February

The first half of February was pretty slow...I didn't take a single picture until we were celebrating Valentine's Day! I don't think I've ever gone so long, haha. I do have some videos of Brynn cheering so I wasn't completely neglectful!

Anyway, we did a family Valentine's "party" on the 12th. With Valentine's Day falling on Saturday and a holiday weekend, we were a family divided on the actual day but it worked great to celebrate a couple of days earlier. Bonus because Molly had come home for some stuff that weekend. Dinner had been hours earlier (sweet pork enchiladas) and cleaned up by the time Molly walked in the door close to 9 PM. I had bought a box of candy for each of the kids with a card to write down their Valentine dates and I also had an Oreo ice cream cake with a heart-shaped sparkler candle. So we ate cake and drew numbers for our dates. (We did not complete our dates last year very well but, when asked, the kids still wanted to try to make them work this year. Instead of sticking to months, they just drew numbers, 1-8, and that is the order we will try doing dates this year.) Our little party lasted all of 20 minutes and then it was off to bed for Brynn and Ivy.

Stockton and Molly stayed up later...Stockton was waiting for Molly to help him make a prom poster for Bryn (his girlfriend, who he went to Sadie's with). It turned out awesome, Stockton was very happy for Molly's help, and they had a good night together.

Here is Ivy's Valentine's box. It's a radio/stereo. She made it while we were watching the Superbowl, just out of supplies we had at home. It turned out so cute! Another last, as this will be the last homemade Valentine box in our household.

I helped with the class party that afternoon. I volunteered for the treat so we decided on graham crackers, store-bought frosting (yuck), and sprinkles for the kids to make a graham cracker-frosting-sprinkle sandwich at my station. They were fun kids and I enjoyed chatting with them. Some groups were quick enough that we were able to play taco-cat-goat-cheese-pizza as well.

Brynn was cheering at state wrestling late that night, Justin and Stockton were in Vegas for baseball all weekend, and Molly went to Provo for a Gal-entine's party with Regan and Carol. So it was just Ivy and me-we probably watched a movie and worked on a puzzle. The three of us (me, Brynn, Ivy) got up the next morning and drove to the cabin for a couple of days. We got there around noon and jumped in my mom and dad's truck to drive over to the sledding hill at the sinks, the only chance of snow in the non-snow winter we had had. The kids had fun on the hill for a few hours.

Ivy and Lucy

Josie and Ivy

Brynn, Grandpa, Josie

me, Grandma, Erin and Christopher

Jeff, Ivy, Lucy, Josie, Christopher, Brynn

That night the adults went to dinner for Valentine's Day (I was single that night, sad) while the kids stayed at the cabin and ate pizza and played. It was awesome!

Jeff, Ali, me, Dad, Mom, Erin, Christopher

The next day we went to church, played inside and outside at the cabin, and had dinner together. Brynn had early morning practice on Monday so we went home that night.

Jeff, Josie, Ivy, Lucy

Here are some photos of the boys baseball trip down to Vegas. Gotta love baseball trips! I am so happy our kids have these experiences. Yes, it is busy and expensive but I love watching them play their sports and love the time spent with them. I hope they always know that Justin and I are their #1 fans, in anything they pursue. I know it is only a small blip in our life and someday we will be missing these days and experiences.

Stockton loves cool cars

beautiful baseball sunset - Stockton is at 2nd base here

4th from left on the bottom

A few days after that and Brynn and I were heading to Anaheim for cheer nationals. Brynn was traveling with the team and I was traveling with three other cheer moms. I'm so glad I have cheer mom friends because I'm not sure I would have gone without them and I was happy to be there supporting Brynn. Our flight was first, out of Provo Wednesday morning, so we go there before the girls. We got our rental car, checked into our hotel, got some lunch, then took a walk to Downtown Disney. We also make a Costco run and got breakfast supplies for the girls.

Tracy Apostol, me, Becky Hansen, Kary Moore

I had started this Noah's Ark puzzle a couple of weeks earlier and we had been working on it while we watched the Olympics. Ivy and Justin finished it the first night I was in California and I was a little jealous that they finished without me, but not too much. Puzzle #4 for 2026.

Brynn competed in two routines the next day: situational and band chant, with awards after each routine. They were competing against a lot of teams, 17-20 in all, and they got 2nd it both routines! Band chant has done well all season but they had never placed in situational. They were happy!

second in from right in the middle row

Oakley Keys, Brynn, Brook Moore, Abby Hansen, Ari Apostol

fourth from right, middle row

It was a long day at the venue. The girls were required to stay there but the moms and I had time to go back to the hotel and relax between the first round of awards and the second performance, which felt nice. Brynn was not complaining, and I'm happy she has good friends on the team. That night they had a team dinner. Brynn was in a room with Oakley and seniors Sophie and Stella.

