24 March 2024

It was a pretty good week.  We enjoyed the second half of our spring break, can you believe there's only eight more weeks until graduation?  Phil worked on Monday and the kiddos helped me keep Jude occupied while I worked.  I did some running this week as my weight loss has slowed and I need to be exercising more.  I ran a 5k on Monday and Tuesday.  It was slow going, but I've got to start somewhere.

The girls both had orthodontist appointments on Tuesday morning.  Felicity got her braces off and Helen got hers adjusted.  Felicity is really excited to be once again brace-less.  She broke her retainer last time and I didn't get it replaced quickly enough which put her back in braces.  Fingers crossed this is the last time!

Jude hasn't taken regular naps in like six months...I'm still grieving the loss.  He does however, fall asleep on the floor or the couch on occasion.  We tip toe around very quietly enjoying the couple hours of peace when this does happen.  Here he is catching a siesta. 

 On Wednesday morning Phil took Helen to the MVD in Green Valley to get her learners permit.  She's more than a month late so she's not going to be able to get her actual license until the end of September, but at least we've started the permit stage.  Phil let her drive from the MVD to Circle K and then home.  He said she wasn't ready to be driving on the street and needed some parking lot practice.  He was glad they made it home in one piece!  I guess Felicity had more ranch driving experience when she got her permit, because she did just fine driving home.  We'll have to do some good practicing with Helen soon.

We did Family Home Evening on Wednesday night since we were all home and didn't have other plans.  We did our lesson from Come Follow Me and then played six rounds of "Scategories" (I won handedly) and then "What Do You Meme", one of the kids' favorite.  We like to play with an added twist, we pull out a pad of post-its and pencils and we can make up our own captions for the memes instead of using the provided cards if we want...they're always more funny.  

Arlo was a great help with Jude this week.  They played together quite a bit.  At one point I walked into my bathroom to find them both in the tub (Arlo in a swim suit) playing with the bath toys.  Thursday evening Phil held down the fort while I had a training that I helped to give at the stake offices.  

Friday was mercifully my "off Friday" and I did some chores in the morning and then did my 28 week weigh in.  I was disappointed.  I only lost half a pound this week and only 4 pounds in the last four weeks.  I think its probably natural to hit a plateau, but it was still a little disheartening; I was hoping to hit the 100 pound mark by week 28.  I'm going to keep going though because I still have 59 pounds to goal.  I will say, however, I did feel a little better after having my 28 week picture taken.  The scale may not have moved much in the last four weeks, but I can tell I'm still making progress.  A picture says 1,000 words...or 94 pounds.  In the afternoon I had a hair appointment which was some really nice "me" time.

Arlo got to have lunch with Nana on Friday afternoon, they went to Red Lobster and he enjoyed his very own basket of Cheddar Bay Biscuits.  After Helen and Arlo went to visit their dad for the weekend Phil and I were able to sneak away for a date night.  We went to Tractor Supply for some feed (super exciting) and then we went to the movies and saw the new Ghostbusters movie...it was OK.

Phil had to work on Saturday and Felicity went to a 9-5 tech rehearsal for the high school musical.  Jude and I did some chores around the house and then he and I went into town and visited Daddy briefly at the fire station.  Whenever we pull up Jude calls it "Daddy's house".  It's funny because when we're coming up the dirt road and he sees the shop he starts saying "Hey, Mom!  Its Mama's house!".  I guess the ranch is my house and the fire station is Dad's house.   We said hi to everyone, ate a donut, checked out the trucks, threw the basketball around a little and then Jude and I headed off to the grocery store.  

Jude was mostly helpful at the grocery store.  He's past the age of sitting buckled into the buggy, now he wants to help put things in the buggy.  It was a long, expensive trip to the store.  

Phil got home on Sunday morning and as he was coming, I was going.  I had my last two ward conferences to attend and I was able to teach the Relief Society lesson in the Midvale ward.  I think it went well.  In the evening we spent some time making dinner together and then cleaning up.  Jude is always interested in what's going on, I caught a cute picture of him "helping" Dad with the dishes.  He's naked...but then again he's always naked.  

We did a Palm Sunday lesson for scriptures before bed and then Phil and I snuggled in to watch an episode of the The Chosen; he was snoring before the opening credits were finished.  I love him. 

