July

Last month wins the prize for the busiest month of my life. August is looking pretty busy too.

Trips and Activities

Rexburg, Sydney's wedding at the Meridian temple. I've never seen a couple look so happy. We also attended the reception that night.

playing in Ashley Creek at Remember the Maine

a day trip (minus Kenny and me) to see Big Joe off to the MTC for his mission

dinner with the Christensens, Alex

seeing the new Spiderman movie

Birthdays and Holidays

4th of July: concert and breakfast in Firth, parade, cookout and fireworks with the Lees

24th of July: Scout breakfast, parade

Weather

excessively hot, above 90 almost every day

Sickness

NONE!

Repairs

replaced 7 doorknobs, fixed a door hinge, patched a million holes large and small in OUR NEW HOUSE!

Projects

Finally, after 330 days on the market, 53 showings, and 17 house tours, we sold our home and bought a new one. It didn't turn out exactly as I thought. We didn't sell for as much as we originally listed, and the new one is a fixer upper, but it's in Maeser, which means we changed wards but nothing else! We are only 2.5 miles away from the other place!

Moving was a huge pain. I couldn't bring myself to pack till we had the keys because of what we went through last time. It took almost a week to pack, move, and then clean everything in the old house. I did a really thorough job because I knew it would be appreciated. We didn't get the same courtesy at the new house, so we've been scrubbing every surface, ripping out all the carpet, pulling up a million staples, treating dog pee stains on the subfloor with enzyme cleaner and then shellac primer, filling and sanding a million holes both large and small, painting, and now finally getting new carpet installed!

After 17 days of living here, I can't wait to walk on the floors without shoes on! And to move all of our stuff from the garage into the house! We finished painting just in time. James cut trim for our room and the basement and installed it. We finished up at 11 P.M. last night, but everything that's getting carpeted has been painted. By the time I finished painting everything next week, we will have used 18 gallons of paint (a little bit left for touchups on some colors) and 3 different kinds of primer. To say we're tired would be an understatement, but it's also SO GOOD to be out of limbo! My goal is to finish all the big, important stuff by the time people visit for Samantha's baptism in September. 35 days, a million little projects to go!

June

June takes the cake as one of the busiest months of my life!

Trips and Activities

night drives with Joseph to get his hours in during James's last week of work (technically extra days)

Head reunion in Albion, followed by a few days in Rexburg. It was weird without either Head grandparent there, but it was good to hang out with all the extended family. And we honored their memory quite a bit.

Girls' Camp at Aspencrest. I had a wonderful time, even though I didn't sleep quite enough. I feel like I could do it again. We had excellent food, lots of devotionals, and tons of activities that kept us both having fun and feeling the Spirit.

NH trip! I spent the first half with Mara, Myles, Skyla, and kids at my grandparents' house. We went to the Joseph Smith birthplace, Yankee Candle, and Chesterfield Gorge. Duane's funeral was beautiful and touching. I then stayed with my parents at David and Berna's house. We visited Mom's old schools, Danny, Margaret, and Wally. I ended up seeing all but 2 of my Schillemat cousins in the past 2 years.

While I was gone, James got the kids to FSY in Provo and to tennis, among other things.

James picked me up at the SLC airport, and we got African food for lunch, then went to the new Museum of Utah, chilled, got Blue Iguana for dinner, and walked around City Creek and Temple Square. I slept 11 hours! We took it easy the next morning with hotel breakfast, then chilled until lunch at Siegfried's. We drove to Idaho Falls, got a quick dinner after browsing the mall, then arrived in Rexburg for our last trip of the summer. Whew! In a 31-day period, I will have been home for only 2 days of it.

Birthdays and Holidays

none

Weather

beautiful and not too hot, whether I was camping, in NH, or ID. It didn't feel like summer, and that's okay!

Sickness

none, thank goodness!

Repairs

none, haven't been home

Projects

Does travel count?

2 showings

1 house looked at

May

Trips and Activities

Katie's final choir and orchestra concert

Six, a musical that James and I watched at the high school. It was pretty entertaining!

visit from Anna and Rex. We enjoyed a Lion King theme night and fossil hunting.

