Park Time

It's warm & sunny, so Kai and I went for a bike ride to the park. Days like this remind me how much I love the journey of life, the everyday's, the normal days. I really don't need fancy trips or expensive outings, cause I find great JOY in the average and ordinary.

 

Dentist Flowers

Found some of my favorite color flowers in my car while I was at the dentist with B.  After over 31 year together, he never ceases to amaze me with his kindness and how well he cares for our fam.

 

BYU vs. UTAH

Love watching these girls play! Both Lindsay and Kayla play defense, positions neither of them played in high school, but man they have become such good defenders. Kay is tough, fierce, and relentless, and her ability to get a steal or turn the ball over has given her a few chances to see the offensive side of the field as well. 

Kay with the assist off a penalty shot.

This was a tough game and tough loss for the Cougs,

but they'll watch film and look at ways they can improve and be ready to play again next week.

 

Olaf

There's lots of fun things about visiting Gilbert in the fall, winter, or spring.  Getting to visit with sisters, cousins, & the Schmitts, enjoying sunshine and warmer temps. good food, amazing sunsets & hangout with the animals on the farm.

Meet Olaf... the newest addition to the farm. Kenzie got Olaf for her 4th birthday several weeks ago.  Within 48 hours of his arrival, he got attacked by Chance and almost died.  A large animal vet came out and performed a  4-hour surgery on the driveway, and now Olaf is almost as good as new (minus some large scars and probably a fear of large dogs)

Ally & Michael have a saddle so Kenzie can ride him,  but he had just gotten his stiches removed, so we just walked slowly around the property a few times.  Next time we'll have to saddle him up for the boys to ride.

 

Jollibee's Found

Kay's face when I told her we found a Jollibee's in the U.S.  

She loved eating at Jollibee's whenever she was near a city in the Philippines and it brings back such great memories for her.

I love that their company motto is: Joy is Best Shared, cause that's a pretty good mantra for how Kay feels about life in general.

Her joy runneth over just seeing the signs and logo again, and she hopes to hit up this location next time she's down in AZ.

 

B Baa Bam

Brenna gettting Bammed by the Baa Baa Black sheep or Bust
(You'll want the volume up for this one)

Morning Views

Here's my morning view...driving around visiting schools in Herriman with light snowfall and a few slushy roads.

Roberts morning view from his hotel room in Ft. Lauderdale.  He had a great run along the beach before heading to his meetings.

 

Kai's 1st Train Ride

So fun to go on adventures with this guy!

He found so many machines along the route

And loved the wondows, the bathroom, and watching all the people get on and off the train.

 

Women's Day

These 5 girls are the most amazing women I know. Life is not easy, but they live their lives with grace and compassion and kindness. They are spiritually strong, have tender hearts and love fully even when that makes them vulnerable. 

Emily wrote of this crew "Grateful for strong people like them to look up to and teach me how to be tough& tender, confident&humble, determined&kind.

I got  this picture today from 2 more women in my life that I admire and love dearly - Amy & Mal.  My life is full of so so many awesome & amazing women and it makes my heart happy to think about them individually.

 

JEF Perks

I seriously LOVE serving on the Jordan Education Foundation Board.  This week we got a few additioal perks. Parking passes to all the school, name badges that can get us into buildings, and a beautiful new portable that is located on land not too far from the district offies that can be used as additional office space and/or storage. Thank you Dr. Godfrey and the Jordan Board of Education for the generous support you provide the foundation.

 Early in our marriage Robert and I wrote down a few things we hoped to accomplish/experience during our lives together.  One was to have a big family, another to have a big yard,  to one day have a cabin in the mountains where our growing family could gather.  If we ever had sufficient means, we hoped to also start a non-profit foundation.  We didn't know for what cause, but we trusted the Lord would provide experiences that would help us know His will for us.  

Now over 26 years into our mariage, the Lord has hepled us accomplish/experience so much more in this life than we ever could have imagined.  Though the big yard and beautiful cabin are great and super fun, it is the people and relationships in our lives that we value the most.  As for that non-profit foundation we hoped to start, the Lord provided something even better. An established foundation that we can devote our time, talents, and treasure to that focuses on education and benefits the lives of students and teachers alike.  

I often think of a quote by Ezra Taft Benson that reads. “Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can.”

That is how I feel about my life and my work with the Jordan Education Foundation.

 

Scheduling

When you want to do and be fully committed to all of the opportunities life has to offer, you WILL run into scheduling issues. Every person in our family is dealing with that right now in some aspect of their lives. Brenna has been working with her counselor for a few weeks now trying to figure out how she can be a CNA, Surgical Tech, Student Government Officer, Varsity Lacrosse Player, Seminary Student, and still take multiple AP and College courses and all of her Art credits (she currently has 0) BEFORE she gradutes in June of 2024.  

It doesn't feel possible, but she has spent hours trying to put together plans that will make it all work. The plan she came up with - Early morning seminary, AP & College courses at Bingham, Math and all art credits through the districts online high school, did work out on paper. And it would work, except the policy that allows you to take a full high school course load at your physical high school (Bingham) and another course load through the districts online high school (Kings Peak), is being changed. You can not exceed the 9 class period high school schedue, regardless of how you split it up between online and in person school. This school year, you could overload like that, but that will not be the case next school year.  

Back to the drawing board. Back to more scribbles and cross outs on her paper worksheet. She spent time online and on the phone this afternoon, and she may have a new plan.  She's hoping to meet with her counselor again tomorrow to see if it works.  I'm guessing that one day her children will read this post and probably see themselves and their natural desire to do everything in it. 

I can't say that Aubrey, Kayla, Lindsay or Emily were any different.  They have all wanted to develop themselves and their talents and abilities to 'nth degree' and not miss out on any opportunities, hence the 3 college girls are doing the same thing Brenna is....trying to see how much they can fit into their college experiences before the graduate and move onto the next phase of life.  I admire their resolve and desire to continually increase their knowledge and capabilities, while always looking outside themselves to see how they can use those to help and lift others.  

These are busy girls, and I recogize that they grew up with a Mom who was always anxiously engaged in several good causes, with that #1 cause being raising strong, independent, caring children who love the Lord and love others.  They too will/do carry that tradition on with their own children.

We'll see how B's schedule ends up in a few weeks.

 

Late Night Tire Change

Em drives up to Salt Lake for dance a few times a week. Last night she was leaving the studio and headed to the freeway when she noticed the car wasn't driving right. She pulled in a parking lot and had a flat tire. So glad she wasn't on the freeway and that we could get there to help her.  Brenna has been wanting to know how to change a tire, so this was her chance.