MLK

We got a bonus Monday off!! So excited!

Yesterday was a nice day. After a church we went to the Walkenhorst’s and had lunch with them and did Come Follow Me with them. Everyone enjoyed it.

This morning we slept in then when Z and I went on our morning walk we saw these guys right across the street! 

Also this flower was blooming in our yard! It was a fun surprise.

We went to Blue Springs. Ethan drove both ways and is getting to be a good driver.  The manatees were amazing. The count was 347 for today and we saw tons of them in the beautiful clear water! 

Look at the cute little baby!!

It was so pretty. We did some walking and enjoying together. 

Then we went to Cafe Rio per Grace’s birthday request. It was a bit of driving but worth it:)

Ethan said I looked like a babuska;) I said that I was so that’s fine with me!!

Dance

Rob and his friend John went fishing this morning. 

This afternoon we ran lots of errands:

Goodwill drop off

Gas the car

Lowe’s

Home goods

Petco for Ziva’s special dog food

Grocery shopping.

We also did chores inside and outside.

Tonight the kids went to a dance and I was a chaperone. There were lots of kids there and the music was good and the snacks plentiful. 

I enjoyed spying on the kids as they danced, hung out with friends and had fun.

After the dance Ethan went to McDonald’s with some friends and Grace and I came home. 

Bro Cole, Ethan’s seminary teacher, the boys love him!

Friday

I worked .

Grace went after school with Ashlie and Ashton shopping for a dress for the 8th grade formal.

Rob and Bub and I went to Yellow Dog Eats. It was yummy and really cute. They had live music and we ate on the patio where they had twinkle lights and fun decor. Also you can bring your dog there. We didn’t but lots of other people did.

At 10 we went to Ethan’s soccer game. He scored 2 goals and played keeper the second half. After he showers he’s going to meet up with the other priests at Braden’s house for all night games.


Dani and Greg went to the Jazz game! It was star wars night. Look at our little Princess Dani. “help me Obi-won”

Date night

The kids have busy weekends ahead so Rob and I went on our date tonight.

I made meatloaf and potatoes and cheesecake for the kids to have for dinner (which they did not like) and then we left them on their own.

We walked around DS (my fav). Ate a delicious dinner at Terralina and then made a second stop for desssert.

Then we came home and talked to Grace about the dangers of fentynal laced marijuana.
(we love to do that from time to time, call a kid in and talk to them about some random danger or moral issue....or life skill...or whatever)

Wednesday

Ziva went to the spa and now she smells good.

I made cookies for an after school treat for the kids ...and Rob.

I have spent the last 3 days waiting for a drywall guy to come. It has been super frustrating. Last week I set up an appt for Monday morning. Sunday night I texted to confirm a time. No answer. Monday morning I texted “are we still on for today”. No answer. Monday after noon I texted “I’ve been waiting are you on your way?” Finally he answered. He said yes. 2 hours later “sorry I was hung up I’ll come tomorrow. 

Tuesday morning I wait. Tuesday afternoon “I have to run to Clermont I’ll call you when I’m on my way”. Tuesday night “my mom had car trouble and I had to help her, I’ll come first thing in the morning.”

Wednesday he comes. Works for 1/2 and hour and says I’ll be back tomorrow to finish. 🤯

Sadly we have searched for someone else and there is no one available. This is an issue covered by our home warranty and they looked for someone and couldn’t find anyone so told us to find our own guy and send in the receipt. I am not sure why this is such a rare skill but we are stuck waiting on him day after day. 

For YW tonight we planned our year. We’ve got some fun stuff in the works. 

For cubs Rob and John had the boys build rocket launchers. They loved that.

The YM played games at one of their homes. 

Ethan played soccer after school.

Grace had an orthodontist appointment and had to go to school early for solo and ensemble practice.

And that’s a Wednesday.

This. That and the other.

I haven’t done a catching up with everyone post in awhile. 

Cat: continues to try and fit in bags and boxes. Runs around like a crazy guy. Attacks Ziva with “purr”- poseful glee. Keeps Grace company.

Ziva: seems to be doing better with her bladder stones. We are anxious to see her progress when we go to the vet at the end of the month.

