Jan. '20- Week 4- Anna Half-Time Dance Performances, Anna Kangaroo Zoo, Date with Mom and Dad, Webster Jan. BDs, Ben's Speech,

Wednesday Anna stayed home from school with her cough getting worse.  We tidied the basement before breakfast.  After we ate, the girls watched "Descendants 2."  Anna even napped. Bethany had preschool and we we had our regular Wednesday afternoon of running around.  Anna was still able to go to dance.  I went to Backstage for a parents meeting about "Alice."  

Thursday I exercised and Laura Lewis watched my kids while I went to the dentist.  Bethany had dance and I volunteered in Anna's class later that afternoon (graded papers).  Anna performed that evening with her dance company at a care center.  Dan helped at the Remington's that night with installing some outlets in their kitchen.  After kids were in bed, we met with Dan's parents for a few hours to talk about buying their house.  

Friday I drove kids while Dan went to the temple.  Dan called Cari Moss to see what it would take to list our house for sale!  I spent a good part of the morning on the computer scheduling parent/teacher conferences, grocery stuff, and primary stuff.  Dan was able to come home early that day.  After he picked up the kids he left to spend the night with the YM at the Pugsley's cabin.  Jonathan babysat that night while McKenna and I went to the Vivint arena to see Anna perform at the halftime performance for the Stars Basketball team halftime show.  She did so great!  Afterwards, she hugged me so tight and cried.  I asked what she was feeling and she couldn't tell me.  I told her it's ok to feel scared and proud of yourself at the same time.  Grandma and Grandpa Webster came, along with Jake and Abril.  

Saturday I exercised, Ben had rehearsal, and Anna went to Kangaroo Zoo with her dance company.

 I worked on some primary stuff and picked up Groceries.  Then I picked up Ben, took stuff home, and picked up Anna.  At lunch, we told the kids we would be moving to Grandma and Grandpa's house!  Ben and Anna were pretty smiley and excited!  Bethany asked if we could take all our stuff with us.  And McKenna cried... which  made me cry.  She said, "I know I've talked about wanting a bigger house for long time, but I'm really going to miss this house."  :(  Me too!  Ben and Dan got haircuts, then I trimmed Alice and Bethany's hair.  Mickelle came to babysit and Dan and I took my parents out on a date as their Christmas present.  We went to a Utes basketball game vs. Washington State (Utes won!).  Then we went to dinner at Fat Jack's.  The service was really slow, but the milk shakes were really yummy.  Bethany was up late when we got home, and we also told my parents and Mickelle about the upcoming move.  McKenna babysat that night for the Chadwicks. 

Sunday we watched some Book of Mormon videos and there was no choir.  Sadly I felt like there was more arguing than normal as we all got ready for church.  We sang "Scripture Power" in Primary and use flashlights to point at the scriptures.  McKenna stayed after for stake YW choir.  We watched "Relative Race" and had Webster family dinner where we celebrated January BDs!  Dan's parents also announced we would be buying their home.  

Monday morning I found Alice with no jammies on.  She had taken them off in the night, but thankfully left her diaper on.  I did laundry and put a coat of modpodge on the lighthouse puzzle.  I exercised a little.  I listened to my book a lot while folding laundry.  After dinner, Cari Moss came over to look through the house to tell us what we would need to do to list it.  The kids were really clingy while we were trying to talk to her.  After she left, Dan worked in the garage going through stuff.

Tuesday Jonathan came to babysit while I went to the school to help judge the Martin Luther King Jr. speeches for 1st and 2nd grade.  The I stayed to listen to the 3rd and 4th graders since it was Ben competing.  Dan and his parents also came to listen.  Ben did so awesome and placed 5th or 6th out of 20 kids.  He scored 125 and the 3rd place score was 128.  When I got home the girls were watching "Descendants 2."  Jonathan was snuggling her and she said "Johnny back!"  We also finally were able to start carpooling again with Susie Whitchurch since she got her car back from the accident back in November!  I made dinner that night with Dan (I love when that happens), and I glued the puzzle again.