Priesthood Commemoration campout (minus the camping). The girls and I watched a princess movie while the guys were gone for the evening.

end of school! I think everyone was glad to have summer start.

James did the via ferrata in Ashley Gorge with some friends. The pictures make it look beautiful, but scary.

Birthdays and Holidays

Mother's Day, my family spoiled me with my favorite things.

Joseph's 16th birthday! We had steak for dinner, mini Reese's cheesecakes, homemade Twix ice cream, and Cameron over since it's his birthday too. We're working hard on getting all of Joseph's driving hours in so he can get his license soon.

Weather

mostly nice with some much-needed rain

Sickness

none, and I got my progesterone dosing figured out, which is a huge win.

Repairs

got all the cars working again

Projects

7 showings

didn't look at any houses

The housing market is absolute crap right now. There has been no evidence of a "spring surge" at all in Vernal. We still feel like selling is the right thing to do. It's already been 9 months, so what's 1 more? We're beyond tired of this process.

April

Trips and Activities

Joseph and I took a trip to NC while the rest of the family went to ID. We enjoyed Conference, time with family (a different house almost every night), and a trip to Busch Gardens for some epic food and rollercoasters.

Joseph completed his 6 hours of driving with the instructor for driver's ed. We need to get the rest of his hours in ASAP. He's doing really well despite the lack of practice. (Not moving really threw things off with getting the whole process started.)

Birthdays and Holidays

Kenny turned 14 while in Rexburg! I made sure to print him some Brandon Sanderson-themed things before we left for our trips.

The family went to a surprise bday party for Devin's 40th. (I was sick.)

Weather

We finally got enough snow for a snowman!

Sickness

I got a really bad cold after my trip. It took me almost 2 weeks to recover my energy.

Repairs

took the van in for some stuff we'd been putting off

got a new faucet for the kids' bathtub

replaced the fill valve on the kids' toilet

Projects

cleaned out the kids' closets and took a bunch of stuff to our storage unit (7.5 hours of work!)

had 5 showings, looked at 2 houses. no bites yet, and both houses were crummy.

More houses hit the market every day, and right now, there are at least 4 good options that we can afford and would work for what we're looking for. I'm hopeful that something will come through soon.

March

Trips and Activities

Orchestra concert for Katie

Visit from Mara! We went to see Frozen at the high school (James, Katie, Samantha, Mara, me) and loved it.

I babysat Amaya for a day.

James went to an event for Sam in Idaho, then to UCET. He was gone for 5 days, and we survived.

Nash came to visit, and he was here for the YW fundraiser dinner. It was a ton of work to make 150 rolls, gather things for Katie's table and set up, plus spend 4 1/2 hours in the kitchen. It was a success, though. We made plenty of money for camp, and the dinner I ate at 9 P.M. tasted amazing.

baby shower for Alyssa, our old babysitter

birthday party for Amaya

ward cleanup

Birthdays and Holidays

I turned 38! James took the day off to take me to lunch and relax. I've been enjoying my new purse and favorite snacks.

Weather

perfect, and warm enough to start watering the grass, which is crazy

Sickness

lingering colds which seem like they'll never leave

Repairs

G6 power steering, which was $$$

Projects

I printed some cute little animals for Mara's kids, a couple things for people in the ward, and medals for YW camp in the summer.

We had 4 showings during the month. Our buyer cancelled her contract. It's fine. She hadn't sold the land yet and I guess she decided not to. We didn't look at any houses this month. I don't want to push this into the next school year, so one way or another, there is an end point.

February

Trips and Activities

watched Amaya for a couple of days while Cherissa was away

choir and orchestra concerts for Katie

no trip to Salt Lake because we needed to recover from being sick. The rest was much-needed. We did take the kids out to eat and went to the Rec Center.

Joseph: robotics competition

a short visit from Nash. He diagnosed the washer but couldn't fix it.

met Katie Colton in Roosevelt for dinner

Joseph's 1st date! He went to Preference with a girl named Rose.

