Lincoln is 11!

 

This cool dude turned 11! He picked out frosted cookies to share with his class at school.  He also invited some friends to a party at our home.

They had a good time and mostly played games and ate cake and pizza.

Then Lincoln opened his gifts later that afternoon. 

Lincoln is a good kid.  Everyone loves him including the choir teacher who is so kind to him.  He pulls As and Bs without much help. He is pretty independent with his schoolwork.  He enjoys school and computer games and activity day groups with church friends. He is kind to the cats and is pretty easygoing.  His challenge is waking up in the morning.  He is NOT a morning person, but has to be to the bus stop by 7am sharp.  So we do our best! We sure love our Lincoln boy! He brings a lot of love to our family. 

Mak is 15!

 

Our delightful firecracker turned 15 years old! 

Since we were at volleyball for most of the weekend, her birthday celebration was stretched over one week.  We started off with a cake.

Then on her actual birthday, she brought cupcakes to church for the young women's group.

She then opened gifts. She specifically wanted an iPhone, (which was crazy since her Android contract still had another year on it), but we allowed her to switch.  It was not the wisest thing to break the contract, but Makayla was super happy.

Then on Monday, we went as a family to Texas Roadhouse, for her birthday dinner.

Then on the following Friday, Makayla had a friend birthday party.  They mostly ate and hung out and had a good time.

Just for fun, I found some things Makayla made including the start of a bucket list and a creative Bugs Bunny artwork.  We sure love Makayla!  She brings lots of energy into our family.  We always tell her- "We are not a sports family." That means we do not want to give up Saturdays for soccer and additionally waste lots of time at practices.  But she really loves volleyball, and ties us up at crazy out of town tournaments up in Salt Lake and Heber, etc.  Oh well.  We will probably miss the chaos someday.  In addition to volleyball, Makayla is part of DECA, the NHJS, and active in her YW church group. Keep reaching new heights, sweet Makayla!!

Bonus from YW!

February 2022

 

The cats and a bird hung out.

Our ward ended up winning the basketball championship, which included a nice traveling trophy!

The youth went bowling and a listened to a speaker.

Vickie and I headed to North Salt Lake to watch Makayla play volleyball. 

I got to help with Lincoln's class Valentines party. He volunteers on the student council club, specifically with school announcements and carrying the flag in assemblies.

I made the mistake of using a coupon to get my hair cut at a beauty school.  Well, it kept getting shorter and shorter. Not at all what I wanted!  The supervisor lady had to come fix my hair from the student that butchered me.  Needless to say, I was so taken aback and annoyed, that I kept the tip. Lesson learned- don't go to beauty schools for haircuts.

Scott and I had a great time at the parade of homes.  We enjoy looking at the new trends and realizing how happy we are with our own home.

Scott tried his hand at baking bread and tortillas.

Mr. Sterling chipped a tooth and the unimpressive dentist down here refused to fix it.  He said Sters needs to be out of braces first.

Scott/ Dad/ Bishop/ Etc. had a birthday and turned 42.  We sure love him!

We made fondue for Valentines Day and enjoyed each others' company.  Sweet Penny made me a cute card. 

Rico helped us get some new plants in the yard.

We thinned the lily pads out and my car passed 40k miles.

Speaking of my van, it was freezing cold (-2 degrees!) in Heber when I took Makayla up for volleyball a few weeks later.  My siblings were kind enough to gather when Mak and I visited.  

And some of my favorite people (aka the Hebdons) visited my parents in Hawaii.  The Cushings, the Jeffersons, the Ashcrafts, Bruce & Jan, and Dave & Carlene; plus, amazing Grandma, who is 91 years old! And I found a sweet photo of the Hebdons from a few years ago.