Jan. '23- Week 4- New Port Temple, Subbing and Puppies, Ben's SBO Field Trip, Newsies, Stake Dance, More Newsies, Webster Jan. Birthdays, Bethany Asia Day,

Jan. 22nd- Sunday: I slept till 7:30 then caught up writing in my journal. We all got ready for the day and then watched two sacrament meetings via Zoom, one where David spoke and one where Joe spoke. We packed and then left the hotel by 11. We went to the New Port temple and walked around the grounds and had a mini CFM discussion. We went to a beach next and walked around and took pictures. We got Balboa bars and then had lunch at Old Spaghetti Factory. We flew home around dinner time. I listened to my book club book lots (the Prince Harry Book, Spare). Dan and Ben picked us up and it was freezing! Once I got home, I told Dan and Ben and McKenna all about my trip. I unpacked and got to bed! I'm so grateful for Dan doing so much while I was gone! 

Jan. 23rd- Monday: I got ready early so I could substitute. Unfortunately, here was some miscommunication and I didn’t actually need to be there until 11am. So I went and helped in the 4th grade since Mr. McKinney was out and his class was divided. I went back to the Jr High and taught Ms. Morrison's psychology class. We went over slides about sleep. Ms. Morrison got back earlier than expected, so I left early. Ben went to the Capitol for school choice day (Charter Day on the Hill). I ended up only doing about 2.5 hours of work real work for a full day’s pay!  I napped and then drove carpool. The kids and I went to see the Moulton’s puppies, then they did homework and I made dinner. McKenna ate and went to Newsies. We all ate and I cleaned the kitchen. Emmy came over for a bit while Meghan was gone. We folded laundry and Dan helped Alice go through clothes. We looked at my trip pictures and then the kids went to bed. I looked over stuff for voice and chatted with McKenna when she got home. Dan worked on church stuff. 

Jan. 24th- Tuesday: Alice and I had a chill morning. After we got dressed, we went to my voice lesson. We stopped by Costco to get my eye drops and had a quick lunch. Then we went to Anna’s CK art class to volunteer in there.  We came home for a little bit and then Alice went to Meghan’s while I went back to school for Jungle Book rehearsal. We ate leftovers for dinner that my mom brought by. She had leftovers from a primary activity she did. Anna had gymnastics and we picked her up and went to Backstage to see McKenna and Ben in "Newsies."  The Johnsons, Hamblins, and Moultons came to watch as well!

Jan. 25th- Wednesday: I got up at 6 and woke up McKenna and Ben to go to the temple with the Hamblins. They went even though it was pretty snowy! We got Anna and Boof ready for school. Dan picked up Ben from the temple and took him to school a little late. I did a quick exercise and then ate with Alice. She did Upstart and I showered and curled McKenna’s hair. Alice and I went to my one year post eye surgery check-up. It went well and my eyes are great!  We came home and I took a quick nap. Alice and I ate and then we went to her parent/teacher conference. We shoveled snow and then did her music homework. The kids had piano and I went to meet with McKenna’s counselor to talk about her 9th grade class schedule. I drove a bunch of kids home. The kids watched shows, then I started dinner and listened to my book. We ate and Anna had a primary activity. Boof had dance. I went with Ben and McKenna to the stake youth activity, which was a dance! It was a blast! The Bridlewood ward was in charge. They taught some line dances and didn't do any slow dances, which was good. I prepped food for tomorrow's dinner. 

Jan. 26th- Thursday: I subbed as the instructor in Ms. Lee’s class. The reading groups and math group went well. Recess duty was super cold!  I saw Anna and Ben throughout the day. I stayed after for Jungle Book practice and taught more of the elephant march and "I Wanna Be Like You." Ben had Crochet club then came to watch rehearsal. Alice and Bethany were with Grandma and Grandpa for the day/afternoon. They went to Whitney’s basketball game too. McKenna also went to the game and then got ready for Newsies.  Thankfully, I had a crockpot dinner going all day so I just had to make the rice when I got home. The kids did their homework and piano. Dan hurried home to eat before some church meetings. I practiced our stake conference song with the younger 4. They went to bed and I cleaned and did a grocery order. 

