May

Trips and Activities

saw Happy Days (the musical) at the high school

babysat Cherissa's baby, Amaya, for 10 days during the last 2 weeks of school

Rexburg: Bear World, Yellowstone (first time since 2012), Lilo and Stitch (very cute), baby goats, old truck in the sand box, lunch date at BYU-I. It was a much-needed trip after a very busy last few weeks of school, and we had a wonderful time.

Birthdays and Holidays

Memorial Day: We attended a graveside service in Driggs and spent some time with Grandpa Head. dinner with the Lees that evening in Rigby.

Joseph turned 15! We watched the Minecraft movie and had mini Reese's cheesecakes.

Weather

practically perfect, lots of green and flowers. It's my favorite month (weather-wise) because it's so pretty. Yes, even more than October.

Sickness

James had surgery to repair a hernia. Now that it's been a month, he's doing much better. The first few days were rough, though.

My supplements are working, and I feel better than I have in 2 years. I'm sleeping better and feel happier too.

Repairs

routine stuff for the van before we take it to NH

Projects

laundry bag tutorial on my blog

cover for my sewing machine

April

Trips and Activities

donkey basketball with the younger 3 kids

North Carolina (me): Tap Station with Brinson; craft night with the ladies; a night at each home (Myles and Skyla, Christian and Rachel, Mara and Ricky); first time at the farmer's market, Dix Park, and picking strawberries; Waffle House with Myles's family; CFA with Carmel and Matt before seeing their apartment; all the time in between with Dad and Mom in Apex (Bojangles and Costco included)

Rexburg (everyone else): baptism, baby blessing, Museum of Idaho, trip to Victor to see Grandpa, JK Studios comedy show, Minecraft movie

BYU graduation for Nash. We got a nice tour of campus and took some pics. It was a long day in the car, but the kids did great at home.

trial run for babysitting Cherissa's new baby, Amaya. It went really well!

temple trip with Kenny and Katie while Joseph was at the Seminary activity

Birthdays and Holidays

Kenny turned 13!

simple Easter at our home with an egg hunt on Saturday, Church on Sunday, and a nice meal afterward

Weather

2 decent snow storms at the beginning of the month, but pleasant since then

Sickness

James had to take 4 days off for a nasty cold. Lewis and Kenny missed a day each.

Projects

Almost finished with all the ideas I have for my stash of fabric!

sleep masks for the girls

potholders (9), gave one to each sis(in-law)

fabric eggs (42)

Christmas gift bags (13)

Christmas gift tags (28)

roll up toiletries bags (7)

March

It was a busy month!

Trips and Activities

Lewis's baptism! The Heads came and brought Sam and Jesse's girls. They have a new baby brother, Benjamin.

James and Joseph went to an Esports celebration in SLC.

Kenny was awarded student of the month for his school. We got KFC and went to the ceremony at the district office.

I taught a class about bread at my ward's Preparedness Fair.

saw Snow White (a decent movie, much better than the reviews say)

hosted 2 game nights

completed the service project with the Primary (cleaning the Nursery toys, coloring invites for Easter)

attended a baptism on the same day

We had a fun weekend visit from Nash. He brought lamb! He and James went shooting a few times, and we all had fun hanging out.

took the kids and Nash to the Outdoor Expo

Birthdays and Holidays

my 37th! James took the day off to take me to lunch, force me to relax, and shop for fabric :) It was a perfect day.

Weather

a little bit of everything: snow, hail, graupel, rain, sunny days in the 70's

Sickness

Lewis - likely ear infection

James, Joseph, Kenny, and Katie - possibly influenza, but no confirmed diagnosis

visited the doctor for the first time in a while. She's the first to test my blood for various things, but I'm low on iron, Vitamin D, and progesterone, so I've bought my first pill organizer. :) It's amazing to have answers.

Repairs

sprinkler box, which flooded under the house a lot before we caught it. no real damage though since it's just the crawl space.

Projects

Still lots of sewing!

quilts: spring flowers, fall patchwork, winter "playing the scales", summer "crashing waves", baby patchwork, bees patchwork

6 swaddle blankets (donated)

14 laundry bags (just finished, worked on over 4 weeks)

4 mini messenger bags for the girls

summer fat quarter skirts for the girls

made Samantha's old blankies into a nightgown that should fit her for a while

February

Trips and Activities

FHE at Ashley Nature Park

Staycation over the long weekend, which included breakfast at McDonald's, swimming at the rec center, Chinese for lunch, and thrifting at D.I. and 5 Below, plus a few movies at home

Baptisms with the kids at the temple, once with just Joseph, Kenny, and Katie; the other time including Rex, Jacob, James, Joseph R., Anna, and Charlotte, who were visiting for Lewis's baptism

Treasure hunt and fossil hunting with the cousins

Birthdays 

Lewis turned 8! We had blueberry ice cream and coconut poke cake.

Our new nephew, Benjamin, was born to Sam and Jesse.

Weather

sometimes in the 60s, sometimes snowy and slushy

Sickness

mild

Repairs

the microwave. It had stopped spinning, so I found the part online and had it fixed in 5 minutes. I was so excited that it was so easy.

