November 2017

November was a month where we got many opportunities to enjoy our extended family.

At the beginning of the month Sheri and I flew to Denver to see my niece, Mary's baptism.  This was Sheri's first time on an airplane and it was fun to have a trip, with just the two of us.

I enjoyed catching up with my dad and then we met all the girls for lunch.  Wish I had a pic!
In the evening I got to see Joseph's play.  He did a fabulous job! 

Saturday morning my mom and I went to Deseret Book store and then we headed to the church for the baptism.
Annie had a beautiful dessert table.   The baptismal service was very special and had a sweet spirit of joy!  I was happy to share my thoughts on the gift of the Holy Ghost.  It was great to see all the family and friends that came.  Mary looked beautiful, as did Annie.  Jeff and Jonathan looked handsome as well.

I am grateful to my Dad for sharing these photos with me, since most of mine didn't turn out at the end of the event.

After the baptism we went to lunch.  Here are Sheri and Mary with Ivan.  You can see how much they all love being together.

Later I got to spend an evening with Ivan.  We attended a salon for Annie's choir group where they did lots of mis-cast songs (where the performers sang nontraditional parts.)  This was so fun to see!  Annie was in at least 4 numbers and she did beautiful, awesome, hilarious, outrageous, and fun numbers.  She "ROCKED" that night.  What fun!  She has so much personality and zest for life.  I really admire how she continues to develop her musical talents (as do many in my family).

Sunday I attended church with my sisters and was grateful to hear Jennifer present a lesson in Relief Society about doing better or "lengthening our stride"  basically.  It was very well done.  She has set a great example of prioritizing time for serving God and others.  Our lives are all so busy that we must carve out time for the most important things.  I loved it!

Then we all came together for a family dinner.  I had such a nice time!

Each day was such a treasured time for Sheri and me to be with family!

The month continued on with the usual, dance, music lessons, clubs, church activities, and school.  Sterling started his basketball practices which has been a nice addition.

Eve had a music concert at school which included both the 8th grade band and orchestra.  She also was able to play with the ward choir in church.

Christian's become very interested in doing art.  His works have become more detailed and he spends more time on them.

Toward the end of the month Matt flew to Utah to see his nephew's wedding/sealing in the Salt Lake temple.  While he was there he also took the opportunity to attend a BYU football game and climb Y mountain with his brother, Michael.

Here are some pictures of the wedding day.

Then Matt flew to Washington, D.C.  while the rest of us drove from Ohio.  We were excited to spend Thanksgiving with Matt's Brother, Jeff and their family.  We were also happy that Mike and his family also came.
Here you can see how happy we were to be with Matt again.

Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving.  It is so fun to bake and talk together.  That is when all the great conversation happens.  I also love that we all share the load.  And somehow, dishes are more fun at someone else's house. :)

The day after Thanksgiving we went into D.C. to enjoy the monuments and some fresh air and sunshine. It was a beautiful day.  We were also happy that Matt's parents flew into join all of us.

I was particularly touched remembering all those who have sacrificed their lives for building this great nation and for protecting freedom!

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we were happy to be able to see Jeff's daughter, Sky get baptized.  She was baptized by her older brother, Noah and confirmed by Jeff.
I had the opportunity to share my feelings again about the Gift of the Holy Ghost and I hope that it helped someone gain a greater understanding of how this gift can bless their own life.

I was touched by the love I felt as I watched Noah help his little sister along the covenant path.  What a great example he was.  It is symbolic of the love Christ has for each of us as our Older Brother!

After Church Sunday morning we drove home to Columbus to begin another week.  That about sums up our November activities.

We feel extremely blessed to have such wonderful families and time to enjoy them!  We are grateful for our memories of precious time spent together!  These relationships are eternal and we are so grateful that we can be with them forever through the ordinances we receive in the temple.  We feel so thankful for all our blessings!

October 2017

October was a BUSY month!  Busy, but mostly good.  Here is what we were up to.

We started the month with the Owens coming to visit for General Conference weekend.  We loved bringing them to the soccer games and they were kind enough to support us.  We also had lots of fun in between sessions playing games in the back yard, going to the park, and playing Nerf gun wars.  The messages from Conference were wonderful as always and having friends made it even more special!  We love the Owens!

The following day the kids didn't have school so Sheri went to a friend's house and the rest of us went to the zoo.

