Other February

Nathan took a trip to warm and sunny Arizona to spend time with his family, but mostly to golf.  The Sunday that he was gone, Bishop excised Brother Cotton who was "away on a work trip"... All of my kids (and I!) audibly snickered at this gross misrepresentation! 

Daddy had so much fun with his sisters Sarah and Christi and their families!

He golfed, went to the Phoenix Open and stayed up playing games and talking way way way too late every night- he came home SO tired!

I'm pretty sure the week he was gone was the busiest week for me this whole winter!  After school every day was busy, busy.  Eli was finishing up basketball, Jace started wrestling, I had various appointments for the kids... Thursday afternoon I was non-stop driving from 2 until 8pm shuttling kids from one thing to the next.

After Eli's last basketball game, I took the kids to Waddell's for some yummy burgers:

It was on the late side for us for dinner and Tyler was so hungry- he kept seeing other tables getting their food and then would sign "eat" to me- it was so cute!

Just 'da boyz' eating breakfast together one morning:

Silly boys:

Years ago, Hailee got this adorable tea set from Aunt Waveney for her birthday- Tyler loves to play with it:

On a sunny and warm (46°) day, I put the basketball goal outside and Tyler played with it it for a solid 45 minutes- it was a whole new toy!

Tyler saw all of his siblings bringing their laundry upstairs to put away and he jumped up to do the same:

He is constantly mimicking what they do- I frequently remind them how important it is to set a good example!

Jace and Eli have matching pj's and Jace didn't notice that he grabbed the wrong ones:

Hailee is a bit of a pack rat... she keeps all sorts of stuff shoved everywhere, including her coat pockets.  I ask her frequently if she needs to throw anything away and she pretty much always declines.  After sledding one afternoon, she put her snow stuff, including her coat, into the dryer:

It thoroughly emptied her pockets!

Not sure what the draw is to underwear (Bryson's specifically!), but on laundry day, Tyler loves to try them on!

Thank goodness it's always been a freshly laundered pair!

We had another snow storm come through and Jace was so sweet to take Tyler out to play:

Someone made another "bench press bar" out of tubelox, so naturally, all my manly boys would randomly lay down in the family room to lift some weights.  Tyler entertained us all with his feats of strength too:

The Lost King Sequel

Last spring and summer, Hailee and Jace made a live action movie based on Hailee's The Lost King book. This last weekend, they filmed the sequel and it premiered tonight:

As per usual, Hailee and Jace both played multiple parts throughout the movie, there were even some guest appearances by Eli and Tyler.  After the movie, awards were given out:

I love their imaginations!

Braces Twins!

 Eli's been ready for braces for a while but, well, I hadn't been eager to put braces in that kids mouth because his oral hygiene was a little lacking.  After lots of improvement, he was finally ready at the same time as Hailee!  Since having a bunch of metal in your mouth really limits how well you can see anything on a MRI, he got his annual brain MRI a little early this year:

He did great and there were no significant changes from previous studies, yay!

The next morning after we dropped Jace off at school we caught a quick breakfast at Little Euro:

And then it was time for their torture appointments:

For now, Hailee has brackets on her top teeth only- she goes back next week to get a lower retainer to move her jaw before she gets her lower brackets.

Eli got the full treatment today though:

I had fully intended on running some errands during their appointment, but Tyler ended up being so entertained with all the cars driving by outside the window that he made it easy enough to stay.

My metal mouth cuties:

14 years old!

Eli always loves it when his birthday falls on Presidents Day weekend... but this year, it's especially the best because his birthday is ON Presidents Day, so no school on his birthday, lucky boy!

Friday after school, he and some friends went to the V Sports Arena in Couer d'Alene- they played VR games, nerf battled and laser tagged and had a blast.  Nathan took them, hence the lack of pictures. 

Sunday evening we had the fam over for dinner:

Eli wanted hamburgers, fries and baked beans.  Nathan was tasked with the grilling of the burgers and fortunately for him, the winter weather that was forecasted mostly held out- it was cold though!

Instead of the usual chocolate cake, he wanted a yellow cake!  Jace was eager to light the candles:

We woke up on his birthday to 6 inches of snow!  

