tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75348995357804426392023-11-29T04:27:06.402-08:00Everyday RomneysAgainst the assault of laughter, nothing can stand. --Mark TwainJessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07155042286165966395noreply@blogger.comBlogger709125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534899535780442639.post-12472662864759619662016-07-12T17:14:00.001-07:002016-07-12T17:14:36.665-07:00How you know your 2 year old is obsessed with Star Wars(We can't remember if we've ever had a kid with this level of obsession. It's super fun.)<br />
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1. He knows pretty much every character by sight. ("Lukewalker", "Bohba Fett", "Soda", "Pincess Yeia," he says them all so adorably. I could go on and on.)<br />
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2. He watches YouTube clips on Star wars before nap time and bedtime for 2 months straight. No comment on whether watching Obi Wan slice Darth Maul in half before sending a 2 year old to bed is awesome parenting or not.<br />
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3. He was to play StarWars with his Dad EVERY DAY. MULTIPLE TIMES A DAY. (Poor Ryan said one day "if I have to play fight one more time, I'm going to lose my mind." But then he did. And he still has his mind, so phew.)<br />
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4. His favorite shirts are his "soda shirt" or his "star fars one".<br />
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5. He freaks out every time a babysitter comes over...unless she brings her family's entire star wars guys collections and then he's COMPLETELY fine.<br />
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6. He asks every time he gets in the car, "I bring my guys, mom?" referring to the Star Wars chess set bought for Gabe years ago. (It's so great. There are tons of them and easily portable and pretty durable.) He also asks for a baggie in which to tote them"so they no get yost, wight, Mom?" and makes sure "you zip it up, wight, Mom?"<br />
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7. Many meltdowns are averted by discussing his Star Wars guys. He may be irrational but at least he's distractible!<br />
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8. He notices EVERY product placement advertisement for Star Wars and has since he was REALLY little. He wasn't 2 years old, when we passed a twinkie box or something and he said "Dat BB8, wight, Mom?"<br />
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9. He says to his dad: "Dad, I wanna be Sith." <br />
Dad: "You want to be a Sith?"<br />
Levi: "yeah, a Sith." <br />
Dad: "Why do you want to be a Sith??"<br />
Levi: "because there's power in the Dark Side." <br />
(Well, okay then.)<br />
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<br />Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07155042286165966395noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534899535780442639.post-28885529141946061432016-07-05T19:02:00.000-07:002016-07-05T19:02:06.535-07:00Quick Quote<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Seth: "I'm working on a piano composition."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Teacher: "What's it like?" </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Seth: "It kind of has a lot of rests..."</span></div>
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Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07155042286165966395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534899535780442639.post-72927761169397295662016-06-30T10:36:00.001-07:002016-06-30T10:36:35.756-07:00End of school year recapJust trying to keep things semi up to date and I find I really enjoy adding little details in these recaps that I'd miss if I just relied on Instagram as a record keeper.<br />
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May was just really really crazy as every single sport coincided for about 3 weeks. I felt like I had a soccer game or track meet (middle school, JV or varsity) every day of the week. Working out carpools and getting to the majority of the stuff (especially with a 2 year old in tow) was nuts. But actually my favorite. I love this part of parenting. Not the part where Levi, EVERY SINGLE TIME, would squat in a little ball on the ground (because it was the most difficult for me to get a hold of) and refuse to move, especially when he knew we were in a hurry to get to the next event. </div>
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But I do love watching their sports. Jane has a great coach and a great group of girls with whom she plays. They win about half the time, but it's a positive environment and the coach is really understanding about other sports and no Sunday play. She also ran distance on the track team and did some long jump. She's fast and placed 5th in districts in the mile and improved her time by 30 seconds over the season, ending with a 6:11 PR. <br />
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Gabe was the star 2 miler again this year. He'd had a stress fracture in the off season (luckily) and was ready to train in time for the season. He is good at the mile but really shines in the 3200. He had some lofty goals (as always) and was able to attain most of them. He easily made it to the regional meet. He had to place 3rd to make it to state and since he'd placed 3rd at the district meet, I was nervous. It was an exciting, fast race and in the last lap he raced the top 3 guys and ended up in 3rd with a PR of 9:28. He ended up going to state and had a dissappointing race (finished 11th, with a pretty slow time) but everyone really reinforced that going to state as a sophomore is awesome. You get the nerves out of the way and have 2 more years to really figure out how to race at that level. We love his coaches and teammates and are so proud of him.<br />
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Emma pole vaulted again this year. She is on the JV squad and sometimes feels frustrated with her progress. She doesn't spend a ton of time training outside of the season, which is probably why there's not huge changes, but she worked hard during the season. She loves her coach and teammates and hopefully learned some stuff to help her next year.</div>
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My big kids had a busy end of school, with a few AP tests and some projects. They are pretty good students (not perfect or 4.0 by any means) but enough where I don't get too involved. I figure they know the kind of students they need to be to get into hard colleges (aka BYU) and they can choose to do the work if they want to. </div>
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Jane worked hard this year in her advanced classes and got better grades every semester. She especially worked hard in her challenging math class and just barely missed the 94% required for an A, but we were impressed with how she learned to be successful in that class.</div>
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Seth does well at school, has friends and a sweet teacher. He indicated that he wanted to go back to "Neuro" and when I asked him why, he said he thought maybe it could help him concentrate better again. I think it just means that ADD will make the focus and organization that school requires a little bit of a challenge. He finished elementary school this year and will head to the middle school, which is always a little scary, with each kid. Liberty Lake has been a great place for him.</div>
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Faith ended up loving her teacher, Mrs. Boni, though that wasn't how she felt at the beginning of the year. Mrs. Boni had high standards and I think it was a little bit stressful as Faith watched others have trouble reaching those standards. Faith is really good at school and was often assigned to help struggling kids. She had good friends and learned a lot.<br />
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There's always the cutest fundraiser at the end of the school year, where the kids run and count their laps. Faith was hardcore trying to have the most laps in her class (she succeeded of course) and someone with a older brother named Levi, brought this for Levi to wear while he cheered the kids on.<br />
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I got rear ended by a 16 year old boy at the end of May. It was a pain in the neck to get all the instuance stuff figured out, but it was all covered. I got a sweet high end rental vehicle and was sad to give it up, but the Pilot looked so shiny and new after all the body work they did, that it was okay in the end.</div>
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We saw Newsies as a family...used Grandma's Christmas money for those tickets. It was fun to go as a family, but I don't think we were bowled over. I think good seats make a difference! And the story was hard for the younger ones to follow. The dancing was good and Emma was in love with the cute boys, so it was a worthwhile family activity in the end. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Cxd9FpY6VEJcwgCxEO6JKMRVTFYKvU7L4ybyA5mj_D36Y96pQoOhyQFBnPJ6LCyT11X4uEf4taSXmc93duLMjHgsFe070lCFqwAact8UpOX_bnG4Jfe-I6y5EI3VipM71eemV07ALhG_/s1600/FullSizeRender%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="608" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Cxd9FpY6VEJcwgCxEO6JKMRVTFYKvU7L4ybyA5mj_D36Y96pQoOhyQFBnPJ6LCyT11X4uEf4taSXmc93duLMjHgsFe070lCFqwAact8UpOX_bnG4Jfe-I6y5EI3VipM71eemV07ALhG_/s640/FullSizeRender%25281%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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We've done a little Mom and Me playgroup with some friends. I like it because it kind of forces me to do organized activities with Levi. I was in charge of May's activities and decided to go visit the big cat zoo we have here in Liberty Lake. It's a rescue facility and kind of small and sad, but we had a good tour guide and it was a fun way to spend an hour. <br />
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The boys went on a father-son camp out, which was a struggle due to 400 activities on Friday and Saturday. Ryan missed Gabe's regional mile race in order to get out to the camp out with Seth and Levi before dinner. They had a good time with friends and dads but about 2am Ryan showed up at home. He said Levi was a ridiculous tent sleeper, and spent the whole night thinking the snoring Dads were actually bears: "Dad, I scarred. A bears out dere, Dad?" So Ryan packed up and headed home.<br />
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Our ward and stake got reorganized in the last two months. We lost about 1/4 of our ward and then a few stakes. Ryan and I kept our callings (Primary 1st Counselor and Scoutmaster/YM 1st Counselor) but the smaller YM/YW has been an adjustment for everyone. Our stake lost 2 wards and got a new presidency (Uncle Kevin is the first counselor) and we got to sit in for the setting apart. It was a really near, confirming experience for all of us.<br />
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We had a crazy hot spring. We were even swimming in early May! But, as is Spokane's tradition, the last day of school was rainy and freezing and kind of put a damper on festivities. Seth's end of school tunnel was indoor and the outdoor party was soggy, but I wanted to include some pictures.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfFuxgsSRZ7aXq0-7clOyvON0V_cy-xAJPyNAFgaqEFupaopsDDU5siSFE11J1JXFxQAaLaZfJgHde9YSd0nV8xO_OL5izIHZ88FrcvKIAafFjEYeB9UENg5scS7QHaIP-T4qZoTrT3yMZ/s1600/IMG_7342.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfFuxgsSRZ7aXq0-7clOyvON0V_cy-xAJPyNAFgaqEFupaopsDDU5siSFE11J1JXFxQAaLaZfJgHde9YSd0nV8xO_OL5izIHZ88FrcvKIAafFjEYeB9UENg5scS7QHaIP-T4qZoTrT3yMZ/s640/IMG_7342.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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and PROM: Emma went to Mormon Prom with a guy she didn't know super well, but said it was the most fun dance she's been to. She got to go with her friends Cassey and Alexis and their dates and of course she looked gorgeous. <br />
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Mothers Day: Always lovely because everyone works hard cooking and we get to do my favorite Sunday things, which includes walks around pretty gardens.<br />