Birthdays and Holidays

Lewis turned 9! The boys and I made a whole bunch of 3D-printed stuff for him (history themed).

Weather

mild, which was awesome. We hardly had a winter at all.

Sickness

all month, pretty much. I don't know what I had, but I was incredibly tired for a long time. So were James and some of the kids.

Repairs

new microwave

new washing machine (for the first time ever! Our other one was from the mid-2000's and got fixed about every 2 years for the past 14. The most recent repair was impossibly hard, so we threw in the towel and got a new one with a service plan from Lowe's. The new one is so much quieter and smells a lot better!)

Projects

I worked a lot on 3-D printing. I never intended to take it on as a hobby, but I didn't know how easy it was until I tried. It's filled a gap in my life (the creative side) that I've been missing since we haven't moved, but my sewing stuff is all packed away. I've learned to troubleshoot quite a few things, and I'm sure I'll learn more.

Looked at 3 houses, did 9 showings, got 1 offer (contingent on selling another property). It's cash, though! The lady who I thought had a miracle loan solution couldn't help us after all.

Right now, we have no current home we're trying to get. Either no one wants a contingent (understandable), or another person swoops in and gets the house first. This still feels like an impossible situation that will never change. An offer is nice and very promising during a time we'd almost given up hope, but we still have to wait, which is no one's favorite.

January

Trips and Activities

book swap party at Jess's house, potato and poetry theme

spent a day making candy with Cherissa. We did pralines, toffee, and peanut brittle.

stayed busy with my calling in the Young Women presidency

science fair for Katie. She didn't win any awards, but she had fun.

Birthdays and Holidays

James turned 38! I made a bunch of pretzel dogs to freeze and take to school when needed.

Weather

very warm and dry

Sickness

a cold, but nothing serious

Repairs

new brakes for the Yukon, and more repairs incoming for all of our cars

Projects

I got into 3D printing because there were a bunch of small spools of filament that we needed to use up. I successfully did that and made some cute organizers for the bathroom closet. I also figured out the ideal temperature settings for the all the filaments we currently have.

As for our house, we had 3 showings and we looked at 3 houses. None are the right one. We also had a very mixed bag of news. Our realtor called and told us he thought we'd need to list as cash only (no VA loans). We felt okay about doing that but justifiably upset. A couple days later while helping set up for an art show at the elementary school, I was talking to a couple of friends about my problems with selling my house and a woman there approached me and told me she writes loans for my exact situation. Needless to say, I was shocked, but I got her my old loan papers, and she's working on coming up with a loan that will work for this house. She seems to know what she's doing (unlike the last lender in October, who dropped the ball). I haven't heard back from her yet, but I'm hoping for some good news. It seems so unlikely that we'll ever get to move, but we realized in this process that miracles happened for us to buy this house in the first place. Miracles haven't ceased since 2013, either. I know that. I hope I can hang on for a little while longer till everything works out.

December

Trips and Activities

helped Katie with her science fair project (making boba through reverse spherification)

baking with Cherissa. I taught her how to make every kind of yeast bread I know, and we also did yogurt.

had the Boyles over for a Southern style turkey dinner, which tastes better than the original combo

Joseph had a robotics competition at the high school. His robot is much better than last year's.

Katie had an orchestra concert during school, and James was able to go since it was during his prep.

missionary music devotional. Music is what kept me happy and sane during the Christmas season.

the Nutcracker with the girls

Annie. James, Katie, and I went, and it was so cute.

Rexburg:  We enjoyed family dinners, board games, dipping chocolates, Zootopia 2, and plenty of time lounging around.

Birthdays and Holidays

Christmas! We kept it simple at our house and left for Rexburg the day after.

Jacob's birthday

New Year's at Sam and Jesse's house. We had lots of yummy appetizers and burned a muneca. I definitely included our house not selling in that. It was kind of cathartic to watch it burn.

Weather

unusually warm, and we didn't get a white Christmas. I didn't mind at all!

