Welcome to our World

Wishing Everyone a Merry Christmas I was as calm as a cucumber getting ready for the holidays this year. My biggest concern was that the puppies would ruin our Christmas tree and ornaments but the children insisted we had to get a tree so the poor tree was locked in our den the whole time it was in our home. I felt sorry for all the people who were running around stressed out of their minds because of the holidays. Then we got the news the day the puppies were spayed that my suspicion was correct and that Maisie does indeed have hip dysplasia. I cried and cried and had a hard time focusing and was so worried about what to do and all of a sudden I was like all the other stressed out people at the store. Luckily a great deal of calm came over me after my dad and I took her to an veterinary orthopedic specialist and I remembered that I felt strongly that Maisie was supposed to be my dog and that I would make whatever decisions were best for her when the time came. For now, we start...

We had the pleasure of of driving to visit family and friends in Utah over our children’s week long break. K says that a week wasn’t long enough and that we should go again for Christmas and that Ruby finally really really likes her. I think that is a good sign we had a terrific trip. A huge thank you to our brother & sister-in-law for hosting us two years in a row! and to my parents for staying with our naughty puppies while we were away. I did a horrible job taking pictures so you’ll just have to trust me that: 1.) We had an easy drive out on Saturday thanks to Disney+ 2.) We loved being there for Thanksgiving dinner with the Smiths on Sunday 3.) I actually kept my cool about how much screen time my kids were having on vacation and how late they were going to bed. Yes, I am super proud about it! 4.) Bowling is even more fun with cousins — I actually took pictures of that 5.) Our children are old enough to go play at the park down the street now while I go gr...

Life got busier for K with the start of club volleyball.  This year she is practicing twice a week instead of once a week like last year and is also doing conditioning once a week, which she didn’t do at all last year.  I am so proud of her being able to have Acro, Young Women’s and now volleyball 3x a week and still keep up with her homework and have the energy to do things like have fun at her school’s fall social and have her best friend over to spend the night.  K is such a strong girl and I wish her the very best this volleyball season and am looking forward to seeing her perform her Acro routine at the Holiday Show next month.  K also went to a special showing of the Harriet Tubman movie as part of her social studies class. Hubby is also plenty busy with not only work (as always) but he is currently the Sunday School President and the EQ 2nd Counselor — and with the changes recently made to the duties of the bishopric and EQ, he is basically the ward mis...

K and I got to start off October right by going to the Jonas Brothers concert in Denver.  It was a blast!  We enjoyed the opening acts and it was a great blend of old and new Jonas music plus Cake By the Ocean, one of K’s all time favorite songs.  They did a great job and my watch warned me that the sound was over 95 decibels and that I was in danger of hearing loss but it was totally worth it. A couple days later M got to spend the night at a farm with her 4th grade class and absolutely loved it.  She was in her element and was totally fine without having a parent chaperone (for the first time).  I’m grateful she could have such an experience.  While she was gone D and N had their parent teacher conferences and it was so fun to hear how much their teachers enjoy having them in their classes.  The next week when K and I went to her first middle school conferences it was fun to hear teacher after teacher saying what a joy she was to have in their...