February 2022

 

February started out with our young women's Gal-entine activity.  The girls learned more about ministering, did a fun craft, wrote kind notes to each other, and enjoyed chocolate dipped snacks.  I am proud of Eve's leadership and her continuing to serve with everything she has on her plate.

We also learned to decorate cakes this month and painted Book of Mormons to share with friends.

This year I celebrated Valentine's Day by wearing my special earrings and necklace from Annie and getting little valentines for Matt and the kids.  Matt was out of town, but he got me a new laptop since mine is getting old and slow.  The kids shared valentines with their friends and Eve now has a special Valentine. (not in the next 3 pictures -those are her dance friends. haha :)

The highlight of the month was President's day weekend. The kids had Thursday, Friday and Monday off .  We were happy that Bart and Wendy, Matt's parents, could come to visit.  We were able to do lots of fun activities!

We went to San Francisco with our neighbors, the Ashby's to do some crabbing and enjoy the beach.  It was an absolutely perfect weather day!

We are grateful to have such awesome neighbors!!!

Then we picked up some lunch at the store and headed over the Golden Gate Bridge to the beach.  It was such a beautiful evening!  We took short hikes, the kids played together and as a added surprise Eve and Angel both got the fantastic news that they were accepted to BYU!!!  Eve is so excited that she will get to be roommates with her cousins Camille and Sabey who also got in!  I feel so grateful that all of Eve's hard work and diligence has paid off, besides all the learning of course!

The following day we relaxed  more at home and in the late morning drove about 45 minutes to Knight's Ferry for a short hike and some pretty scenery.

Sunday was church and in the evening we were able to go to the Mollard's almond orchard and enjoy the amazing blooms and sunset.  The orchards were so fragrant!

On Monday we made a quick trip to Pinnacles (It isn't a short drive, but we decided to go for it anyway since the drive and the park are beautiful.)  We had to be back by 3:15 for Sterling to get to work.

We enjoyed our time with Matt's parents.  We enjoyed talking, playing games, eating yummy food and sharing the beauty of California.  We hope they come again! :)

The rest of the month was filled with routine -  school, lessons, church, pets, physical therapy and doctor/dental appointments, cleaning/decluttering and friends.

Here the physical therapist was teaching me to tape Sheri's knee.

These are some peas from our garden.

Cat snuggles

Sterling as the Pride Lion at Hoops-coming

Tuesday, 2-22-2022 was a remarkable date.  Here's how Eve celebrated.

We call Matt almost every day.  Here is a picture from one of our video chats.

One final highlight for the month was Eve's band concert.  It was inside and it was great to hear the progress the kids have made throughout the year.  They have had to be flexible, practicing inside, outside, with masks on etc.  They had some really cool and complex pieces.  I am grateful that Eve's senior year has been mostly normal and she has been able to enjoy the highlights of the year.

As February illustrates, life is full.  We are blessed and despite our challenges the Lord is sustaining us.   As we remember to be grateful, we feel joy and recognize the great blessings in our lives.

January 2022

January brought some much needed routine.  Matthew helped me clear away the Christmas tree and decorations which I greatly appreciated!

 I recently saw a license plate that I felt described my situation pretty well.

I was sad to see Matt leave for Texas to start his new job, but recognize that it is only temporary and many others have had much longer separations!  I look forward to his visits home.  Because of a work audit and other work related issues he wasn't able to visit until February.  However, we were able to purchase our land and work with our builder and designer to plan our home floor plans. It is amazing how much you can do over Zoom calls!  In the mean time we enjoyed sharing photos of our locations to compare notes.

Later in the month we got an unexpected delivery from Matt's new employer.  It was a acknowledgement of the challenge/ thank you for the sacrifice of being separated from Matt during this time.  I thought this was a very thoughtful gesture!

This month has been full of car registrations and car repairs (my trunk, battery, tires, a motor mount, and lots of trips to identify the source of strange sounds in my van).  I definitely miss Matt when it comes to dealing with vehicle stuff! I guess I need to learn a bit more self reliance. Ha!  I have also kept busy with dental/orthodontist/doctor/vet/blood donation appointments

January also had some highlights and many routine activities.

On Jan 22nd we took the youth up to the mountains to enjoy the snow.

  I feel so blessed to have so many wonderful friends and leaders to work with!

On January 29th we went to the Oakland temple with the youth and had a lovely time.

Other youth activities include New Beginnings, a Children and Youth fireside, a Q & A fireside, annual activity planning, and training of the new youth presidencies.  While I'm on the topic of Church things, I want to recognize a milestone for Sterling who is now a priest and is able to bless the sacrament.  It seems that lately he has been maturing more socially and in his personal reflection.  He seems to listen to counsel more and is more obedient and conscientious with his influence as a leader in our home.  For example, when I ask the kids to do something, he will quickly agree and encourage the rest of the family to do it without dragging their feet.  He also seems to have more motivation for his personal goals.  I appreciate all of this very much.  He has also mentioned that he feels that things are finally starting to fall into place socially and in extracurriculars.  He enjoys DM-ing for his Game club, voice lessons, and is planning to try out for track soon.  Also, Sterling got his Drivers Permit!

Here are some fun gymnastics videos from this month:

Christian also continues with gymnastics.  Here he is at Get Air where he showed me that he can now do a back flip.  

Christian also tested into the GATE (Gifted and Talented) program and we are hoping that he will be able to join a similar program when we move to TX.

Sheri continued to play soccer, but had to discontinue her season early due to her persistent knee pain. She was scheduled for an MRI (came back normal) and started physical therapy. 

 Sheri is now old enough to go to church dances!  Yay!

Eve continues to push through her senior year and just learned that she will have the featured roll of the white queen in the spring dance recital - Alice and Wonderland.  Sheri will be her duchess.  It will be so fun to see the girls dance together on stage again! Here are a few pictures and videos of Sheri and Eve at dance.  

January has been exceedingly busy!  We have been able to do many good things.  I've managed to stay on top of my priorities while helping the kids through their individual challenges.  Of course I am grateful for the steadying/grounding influence of the gospel in my life and for many friends and loved ones that support me, especially when I feel that there is more to be done than time and energy allow!