Oakley, Brynn, Abby, Brook

Lizzy Sherry, Brook, Ari, Oakley, Brynn, Aviana Blanco, Shaylee Williams

On Friday they competed in show cheer, the trickiest of performances. Brynn did a great job with all her tumbling and stunting but it was not clean (one flyer struggled all season) and they did not advance to the final for show cheer. But I think they were pleased with their two second places and, quite frankly, so exhausted that they were okay not competing again. At least Brynn was okay with how it ended, but she is only a freshman and has plenty of time to keep competing.

top middle

Tracy and Ari, Kary and Brook, Abby and Becky, Brynn and me, Oakley and Whitney Keys

Not advancing meant the girls had a free day on Saturday, as did the parents. We were initially told that we wouldn't get much time with the girls but the coaches released them to their families that whole day, yay! We debated going to Disneyland but it was quite pricey (and, we found out later, so so crowded) so we decided on a beach day instead. I suggested going to Balboa Island and Newport Beach, since I had been there a few years ago and thought it would be a fun and relaxing way to spend the day. So we piled into the rental car and an Uber and drove over there. We walked around Balboa Island, did some shopping, got an iconic frozen banana, and enjoyed looking at the houses and cottages on the island.

Brynn, Oakley, Brook, Ari

Abby, Brynn, Brook, Oakley

Brynn, me, Abby, Becky, Brook, Oakley

Ari, Brynn, Jaycee Apostol, Abby, Brook, Oakley

When we were done there, we took the ferry across the little channel and played at the beach. The sun was out and it felt wonderful and the sand was like a massage on our feet. We walked down the pier. We got a few pizzas and had lunch at that spot as well.

Tracy, Kary, Becky, Brynn, Jaycee, Abby, Oakley, Ari, Brook

Brynn, Abby, Brook, Ari, Oakley

Abby, Brook, Brynn, Oakley, Ari

Brook, Brynn, Abby, Ari, Oakley

The girls still wanted to go to Downtown Disney. (We moms had been three times already but we went again for them.) We window shopped and then had dinner at Denny's before dropping the girls off at their hotel room, where they dyed the underneath part of their hair with some purple wash-out dye.

Oakley, Abby, Ari, Brook, Brynn

The moms were done with our trip and we flew home the following morning. We were so glad we had gone to support the girls! The team had two more fun days of Disneyland. They tried to do a few rides each morning as a team but then had the rest of they day to do what they wanted. Brynn had been to Disneyland a couple of years ago with Tumble Central (and we did Disney World last May) but she had not been to California Adventureland since she was two so that was super fun for her-she loved Guardians of the Galaxy and the Incredicoaster the most. She made great memories and is looking forward to three more years of high school Nationals!

on the Incredicoaster with Brooke, Shaylee, and Oakley

Guardians of the Galaxy with the team - Brynn is two in from left on the bottom

matching sweatshirts and ears for the team!

Oakley, Shaylee, Avi, Brook, Ari, Abby, Brynn

in the front on Tiana's Bayou with Oakley, Avi, Shaylee

Brynn, Avi, Shaylee, Abby, Brook, Ari with Coach Ariel's kids

Ivy did her Grand Teton puzzle while I was gone. Puzzle #5 for 2026. We are so excited to road trip to the Teton's the summer!

Here are some pictures of the Daniels Canyon Elementary Student Council Spring 2026. Ivy tried to get on for the first semester of the year but didn't make it so she was excited when she got on for the second semester. She has had a lot of fun and says it's the better semester because they get to plan and run field day at the end of the year.

bottom right

second from right on the top

Brynn got her braces off, yay! She had them on for one year, seven months, which is seven months longer than Molly, but 17 months shorter than Stockton. Stockton had Brynn wore braces together for one year, 6 months since Stockton just barely got his off in January...so now we are a braces-free family until it's Ivy's turn!

Here is Brynn when she got her braces on, July 2024:

Cheer season was over after Nationals but they still had their showcase on the last Saturday of February. My two cheer moms friends and I helped one of the coaches wrap flowers ahead of time to sell for a fundraiser during the showcase.

Becky, Megan McFee, me, Kary

It was also my 44th birthday that day. We didn't do too much celebrating. I went to work at the Town, got a haircut, and did the flower wrapping. The only thing I really don't want to do on my birthday ever is plan, prepare, or clean up a meal. Stockton was doing baseball stuff so the little girls, Justin, and I got some Indian takeout and took it home. Stockton got home, we FaceTimed Molly who was at the cabin for Abby's birthday, the kids had written super nice notes for me, and I got showered with treats (chocolate). We watched a movie and did a puzzle since it was a Friday night. It was a good day!

I took Brynn and Ivy to meet my mom so Brynn could do her birthday shopping. Ivy wasn't sure she wanted to go because she is not a fan of shopping but she really wanted to see grandma. So she came and we took some time to go into the bookstore while Brynn was shopping. She took a bazillion pictures of books she would like to read someday. A girl after my own heart. We also had a great time shopping and soaking up some late winter sunshine.

Brynn and Ivy with grandma

I cracked up on our drive down when I looked over to see Brynn holding this giant tub of cheese balls. She was too lazy to pack a small bag of them.

That night was the cheer showcase, the final night of Brynn cheering with this team and for Wasatch (we will go to the new high school next year). It was a great year for Brynn and she was really happy with the new skills she was able to learn. She had a lot of friends on the team at the beginning and was able to make new friends as well. There were lots of tears shed that night.