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Jane had her 13th birthday. We celebrated on the day with food and lunch out with dad and fruit pizza and presents. She had a birthday breakfast party a few weeks later with friends. We did a pancake bar (they loved my homemade pancakes!) and some silly party games. She has THE NICEST group of girls her age.<br />
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While Gabe was running regionals, Ryan and I had a little alone overnight getaway in Seattle (because we have kids old enough to stay home!!) We did a fun run, yummy breakfast and some fun Seattle sightseeing, before we headed to the stadium to watch our boy run.<br />
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This is already too long and super boring, and I'm sure I missed stuff, but it's better than nothing, right?<br />
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Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07155042286165966395noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534899535780442639.post-13142043562196459922016-06-06T11:37:00.003-07:002016-06-06T11:37:27.477-07:00Parenting Teenagers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7NmmFrUWtYE3pT_ll9lky8YIo7CY_JgpJ55eItp9uT_nT_PvEi5Msqo_sGk4q1dypmqXoUQ9pSF1hBlS-8SUP0rjxnbB8Ts8WIj3sW4NEqRlKCRpn7X3BiTbgQuexHRS8yP_dzryEdd3u/s1600/IMG_7858.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7NmmFrUWtYE3pT_ll9lky8YIo7CY_JgpJ55eItp9uT_nT_PvEi5Msqo_sGk4q1dypmqXoUQ9pSF1hBlS-8SUP0rjxnbB8Ts8WIj3sW4NEqRlKCRpn7X3BiTbgQuexHRS8yP_dzryEdd3u/s640/IMG_7858.JPG" width="512" /></a></div>
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NEWFLASH: parenting teenagers is different than parenting little kids! This is probably so obvious, but for the sake of journaling, I thought I'd write about my feelings about it.<div>
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I've been doing it for a few years, but I feel like the last little bit (older teenagers, 3 at a time) has really changed how mothering feels for me. It's harder, I think, but probably only because I'm a routine person. I spent(10-15) years learning how to parent little ones and now I have to learn something new.</div>
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Parenting big kids is so much more cerebral I think. It's less physical (pick up the kids, wipe their noses, buckle the carseat, watch them at the park) and more mental (thinking through interactions, deciding on consequences, stifling urges to control, etc.) I will never understand people who say they need outside work so their brains don't turn to mush. Mothering requires so much hard mental work for me, especially now. </div>
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I feel like with little kids it was clear: they need to be respectful, they need sleep, they need to eat good food, they need to learn, they need to get out and do interesting things, they need to learn to contribute. I felt like I was really good at setting up systems and being consistent so that those needs were met. Not that I was perfect, but I felt like I kinda knew what I was supposed to do.</div>
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With teenagers, I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M SUPPOSED TO DO. Here are some questions with which I wrestle (and, in the end, usually have different answers for different kids):</div>
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<li>do I care if his hair is long? </li>
<li>how much input do I have on modesty?</li>
<li>should I make them redo this crappily done job or just let it go?</li>
<li>is a curfew really important?</li>
<li>How much do I check and give consequences for grades?</li>
<li>how much do I push getting a job, an eagle scout, an extra curricular activity?</li>
<li>how much do I require them to be with the family?</li>
<li>should 15-17 year olds be allowed to take road trips?</li>
<li>how do I manage those #$@* cell phones?</li>
<li>how do I handle poor driving?</li>
<li>do I set limits on the sports they play?</li>
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I am not a helicopter parent by any means but I'm also very rigid in my head on how I want my kids to be, so I'm constantly trying to balance those two competing characteristics. I want to be involved enough but I don't want to force them to conform to my very narrow ideas. I'm learning that I feel most frustrated when I make who they are and their behavior some sort of reflection on me and my parenting, so I'm trying to notice when that DUMB way of looking at things is driving my interactions with them.</div>
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Going along with that: you kind of can't make them do stuff anymore. You can't make them be nice to someone, you can't make them get a job, you can't make them care about how the house looks, you can't make them be reverent at church. You can have consequences (but should you for all of these things?? Who even knows...) but you can't actually MAKE them do stuff. I have REALLY good kids and they really want to be good people, and so more and more, I'm learning that they respond best when I teach a principle first and then talk about applications. For example, we were concerned about cell phone use and so we taught a family home evening about temperance. As we concluded the lesson, we talked about our new plan to keep phones on the main level of the house (and to try it for a month and get feedback) and they were really good about it.</div>
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Another thing: they see you for who you really are. My kids are respectful, but they call me on stuff. They will tell me if I'm seeming hypocritical, or unfair, or unreasonable. It's a little hard for a slight perfectionist. I'm trying to listen and evaluate and respond in a way that invites them to keep being honest with me. It's hard.</div>
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There are lots of good things! I can see them becoming adults (and I like it!) All those years of wondering and now I can see glimpses. Also, they are very funny and interesting. I love when things are quiet and we can start talking and I really enjoy the conversations. I appreciate especially the extra responsibilities you can give teenagers: trips to the grocery store, childcare, help with cooking, around the house projects, help on trips. I like their friends. I like that they are better at some things than I am, and they teach me: sewing with Emma, running with Gabe. </div>
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I really really love them and really really know I lucked out. I hope I can figure this stage out okay. In the end, I feel Heavenly Father prompting me when I need it the most, and I'm relying on His help to not fail. What a refining challenge this job is!</div>
Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07155042286165966395noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534899535780442639.post-29970934686463172022016-05-25T10:37:00.000-07:002016-05-25T10:37:02.690-07:00Quick Quote<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Levi is "SO NA-NOYED" basically any time he doesn't get what he wants. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I had no idea our family was so annoying, until Levi came around and informed us.</span></div>
Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07155042286165966395noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534899535780442639.post-12307801868095081142016-05-04T17:13:00.000-07:002016-05-04T17:23:05.153-07:00Kitchen renovation post<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
When we moved into this house 9.5 years ago, I didn't love the kitchen. I didn't love the how brown and warm it was. I didn't love the backsplash and after a year or two I began to LOATHE the tile. (WHY DO PEOPLE EVER PUT TILE IN KITCHENS??? The clean up is so impossible.) But you don't buy a new house and redo anything, so I lived with it. I love how the kitchen is set up and how big it is. I made lots of yummy food in this kitchen.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcyRPXO8UBj_MZTUxOztvktbf8_j861lXB-VUlQDQW4S5j5ALLbMGWi3pFLLRJ__ibZOffj-hvVEn1LSw-RzWLielfJpCDaQ054zDsOzUQqmw966i2Pv17iYjzba7PNMDdxYx0XBGtd46i/s1600/IMG_5549.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcyRPXO8UBj_MZTUxOztvktbf8_j861lXB-VUlQDQW4S5j5ALLbMGWi3pFLLRJ__ibZOffj-hvVEn1LSw-RzWLielfJpCDaQ054zDsOzUQqmw966i2Pv17iYjzba7PNMDdxYx0XBGtd46i/s640/IMG_5549.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Ryan finally got tired of the difficult, easily broken tile and we decided that after almost 10 years, we could justify a surface, kitchen renovation. We wanted clean, cool surfaces...leaning toward a modern look, while staying true to the house's craftsman design. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl8KxrHMaa2jfEX6YVAWYfVt_9Un6HqI31smrW2LAcMtNSzoOPhT_7WHaxmvQ53ZGTqJn_wpCoM6AIFM34mClXHjFlN0-H6cJIexOuXR0HrkWEy0PQ3YDS2xgyydX3Nge0U85pSJYlkjDl/s1600/IMG_7222.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl8KxrHMaa2jfEX6YVAWYfVt_9Un6HqI31smrW2LAcMtNSzoOPhT_7WHaxmvQ53ZGTqJn_wpCoM6AIFM34mClXHjFlN0-H6cJIexOuXR0HrkWEy0PQ3YDS2xgyydX3Nge0U85pSJYlkjDl/s640/IMG_7222.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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We decided to tear down the upper level of the bar. I've liked it...it hides mess, and makes a great serving surface, but we thought it would be more modern if it was one level, and really liked the idea of having some bar seating (especially since we have filled our table and have issues when we have guests over.) I love the blue barstools, which add color, and we have loved having some close-to-the-kitchen hanging out space.</div>
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We decided to have the cabinets painted...it's much cheaper than new cabinets, and honestly what we had was quality. It was way more expensive than we thought, but the company had come recommended. It was AMAZING how it lightened up the entire house. We chose brushed gold, modern pulls/hardware and they add a fun touch.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhShmLT7ecUYDuR91RDSKorJogHVxPZNJPJe69obpsMk3WWv1VCCd5HRDFrbZIptRZoMb31R0hGx3Aryq_R8tG0rxafXSSNyS9SYDhHCsS6qaxezBAZCHdQGqNtoVpSmSp7EOHonRAIUmfZ/s1600/IMG_7225.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhShmLT7ecUYDuR91RDSKorJogHVxPZNJPJe69obpsMk3WWv1VCCd5HRDFrbZIptRZoMb31R0hGx3Aryq_R8tG0rxafXSSNyS9SYDhHCsS6qaxezBAZCHdQGqNtoVpSmSp7EOHonRAIUmfZ/s640/IMG_7225.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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We decided to do two-toned paint and different countertops. We did white paint on the wall cabinets, with a gray, almost cement looking quartz countertop. The island is kind of opposite, with a gray paint on the cabinets and a white speckled quartz countertop. I can't even tell you the joy of not digging out red pepper seeds from tiled grout. Our kitchen probably stays cleaner because it's so easy to wipe down.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBx9CYbEQaWtmqah9tyPPmhtUceiyaMcuNBKo9XWU1e6f_SAzeY0iy-ibcLaO2k8ZDvmwVJTqmbHOriuH8_1jSQYwPsxSQYZmxU-txa1IcWuohx96KkS69Xs0XkMF5orcs8N4vNqeehjza/s1600/IMG_7224.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBx9CYbEQaWtmqah9tyPPmhtUceiyaMcuNBKo9XWU1e6f_SAzeY0iy-ibcLaO2k8ZDvmwVJTqmbHOriuH8_1jSQYwPsxSQYZmxU-txa1IcWuohx96KkS69Xs0XkMF5orcs8N4vNqeehjza/s640/IMG_7224.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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I wanted a very minimal, yet interesting, backsplash. I chose a white medium hexagon with a very light gray grout and it is one of my favorite parts of the kitchen.<br />
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Another of my favorite things is my new sink. It's HUGE. You can have an entire meal's worth of dishes in there and you can't even see them. It honestly makes my life feel less chaotic, because I can't see dishes in my sink! And the wiping right into the sink instead of over a weird border lip thing? Heaven. We picked a brass, modern faucet (to replace the CONSTANTLY breaking one that came with the house.)</div>
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We made a few changes to the dining room, replacing the not so cute chandelier with this beaut and doing some restyling to my green hutch.</div>
