Special Olympics, Work Opportunities, Man-Pris, School Stuff, Gratitude, Travel, Happy Twos-Day, Holiday Drought

Another two weeks have passed by.  Two weeks ago it was President’s Day weekend.  We didn’t go anywhere, but did do some fun things close by.  We had to celebrate since this will be the last Federal holiday until Memorial Day.  This upcoming ‘holiday drought’ as Aaron calls it is hard--haha!  Anyway, we took the kids out to lunch at Pizza Pie Cafe.  Then we walked along the Lagoon trail to see the Lagoon zoo from behind the fences.  It was a nice day, a bit cool, but still nice.  Noah was my buddy during the walk.  Daniel and Matthew didn’t want to stop for a picture so they kept walking.

Sarah was Aaron’s buddy:

On the way home we did stop by and have Matthew show us the elementary school in Bountiful where he helps out with lunch and reading with the kids for some work experience through his post high school education.  He was pretty excited to show us where he ‘works’:

Then we came back home and saw the movie Uncharted in the theater.  The theater by our house has the nice reclining seats, but it tends to be FREEZING inside.  I had to layer up just to keep warm, but we had a good time.

I ended up wearing my blanket sweatshirt thing over my long sleeved shirt and other sweatshirt to keep warm.  I looked absolutely ridiculous, but I stayed warm (except for my hands) so that is what is important, right?!  Here’s a stock photo of my blanket sweatshirt:

We did get a nice snow storm.  It was crazy to wake up to see so much snow in our backyard:

We love being able to talk with Josh in his P-days.  Technology is pretty cool when everyone is in a different location, but can still join in the call.  It is even more fun when Daniel is able to tell me his car won’t start and that he is stranded during the call, too--DOH!!  Anyway, Josh is loving his new area and companion so I am happy about that.

Before Josh left on his mission we ported his cell phone number to a google number and linked it to my email so we could save his number for when he gets back home.  So occasionally I do get Voicemails via email for Josh.  Most of them are spam, but I did get this one last week:

I had to laugh because Josh applied for that job over TWO YEARS ago.  I guess it takes them two years to finally view applications--haha!  I sent the screen shot to Josh just to kiddingly let him know he might be able to have a job when he gets home.  However, he would have to apply NOW in order for them to get around to contacting him when he got home off his mission--haha!  Josh just sent me the eye roll emoji--haha!

Daniel has been doing some serious growing lately.  He is slowly catching up to Aaron which is crazy!!  He still hasn’t passed the 6 foot mark, but he is sure getting close.

Speaking of Daniel...he has had a few interesting experiences lately.  The last weekend he had the closing shift for work so he was getting home late.  On his drive home around 12:30 am he got pulled over.  Luckily, a few weeks ago I had pulled out all the forms to show him what he needed to show if he ever got pulled over, but he assured me that wouldn’t happen.  So he knew kind of what to do when the police came to the driver’s side door.  He says he was speeding, but conveniently can’t remember how fast he was going--insert eye roll right here.  As he handed the papers (car registration, insurance and his license) to the officer, I guess his hands were shaking.  The officer asked why he was shaking and Daniel said it was because he had never been pulled over before.  Thankfully, the police officer took pity on him and let him off with just a warning.  I told him he needs to conveniently remember NOT to speed anymore and that he would pay for the ticket if he got one.  He assured me he would not speed anymore, but we shall see....he is my son after all--haha!  I also got another call from Daniel last week.  He accidentally locked his keys in his car while he was at work.  I wasn’t close to home so he had to wait a few hours before I could get to him.  Luckily, he was already at work for his shift so this wasn’t a big deal.  I think we may need to get another key made for his car because I have the only other copy of it.  Hopefully, it won’t happen again--I am keeping my fingers crossed.  In other happenings Daniel has started running for the track season at the high school in these past few weeks.

Noah had his Warrior Welcome at the Jr. High for incoming 7th graders this past week. We got to tour the school with Noah.  Throughout the school they had different booths set up for different clubs and programs.  Noah stopped by the band set up and got to try out a few instruments to see what he would like to play in Jr. High.  He loved trying out the trumpet, trombone and an euphonium:

However, I think he is going to play percussion instead.  He is getting excited to be in Jr. High next year.  Speaking of Noah, he had an orthodontist appointment this morning.  As they loosened his bands and wire he ended up losing a molar.  Luckily, it was a baby tooth, but had me scared for a minute because it had a bracket glued to it.  I thought he had already lost all of his baby teeth, but I was wrong.  Phew!  He still has one more molar left to lose that I know of.  

