Freshman Tennis

Alex met Noah playing junior high age tennis. Both were playing singles. Both would be going to Stansbury High as freshman. That would mean competition for who might play above the other.

Coach Bob suggested that they play doubles. This would mean they play together and could potentially play varsity first or second. It would give them some really good experience playing against harder teams. That's a big deal for a couple of 14-year-old boys. Not many freshmen make the team much less play varsity.

I have loved watching these two play in tournaments, learn to communicate with their behind-the-back signs, and work through some hard matches.

They beat Park City to win region. And no one other than their coach was there to witness it. That made me sad. Dang job sometimes gets in the way. Next was state. They won the first round. Tyler took the day off to be there for the 2nd day and all day I waited to hear how they were doing. At 2pm, Tyler let me know that they still hadn't played and there was a rain delay. All of a sudden I had hope that I might be able to make it. 3:30 came and they still weren't on yet. Turns out they would be the last to play.

God gave me a tender mercy. He knew how badly I wanted to support Alex and be there ... and I'm so glad I made it. Those two played the best tennis I've ever seen them play. In fact some of the best tennis I've seen any of my boys play. There were a couple of sketchy calls. Alex and Noah played through. They were playing against a couple of juniors and the match came down to a tie break that they ended up losing.

Afterwards the other coach came up and told us that they were both a couple of classy boys who wowed a lot of the crowd that evening for not only their attitude but also for how young they were to be able to play at such a level.

Unfortunately, Noah will be going to the new high school which means no more doubles tennis. Instead they will be competitors. I really think they would have had a decent shot at taking state had they been able to stay together for the next 3 years.

Actitude: One of Alex's coaches is from South America and doesn't English well. He gave all the boys a personalized award. Alex got the Positive Actitude award and also the cheerleader award. That he is. Alex is always cheering on his teammates whether he is on the court or off the court.

Alex also caught up with some his other TALL tennis friends who go to Tooele High and his 2nd cousin.

Read More. Write More.

January.

Cold.

Dark.

Depressing.

Blah.

The holidays are over and now there is January. In the past several years, January and I have become fast friends. What other month gives us a more slower pace of life, gives us time to reflect and gather strength for the coming months. January has become my month for reading, decluttering, regrouping, reevaluating. breathing more deeply. I even have come to prefer running in January versus July. With January also comes goal setting which I gave up years ago. I do think about where I've been and where I'd like to go but that happens all year long, not just in January.

However, this year I'd like to:

Read and write more in 2024. Has kind of a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

Reading is hard.

Writing is hard.

Social media is easy.

This is my Goodreads list for books read in 2023.

Not bad. 18 books (although 2 I didn't even finish). 5200 pages. Until I tell you that in 4th grade I read 10,000 pages in one term to earn lunch with my teacher. I was the only student who completed that challenge. I think pages are more important than books when it comes to stats.

So I'm challenging myself to break that 10,000 page barrier this year. It's going to be tough. I have a lot of things vying for my attention and time. Reading takes a lot of mental alertness and focus which isn't easy to come by in the evenings when social media is so much easier to digest.

I challenge my students to read every night for 20 minutes. If they do, they earn a penny (2nd graders still LOVE pennies). If I read AND they read, they get 3 pennies. They love to keep me accountable.

Writing has taken a back seat to . . . I'm not even sure. But I do know that there is a connection between writing and remembering. I need to write more, especially about my scripture reading. I read them. I mark them. I write in them digitally and physically, but I'd really like to write to connect my life to what I am studying. Maybe it will be on this blog. Maybe it will be in my journal. We'll see.

YES to reading and writing more in 2024!

_________________

These are the days of:

Discovering how smart I was as a mom when I finally got to the last child. With all my decluttering, I found Alex's school poster and as I was dismantling it, I found that I had originally created it when he was in kindergarten and knowing he would have another to do in 1st grade, I kept it and simply swapped out the "All About Me" paper and kept the photos in the same place. I did this again in 2nd grade. I guess by 3rd, they no longer did birthday posters. Pretty genius of me and saved a lot of time. Just wish I had figured that out with my first 4.

I'm Back with Updates

I've been on a little hiatus. This blog had served me well. A place for thoughts. A place for documentation. A sort of scrapbook for photos. But it seemed like it was starting to drive me instead of the other way around and I needed a break. I really didn't know if I'd come back to it. But something has been nagging me to take it up again.

So here I am.

With a little update on the fam from the past year and a half.

Tyler and Missy. 26 Years. We got to celebrate by going back to Anthony's, a restaurant we went to on our honeymoon. Our yard was featured in the Tooele Garden Tour once again. Missy completed her 10th half marathon and started her 6th year teaching 2nd grade. Tyler finally decided to fix his Achilles with surgery. It's been a slow process but he's off the knee scooter and gradually gaining strength in that foot again. 

New babies and missionaries. It was a race to see who was going to make it first: Wesley or Nate. Nate was coming on August 26, 2022 and Wesley's due date was the 27th. Wesley joined us on August 23 just in time to make it to the airport for a fabulous reunion. Did I mention school also started that week!?!