17 March 2024

I'm grateful for a more fun week with less stress.  Helen and Arlo were visiting their dad the first week of spring break...or more precisely they were visiting their dad's ex-wife; their dad didn't even spend time with them all...but that's a frustration for another time.  Felicity worked on getting caught up  on her physics homework and helping me with scholarship applications.  I'm hoping that we're able to get college funded, although FASFA is having issues and delays and that has me a little stressed out as some important scholarships we're applying for require information from the FASFA and have deadlines coming up and they still haven't processed her form.  Maybe this week was a little stressful after all.  Work was hectic as planning continues and I worked some late hours.  

On Tuesday my parents took Phil and I out for dinner for our anniversary in Sonoita.  We had a great steak dinner and enjoyed spending time with them.  It was very nice. Wednesday was our four year anniversary.  Four years went by very quickly and yet at the same time it feels like such a small number of years for the amount of living and happiness we've had; we feel like we've always been together.  Phil said that he couldn't really remember his life before, its a beautiful thing to finally be living the life we were intended to have. 

Here's where it started:

On Thursday Phil and I picked up a rental car, packed up, and headed towards Utah.  We combined an anniversary trip with going to attend Phil's niece's wedding.  We had a great time, I love spending time with my love.  We drove to LaVerkin, UT a little north of the Arizona border, and stayed the night.  In the morning we drove to the Cedar City Temple.  

If you've followed the blog for any amount of time you probably know that almost 20 years ago I set a goal to worship in every LDS temple in the United States.  At the time there were 55 temples in operation in the US.  Today there are 135 that are open, under construction, or announced in the US.  That's a lot, its a good thing I didn't set a goal to get to allt he ones in world!  But we did get to mark off two more.  The Cedar City temple was beautiful.  My favorite feature was a little silly maybe, but there was a painting in the stairwell on the second floor that caught my eye.  It's called "As a Hen Gathereth" and its by an artist named Jeff Hein.  I checked, and its only found in the temple.  Anyway, this chicken loving farm girl enjoyed it. 

We drove further north and decided to make an unscheduled stop in Manti, Utah.  It just so happened that the Manti Temple Open House was happening.  The church had done extensive renovation to this "pioneer era" temple and was hosting an open house for the public before they rededicate it.  I have already been to this temple (read about it here)  but Phil hadn't and it is an incredible building constructed over 145 years ago.  We had to wait an hour and a half to get in, but it was well worth it.  

The rooms were beautifully restored, they decided to restore murals originally painted on plaster over a hundred years ago instead of replace them.  We climbed 98 stairs to one of the top floors to see the assembly room, something that most temples don't have.  It was incredible and I'm so glad that we made a detour to see it.

We continued on our way north and enjoyed a really nice dinner and then had an appointment at the Saratoga Springs Temple.  Oh my gosh, another new favorite!  It was stunning.  It just opened this past August so its brand new and sits not far from Utah Lake.  The temple motif was wetlands, with hues of blues, purples, and golds; it was just stunning.  I loved the stained glass with all the reeds and cranes, so many things reminded me of water and lily pads.  It was just lovely.  Check out some details here. 

When we were done at the temple we drove to our hotel in Farmington.  We were up early Saturday morning to meet with Phil's siblings and mom for breakfast to celebrate his sister's birthday.  It was so nice to spend time with them on a busy weekend that otherwise might have been hard to spend quality time.  We needed to be at the Bountiful Temple at noon for the sealing   It was lovely, but I'm glad that pictures (at least the ones we were in) didn't take long because it was VERY windy.  Phil and I picked up the cake and helped set up for the family luncheon after.  We enjoyed time with family and visiting.

We drove a short way to Salt Lake to visit temple square with the time we had between the luncheon and the reception with Kirby, Sue, Salina, and Ani.  We saw the progress on the ongoing renovations to the Salt Lake temple, popped over to the conference center, and spent a few minutes in the church history museum.  We didn't have a ton of time, but we were able to get some pictures and enjoy a little sight seeing.  The reception later in the evening was nice and we had a good time.  

We slept in a bit on Sunday and got on the road a little after nine.  It was a long drive home, but we enjoyed each other's company and switched off driving once we got to Flagstaff.  I even managed to finish a blanket I've been crocheting to go with my Christmas stuff.  It was a great trip!

10 March 2024

It was a busy week!  Work was nutty as my program is gearing up for its second planning increment and that is a hectic time for Scrum Masters.  I feel like I mostly have my feet under me now that I'm a couple months on the program.  I ended up working close to sixty hours this week including working on my "off Friday".  Its ok though, because I have some time off planned for next week and I can flex my time and not have to use PTO.

