May 2024

 May 2nd is the anniversary of Daniel's passing. We spent time together as family and went to his burial site. Oh how we miss him, yet so grateful for the time we had with him and all he gave us and grateful to know we can be with him forever after this life.

Mark went fishing for the first time in a long time!

Timmy performed a piece on the Er Hu (I somehow didn't get any video or pictures) and he was the leader of the lion dance at the culture night at his school.

It was fun to have him at the big Community Night at the high school representing the middle school as an SBO one last time. He handed out balloons.

The Student Government was in charge of the high school tent. They did face painting and gave out merchandise.

We needed someone to be the mascot. It ended up being Brian for most of the night. There he is with the principal. He made lots of kids happy that night! The new officers helped with this event.

Timmy ran track this Spring. He did well. He got 3rd place in the District for javelin.

Mother's Day was beautiful. I am so glad for the opportunity to be a mom and I love to get notes like these from the boys.

We went up to the ranch. These cousins are soaking in as much time as possible with each other. Three of them will be heading out on missions this summer.

Mark had to go to Japan for work. He was very busy most of the time, but had the opportunity to eat some good Japanese food between all the meetings.

He loved the Japanese Yakitori so much that...

...he immediately ordered his own Yakitori grill and started to perfect his own Yakitori at home.

Timmy had his Bonneville awards night. He got awards for academics and leadership. My favorite though was the service award he was given.

School was coming to a close and it was almost time to say goodbye to my first year of Student Government kids. We had them over to my house for a party. Most of them that are not seniors will still be with me next year. The seniors I will miss, but I'm also happy they are moving on.

Because they are a handful! Always a handful!

Then it was time for graduation! This year ended earlier than most on May 24th. I will miss these guys and I wish them happiness in all their endeavors.

I will miss this one the most. Ramon was the SBO president and he is one of my favorite people on the planet. I was lucky to work with him. Often he was my advisor more than I was his!

My nephew Jordan went through the temple to prepare for his mission. I went to the temple with the adults and then we all met at his restaurant of choice, Chuck a Rama!

We went up to the Ranch again for Timmy's birthday. He is finally 14! For some reason I thought he was 14 all year long. He has grown so tall and he is now the tallest in our family!

He celebrated his birthday by playing a pretty fun game of man hunt with his cousins.

While they all ran around the ranch hunting each other, I went on a hike with Pip. I love the ranch.

Back at home, both kids went to some fun end of school parties with friends.

And I had leg vein surgery. This was not a fun way to start the summer, but it was necessary.

Red Corner food made me feel a little better.

Mark started taking down the trees that needed to be taken out in order for us to install our solar panels. More to come with this in June.

Summer officially started!

April 2024

We started April in Kauai with the Scotts. That trip definitely deserves it's own posts! It was an experience of a lifetime!

After our trip we had to get back to real life and school. Mark continued doing an amazing job of coaching the tennis team and Brian was improving quickly!

I was busy at school with teaching Geography, running elections and Prom.

Class Officer elections were in April. Brian ran for Junior Class Historian and won! He ran a good campaign with lots of fortune cookies!

We started preparing for our upcoming Peru trip by eating at our favorite Peruvian place!

Mark made us some good sourdough!

I took Timmy to Red Corner, his favorite Chinese restaurant. He ate all that food and more! He grew so much through these months and he eats more than can be imagined.

We visited our friends and the boys love their backyard.

In addition to playing tennis, Timmy also did track at school. He did very well this year! He learned he was great at javelin. I didn't make it to many of his meets, except the one at our high school!

Mark was able to attend some of Timmy's tennis matches and help coach him a little bit. It was a lot of tennis coaching for Mark this Spring!

Student Government helped with the talent show and announced the winners for next year's class officers.

At home we thoroughly enjoyed the swim spa. The boys figured out how to make ring bubbles.

Timmy got his braces off! This was the last picture with his braces on. I somehow missed taking an after picture, but I'm sure we'll get plenty of those as time goes on.

With our Kauai vacation, April was a packed month of fun and work!