Days of our Lives

Unfortunately Lila got sick after my last post. I'm pretty sure she had the flu. She started slightly coughing Sunday night then she woke up with a fever and missed a lot of school which was frustrating for her but really the days she missed weren't too bad; there was an A/B day and a practice ACT (which she already took a real ACT test and rocked it). She did miss dancing with her team at a basketball halftime which was a bummer, but thus is life. She was really annoyed and frustrated with being sick. I get it, no one likes being sick but we did get to binge watch some Friends episodes (hence the title from Joey's soap opera).

 

Thankfully the rest of us were able to stay healthy. Andrew had his 2nd VEX Robotics tournament which his school hosted. So we spent Friday afternoon helping setup and they wanted to work on their bot a bit before the comp but could not bring the pins or anything home to practice with so their teacher graciously let them practice a bit at the facility once we were done helping setup.

 

Lila received her Sweetheart response from her date. I don't think I posted about her asking so here is a pic of her asking and the response. It's been fun to watch their group plan this event and reach out to others to join their group. They insisted on working on their posters together and going together to drop them off. So cute!

 

Andrew's team improved this tournament and placed 3rd in skills and 3rd overall but did not qualify for state. They were unable to successfully make the cactus they had been practicing over Christmas break but kept trying new ways to improve their scores. I am so proud of their team effort and diligence to always look or ways to improve without really getting frustrated or upset (some teams destroy their whole robot after a bad tournament but they just find ways to mod and try something new). I have several videos but this is the only pic I have during the comp and it's of their backsides (Andrew forgot to wear his VEX shirt, oh well).

 

We had regular basketball games on Saturdays, orchestra and just life for a week or so. Then on January 27th, Andrew played with the Kaysville Chamber Strings Orchestra at Abravanel Hall. It is always a treat to listen to the orchestras there and see these kids perform. Andrew's school orchestra teacher Mr Kemp was there with the Davis Youth Orchestra. We watched them perform then Andrew went out into the hall to visit with him for a bit. Mr Kemp was nice to stay and watch them play. Ironically Mr Kemp was Ellie's orchestra teacher and we found out Andrew's violin teacher's orchestra teacher also. The elementary orchestra is way below Andrew's level but he enjoys going with the kids his age and Mr Kemp appreciates him helping and supporting their sound, Andrew plans to do advanced orchestra next year at the Jr High with Mr Kemp.

I didn't get a group picture of them, hopefully at their last performance we can.

 

Ellie met me there and watched the performances then we took her to the grocery store and back to campus. Then Andrew and I picked up smoked tacos for dinner that night (Taco Tuesday yumminess). 

Thursday, January 29th I went into help Marcus's classroom with an energy popcorn experiment. It is always fun to be in his classroom this year with his amazing teachers and as I was leaving I was able to see Andrew practicing for the Chinese New Year's Dance which was a treat! I hope they email out the videos of it.

 

The weather here has been unseasonably warm and I know we need the moisture but I'm also enjoying the sunny days by going on walks and playing basketball with my boys. We're praying for moisture but there's not much else I can do so just trying to live in the moment a little and soak in some Vitamin D. We did have one day of snow so I made the kids hot cocoa as an after school snack they enjoyed with the Smore cookies I made.

 

We have also been doing some more puzzles. Steve and the boys really enjoy working on those together.