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As far as extra decor goes, we've decided to keep it simple. A few plants, blue barstools and a pretty light green faux roman shade seems to be enough to add color, but keep the calm, quiet feeling I was going for in my new kitchen. Thanks for checking it out. (Honestly, you realize how talented home decor photographers are when you try to do it yourself. Not quite the crisp, well lit, kid free photos I've seen on pinterest, but oh well!)</div>
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Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07155042286165966395noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534899535780442639.post-82477227364975071812016-04-26T16:32:00.002-07:002016-04-26T16:32:52.454-07:00April RecapJust jumping on to do a quick recap of what's been going on here during the last month.<br />
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We'll start with Easter, even though it was technically in March. It was a little chilly (I HATE Easter egg hunt pictures with snow coats on, but when you live in Spokane...) We dyed eggs on Thursday night and Levi was SO excited. "We do Eeser eggs when guys come home, mom?!"<br />
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Easter weekend had a track meet, a scout campout, 2 soccer games and women's conference, but we were able to squeeze in a egg hunt with the youngest 3.<br />
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We had a lovely Easter sacrament meeting and hosted the Daines for Easter dinner. I was very proud of my two gorgeous cakes and my table decor effort (something I generally don't like to do).<br />
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We spent half of Spring Break in portland (Ryan, Gabe and Jane stayed home). My friend Jessica grew up there and her sweet family hosted us and showed us all the famous Portland places. Food, mansions, bridges, shopping, waterfalls, we did it all in three days and it was so much fun! <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjULQ1QCi2zlN27cSNJYKs5xTtAb5ymgMaLNrJJl_BzZvweVhXWHJNFLc8NVXWYaABV7pqJoMf5HsmD2PqRS5r92zTCP4wD0DCr30HTsvCS4RidQwmaYX4XBgfE9jk6PHAIeJUCeYJaPULt/s1600/IMG_6128.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjULQ1QCi2zlN27cSNJYKs5xTtAb5ymgMaLNrJJl_BzZvweVhXWHJNFLc8NVXWYaABV7pqJoMf5HsmD2PqRS5r92zTCP4wD0DCr30HTsvCS4RidQwmaYX4XBgfE9jk6PHAIeJUCeYJaPULt/s640/IMG_6128.JPG" width="480" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_MPLZ72Ak3XyblrNt-YZOytR_25YdzQKY6Bdc6gMtYMsJW7q3CYMSs2Ylbzfd1tZcuSlwkAL4nYF1_uhxP8tejo1Wv8q1YAL6_FL8Q8Q2Fi0TpYM67_m1KF996xHnYyHAuYCS7m_xou8v/s1600/IMG_6176.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_MPLZ72Ak3XyblrNt-YZOytR_25YdzQKY6Bdc6gMtYMsJW7q3CYMSs2Ylbzfd1tZcuSlwkAL4nYF1_uhxP8tejo1Wv8q1YAL6_FL8Q8Q2Fi0TpYM67_m1KF996xHnYyHAuYCS7m_xou8v/s640/IMG_6176.JPG" width="480" /></a><br />
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After we got home, we did our annual bike to Red Robin, hiking and Ryan continued his tradition of coming up with fun work projects for the kids to complete every morning.<br />
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Spring sports have been in full swing. <br />
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Emma: pole vault (PRd last week at 7 feet. She enjoys it and works hard.)<br />
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Gabe: track (doing really well. the 2 mile is his jam. He's one of the top three 2 milers in the district, with a PR of 9:46)<br />
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Jane: basketball, soccer and track (tried basketball for the first time... so love watching her try new stuff, loves her soccer team and coach, and is about to have her first meet on Thursday...high jump, long jump, 400 and mile)<br />
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Seth: soccer and running (he has some natural ability at both, and, as usual, is just always happy to be wherever!)<br />
Faith: soccer (she's learning little by little to harness her natural speed and talent. Loves having Ryan as her coach).<br />
Levi: making things SUPER FUN for the mom that has to drag him to all of the above mentioned events.<br />
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It's beyond crazy to get everyone where they need to be and to watch them do their thing, but it's one of the parts of mothering I'm pretty good at and really enjoy.<br />
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Ryan had a business trip in San Jose CA last week and I joined him for the weekend before. We left Emma with the kids and she did a great job, even with some pretty serious fevers and coughs. We appreciate how capable and helpful she is. We rented bikes and rode 20 miles around San Fransisco on Saturday and ate lots of yummy food. We did things we'd never done before (riding over the Golden Gate bridge and exploring Golden gate park) and it was the most magical day. On Sunday, we drove inland to go to church and have lunch with my dad and Genie. On our way back in, we swung up the coast and drove down to Pigeon Point light house. It was so pretty and there was even a playful seal on the sand! On Monday, Ryan worked and I hiked with my oldest friend, Tammy, explored San Jose's rose garden and did a little shopping. It was short, easy and so fun!<br />
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Levi is OBSESSED with Star Wars. We have an old chess set and he plays Star Fars fighting with anyone who will join him ALL DAY LONG. Ryan made him some cardboard light sabers and he used those for a while too. It's mostly cute (though those dang toys are EVERYWHERE) to see him love something so much.<br />
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We also got news in February that he was probably no longer allergic to any nuts, and we've been slowly introducing them. They wanted to hold off on peanuts until we did an In Office Peanut Challenge, where you hang out in the teeny doctor's office for 3 hours while they give increasing doses of peanuts and watch for a reaction. I had to get pretty creative to keep him happy, but it was all worth it when he was declared Nut Allergy Free!<br />
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Jane ran for middle school secretary last week and lost. She was so upbeat and prepared and confident about the whole thing. Her speech was great and we were so proud of her bravery! We were a little teary when we heard the bad news, but she talked it out, said she'd run again and celebrated her effort with some ice cream at our favorite restaurant.<br />
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We've had a warm warm spring and it's been wonderful. Blossoms, flowers, hikes, bike rides, even swimming in the lake are not usually things we see and do this early in the year, but we've been taking advantage of it!<br />
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<br />Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07155042286165966395noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534899535780442639.post-89838900900487219692016-03-21T11:36:00.000-07:002016-03-21T11:36:00.810-07:00For my girls!~<br />
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I never got my Personal Progress as a Young Woman. I was always active in church, but for some reason was not motivated to work hard on my Personal Progress. For years, I've wondered if I should do it as an adult, but it always seemed like ALOT. I had an experience a year and a half ago (talked about it <a href="http://everydayromneys.blogspot.com/2015/02/why-i-cant-just-ignore-guilt-and-move.html" target="_blank">here</a>) where I felt like it was definitely time. And it, of course, has been such a blessing. I finished all of it, completely last month. No big fanfare, but I didn't need it because I'm proud of myself and got so much out of it.<br />
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Here are some reasons, I'm so glad I did it:<br />
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1. It helped me TOTALLY understand the program so that I can better help my girls work on theirs. I know what types of goals you need, how long it takes, what works and what doesn't. I also am very aware of the accomplishment it is, and truly admire girls and women who spend the time to make this happen in their lives.<br />
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2. It helped direct my personal scripture study, prayers and goal making over 18 months. I'm kind of sad now that I'm done that I have to actually think through what I want to study or what I should work on!<br />
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3. It made me do things I wouldn't have done. There is plenty in there that I was already doing, or needed to do a little more seriously (scriptures, mothering, church calling stuff), but there were things I would never have tried, if it hadn't been on goal list. I worked hard on budgeting, I learned how to hem pants, I resurrected my blog, I spent 10 hours doing family history indexing, I made phone calls to a museum to find out how a mom might start working at a museum after her kids were in school, I didn't eat sugar for a month. I think it's so important to get out of our comfort zone so I really tried to push myself to do the out-of-the-ordinary things.<br />
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4. I memorized The Living Christ during Christmas 2014 and read the Book Of Mormon in 5 weeks during Christmas 2015. Those things helped me so much in feeling closer to Christ during that special time of the year. <br />
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5. I loved the little goals. The ones like "be extra nice to one family member for 3 weeks" or the "study repentance and teach a lesson about it". Again, those are things I try to do, but I loved being focused. I learned so much and grew ALOT while I did it.<br />
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6. I love that I am an example for my kids about setting high goals and working a little at a time to achieve them. It took me about 18 months working pretty constantly and I'm so happy that I can say: "I completed my Personal Progress!"<br />
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(Little side note: t<a href="https://www.theredheadedhostess.com/blog/teach/youth/young-women-doodle-journal-now-available/" target="_blank">his book/journal </a>was brought to my attention right before Christmas last year and I got it for Jane. IT HAS BEEN AWESOME. She said yesterday "I'm so glad you got me this. It makes doing Personal Progress so easy!" She works on one goal a week every Sunday and should be done with all of her little goals by the end of this year and will spend next year working on the bigger value projects. I'd highly recommend it. Click on the link if you want more info.)Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07155042286165966395noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534899535780442639.post-56657590315475636972016-03-03T21:39:00.000-08:002016-03-03T21:39:05.425-08:00Quick Quote<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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(Self portrait by The Lovable Child)</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Seth: </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">"Everyone loved me at fitness camp. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">It's like there's a sign on my back that says 'Seth: The Lovable Child'."</span></div>
Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07155042286165966395noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534899535780442639.post-46222567440240621832016-02-26T17:47:00.002-08:002016-02-26T17:47:55.042-08:00Texas TripWe'd been planning on a 2016 Texas trip to see the 10 aunts and uncles, 4 grandparents and 18 cousins that live within 4 hours of Dallas. We had a hard time deciding on a time to visit because Texas in the summer is sucky weather and half of the people we visit have their busy season at work in the summer. Spring break doesn't work for track stars, apparently (Gabe!) and so we'd thought about Thanksgiving. I noticed in November that Southwest was having killer deals and when I looked at Dallas, I realized we could fly our entire family to and from for just under $1500. The only catch was that we'd have to go in January, which meant pulling people from school for 6 days, but we are so glad we did. The weather was so great and so needed, everyone had lots of time to hang out and we filled our day with pretty cool attractions.<br />
