Jenna’s art

Jenna’s Art was selected to enter into the Alpine School District Junior High Art Show. We’re so proud of her. 

Christmas Choir concert

Jenna and Addy

Another Choir concert in the books. They did a great job. I think of Jenna from last April and how much better she is feeling emotionally. She is a light to others and herself now. 

Her and Addy are working on a “shark tank” project together that is going to move up to the next round of judging. The project is geared to help students with anxiety. It’s a calm box with several items they can use to feel better. 

Jenna gets her permit

She passed her test for her permit! I feel so proud of her. Now to learn to drive in Orem! 

Practicing in the parking lot at church.

Twenty one pilots

Jenna and I went to the twenty one pilots concert on the night of November 13. We started our date with a quick stop at ShopKo to see about getting a fanny pack. All they had was a kitty cat one. Thankfully it was only $12, and it was convenient for the concert not to carry a purse. Then we ate at Jersey Mike’s. Then we were anxious to get on the road at about 5:30 to Salt Lake. The traffic was exquisite in the delays and congestion. We did find parking pretty easy and walked about two blocks to the Vivint center. We walked around the arena twice before we realize we needed to go upstairs to get to our seats. Our seats were  pretty good. We sat in front of a group of 5 to 6 teenage boys that were fun to listen to. The openers were Max Frost and AWOLNATION that I was only neutral on,.... But when twenty one pilots finally came on stage at about 9 PM, it was awesome! In fact the awesomeness of it put me in a good mood the whole next day thinking of the music and the fun time I had with Jenna. Now a few days later I feel like I’m searching for that same feeling again. It was awesome and I have a new respect and appreciation for the musicians, Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun. I think what’s most special is the time that I could spend with Jenna. This music group helped her through her rough time in late 2017 and early 2018. I used to worry about the music being kind of dark and talking about mental health and suicide, when in reality it seems to be something that she could relate to and gave her hope to keep going. She bought 2 tickets in July 2018. We sat on my bed and I helped her to find two tickets together. She bought them with her own money. She knew that I would not allow her to go with just her and a friend at age 15. So she accepted that it would just be me and her. She knew that twenty one pilots was not my most favorite type of music and I only knew a few of their songs that I remotely enjoyed. As time went on, I begin to listen more to the band and I watched some YouTube videos of the music videos and interviews with Tyler and Josh. She made me a concert playlist on my iphone of what they would be playing on their Bandito tour. I came to really enjoy the music and listened to it quite often. 

Standing there in the sold out arena with Jenna singing to the music and watching her happiness was really awesome. I am grateful for the experience that I GOT to go with her, not that I HAD to. I paid her back for my ticket and she got some twenty one pilots merch that she was happy to sport to school the next day. 

Gage is probably the second biggest fan in the family only because he idolizes Tyler and Josh and loves music, not because it helped him through a hard time. Come to find out, he could’ve come to the concert such was the atmosphere. There were lots of kids there, in fact. We got him a beanie and a poster and he watched all the little videos that we took of the concert. He seems satisfied with that.

The music of twenty one pilots has bonded Gage and Jenna. They were Bandidos together for trick-or-treat night and they can be found listening to music together, dancing, and even painting or drawing twenty one pilots art.

I guess what I’m feeling today is gratitude for music, particularly the music of twenty one pilots and the positive impact it has had on my family. I am also grateful that Jenna is doing well with  her mental health. I love all my children and I’m grateful to be a parent, and to be a part of their lives! 

Jenna

My artist 

The Scarlet Pimpernel

We went to see the Scarlet Pimpernel at the Hale center in Sandy. It was awesome. I loved going with my friends, but am most happy to go with my girl, Jenna. 

MUN, United Nations

She had to wear best dress to school to discuss topics related to Kenya. 

Edward scissorhands

Wrapping up Summer 2011

It was a good summer.

We went to different parks to climb and swing through the summer. Jenna did an art class on Thursdays in Lindon at a great place. We would play to kill time while Jenna was in class on this grassy knoll. Here is Trevor cheesing it. I love this picture!

Our babysitter, Kristi, has been with us since February. She is very creative and the kids love her. Truly! This is a pic of the treasure map she created for the kids to find treasure by following riddle-type clues. They did lots of these creative type adventures this summer including hunting in the rainforest to rain and thunder music with bamboo spears!

 This picture is just a day at lunch this summer. Disheveled and enjoying no "have-to's".

The big kids did swim lessons. We went to the Lindon pool this year for lessons. I thought that last year's lessons in PG were better, but the kids had fun and did well. Zac is not quite deep-end bound, but they are very comfortable in the water!

 We like Geocaching, but this day was a busted trip. We were in Blanding in the mountains, and I entered the coordinates in wrong on the GPS and well, it was a wild chase. We ended up finding jumping cactus and no treasure. We thought we would bomb the GPS unit in the Reservoir, but come to find out it was operator error, that and a jiggly battery.