Back in the Saddle

Well I have been trying to get the boys back into good sleep habits so we have been enforcing a strict reading time at 8pm and bed at 8:30am. Steve and I have been getting up at 6am with Lila to get her out the door. Tuesdays are my day to attend the temple and Ellie has been wanting to go to the Ogden temple so I scheduled her and I a session at 9:30am. So January 6th we dropped the boys off for their first school day of 2026, then we went to the temple. It was a lovely morning. When we got home it was time to cleanup and Ellie packed up to go back to her apartment on Wednesday (technically UofU classes have started but she is taking a semester off to explore other major options). Ellie also worked on her bike. The boys activities were starting back up with pickleball leagues, basketball practices and games. Saturday, January 10th, Steve went to an elder's quorum activity first thing in the morning then we took Marcus to his basketball game. After which Steve and I did our strength workout. Nourish Move Love on YouTube posted a new program where she works out with her husband the boys saw him and said, "Hey did you guys unlock a new character in your workouts?" 😂 The sun was out so we went outside to play basketball with the boys. Andrew was hitting all of the shots he was taking so we encouraged him to take some shots at the game but unfortunately he didn't really have an opportunity but he has really made some improvements. Sunday, January 11th Lila's young women's group sung in sacrament meeting and Steve taught the elder's quorum lesson (with only 2 days notice). Everyone said he did great! I'm sure he did but I can truly empathize with the agony of teaching one of those lessons. Sunday afternoon we had one-on-one interviews with the kids to talk about New Year's Goals (Steve had given us all our New Years blessings on December 28th which was nice). Then that evening Lila started to not feel so great. Thankfully the next couple of days are light at school (they are doing an A/B schedule on Monday and a practice ACT on Tuesday but she did all those prep lessons and took the real exam in December which by the way she got her scores and she rocked it) so she can stay home the next couple of days and rest and recover.

The boys did really good reading the Book of Mormon over the summer and wanted to keep that moment but trying to do it before bed is just too hard, too many variables. So in our interviews we discussed other times and they chose right after school as they are eating their after school snack. Day 1 ☑

While we were playing with the boys we noticed the hoop was shaking a lot. One of the bolts had come out so Steve fixed it but to do so he had to lower the hoop and the boys wanted to try dunking while the hoop was low. 😂

Mischief Managed

We had talked about doing another ski trip over Christmas break but a few weeks ago Ellie mentioned that her friend Lizze would be going through the Mesa temple to receive her endowment and she wanted to go. So Steve and I discussed it with the kids and we decided to go to Mesa for New Years. I also asked the kids if they were ok leaving on New Year's Eve. I wanted to enjoy the sun for as long as we could, to which they all agreed. However the week of, Lila was a little frustrated because her friend group made plans for New Year's Eve, whoops. They have also been hanging out every night so she was frustrated with herself (and felt like us) when she wasn't packed the night before and didn't go hang out with her friends. Then in the morning she still wasn't ready and we all waited for her to pack. . .2 hours. . .we patiently waited and did not say anything except to offer our help on occasion. Anyway, we were on the road and listening to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (since Marcus and I have not found a lot of time to read together I thought it would be fun to listen as a family while we drove). Nothing super exciting happened on the drive. We stopped in Fillmore picked up Costa Vida for lunch and gassed up the van. Then we stopped again in Page for gas and the kids chose to get some dinner at Jack in the Box (they opened one up by us and every time we drive by the boys say we should try it so we did on this road trip). They even had a Gremlin snack box which we ordered, it was funny because of the Gremlins in the trees at Grand Targhee. We arrived at our VRBO around 8pm and the boys, as always, began exploring the place.

 

Andrew was so excited for the giant chess game that he even packed his chess book with strategies and said he had "to play at least 6 rounds of chess or he would crash out". The foosball table inside was also a big hit with them although a little loud on occasion for us. After exploring the boys decided since they spent all day in the car they were staying up until midnight to ring in the new year and I thought why not. So we got in our swim clothes and hit the hot tub. The boys even jumped in the pool for a bit. While we sat in the hot tub we could see fireworks all around us, it was fun!

 

We all took a quick shower and opened some sparkling cider and said Happy New Year! Then as we were brushing teeth for bed Andrew said he had a loose tooth that was bothering him so at 12:02am Jan 1st he lost a tooth.

 

The next morning we let everyone sleep in then we found a way to watch the Texas Tech football game and left the boys watching that while Steve and I ran to the grocery store across the street. The football game was so sad! Thankfully by the time it was over the rainy overcast morning was gone and the sun was out so we all got in the pool and we were going to get in the hot tub but when we opened the cover it was green so we messaged the manager and he came over to fix it while the girls got ready to go shopping. We went to this fun mall just a few miles away and started with this store called ReClectic, it was fun. Then we ventured out into the mall and thought we would walk around it without realizing how big it was. After a couple of hours we were tired and ready to be done but still had a lot of mall to walk. 😂 We made it back to our car picked up some yummy Pei Wei (also just across the street from us) on our way home and ate dinner with the kids. We all got some pretty ironic fortunes from our cookies.