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We left out of Seattle because it was about $500 cheaper but it was dicey deciding whether to risk trying to get over the mountain passes on the west side of the state. At the last minute we decided to leave the night before and stay at Ryan's aunt's house. We woke up at 3:00am, loaded our crew into the car and made it onto our 5:50am flight. I had been pretty nervous about the whole thing and felt so relieved to be done with that. Levi was so good the whole time, even letting his dad take some pretty decent naps inflight. <br />
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We stayed with my mom the first few days. We'd decided to buy the Dallas City Pass and think that was a good call. We knew we'd want to do lots of sightseeing stuff and it really saved us money. The weather was 75 degrees and completely sunny. After 3 straight weeks of gray, drizzly Spokane weather, we felt like we'd time traveled to June. It was awesome. <br />
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We drove from the airport to downtown Dallas, ate lunch and hit our first spot: The 6th Floor Museum, which is about the assassination of JFK. It's so well done. The littler kids were slightly bored by the end, but our oldest really learned a lot. Levi slept in his stroller so we felt pretty lucky.<br />
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We walked from there to the Reunion Tower. (I feel like there are these types of places in every big city.) I probably wouldn't have done it if it wasn't included on the City Pass, but it was a beautiful night and we got to see the city as the sun was starting to set. Dinner was fabulous burgers where we met up with some of the Romney side of the family.<br />
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The next day was Sunday and we enjoyed Grandma Dorrie's super comfortable accommodations. We went to church, tried to see the under construction, closed-on-Sunday Dallas temple (Ryan found my family's die-hard sightseeing efforts here pretty hilarious), and checked out Klyde Warren park built over a freeway in downtown Dallas.<br />
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Monday we spent the day at the Ft Worth zoo, one of the most highly rated zoos in the country. Meridith, Zaundra, and Grandma Nut met us there, too and it was so fun to do the zoo with cousins. The highlight was definitely the baby gorilla, though all of the exhibits and animals were incredible. We ended up getting kicked out at 4pm (early winter closing) and headed down to the Ft Worth stockyards where uncle Bart (who works as a policeman in the area) was a fun tour guide. We left that night for San Antonio, pulling in a little after midnight.<br />
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My brother Matt lives there and is the best host. We had yummy food and his fabulous huge backyard to play football, do cookouts and explore. One of my favorite parts was getting to go on a few runs with him...he made me go fast! We checked out the Riverwalk and the Alamo (again) and visited beautiful Hemisfair Park. The highlight of the day for me was probably lunch at Rudy's. I dream of that place. Matt is a big strategy-game player, so they ended both nights with some Dominion.<br />
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On San Antonio day2, we visited the Natural Bridge Caverns, which we LOVED. We also got a groupon for the San Marcos spring glass bottom boats and had a pretty fun tour guide and loved enjoying the sunny day on the river.<br />
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We headed back to Dallas the next day, stopping downtown to do the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. It wasn't quite as cool as some science museums we've been to, but the kids still enjoyed it. Ryan's brothers Greg and Grant live 5 minutes from each other and so we divided the family between the two locations. We were so excited that Brooke drove down from Oklahoma to spend the weekend with us!<br />
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We went on a nature walk with a million kids and spent the day at a fun nature preserve. Ryan went on some bike rides with the guys and the teenagers scored some Mavericks tickets from uncle Greg. On Saturday morning, we checked out the George Bush Presidential library and it's 9/11 section was really really good. Ryan had organized a kickball game that we played despite trespassing signs and the worse weather we'd seen so far. Also, In-N-Out. Twice.<br />
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On Sunday we got to watch the newest Romney cousin (Amelia May) get blessed and just hung out at houses eating and talking and watching the SuperBowl.<br />
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We were so sad to go home the next day. It had been a pretty perfect vacation. The flight went well, the stop at IKEA to replace Faith's broken bed and strap it too our heavy car went well, and the ride home frantically doing the homework everyone had sworn previously they'd finished went well. (Insert eyeroll emoji here). We arrived to a newly renovated kitchen, which was the best thing about coming home. <br />
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I love vacations because I love seeing new things, being with long lost family, taking a break, but most of all, I LOVE lots of uninterrupted time with our family all together. It's a precious commodity around here and worth any amount of money and effort and planning to make it happen.<br />
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<br />Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07155042286165966395noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534899535780442639.post-1315905086664687912016-02-17T17:50:00.002-08:002016-02-17T17:50:26.504-08:00Winter and the Holiday seasonI remember when I used to WEEKLY updates. It's apparently become seasonal and honestly I can't really decide if it's really worth it. But then I read old posts and am glad I have a least a little bit written down.<br />
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We got our first snow right before Thanksgiving and I have been trying to be positive about it. We had none last season and while I, frankly, loved it, I know it's not good for the ecosystem and caused lots of fires and issues last summer. Sigh. I'll keep trying to appreciate winter.<br />
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Emma got to sing with Alex Boye in a concert at the INB performing arts center downtown. It was fun for her to practice and get a behind-the-scenes look at professional singers and concerts.<br />
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Gabe was put on the All-League team for his cross country season and had his picture in the paper. He was also invited to run at the regional Footlocker race in Southern California the first weekend of December. It's a big honor and is partly sponsored by the local runners club here. He flew there, stayed in hotels, shopped, spent a night at Disneyland. It's a legendary course, known to be very hilly and difficult and he ran his 5k in 16:48 and finished 63rd out of hundreds. The best part was that Grandpa Sherrill and Grandma Genie made the 6 hour drive down to watch him in Anaheim. They were excited to see him race and he appreciated the support. I loved getting pictures and real time updates! He also made some really good friends with the other runners from the league and he sees them regularly.<br />
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Levi got into the super "MINE DO IT" phase during December. So cute and excruciating to deal with!<br />
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Christmas felt stressful and busy this year. I work constantly on how to make it a happy, peaceful time and don't quite have it down yet. We visited lights, nativity walks, did our neighbor cookie plates, wore matching outfits, did the 12 days of Christmas for a family, made gingerbread houses, hosted my mom and Jeff AND decided to start the kitchen renovation (we got a significant discount be agreeing to tear up our kitchen in the middle of december). I hope the things we do have meaning and add to the happy memories and meaning of the season. Who knows?<br />
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We had lots of snow right before Christmas and did some sledding with the kids. Ryan as always was doing the 12 days of Christmas for ME and my favorite day was when we drove out to Idaho for a snowy 5 mile run and a yummy breakfast afterward.<br />
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Grandma Dorrie came a few days before and we took her to Coeur d'Alene to show her the lights and try a Hudson's hamburger. The next day was Christmas Eve and we had a few kids and adults come down with a barfy stomach flu in the night. We went back and forth about whether to do the traditions and decided it would be more fun on another day. We laid low on Christmas Eve Day and everyone perked up by the evening and we continued with our plans with our friend's, the Haslams. Usually we do a dinner in Bethlehem with the Daines, but they were gone, so we did something totally different. We had YUMMY Mexican food, a piñata, games and an always amusing reenactment of the Nativity. <br />
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Unfortunately, the rest of the family came down with the flu during Christmas eve night. Sigh. We woke up Christmas Day and did the usual and despite illness (it was a pretty short lived thing), had a fun day playing games, eating clam chowder, doing puzzles, etc. We did our Christmas Eve traditional movie (star wars!) and lunch out (brazillian) on December 26th when everyone was feeling much better.<br />
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The next big event was Levi's second birthday. It's crazy having a birthday so close to Christmas but we sure love Levi. I thought of activities I knew he would love and we did them all morning. Pet store, ride on the mall kiddie train, an indoor playgroup and Costco lunch. Grandma was still around and it was fun to celebrate with her. We made homemade (super yummy) chicken nugget for lunch and had a ice cream sundae for a birthday dessert. He knew it was his birthday, was dying to blow out candles and told everyone he was "two!"<br />
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The end of the season was a fabulous New Years Eve party at the Haslams. We dressed up, danced, ate yummy food, had a balloon drop, and kissed at midnight. The next day, Ryan headed up in 7 degree weather for the Boy Scout Klondike campout (he survived) and the kids and I visited the Lego exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Culture. Gabe is dealing with a stress fracture and has to spend 6 weeks not running to fully recover. We are praying he's ready for track in 3 weeks.<br />
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For the second year in a row we took advantage of the free cross country ski day up at 49 degrees North. This year we were lucky enough to have Grandma Nut visiting us and she was the best sport and headed up to learn to ski. It is such a fun day and plan to make it an annual thing.<br />
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January was SO SO SO SO gray and rainy. Most of the snow melted but it just was so overcast that I really struggled this year. I love January with it's new starts and NO major activies, but the weather was a big bummer. We usually only ski once a year and kept trying to find a good saturday to make it happen (this saturday I think). The highlight was anticipating the finishing of our kitchen remodel and our trip to Texas the end of January and beginning of February. <br />
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I'm always pretty happy when I realize I'm making it through another Northwest winter. It's good to write this stuff down so I remember the happy things that happen during those dark cold months!Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07155042286165966395noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534899535780442639.post-41260118782165654552016-01-27T16:27:00.001-08:002016-01-27T16:27:26.464-08:00Quick Quote<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Ryan, after finishing a Slurpee: "Well...that just tasted like drinking a gummy worm!" </span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span>Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07155042286165966395noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534899535780442639.post-88221338428366099602016-01-25T11:30:00.001-08:002016-01-25T11:30:33.614-08:00Fall/Halloween record keeping post and there are lots of pictures. Sorry.School starts and we are just completely slammed. These years are busy beyond belief. I kind of think I'm amazing that I pull off 6 kids and their activities in the fall. :)<br />
