March '23- Week 1- Foot Bruise, Youth Human Foosball, Alice's 5th Birthday!, BYU/Provo, Lego Scripture scene, FHE with Pugsleys, Lola Mila Dance Comp,

March 1st- Wednesday: after the kids left, I watched the news and ate. Alice and I went to the gym with Brynn. We went to Walmart to buy stuff for Alice's birthday party. I had to take pictures of things she wanted but we didn't buy. Alice ate lunch in the car and I took her straight to preschool. I had lunch and started dinner in the crock pot.  Once the kids got home and went to piano, I showered. The kids played in the snow some and I tried to nap. I had a scratchy throat, so sleeping was difficult. McKenna had her solo and ensemble audition. Anna had activity days which was cleaning the toys in the nursery.  We ate dinner and Bethany had hip hop. Ben and McKenna and I went to YM/YW, which was combined and we played human Foosball. I sat out because of the bruise on my foot from Janet Thomas falling on it.

Mar. 2nd- Thursday: I subbed a half day in kindergarten. My voice/throat was pretty scratchy. Dan took Alice to the Pugsley’s and then he had a dentist appt. I picked Alice up from there and then we had lunch together. We did Alice's music homework and then I napped and she watched shows. My throat, once again, kept me from sleeping well. I signed McKenna up for track and then researched stuff to do at BYU/Provo. I drove carpool, then headed back to school for Jungle Book rehearsal.  Thankfully, everyone seemed more confident and improved from Tuesday. Ben had crochet club and then came to rehearsal and went home with Luke Voehl. I drove Annie home from rehearsal and picked Ben up from Luke's. McKenna had piano and I didn’t connect that Bethany and Alice would be home alone for a bit while I was driving around everyone. I also got Ben’s church basketball time wrong. Oops!  We had dinner and THEN Ben went to basketball. McKenna helped me by making the scavenger hunt for Alice’s birthday party. I cleaned up dinner then bought Jungle Book tickets. The three girls went to bed. I worked on a grocery order while Ben, McKenna, and Dan worked on decorating for Alice’s party. Dan also had a work event (foster dad support group). 

Mar. 3rd- Friday- Alice’s 5th birthday!  Alice called streamers “stribbons” all day. She woke up just before the kids left and was happy with all her decorations!  I exercised and then we ate. Dan helped drive Ben and other 6th graders to the Front Runner station for their Planetarium field trip. Then he came home for a bit. I got ready for the day and got Alice ready for her preschool birthday spotlight. We had lunch, then I stayed for the first 5 mins of her class for her spotlight. She showed a bag full of her favorite things! I came home and napped some. When Dan, Ben, and Alice got home, we did final preparations for Alice’s party. She invited 10 preschool friends, but only 5 could come. We played Cranium: Hullabaloo, did a scavenger hunt made by McKenna, hit the piñata, let the kids have free play, then we opened presents and had cake. The kids played hide and seek too! Adrianna had to come late, and her mom stayed the whole time. After they all left, Alice opened the presents from their packages, then we left for dinner at Chick Fil a. We got ice cream at McDonald’s after that, and the kids loved both play places! We got the girls to bed and moved our scrapbooks and photo albums to the office. McKenna hung out at Meghan Hunter’s. 

Alice’s 5th Birthday Interview 3/7/2023

What is your favorite color? Rainbow

What is your favorite toy? Spiderman Bop-it

What is your favorite fruit? Apples

What is your favorite TV Show? Spiderman

What is your favorite movie? Frozen 2

What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Fruit cup, Graham crackers, and meat stick

What is your favorite outfit to wear? Gray Under Armor sweat suit

What is your favorite game to play? Pretty Pretty Princess

What is your favorite snack? Fruit Snacks 

What is your favorite animal? Chickens 

What is your favorite song? I Ain’t Worried (by One Republic) 

What is your favorite book? Muncha, Muncha, Muncha

Who is your best friend? Kaysen and Philip and Parley 

What is your favorite cereal? Tootie Fruties 

What is your favorite thing to do outside?  Ride bike and jump on trampoline 

What is your favorite thing to drink?  Lemonade 

What is your favorite holiday? Christmas and Easter Halloween 

What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Kitty and Dolly

What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?  Yogurt, Bananas

What do you want to have for dinner?  Spaghetti 

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

What is your favorite thing to do with our family?  Go sledding! 