Sickness

none that I remember

Repairs

the washing machine, which broke just in time for Nash to fix it while he was visiting during Christmas. He ended up needing another part, which we already had sitting in our shed from 4 years ago when he left us an extra. This is the 4th time (at least) that this kind of thing has happened, and it's especially miraculous since I don't get visits from my family very often.

Projects

2 showings! We didn't expect any for the month of December.

storage for cookie sheets, cutting boards

new faucets for bathroom sinks after I tried cleaning the handles and realized the valves were leaking. That was a rough day.

Overall, it wasn't a bad month, but I struggled to really feel the Christmas magic with the sale of our house (or lack of) looming over my head.

November

Trips and Activities

Katie's first choir concert for Veterans Day

murder mystery game with friends. We didn't solve it!

trip to Rexburg to see Big Joseph in The Prince of Egypt. It was also the last time we saw Grandpa Head alive. We sang his favorite song, "Gethsemane"

looked at 5 houses, liked 2, but couldn't make offers since no one wants a contingency without us being under contract already. I get it! We got kicked off the contract for the original one, but it's back on the market now, so it's still a possibility if anyone ever buys this one.

babysat my friend's toddler for a few hours. He was an angel!

RS book activity. Going to church stuff is hard because people always ask about the house, and I have no news.

open house on a Friday morning. no takers.

trip to Rexburg for Thanksgiving break, plus a few extra days

book group with Melodie

Wicked with Anna and Melodie. The 2nd half was sad, and the music wasn't as good.

sealings at the temple

dinner with the Lees

Grandpa Head's funeral. It's the longest I've ever been to, over 2 hours. It was good to see lots of family, though.

Northern lights, the first time I've seen them with my own eyes!

Birthdays and Holidays

Thanksgiving! I helped a lot with the cooking.

Weather

surprisingly pleasant, no snow in Vernal yet but some in the mountains

Sickness

stomach bug in Rexburg followed by a cold. It went through everyone really fast but somehow avoided me (except for some fatigue). It somehow didn't ruin Thanksgiving or the funeral either.

Repairs

none

Projects

finished Christmas shopping! I have one gift left to make for my in-laws.

new light fixture in the big bathroom. I'm really proud of how it turned out, and I touched up the paint in there as well. This house is good enough to sell. It's just a matter of someone getting the right funding.

I still have no idea how this will work out. I feel confident that we've done enough "fixing up" and just have to wait now. If we get to April without selling, I might consider painting interior doors and my lower kitchen cabinets. That won't cost a lot or take a lot of time, but we'll have warmer weather and proper ventilation by then.

October

Trips and Activities

James and Lewis, deer hunting x2. No luck this year. They had a few fun days together anyway.

James and Joseph, Esports competition in Price

Katie's first orchestra concert

hike to the dinosaur tracks at Red Fleet

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (James, me, Joseph, Anna)

Birthdays and Holidays

Katie's 12th birthday! Anna was visiting and we had a supposed showing, so we went to the park to open presents. We had key lime pie and cookies and cream ice cream as well.

Halloween. Our main thing was attending the ward Trunk or Treat.

Weather

really nice with a few cold days. No snow yet! The leaves were beautiful right up until Halloween when we got our first hard freeze. Now, everything is brown.

Sickness

I got my bloodwork done again, and my labs look great! Yay!

I think James and I had the flu (influenza) after Halloween because we were both extremely tired for a few days (and achy and queasy). I don't know for sure.

Repairs

replaced a light fixture out front that was ugly and didn't work for 10 years. It was much easier than I expected. I wish I'd done it sooner!

Projects

I painted both of the kids' rooms since they were the last unpainted areas of the house (within the last year). It took up 3 days of time, 1 for prep, 1 for actual painting, and another to put everything back together.

I had to time to do that because...

...we didn't get to move.

Honestly, it's been rough lately. Everything went well up till the day before closing (October 14th). I got a phone call saying there was a delay with the house we were buying because the sellers hadn't turned in some receipts in time. It was Fall Break and I thought, 1 day, no big deal. Then, our realtor who's working on selling our house showed up at our door. I figured that wasn't a good sign since he lives in the Salt Lake area now. He told us that there was a problem with the financing and that this house is trickier to finance than he'd realized originally. The loan our buyer wanted wasn't going to work, and they'd have to try something else. Less than a week later, we learned that our buyer was forced to back out (not his fault, but still).

