Tanner's Ordination as Teacher

Tanner was ordained a Teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood today at church.

Dave gave him a beautiful blessing.  He specifically said that Tanner should look for opportunities to serve and reminded him to serve everyone both inside and outside the Church.  He was also admonished to take the Sacrament seriously and lastly to stay clean and worthy of the Priesthood he bore. 

Bishop Chard with Tanner and Dave.

Post-ordination family picture sans Ella who ran off with one of her friends down the hallway.

 

Snow Day

 

We woke up to several inches of snow and a slew of texts and emails saying everything was canceled.  Tanner immediately grabbed his snowboard and did what he could with the tiny hill in the backyard.  He is counting down the days to the Boy Scout Skiing/snowboarding weekend in Deep Creek in two weeks!

And my little helper Ella, went outside with Dave and helped brush off the cars and shovel the driveway.  

Thanks, Ella!

Party Like You're Turning (Ninety Ninety) Nine!

Since Ella's birthday was on a school day (Tuesday) this year, we decided to celebrate with friends three days later on Friday (yesterday).  The kids got out of school early due to the end of the semester, so I told the parents to drop their kids off at my house at 2:45.  I sent the evite out a couple weeks ago.  And of course in the meantime, as it gets closer to the party, we see that an impending snowstorm is scheduled to hit us!  We prayed we could squeeze the party in before the snow started sticking to the roads (especially since the place we were taking the was half an hour away).  I contacted all the parents, moved the party an hour earlier and hoped for the best.  

Here is most of the group outside of Party HQ waiting to head in.

Ella is equal parts girlie girl and tomboy.  She invited five boys to her party (the ones she plays football with every day at recess) but only two of them could come. 

Time to bowl!

Left to Right: Caroline K., Esmee, Arjun, Meara, Livia, Jonah, Ella, Floor, Sara, Caroline R. 

After bowling, we played laser tag!

This was the same party package we did with Riley and her friends two months ago.  It was such a hit with everyone, that we decided to do it again for Ella's party!

After laser tag, we sang Happy Birthday to Ella, had some yummy birthday treats and then safely (thankfully!) transported everyone home.  Roads were wet by that point with the snow steadily coming down, but thankfully it wasn't really sticking yet.

After we got home, Ella opened her gifts.

One happy girl covered in gift packaging!  Her friends sure were good to her!

After all that was done, I collapsed from exhaustion 😴

But so glad we got to help Ella celebrate her last single digit birthday surrounded by her friends! 🎉

My First Professional Ice Hockey Game - Go Caps!

 

I have never been to a NHL game before and I don't really follow ice hockey.  However, I love professional sports and I love watching live games, so when our friends Kim and Ryan (the same ones who scored free NFL tickets a few weeks back) called again, this time with free tickets to a NHL league game, we happily tagged along.

It really is amazing how fast they all skate, backwards, forwards and every which way!

Ready to cheer on the Caps!

We must be half-way related to one of the players 😜🏒

Here we are back in the same stadium we were just last month when we saw Andrea Bocelli.  It's amazing how quickly and how often they transform this arena!

Sadly the Caps lost 0-1 but it was still a fun experience!

Showing off his Pearly Whites!

 

After two years of metal mouth, Tanner is now braces-free!  Which means, we have two kids down and two to go in the braces department!

Look how little and cute he was when the day we took him in to get his braces!

Before his appointment.....

And after!

The face and body sure have changed a lot in the last couple of years, but these braces have been a staple.

Happy 9th Birthday to My Baby!

 

Nine years ago, we welcomed our sweet little Ella Grace into the world and into our family.  When I found out I was pregnant with her, we had three kids ages one, three and five.  We didn't plan to have another baby - at least not so soon since we both felt overwhelmed trying to keep up with three young kids, the oldest of which hadn't even started Kindergarten yet!  But of course, the second we got her in our arms, there was no denying she was meant to be.  And Dave and I can both genuinely say that we have absolutely loved and treasured every minute of having this spirited blue eyed beauty in our lives.

She loved that left thumb since birth!  It was so hard breaking her from that habit!

Go Cubs!

Ahh yes.... the day she got her head stuck in a toilet seat and was none to happy about it.  I hate it when that happens! 🤣

My favorite feeling ever.

And fast forward to present day....

On her birthday, I went to Donut Shack at 6am and got her favorite donuts (per her request) and served her breakfast in bed.

At 5:12pm (the exact time she was born) we hugged each other and took a picture of ourselves to commemorate the 9 year anniversary of the exact time we first met!

We had chicken pot pie for dinner (per her request) and then opened presents. 

There is never a dull day with you, Ella Grace.  You bring so much light and laughter and energy to our home and family and lives and we are so lucky you are ours!

Happy Birthday to my Lacey!

Our family tradition is that the birthday kid always gets served breakfast in bed.  This year, Lacey surprised me by saying that she'd like to have her birthday breakfast at the kitchen table.  She also surprised me by saying that instead of getting together with friends, she just wanted to go bowling as a family for her birthday.  But deep down, I still knew she'd love to see some friends on her birthday, so I arranged for three of her friends to come over to our house at 8:30am on her birthday (a Saturday), so when I called her up for her Birthday Breakfast, her friends were there to surprise her and eat with her!

Lucy, Lacey, Audrey and Elise.

That night, the six of us went bowling as per Lacey's request, but when we got to the 32-lane local bowling alley, they were PACKED.  They said that a school group had reserved most of the lanes for the night, so we called two other bowling alley's within driving distance and both of them said they were packed as well.  We waited around for about 30 minutes just on the off chance a lane might open, but alas, we were out of luck, so we did plan B, which was have Lacey choose where she wanted to go for dinner.  She chose Panda Express.  So, we ate at Panda Express and then Dave thought it would be fun to go to Friendly's for dessert, so that's how we capped off the day!

Once we got home, we showered Lacey with gifts!

Ella was very excited to give her the homemade card she made her with little gifts taped inside.

And then the following day, we invited Dave's family over for a birthday dinner to celebrate both Lacey and Ella (whose birthdays are just 3 days apart).

Lacey requested a homemade oreo cheesecake.

Birthday buddies picture sandwiched between Aunt Hihi and Grandpa.

I have been a mother for 15 years now.  So hard to believe.  But it truly has been the greatest joy of my life and nothing will ever top this experience.  And I am so grateful for this sweet girl who gave me that opportunity and welcomed me into the world of motherhood.

Age 3

Myrtle Beach.

Probably the age Ella is now.  They look so much alike!

Branson, MO

Feeding the birds in Branson, MO

Bottle-feeding a baby kangaroo

Swim team!

Road trip with her "Dee Dee's."

Mom surprising her with lunch on her birthday when she was in elementary school.

Experiencing the magic of Disney.

I love you Lacey!  You always bring a smile to my face!