What is your favorite thing to do in school?  I like to be the star student and line leader 

Mar. 4th- Saturday: We had a nice sleep-in morning. Claire came over to hang out with Anna at 10:30. McKenna did laundry. I showered. We had lunch and then headed to Provo! We first went to the Bean Life Science Museum, then the Creamery and had ice cream. We went to the Bookstore, the library, and the MOA as well. We could have spent longer on campus, but we had a dinner appointment at my roommate Hillary’s house! It was so good to see her and her cute family! Many of us got to snuggle her baby Tess. We played and talked, and then we left to go to Dan’s co-worker's son’s wedding reception. Once we got home, McKenna went to a friend’s house and we got the other kids to bed. Dan gave himself a haircut. *It was such a fun day for me and also crazy to see how much BYU has changed since 2006 when I graduated. Dan was pretty cute telling the kids stories from our EFY time and when he started to like me. :)

Mar. 5th- Sunday: Dan attended the BW ward. Ben had a presidency meeting before church. McKenna ushered. Ben bore his testimony about how even if we forget it’s Fast Sunday and swallow a little water, God is forgiving and gives us a second chance. :) After church, Alice seemed like she had a fever, but no temperature was measured. The three girls ate lunch and I had my conf call. Ben built a scripture scene out of Legos, the man with the palsy being lowered into the room through the roof to see Jesus. Dan napped and got his new phone working. After dinner, we watched Relative Race. I had singing practice and then worked on emails once I got home. Dan and Ben had a Lego competition on their own in the basement.

Mar. 6th- Monday: I exercised after the kids left. Dan cleared snow. Alice had music and I showered and listened to Don’t Miss This.  Alice and I had lunch and she had preschool. I napped and worked on the blog some. I drove carpool and the kids worked on reading and piano. I read with Ben some. I made breakfast casserole for dinner. The kids folded laundry and packed lunches. After we ate, we went to FHE and ice cream at Pugsley’s. We had a lot of fun!  **Besides the FHE, this is the most "typical" Monday! :)

Mar. 7th- Tuesday: I watched the news once kids left. Alice and I ate, she did Upstart, and we got dressed. I had a dentist appointment. Alice came with me and she played on my phone. We got home and cleaned up toys. I tried to nap some. Cooper and Emmy came over at lunch time. (Faye was babysitting them but she had tennis, so I needed to watch them for a bit.) We all ate, then Cooper left for kindergarten. Alice and Emmy played nicely!  I blogged in the basement while they played. Once McKenna, Ben, and Bethany got home, I left for Jungle Book rehearsal. I took Anna to gymnastics. Dan made dinner. We ate, then I took Ben, Anna, Bethany, and Alice to see Lola and Mila perform at a dance thing. Once we got home and put kids to bed, Dan packed for his overnighter in Roosevelt. 

March Part 1 Videos:

Alice’s Birthday, Anna rehearsals, Youth Fooseball, Provo- BYU MOA, Hanging with Hillary.

Feb. '23- Week 4- SNOW!, Parents and Pasteries at Preschool, Moab!, Gobblin Valley, Crazy Sunday, Ben's Last Jr. Jazz.

Feb. 22nd- Wednesday: We woke up to so much snow!  Probably 8 inches! McKenna had her regular late start. I worked on making banana bread then showered. The kids did piano and Ben worked on his school book project. I went to preschool with Alice for her Parents and Pateries party. Then I helped shovel a little. Dan used the snow blower and then needed a nap. I took off my gel nails and Ellie and Hazel came over to play. McKenna got home from school and I made cookies for our YW activity that night. I picked up Alice and worked on downloading “James and the Giant Peach.” We had leftovers for dinner. McKenna, Ben and I went to church for activities. Ben played basketball with the 5th ward boys. The YW had a cookie exchange. Bethany had hip hop and Adam brought her home and babysat the girls for a few. Dan had a meeting with the stake presidency about physical facilities stuff. The kids all had showers. 

Feb. 23rd- Thursday: We woke up around 7:30. We ate and packed up and left by 10:30 for Moab! We made it by 3pm with no troubles. It was windy and only snowed on us once. We checked out the office desk that needed to be moved for Dan’s work. We got settled at the hotel and watched some of our family YouTube videos. We went to dinner at a Diner and the food was great! We played “what’s missing?” and “20 Questions” while we waited for our food to come. We went swimming and hot tubbing when we got back to the hotel. The hot tub was way too hot though, so we didn’t last long. We warmed up and watched Studio C and then put the kids to bed. I worked on a grocery order. 

