To please the eye and gladden the heart

This week in Come Follow Me it talked about keeping the Sabbath Day Holy.  I had never realized one of the covenant promises in Doctrine and Covenants.  In Section 59:16 "Inasmuch as ye do this, (honor the Sabbath Day) the fulness of the earth is yours." Later in verse 18 it says, "Yea, all things which come in the season thereof, are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart."

The beauties of nature definitely please my eye and gladden my heart! I've enjoyed some time in Provo Canyon lately.  I enjoyed a walk one morning.

Yesterday we went to Bridal Veil Falls with Tiff, Rockwell and Tessa.

Hallee was pretending to be a model on the runway on the bridge.

I love her!

There isn't a ton of water in the falls this year.

Tiff climbed up the rocks with the  kids and got some great pictures.

Wyatt and Rockwell worked hard moving the rocks around.

The girls were so cute walking out of the canyon like this.

Tiff told me about a hike to Upper Falls in the canyon so I went this morning to try it out. I love a shady hike!

It was short and crazy steep.  My watch said I went 350 feet in .25 miles.  Some of it felt like rock climbing.  You can see the street below the trees for an idea of how high I am.

I took lots of breaks to catch my breath, but I made it and it was beautiful!

I took a picture for a couple so they returned the favor for me.

I sat down and enjoyed the view and the sound of the water fall for a while.  I also enjoyed the mist.

This was the view to my right, everywhere I looked it was beautiful.

This was how the path looked.  I was nervous to go down, but luckily I didn't fall.  Enjoying all of this beauty definitely gladdened my heart!

Caitlyn you are the greatest and that mascara on your nose really brings out your eyes

Hallee wanted to go to the store to buy treats for her class and I told her I didn't want to take her, but maybe if she was nice to Caitlyn she would take her.  She turned to her and said, "Caitlyn you are the greatest and that mascara on your nose really brings out your eyes."  Caitlyn had fallen asleep after school so her mascara was smeared on her nose.  We all got a good laugh out of Hallee's quick wit. 

I was walking by Hallee's room the other day and I heard her say, "Tell me where the honey is or chubby won't be so fuzzy!"  I walked in and found this. Her Barbie was threatening the bear. Ha!  She makes me laugh.

I love watching Hallee play with all of her stuffed animals.  I love to see her play make believe.  

Alexys stayed over a couple of weeks ago.  They didn't plan it, but they had the same outfit on.

Jonah had a choir concert last week.  We all got to go watch this time!

They let the kids sing without masks!  They sounded so good, I was so impressed.

Jonah and his friends all signed up for choir so they could have a class together. 

Jen sent me some pictures.  I love that Jonah has such a great group of friends. 

Mr. T has been an excellent choir teacher. 

They had two concerts.  We went to the first one and told Jonah to let us know when to pick him up. I got a text from Jen and she had piled all the boys in her car and took them home. She invited them all over for ice cream after.  

Jonah looked pretty nice for school today.  For his choir final he had to sing in front of the class with a group of his friends. They sang, "Kissed by a Rose."  He said it went well.  He also played in the teachers verses student basketball game today (he had shorts in his back pack) and he said everyone went crazy when he made a half court shot.  It was so fun to hear his excitement when he told me about it.

Caitlyn is the best big sister.  She will always do anything Hallee asks her to.

Keith and Caitlyn went to the tennis banquet last night.  It was actually the boys tennis banquet, but they had the girls come too since they never got one because of Covid.  They had already given the girls their awards from the coach, but Caitlyn received the academic award last night.  I think you have to have a 3.75 gpa to get it. 

Caitlyn stayed at Mel's house this weekend.  She was so excited, she hasn't been able to stay there for a while because of tennis.  I saw this picture on Cait's phone and had to have it.  I love that my kids have such fun aunts and uncles.

Caitlyn and I went with Tiff to a book store in Provo to see an exhibit on Heavenly Mother.  I liked this painting, it makes sense that our Heavenly Mother would be close by to guide and comfort me while I take care of my babies. I love knowing that we have Heavenly Parents who love our children even more than we do.

It's such a blessing to know that I have a Heavenly Mother that I can strive to become like.

Track and Field

 

Wyatt, Jonah and Rockwell are doing track this Spring.  Wyatt has had to miss a lot because of soccer and break dance.  Last week was the first track meet, Wyatt had break dancing so he couldn't go.  It has been a long time since we have been to a track meet.  I forgot how chaotic they are. 

Jonah's first event was the 4X100.  He did it with, Jett, Kale and Lincoln.  They did awesome.  Jonah was the second runner and he started out behind everyone, you can see him passing up the other runners in this picture.  They need to work on their hand offs, but they are all so fast. 

The next event Jonah did was the 100 Meter.  I knew he was fast, but it was crazy how fast he ran! 

We zoomed in on a picture of him running and Jonah and I thought it was hilarious.  He said it looks like there is an old man filter on him.  You can see how fast he is going by the wind going through his face.

Jonah also did the high jump.  This event takes forever!  They move the bar up an inch or two at a time and they get three tries each time.  Jonah started out at the beginning of the track meet.  You can see how far above the bar he is.  It took a while before it was a challenge for him.

We were there until the very end for this event.  It came down to Jonah and one other boy.

Jonah took second place by clearing 4ft 6 inches. 

Monday was the second track meet.  Wyatt was excited that he could go this time.  He started out by doing the javelin and the high jump. 

Track meets are so long, so it's great to have a friend there with you!

Wyatt also did the long jump.

He got three tries and they take the farthest one.  He did great!

Wyatt decided to do the 100 Meter for his last event.  He did it in 17.71.  He was happy with that and is excited to try and beat his time.

Jonah did the same events as last time, but added in a 4X400 at the end.  He is very proud of those big calf muscles!  They still haven't posted the results from the Heber track meet, but they have posted the results from this week.  Jonah's 4X100 took first place at 54.30 seconds, the second place ran it in 58.93.  It looks like Jonah took 3rd in the 100 M with a time of 12.97.  

It came down to three boys this time. Jonah cleared 4 ft 6 inches again for 3rd place. 

We were at the track meet for four hours.  Caitlyn watched Tessa, Damon and Hallee at our house while we were there.  Tiff brought Wyatt home when she went to pick up her kids so Wyatt didn't have to stay the whole time.  After Jonah finished the high jump, he did the 4X400, which is the last event.  We were all tired and ready to go home by that point! 

Spring Performance

Wyatt had his Spring performance.  He did awesome as usual.  He doesn't love doing group routines, he prefers to do his own thing.  He has also been frustrated that the boys in his class just goof around instead of listening to the teacher.  He is moving up to advanced breaking, so I'm hoping that will get better and the boys in the class will take it seriously like he does.

His studio is very focused on individuality so they always have everyone take a turn on their own.  

The teachers will help them, but they want them to come up with their own routine and put their own style on it.

This has been huge for Wyatt's confidence.  He thrives because he is given some direction, but then encouraged to put his own spin on it.  His teachers are so good at complimenting him on his hard work and dedication and it leads him to more hard work and dedication. He loves working hard to learn new moves.

Jonah got invited to go boating with his friends, so he wasn't there, but Wyatt loved having so much support.  It's especially fun to have Caleb there because Wyatt loves to break dance with him so his praise means a lot to Wyatt. 

After the dance performance we went over to Katie's.  It was May 15th and that was the day that Katie lost Kayla and then almost died herself.  I can't imagine the PTSD she has.  She knew it would be a hard day so she wanted to do something to take her mind of it while also remembering and honoring Kayla. She invited us all over for dinner and swimming.  Audrey was there too, but we didn't take the picture until she left.  There isn't much I can do to help, so I was happy that this was something we could do to show Katie that we care. 

We sang happy birthday to Damon and Kayla.

Amarie and Ataiya came over too. 

It's so fun to see our kids play together and have so much fun.

The kids had a great time in the pool while the adults visited.

It's so nice that they are all independent in the pool.

The kids always want us to stop visiting so we can watch their tricks.

Hallee and Tessa said, "This is the life!"

I was looking forward to swimming, but I ended up visiting with the adults instead.

Keith decided to get in after dinner and the kids were thrilled.  All of the kids love to play with Keith.

We were having so much fun that we ended up staying until after dark.  The kids were so excited when Katie said they could roast marshmallows.