The girls had technical rehearsals for the musical Tuesday-Friday this week which meant they didn't leave school until close to 10 o'clock each night.  Helen was asked to be part of the tech team, so she got to attend rehearsals too, she helped coordinate costume and set changes.  I did have a little time this week to finish up this beautiful Christmas quilt that I've been working on.  I'm over the moon happy with how it turned out.

The weather has been really nice and I was pleasantly surprised to see so many of my iris bulbs blooming.  I've had these for years, they came with me from my house in Sahuarita. I have moved them from pot to pot, but they're doing well now, albeit cramped, in the half whisky barrel by my front steps.  I can't wait to get proper planters set up...it's been, what, eight years since I had a real garden?   I guess I can continue to be patient...there's just so many ranch projects to work and never enough time or money.

I put a quick baby quilt together mid-week with some coordinating fabric I had in my stash and I love it too!  I can't wait to gift it when its all quilted up.  Phil worked on Tuesday and Thursday, but was home on Wednesday so we took Arlo to the middle school wrestling tournament.  Only the "A" team was invited to participate so Arlo went as a spectator.  We had a fun time, Corona didn't do very well, but it was fun to watch and cheer on our friends.

Jude continues to be entertaining.  He's working a little more on potty-training; mostly when he decides he'd like to have a treat he goes into the bathroom and pees and then self-reports that he went and helps himself to a mini ice cream sandwich.  The next time I have a full three day weekend with no distractions I'm going to try the three-day potty training method.  It worked well with Arlo and figure its about time to try officially with Jude.  I was working on Thursday and looked to my left where my office window faces the front door and found Jude was stuck between the security door and the interior door.  He wasn't panicked, but I had to go rescue the little booger.  Speaking of ranch chores, you can tell from my photo we STILL HAVEN'T finish painting the house.

All of the kids had dentist appointments on Friday and everyone did well, although I heard Arlo was really jumpy.  The girls went back to school and Arlo came home since he had a half day and it was the start of their spring break.  Jude spent the afternoon dragging games out of the closet to play with dad.  Phil didn't get much done while I was working because keeping Jude occupied is pretty much a full time job (and he's really good at it).  

Arlo got picked up to go visit his dad for the first week of spring break Friday afternoon and the girls went on Saturday morning since they had tech rehearsal until ten.  There were plans to go to the Renaissance Fair in Phoenix so Felicity decided to tag along.  I heard they had a good time.  Phil was working on Saturday and I spent some time decompressing from a stressful week by getting caught up on some birthday cards.  I like to make a set of birthday and anniversary cards to send to nieces and nephews and other family members each year, and I had sometime to make some cute butterfly birthday cards for the girls that included cutting paper and sewing, two of my favorite things.

I did some cleaning and laundry and caught up on chores Saturday evening.  On Sunday Phil and Felicity and Jude went to church in our ward and I attended church in the Single Adult Ward for their ward conference.  It was a nice Sacrament meeting and then I taught the lesson in Relief Society, I think it went pretty well.  We had a nice chill evening, Phil and I finally started watching "The Chosen" a few weeks ago (I know, we're really late to the party on that one) and have enjoyed that.  He made me popcorn and I worked on a crocheted blanket I'm making as part of my Christmas décor.  He makes the best popcorn and I love just watching a show together before bed.  Life is beautiful

03 March 2024

This week felt fast and furious. We came back from our awesome rodeo break to real life real quick.  Helen had multiple performances of the intermediate drama class' children's show this week.  On Monday Felicity had a symphonic band performance.  The bands are preparing for a few different festivals and competitions so they had an exhibition performance for the families.  The concert band and jazz band were ok, the symphonic band was excellent; we were pleasantly surprised.

I have too many WIPs (works in progress) right now on my sewing table and yet I decided to start something new early last week.  I was feeling a little bored with all the geometrics I've been working with and so I decided to use some stand alone patterns to create a quick baby quilt of my own design.  It was fun to make and turned out pretty cute.  I don't have anyone in mind for it so maybe after I get it quilted I'll sell it.  

The Symphonic band went to the ABODA festival on Wednesday and received a Superior rating, the highest awarded.  This was no surprise to me as I was quite impressed with their exhibition performance on Monday.  Felicity has been lucky to have had such a winning streak in both of her bands this year; what a great way to end her senior year.

