Week in Review...

We have been working on this puzzle for a full month, it was hard. I worked on it for 1 day and then got too frustrated to keep working on it. Rick and Ashlyn persisted and got it done. Wow!

We were so lucky to have my niece Brielle and her new husband Jake over for dinner on Thursday night. It was so fun to get to know them both better. They're living in Scottsdale while Jake is going to ASU for law school. It was fun to hear about the realities of law school, it sounds very different than what I pictured. We are hoping to see them lots now that they're so close!

I got this sweet note from one of the teachers from the Netherlands, it made my day!

Abby being silly....she's still enjoying volleyball even though this season they've lost every game. She's growing as a volleyball player and is excited about the strengths that she's gaining. 

A memory popped up for cute Ashlyn with her friend Sara dropping off cookies for her birthday a few years ago. Sara just dropped off a gift for this years birthday too, she's the sweetest!

We have been taking walks around the new soccer fields by our house and it's nice to be able to get out of the house and enjoy this cooler weather. We finally made it to the great seasons we love. 

Yesterday Ashlyn had call backs for her audition in the temple pageant for an angel. She learned a dance with the other 43 girls that were there and then they performed it in groups of 5. They were video taped and told that 20-22 girls would be chosen and they would find out in Mid-January. She's really hoping to make it in, she loved dancing again. 

Rick took Ashlyn and the kids out to dinner yesterday at Red Robin for Ashlyn's birthday. I wasn't feeling well, so I missed out. They enjoyed getting wings, burgers and chicken strips with endless fries. It's always a family hit. We are excited to celebrate Ashlyn for her birthday tomorrow, can't believe that she's turning 19. We have been reminiscing about the day that she was born and how Rick set our alarm for PM instead of AM, and we woke up late and had to rush to the hospital for our scheduled c-section. She was the only child to be born in the morning and in the American Fork hospital. It was the smoothest delivery that I had, despite being late for our appointment. Ashlyn was an angel baby, we got to bring her home for Haley's 4th birthday-her own real life baby doll. Ashlyn was a momma's girl, like all of my babies but she especially loved milk so we called her our Missy Moo. She also had this yellow duck that she loved, it had some silkiness to it. She still has it. We love our Ash and we are so grateful for her in our family. She's our peacemaker and she's been through so much but she's so brave and I'm so proud of her. I love my Ash bash!

Week in Review...

Abby had a Halloween party at school, they made catapults and launched things! Sounds fun to me!

Ashlyn painted this cute pumpkin like the Oogie Boogie from the Nightmare before Christmas, it's so cute!!

She went to a Halloween party on Halloween and went trick or treating with her friends, they had awesome costumes! Ashlyn is Blossom from the power puff girls...

Abby had another volleyball game on Saturday, they didn't win but she got all of her serves over the net so that was exciting...

Abby and her special ed teacher were having fun dancing together during her class party...

Abby was Red from the Descendents movie and she didn't want her picture taken, pre-teen grumpiness has set in...

Abby painted a pumpkin for Activity Days....

On Monday we had a group of 47 teachers from the Netherlands tour through our school and then I was on a panel answering questions along with some other teachers. We are "teaming" in partnership with ASU and it's sparking interest around the world. It's pretty cool to be a part of, but also nerve wracking. We have 2 more tours coming through this year, our next one will be this Thursday. On Wednesday night I had a hard time sleeping because my throat was killing me and my whole body ached. I went to school on Thursday because it was Halloween and I didn't want to miss out on the fun activities. Then on Friday I was still feeling super sick but I had my observation to get through. I ended up leaving work early because I couldn't hack it anymore and went to the DRS. where I found out that I had strep. ugh! I'm finally starting to feel better after starting antibiotics. Being that sick makes you grateful to not be sick. I missed out on trick or treating with Abby because I was sick in bed. She went with our neighbor friends and had lots of fun thankfully. Also on Wednesday it was my brother Ryan's birthday and I got to chat with him for awhile. It's always fun to catch up with my siblings and I hope they all know how much I love and admire them. 

Week in Review-Primary Program

Abby participated in her last Primary Program. She said, "Learning about the book of Mormon this year has helped me grow in my faith." She also got to sing the 2nd verse of I love to see the Temple as a Valiant 10 class. They did a great job.

 It was fun for me to participate as well and sit up with the kids, there's always such a special spirit on Primary Program day.

Last Sunday we said goodbye for 18 months to Ashlyn's friend Emma, now Sister Randall. She's going to Soporo Japan! We are excited to hear about her adventures. 

Abby was invited to her friends birthday party on Saturday and her Mom who is another teacher at Zaharis took some great photos...

Abby wanted a selfie before we went to the halloween party last night, she was nervous because she was asked to help at the YW booth doing face painting, she did great and had a fun time!

Ashlyn is trudging through her college classes, her physics class is really tough but I'm proud of her for pushing through. We are all excited for some cooler weather that should finally show up this week. 

 

Week in Review...

Grandma Johnson painted some rocks that we found on the beach in California...so cute!

So Ashlyn and Abby decided to paint rocks too, here's Ashlyns creations. A jellyfish and a cactus, so cute!

Abby with her class at Makerspace at school where they get to be super creative.

 It was a busy week, with really hot temps. We got some cooler weather this weekend and it's been glorious. I can't wait until the cooler temps are here to stay...

2 weeks in Review--Fall break

For Fall break, we went to Carlsbad, Ca and met up with Ricks parents, it was great to catch up and be at the beach. We ate at Miguels Mexican food the first night, it was yummy!

We started this puzzle the first day of Fall break and finished it just this week. It was a tricky one with all of the blue water. It's cool because it's a puzzle of all of the temples in the U.S. Ashlyn, Abby and Rick helped out with it. It was fun to have something to work on during the week. 

Jacob's car isn't doing too good and is giving us a lot of trouble, so he decided to buy a moped from a friend. It's a yamaha and he says it's really fun to ride but he needs to get a permit and eventually a license. He's only allowed to drive it to school and around the neighborhood because I'm scared of him driving it farther. He's loving it.

We played Dos our second night, it was a fun game to learn.

There was a house that was decorated really cool for halloween that a lot of locals were checking out. 

Rusty got a cute new haircut! He looks so fancy!

Of course Rick had to try it out, he enjoyed it as well. 

Ashlyn is dog sitting this week at a swanky house, she's loving it!

It was fun to boogie board with Grandma and Grandpa, Jacob was trying to skim board but it's harder than it looks....

I love the birds of paradise flowers!

We took lots of walks to the beach, it was only a mile away!

I wasn't planning on going into the water because it was chilly outside, but Abby was boogie boarding by herself and I wanted to be near her in case she needed help. She loved it!

Grandpa even got in the water!

During Fall break my best friend Amy came over and we got to chat for a bit. It was so great catching up with her!

Ashlyn is enjoying her college experience, she got to go to an art show the other week. 

Jacob got to go on a hike up in Payson with Jacob and Caleb, he had a great time!

It was a great fall break and now we are back in school and busy doing parent teacher conferences which makes for a crazy week.