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School: Faith got a tough teacher. It's been a good experience for her to learn how to manage the high expectation and stress that comes with that. She is a helper in the classroom and is being stretched. Seth has a teacher personally picked for him by his last teacher and the school counselor and I think she is perfect for him. He has a lot of friend in his class and he's enjoyed that. Jane is in the advanced classes and it's been a challenge. She hasn't quite been able to keep up her 4.0 (that Mr Owen's is a tough but awesome math teacher!)but she tries hard and we appreciate her effort. Gabe seems to have an easier schedule this year than last year or he's learned to manage his class load and his running better. Emma doesn't seem too stressed (but that's kind of her way). She takes hard classes and I can tell is learning and thinking. I've learned to not feel anxiety or anger when my kids have different academic goals than I do. <br />
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Activities:<br />
Faith and Seth did the inaugural cross country program at the elementary school and just loved it. I'd heard Faith was fast, but kind of hadn't paid attention. We went to the first meet (against 6 other schools) and she won by 15 seconds! It was kind of amazing and fun. Seth did really really well, too, coming in 15th I think, I qualifying by time for the district race. For their second race, Faith was a little too relaxed and got beat and was SUPER bugged. Seth continued to PR and loved it. At the district race, Faith was determined not to be beat again. She raced well, and edged out the girl who had beat her before, with about 200 meters to go. The girl got mad and HIT HER. Faith wasn't phased...just kept running while the other girl quit. She got first and was really excited. Her time was 3:38 for the half mile race. Seth PRd by a ton (6:38 min mile) and took 16th in the district.<br />
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Faith and Seth also did soccer. Ryan was Faith's coach and she is still really good but REALLY is not good at taking direction and is learning how to be a good teammate. Seth was surprisingly comfortable after 3 years off of soccer and we were glad he was out there enjoying himself.<br />
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Jane did soccer and cross country. She loves her team and her coach and while they didn't have a fabulous season, she made some really great friends and I think continued to learn how to give it her all in every game. Cross country was interesting. She was consistently 3rd or 4th at every meet, so she is a good runner. But she would cry through the last half of most of the races. It was so interesting. We talked about what the problem was (anxiety) and made some goals. She worked on being happy with her finishes and showing good sportsmanship when she didn't place where she wanted.<br />
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Gabe of course was the cross country king. He is the fastest kid on his team and took on a leadership role, but I think had a hard time figuring out how to push himself, with no runners ahead of him at training. He finished in the top 2-8 almost every meet and while he didn't get his goal of 15:30 5 k (the kid aims REALLY high) and wasn't super happy with his state placement, his team really came together at the end of the season and all of the went to state. Gabe finished 24th in the state and broke the 16 minute mark, with a 15:52 finish. As a sophomore. <br />
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Emma worked a lot. We were proud of her efforts. She advertised and got 2-3 regular house cleaning jobs, usually babysits 6-10 hours a week and took on her first piano student! She is so so helpful and pleasant that we are happy when she is home and up for cheering on her siblings. <br />
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Jane competed in the math is cool competition as a 7th grader and the team took 2nd place!<br />
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Seth and Faith also participated in the Reflections contest. Faith won a 1st place ribbon and went on to districts and Seth took 2nd place. Faith won a 2nd place at districts.<br />
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Seth, Emma and Jane all take piano and Emma is preparing a piece for competition this spring.<br />
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OUTINGS and HOLIDAYS:<br />
Right before school started, Ryan and I went to Mccall Idaho for our 18th anniversary. We found a little cabin on airbnb and it was perfect. We mountain biked all afternoon, hiked a little, had some yummy food, played golf and met up with our SIL Zaundra who happened to be close by visiting her family. They are expert river rafters and we were lucky enough to float the Cabarton with them. Such a fabulous way to spend the day.<br />
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We loved taking the kids hiking: cheap, exhausting, outside, nature, less fighting. We found a list of must-do hikes in Spokane and have been trying to do them all. Trowell Falls was on Labor Day and it was so great.<br />
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Halloween happened. Corn mazes, carving pumpkins, costumes. I was a paper doll, Ryan was a stick figure, Emma was a pop art cartoon, Gabe was a scarecrow (2 minute thrown together costume), Jane was a nerd with her cousin Elise, Seth has $100 bill, Faith was a 80s valley girl, Levi was a puppy dog.</div>
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Also, it was the most beautiful mild fall of all time. It was gorgeous and warm until late October. I hate fall (because it leads into winter) but it was really perfect this year.</div>
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Thanksgiving was just our family this year. We combined with a friend who is a wonderful cook and another friend who is a wonderful party thrower and it was perfect. We cooked and she hosted and we had a great easy yummy day. We did our usual appetizers at lunch and had literally 25 dishes and desserts for dinner. Games and laughing afterward made it a perfect day.</div>
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Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07155042286165966395noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534899535780442639.post-28983177018894479192016-01-21T11:33:00.003-08:002016-01-21T11:33:59.420-08:00Seth and neurofeedback therapy<span style="font-family: inherit;">This post has been a long time coming, and is probably going to be way too long and wordy but I'm not blogging for an audience anymore, really, so who cares!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">When Seth started 3rd grade (with the same teacher he'd had in 2nd grade), I was 5 months pregnant with Levi. I began to have spiritual impressions that Seth had ADHD and that I needed to begin to research how to help him. Seth isn't really hyper and I think that's what we'd been looking for. Eventually I began to realize that the disorganization, forgetfulness, getting lost, risk taking, blank looks, etc were signs of INATTENTIVE ADHD. When I talked to his teacher, she was all "yeah, Seth totally has ADHD! I've known it for awhile." She informed me that it wasn't affecting him in school or socially and that she'd keep an eye on it and let me know if she was concerned. I checked out some books and got some literature but didn't exactly know where to start in terms of helping him. I am not opposed to medication but it's a very last resort to me and so I wanted to find ways of behavior modification. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">But then I had a baby and was completely sidelined by that little situation. Seth's fabulous teacher kept letting me know he was okay and I kept trying not to worry about what I wasn't doing. I had a neat experience (I talked about it here) where Heavenly Father helped me understand that He provided Seth the teacher he had because He knew I couldn't do all of it...she was picking up my slack. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">He started 4th grade and I alerted his notoriously tough but kind teacher that I was worried about this issue and that I'd check in with her to make sure he was managing. I started feeling more promptings to begin focusing on this issue and began making phone calls and doing research. I ended up talking to the elementary school counselor and he basically said "you HAVE to look into neurofeedback therapy. We have kids here at school having lots of success and are seeing the same things district wide." I also had a friend whose kids were doing it and she had lots of good things to say about it. I set up an introductory appointment. Seth had his parent teacher conference the next week...and it was VERY apparent that his work was beginning to suffer. He wasn't finishing assignments, was forgetting to turn stuff in, was falling behind because he was daydreaming during instruction and was distracted during class time. I was SO GLAD that I had the appointment scheduled...I didn't feel upset because I knew we were taking care of it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Our first appointment was just an assessment and conversation about concerns and goals. If we decided to come back, we'd do a brain map (to find out exactly where the problems in his brain) and begin weekly sessions. We liked our therapist and I was on board, but it was going to be expensive (insurance only covered 50%) and Ryan is very very skeptical about "The Next Big Thing". He spent lots of time researching studies on neurotherapy. It's a new therapy and there isn't tons out there, but he understood the science and the studies we found seemed to indicate that neurotherapy has shown the best results in kids with Inattentive ADHD...kids exactly like Seth.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So we got started. This is how the website of <a href="http://www.neurotherapynw.com/1001.html" target="_blank">the office </a>we visited defines it: <span style="color: #333333;">a learning strategy that enables persons to alter their brain waves. When information about a person’s own brain wave characteristics is made available to him, he can learn to change them. You can think of it as exercise for the brain. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;">We'd go to the office and Seth would have sensors placed on his scalp and ear and the therapist would decide what areas of the brain we'd be working on. Seth would spend 30-45 minutes watching a video that would stop every time his brain wasn't working the way it was supposed to. He would concentrate and somehow make the brain waves better and the video would start running again. I honestly don't completely get it, but you can look around on the website that I linked if you have more questions. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;">We also did some behavior therapy and relaxation techniques for the first 15-20 minutes that were hugely helpful to both of us. It helped me understand expectations I should have, ways I was enabling and what I could do to help, while helping Seth be more responsible for his behavior, "using HIS brain, not mom's" as the therapist said. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333;">After 10 </span><span style="color: #333333;">sessions, we did another brain map to see his progress. Without going into tons of details, there was huge progress. The therapist said he didn't know if he'd ever seen someone's brain change that much over such a short amount of time. I felt like it was truly a little miracle and an answer to prayer. We continued with 25-30 sessions over the course of 9 months. That is the amount of sessions that studies have shown have the most </span><span style="color: #333333;">permanent results. After a final brain map, that showed continue improvement and an almost "normal" brain, we decided to be done.