Valentine's Day

Hallee started working on her Valentine box last week, it turned out so cute.  She is so responsible, I never have to tell her to do her homework or anything like that, she is always on top of things and makes sure she gets everything done and she is always ready on time.  

Wyatt had a big idea for his Valentine box that involved a big picture of him and his hands moving so they could put the cards in.  That didn't quite pan out, so he took this Dr. Pepper box instead.  Ha, it was perfect for him!

A girl in Wyatt's class asked him to be her Valentine.  He wasn't totally sure what that meant, but he said yes.  We told him that he needed to get her something.  He wasn't sure if that was true, but he took a present in his back pack just in case.  It was a good move because she gave him a gift.

Cayden brought over this poster for Caitlyn.  They went out the day after Valentine's Day because they both worked that night.  He brought her flowers to work and they exchanged gifts the next day.  He surprised her and took her to an escape room and then to dinner at Olive Garden.  She had a great time.

I'm very hit or miss on Valentine's Day. This year I didn't do gifts, but we bought Hallee and Wyatt Panda for dinner. Jonah talked me into buying him a tank of gas for Valentine's day and I bought Caitlyn lunch yesterday.  

Keith and I ate Panda with the kids and then we watched a movie together.  We were both happy to have a nice evening at home. 

Life Lately

When Tiff took the girls to Amarie's dance recital Tessa and Hallee said they wanted a picture with the temple in the background. They are so cute.

Wyatt's class went on a field trip to the planetarium.  ThomaLee sent me some pictures. 

Hallee and I got to go watch Tessa's gymnastics meet last weekend. 

It was so fun watching Tessa do her thing.  She works so hard and is so talented.  She did awesome in every event. We loved watching her.  

Tiff took Hallee home with her after the meet.  She sent me this picture and said the girls begged her to take them shopping and she couldn't resist those faces.

They had a fun girls day and Tiff bought them matching shirts.  Hallee was in heaven and loved spending the whole day with them.

Hallee and Tessa wore their matching shirts to grandma's the next day.

Wyatt is obsessed with hanging out with friends.  It's usually just Eddie and Dallin, but last week a bunch of other boys came over and they had a nerf war out front.

One night I was reading to Hallee in my bed and Jackson snuggled right up and fell asleep on me.  Hallee and I thought it was pretty cute.  Hallee has been loving the Fablehaven series. She let Trinity borrow the first book and she loved it too, so now they read it together at school and plan a page that they will each read to every night.  I love that they made their own little book club.

Hallee had fun dressing up for kindness week at school.

Hallee reads every day and reads a book from a certain genre each month so she can go to the Principals book club every month. They meet in the gym and get to do fun activities. This month they all got medals for participating. 

Sweethearts

Aliyah asked Jonah to Sweethearts.  

Jonah was excited to go with her.  He said she is really nice and thought they would have fun together.

Aliya's group of friends asked Jonah's group of friends so he was excited about the group.  

Milo, Kyle, James, Colston, Jonah, Maddox and Oliver.  

Jonah had a great time.  They went to Top Golf that afternoon and then came home and got ready.  Jonah wanted me to open the door when she came to get him and even said I should take a picture, I won't say no to that! They went and took pictures and got dinner and then went to the dance. 

It was Colston's birthday that day so apparently Jonah gave him a birthday kick.

Jonah came home and told us that he passed out at the dance because it was so hot.  I asked him why nobody called us and he said the adults didn't notice because his friends just carried him off the dance floor.  He didn't seem worried about it at all, but Keith and I were worried.  He's been fine since so I guess he is okay.  He said, "that is just what you do at dances."  I don't think passing out is what you do at dances, but it's very hard to argue with a teenager.  I'm glad Jonah had a great night with his friends. 

Best in State Battle

Wyatt has been very excited about this battle. The main reason we decided not to go to Idaho for the blessing was because the battle was on the same weekend. Breakin Circles put on a battle and invited all the breakers in the state.  Deon had the kids model some of the shirts she made for the battle.

Wyatt has been working hard in class every week to learn new moves and he was really motivated for this battle.  He wanted to make it past the first round.  

He has been working on this jump for his entrance and it scares me every time. It looks like he is going to hurt himself when he lands.  He has it down and knows how to land just right.  Look how high he jumps!

This was my favorite part.  He leaned back and went back and forth on his hands behind him.  He yawned in the middle of it as a burn.  The crowd loved that and cheered really loud.  You are supposed to burn your opponent while you are battling and Wyatt usually just lets his footwork speak for itself, but this was awesome!

His routine was amazing and he made it into the top 16!  He was very happy that he had reached his goal. When he told me about it, he said, "so I'm pretty much the 12th best break dancer in the state." Nice job Wyatt!

