May Happenings

May has flown by and we are now approaching the end of the month. We are still in quarantine and are entering the last week of school for the kids. They have done so well, but I am excited to not have to keep such a strict schedule and have more time to play! 
Last week we were blessed to have been able to see my brother Corey who flew in to Houston to see John. My mom threw John a graduation party since he didn't have a graduation ceremony. He has been serving his 2 months of MTC training here in Houston with my parents since the MTC is virtual and it has been great to have him around. He was just notified that instead of heading straight to Bulgaria, where he was originally called to serve, they will release him to go home to Michigan and he will be recalled to Washington at the end of July and serve stateside until he is able to get into the country. This virus has definitely overtaken our normal way of life, but overall we are managing well and he seemed to handle it as best as he could. 

It's also been 2 months since I have seen my brother Chris and his family, so it was nice to have all my siblings together but Marisa. 

John is a great kid and after his mission service he will be attending BYU. 

All the cousins in Houston together again! My kids really missed their cousins! 

The kids and I made candy Leis for his graduation party and my mom had a fun candy bar! 

It was fun to have a reason to celebrate and I know John will do great things in his life! It was also nice to reconnect with Corey who I haven't spent time with in years. He was also super sweet to spend time with me and come over and help me at my job putting up yard greeting signs one night. I was grateful for his willingness and for the time we had. 

On to other news. We have enjoyed having sacrament at home and our friend Wyatt made us these sacrament trays. It has been nice to use instead of a plate! 

Cavin has been busy making Lego creations and made this sword last week. 

The kids have also been making spreadsheets to keep track of their beanie boos! They have digital slides for each one and an excel spreadsheet! haha 

They have 190 and we need 10 more to hit our 200 mark! So close ;) I am glad this is something that all the kids love to collect and do together. It has been a fun memory for them! 

Ella has been painting and made this cute picture for her friend Helen for her birthday! 

I've been doing a lot of running and exercising with the kids having P.E. I go out and exercise and come home and take the kids. I ran the United States the other day before my watch died! I just needed Florida! :) 

Also yesterday I completed my first murph workout for a fallen soldier. It is doing
1 mile run
100 pullups
200 pushups
300 air squats
1 mile run
It was a good workout and my shoulders are feeling it today! 

Finally, yesterday we ventured to Lake Houston Wilderness park to explore.  

We hiked peach creek trail and then the kids found a creek to play in and get nice and dirty!

Ella loved finding the tiny fish and tadpoles.  

 

Naturally they boys splashed each other and got soaked!

We hung out and enjoyed an outing together.  

I have really loved this extra family time we have had the past couple months. We have had dinner with Ragnar every night which hasn't happened in years. We have played lots of games and worked on many of our talents. I for sure will treasure the blessing of family during this time.