I have a watch that tracks my heart rate.  I tend to have a low heart rate, but the other day is was really low which was crazy.  I didn’t feel any different, but it was crazy to see my resting heart rate at an average of 48 throughout the whole day!

Sophie LOVES to lay in the sun.  I have to try not to trip over her or sit on her while she is sunning herself in the middle of the floor or on the couch.  Crazy dog!!

Matthew got to participate in the Special Olympics for the first time in the past month.  He got to do basketball and really enjoyed it.  He had his first game last Friday afternoon/evening. Here they are warming up:

Matthew was the biggest cheerleader!!  I am surprised his voice didn’t get hoarse because he was SO LOUD!!

He was telling the referee he was the Human GPS and giving traffic directions during a break:

Team cheer:

Matthew dribbling:

Afterward they did pictures.  Matthew pulled a weird face for his picture, but whatever....

His team:

Matthew has been so proud of his gold medal.  His team won their game and are getting the opportunity to play at the state level in a few weeks.  He has worn his medal to school every day this week and has emailed as many people as he can to let them know he got a gold medal.  He tried wearing it to church, but I didn’t let him because I don’t know if I could have reigned him in from showing EVERYONE at church whether they wanted to see it or not.  Wahoo Matthew!

We were glad we were able to come and support him:

The other morning Daniel woke up early and couldn’t go back to sleep.  Instead he decided to make pancakes at 5 am.  He thought he made enough for everyone, but these were all that were left after he ate his share.  He was hungrier than he thought--haha!

Another P-day chat with Josh.  He went to a super fancy mall with the other missionaries and called us to chat from there.  

While he was walking around he kept showing us the ridiculous ‘bargains’ that he was finding.  Like these $2500 shoes.  That is insane!!  That is crazy expensive for shoes!!

He also tried on some pants, but alas, being so tall--regular sized clothes never fit.

He sent us these pictures so we could laugh about his ‘man-pris’--his accidental capris--haha!

I have been working a bit lately.  A few days ago I came home from work and as soon as I sat down everyone piled on me including Sophie.  It was funny.

Aaron is getting the opportunity to travel to Belgium for a few weeks for work in the next few months.  I am so excited for him!  He got his official government passport this week so I guess it is official.  This government passport is brown instead of his regular blue one.  That’s pretty crazy!

He will be doing a lot of walking in Belgium so he is making sure he is getting into better shape before he goes.  He went running Saturday while I was at work.

I have been holding on to our crib for roughly 11+ years hoping to eventually change it into a bench.  Well for Christmas Aaron surprised me with it.  He had a friend help him cut it out and put it together.  So for Christmas he showed me the unpainted pieces which made my day!!  He has been slowly working on it since December.  It needed to be sanded, assembled and painted.  I have been working a few Saturdays this month so while I am gone at work he has been  putting it together and painting it.  He finished it this past Saturday and it looks awesome!!  It is a very sentimental bench since this crib was used for all five of our babies.  It will be on our front porch.  Now I need to get some pillows to put on it.  I love it and love that he made it for me!

This past week the date ended up being 2/22/22 and fell on a Tuesday.  We didn’t do anything special, but Daniel went out to lunch with his friend.  They got 22 tacos (it was Taco Tuesday, too) and ate them at 2:22 and 22 seconds pm.  

They made sure to take a picture of the time to document it--haha!

Sarah had an orthodontist appointment this morning where she earned enough points for a Twisted Sugar gift card.  So she asked to go there for breakfast.  She had a dirty soda and frosted sugar cookie for breakfast this morning.  It’s the breakfast of champions at least that is what Sarah said--haha!  Sarah also met with her school counselor this week over Zoom to register for 9th grade next year.  That is crazy to me!!  Time is such a thief!  

I also got an email from Sarah’s health teacher this week.  I love it when teachers send a copy of things our kids have done.  They were having a unit on Gratitude and the teacher sent me a copy of what Sarah wrote 🧡: