share and they made all the treats into one big candy salad. They played a game all over the house which is sort of like Hello Neighbor. I have no idea what that is but it seemed to be to be a little like hide-and-seek and a little like sardines. They had a blast and played that one forever. I don't have a picture of the cheer girls but Ivy was able to have Kaliyah over that night as well. I can't remember where Molly was but out with friends doing something or other. The boys were still in St. George, of course.

Kaliya Pili and Ivy

Justin's office door got heart-attacked by the activity days boys. There were lots of mentions of "nice haircut" and "baseball is fun".

Tiana is having a baby! A little boy, due the beginning of April, if she makes it that far. Molly and I offered to throw her a shower and we had help from April and Carole, Tiana's aunt on the other side. We kept it low-key and simple and it was such a fun day. We had a lot of time to just sit and talk with each other and it was wonderful. I personally loved it and I think Tiana did too. This is the first great grand-baby on the Goodrich side so we are all excited to meet him!

Molly, Ivy, Tiana, Brynn

The boys ended up driving home Sunday morning. They thought they'd try to come home Saturday but it was pretty late when the last game ended so they listened to church on their drive and got home around 3. And then they packed up and turned around and drove with the rest of us to Bear Lake. Justin was such a good sport to do all the driving in one day! We got to the cabin in time for dinner and free time to play whatever anyone wanted.

Mom, me, Chloe, Dad

Brynn and Josie

Monday was a snow day and we drove over to the sinks area in Logan Canyon. The snow was powdery and so, so deep. There was some play on the snowmobiles but it was too easy to get stuck that we mostly just stayed on the sledding hill. They would sled down the hill and then catch a ride on the snowmobile back to the top. We had lunch in the snowmobile trailer. We spent several hours there-Ivy was drenched head to foot-then we went back to the cabin, packed up and drove home. It was a quick trip but worth it for the fun snow day that we got.

Brynn, Lucy, Seth, Harper, Josie, Ivy

Josie and Brynn shared this sled the entire day

Stockton and Molly pulling Seth

Stockton and Gavin

Harper, Chloe, Josie, Brynn

Molly made this cake for her two friends who got accepted into BYU. She's so funny...if you can't tell, it says "congrats (don't get married too soon!)" with a heart and a Y. She's way better than me at decorating cakes, I was actually really impressed by how it turned out.

Molly and I were in Las Vegas for soccer the week after the baseball tournament. Vegas is not our favorite place but it was 70 degrees and we definitely were not complaining about that! Also, this marks the end of an era...soccer tournaments with Molly. So many of them have just been her and me. I've loved our car time together, watching movies in hotel rooms, getting food that we want, and watching her play. It's been a fun ride! Good thing I still get to watch her play.

We played four games total: teams from Suffolk, England (tie), Canada (win), Georgia (win), and Minnesota (loss in the semis). Molly is getting used to a new team and a new coach so she felt it was a good tournament for her.

team bonding...Molly is standing on the left in the back

third in from the left in the back

While I was being Soccer Mom, Justin was being Cheer Dad. After their last comp in January when they did not get the bid they wanted, they quickly added this two-day comp and canceled a March comp. This was their last chance to go out and get a bid for Summit. It was hard not to be there and I was really wishing I could have been in two places at once. They went out on Friday and killed it. They hit a clean routine and were in 2nd place by .06th of a point after day one.  

Second day is always weighed heavier so they were confident that they could put it all out there and come away with a win. They were the first team to compete after a judge's break and something was wrong with the music...the techs never turned the volume back up so the girls couldn't hear the music. They all missed the opening sequence and several missed their opening tumbling passes. Once they got on track, they hit everything. But they were devastated and knew that that routine would not win it for them. Thanks to their quick-thinking coaches, they were able to put in an appeal to try to go on again. They got approved and only had about 5 minutes to compose themselves and go back out on the stage. This time the music worked how it was supposed to and they hit an amazing routine. I wasn't there but Justin said it was quite the moment...emotions were all over the place. It took some mental toughness for those girls to just put it all out on the mat and we were all so very proud of them. We were proud of them even before the awards where they found out that they took first place. This was a national championship competition and they swept their level and came home with national champion jackets. It was a good day.

Aviana Blanco, Oakley Keys, Brynn, Claire Winsor, Evan Schuler

front right

Shaylee Williams, Claire, Evan, Brynn, Oakley, Avi

Coach Ashley Baer, Brynn, Coach McKynlee Thacker

Oakley, Avi, Shaylee, Katelyn Kuch, Savannah West, Evan, Claire, Brynn, Taylor Ray (celebrating Sav's birthday after winning)

*Justin made it for Saturday's performance but we were both grateful for other cheer moms who took care of Brynn all weekend. A cheer weekend is quite a big weekend!

They didn't release the winners of Summit bids until the next Monday night. Our coaches had crunched numbers and were feeling confident but even they didn't know until that night like the rest of us. They gathered the girls together, along with any family members who wanted to be there, had pizza and waited anxiously for the announcement. Drumroll...we got a bid! It was an exciting moment and so well-deserved for this team. Tumble Central has never been offered a bid to summit in their 10-year history. It's kind of a big deal. Florida, here we come!

Brynn is 3rd in from right on the bottom

I picked Brynn and Oakley up from school one day so they could come home and work on a science assignment together. When they walked out together, they were twinning and when I asked it if was planned, they said yes. They also, coincidentally, have the same backpack which was not planned.

Oakley and Brynn

The last Monday and Tuesday of February were baseball tryouts. Can I just say how much I hate tryout weeks? Stockton has been playing with the coach since August so I wasn't technically worried he wasn't going to make the team...it's just stressful and my mind overthinks in situations like these. The coach interviewed each boy after the tryouts to tell them if they made the team and which team they made. That was tense, especially since it took an hour longer than he had said it would. But all was well-Stockton made the JV team which was what his goal was for sophomore year. I was so happy for him. He is a hard worker and he listens and takes in everything his coaches say-it is noticed by his teammates and coaches. Molly stopped at the store for me to get him a congratulations cake and some cow tails. 

Camille came to town for her friend's 40th birthday party so we got to see her as well. Molly went down and had dinner with her and Tiana, I was able to meet her and April and Heidi for lunch one afternoon, and then she drove up to our house one night as well. It was so good to see her, Avery is a cutie, and we all wish they lived a whole lot closer than Georgia!

Ivy, Molly, Avery, Camille, Brynn

I had a birthday and turned 43. It was a fairly typical Thursday which was fine with me. I told Justin not to bother with a fancy breakfast on a school morning, it would just be too crazy. So he bought me my favorite cereal (Raisin Bran Crunch-such an old person cereal haha). He went to work, the kids went to school. I got my bangs trimmed, did a little bit of my book-keeping job, then went to lunch with Camille, April, and Heidi. I taught piano and drove kids around and Justin brought pizza home for dinner. I made my own birthday cake. Brynn was at cheer so I got a picture of her when she got home. It was a perfect day and I was everywhere that I truly wanted to be.