Wednesday I exercised and Bethany went to Brynn's to play, eat, and then go to preschool.  I worked on the Nelson News, napped, ate lunch, and picked up Ben and Anna.  I found Alice actually using the pillow Grandma Kelly made her.  After school I drove kids everywhere and helped Ben memorize his lines for Annie. After dinner, McKenna went to the library for her YW activity.  They did a book folding project.  Dan and I talked house stuff.

Thursday I made some phone calls about getting roofing bids.  While Bethany was at dance, Alice and I went to Michael's craft store and ran to Smith's.  I got a roofing bid that afternoon.  While the guy was raising his arms up to take pictures through the attic access, I saw a GUN in his belt.  He didn't know I saw, but I was scared for a second.  Oliver and Anna had music.  I went to a Relief Society activity that night at the Hook's.  It was "Ladies Night In" with stew, rolls, and dessert.  After kids were in bed, we met with Cari Moss again.

Friday I exercised and after breakfast we got another roof bid which was much higher.  I delivered some soup and flowers to Laurie who had shoulder surgery.  After lunch, Dan came home early!  After school, Ben had a primary activity and Dan worked more in the garage.  Dan and Ben and Bethany also left to help Adam move into a new home. I took McKenna and Anna to Cookie Cutters to get trimmed, then we headed to Backstage to get McKenna's headshots done for the Alice In Wonderland program.  We are out for dinner and then went and bought valentines for the kids to pass out at school.  After kids were in bed I helped Dan move our food storage out from the crawl space which was HUGE for me to do because I had to go where the spiders are!

January videos Part 3

Jan. '20- Week 3- Bethany Half Birthday, Playing in the Snow, Sadie's Wedding

Wednesday I ate and then did a ministering visit to Janel.  The afternoon was filled with driving Ben to Piano, picking up McKenna from the temple, dropping her off at piano, then heading to Bethany's preschool to present her half birthday poster.  She loved the class singing to her.  Then I drove three girls to Backstage and took Brooklyn Searle to dance since she needed to go to Centerville and Holley took Anna to dance for me.  Unfortunately we were a little late because of traffic.  That evening after dinner, Dan and McKenna went to the YM/YW activity which was a bonfire up Mueller park canyon.  After kids were in bed I looked up possible Martin Luther King Jr speeches for Ben to memorize for the speech contest.  

Thursday I drove kids to school while Dan was at the temple.  I went on a ministering visit to Amanda and took Bethany to ballet.  I had to run out to the school to drop off Ben's speech form.  I drove carpool that afternoon and forgot to take Jett to North campus and didn't even realize it until later that night. :(  Anna had music, and I helped McKenna look at possible audition songs.  We played Ticket to Ride with the kids that night and somehow we played it wrong because there was never any clear ending or winner.  Dan and I watched "Lost in Space" that night.  

Friday I exercised and also played in the snow with Alice and Bethany.  Alice was so mad to come in.  That evening McKenna had her audition at Backstage for Alice in Wonderland.  We ran Wal-Mart errands after that.  After kids were in bed Dan organized our pantry and I blogged.  

Saturday Mickelle babysat while Dan and I went to Sadie Gunnerson's sealing and luncheon.  It was catered by Mo Bettah and it was delicious!  Ben had a birthday party for Anna and Millie Fairbanks.  He said he was the only boy. :)  Ben also had play practice.  We came home for a a few hours and chilled.  McKenna made a Lego Tree of Life interpretation.  Ben finished the lighthouse puzzle!  McKenna went to a craft night at the Moulton's.  Dan performed the ring ceremony for Sadie and Brendan and then we ate a quick dinner before returning with the kids for the wedding reception.  We visited with the Gordons and Kyrenia Reid.  Dan took a smoothie to Schaefer Paulson after his wisdom teeth.  After kids were in bed, Dan and McKenna and I went to the Bountiful temple to do baptisms with cousins Joe and Katie, Whitney, and Reed and Andrew.  Their parents were there too.  Grandfather's previous secretary Wendy Kay Olsen and husband were there too.  We got ice cream afterwards.  It was a LONG but fabulous day focused on the TEMPLE!

