Square dancing

In preparation for trek this summer, we had a square dance with all the youth from our stake.  It was a really fun night with so many kids and the dancing was just a blast!  Can't wait to see this all at trek again!

 

Islands in the sky

The clouds this morning were incredible!  It made the mountains look like islands in the sky.  So incredibly beautiful!

 

Till

Somehow we have fallen in love with this little creature that has invaded our home...

 

Post run snacks

I'm smack in the middle of my marathon training and had a 17 miler this morning.  I got back to the van and had a seat load of treats and a note from my biggest fan.  I'm so lucky to have the fan club that I do and the best supportive husband to help me out with this craziness.

 

Rhen's 13 birthday

Miss Rhen turned into a teenager today and officially grew up right before our eyes.  She is spunky and spicy and a little bit crazy but boy do we love her!  She had treats all day long to celebrate, starting with donuts in the morning, Fizz for lunch and we kidnapped the Hammers that night for a quick stop at Twisted Sugar to finish off the night.  Family birthday dinner and cake later on in the week made it an official full week of celebrating this girl!  She deserves it.  

 My favorite things about 13 year old Rhen:

1) Rhen is about as cool and crazy as anyone could be.  She loves to laugh, make jokes, make fun of her brothers, sleep in, eat lots of sugar and stay up late watching "her show".  She is THE FUNNEST person to be around and I can't get enough of her.

2) Rhen is a great student.  She takes school really seriously and hates when she's behind in an assignment or didn't do well on a test.  She tested into a higher math class this year and has stayed right on top of everything.  She's going to go big places with that brain of hers.

3) Rhen has a conscience that guides her and she sticks close to her thoughts and impressions.  She knows what's right and always wants to follow that.  She's the first to apologize if she hurts someone's feelings or to offer help when she knows of anyone that needs it.  She sticks close to her leaders that have had a big influence in her life and just wants to be close to the light.  She is doing it right and I hope I can be like her someday.

13 year old stats from Dr. Erickson:

Height: 5'8" - 97%

Weight: 134 lbs. - 88%

Happy Birthday dearest Rhen!  Have the coolest year ever!

Spring band concert

Rease and Rhen had their spring band concert tonight.  They have both been working hard this year and their improvement from the beginning of the year to now is impressive!  Rhen has been playing the tenor saxophone and has really loved it.  And Rease still plays the french horn in symphonic band and has been playing the piano in the jazz band.  I love listening to both of them and they're both having fun with their band classes.

 

Heart Attack

Josh was released from the bishopric this weekend and the youth from our ward are just so sweet and left notes all over the door for him.  It has been a great group of men that have worked hard for the ward for these past 5 years and I know Josh is going to miss working so closely with them and with the youth.  It's so sweet to read all that these kids had to say and it's clear how much they love Josh.  He's the best.

 

Crepes

Liev has become our breakfast boy and wants to make something special every morning.  His latest meal? Crepes.  And he's getting really good at them!

 

Rice Krispie Face

Desh helped me make Rice Krispie Treats today and I think he got more on his face than in his mouth...

 

Elder and Sister Losee

Today Elder and Sister Losee headed off to Heber Valley Camp to start their mission!  They have been preparing and working for months to be ready to go and the day is finally here.  They are going to be such great missionaries and we are so grateful for their example to us all.

 

Hale Center Theatre

We love having tickets to Hale Center Theater as a family.  It's always a fun date night and I love trying all the new shows that I've never seen.  This one in particular was good and really funny.  And funniest thing about tonight?  I got called up on the stage and had to DANCE! Can you believe one of my worst nightmares actually happened?  It was embarrassing and I looked like an idiot.  But the rest of the play was good :)

 

Rugby trip

We did a crazy thing and took a quick girls weekend to Oakland!  Taysan was playing Rugby against Cal and Melissa floated the idea of us all going together and somehow it all worked right into our schedules just like that!  I love when things come together quick and easy and it's just so fun.  We had the best time watching Tay play, but also eating yummy food and laughing so hard into the night that I can't even remember what time we went to bed.  I love these ladies so much.  Thanks for the fun trip!