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333;">We were sad to say goodbye to the therapist (Mr. Mark is SO talented) but kinda happy to be done with the $60 weekly visits! Before we left (at the end of the summer), Mr Mark had Seth make a plan for being successful at school. I was nervous to see how the new </span><span style="color: #333333;">school year would go...because that's where we see the biggest struggle (in and out of school). </span><span style="color: #333333;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;">And the results? This is a letter I sent to the therapist about 2 months into school:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Hi Mark,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I was actually just saying my morning prayers and was feeling so grateful about Seth's progress and wanted to just give you an update and express my gratitude. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ways we can see improvement:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">1. He hasn't been late for school once. Ready and happy on time every day for 6 weeks!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">2. He has had us sign his planner and homework almost every day since school started. I think he's missed 2 days. It's been with zero prompting from me. He comes in, opens his binder, works on his stuff and asks me to sign it so he can go play. It's unbelievable to me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">3. He's working on his PE monthly calendar/worksheet thing. He has literally NEVER turned it in since they started coming home in 3rd grade (I just let it go...couldn't worry about it...and he got really bad grades in PE). Again, completely on his own, he has been getting it out, doing the activities and having us initial the boxes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">4. Really improved grades. "A"s on most assignments. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">5. During family and personal scripture study, we notice an increased engagement and understanding of the things we are reading and talking about. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">These are things my husband and I have noticed separately and were discussing this morning. I would never have expected this amount of improvement. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I feel so grateful that this technology is available to us and that we found such a great therapist in you. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Just wanted to let you know what a difference your work has made in our family! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">--Jessica Romney </span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He's not a different Seth...still talkative, a little socially obtuse, creative, open, a little spacey, not afraid of anything. But he is functioning at a completely different level than he was a year ago. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333;">I wanted </span><span style="color: #333333;">to</span><span style="color: #333333;"> write about it here, so I didn't forget the change and how blessed we felt. And if anyone still reads this and is researching solutions to a similar problem, here is my testimonial. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333;">Oh wait, I haven't yet paid tribute to Seth! He worked so hard. Truly came each day with a willingness to learn and grow. He did the homework between sessions and tried really hard to answer and </span><span style="color: #333333;">understand while we were there. It was sweet and humbling to watch his willingness to do hard things and grow and change. We love that boy. </span></span></div>
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Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07155042286165966395noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534899535780442639.post-76567544966365609702016-01-12T21:06:00.000-08:002016-01-12T21:06:48.945-08:002015 Year in Review <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07155042286165966395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534899535780442639.post-68946022499715718722015-11-13T17:50:00.001-08:002015-11-13T17:54:57.978-08:00Quick Quote<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Faith (on the phone with her grandma): "That's totes fun!" </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Seth: "You shouldn't really say 'totes', Faith. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">It kind of sounds like you're needy for friends. Just telling you."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">She's lucky to have him. #oldersiblingadvice</span></span></div>
Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07155042286165966395noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534899535780442639.post-76921359304307113092015-10-22T16:31:00.000-07:002015-10-22T16:31:28.775-07:00Random kid updateEmma:<br />
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<li>doing well in her advanced classes. It's fun to see her enjoying and working hard on them. Glad Ryan is good at physics.</li>
<li>had some trouble with safe driving the first few months (I got some concerned parents' reports...it's a good thing.) We had her pay for and use the MotoSafety equipment and it's gotten much better. I'm really enjoying her driving help. Right now, she's picking up a wet backpack from the elementary school (water bottle explosion??) so I can do this instead. a 3rd car for her in the plan, but we're procrastinating that expense.</li>
<li>great sense of style/Pinterest user. I love having an in house style expert. If only I could lose 15 lbs, then I could wear her clothes too.</li>
<li>Just went to Homecoming with a cute kid in our ward. He asked her using Solo cups (Don't make me go "Solo" to Homecoming!) and she borrowed the cutest dress from a friend's modest dress company in Utah. </li>
<li>embarked on a clean eating/exercise challenge with Ryan and me. I've loved having her exercise with me 3-4 days a week, and having a partner in the more whole foods/less sugar endeavor is nice.</li>
<li>Turning into quite the pianist. She accompanied Seth on Sunday as he sang "Gethsemane" and they did SUCH a great job.</li>
<li>works cleaning houses and babysitting 2-3 times a week</li>
<li>continues to be a huge help and is happy to attend the many events her siblings in which her siblings are involved. She has great friends and honestly is pretty darn easy as far as teenagers go, I think.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Q3x1SUT3sgvoH15KpVJZHvv0Soft5VmuYLPnKWdmwH_77sWfl9zoNJwPeHwmbq0mYe-hHbjUUahsdMLAgwD9OnQHEBRhdsXjdSny6EgO9nWN6ZX-3It3s3qoLrzaSJLbcb3C7O1YhYoz/s1600/IMG_1531.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Q3x1SUT3sgvoH15KpVJZHvv0Soft5VmuYLPnKWdmwH_77sWfl9zoNJwPeHwmbq0mYe-hHbjUUahsdMLAgwD9OnQHEBRhdsXjdSny6EgO9nWN6ZX-3It3s3qoLrzaSJLbcb3C7O1YhYoz/s640/IMG_1531.JPG" width="640" /></a></li>
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Gabe:</div>
Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07155042286165966395noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534899535780442639.post-55296806584108462612015-10-07T15:56:00.000-07:002015-10-07T15:56:09.037-07:00Driving home: Kansas City, Denver, UtahWe drove to Kansas City for the night, which is only a tragedy because one of my favorite college friends lives there...and she was IN WASHINGTON! So we asked her for some suggestions and found a hotel and tried to get the kids excited about bowling or a waterpark or something. It was telling of how busy and full our days had been when they asked if we could just get Chinese takeout and play cards in the lobby. It was a nice quiet night.<br />
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The next day we headed to Denver Colorado. (Exciting sidetone: We got our 52nd license plate on this leg. Thank you South Carolina driver in Kansas!) We have some very close friends who moved from Spokane a few years ago and we were excited to hang out with them AND excited to not eat out, or sleep in the same room with all of our kids. They treated us to a lovely picnic dinner near UC Boulder and under the shadow of the gorgeous Flatiron mountains. <br />
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The next day was the 4th of July and we opted to drive up to Breckenridge to participate in the small town 4th of July. It was a fun parade and the town center had quite the party going on. It was a pretty town with a river running through it, which claimed some flip flops of Faith's (the FOURTH pair of shoes she'd lost on the trip!!). I included a picture of Levi doing what toddlers are forced to do on super long sightseeing road trips: napping in super uncomfortable umbrella strollers. We drove home and had some downtime, but the more adventurous of us REALLY wanted to hike those Flatirons. We left the really littles at home with Emma and took off. Hiking and chatting with the Nebekers was my favorite. Gabe actually RAN two of the flatiron hikes, in the time it took us to we walk the one, but he's kind of a show off.<br />
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The next day we found a church close to my cousin's house and then visited my cute cousin Spencer, wife Erin and darling kids...all of whom we adore, but the REAL reason we were stopping in was to see cute baby Tatum and she did NOT disappoint. We got on the road, got stuck behind MAJOR 5th of July traffic but ended up in Salt Lake. We got to hang out with Cade and Stacy for a night. Ryan dropped the teenagers at EFY and BYU cross country camp and, more importantly, made sure to grab some Swig cookies for me!<br />
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Normal boring ride home to Spokane but it sure felt LOVELY to be home. No re-entry issues when the trip you took was quite a bit of work. I was happy to spread out in the house and not pay restaurant fees for every single meal that went in our mouths. BUT! I also felt extremely grateful for the things we saw and then time we spent together. Long road trips have so much value, I think, and I'm grateful for we were able to do it. PLUS: I even got to cross off a Personal Progress value project at the end of it! <br />
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Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07155042286165966395noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534899535780442639.post-84848033280943315282015-10-05T21:41:00.003-07:002015-10-05T21:41:56.523-07:00Nauvoo and Adam Ondi AhmenThe thing I loved about this trip is that every place was just a little bit different. We were worried our kids would be a little bored with the whole church-site-tour after church-site-tour thing, but it wasn't the case because each spot had something new to offer.<div>
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Nauvoo is kind of like LDS Church Site Disneyland. Happy workers, clean, tours, rides, activities, food, dancing shows and music...it was a fun change from the other spots.</div>
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We enjoyed the house and shop tours a lot. We did probably 10 of them and really loved the sweet short testimony the missionaries would bear at the end of the their spiel. It really brought the spirit and reminded us why we were there.</div>
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We did the Trail of Tears walk, each of us reading the quotes from the different men, women and children who left Nauvoo to walk across the country to escape persecution and follow the prophet and join with the Saints. I loved knowing my children would picture that spot for the rest of their lives as they heard stories of Nauvoo.</div>
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We loved the little plays and musical numbers put on by the young and old missionaries...definitely a highlight of Nauvoo.</div>
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We did baptisms (family names!) at the Nauvoo temple. It was Jane's first time in the temple and it was such a great way to have her experience the temple. </div>
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We toured the visitor's center and took pictures with the famous statues (doesn't everyone have these picture remakes in their photo albums?)</div>
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We drove to Carthage and took the tour of where Joseph and Hyrum were killed. It was solemn and special. I remembered going as a 7 year old and having one of my first real witnesses that Joseph was a prophet and that he restored the Gospel to the earth, and I was grateful to share that place with my kids.</div>
