Ella finished her Sophomore year!

Ella had a great last week of school. She was able to finish her finals and pull off all A's. She also had her voice recital and sang a few songs. The show was called "We Are All Dreamers." She sang "A Million Dreams" with the group, then two solos "Someone Like You" and "Journey To The Past" She did a great job. She was brave and confident and has grown a lot through voice lessons the past 5 months. I'm proud of her for wanting to develop her talent. 

Her teacher had 10 students, all girls and 1 boy ;)

We were so glad to be able to support her! I had to come late as Cavin had an awards ceremony the same night, and I was so glad I made it before her first song. 

Her grandma Speers got to come watch and her grandpa and some aunts were on zoom. 

This is her teacher Patti Rascon.

The next day she got a haircut. It was so long! I mean it's still long, but she cut off 4 inches. 

Then the day after she went to take her drivers test and passed!! I was so worried that we wouldn't have all the paperwork or something would be missing or that she wouldn't pass the test somehow. I completely trusted her skills, you just never know! Turns out since my foot was hurting so bad and I had to use crutches that day. I think they went a little easy on me for the paperwork part and she nailed the driving part, so she did it and has already used the car a few times, one time to save us from a flat tire on a bike! (this time it was Ragnar ;)) 

Her first and then last day of her 10th grade year pictures! She finished another year of early morning seminary and never missed a day, she even was the only one in her class to get a 100 on the final. She has matured even more and I am proud of who she is becoming. She is learning more and more to use her gifts and work harder and hopefully in two years when we send her off, she will be ready to spread her wings and succeed. Great job on finishing your sophomore year with great success!! 

Closing out at Timberwood Middle School for Cavin

Cavin has one more day at Timberwood Middle School and he will officially be a high schooler! He has worked hard this year! Academically he was the top student at TMS and had all 100's in his classes but one. He is a hard worker and wants to succeed. 

He closed out his track and soccer seasons. Track he ran the 2400 3 times and although it wasn't his favorite, he pushed through and improved. For soccer, they won every game except the one he missed to attend an orchestra concert. He was excited about his team this year and I loved watching him play.

Track 2022

8th grade soccer team 2022

He had a lot of fun. He almost always played defense but did a great job. His coach was Coach Estridge

At Cavin's awards ceremony he got 6 awards. All A Honor Roll for 8th grade, All A Honor Roll for all 3 years, Excellence in U.S. History, Outstanding Determination for Algebra 1, Musical Oscar for Orchestra, and Most Likely to win a Nobel Prize. 

He is an incredible kid. If he got a 98 on a test he would ask to retake it! He is intelligent and wants to do his best. I am proud of him! Can't believe he will be in high school!

He has grown so much this year. He is now 4.5 inches taller and growing more into a man!

Triathlon Trials

Whew! I made it! It was not without many obstacles in the way, but I was grateful I was finally able to check a triathlon off my bucket list! About 3 weeks before the race my old ankle/foot injury from water-skiing last summer started hurting a lot again. I couldn't run for several weeks or even walk for a couple days. I was in a lot of pain. I didn't want to go to the dr before the race because I was afraid she would tell me I couldn't do the triathlon and I knew mentally I just had to do it, even if I had to hobble the run portion. I had trained and it had been cancelled before and I really needed to do this!

Well...the week had many tender mercies/miracles mixed in with several obstacles. It literally was like my whole life in one week...so many ups and so many downs! The Lord was watching over me though and helping me clearly see His hand. 

I ended up calling the dr office making an appointment for the week after the race to see if I needed surgery or how bad my foot was. Well, the first tender mercy was they called the next morning and said can you come in tomorrow morning, we had a cancellation. Originally I was like no I don't want to because then she will tell me I can't do the race, but my foot hurt so bad that I decided to trust in the timing. Well I went to the dr and she said I had tendinitis and plantar fasciitis pretty bad under my foot from over compensating my sprained ankle for so long. The good news was it was easily treatable and there were no broken bones or torn tendons. She told me to go for it with the triathlon but that I would be in a lot of pain after. She gave me steroids to take for a week, inserts for my shoes, and scheduled PT. My goodness I was so glad it wasn't a super long recovery ahead of me. The steroids worked wonders and in a couple days I felt so much better and was hopeful I could at least run most of the run. 

