February 2021

Its funny when I put the photos into the blog post, I can't really see what they are, so I add almost all of them and then delete what I don't need.  These made me laugh... Levi playing with Fishers peg board Christmas present is so random.

Abe is getting better at reading.  It's so exciting when things start to really click and it comes easier.  

This boy loves crepes.  When given the opportunity to make dinner of his choice, this is what he will always choose.  And that no easy feat when you're feeding our army

I made this quilt for my brother and his wife. I love the way it turned out.

Ouch.  Kids are weird.

Mission papers means missionary photo!  I snapped these before church one day.

I had the boys try out the foaming face mask.  It's a unique experience.  They were so funny!

Any time Abraham gets hurt and can't see it... he asks me to take a picture.  

Ethan and I started doing "Couch Concerts" once a week.  We sit down, he plays, we sing, we talk.  It is a fun time!

Eating ramen requires a rain jacket for some kids.

Fisher loves to come and find me in the morning to snuggle.  And he brings me "my" white blankie, telling me to close my eyes and then when I can open them, he says, "Surprise!"  It's very sweet.

Ethan took me out for a fancy dinner for Valentines.  We chose this smoked salmon as our appetizer and it was amazingly delicious!

The whole meal was actually really yummy.  A splurge, for sure.  But super yummy!

Eliza made this sweet valentine for me and one for each person in our family. She is so loving.

The day after Valentine's we got a plate of cookies dropped off at our door with this note.  They are the best!

I made some new masks. I love the one I made for myself!  

This was a happy moment for me... Fisher was turning on Backyardigans and each of these older kids chose who was going to be whom.    Then they started speaking the lines and singing the songs.  They performed the dance moves and all.  It made me so happy.

Fisher loves to watch TV.  Too much.  But what are you going do?

Bryant and Jonas were managers for the basketball team.  They had a lot of fun and we were invited to attend Senior night where they honored all the seniors, even Bryant.  <3

I got two more quilt tops made for charity!

 

January 2021

One of the joys of living far away from family is that Christmas lasts a little longer... Jonas was stoked to receive these fun socks from his cousin!  He was eager to model them for me. 

Is there a screen on somewhere?

My mom and dad came to visit!!!  We were so, so happy to have them here!

I think birthday spankings were in order.

More snuggling with the dog.

My dad LOVES pho.  We took them to a little place down the road and my dad decided it might be worth one more trip to North Dakota before we move to get some more.

The reason for their visit was because Abraham made the big decision to be baptized.  He is growing up in a many ways and we are so blessed to have him in our family.  Trying to get good pictures before the meeting was kinda funny.

Masks for the memory books.

Abraham asked Bryant to baptize him, so we had to get him in some of the pictures too.

What a blessing it is to have the priesthood on the earth so we can make covenants.

We had laughed and laughed together when the kids got every single stuffed animal we own and buried Grandpa in them.  It started out small...

But it escalated...

Before we knew it, Grandpa was nowhere in sight.

The traditional dinner out with the grown ups and the child who was baptized.  Abe chose Red Lobster.  He loved it.

He got his very own lobster tail!

I did a thing.  I partnered with a luxury hair care, skin care, and wellness company.  I was so excited the day my products arrived (which also happened to be the day I tried some other beauty products for the first time--hence the red lips) that I got all gussied up and made my big announcement on Instagram.  I was starting a business!

We didn't have nearly enough time with my parents, but we were grateful for the time we got!

Bryant was pulling out of the garage on his way to school and he hit the suburban.  The bumper came all the way off the car.  We didn't fix it for quite some time.  At first we were shy about using the car without the bumper, but we got over it, eventually.

This boy struggled through online school again.  Thankfully, school got back into a rhythm and he was back to his awesome productivity.

I don't know where or why we took this one, but I sure love this guy.

This winter was unbelievably mild as far as North Dakota standards go.  We took the kids to the park on a couple Saturdays.  There was VERY little snow, but that didn't stop them from having a blast sledding down the hill over and over.  I took videos of all our fun, but only got this one photo.  I think it's a keeper.  

One super fun memory from that specific day was when the kids went down the slide and shot out at the bottom a good 3-4 feet because of ice.  It was hysterical!

Muddy Buddies for FHE treat.

I don't know why these boys look so sad.  

Eliza has been baking a lot lately.  She loves it.

This little boy is my favorite.  He loves reading.  And I love when he lays down with his hands under his chin like this.

I made a goal to use up some of my fabric stash and make some quilts for charity.  This was my first one.  

This beauty, self-care stuff has been really fun.  

I love making soap!  I made some with my mom while they were here.  

I finished reading the Old Testament, too!

My kids played this game every single day in January.

What in the world? How is this kid old enough to be going on a mission?!?!

Home school started back up in earnest in January.  It mostly has gone well.

But Levi sincerely gave me a run for my money.

I'm taking a lot more photos of myself lately.

Spied this one day and thought it was pretty cool that WalMart has a special parking spot for USAF.

Last year I decided to save our Christmas cards by doing a hole punch in the corners and putting a ring to hold them all together.

 January was a good month.  We were thankful for the warmer weather than we expected