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We said goodbye to Grandpa Mike and Grandma Genie and headed over to Adam Ondi Ahman. We spent some time in the car reading to our kids about the importance of that place. It was beautiful and had a neat spirit there, but, honestly, our loud and crazy kids were a little bit of a distraction. I was glad we stopped, but no huge spiritual experience was happening there.</div>
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We spent the night in Kansas City and began our trip back West. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07155042286165966395noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534899535780442639.post-24463963070047309532015-10-05T21:21:00.000-07:002015-10-05T21:21:53.844-07:00Springfield, ILWe had originally planned to visit the Indiana Dunes National Park but it was pouring rain and we figured a beach is a waste in the rain, so we changed plans and headed to Springfield, Illinois. Abraham Lincoln lived and was buried there AND my dad lived the majority of his childhood there, so we decided it was a good Plan B.<br />
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We stopped at Lincoln's tomb and were pretty disappointed that they weren't letting people inside, but we rubbed his nose for luck and continued on our way to the Lincoln Museum in downtown Springfield. It was so great to have my dad along...he'd call us and we'd put it on speaker and he'd give us the tour of the town, complete with childhood stories (which we've all heard all of our lives).<br />
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The Abraham Lincoln Presidential museum is without a doubt one of the very best museums I've ever been to in my life. I'm said it's kind of out of the way, making it hard for people to visit. Lincoln is an inspiring man, no matter what, and what Disney (the creators of the exhibits) have done there is moving and interesting and beautiful. We all loved it. (Except Levi, but saintly grandparents took him on walks so that we could enjoy the exhibit.) Seriously: GO if you are anywhere near it. <br />
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After the museum, we drove by my dad's childhood home and that was so neat. I've heard SO many stories about that house and it was really special to be there. We decided to go visit the spot (behind a house on a lake) where my grandma Paula was baptized and became the first Sherrill to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saint. We tried to knock on the door, but no one was home and we decided to take our chances quickly walking down to the spot where she was baptized. Bad move: the homeowners drove up and caught us. Embarrassing at first, but he was so gracious and actually shared a few stories about the family from whom he'd bought the house. Neat experience, fun story.<br />
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We finished that day by driving into Nauvoo and getting ready for our 2 day stay there.<br />
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Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07155042286165966395noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534899535780442639.post-49357884347478740122015-09-29T17:23:00.001-07:002015-09-29T17:23:12.846-07:00KirtlandDAY 4:<br />
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Kirtland was raining cats and dogs our first day there, not a great day for a walking tour of historic kirtland. But we bought a bunch of umbrellas and headed out anyway. I was so impressed with what the church had done in the last 10 years. There was such a sweet spirit and some of my kids will tell you that the Whitney store was there biggest testimony building experience, as they listened to the sweet older tour guide bear testimony of the school of the prophets and what was learned there. We loved it.<br />
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We did the John Johnson farm after that, and despite a very disruptive toddler, got a lot out of that experience too...being where Joseph saw the vision of the 3 degrees of glory and where he was tarred and feathered was humbling and special.<br />
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We headed back to Kirtland to visit the Kirkland temple. It's run by the Community of Christ and was really good. We had a great tour guide, and especially loved singing "The Spirit of God" in the temple. <br />
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DAY 5:<br />
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Day 5 was a Sunday and so we headed to sacrament meeting in Kirkland. It was a really special meeting, with great speakers; reinfrocing for me again why we take the time to attend church no matter where we are. We went to the Isaac Morley farm and took a soggy walk in the rain as we listened to more excellent missionary tour guides. We heard church history there that was completely new to us.<br />
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We had to say goodbye to Grandma Dorrie and Jeff as we headed to Indiana and they headed to Toronto. We spent the rest of the day driving to Valparaiso IN, to meet up with our next set of grandparents: Mike and Genie!<br />
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Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07155042286165966395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534899535780442639.post-15441332615933783842015-09-22T09:50:00.002-07:002015-09-22T09:50:56.631-07:00Upstate New YorkIt's a little dumb to try to put this in one post. Some of my favorite things happened in New York. Let's see if I can make it NOT a million paragraphs long.<br />
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DAY 1: Palmyra<br />
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We were lucky to have Grandma Dorrie and Grandpa Jeff meet us for this leg of the trip! It was fun to experience this part of the tour with them!<br />
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We started our trip at the Smith Family farm. We toured the home and other buildings and then headed to the sacred grove. It truly was a lovely morning and we felt blessed to be there. We all tried to take some quiet time to pray and meditate while there and there were some sweet experiences. <br />
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After lunch we went to the Grandin printing press and it was a really well done tour, as well. Not that I'd know...this was when Ryan and I realized a feisty 18 month old baby was not going to do well on the tours. Grandin was my turn to take the baby out. But my kids really learned a lot. <br />
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We headed to Hill Cumorah after that and proceeded to hike up the wrong way and roll down the super steep hill and crack a head (Seth's) on a sprinkler on the way down and deal with copious amounts of blood. After that was resolved, we took a few pictures and chilled a little in the visitors center.<br />
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For dinner we sent Ryan to buy salad mixes and fruit at the grocery store because we were done with eating out at this point. We just spread out in the hotel dining room and ate some vegetables!<br />
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DAY 2: Fayette, Seneca, Watkins Glen<br />
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We drove to the Peter Whitmer farm first thing in the morning and it was my most spiritual moment of the trip. I LOVED the video in the visitors center and was so moved by the small little house from which this marvelous work has sprung. I loved the story of Mary Whitmer and loved how the Lord rewards the service of homemakers and small acts of service. <br />
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We decided to stop in Seneca Falls and visit the hall where the Women's Suffrage movement started. Great free museum and I thought it was so good to have the whole family reminded of the importance of women's rights.<br />
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At this point, we decided to head back to our hotel so that our strung out baby could nap...Grandma said she'd take a few kids and explore the finger lakes area. As we drove back, Levi fell asleep. We opted to drive while he napped, and looked up Favorite Drives in the area, because it was SO BEAUTIFUL. We saw rave reviews of the Watkins Glen hike and realized the my mom was headed there as well. It was one of the highlights of the trip. It was like hiking through a Disney fairy movie...under waterfalls, through grottos, in carved out river beds. We were all enchanted and so grateful we hadn't missed it. (The day was capped off by some of the best Chinese I've ever had, just outside of Palmyra.)<br />
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DAY 3:<br />
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We were all excited for Niagara Falls and, frankly, <span style="text-align: center;">I think everyone was a little disappointed at first. It really is so seedy at the State Park there and I think my kids were underwhelmed at the view from the top. As I expected, though, everything changed as we did the Maid of the Mist tour. It was awesome! People were thrilled and appropriately in awe of those falls, when viewed close up from the boat. We spent 2-3 hours in Niagara and then headed to Kirtland, OH.</span><br />
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<br />Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07155042286165966395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534899535780442639.post-80351893039587674462015-09-16T12:24:00.000-07:002015-09-16T12:24:01.309-07:00The Drive Across the Country(I'm so excited to relive this trip by blogging it. Hope it's not too boring for the 22 readers I have.)<br />
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In the weeks leading up to the trip, I surprised myself by being very nervous about it. I drive by myself all the time and did it when I had little kids. This time I had 2 teenagers, one who could drive and one who could run 6 minute miles to the gas station if I ran out or something. So, I was totally caught off guard by feeling anxious about the trip. I think it was being in very unfamiliar areas (and especially driving through big cities with a huge floating trailer and a Thule on top), with a very tight schedule. I felt much better when we nailed down all of the hotel/airbnb accommodations and realized we could pack light enough to leave the trailer thing at home.<br />
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We left Spokane around noon and headed east. The first night was a quick stay in Billings MT; nothing too exciting happened there. I woke up the next day pretty excited though, because it was sunny and we heading to our first planned destination.<br />
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We took a quick 30 minute detour to Pompeys Pillar to see where Lewis and Clark camped and defaced the rock!<br />
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<b>Theodore Roosevelt National Park </b>is on the western edge of North Dakota and had been recommended by a friend. We had about 3 hours to explore there and pulled into the town of Medora. It's a cute restored western town, with fun shops and restaurants and show at night; I was sad we weren't staying there for the night. We asked some locals for recommended hikes and started the sight seeing loop, stopping when the map indicated we were by those hikes. It was so fun because the hikes were .5-1.5 miles and so we could jump out, explore for 10-20 minutes and jump back in. We saw a "city" of prairie dogs, bison, mountain goats, wild horses and snakes. The badlands are so interesting...the landscape has so much color and variety and our day was gorgeous. It was the perfect stop. So perfect that we came back and visited it later that day, when I realized <i>30 miles away</i> that I'd left my credit card at the gas station. Ugh.<br />
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We stopped in Fargo ND for the night and were able to go to a 9:00 sacrament meeting before we headed back on the road. We headed south into Western Minnesota and stopped at the town of Walnut Grove to visit the<b> Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum</b>. We spent about an hour there, looking at artifacts, and pictures, touring replicas of buildings that Laura had been in and buying fun souvenirs. After, we drove 5 minutes down the road to visit the site of the dugout (famous in <u>On The Banks Of Plum Creek</u>) and it was my favorite part. Though collapsed, it was fun to see the actual site where she lived and it was truly beautiful. (We hadn't quite gotten to that part of the series when we visited, but we just started a few weeks ago and all of us, okay...except Gabe, are finding it so fun to picture the place because we've been there!)<br />
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Our next stop was Chicago, and the drive there was kind of awesome. It was beautiful and we loved seeing the landscape change as we drove over <b>the Mississippi river</b>. We stopped to eat dinner on the banks of the Mississippi and watched the sun set. I kept thinking "THIS is why I planned this trip." Later that night, my usually non-verbal teenage boy talked to me in the dark for 3 hours while we drove into the city and it has become one of my favorite memories from the trip.<br />
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<b>Chicago</b> was crazy! It was unfamiliar territory for all of us and I loved the experience of riding the Metra, walking on city streets, finding our way around. My kids had a kind of hard time with the smells and the humidity and lots of walking but there was still so much to do. We had yummy doughnuts at Doughnut Vault, great deep dish pizza at Giordano's, a fun visit with my step-siblings who work at the former Sears tower. We were disappointed that the lovely rainstorm we experienced shut down the observation deck. We toured the Grant park, took pictures at the Bean and did a (kinda lame) boat tour of the lake...I learned later that the better boat tours go down the river. Our favorite part were the 2.5 hours we spent at the Art Institute. We checked out 3 audio tours, which we shared, and used the guide that tells you what to see if you only have a short time to visit. SO SO SO GREAT.<br />
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We left Chicago around 5 pm and headed to Sandusky OH. We stayed in a small, hot, spider-infested cottage about 20 minutes away from <b>Cedar Point Amusement park,</b> but I'm hoping it's one of those things that will turn into family legend. Cedar Point totally blew my expectations out of the water. It is the one of the best known rollercoaster parks in the country and is built in the middle of Lake Erie. It was the cleanest amusement park in the best location! The lines were short, the weather was mild and I didn't have a baby to worry about. We went on some pretty epic rides and I had some pretty thrilled kids. Most of my kids will tell you it was their favorite part of the trip.<br />
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We again left at 5pm, in order to meet Ryan's plane at 11:00 and we did it! We were blown away with how gorgeous upstate New York was as we drove in. Completing that trip felt like such an accomplishment and I was so happy to have Ryan (and Levi) with us to experience this epic vacation. Watching the kids be reunited with their baby brother was the cutest. <br />
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We were ready to start the Church History part of our Church History tour!Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07155042286165966395noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534899535780442639.post-3825125719558952382015-09-09T17:18:00.002-07:002015-09-09T20:01:29.000-07:00LDS Church History Tour Itinerary and tips for planning!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So, if you've been anywhere near me in the last few months or follow me on Instagram, you are well aware that we just completed an epic road trip in order to visit a majority of the historical sites that are sacred to the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I've had so many people ask me for my itinerary so I thought I'd record it here, along with a few tips. I'll probably record more details of each spot in the coming weeks here, as well, but I wanted to have a quick reference for people who are interested in how we did it!<br />
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TIP#1:<br />
We had planned on flying to New York, but as we looked into the logistics of renting a vehicle big enough for 8 people AND dropping it back off or paying the extra fees, it just made so much more sense to drive to New York and back. Truly the best decision we made, I 100% promise. <br />
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TIP #2:<br />
In preparation, I began looking for websites that had good info on how to do a church history tour and I really couldn't find much. I did however find these books: <u><a href="http://www.ldsfamilytravel.com/guide_books.php" target="_blank">The LDS Family Travel Guide</a>.</u> I LOVED them. It was so nice to have a hard copy in front of me, with basic maps and timing suggestions and tips and directions. I used it to plan and I took it on the trip. It's a little dated but that really wasn't an issue. I just used it as a guide and then used google, maps, yelp and phone calls to fill in the rest. I also really liked the basic background the books gave on each site. We used them in family home evening lessons before the trip and read them aloud as we drove to the sites during the trip.<br />
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TIP #3:<br />
We used hotels (thanks to some discounts from my dad, the two rooms we needed were less pricey!) and airbnb.com. I LOVE airbnb so much. It's a really affordable way to lodge a family of 8 especially in bigger cities. It's the first place I've looked for any trip I've taken in the last year. Feel free to ask questions about where we stayed in the comments.<br />
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TIP#4:<br />
Spiritual preparation really helps if you want to have the best experience. We held a family fast the fast Sunday before we went, asking Heavenly Father to bless us to feel His Spirit and to help us deepen our testimony of the restoration of the Gospel. We also assigned each child to an area of the trip and asked them to present pictures, stories and outlines about what we'd see each place and had them give their presentations in family home evenings prior to leaving.<br />
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Okay...onto the schedule. I'm including my cross country drive because it was just so cool, but obviously it will all be different depending on where you live.<br />
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Day 1: Leave Spokane and drive to Billings, MT (7.5 hour drive)<br />
Day 2: Drive to <a href="http://www.nps.gov/thro/index.htm" target="_blank">Theodore Roosevelt National Park </a> (4 hour drive). Explore for 2-3 hours.<br />
Drive to Fargo ND (4.5 hour drive)<br />
Day 3: Drive to Walnut Grove MN; visit <a href="http://walnutgrovemn.weebly.com/museum.html" target="_blank">Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum</a> (3.5 hour drive). Stay 2 hrs.<br />
Drive to Chicago, IL (8 hour drive)<br />
Day 4: Explore Chicago (Boat ride, Doughnut Vault, Art Institute, the Bean, deep dish pizza)<br />
Drive to Sandusky OH. (4.5 hours)<br />
Day 5: Visit <a href="http://cedarpoint.com/" target="_blank">Cedar Point Amusement Park</a> for 7ish hours.<br />
Drive to Rochester NY. (4.5 hours)<br />
Day 6: Visit Sacred Grove, Smith family farm, Hill Cumorah, Grandin printing press<br />
Day 7: Visit Peter Whitmer Log home, hike Watkins Glen State Park Gorge<br />
Day 8: Drive to Niagara (2 hours) Visit Niagara Falls. 4-5 hours needed.<br />
Drive to Ohio (3.5 hour drive)<br />
Day 9: Visit Kirkland visitor center, Kirtland temple, John Johnson farm.<br />
Day 10: Visit Isaac Morley farm. Drive to Valparaiso, IN. (4.5 hr drive)<br />
Day 11: Scrap plans to visit Indiana Dunes State Park (dumb rain). Drive to Springfield IL (3.5 hr<br />
drive.) Visit Lincoln's Tomb, Abe Lincoln Presidential Museum for 4-5 hrs. Drive to Nauvoo, <br />
IL. (2.5 hour drive)<br />
Day 12: Spend the day at Nauvoo.<br />
Day 13: More Nauvoo, Carthage Jail, Nauvoo temple baptisms.<br />
Day 14: Drive to Kansas City, stopping at Adam Ondi Ahman. (4.5 hour drive)<br />
**here you could do Independence MO sites and Liberty Jail...we'd already done that a few years ago.<br />
Day 15: Drive to Denver CO (8.5 hour drive)<br />
Day 16: visit Breckenridge CO, hike Flatirons<br />
Day 17: Drive to Salt Lake City (8 hour drive)<br />
Day 18: Drive back to Spokane (10 hour drive)<br />
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So that's how we did it. It was truly the trip of a lifetime. I'll spend the next few posts talking about each place in detail, should you want more information.<br />
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<br />Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07155042286165966395noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534899535780442639.post-31474591868850791672015-08-15T12:11:00.002-07:002015-08-15T12:11:19.273-07:00Spring Break 2015Just a little bit of family record keeping here, folks, sorry. <br />
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It seems lately that we've been planning long, costly summer vacations and thus have less budget and time off when it's Spring Break time. Ryan is sweet about trying to help me make the spring break fun even though we are just staying home.<br />
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Last year it was out of control 2-3 major activities every day and no one was quite up for that this year. We decided that we'd plan 1 family activity every day around 3-4:00 and Ryan would leave work early to make it happen. The kids also had a work project that they needed to complete every day: cleaning out the garage, detailing the cars, etc. We're the nicest parents.<br />
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Monday: <b>Wild Walls climbing walls.</b> This was definitely the best one of the week (should have done it at the end!) We got a babysitter for Levi and headed downtown. Most of the family had never done it before and we all had a great time. Seth was really good at it (big surprise...the kid has no fear) and Emma REALLY loved it. We kept trying to think of a way she could get a job there. <br />
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Tuesday: <b>3rd annual bike ride to Red Robin along the fabulous trails</b> we have here in Spokane. It's about 15 miles round trip and the kids are troopers. We left a little late and while we enjoyed our burgers during dinner, I was getting really concerned about how dark it would be on our way home. I was right... it was completely dark the last 3 miles. Ryan was riding with Faith and was even further behind then I was. I ended up sprinting home and grabbing the car in order to rescue him from a dark cold couple of miles. <br />
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Wednesday: <b>Family Hike and Ice Cream. </b>We told the teenagers that they had one opt out night and they chose hiking night. Booooo! I had come across a site that listed the 5 best family hikes in the Spokane area and wanted to try one out. It was called Big Rock and it was pretty short and steep and ended at a, wait for it...really big rock! We stopped by our favorite ice cream place on our way home as a reward for our loyal hikers.<br />
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Thursday: <b>Cinderella movie night! </b>I kind of love that Gabe chose to hang out with the family on the girly movie night. He totally liked it, don't let him tell you differently. We all thought it was great...love when things live up to their hype!<br />
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Friday: <b>Big Backyard BBQ with friends and neighbors</b>. Our kids always pick this one when we ask what they want to do and it's always so much fun. Those kinds of events sound like a huge effort and then it's not at all. Even though it got really cold for the 2 hours that we had the barbecue, people stayed and chatted and the kids ran like crazies and it was a great night.<br />
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So there we go... detailing the 5 days a year that we seem like the funnest family ever. #selectivejournalingFTW!<br />
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<br />Jessicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07155042286165966395noreply@blogger.com0