Sunday I attended choir and we were on time for church.  I taught the "Iron Rod."  Dan took Ben to Cameron Hall's mission farewell gathering  in the afternoon and we had Webster family dinner that night.  After kids were in bed, we talked with Dan's parents about the possibility of buying their home since they are going to Hawaii and weren't sure of their plans when they return.  But they feel like their home is too big for them.  More to come!

Monday was Martin Luther King day which meant no school!  We had friends over to play (Leo, Gwen, Desi, and Lia).  Bethany went to Arlee's and Ben went to Henry's.  Ben also made a Lego interpretation of Joseph Smith's First Vision.  Jonathan came in the afternoon to play the Switch with the kids.  McKenna found out she got the role of Queen of Hearts!   We also took the kids sledding at Mueller Park with Jonathan and Swa and kids.  Bethany and Anna each took a turn getting hurt, :( but also, we had lots of fun!  Anna and I hurried off to a dance meeting and parent/teacher conference.  Anna also started a little cough that night and Dan and I talked finances.  

Tuesday I exercised and Dan went to St. George for the day.  I washed blankets and vacuumed and had a head ache.  Ben had play practice and Anna's cough/cold got worse, but she played cute with Alice.  Jett came over to play after rehearsal and the kids played with playdoh.  Dan arrived home safe and Ben wanted to help Dan cook.  

Jan. '20- Week 2- Bethany "Be There," "Frozen Camp," "Frozen" Sibling Performance, NFBD, Jardine House Fire.

Wednesday Dan flew to St. George for work. Bethany slept in till 9:10!  We watched Descendants 3 and I worked on Blurb.  We got snow and it thankfully stopped snowing right when I needed to leave to drive my kids everywhere!  I went to a "be there" activity with Bethany.  We did activities that had to do with snowmen.  She illustrated a scene of something she would do with a snowman.  She drew herself and the snowman swimming and started putting dots all over the snowman.  When I asked what the dots were, she said he had a rash! :)  Alice napped at Swa's, and I picked up McKenna and Sophia from the temple, then McKenna went straight to piano and I was thrilled that the timing of the afternoon worked out!  Later Anna went to dance and McKenna to Backstage and Ben ran on the treadmill.  Dan flew home safely and McKenna and Dan went to the youth activity.  *It was a crazy busy day, but I felt tender mercies from the Lord in that the snow stopped when I needed it to and the timing of getting kids where they needed to be on time worked out!  Bethany also said me being at preschool with her was the "best day ever."  Anna was in a good mood and I felt happy and calm and loved that the Lord answered my prayers.

Thursday I exercised and Bethany had ballet and I journaled a bit.  I listened to my book club book  and volunteered in Anna's Class.  Dan was in Provo all day for work.

Friday we woke up to snow.  I drove the kids to school and they had free dress day.  I had ladies lunch and enjoyed talking with Kylee Behunin.  After kids were home, we had a talk with McKenna about whether or not she should audition to be Young Fiona in Shrek Jr. at Backstage.  They had invited her to audition, but we knew she already had a pretty full schedule.  McKenna was kind of torn what to do, so we told her to pray about it.  She ultimately decided not to audition and we're so thankful for her ability to seek for guidance from Heavenly Father.  Later, McKenna and Brittana babysat while Dan and I went to dinner and Home Depot to look for new house numbers.  I did some primary prep that night.

Saturday Anna and Bethany attended a "Frozen" party at their dance studio. Three of their counsins went as well!  Dan and Ben finished building Ben's remote control cars.  McKenna planned a cute "welcome home" party for the girls after their "Frozen Party" They had a little performance at then end and it was super cute.  When we got home we experimented with some new house numbers trying to see which would stand out the best on our new siding.  Anna and Bethany left to have playdates with Emi Atkin and cousin Ellie.  We were hoping to go sledding later that afternoon, but by the time we started to get fresh snow it was getting dark.  Instead, we went out to dinner, did baths, picked up groceries, and gave Dan a haircut.