Nate finished his first year at BYU as an Economics major, is teaching piano to students in Eagle Mountain and is a TA for a business writing class. He loves to go to the gym, play basketball, pickleball, run, and tennis. You'll find him at most sporting events for BYU with a myriad of friends. He is a gatherer of friends when he comes home occasionally.

Ash graduated from high school and is finishing up hair school in Cedar City with about 6 more weeks to go. She is everyone's favorite hair stylist. She also finished up her first semester at SUU doing classes online and in the evenings because hair school is pretty much an 8 to 5 job. Ash transitioned pretty quickly to grown-up life when she moved out in June. She loves the mountains, avocado and toast, McDonald's Sprite, and hanging with friends.

Erik has one more semester to go at USU and will graduate this spring, majoring in Data Analytics. He's currently looking for job opportunities in that field. For now, he eats, drinks, sleeps tennis. He is on the club tennis team at USU, playing number one singles, and has traveled to tournaments in California and Texas. He teaches tennis classes at the Sports Academy and had a minor surgery soon after his dad. He is soon to be engaged to the wonderful Emma who is a real life pro at ice skating. For reals! She can do all the twirly, skate backward kind of stuff.

Alex has been playing more tennis and is destined to be better than his brothers if he continues playing. He loves pickleball, coding, Minecraft, and has become obsessed with Kakuro puzzles. Alex has become an only child at home and still loves hanging with mom and dad on our weekly dates and watching basketball games.

Kiersten and Jason are busy raising two wonderful little boys. Kiersten teaches piano and works for the UofU part time in a research lab. She even got her name on a published article! Jason is the maintenance guy for a company and loves fishing anytime he can. They love to be outdoors and are still driving our 2005 van they bought from us 3 1/2 years ago. Go Toyota!

We were able to take family road trip to Oregon this summer and brought Grandma instead to take Nate's place who couldn't leave FSY stuff behind. Ash caught the one-and-only salmon and Jason was enamored with crabbing.

We have been healthy, other than maxing out our insurance for the first time ever this year, and ready to see what the new year brings. One wedding for sure :)

Alex

This boy is my sidekick. He's still young enough to want to hang with mom and dad on our Friday night dates. He's quick to run to the storage room for a much-needed food item. He's patient and kind and loves to help his dad solve daily word puzzles. And he's good. He can glance at some letters and tell you very quickly what the word should be. He's got a pretty large streak going on Duolingo as he is trying to learn Russian, and he's a mean pickleball player. I would love to get a few more points on him.

He also had a birthday. For his birthday he wanted nothing more than a trip to Lagoon and Texas Roadhouse with his cousin Ian. I told him he might need to pick one of those two, but dad is a softy and we did both.

In addition to a birthday, he's also graduated from elementary to junior high, won the schoolwide spelling bee, and got some swag from Kangaroo Math (an online math competition he's been doing for a few years).

The day after his birthday we finally made it to the temple for the first time to do baptisms for the dead.

I couldn't ask for a better child to bring up the rear.

“While our generation will be comparable in wickedness to the days of Noah, when the Lord cleansed the earth by flood, there is a major difference this time: God has saved for the final inning some of His stronger and most valiant children, who will help bear off the kingdom triumphantly. … You are the generation that must be prepared to meet your God.”

“The final outcome is certain—the forces of righteousness will finally win. But what remains to be seen is where each of us personally, now and in the future, will stand in this battle—and how tall will we stand?” (President Ezra Taft Benson)

This boy of mine stands very tall. He knows what is right and he does what is right. He is good to the very core.

Backlog

I don't even know where to start. 

I had a birthday. A winter birthday. Winter has shifted and taken over my birthday. I always thought I had a spring birthday but not anymore. We hiked Black Rock. Ash and Erik are at the top.

Ash had a birthday.

Ashlyn's birthday happened over spring break AGAIN. Our birthday spring break wouldn't be the same without a Ding Dong "birthday cake."

Spring break to Kanab. This trip was a little pricey. Bald tires + very bumpy road = BAD IDEA. BUT that slot canyon was worth the extra day delay and set of new tires. Buckskin Gulch was spectacular. Belly of the Dragon and Sand Caves were pretty cool too.

Ash got her wisdom teeth out. She's been the funniest so far coming off that anesthesia.

Nate is applying to BYU while on his mission. It hasn't been easy.

Alex had his early morning math competition.

I got to tour the new prison and brought my neighbors along.

I snagged tickets to the Sunday afternoon session of conference. Alex, Kiersten, and Jason tagged along.

Chickens hatched in my classroom, and this year we got to actually watch one hatch out. The other I had to help out after he struggled for more than a day.

This is basically what we did all day, every day for a few days. Watched chickens. My students were mesmerized.

I sent them home this past week and didn't realize the suffering that would cause to one student in particular. He had grown quite attached over the week and when the day came to give them away, he cried and cried and cried. His mom also moved out at the beginning of the school year, so it's been a rough year anyway. And then to "lose" his chicken. After school dad took him to the dollar store. That didn't help. Eventually they made it to Tractor Supply where he got his own little chick.

And that's a wrap for now. I'll sign off with one last photo of Ash and her prom date.