Practice and Games and Competitions Oh My!

Region is this week and there is a lot of excitement and preparation going on!

Spencer scored in his game on Friday, go Dons!

Didn't get a picture from the cheer competition on Saturday, but Jo's team took 1st place!  She was very excited because she didn't think they had done very well.  Glad she was wrong!

The kids have been super super busy with practices and performances and competitions and games.  I really really love watching them, but holy cow it has been non stop.  I'm ready for a "free" weekend.  However that won't be coming until at least the end of February.  'Tis the competition season!

BYU Idaho Bound

So incredibly proud of this girl!  She got her acceptance letter to BYU Idaho.  I can't believe my sweet little girl will be heading off to college later this year.  She's such an amazing person and I look up to her in many ways.  BYU is lucky to have her!

Happy 20th Anniversary

Ry and I celebrated our 20th anniversary last month!

I couldn't have picked a better person for me.  He's an excellent hubby, father, and my best friend.

 I feel blessed every day that he is in my life!

We stayed at a hotel in Salt Lake, and it was super nice.  We ate at The Cheesecake Factory, delish!

It was so nice to get away for a little bit and to just be able to enjoy each other.

Happy 20th babe!

Christmas 2016

We are usually super early risers on Christmas morning, but this Christmas was a little bit different.  We had church at 9:00 and we had a "smaller" Christmas, so we slept in a little bit.  We woke up around 7ish to a very white snowy Christmas.  We opened stockings and talked as a family for a little bit.  Then, Spencer and Ry were off to shovel driveways.  There was A LOT of snow and it took a long time.  Then, we were off to church.  We only had sacrament and it was lovely.  The choir was in charge of the program and I thought they did a very nice job. 

After church, we came home, most of us got back into jammies and we finished exchanging gifts.  Everyone was very happy with their Christmas.  The best present of all came around 11:30!  We got our video call from the greatest missionary ever!!!!  He is doing fantastic and loving his mission.  We got to chat for a little over an hour.  It was so great to see his cute smiling face and to hear his voice.  Boy, have I missed that!  He looks great, sounds great, and said that he is really enjoying his mission.  He said it's the hardest thing he's ever done and that they are busy all day long until their heads hit their pillows.  It did my heart good to see him and talk to him.  I do wish I could've reached through the t.v. to give him a huge hug.  For now I'll hold on to what I have.  Now, we are on the countdown to Mother's Day~ 122 days!!

We went to Grandma and Papa's for Christmas dinner.  Ange, Yoho, and the boys were there.  So, was Michael and JaNee with their kids, and Sierra!  I love getting to spend time together with family.  We exchanged gifts there, ate a delicious meal, and enjoyed being together.  River is getting to be such a little chunk!  I love it!

Grandma had the little reenact the nativity.  They were darling.

Michael is not a little, but did get to be the donkey. 

What a good daddy!

Love this picture and love these people!

Our most recent family picture!

Everyone was so happy to talk to him, it was so hard to push that "End" button:(

Christmas Eve Festivites

We headed to Grandma and Papas in the early afternoon to decorate cookies with the Correas!

Everyone was so excited that they finally made it to Utah.  We sure miss having them close to us.

These 2 brownies are so cute!  Noah LOVED using the sprinkles and Reggie is such a sweet boy.

We had fun decorating with them.

Spencer and Papa decided to go geocaching instead.  They weren't very successful, but had some good bonding time.  Those two have had a special bond ever since Spencer was just a little baby. 

I love that it's still going strong.

In the evening we went to Grandma Davies' for our annual Christmas Eve party. 

We ate way too much, laughed, cried, opened our jammies, had treats, sang songs, and listened to Grandma Davies as she expressed her love for each of us.  What a perfect ending to the day!

We watched our Nativity slide show and then sang some Christmas carols.

Bonus picture of the cutest missionary ever with his new companion!

And one more of Kenzie with her purple hair!

Love this girl of mine.

Mannequin Challenge Nativity

We got together with the family and made a nativity slide show mannequin challenge style.  The kids all had parts to dress up as.  There were a few giggles along the way, but the end result was fantastic!  We filmed at the beginning of December and then got together on Christmas Eve to watch the video.  I thought it turned out great and I know the kids will always remember it.

One of the wisemen and 3 cute little sheep!

The angel visiting Mary.

Baby Nash made the cutest Baby Jesus!

We finished off the night with hot chocolate and sweet breads!

Competition Season Here We Come

The girls both had their first competition in December.  I didn't make it to Jo's because I was not feeling well enough.  Ry took her and said she did great!  She's such a cute little cheerleader.  I hate missing the kids activities.  I always feel so bad when I do.  Luckily I didn't have to miss too much.

These cute peacocks did such an awesome job!

I'm so proud of all their hard work and dedication!

At the end of every drill competition they do a drill down.  This time they also did a daddy drill down.  Ry went and participated and was such a good sport about it.  He's such a good daddy!

I love it! 

Bilateral Partial Knee Replacement

I've been kind of out of commission for almost 2 months.  I FINALLY found a doctor that would operate on me.  He is amazing and I felt totally confident that everything would work out.  I've seen many tender mercies for me and my family during this journey.