I'm always thankful when we get lots of snow overnight and either Nathan is off work or it's not on a school day- today it was both!

For breakfast he wanted waffles (with heavenly syrup of course!), scrambled eggs (with peppers, onions and hash browns) and apple juice.

As soon as I took the first picture, he immediately blew out the candle with out even looking- he was impressed with himself.  *wink*

His friend Matt's birthday is tomorrow, but he's celebrating it today (on Eli's birthday!)- they went to Red Robin and then to see the movie "Uncharted".  Because he was going to be gone most of the day, he begged to open presents after breakfast... because I'm nice like that (and Daddy was home), I relented.

Hailee made Eli a certificate giving him the highly coveted privilege of creating characters for "The Lost King":

It must be the privilege if it spurs a hug from him!  *wink*

Back up a little, before he opened his presents, they of course had to be wrapped- I sent Eli upstairs to take a shower and Jace helped me wrap them.  Tyler wandered in my room and saw the basketball that Daddy had gotten Eli and immediately started exclaiming, "bah!  bah!!" over and over- good thing Eli was in the shower because apparently Tyler can't keep a secret! *wink*  After Eli opened the basketball (and after Bryson ripped it out of his hands for old times sake!), Tyler claimed it as his own:

Good luck getting it back Eli!

Oh, how I love my Eli!  He is such a sweet boy and has such a tender side.  I'm sure he'll groan that I am documenting that he loves to snuggle and give me hugs.  As sweet as he can be to me though, he and Jace have been arguing so much the past few months- they're constantly at each other.  They both loves sports and are both competitive, so often, their games end in an argument over who won, who cheated, etc.  We're working on it *rolls*eyes*.  His favorite team is the Green Bay Packers, and he will never admit that Tom Brady is a better quarterback than Aaron Rodgers.

It really surprises me that Eli is fairly reserved and shy at school because he has such a big personality and is so social!  He says he pretty much never talks or raises his hand in class- he's a smart boy, but he just doesn't want the attention on him I guess.  When he and Jace aren't fighting over playing sports (oftentimes games that they make up), he can be found reading... or sneaking snacks, cereal or even candy out of the pantry (it's not his fault, he gets is from Nathan *groan*).

Eli loves animals- he frequently asks if we can get a pet... a dog, a cat (and then he remembers Bryson and Dad are both allergic), a fish, a hamster, chickens, goats, a platypus *snort*... ANYTHING!  Alas, I'm just not up for it!  One day buddy, one day!

Eli at 14-

Favorite color: Sea blue
Favorite restaurant: Waddell's
Favorite food: Hamburgers with no cheese (or a "Master Cheese" with no cheese)
Favorite drink: Lemonade
Favorite thing to do: Sports
Best friend: Joe Bessire, Carter Munck, Matthew Wigen and Jackson Smith
Favorite movie: Spiderman No Way Home
Favorite TV show: All Hail King Julian
Favorite toy: Switch
Favorite video game: Pokémon Arceus (he just got it for his birthday!)
Favorite animal: "A dog, but you won't let me have one!"
Favorite book: It's a 6-way series tie- Percy Jackson, Heroes of Olympus, Rangers Apprentice, Harry Potter and Michael Vey
What he wants to be when he grows up: An Engineer

Faith and Hope

I'm writing this post now, even though I know I won't actually post it for months... but I'll back date it so the date is accurate...

Loosing Wesley was incredibly painful to say the least.  I would never have chosen the experience, and yet, I'm thankful for the things I learned and the ways I grew  I'm honored to have been the means of his sweet spirit receiving a mortal body.

Going into it, Wesley's pregnancy was my last one for sure.  I was just starting to recover from morning all day sickness when my NIPT results came back "atypical", followed by the devastating prognosis at the high risk clinic a week later.  Then came the tortuous interim weeks of waiting for the inevitable, with no idea of how long it would go on.  It was a horrible way to end my string of beautiful pregnancies.  After Tyler but before getting pregnant with Wesley, I had a very specific and spiritual prompting that we needed to have another baby- and I'm thankful that I had that prompting- it {eventually} brought a lot of peace and reassurance in the dark days before he passed.