Throughout the week other things happened...like I stepped on a nail and because I had just gone to the dr and gotten inserts in my shoes, another miracle is that the nail didn't go through my foot. Then the night before the race Deacon felt sick and threw up and I was terrified I would get sick right before the race so I couldn't sleep.

On race day I was so nervous, because I had trained for months and wasn't sure how my body would handle it all. Well Becca my friend walked me through everything and drove us to the race. We got there and for some reason my front bike tire was completely flat and wouldn't hold air.. I was devastated. I didn't want that to be the reason I couldn't race! Well...another miracle...A man named Alan pulled up next to us and had a spare tire and changed it so quickly for me and I was beaming knowing I had just received my next miracle. I was excited and headed to the start.

The race began and I felt good. The swim portion went well and I was feeling pretty good. I got on my bike and was so excited to just go! Well...2.5 miles in my tire got really low...then essentially was completely flat. I was so bummed!! How did I have the miracle of fixing my wheel and then it go flat again. Well I prayed and prayed that the tire tread would just at least stay on the wheel so I could get a few more miles down the road. The farther down I was, the less I would have to run. I wasn't sure if my foot could handle more running. I just focused on watching the wheel and went slow and steady. Miles passed and still no one was around to help with my wheel so I kept going. I got to mile 8 and then my watch died!!! I was grateful I made it this far and prayed Heavenly Father would see me through just a little more at a time as I tried to reach the 13 mile mark. I kept going with what I could on the wheel and at just a mile left someone finally came to see I needed help with my flat tire. At that point, I was almost there, but he was really nervous about my wheel, so I let him at least pump it really quick so I could finish the last 1/2 mile strong. I miraculously made it through the bike portion and hurried onto the run. I actually felt pretty good about the run and although my watch wasn't working I knew I had a great pace and I finished strong. 

Deacon ran the last part with me :)

I have a great cheering section!

Becca has done many triathlons, so I was grateful to have her along for the adventure.

Grateful for Ragnar always supporting my goals.

That race taught me so many lessons. I could see so many of the miracles, but that did not mean that Heavenly Father didn't leave me with obstacles to overcome as well. I was so proud of myself for staying positive despite all of the obstacles and trusting in myself and my ability to know that I can do hard things and I don't quit.

It was a great experience even if it wasn't a smooth one, and I am grateful for my family for cheering me on, and for Heavenly Father with me every turn of my bike..literally. 

The whole family ended up getting the stomach bug the day after the race (minus Rags) and I started PT. God didn't take away the hard, He just showed me clearly He was here with me through it. 

Now if I can recover from the stomach bug and get some strength I'll be doing great!

Ella's Sweet 16 week!

Ella's sixteenth birthday week was filled with a lot of highs and lows! Being a teenager isn't for the faint of heart! The week started with some heartache with some friends, but ended on a positive note. She didn't really want to do much to celebrate with a big party or anything even though we spent a year trying to convince her. She doesn't really love all the attention on her. 

Her birthday morning she had the pleasure of getting up and heading to school. At least she got an extra hour since she didn't have seminary.

Birthday sign and donuts. 

She is in to the cinnamon twist donuts lately.

We let her pick any restaurant and she chose Culvers.. haha my kids are pretty simple. She also loves cookie cakes.

She got some airpods, clothes, shoes, drawing stuff, jewelry, you know...all the teenage things!

She then chose to watch "The Rise of the Guardians" as a family which is her favorite movie. 

During the movie her friend Kaleb knocked on the door and sang a song on his guitar "The Joker and The Queen" by Taylor Swift and gave her flowers and balloons and asked her to "Simply Prom" that our church puts on. She wasn't sure what to think at first because she has felt a little invisible and didn't want to go. After his sweet song and the courage it took to ask, she decided to say yes and go! 

Two days later was "Mormon/Simply Prom"

She looked beautiful in her royal blue dress that she and her friend went shopping for. They were looking for a dress for Katelyn her friend, but found her one as well. 