At that point, I had packed up most of the kitchen and been trying to cook all week with limited ingredients and tools. The living room was full of boxes from the kids packing up their rooms. I moved boxes to closets and unpacked the entire kitchen.

I felt like I had just barely gotten back to regular life after painting the last 2 rooms, when my parents had a health issue and had to cancel their visit to Utah for the 3rd time this year.

We've had 1 showing in the past 2 weeks (the time back on the market).

God's timing always works out, but I sure don't understand it right now. I also hate the home selling/buying process much more than I ever could have anticipated. The home we're trying to buy is still available, so we'll keep on waiting and doing small projects around here till we get to move (hopefully).

September

Trips and Activities

Ward Harvest Dinner: probably our last activity with Maeser 4th!

a hike to Moonshine Arch

Homecoming (James and the girls)

Dinosaur Museum

fossil hunting

2 Valiant activities (for which I'm a leader). They went well and didn't require much planning since we combined with the boys.

talks for James, Katie, and me

Downton Abbey movie with James

shrimp boil with the Warburtons

Birthdays and Holidays

none, surprisingly

Weather

super nice, occasionally rainy

Sickness

minor

Repairs

inspection on this house, after which the buyers backed out

inspection on our new house, which went well. I made a big list of things to tackle right away/later in the new place. We also requested a few repairs from our sellers.

replaced the roof because it was the right thing to do

was brave and used some extra shingles to fix the shed roof

another inspection on this house (after getting a new buyer), which went well

fixed a couple small things to get ready for the appraisal

Projects

organized the shed, 72 hour kit

a couple more showings, bringing the total to 19

painted the front and side doors and frames

a Saturday open house, so we had to be gone from 9-3

another offer! It came 9 days after the first. 

Things are progressing, and it looks like we'll move during Fall Break (mid-October). The appraisal happens today, and as long as that turns out good, we just have to wait for all the paperwork to be done.

August

Trips and Activities

lunch with the Primary presidency one last time. It was bittersweet, but good.

Head reunion in Albion: I didn't really want to go, but I ended up having a wonderful time. There were 100 people there this year, which was a lot, but it was worth the trip!

Rexburg: Bear World, Museum of Idaho, kayaking in Victor, Big Jud's with the Lees, KPop Demon Hunters, Freakier Friday

Joseph and Kenny camping trip to Massey Meadows with the Young Men

back to school! Joseph: 10th, Kenny: 8th, Katie: 6th, Lewis: 3rd, Samantha: 2nd

Dino "Soar" Days

Birthdays and Holidays

Ana and Benji's bday party

Samantha's 7th birthday. She had all the strawberry things, as usual: strawberry shortcake and homemade strawberry ice cream. We also found a lot of strawberry-themed things for her at 5 Below.

Weather

hot

Sickness

a cold on the 2nd day of school (most of the kids). They are all better now, but James is feeling a bit under the weather.

Repairs

stupid car, needed a new thermostat in Albion since it kept overheating on every single hill. Now, the AC isn't working. I hope it just needs a recharge.

Projects

started looking at a few homes and unexpectedly found one we loved! started the financing process

painted the living room and kitchen, which was really hard but worth the effort

depersonalized and packed up 1/3 of our stuff

survived 15 showings as of 9/2. That was not my favorite thing to do. I've spent SO much time cleaning, then cleaning again, all while 7 people live here to get things "picture perfect". It worked, though, because someone bought our house after 5 days! If everything goes perfectly, we should be moving in October. It's been such a whirlwind, but I'm grateful for all the tender mercies we've seen along the way.

July

Trips and Activities

We took our long road trip to New Hampshire!