Arlo had his last wrestling match on Wednesday and we were so proud of him.  He wrestled the same opponent that pinned him so quickly last week, but this time they went all three periods and the kid only won by two points and never got Arlo pinned.  It made my mama's heart so happy that so many people were there cheering Arlo on and encouraging him.  He was so proud of himself.  Arlo learned a lot in his first year of wrestling and found that he really enjoyed it.  He is even more willing to wrestle with Dad at home and take some coaching.  

Phil continued to help coach on his days off this week and will stop in to coach next week too as the A team has their season end tournament on Wednesday.  Phil plans to continue to coach in off season when he's home from work.  There are a few boys from our ward that are on the team that have expressed interest in continuing to work on wrestling and Phil made friends with a couple of the parents at the matches who have kids Arlo's size that are also planning to work with the group between now and next year.  I think it will be fun and I hope that Arlo will want to continue for years to come.  After the match Phil dropped me off at El Coronado where I was meeting with my presidency to celebrate the lovely Allison's birthday.  I love spending time with these incredible women...and the Mexican food was pretty stellar too.  Phil had to come back and pick me up later in the evening after dropping the kids off at home because I forgot my wallet!

I was happy to have my sweetheart home on Friday at the start of his four-day break, he is such a big help while I'm working.  He did the shopping for our neighbors and cleaned up a bit too.  I snapped this cute picture of him vacuuming with Jude riding piggy back.  This is the way Jude would ride around with Dad all day if Phil let him.  He climbs up on him and puts his feet in Phil's back pockets and then clings to his neck while Dad works.  They're a pretty cute and inseparable pair.  I think everyone knew what an amazing dad Phil would be, this is just further proof they were right.  

Friday evening Felicity babysat for us while Phil and I attended Helen's drama presentation of "Folk Tales for Fun".  It was SO CUTE.  Helen had four different roles.  She was the hare in the "Tortoise and the Hare" segment which was hilarious.  I wish they had let us take pictures or video because she was awesome in her bunny ears and sweat suit warming up and stretching for her big race with the tortoise.  She was the rear end of a snake, the rooster in the "Bremerton Musicians" segment, and then a rabbit in a segment that was similar to "The Three Little Pigs".  She did such a great job.  I did sneak one photo of her on stage and then some after they were done.  I'm so proud of Helen.  After the play we went on a double date with our friends Jen and Steve and had a good time, I'm so grateful for their friendship.

The girls had a build day for the high school musical on Saturday so they were gone all day and Phil helped me with some shopping.  We braved Costco, then Tractor Supply for animal feed before heading to Fry's to do our grocery shopping.  It was an expensive Saturday!   On Sunday our family fasted that Felicity would be able to feel inspired as to what she would be doing when she graduates this spring.  She's been between a few options and we really needed her to pick a direction so we can make plans and set things up.  I've been helping her apply for scholarships and such, but needed her to make a decision.  Felicity and Phil and I met with our Bishop after church where we talked about what her plans were and how the Bishop could help.  When we were done we stopped at my parents house to visit and break our fast.  Felicity let us know on the way home that she had decided to attend Eastern Arizona College in the fall and do their dual associates degree and certificate in cosmetology program.  We feel confident this is a good fit for Felicity too.  

EAC is a much smaller campus with a great atmosphere and will allow her to both pursue cosmology which has been her interest over the last year while appeasing her mother who really wanted her to go to college.  Its a four semester program that will result in her earning an Associate of Applied Science degree as well as a cosmetology certificate and set her up to get her cosmetology license.  This way if she chooses to continue on to university and get her bachelors degree she will have completed all her general education courses.  Her current plan is to attend for a year, serve an 18 month proselyting mission for the church, finish up her associates and get her cosmetology license and then maybe do two more years at university to earn a bachelors in business.  I think its a solid plan and one we can work with.  Community college will be more affordable and living in Thatcher will allow her some independence as she lives away from home, but campus is also close enough that she can come home when she wants.  I've heard that she can get a job fairly easily if she wants to and is only a few minutes away from Gila Valley Temple which will also be nice.  They have a very active Institute program and lots of other members of the church attending there.  They also have a marching band and multiple choir programs she can participate in.  I'm proud of Felicity, I think this will be a good fit for her.  I'm proud of her for choosing her own path, its not the path I would have chosen, but its the one she feels inspired to take and so I can stand behind her.  We applied to EAC earlier in the week when it was one of the schools she was considering and we were able to sneak in a scholarship application too just in the nick of time since they were due on March 1st.   

With drama and wrestling behind us, now we have to get through tech rehearsals for the musical next week and then we have a couple weeks of reprieve for spring break.  I can't believe how fast time is flying by, only ten weeks until graduation.