Feb. 24th- Friday: We woke up around 7:30/8. We ate with the kids and then showered and got ready for the day. We left around 10:40. I took the kids to a park and played for an hour and a half while Dan helped his coworker disassemble a desk and take it to a dumpster. McKenna did matching hair dos on her and Anna and Bethany. We grabbed our lunch food and ate in the car while we headed to Arches National Park!  Anna’s 4th grade pass got us in for free!  We walked around Balanced Rock first. We were nervous because it was pretty cold and windy at that point. Then we started the hike to Delicate Arch!  It went much faster than three years ago and still so awesome!  Alice insisted on being the leader the whole time and got mad at anyone of our family members who tried to pass her!  She actually set a pretty good pace for us.  It was quite snowy/slushy at the top, but we managed ok taking things nice and slow. Going down the slush was definitely harder, for me at least. We drove farther into the park and took some more pictures of Skyline Arch and we saw Double Arch from the road. The kids were all pretty tired by 5:30. We left the park and headed to an Asian food restaurant for dinner.  We went swimming again when we got back to the hotel. It was more crowded with people and the hot tub was a little less hot. The kids all went to bed by 10, and Dan and I had phone time. 

Feb. 25th- Saturday: We woke up around 8:30 and ate breakfast in the hotel room. We got ready for the day and packed up and left by 11. We drove to Goblin Valley and played and ran around for about an hour. The kids thought it was so fun! I was quite nervous about someone getting lost, but we mostly stuck together.  Alice tripped and fell a few times. One of the times I asked if she was ok, she responded with, “Never better!”  :) We ate dinner in Nephi, picked up groceries in Centerville, and then got home by about 8. The kids did showers and baths and Dan gave himself a haircut. We unpacked and did laundry as well. 

Feb. 26th- Sunday: Today was a crazy marathon day! Dan had meetings. We were all ready by 11:30 to take Ben and McKenna early for a presidency meeting and a temple recommend interview. We had a call up choir during Sacrament meeting.  When everyone was walking back to their seats, Janet Thomas accidentally fell! I stepped close to try to catch her and she ended up landing her elbow on my foot and I caught her head in my left hand and possibly hyperextended my elbow. Ouch! Dancyne gave a great lesson in YW about righteous judgments. Then our family helped give a Sacrament meeting at the Oakridge assisted living center. Alice and Bethany gave past primary talks and we sang “Because” again (the song we sang in Stake Conference). Rachael was nice enough to play for us. The Holdstock men helped administer the Sacrament.  Dan gave a talk about the path to our Savior. Dan had another meeting and I had a youth conference meeting. We went to a Webster family dinner to celebrate February birthdays. Brynn and I had a song practice for a stake RS meeting.  I got home to Ben playing the violin we borrowed from Dan’s parents. That was a nice surprise! I helped McKenna with her course request. 

Feb. 27th- Monday: I subbed a half day in Kindergarten. Dan took McKenna to her orthodontist appt and Alice to Let’s Play Music. I took Alice to preschool and then napped. I wrote our part of the Nelson News then drove carpool. I talked with McKenna and moved laundry and got the kids going on piano and homework. I also worked on the blog a little. We had baked mac and cheese for dinner. We watched Relative Race, then got the three girls to bed. I worked on an Instagram post and more blogging. Dan finished a movie. It was fun to look at our Arches pictures from 3 years ago.

Feb. 28th- Tuesday: I subbed another half day and Dan took Alice to work with him. I got to leave early because they did math as a whole class instead of groups. I listened to my book and picked up Alice from Dan’s work. We got home, she did Upstart, then we had lunch. We did her music homework, then I napped and went through pictures to start blogging December. McKenna got home and I left for Jungle Book rehearsal. Both casts were able to run through the whole show!  Anna had gymnastics. We ate, and Dan had a meeting with the EQ Pres of the Bridlewood Ward.  I went to Ben’s last Jr. Jazz game which was a sad one. They lost by a lot, but both grandparents were able to come!  McKenna put the girls to bed and did homework.  I helped her study when we got home. 

February Videos- Part 2:

Celebrity bball game, Ben at Get Air with cousins, Moab, Delicate Arch, Goblin Valley, Ben violin, Ben Jr. Jazz