Week in Review...

On Friday night Ashlyn, Jacob, and our neighbor friends got to go to a Strive to Be concert in Mesa! They were so excited! Strive to be is the album that the church produces each year for the youth. The artists who wrote and sang the songs performed in a beautiful outdoor amphitheater. Ashlyn and Jacob said it was amazing. They said the opening acts were local performers, the first one was the Hip Hop Homies-they're young adults with down syndrome who are very good at hip hop! Then a service missionary performed, she is missing half of her arm but has a set up where she can  attach a limb that strums the guitar as she plays and sings. She had a beautiful voice. The concert was filled with 5000 youth! Such an awesome opportunity!

On Saturday, I was able to watch Don Gentry's funeral, he was Melissa Hahn's Dad. It was a beautiful service, with lots of amazing music. My parents were right in front of the livestream. I was so grateful that they were able to livestream it so that we could participate. 

My brother, Melissa's husband gave the opening prayer. He said a beautiful prayer. 

Jonah sang in one of the songs...

We even got to see Ryan give our parents a hug, so sweet!

We even got a close-up of Dad!    

My sister Kim was visiting my parents last week and sending us pics, and it was bringing back so many memories of my mom's cute decorations...

My mom painted this cute Egg Factory!

 Poor Haley found out that she has rheumatoid arthritis, and possibly lupus. She started some meds to help her with arthritis and within a few days she had a full-blown rash. It turns out that she's allergic to that med, so she had to stop it. She went to a few doctor appointments before her rash was able to start subsiding. Poor girl. She's started a new med now that will hopefully help and not harm her even more!

I bore my testimony about how excited I was for my family to come from faraway states to see the temple pageant. I bore testimony to the powerful experience of seeing the life of Christ portrayed through song and action. It's an experience I'll never forget! I'm so grateful that we live so close to it! Every time I think about my family gathering for such a cool event, I get teary about it! It really is such a dream come true!

Week in Review...

Cute little rusty roo....

Rick took his young men's group to a fun activity this week....

We had mismatched sock day on Friday in support of World Down Syndrome day! Love this dress-up day at our school!

We also had students who got to pie some teachers because we reached our fundraising goal for our school fundraiser....

My sister Kim is spending the week with Mom and Dad, they're doing so many fun things!

Here is a graphic that I made to advertise our camp fundraiser happening soon!

Jacob was named Captain of the Air Guards! This means that he's in charge of all of the airguards, and he's excited. He says it's basically what he's already been doing, which is probably why they gave him the position. ha! I also found out that the Whittle family is coming for the temple pageant too. Wahoo!!
 

SPRING BREAK!

It's a fun break! Grandma and Grandpa Johnson came to stay with us for the week. We played lots of games and explored some local places.

Rusty loved having the kids home all week too.

Rick, Ashlyn, Jacob and Grandma all went kayaking at the lake, they had a great time...

I found this cute syrup container at the antique store. Ashlyn loves going there, so I can't say no to going because I love it just as much. 

We went on 1-2 walks every day, and we took lots of steps!

Playing SkyJo...

I finally got Kyler groomed because he was very hairy! Kyler did great since Ashlyn could snuggle with him the whole time...

I got to go to a sealing for a sweet lady in my ward who is a widower, her husband died of Covid and she adopted her grandson. They were able to be sealed this week. He is keeping her on her toes and very active. She said that he helped bring her back a great reason for waking up after losing her husband. 

We had dessert (Grandma made lemon meringue pie for pie day) at Rob's house and the cats got us all congested. We didn't last very long over there...

Sweet Kyler trying to stay warm after getting groomed...

We went to a fun place called Arena 23 and the kids got to try all kinds of sports simulations...

Our friends the Weidmans got to do baptisms in the Nauvoo temple!

We went to a beautiful park in Phoenix and they had some fun rides and this really hard climbing wall. Ashlyn and Abby gave it a try...

Grandma loved the spinning ride!

I bought a futon for Jacob to sleep on when visitors come and Grandma helped me put it together and then she tried it out with Ash...

It was a beautiful park, with lots of waterways and ducks swimming. They even have paddle boats you can rent on the weekends...

They even had a train ride...

I was trying to help direct them up the wall...

They also loved the spinning ride!

It was a great week and we are so grateful that Grandma and Grandpa came to spend time with us. We felt very loved. Now I'm excited for my side of the family to come for the Easter pageant next month! I just found out that Ronny's family is coming too!! Wahoo!! Sarah's family is also coming, along with Kim and Amy, and my Mom and Dad. Yay!!