 

February trip to PR - Day 9

Our last day was filled with final paint fixes and putting the final touches on the upstairs.  It turned out looking soooo good and we're so happy to have this part of the house looking so much like a real home!  Josh always like to trim the yard before we go, knowing that it will be a while before we're back to do it again.  

And our final pic before we left for the airport is now becoming a traditional picture as we can see the progress we've made with each trip.  One day we'll take this same picture and the house will be completely done!

Our trip home consisted of game boys, treats and a freezing cold flight to Arizona where we had our layover.  Unfortunately we're all dressed for the tropics so we didn't have anything to cover up with except our own shirts.  I don't remember a colder flight I've ever been on! Back home to the cold weather we go.

February trip to PR - Day 8

Today was gray paint day upstairs and we worked hard rolling and rolling and rolling all over those walls up there. The kids just kept working and it was, as the girls would say, “so satisfying” to see how the walls changed as we painted. We wanted to get one full coat of paint on this morning so it could dry during the day. We cranked up the country music and worked our tails off for a good 4 hours getting it all done. The color turned out great and I think will make it all look like a good neutral base color for now. 

After we got the walls done we took a break while the paint dried. Kim and Hector invited us over to swim in between renters at their house and we gladly took them up on their offer! Their pool and yard is so fun and beautiful and it was a perfect day to be at the pool. 

After we got back from the pool the girls had some homework to do and the boys got a tournament of speed going. I started back upstairs to tape along the ceiling so we could finish up with the gray trim tonight. We wanted to try and get it all done before we leave and now that we’re so close, we felt the push to just get it wrapped up. We worked until about 10:30 tonight taping and painting and removing tape and touching up. And then we called it a day because we were just exhausted. Tomorrow morning we’ll check it all out and see how we did…

February trip to PR - Day 7

After a day off yesterday, we felt the push to get back to painting and we’re still hoping to get to a good stopping place before we have to head home. We taped and cleaned around the edges outside and were able to get the whole upstairs painted before the end of the day! It looks just incredible! We love the color and the contrast with the white windows and doors looks so great! I can’t wait until the whole house is done. But the rest is for another trip I’m afraid. 

We also painted the rest of the ceilings inside to get ready for painting walls tomorrow. The white ceilings will be a nice touch with the gray that we chose for the inside walls. I’m so excited to see how it all looks! Josh fired up the pressure washer to get the outside walls clean but it didn’t last long when we realized that the city water had gone out and we didn’t want to use up all the water in the cistern. You never know how long the city will have the water off so better to be safe than sorry! We also had a few hours today with the power off so we opted to roll the rest of the paint on since we couldn’t use the sprayer. It actually turned out great and looks just as good. 

Overall a successful day and we’re oh so close to getting done with the upstairs paint! 

February trip to PR - Day 6

Today we took a day off and headed out to culebra to spend the day and sleep overnight in our hammocks. As always the ride over on the ferry seems to be pretty bumpy but today was especially so. Almost all of us were white and clammy and about ready to lose our breakfast by the time we got there. Luckily we made it there in just enough time to get some fresh air and help out stomachs feel better. We took a taxi straight to Flamenco Beach and spent the afternoon soaking in the sun and the sand. It was glorious and warm and just absolutely beautiful! The kids love boogie boarding out there cause the waves are so big. And I don’t mind it because the shallow shore goes out so far that I don’t feel like I need to worry quite so much :) We had such a fun afternoon on the beach together! A couple of the tiendas are now open and we snacked on some French fries and pina coladas before they closed for the evening. 