Projects

tons of sewing, thanks to Teri's fabric stash

3 baby quilts, one for my new nephew, one for Cherissa's baby, and one to donate

scripture bag for Lewis

2 minky quilts, one for each of my girls

new stockings for everyone in the family

3 pairs of shorts each for Lewis and Samantha

matching Easter/spring skirts for the girls

I also spent many hours organizing the stash. I have many projects cut out and ready to go. I just need to spend the time sewing them together!

January

Ah, January, my least favorite month.

Trips and Activities

We returned from Rexburg the day after New Year's in one piece.

I went to a book swap party with some friends (childhood-themed.)

That's it for the month, so maybe that's why it's been boring.

Birthdays and Holidays

Our NYD in Rexburg was fun and relaxing. I made the black-eyed peas that we ate with the Lees. I also dipped chocolates, something I'm good at and enjoy. :)

James turned 37! He got fancy cheeses again for the 3rd time in a row. I think that birthday tradition needs to stay forever. I also made him boiled peanuts, German chocolate cake, and brown butter almond brittle ice cream, plus a steak dinner. We spread out the goodies over a weekend.

Weather

We had a few cold days (below zero) but NO snow to speak of. Surprisingly, my old town in Florida got 8 inches!

Sickness

Though I didn't take them in, I'm 90% sure that Lewis and Samantha had the flu a week apart from each other. No one else had fevers, but we all experienced some level of tiredness, headache, etc.

Repairs

Waiting on a part for the stupid microwave. It stopped spinning a few weeks ago, and the first part I ordered was damaged in transit and had to get returned. It should be an easy fix. I was bummed when it burned a hole in my rice bag.

Projects

Setting things up for the new year in Primary was a little busy, as expected, but it's gone well.

the annual cleaning out of things (Konmari method)

made and canned orange marmalade, turkey and gravy dinner

made 2024's photo book, the longest one I've ever done

miscellaneous 3-D prints

I got a whole bunch of fabric from my neighbor. I've made 2 rice bags from that and spent a ton of time organizing and planning my next projects. From previous materials, I made a T-shirt quilt for Samantha.

December

Trips and Activities

I had dinner with my presidency at the Chinese place. (Sis. Hall paid. :)) Then, we saw Wicked.

Rexburg after Christmas (Dec. 26th to Jan. 2nd)

first time eating at Sushi Time, the AYCE place in Idaho Falls. It was scrumptious.

ice skating for a few lucky kids. The roads were too icy to take the big van up to Victor that day.

movies new (The Wild Robot) and old with the family during the week in Rexburg

swimming at Green Canyon a few days after Christmas

Birthdays and Holidays

our first voluntary Christmas at home. I kept things simple and had the most relaxing Christmas Day in 15+ years.

Jacob's birthday: We went to War of the Rohirrim and ate Big Jud's at the Lees'.

New Year's Eve/Day: also very chill. The Lees came over for the traditional black-eyed peas, rice, cornbread, and greens.

Weather

unseasonably warm, but we had a dusting of snow on Christmas morning, which felt special

lots of snow in Rexburg, so the kids played outside a lot and made a snow fort. I didn't like seeing 8 wrecks on our drive there the day after Christmas.

Sickness

Lucky me, I had Covid during the 2nd week of December. Thankfully, I had finished all my Christmas preparations early so I could read the new Sanderson book and recover. Mission accomplished.

Repairs

rock chip, new back brake pads and rotors, and a new tire for the van. Ouch.

Projects

I made a minimal number of baked goods (whole wheat bread, banana bread) and handed them out to my presidency and ministering families.

November

Trips and Activities

It was a busy month for Primary. We did our Presentation and Temple and Priesthood Preparation meeting. Both went well, but I'm still glad they're over. I've been subbing music since the music leader had a baby.

Devin brought all the old pumpkins from his garden, and we shot them out in Coal Mine Basin.

Saw The Best Christmas Pageant Ever with the kids for FHE. Awesome movie.

We traveled to Rexburg for Thanksgiving.

Birthdays and Holidays

I went to brunch with my friend Ashley for her birthday. It was a lot of fun. I don't get to do stuff like that very often.

For our Thanksgiving, we enjoyed lots of family time (meals, games, shopping, etc.). I saw Wicked twice, once with Anna and once with the whole family. I LOVE IT! We did a Zoom call with the Lee grandparents to learn more about their lives, and it was really interesting. It was a really nice, relaxing break.

Weather

Cold, a little snowy, but nothing too crazy yet. They kids built their first snowman and had fun playing in it once, but it's almost gone now.

Sickness

Mild, 1 day of church missed for James

Working on figuring out some tummy troubles I've had, triggered by certain foods

Repairs and Projects

Girls' room: new dressers, which Kenny helped me put together. I also spent 3 1/2 hours deep cleaning the room.

Boys' room: new shelves, shoe organizer. They deep cleaned their room, and I helped with the closet.

Living room: I moved all the craft supplies into Samantha's old dresser into the living room. James also found the perfect craft table at D.I. It's so nice to find things, and the girls' room has stayed 80% cleaner since it isn't crammed with all this stuff. I built a coat rack by the front door so we'd actually have room for all our winter stuff. We sorted through all of that too.

In total, I think we donated 6 bags of stuff to D.I. and threw away 3 bags of trash.