August 2023

Thurs. 3rd-- This was another Sports Night--this time we played pickleball or tennis. Karcyn's friend, Skyler, and his twin brothers, Marcus and Malcolm came. Cooper even joined in on the fun!

Fri. 4th--Elder Fitz used to make sushi at one of his pre-mission jobs, so we took him and Robison (who had never had sushi) to our favorite place in Snyder: The Sushi House before Fitz went home. He said it was actually pretty good (considering we were in podunk West Texas). Robison liked it, too! Success!!

Sun. 6th--Calvin had his first two varsity tennis matches back-to-back on Friday and Saturday in Levelland, TX. In some intense heat. This is his post-match coma. Welcome to the big leagues, Son! I'm just grateful he found the strength to attend church with us this morning. 

Mon. 7th--This picture is to document the extent of Calvin's cystic acne. Poor kid. It's painful for him. 

Tues. 8th--Finally getting that chipped tooth repaired. JJ said he's going to be brave. 

And he was! He needs braces--that will help those two front teeth turn inward so they're less likely to get chipped. Gotta get Karcyn's braces paid off first. 

*We learned that one of the incoming 8th graders at JJ's school, Casen Hines, who is in my niece, Ayzlynn's class, who I have taught a few times as a sub, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was going out to shoot some small critters. It appeared that he tripped and the gun when off and killed him instantly. It rocked our whole Ira/Snyder community as his mom is the financial clerk at Ira and his dad is the fire chief. Add to the heartbreak, Casen's only other sibling is his twin brother, Gunner. 

Wed. 9th--FIRST DAY of SCHOOL for Karcyn (Senior), Calvin (Sophomore), and Jenn (long term sub for 8th grade science). No pictures, much to Calvin's relief, because I had to get going early. 

Fri. 11th--Happy 12th Birthday, JJ! He loves his new Squishmallow, Rie, the sea otter. 

Sat. 12th--Temple baptisms with the cousins again. Just missing Calvin who had a tennis tournament.

Mon. 14th--A super thoughtful gift from my mom. I love that we each got the bracelet with our specific birth order heart filled in. 

Tues. 15th--This makes my mama heart so happy to see. 

Thurs. 17th--Reading scriptures before school/work and the FIRST DAY of 6th Grade for JJ! His last day 1st day in the elementary wing of Ira School. 

*JJ gets picked up after school by Aunt Chris and he hangs out with the cousins until I pick him up after my school day ends. He was tuckered out!

*Rolo being cute. He got behind those pillows all by himself. 

Fri. 18th--Gathering at the cousins house. Karcyn holding baby Nadia. 

Sat. 19th--We waited on JJ's birthday party, so one of his friend's, Benson Dunn, could join on a weekend when he's visiting his mom in Snyder. He decided to go bowling with his buddies. This is a big deal because we'd have to drive to Lubbock and back. But it worked and he had four of his friends who were able to make it. Jackson Wall, Benson Dunn, Korbin Hough, and Daniel Rosson.

Getting ready to sing Happy Birthday!

Sun. 20th--Our family friend, Wes, found these pictures of the kids back in some archive and shared them with us. This was from the Farmington Ward's Walk or Roll activity. 

Calvin is leading the pack, then Karcyn, then Jake. This was in September 2011. 

And Cooper up ahead. 

Jake pushing through to the end. 

He was a strong contender. 

Cooper...

Tues. 22nd--JJ helping Jared put line on his fishing poles. 

Thurs. 24th--The day before, Jake reached out to tell me that Trina was having contractions. I just knew that baby was going to come before I get there. I'm headed for St. George on Sat. 9/2 after our temple baptism trip with the youth. But I still had a week to go. And lots still to teach and wrap up and get ready to turn over to Emma (Ms. Stevenson), my niece, when she returned from her maternity leave. 

I took a picture of the board before I had to erase it so that I could remember how I placed everything since I got to teach this six more times! I though teaching math twice was hard. Teaching the same lesson seven times in a day is seriously brutal. I can't remember what I said or did from one class to the next. Drives me nuts and by 6th period you're done. 

*Love this.

Sat. 26th--For my birthday gift, Kevin and Chris gave me the choice of a dinner out or a new outfit. Since I was trying to lose weight for our trip to Aruba, I chose the new outfit, but wanted to wait until right before my trip. The youth needed to be in Lubbock for an activity/dance, so Chris and I went shopping before we went back to help chaperone the dance. We went out to dinner, too. It was a lovely evening. Much needed. You'd think that living 3 minutes away would give us more opportunities to spend time together, but now that we're not doing camp together, and with the majority of her adult children and their kids here, we just don't have the time. 

Calvin is such a CHAD as the kids would say. I still cannot believe he asked his own mom to dance at a church dance. 

As I was walking around outside, I came across this BEAUTIFUL view and had to take a picture of it. It's now my lock screen and wallpaper. 

Sisters Hough hanging out at the dance. 

Cousins--Azylynn and Olivia and Calvin. 

Sun. 27th--It only took 17 months after moving in, but we finally got some pictures on our walls!

*More documentation of the cystic acne on Calvin's shoulders. We're in the process of going through the steps with our family doctor to eliminate options that don't work. 

Mon. 28th--I came home from school and walked in my bedroom to see that the ceiling fan (still spinning) was literally hanging by a thread! Of course, it was after 5pm and we couldn't call anyone. But we did call our neighbor, Mr. Sosa. He is a handyman who can do all sorts of things. He lives across the street from Karole and we are grateful to have him on speed dial. He and his brother came and fixed it for us. 

*Jake was at bouldering practice and on his last run of the day, he fell twenty feet and landed on his ankle wrong. He really janked it up. Now he can't drive or walk very well and is in a lot of pain. Talk about timing...right before Trina is supposed to have their baby.