I spent 4 days in the hospital and these cute kids came to visit me several times.  I really have been amazed at all they have done for me to help me recover.  Ry has been completely amazing too!  There is no way I could've done it without them. 

These are my nice swollen legs the day the bandages came off.  They don't even look like legs.  I had to do a lot of icing, and still do.  I'm also doing tons of physical therapy.  All of my pre surgery pain is gone!!  Now it's just fully recovering.  I am doing amazingly well.  I went back to work last week, so I'm starting to feel a little more like myself.  My legs get tired by the end of the day and I still have to take meds at night, but I'm more than thrilled with the results. 

Here's a side view of the piece I have in my leg.  This is not my x-ray, but gives a good idea of what I've got going on.  I will now forever set off the x-ray machine at airports.  Fun for me.

And, here is a front view.  They had to cut a piece off of my femur and tibia and then had to drill the new pieces in.  Super painful, but super glad I got it done.  I watched a video of the procedure they used.  It's brutal.  No wonder I was so sore for sore long.  That's okay, I'm on the mend, and am happy to say that things are looking up for me!

This and That

This guy made the Sophomore High School Basketball Team!

He was super excited, and I was thrilled for him.  He worked his little tushy off practicing, waking up early, and really gave it his all.  I was so nervous for him the whole week.  In the end it all paid off and we are all so excited for him.  It will be a fun season!

Elder Davies has now been out for 2 1/2 months!  He is loving his mission, and I love hearing from him every week.  It makes it a whole lot easier for me knowing that he is really loving his time serving the people of California!

Yep, that's a Christmas tree in November!  It's actually been up and decorated for a week and half already.  We love Christmas and usually decorate early, but not this early.  I'm having surgery on Friday and wanted everything done so that I won't have to worry about it later.  So, the house is decorated and the presents are bought!  Now, we can just relax and enjoy the holiday season!

Kenz & Tyler at Masquerade!

They had a fun night together.  Their group was huge and they all had a good time together. 

And another one of Tanner, just because.  They found a mini fridge on the side of the road that was free and decided that they needed it.  So, Tanner strapped it on to the back of his bike and rode it home.  What a crazy boy, I love it!

Sr. Drill

I have always always loved watching Kenzie dance!  

She is a beautiful dancer and you can tell she absolutely loves it.

I can't believe this is her senior year and her last year to be on the drill team.

Kenzie is a co-captain this and is really enjoying that.

She is one dedicated girl.  She gets up early on her own, has excellent grades, has a job, is almost finished with Personal Progress, sets and achieves her goals, and so much more!

My cute Las Chalita!

Drill Team 2016-1017

What a great talented group of girls!

Fall Break Day 3

Kenzie had to take the ACT in the morning and when she got back we were off to the Red Barn. 

We took a hay ride out to the "back forty" where there were many activities to enjoy.

We made it through the corn maze very quickly!

The kids also went down a giant slide.  I think they were the oldest ones to do it, but who cares, they had fun doing it!

They each picked out a pumpkin.  Now we need to find a time to carve them.

Afterwards we got some yummy treats.  Ry and I got an apple cider slush with ice cream in it, delicious!  Who knew that would be so tasty? The kids each got an ice cream and then we got apple cider donuts to take home.

When we got home we cleaned the church and then the kids were off in all different directions.  Kenz went on a group date to a haunted house.  She was pretty nervous and when she got back said that it was very scary.  I do not like haunted houses at all.  Spencer got hamburgers and went to spend the evening with his good friend who had knee surgery.  They spent the evening playing video games and just hanging out.  I feel bad for him, knee surgery is no fun, and he is going to be out for quite a while.  Jo brought a pizza to her friends house and they enjoyed just hanging out together.  Ry and I went out to dinner with his sister, her husband, and his mom.  It was her birthday so we went to celebrate.  After that we went to the mall so I could get some new shoes!  When we got home we collapsed on the couch and were ready to just relax. 

Fall Break Day 2

Ryan FINALLY got home, so we took advantage of it and spent some fun family time together.  We went to a place called Exit Strategy where you get locked in a room and you have to find clues to unlock other clues and eventually get out of the room before your hour runs up.

Our room was based off of the game "Clue".  So, not only did we have to get out of the room but we also had to solve the game.  It was a ton of fun!  We loved working together to try and figure out combinations, clues, locks, and puzzles.  We got out of the room with just a few minutes to spare and then used those minutes to finish solving the game, which we did!  We loved it and are ready to go back for our next challenge.  Maybe we can do it over Christmas break.

Fall Break Day 1

Ry was out of town and I had to work Wednesday night, so the kids spent the night with their cousins.  I'm so super grateful for family that is willing to step in and help out.  Kenzie had to go to work, but Spencer and Jo got to go to the 7 Peaks Halloween Spooktacular with the Brandts.

Marshall & Spencer with Penny close behind!

I think a fun time was had by all.

Afterwards they got treated to a yummy dessert from Menchies!

Such cute kids!

Thanks Dani for helping out and spoiling the kids.

After Kenzie got home we went to Café Rio for dinner and then went to the movies.  It was nice to have an evening without cooking or cleaning and just enjoying time with my kids!