Sunday I edited phone pictures and listened to a talk.  The kids worked on a dance downstairs.  We were on time for church and I ended up teaching "I'll Seek the Lord Early" in both Jr. and Sr. Primary since Amy had to step out for her son's Trevin's setting apart.  McKenna stayed after for a Stake YW choir practice.  Ben got to open a birthday present from Mickelle.  We watched Sound of Music, then my family came over for dinner.  The kids performed their dances they were working on (songs from Frozen)!  McKenna- Always the director.  Ben was Kristoff and Bethany was Anna.  Anna usually practices these things McKenna plans, but then she gets too nervous to perform in  front of people other than her immediate family.  They stayed a little bit later while Dan and I went to Dan's parents' for a Webster family meeting.  They announced they're going on another mission!  This time an 18 month service mission to BYU Hawaii to help students in the hospitality program find internships at hotels and resorts and mentor them.  My family also made great lighthouse puzzle progress!

Monday I exercised, did laundry, finished listening to my book, started a Podcast on Joseph Smith and worked on ironing on some patches on clothes.  After kids were home I helped with homework, folded laundry, and did some more mending.  That night was the Nelson Family Party at the McKellar's celebrating January BDs!  That night Sam Moulton came and passed off memorizing the First Vision, a challenge Dan gave to the youth.

Tuesday I felt like I was coming down with a cold, but thankfully it didn't develop into anything terrible.  I edited pictures and had a normal morning.  One the way home we saw a neighbor's house in the 6th ward (Jardine) on FIRE!!  I picked up Ben and friends from rehearsal and then watched the house fire some more.  :(  After dinner I had book club at Chelsea's house to talk about "A Thousand Splendid Suns."  It was a super heavy and intense book, but very culturally enlightening.

January videos Part 2

Jan. '20- Week 1- Temple with McKenna, Hotel Night, Primary Activity, Ben's Birthday!

Wednesday we worked hard in the morning to put Christmas away.  I love that feeling of starting the new year with a fresh clean house!  McKenna finished her diorama which was a scene from the book "Ella Enchanted" where Ella has to eat so much chocolate cake because she is cursed to always do as she is told!  We also printed McKenna's Temple recommend!  After lunch, we finished Harry Potter 2 and I had a really stiff neck (from working on the puzzle for too long).  We had Chinese food at Dan's parent's house, then we drove to Mickelle's new basement apartment to check it out!  Dan went to Zac Bramall's missionary setting apart that night.  

 Thursday Jonathan came to babysit bright and early so we could attend the temple with McKenna for the first time!  He even got some good Alice snuggles.  It was such a special morning, and what made it even better was that two of McKenna's Webster cousins, Katie and Whitney, and their parents, and BOTH sets of McKenna's Grandparents were also there!  She was able to be baptized for family members from my mom's and Dan's mom's side of the family.  Also, as we were finishing up, a worker approached and asked if the girls would be willing to do some more confirmations for some names that happened to be from Grandfather's wife, Wendy Nelson!  When we asked McKenna what she thought about her first time, she said she wanted "to go everyday!"  Afterwards we ate breakfast in the temple cafeteria and then took pictures outside.  

 When we got home Dan had to go back to work. :(  That's always a sad day after spending so much time with him during Christmas break.  Jonathan stayed and played the Switch with the kids and then Jordan Slaugh and Grace Eckman came over to play with Ben and McKenna.  They did stop motion videos, played games, and played Barbies.  After lunch Lizzie and Clara and our new neighbor, Kayla, came over to play with Anna and Bethany.  I blogged and Ben then went to the Alexander's.  After dinner McKenna and I ran to the Backstage studio to buy some hand-me-down dance shoes and leotard.  Dan worked on goals with Ben and after kids were in bed, Dan did Bishop stuff and I worked on Primary stuff.  