We swam and played until the sun went down and the boys even got a skinny dip in before we headed for the showers. A shower and a fresh pair of clothes before bed was just what we all needed. It felt so good to be clean! We found a spot in the trees and set up our hammocks and bug nets. Most every tree had an upper and lower hammock hanging from it and we stacked them all perfectly so that we could fit all nine of us in the small grove together. Of course as soon as it’s dark the only thing to do is go to bed so we all sacked out pretty early after a fun day of playing on the beach. Most of us slept really well until a small rainstorm passed right over the beach and our camp and woke us up for a few minutes. It was only two or three minutes of rain but it was enough to get those of us on the “upper decks” to get wet. Luckily the rain came and went quickly and, though we were a little wet, we went back to sleep with no problem. The morning came early and we packed up camp to catch the 7:30 ferry. We had a fun and successful night on the beach and Flamenco remains one of our favorite places in all of the Caribbean! 

February trip to PR - Day 5

Today was an excellent day of painting for us! We painted all the ceilings inside and out white and it looks awesome! Seriously so good. I love seeing the all white and how it makes such a contrast to everything else. Love it!

The kids worked hard scraping and sanding old edges on the walls and ceilings and gathering lizards. To quote my mother in law “Many hands make light work” and we’ve found that to be true! Things have moved along pretty quickly this week with so many helpers. Josh filled in some holes and cracks in the concrete and then we moved inside with the sprayer to paint the ceilings in there. We did every thing except one room before the paint ran out. Back to Home Depot tomorrow for more paint I guess. 

We did decide on the color for the outside and went with the lighter of the two colors, Seafoam. While the ceilings were being sprayed inside, the Seafoam green was being rolled on outside. Everyone pitched in and then Josh came around behind them and cleaned it all up and made it look amazing. Oh my word the color turned out so good!! We all love it. We still need to finish around edges tomorrow after the rest of this is dry and we can tape, but for now we just admire the color on the walls and love every bit of it! Obviously there’s still so much more to paint but it’s so fun to get to this point with a small portion of the house. 



Another trip to the beach tonight to celebrate all our work! We love that we can get there in 10 minutes and spend an hour or two or however long we want. Tonight was just to get out of the house and try to wash all the paint away that we’ve accumulated all over our bodies! 

February trip to PR - Day 4

Josh took a turn with the full body suit and mask today as he got started with the spray gun. He was a champ and did most of the spraying inside while the kids each helped roll on some of the primer. We figure while we have all these hands we might as well make good use of them! Of course after being here for a couple days we’re all riddled with mosquito bites. Yikes. The kids all look like they have chicken pox!

Another day of painting in the books and we’re hoping for some actual paint tomorrow. We basically stop at Home Depot daily and get supplies we need for the day. It always takes more of everything to get a big job done and we’ve run out of rollers and primer and tape so far. We’ll stock up a little better for this next go! We’re still debating on the color for the outside but have narrowed it down to two colors. Both light turquoise but one is just a tiny bit darker than the other. Tomorrow we need our decision made so we’re taking a poll…

February trip to PR - Day 3

We picked up cute Dru today from the airport and she’s going to spend the next few days here with us! We’re so excited to have her and of course we put her to work right away. Taping and covering the outside windows was first then we fired up the paint sprayer and got to work with that. We decided to do a coat of primer first since there are so many different surfaces going on everywhere. Some old paint, some bare concrete and lots of areas that have been patched up make it all so different that we figured having primer on there would equal out all the surfaces at once. It’s amazing how fast that sprayer goes and what a good job it does! And it looks so much different having the walls all one color. We haven’t ever seen them all one color and it already makes it looks so nice. I can’t wait to see it with the paint on! 

This afternoon we took off for the beach while josh had a couple work calls to be on. Because we’re 3 hours ahead of utah time, Josh has lots of free time in the morning but then ends up working until later in the evening when we’re here. It’s all ok and we were ready for a nice break anyway. We ended up at Playa Azul and Dru told me that this is the first time she’s ever been to the beach! We had a great night and stayed until the sun went down. It was a beautiful way to end the day. 