We got Wyatt's crew pictures back.  He is on the end on the right.

He loves being a part of the Hostile Crew.

You can't come bursting into this unit!

Two weeks ago dad had surgery on his neck.  He doesn't have any discs in his vertebrae, which can be dangerous and painful, so they went in there to put some separators in.  Us girls went and kept mom company in the waiting room at the hospital.  The surgery went well and dad was a little out of it, but he felt good enough to make lots of While You Were Sleeping jokes.  My favorite one was when we came back to his room and he said, "You can't come bursting into this unit!"   He stayed in the hospital overnight and then he was ready to come home.  He has to wear this neck brace for three months.

Matt flew in the day of the surgery and stayed at the hospital over night with dad.  He took good care of dad and helped him get all settled in at home.  I loved having some time to visit with Matt. Matt stayed until Thursday afternoon.  

On Friday I went and stayed with dad so mom could go to Idaho for the weekend to see Rosalind be blessed.  Kyle drove mom and Lindy to Idaho and Gary and Julie and the kids flew in.  I wish I could have been there, I can tell from the pictures that Rosalind has already changed so much.

I would have loved to see Gary meet his granddaughter. Gary and Caleb were born to be family men, so I think they are both in heaven right now.

Mom had a great time and said Caleb gave Rosalind a beautiful blessing.  I'm so happy to hear that Johanna is doing better and healing from her difficult delivery. 

 I had fun hanging out with dad for the weekend.  It was fun to visit with him and watch movies together.  I was nervous about getting his neck brace on, but I was able to do it, so I was grateful for that. 

Keith took care of things at home that weekend.  Friday night Caitlyn and Hallee went to Amarie's dance recital so Keith took Wyatt to In and Out for a boys night.  I think Wyatt was pretty happy about that.

On Saturday Wyatt had a battle.  Keith texted me updates, I will post about that next. 

Those battles can be really long, so I asked Tiff if Hallee could come over there.  Hallee was thrilled to spend the day with Tessa.

They went to a Swig opening and Hallee loved that!

Hallee said it was the best day ever.  Any time she spends the day with Tessa she tells me it was the best day ever.  Caitlyn and Jonah worked and hung out with friends all weekend.

School Life

Hallee wanted me to come on her field trip to see a BYU women's basketball game.  I was glad that I could go with her.

Her and Trinity have so much fun together.

The 6th graders were there too so I got to see Wyatt and his friends.

The only hard part was getting all of the kids through the crowded arena to get their food, once we were back in our seats it was not stressful at all.  

Wyatt was sitting a few rows behind us, so I had fun watching him and his friends too.

Jonah and his friends are in D-Males and they practice every Wednesday. I was a little confused on what it was, but I think a girl from the dance company teaches the boys dances and they perform them at assembly's. 

They had partners during the last assembly, so they had girls dancing with them. I'm so glad that Caitlyn went to the assembly and took a video and pictures so I could see it.  I love how much fun Jonah is having in High School.

He goes to the basketball games every week and they have different themes.  This one was a beach theme, a little cold in January, but he didn't seem to mind.

This was a western night.  I asked for a picture and Jonah said no and left and I followed him and said, "then you have to pay your own car insurance."  He turned around and gave me this look.  Ha, I have problems!

Wyatt and Hallee ran in from school one day to show me how they put their arm in the sleeves of their shirt and use the other one inside their sweatshirt and moved it like a beating heart. They said, "This is mom's heart when she saw dad." It was so funny.

Keith took the kids to parent teacher conferences last week.  There is a lady at the school who is always taking pictures of everything going on at school and posting them. I saw this one on Facebook, it's a keeper.

Keith took a picture of the mummy Wyatt made so he could show me.

Wyatt was excited to tell us about the sea penguin he created for his Greek mythology unit.

Keith said both teachers went on and on about how great the kids are and how hard they work.  Keith took them to Cafe Rio after to celebrate their hard work.

Hallee was excited to go to Trinity's house after school one day. Her mom sent me this picture.

Wyatt has been watching drawing videos. I'm so impressed with his work!

He's been doing some graffiti art.  I love seeing the things he creates. 

Caitlyn and Hallee had fun painting together the other day.  Caitlyn has a college art class this semester and it has been very stressful for her.  She has already improved a lot and is starting to enjoy it.  I told Caitlyn how good her drawings were and she said, in her Caitlyn voice, "I'm practically Picasso."  I love her, she always says the funniest things and she has the best delivery.  Caitlyn has had a lot less homework this semester without her math class. 

Caitlyn is still loving her job.  She has made good friends there and is always excited to go to work.  She is sad that a lot of her friends are leaving this week to move over to the Saratoga Springs store.  Luckily, some of her friends are staying, but she will miss the ones that are leaving.