Jan. 27th- Friday: I exercised after the kids left. We took the van in for its emissions check and registration. After breakfast and showering and Upstart, Alice got a haircut. Once she left for preschool, I hosted a ministering sisters lunch with Meghan, Amanda, and Chelsie Mudrow. It was great to catch up with them.  I napped when they left. Alice got home, I finalized the grocery order. The other kids got home. I took Anna and Bethany for haircuts and shopping for a gift for Aubrey. We brought pizza home and Ben and McKenna left for call time. The girls ate, then Dan and I left for a quick dinner date to a taco truck! It was yummy! I went to Newsies again! Both grandparents came, as well as Mickelle, Sam, Abby, Hailey, Adam and Mia.  We snacked when we got home. Dan and I calendared for next week. 

Jan. 28th- Saturday: We got up at 8:45, had breakfast, and Ben left for the Planetarium with the primary activity day boys. This was a kind of make-up activity from when it got cut short before. Dan gave himself a haircut. I worked on Jungle Book stuff. Anna left for Aubrey’s paint party! Dan picked up Ben a little early and took him to basketball practice. I had a phone call with Ginger Vandenberg about being in charge of food for youth conference. YIKES! We had lunch and then Dan picked up groceries and Anna. I worked on Jungle Book more. The kids watched shows and played. Dan napped and then I took Ben to Luke’s house. I napped also. McKenna left for her last Newsies show. Desi came over. We had dinner and the two little girls had baths. We watched "Alice in Wonderland" with them. Anna and Desi watched Harry Potter in the theater room. We put the girls to bed and Ben got home from Luke's. Dan and I watched the new "Knives Out" before McKenna got home. 

Jan. 29th- Sunday: We fed kids breakfast at 8:30. We showered and then Rachael came over to help us practice our song for stake conference. It snowed pretty much all day but thankfully the roads weren’t too bad. We had a 5th Sunday combined youth meeting about gathering. I went to a youth conference meeting. I joined my family call late and prepped fruit for family dinner. We had Webster dinner celebrating January BDs. Then McKenna and Ben and I went to the stake center for a devotional broadcast with Elder Gong. Ben worked on homework when we got home. We tried to go to bed earlier. 

Jan. 30th- Monday: I subbed again in Ms. Lee’s class. It was so cold we had to have inside recess all day!  After school, I took McKenna to get a haircut. We folded laundry. The kids did homework and piano. McKenna had a piano lesson. After dinner, we watched Relative Race!  After the kids were in bed, I worked on the Nelson News and Ben worked on building his robot he got from the Webster family party. 

Jan. 31st- Tuesday: I exercised after kids left. Alice and I went to Bethany’s 2nd grade culminating project-- Asia day! I was kind of an extra helper and wondered to several tables. We had Chinese food for lunch. We came home and I had a head ache, so I napped and then blogged. I picked up McKenna, and then went to Jungle Book rehearsal and taught “That’s What Friends are For,” both parts. We got home and had leftovers for dinner. Anna had gymnastics and Ben had a basketball game. I was proud he took a few shots. Unfortunately, he missed, and their team lost.  We put the girls to bed and then planned somethings with McKenna. I blogged a little more. Ben got asked by a girl named Emma in his class to be her Valentine! He said yes, but said he doesn’t like her. :)

January Videos: Part 3-

Newsies, Stake Dance, Bethany China Day

Jan. '23- Week 3- Visit Grandma Pat, Newsies, Webster Girls Disney Trip,

Jan. 15th- Sunday: I got up and got ready, then the kids ate and had showers and baths. I went to hear Dan speak in the Bridlewood ward. We attended our own ward. We had lunch and I had my conference call. We went to visit my Grandma Pat! We took dinner there and ate with her, then visited for a bit. My parents came too. We got home and got kids to bed and Dan and I calendared. 

Jan. 16th- Monday: The kids had no school because of MLK Day. I went to work with Swa at Fueled Right cooking food and washing lots of dishes!  Brinley came to hang out with McKenna. Dan took the kids to Costco with Jasper and then to run a few errands. Some cousins came to play!  I got home around 5:30 and helped McKenna with her make-up for Newsies. McKenna and Ben had their last dress rehearsal!  We got the girls to bed. I worked on some Newsies ticketing stuff. 

