Easter

It was so nice to gather together with family for Easter this year! We missed everyone last year bexause of the pandemic. We had a fun Easter egg hunt for the kids on saturday, along with a birthday party for my brother Philip's dog Gemini. Philip also brought his friend Jacie and her two puppies who are Nova's brothers. It was so fun to watch her play with them. She was really hesitant and reserved at first, but quickly warmed up to them. I wish they lived closer so she could play more with them!

The puppies loved chewing on our poor little tree that was killed by the recent frost

New puppy!

We got a puppy! After years and years of the kids begging and pleading for a puppy, I finally gave in. Nova is a mini Australian Shepherd and half sibling to my brother's dog (same mother, different father.) I will be completely honest and admit that I went through the "puppy blues" for the first two weeks and totally regretted getting her. I thought about rehoming her daily. Puppies are so much work!! It felt like having a newborn, but worse. Dan and I were up two or three times during the night and were so exhausted. I'm the primary care taker while everyone is at school and work, and I was feeling completely overwhelmed. I felt like I was spending my entire day chasing around a biting, chewing, destructive little monster that got into everything and was making messes everywhere. It was rough! We've had her now for almost two months, and I can now say that things are getting better. She is sleeping through the night and we've developed our little routine and training. She's very smart and has trained really fast. She's done excellent on potty training! The kids absolutely adore her. Here's just a few photos. She has changed so much. The first photo is 7 weeks old and the last two photos are 12 weeks old.

Texas freeze!

In February, we got hit with a blast of unusually cold weather. We had record breaking low temperatures along with ice and a little snow. School was cancelled all week becuase of power outages and no water. So thankful we never lost power and none of our pipes burst. We only lost internet for a day. The kids were disappointed there wasn't more snow, but it was still pretty exciting for them. It's not everyday you get ice and snow in southeast Texas!

Recent read

I absoultely loved this book! It is set in the 1600s during the Salem witch trials. It is a beautifully written story of loss and love. Best book I have read in a long time.

Dad

On January 14th, my dear dad passed away after a courageous 10 year battle with cancer. We miss him everyday! So grateful that my children lived close enough to have grandpa be a part of their lives. He was their biggest cheerleader at their sporting events. The photo of Kyla and him was taken in November. He was struggling to walk, but was otherwise doing so well and looked so good. It's still hard for me to believe he's gone, but he will never be forgotten. Just like with Dan's father who passed away before any of our childeren were born, we will continue to tell his stories so his spirit lives on in our family forever.

State bound!

Kyla individually qualified for the state cross country meet! She placed 9th at the big regional meet with a time of 19:50. It was a tough 3 mile course and she gave it her all! Her team came in 4th and narrowly missed qualifying for state. Normally, the top 4 teams advance to the state meet, but because of covid, only the top 3 advance. We are excited to cheer her on next week in Austin!

Halloween 2020

Halloween was different this year because of the pandemic. All the normal school and church Halloween parties were cancelled and fewer homes participated in trick-or-treating. We didn't buy any costumes this year. I told the kids to come up with costumes on their own. Benny and Lorelei dug through the old costume bin and Evan didn't even want to dress up, but threw something simple together at the last minute. Dan and I took the two youngest out trick-or-treating with their masks on and they had such a fun evening! Evan went trick-or-treating with his best friend that lives next door and the two oldest were out with friends. It sure will be nice when things are back to normal!

recent reads

At the beginning of October, I was searching for a creepy, gothic, historical fiction book for Halloween and stumbled upon the aurthor Laura Purcell. I read three of her books and really enjoyed them! If you enjoy spine-chilling historical fction that keeps you reading late into the night, these are for you!

fall birthdays!

Busy time of year for birthdays in our family! Half our kids have birthdays clumped together at the end of september/beginning of October. It's a lot of work to celebrate three birthdays in three weeks, but so much fun! We kept it really simple this year with small family parties and Kyla went to the beach with some friends.

Benny is now seven!

Lorelei turned nine! Next year she will be double digits!

Kyla turned seventeen! She finally got her license and was given Uncle Carl's old chevy truck. She loves driving it to school and cross country practice!

Back to School

The first week of school was very different from previous years, because of the pandemic. Monday was online. Tuesday and Wednesday were divided alphabetically and Thursday was the first day everyone met in person together. All students are required to wear masks. I thought wearing a mask would be difficult for Benny, but he adjusted very easily. All my kids are so happy to be back at school, and I'm enjoying some peace and quiet during the day! Praying for a good year!

One last beach trip!

It was so nice to have our oldest home for a month long visit before heading back to BYU to start her junior year. We all miss her when she's gone at college! The week before she left, we took one last trip to the beach. It was a beautiful, relaxing afternoon. Kyla had to work, so she missed out on this trip.