Days 1-5, we drove there. Stops: Martin's Cove and Independence Rock in WY, Mt. Rushmore in SD (slept in Rapid City), Wall Drug, Minuteman Missile, and Sioux Falls in SD (slept in Wisconsin Dells), New Buffalo Beach and Holland in MI (slept in London, ON), St. Lawrence Market in Toronto (slept in Cornwall, ON), Underground City in Montreal, Joseph Smith birthplace in VT, fireworks at Granite Lake (slept in Munsonville, NH)

Days 6-10, we did lots of activities in NH with the family. 6 of my 9 siblings were there, along with the locals, for a total of 63 relatives. Activities: quaking bog, cookout at Daryl and Cheryl's, swimming at Nubanusit, mini golf at Twinkle Town, church and a baptism for my cousin's son, Pitcher Mt., Twinkle Town again, swimming at Granite Lake, day trip for James to Fall River and Lexington/Concord in MA, hike at Duane and Kathy's, swimming at Granite Lake again, many games of cribbage with Grandma, many family meals both cooked and eaten together, day trip to Maine and the Lindt Chocolate store on the way

Day 11-15, we traveled home and saw a lot more cool stuff. Stops: Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse, Hill Cumorah and the Sacred Grove in Palmyra, NY (slept in Farmington, NY), Niagara Falls in NY, Kirtland temple tour in OH (slept in Perrysburg, OH), the country fair and pageant in Nauvoo, IL (slept in Keokuk, IA), church in Nauvoo, Mormon Trail Visitor's Center in Omaha, NE (slept in Grand Island, NE), Cabela's in Sidney, (slept at HOME!!!)

Other stuff this month:

Primary potluck dinner

temple baptisms with the kids twice

Superman and Jurassic World

Joseph's learner's permit

Lars's graduation from BYU-I

Belcher Reunion in Heber. We went to IKEA in Draper afterward.

Birthdays and Holidays

4th of July, most of which we spent in Montreal, but we made it to NH in time for the fireworks!

Pioneer Day: ate the Scout breakfast at the park and then split the party for the parade and Lars's graduation

Weather

hot and dry

not too bad in NH, but humid. We survived without AC!

Sickness

mild cold for Kenny, Samantha, and me. We were pretty wiped out for 2 weeks after NH, but we're doing a lot better now.

dental appointments for everyone

checkup for me, which went well

Repairs

dishwasher, which was paid for by Lowe's. I doubt it was worth it to them since it was the control board.

Projects

assembling the stuff from IKEA (living room bookcases and storage). James took the younger kids out while Joseph and Kenny and I worked on it. It took pretty much all day to set up, organize, and clean, but it looks great.

I made a photo book of all the past NH trips for my grandparents. It took me a few hours, but I think they enjoyed it.

BIG NEWS: I have been released from my calling as Primary president! For now, I am without a calling.

June

I used to think time went fast when I was publishing once a week, and now that it's once a month, I still can't believe how much time flies.

Trips and Activities

2 weeks of tennis at the high school: Katie, Lewis, and Samantha. They loved it!

fishing

FHE at Steinaker

Big Brush Creek Cave. James has been bugging me for years to go see the ice pillar inside. It was cool, but the intensity and altitude of the hike almost made me pass out. Never again!

Harry Potter Exhibition in Salt Lake. James and I met Anna there for the day, and it far exceeded our expectations. It was interesting, interactive, and fun.

How to Train Your Dragon at the theater. It was fun to see it on the big screen, and the remake is very well done.

Stake Primary activity

Girls' Camp for Katie. It was only one day long because of Trek, but Katie had a great time.

Esports board meeting. James now has a sanctioned activity that he can get paid for next year. Yay!

Trek. I dropped Joseph off this morning, and he gets back Saturday night. James and I both loved our Treks, and I hope this will be a meaningful experience for Joseph as well.

Paddle Fest at Red Fleet

Weather

hot and very dry, also unusually windy for this time of year. I hope it doesn't mean lots of fires.

Sickness

none, but Joseph got his braces off! He now has a retainer.

Repairs

2 oil changes, 1 new battery (under warranty, thankfully)

Projects

bucket hats for Katie, Lewis, and Samantha

T-shirt dress for Katie

For the remaining days in June, we'll be prepping for our trip to NH, which begins on Monday!

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.