Throughout the month we had lots of miscellaneous things that we did.  Here is a little list (since I love lists and love to document our happenings.)

- We found this awesome looking moth one day outside the dance studio.

- We wrapped up our soccer season.  All the kids worked very hard, and I was so happy with their effort!

- Christian got to practice his bike riding a lot when we went to the church to exercise or to the park together.  He has gotten very proficient at starting, stopping, navigating around others, and going over bumpy areas.

-  School has been hopping right along.  We had parent teacher conferences for the kids and all the kids got great reports.
Eve didn't have an official P/T conference, but her teachers make a point of calling me to tell me that she is a bright spot in their day.  She is kind, helpful, on task, engages with others, and is a positive role model to others.  She also earned 2 Irish Spotlight Awards that the teachers give to kids who are doing great things in school. Eve is also involved in Student Council (a pretty select group this year), a weekly Announcements group, J.T.I. (a service oriented group), and Jazz Band.  She is enjoying her flute in her regular band class.  She has even started leading her English class in a little morning yoga occasionally. :)

Sterling actually found an error in his teacher's grading which brought up many of the students' grades including his own.  Sterling is also involved with Junior Teen Institute (a service club), Fiddle Fusion (an early morning string instrument group), and Math Counts (a 6-8th grade math group.)  He is enjoying both the cello in orchestra, and the trumpet in band at school.

Sheri is thriving!  Here is what her teacher had to say on her report card.

Christian is also doing well in school and I am especially pleased with his fine motor skill development.  Here are some of his cute crafts. This first one I helped the class with during my volunteer time.

- I have had a bunch of extra engagements this month that have made it extra busy for me.  I went to two different "Favorites" parties where everyone brings 5 of their favorites, shares why, and then gives them to 5 people whose names are drawn.   Then each person leaves with 5 favorites of other guests. 
I also went to lunch with my "Becky" group, the Mangelsons invited Matt and me over for dinner one evening, and I attended a "Parent University" class where I learned about the school safety procedures.  This month we also had our Stake Women's Conference which was very nice.  Here are some of my Primary friends.

I have also been busy with my calling.   This has been my month to teach Sharing Time and we had our annual Primary Program and Saturday practice which went very well.  I also continue to support the Cub Scouts and this month attended their campfire pack meeting.  I helped the Bears prepare and perform a skit.  I was also mildly involved with the Ward Trunk or Treat activity.

This month I also hosted Joy school at my home.  All this extra activity has been a bit much.  We have decided to discontinue Joy school since Christian isn't enjoying it very much and he already goes to preschool every day.  He also dropped his preschool movement class (Friday mornings) temporarily.  I think he needs more "down time".

All this extra activity along with the rest of the family's craziness is probably why I stopped writing in my daily journal.  :(  I hope to pick that habit back up!

- One very sad event that happened this month is that our friend, Tim Watabe from our previous ward fell while rappelling with the scouts and passed away.  He was the bishop of that ward for about a year and had touched many people's lives with his friendly, service oriented, funny personality.  He was an example of living a Christ like life.  He will surely be missed!  The sacrament meeting the following day and his funeral were extremely touching, comforting, and inspiring!  We will be praying for his family!  We are so grateful for the knowledge that families can be together forever through the ordinances of the temple!

The rest of the month revolved around Halloween and fall celebrations.  Here are some of them.

-Costume shopping - I thought this was hilarious!

-The ward Trunk or Treat and dinner

The funniest part of Sterling's costume was watching him at gymnastics trying to do tricks in it.  It was hilarious!  He enjoyed all the attention this costume brought!

-Christian's preschool class party

-The Davis Fall Festival - Eve helped to plan and run this event.  The kids had a great time!

-Sheri's school parade and class party

-Carving pumpkins as a family.  They were from our garden!  :)

-And finally, Trick or Treating with the Kleins

We surely love the Kleins!  We have had so many great memories with them!  Matt enjoys playing basketball with Alex and I love to talk and have fun with Nassim!  We even get to go to lunch from time to time.  The boys of course love to have play dates with their boys, and Eve has enjoyed babysitting for them.  I am so glad that our boys have been able to play on the same soccer team for the time we have been here in Ohio!  We are grateful that they are our friends!

Well if this post isn't enough to illustrate how we felt after this month, maybe this photo will give you an idea.   (My kids love to gather around this heating vent in our kitchen.) 

Happy Halloween.  Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!