Jenna and Thomas feeding the ducks

TR and the Goose

Zac, the Farmer

Jenna, forever the animal lover

Nathan, Tommy and Zac- fun boys

Zac feeding the pygmy goats

My good friend from NV came up to visit family (and for Jenna's baptism), and we were able to hang out for an afternoon at Wheeler Farm. I had never been there. It was a good trip. Of course, it was good to see my friend and her kids! It was a great place for the kids to see animals and enjoy the outdoors and enjoy their fast friends. They had fun.
A couple of weekends ago we went up to Strawberry Reservoir to play in the rocks and water on a Saturday afternoon. The kids threw rocks and the dog swam.  Zac swam too because he couldn't resist despite the freezing water. Trev stripped down and lost his balance and went under, so I went in too. Later he said, "Mommy you rescue me? Thanks!" It was a wet ride home.

Crawdad- dead on the bank, still cool to see up close.

Nearly Naked

 

 

"It's freezing!"

It was a good summer. I think we sprinkled in a lot of fun in with work. There is so much to do!
Now on to Fall. I love fall. Farmers Markets, Pumpkin Patches, jeans and T shirts, changing leaves, carving pumpkins and more birthdays!

Back to School Fall 2011

Monday night was back to school night. Steve took the big kids while Kristi stayed with the little guys because I was at work. When I got home, Steve, Jenn and Zac arrived shortly after. They were so excited and had McDonalds hot and ready. I swear that I was almost as excited as them. I liked school, except 6th grade, and so I was excited for them. Plus, I have to say that getting them into a routine, especially Zac, does wonders for him.
 The first morning of school was quite different than last year for me. For starters, I am not pregnant! Also, Steve is now home until 7:40ish before he heads to work. But besides those things, the sadness wasn't there. In fact, I was just very excited for them and almost giddy after they left. I thought that having just 1 was hard and each additional child was harder, but when you go from 4 to 2, it feels like cake. As a matter of fact, I have been a little lost. I made a list of stuff to accomplish while the big kids are away. We may even tackle story hour tomorrow for the first time since moving here. Plus a McDonalds run just got significantly cheaper for lunch!
Anyway, last year, it occurred to me that they were really growing up...riding the bus and all, but this year I was just happy to send them on their merry way. They are confident and love school. Zac's K teacher moved up to First Grade this year, and so he has her again. That is really great! She loved him and was very accepting about his perpetual motion. Jenna has a new teacher, of course, and likes her. She said that she made a new friend too, Olivia, and was thrilled that she was able to play with Robyn at recess even though they aren't in the same class.

I am excited for this school year. I get a little nervous about keeping up with their spelling words and homework each night (yes, people, 1st and 2nd graders have homework!). We did OK with this last year, but Jenna had her fair share of failed spelling tests because of lack of practice.  Jenna is a smart girl, but she has to work harder at it. Zac picks up things lickety-split but hates to sit down and write anything. It usually is a frustrating time when it's time to do homework. Steve and I have to trade off be we lose patience. I have a schedule in place that may or may not work, also I am just going to be working M/F and then Thurs nights, so I will be home more to keep things running somewhat sane at the homestead. It always looks good on paper, I am often times lacking follow through!

So here are Jenna and Zac just before school. They were both already up and at 'em at 6:30am.They were already dressed including shoes. They hardly ate breakfast because of excitement and nerves, Zac basically bounced to the bus stop. They both had a great day. I hope they continue liking school!

Ma Time in Utah

Mom flew out Aug 3-9. She was supposed to get here the night of the 2nd and ran into trouble with her flight and had to spend the night in Chicago. I am glad that she came anyway, it would have been easier to shrug and say, "I tried". She starts her school year pretty soon with the biggest enrollment in the preschool ever,  and she has a new boss, so I appreciate that she came despite the responsibility that she left back there.  I was very happy that she came for a visit and to be here for Jenna's baptism. Like she said just tonight, "A baptism isn't something that comes every year like a birthday..."
It was a big deal and very nice to have her here too.
 Of course she is gone back home now, but the first day that she was gone, I looked over at the passenger seat and missed her in the van. She is my friend. I missed her there with me, running around with the kids.
 My friend asked if we did anything fun. I replied, "we tried!"  Between the need for errands and meetings (the baptisms and Roman's blessing), tired kids, need for naps, a little work, and how times flies, we didn't do all that I had hoped.I wanted to go swimming and go to the Farmer's Market and spend an hour at the Quilted Bear, but hey, you can't have it all. We did shop a little, albeit with 4 kids. We did eat well, as always when we get together. We did have sunshine and the highlight of the entertainment was the Dinosaur museum...and watching Twilight with mom after the kids were in bed.

At the SF Splash Pad

Hi Ma

Trev, who was very possessive of Mom

A puppet Show

Even caught in a blink, this is happiness!

Sand table

"Oh Dear!"

 The kids had a great time with Ma and so did I. Thank you mom for coming and loving us so much. I enjoyed you and love you!