Britney: Bend the rod while it is hot. (we laughed so hard and said that a lot over the weekend)

Marcus: You were born with a "sixth sense" and super insight. Lucky number: 7 (I could not believe he got a fortune with the infamous 6-7 reference and he didn't even notice. He is always doing the gesture and saying 6-7)

Andrew: To be mature is to accept imperfections.

Lila: Listen to the wisdom of the old. 

Ellie: Do not mistake temptation for opportunity.

Friday, January 2nd we snagged a baptism appointment for noon at the Mesa temple. Ellie slept in while the boys and Steve started a new puzzle (a 500 piece puzzle was completed every day we were there) and then Lila, Steve, and I walked to Trade Joe's to pick up some snacks. Then we all got ready to go to the temple. As we drove there I told them that the Mesa temple was the temple Steve and I attended while living in Tucson. It was the only temple in the area until 2010 when the Gila Valley temple opened and then we started going to that one because it was a small temple you could make an appointment and the traffic that direction was better. We told them we would get a babysitter for a Friday night and leave around 5:30/6pm hoping to make the last session of the night then drive home, get there around 12:30/1am, take the babysitter home. I also told them that my Great Grandma Wyoma Call Buckley served a mission at the Mesa Temple Visitor's Center as an elderly single sister. When she passed away in 1991 our family received some letters from people she taught while serving there. We took some pictures together. The one with just the two of us, Marcus said maybe he should sit in my lap like baby Jesus was in Mary's lap since he is my baby. Then Marcus and I walked over to the visitor's center.

 

We had a blast doing a little scavenger hunt and enjoying all of the things at the visitor's center.

The crew came over and met us and we showed them our favorite things and took some pictures together although Marcus would not be in the Cristus picture again because he already took one there.

 

 

Ellie wanted to go next door to the distribution center to look for a few things so her and Steve headed over there. Steve sent us a text that they had BYU Creamery ice cream so we splurged and everyone got a scoop. Then we went home and hot tubbed all afternoon. Andrew and Steve had a diving competition for which the girls sat in those chair judging. And of course there was hours of monkey in the middle again. 

 

We talked about doing a hike but I think everyone was still recuperating from staying up until midnight and all the swimming so we decided to go watch the sunset at Hole in a Rock but it was a very popular destination so we never actually went out into hole but we ventured around and watched the sunset.

That evening the girls wanted to watch a movie with the boys that was only on AppleTV that we had access to at the rental so they did. Here is a picture of everyone around the puzzle before bed. We even listened to a few Harry Potter chapters while puzzling because we needed to get in a little extra listening time if we wanted to finish it on the drive home.

 

The morning of Saturday, January 3rd Ellie went with Lizzie to take pictures of her family. There was more swimming and relaxing. Ellie and I left to go to the Mesa temple to do intiatories around 4pm and for Ellie to attend the endowment session with Lizzie. Ellie snapped a few pictures of Lizzie and her parents before we went in.

 

Everyone voted to be on the road early Sunday morning to drive home. So Steve made breakfast burritos that could be heated up and consumed in the car. Everyone was loaded and we were off around 7:30am. Ellie wanted to drive by the Phoenix Temple so we made a quick detour to see that then we we had smooth travels the rest of the way. Everyone traveled great. We finished our book just as we were getting off the freeway, perfect timing. Then it was a quick unload and everyone started unpacking. Thankfully they have the day off of school on Monday, January 5th so we can recover a little bit more before getting back into routines. I had calendars for the kids as we do for new years so I let them come pick them out Monday morning. Marcus got a Harry Potter calendar he was excited about and it's a good thing we finished the book because January highlights Severus Snape because his birthday is January 9th and it shows his patronus which would have given away a key point in the book.

There you have our new year's mischief. We had a good time together. We don't usually travel over the Christmas break but both of these trips were fun and very different. I told the kids we almost traveled from the north end of the US to the southern end within a week because of the two trips. Here's to 2026 and all of the adventures it holds.