Kaleb is a friend of hers who goes to church with us, is in her orchestra class, and does Shakespeare plays with her. He is such a fun kid, a true gentleman, and full of life. I knew she would have a good time with him. 

Her closest friends Connor, Katelyn, Warren, Aspen, Cayden, and Alyssa were going in their group, so she was so glad she was able to join them. 

She looked so beautiful in her royal blue dress.

Beautiful girls

They got Olive Garden catered and she was excited about that. 

She said the dance part was actually fun. They played good music and taught them each to waltz and a couple other dances.

I'm glad she was able to go and had a great first date. 

Ella is 5'2 and staying there. She is done growing, so she will have to make do with her short but strong stature. She is an independent child, but very obedient. She does what she says she's gonna do. She is very smart, but often not super motivated. She has good grades and works hard, but is still learning to use her gifts/talents to their full potential. She has so many God given gifts, she is just having to learn how to have the motivation to use them. She is an awesome seminary student and gets herself up and ready every morning. She should finish her driving hours in a couple weeks and have her license soon. She wasn't super excited about driving at first, but she is a good driver. She still loves to draw and paint. She reads whenever she can but school takes a lot of her time. She is in voice lessons and has her first recital next week. I love to listen to her develop her voice. She also has a great gift of music with the cello and just hearing and knowing music. She loves chocolate, ice cream, and ice. Her favorite color is black or red right now. She still says "don't die", "fine", and "schnitzel" a lot :) haha She likes to keep a low profile but is great at observing people and situations. She is great fun to have around and I can't believe I only have 2 years left with her. She will do great things in her life!

Channing is 11!!

Channing celebrated her 11th birthday this week and she was very excited to do so!

The day before her birthday she got to celebrate at school. I came to have lunch with her and bring her class cupcakes. I love how excited she still is to see me. 

The night before her birthday she invited a couple of friends to go see the new movie "The Bad Guys" and go to Culvers to dinner afterwards. She is surrounded by lots of good girls, and I am glad she has friends who have good values. 

These girls could put down some food! Haha! They were eating the whole time!

This is Channing, Meg, and Sophia.

Saturday morning was her birthday! She woke up to a birthday sign!

We had to hurry and eat donuts before her 8 a.m. soccer game!

We went to her and Deacon's game and my parents and sister Natalie joined us to support the kids. Then we went to sonic to get a treat for her birthday and have my parents celebrate for a minute before they had to go to their temple shift.

When they left we did whatever Channing wanted on the schedule for the day! So, first we watched her favorite movie "The Parent Trap"

Then she wanted to help me make her cake since she loves to bake. 

Finally her dad and brother got home from reffing soccer games so we could open presents. 

She got a karaoke machine which she was exited about and we each took turns singing!

She was just so happy it was her birthday all day. Her happiness is contagious! At 12:41 when she was actually born she danced around the house cause she was officially 11 then ;) haha

Hopefully her wish came true!

Channing is a beacon of goodness. She brings kindness and happiness wherever she goes. She is so thoughtful of others and always wanting to make people happy and is a people pleasure by nature. She is always writing sweet notes and thinking of ways to be creative and kind to others. She always wants to help me in the kitchen or with the laundry or wherever she can so she can be with me. She loves singing and writing. She loves music and piano. She is in soccer and just loves being a part of the team and having something in common with her brothers and dad. She is not much of a dessert person and saves her candy and treats for months, but she loves chips! Especially hot Cheetos and takis! She is a very good student and has great grades. She is on the Math Olympiad team and is competing this week in a competition. She loves to watch t.v., Jesse and Victorious are her favorites right now. She is doing a literacy girl club with some friends where they are reading the Felicity books and putting on a small play where she is Felicity. She loves jewelry and sparkly things and she has several pairs of converse shoes which are her favorite right now. Every night she comes out of her room and says she doesn't feel well. I think mostly it's that she doesn't like to be left out of what is going on and wants to see what she is missing ;) She is brave and confident and I am so excited to see the girl she will become. We sure love you Channing!