And then in November, there was a 'chance' that I might have been pregnant.  I'll spare you the details, but my heart changed instantly.  I wanted so badly to have another baby.  For awhile, my heart and mind battled it out.  My mind telling my heart that I'm too old and that the risk is too high.  Every time I went to work (which was so, so hard to do!), my brain would have my heart mostly convinced- because, well, sometimes my job is the worst!  But, each time, my heart would rally and as my due date with Wesley approached, I felt like I was grieving the loss of him all over again.  I prayed and prayed, and while I was comforted, I still felt the desire for another baby- I felt like Heavenly Father was telling me that it was our choice if we decided to have another.

In an effort to strong-arm my heart into submission, I called the genetic counselor we had met with at the high risk OB clinic.  I wanted the cold hard facts of just how high the risk was of having another baby with a major genetic defect... 50%?  75% ?  Higher?

I was shocked when she told me that my risk was actually the same as it was before- it's still my 'age related risk' which was about a 6% risk.  Six percent.  Wow, suddenly my brains argument was looking pretty weak.

Nathan needed some convincing.  He had a lot of concerns about me physically and emotionally, about the risks involved and especially about his age when another baby would graduate from high school.  And I knew how hard it was on him to see my hurt.  We went around and around, and in the end, we decided to try.  Both of us intended on only trying for a few months to see what happened.  Literally the day we decided to try again, I started a new cycle- making my previous cycle 22 days- incredibly short.  But, on the bright side, if I was having shorter cycles, it meant less time in between testing!  *wink*

Ready with a 'early result' test that allows you to test '6 days sooner', I was of course testing as soon as the window opened.  Negative.

I waited a few days and tested again.  Nope again.

A few days more and still cycle, but also no second line. *sigh* Maybe that short 22 day cycle was a fluke.

I was disappointed for sure, but more than anything, I just wanted my new cycle to start... but it never did.  I was determined not to test again, to just be patient for things to start up again... but after 5 more days with nothing and more than a week 'late' (based on a 22 day cycle), I was at work and just thought I'd text my sister Kristi to do her energy work to see if my 'energy' showed anything (I'm becoming a believer in her work!!)... she texted me back a bit later with a meme that said, "All signs point to yes!"  The next morning, I took a test again:

We're elated.  I'm optimistic and refuse to put "cautiously" before the word optimistic.  Of course this may not end the way we're hoping, I'm a realist, but I just have so much love and gratitude in my heart that there's no room dwell on the "what if's".

Yoga Baby

Tyler sees me doing yoga in the mornings, and he's taken a liking to it:

Temple Firsts

Hailee had her first temple trip with her Young Women's class this week- since it was changed a few years ago so that Priests can perform baptisms in the temple, and since Dallin is now a Priest, he was asked to help out- his first time performing baptisms!  

Hailee printed out some family names to bring and we had some lovely discussions about temple work and covenants beforehand- I'm so thankful for the Restored Gospel!

My goodness, would it have killed them to show just a teensy bit of familial affection?

Turns out, Dallin ended up being the only Priest who ended up being there- so he performed all 86 baptisms!  His arm was killing him by the end because the girls weren't bending their knees when he was immersing them!

8th Grade Basketball

Hooray for sports again!  Eli played 8th grade basketball this year- he was required to be vaccinated (which he already was) and also had to be tested for COVID three times a week.  The season got off to a rocky start because they had several kids test positive, so they had to cancel practice and even a few games, even though the kids were totally asymptomatic.

In fact, statewide teachers are required to also be tested three times a week right now... and several local school districts (including Freeman) are in danger of having to go remote because they have so many staff in quarantine- despite the fact that all but one staff member is completely asymptomatic.  Dallin claims that if school goes back to remote learning, he's going to drop out of high school.  Mmmkay.

I digress.  Basketball.

After the start/stop/start at the beginning, the rest of the season was great!  Most of the school his team played were considerably larger than Freeman, but won all of their games pretty handily (except one- and they played the varsity team that game, so...)

I pretty much had to keep Tyler in his stroller during the games- it was pure torture for him because BALL!!  But if I let him out, all he wanted to do was wriggle out of my arms and run out on the court to play!

Eli's cheering section:

Clearly, Hailee was super interested in the game...