Jan. 17th- Tuesday: I exercised after the kids left. This time, McKenna went to work with Swa, packaging food for Fueled Right since she had an additional day off school. Alice and I ate and I Marco Poloed and showered. I worked on computer stuff. After lunch, I napped and worked on a grocery order. Alice watched shows and played in my room. I read with Ben once the kids got home. Anna had play practice. Dan picked her up. We ate and then Anna went to gymnastics. We all went to Ben’s basketball game and he scored a free throw!  We practiced our song for stake conference before getting the girls to bed. McKenna talked to me about a little friend drama before she went to bed. Dan and I researched our February trip to southern Utah.

Jan. 18th- Wednesday: I watched the news after everyone left. McKenna had late start and Alice and I went to the gym with Brynn. While getting her lunch ready, Alice climbed on the edge of the fridge and called it "sitting picking." went to preschool and I showered and worked on picking out outfits for my upcoming Disneyland trip. The kids had piano. I started to pack and vacuumed the closet and bathroom. I napped and worked on the blog some. The kids got home and I started dinner and wrote some emails. McKenna and Ben ate and then left for rehearsal. The rest of us ate and Bethany had hip hop. Dan got home and I left for YW. We did some speed interviewing and got to know each other better. Mostly, there was lots of talking, which is what the girls wanted!  I went to watch a preview night for Newsies and then drove carpool kids home. They ate snacks and went to bed and I packed more. 

Jan. 19th- Thursday: I subbed in special ed for the day. Alice went to the Chadwick’s and the Jensen’s to play. The Jensens took her swimming at the rec center after school time, so she was gone from 10-6pm! While at school, I mostly worked with small groups of students, around 2-4 at a time. These were nice kids, but I could definitely tell they had learning disabilities. Some second and third graders still didn’t know how to spell the word “the.” It made we realize how blessed Dan and I are to have kids with very few challenges. Once I got home, I took a little nap then drove carpool. Ben and Anna stayed after school for crochet club and Jungle Book. Bethany had her primary activity, I made dinner, and moved pictures to the external hard drive. McKenna and Ben got ready for call time and had their first performance! Ben's YM group and the Inmans attended. I finished packing and we all ate. After kids were in bed, Dan took all the Webster girls to the airport for our Disneyland trip! We landed about 10:45 CA time. We went straight to our hotel and crashed. I roomed with Lara. 

Jan. 20th- Friday: Poor Lara threw up first thing in the morning. We were all ready and walking to eat a McDonald’s breakfast by 7:40am. We ate on our walk to the park and were ready for the “rope drop.” We first headed to Rise of the Resistance and were in and out in one hour! It was my first time and that ride was amazing!! It was so well done and realistic! We worked our way through the park, ending with Fantasy Land.  Lara threw up one more time during the day around lunch time. We loved all the food we got and shopped a little for souvenirs. We also saw the Lion King show!  The Genie Passes were the only way we could have done everything we wanted to do in one day. We ended the night with the lights show and fireworks on Main Street! It was pretty cold and we all felt a little under dressed. I only had to take one dose of Ibuprofen during the day, so I call that a win! We averaged walking about 9-10 miles!! Back at home, Anna went to Sayge’s BD party and McKenna only had another Newsies performance. Unfortunately, she said the crowd was pretty unenthusiastic.

Jan. 21st- Saturday: We had a little slower start to the morning. We got McDonald’s breakfast again. The first ride we did in the California Adventure park was the Incredicoaster. We rode Guardians 3 times and it did not make me as motion sick as I remember!  The Marvel campus was awesome!  We saw quick Spider Man and Dr. Strange shows. There was also a Lunar New Year Mulan Parade! The Spider Man ride, Webslingers, was shut down most of the day, but we managed to ride it twice right at the end! Unfortunately, that ride made me pretty nauseous. We rode Soarin twice as well. Lara wasn’t feeling well the whole walk home and crashed hard into bed once we got back to the hotel. We averaged walking another 10 miles. Back at home, Ben had basketball practice and hung out at Caleb’s. McKenna and Ben had another Newsies performance which Faye Wade and Janet Thomas went to. McKenna also went to Beauty and the Beast at South Davis. 

January Videos: Part 2-

Ben foul shot!, Webster Girls Disneyland!