Friday I exercised and met with Amy Hamblin to plan Primary stuff.  After lunch, I braided McKenna's hair and we packed for a hotel night.  I also worked on a grocery order.  We took down our Christmas card wall. :( 

Before going to the hotel, we attended Rachel Miles and Brandon Webb's wedding reception.  So happy for them both!  Then we headed to the Hampton Inn in West Valley to spend the night! 

Saturday we had a yummy breakfast and Anna enjoyed some light reading.  :) 

Then we changed and went swimming.  

We spent most of the time in the hot tub because the pool was so cold.  We misplaced our room key, so we did some wall sits to kill some time while Dan got a new one.  

We left from the hotel to pick up groceries which unfortunately took 1 hour!  That meant we had to hurry and get to the church for a Primary Activity.  The Activity introduced the new program for children and the 4 goal setting areas.  Amy Hamblin and I taught a new Primary song as part of the Intellectual station.   The presidency did so well planning this!  Meanwhile Dan had a meeting with the RS to talk about ministering assignments.  McKenna babysat for Sam and Lara.  The kids had showers and bath and we had pizza and played Rummikub.  

Sunday was our first Sunday at a new time, 12pm.  I enjoyed the extra time in the morning for scripture study and we watched a video about the importance of scriptures.  The kids all went to their new class and Amy and I taught the song Book of Mormon Stories.  I had a pretty great embarrassing moment went I told them that Samuel the Lamanite was up on the city wall "exposing" himself.  What I meant was he was exposing himself to the arrows and stones shot at him.  There was lots of snow as we were leaving church and the kids watched "Toy Story 4" while Mickelle and I napped.  After Dan was home and after dinner, Dan and Ben worked on Ben's goals more.  

* I noticed with the start of the new year, McKenna and Ben were doing well reading the Book of Mormon every day and Anna was reading the picture scriptures.  Bethany got a little Book of Mormon and loved to carry it around and "read" it.  I loved seeing how important the Book of Mormon stories are to them.  They were making connections with what they were reading and our daily Come Follow Me lessons.  They're such great examples to me. *

Monday I volunteered in Ben's class and ran an errand.  I blew off the driveway and did laundry.  That evening we went to Boondocks to celebrate Ben's BD!  We did bowling and plated arcade games!  

Tuesday I exercised and Dan took Ben out to breakfast!  

We watched Descendants 2 then packed a lunch and headed to school to surprise Ben and eat with him!  We got to see him present his BD poster and sing to him!  We also played out at recess with him and some of the girls loved being little mommies to Alice and Bethany.  

Ben had his first play practice after school and I went to music with Bethany.  We had Ben's favorite soup for dinner, sausage corn potato soup (now nicknamed "Benny Soup) and PDQ.  Then we opened presents and had ice cream.  

I didn't have a #9 candle, so we did 8+1.  :)  Ben is so smart and creative and loves to make people laugh.  We love him so much!  

Ben’s 9-year-old Birthday Interview (Jan. 9, 2020)

What is your favorite color? Green, Blue, Orange

What is your favorite toy? Legos

What is your favorite fruit? Nectarines

What is your favorite TV Show? Pokemon

What is your favorite movie? Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker

What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Blueberries

What is your favorite outfit to wear? Jeans, T-shirt, hoodie

What is your favorite game to play? Trouble

What is your favorite snack? Smiley fruit snacks

What is your favorite animal? Turtle

What is your favorite song? Everything is Awesome

What is your favorite book? Harry Potter

Who is your best friend? Jordan, Henry, Taggart, Eli Forbes, Caleb, Garret, Jett

What is your favorite cereal? Crispix

What is your favorite thing to do outside? Sledding

What is your favorite thing to drink? OJ

What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Puppy and blankie

What is your favorite thing to eat at breakfast? Toast

What do you want to have for dinner? Sausage Corn Potato soup (“Benny Soup”)

What do you want to be when you grow up?  Scientist

What is your favorite thing to do with our family? Go out to dinner

What’s your favorite thing to do in school? Recess, trade in money for auctions

January videos Part 1