Grace: busy! She’s in the school musical so stays after for rehearsals until 6 most nights. She’s also preparing for solo and ensemble competition for band. She likes her new private clarinet teacher, would like to find a place to take riding lessons, hates her science teacher because she loves science and doesn’t feel like she’s learning a lot. She has lots of friends. Struggles with EDS. She’s a lot of fun to be around and has a very kind heart. She’s growing up to be a lovely young lady.

Ethan: doing well. He’s practicing driving and we are all anxious for him to be liscensed. He loves to play video games with his CA friends. He has made some good friends here and they do crazy stuff like put on speedos and jump into the alligator lake at 10pm off the end of the dock in January! Doing well in school. Likes his seminary teacher. Tries to play sports as often as possible. Goes running regularly. Is funny and kind. Never puts his dirty clothes where they belong and joins me in the can’t sing a note contingent of the family. He loves to play and to watch all sports.

Hannah and Sawyer are busy at school. Their new apartment is so cute and they are happy to be living there. They’ve had friends over for game nights. Hannah is enjoying being back to classes and getting her ceramics grove back.  They are looking for part time jobs and not loving the cold.  22 degrees is no fun!

The Johnsons are doing well. Ruby and Cora can pull themselves up into stuff. They eat everything but just as a hobby. Mostly they nurse. They are sleeping better but are still fussy pants! Jenna is planning a big birthday party for them and they are the cutest bambinos ever! Luckily J & C have a big circle of friends to help them weather the trauma of a twins first year, and yet another frigid Akron winter!

Sierra moved into her own apartment. She has 2 roommates that she likes. She’s driving Lyft and Uber. I wish she’d move here and work for Disney! But she’s happy and figuring out what to do so that’s good.

Dani is starting a new business, “Dash of Sun”. It’s a spray tan business. They are converting their laundry room into a spray tan room and she already has a couple appointments set up! The girls are busy going to school and Marshall and Bentley do “preschool” with Dani. I actually haven’t heard any Greg updates lately. I think he’s not serving in YM right now. I’ll have to ask. I also wish they would move to Florida but you know what they say about wishes? !

I am trying to be better. I am enjoying my wide margin Book of Mormon and am trying to read it faithfully. I did awesome during the challenge and want to keep that up. I also am trying to add some more good thing to my life. Like yoga ...so far I have only thought about doing it. And developing my talents. 

I had planned to apply at Disney right after Christmas and now Grace is in the musical and is having a very unpredictable schedule and Ethan’s ride home from school when I can’t pick him up, Hailey, moved to Utah over the Christmas break. So I’ve hit a bump. Seriously how do working moms do it? How do they take care of home and hearth and get their kids where they need to be and go to work??

Rob is having a growth year at work. There have been many changes and challenges for him, that he chose for himself, but that hasn’t made them any easier. And he’s been having health struggles. And he had a challenging calling (cubscouts). So he’s good but it’s not easy:) He loves to fish, is getting back into biking and also loves his video games (is that still what you call them if you play them on the phone?) He also loves to watch college football. We have a couple shows we watch together on tv too. And we’ve been doing well at going to the temple each Tuesday night. 

Concert, car, cat

Grace and I got up quite early and did some emergency pants hemming. We stopped by Walmart for a quick breakfast and then she was at the venue.

I walked around the river walk one last time. It was very pretty early in the morning but not quite and peaceful. There were lots of walkers and runners and dogs with their humans, lots of rowers on the water and people meeting for breakfast at riverside cafes. I walked 3 miles round trip and went back to stand in line.

Ethan and Rob drove up for the concert. They didn’t come Friday because Ethan had two soccer games that night. I was sad to miss them but they won both and he said it was fun. 

The performance was wonderful!! I can’t even say what an awesome, amazing job they did. Rob had tears in his eyes the whole time. It was fantastic. I guess we’ll have to buy the DVD and feel grateful that Ethan plays xbox because that is the only dvd playing plaform in our house!

We stopped for lunch on the way home and then Rob’s car had car trouble. So that was an $$$ and time intensive detour to our day. Everyone felt grouchy but in the end it was fixed and I am grateful we could get it taken care of quickly and safely.

The cat missed Grace and she missed him. We came home and needed to do some grocery shopping and some house cleaning. 

Besides the car problems the whole experience was wonderful. And exhausting. We were up early, out late and walked miles and miles every day. The kids sang for hours and hours. It was well worth it.

Tonight Ethan went to the Roddy’s to watch a football game and Grace and I got her birthday invites ready. I meant to go to bed early... but it’s too late for that:)