February trip to PR - Day 2

This morning started out a little slow as we found out that the van wouldn’t start at 5:00 am when we tried to leave for the gym. There must have been a light left on since we were last here and ran the battery out. So josh and I gladly climbed back into bed for a couple more hours until we could get someone up here to jump the van for us. Hector came to our rescue later on this morning and then Josh took it in for a new battery. Fit as a fiddle now but we got a late start on our work at the house because of it. This trip we’re hoping to get done painting so first things first, we taped and covered windows. That’s a big job and always takes longer that it should! But we got it done and ready for paint! 

The plumbers also came today and, would you believe it, they got our hot water heater hooked up!! I was the first one to break it in and took a nice long hot shower tonight. It was heavenly! It’s so crazy to think how much has changed since we first started working on the house. So many months without hot water makes me so grateful to actually have it! 

February trip to PR - Day 1

This February trip has been on the calendar for a long time now! We got some really cheap flights months ago and bought tickets for the whole family. It’s finally here and we’re excited! We had an overnight layover in Dallas this time so got a hotel room for us all to squish in and get some sleep. We ordered takeout and watched the Olympics before we all crashed into our beds! While we waited for our flight the next morning, Beck pulled out a tooth! And then wondered if the tooth fairy would find him all the way in Puerto rico? We were so glad to get there this morning and remind ourselves how much we love our house! It’s been 8 months since the girls have been back and they were especially excited to get here :)

The boys promptly found their machetes and started chopping down weeds around the yard and chasing lizards. Then they moved to the field behind us and dug up some plants that they wanted to plant in our yard. They dug them up and planted them in the “perfect spot” around our yard and finished off with a bath on the back patio.  They have settled right into the routine! 

We ended the night with scrambled eggs for dinner (we didn’t quite make it to the grocery store yet) and a Hardy Boys book before bed. We are tired and ready to get some rest before we start our day tomorrow. 

Ski Races

Desh had his ski race today for Little Rippers.  He's so dang cute on his skis and does such a good job staying in control while still picking up some good speed.  He has loved his class this year and always has his older brothers cheering him on!

 

Young Women's Winter Retreat

This weekend we had a special getaway with our Young Women at a cabin up near Strawberry Reservoir.  It was such a fun winter retreat for all of us girls to be together!  We had a glow dance party and played tons of games including a winter olympics that Rhen and I were in charge of.  Rhen has been on the planning committee for the retreat and they have worked so hard to pull this event off.  It turned out to be such a fun weekend together with lots of bonding time!

 

Art expo

The elementary had an art expo today and we got to walk around and see what the kids have been working on this year.  They also had classrooms with all sorts of STEM activities that my boys thought we super fun.  We got caught in this classroom making shapes of all sorts!

 

Liev's 11th birthday!

It's Liev's birthday!  And like usual we try and get up to the mountains and ski for his big day! This year his birthday fell on a Saturday so we were already headed up to ski for lessons anyway.  But we made a day out of it and had a great day together!  Later we had cake and ice cream with the family and opened presents.  He was surprised about his ipod shuffle that we got him and also super excited! Seriously can't believe this boy is 11 already...

My favorite things about 11 year old Liev:

1) Liev is so kind hearted.  Sometimes it's hard to tell when he's fighting with his brothers...but truly, deep down he is just kind and thoughtful.  Always the first one to compliment anyone and help out around the house.  

2) Liev loves art.  He has started doing a lot of drawing and doodling and is getting really good at it!  He loves to color and makes all his school projects look so nice with lots of colors and drawings.  He is a creative one which is certainly something he didn't get from his mother.  Totally admire him for this talent!

3) Liev is an amazing skier.  He loves it with his whole soul and wants to just do and try everything he can.  He likes to ski fast and hard and at times looks like he may be out of control, but he actually really isn't.  He's totally got everything figured out and just trying to push his limits.  I LOVE watching this boy on the mountain and seeing what he can do.

11 year old stats from Dr. Erickson:

Height: 5'1" - 89%

Weight: 84 lbs. 14 oz. - 54%

BMI: 16.1 - 25%

I am in awe that we have an 11 year old boy in our house.  He is fun and active and creative and adventurous.  I just sure love everything about him.  Happy Birthday my boy!