Kinetic Sand

I have a love hate relationship with things like play-doh, paints, kinetic sand, etc. The girls love playing with these types of crafts but they usually leave a mess and don't always get cleaned up. Brielle and Britney happened to find where the kinetic sand had been put when we moved in so they couldn't resist getting it out and playing with it. It definitely kept them busy for the afternoon so I'm glad they found it. And the mess wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, so that's a bonus!

 

Bingham Bball Camp

Brayden has been attending the Bingham High School bball camp for the past month. He has absolutely loved every minute of it. This kids works incredibly hard and makes an impression with anyone that sees him practice or play. This camp was no exception. The coaches loved his ball handling skills and his passion and it was fun to see him recognized for it. Unfortunately Josh and I were in Lake Powell during the final day of camp where they gave out awards, but luckily my friend Tobi was there and was able to snap some pics for us. The first pic is with the head coach on the right and an assistant coach on the left. Brayden was chosen as the Camp Baller out of all the kids that attended the camp! It was for grades 6-8 so there were quite a few kids. He was so excited to have been picked and recognized. The second pic was with one of the varsity players. 5 members of the varsity team helped out with the camp and they each picked a player that stood out to them. This player picked Brayden! So he was recognized a second time! Way to go Brayden!!! We are excited for Brayden to start playing with Bingham in a couple tournaments this summer and can't wait til bball season in the fall!

 

Lake Powell

Josh continues to work on the side doing financial planning. He was invited to go to Lake Powell for 3 days with people from his team and it was a blast. We haven't been to Lake Powell in over 10 yrs so it was good to be back, however it also reminded us how much we love Lake Powell and wish we could come more. Even with the low water levels we loved every minute of it. We stayed in a hotel in Paige and spent the days on the lake with our group of 8. We left at 4am on Thursday, which also happened to be our anniversary, and were on the lake by noon. We went to a fun bbq place for dinner and to celebrate our anniversary. Friday we slept in and made it to the lake around 11. We did a lot of surfing and exploring. Friday night we found an awesome place with live music and dancing. The food was great and it was very entertaining. Saturday was the same as Friday...lots of surfing and looking at all the beautiful canyons. Saturday we headed home after checking out from the hotel and made it home around 4. Short but amazing!

I had been worried for weeks about how my back would do being on the boat all day. It was pretty rough. The first day was ok especially bc I found my "sweet spot" in the back of the boat by laying down backwards with my feet up on the back of the boat for when we were going fast. That really helped cut down on the impact my lower back felt from the choppy water. The second day about did me in. We went a lot farther down the lake, which meant we had a long ways to go to get back to the marina. We were racing the sun setting so the boat was cruising down the lake to get back, which meant we hit the waves hard. My back was a total mess and even laying down didn't help enough to brace for the impact. I cried most of the way back bc it hurt so bad. I could barely move the rest of the night I was in so much pain. I had decided I would stay back at the hotel for day 3, but they convinced me to come and they would stay closer to the marina and go slower through the choppy waves. I'm glad I ended up going bc it was fun to be with everyone and my back did much better. 

 

Piano Recital

 

Jazz Game

We had some friends and family over to watch the Jazz game. We hope we have lots of playoff games left so we can keep having parties with such wonderful people!

 

Turning 40

A few months ago Josh and I talked about my 40th bday. He thought about renting a taco truck and having a big party with all our friends and family. I wasn't so keen on the idea. We are in the middle of landscaping our yard and May is a very very busy month. So we decided not to have a giant bday blowout. Instead he surprise me with the pedicures and dinner at Tuscany on Saturday. So on my bday I had plans with my friend for lunch and dinner with the kids. I spent the day deciding where would be a good place to eat and ended up giving Josh a few options...I just didn't want Mexican. As we left for dinner Josh mentioned one of his Mexican accounts had offered their banquet room, then he answered a phone call. I tried telling him other places I'd like to go but he kept driving towards Tio's. I was furious. So mad that I texted my friend and vented to her bc I couldn't believe that the one place I didn't want to go was the once place we were going. I was pretty bitter and made the comment to Josh as we walked to the restaurant that I was bugged. Well I walked in and finally realized why we were there...Josh had planned a surprise bday party for me with our families and friends. Yep I felt terrible I was so upset about where we were going. The banquet room was decorated and it was so fun to be with everyone. 

 

Dance Recital

The girls have had a great dance season. It was super busy with so many competitions but the girls (and I) made it! They killed it this season and we will miss these routines and these teams. To finish off the season they had their recital and they did a great job! (While we were getting ready I had one of those "I don't want to forget this moment" moments. I designed the master bathroom with these girls in mind. I knew that we would have many years doing hair and makeup together. I wanted a bench big enough to line up the girls to do their hair and makeup for dance. I loved this moment even more bc both the older girls were helping me get the younger girls ready.)

 

Dancing with Dads…or Big Brother

For their last team class Brielle's teacher invited all the girls' dads to come dance with them. Unfortunately her class was during an impossible time for Josh to be there so Brayden stepped up and went in his place. It was so fun to see all the girls teach their dads some dance steps and learn a routine with them. Brayden was a great sport and looked awesome! He has great rhythm and is so coordinated he picked it right up!

 

I Spy…

I love watching the girls dance and it's not uncommon for me to peek in the windows to watch them. Once in a while they catch me spying on them. Normally they pretend like they don't see me but not Britney!

 

Reflections

I took the girls to the studio at the beginning of the school year for an hour so they could improv to a song of their choice for the Reflections contest at school. They all entered the dance choreography category and they all won at their school level! And then they all won at the district level! And then Brynlee and Britney won at the regional level! Britney got an honorable mention at the state level and Brynlee took 2nd for the second year in a row. Bc of covid they didn't have awards ceremonies but they did have an open house for the state winners to pick up their awards. 

 

Mother’s Day

We had a wonderful and relaxed Mother's Day. I waited all morning for the kids to bring me breakfast in bed like they always do, but it never came. So I finally emerged from my bedroom around 10:30 and found that they had made me breakfast and kept it warming in the oven so that I could sleep in as long as I wanted. They seriously are the best. After church we headed to my parent's house, then made our way to the Ericson's for dinner and to enjoy the evening together.