2 week review

Ashlyn spent some time with her friend Sara this week, doing a Galentine's day. They got brunch, went shopping and made cute keychains.

They turned out really cute!

On Saturday Abby got to go to the temple to do baptisms for the first time. The young women were going, but they invited Moms to come too. It was a really neat experience and it was so sweet how everyone was so excited for the girls to be there for their first time. 

The girls love painting rocks that we find in California, we are getting quite the collection...

Jacob asked a girl to go to the Winter Formal dance with him, but then I guess they found out it's a girl ask guy dance? So on Monday morning, we woke up to this on our front porch. So cute! 

We had our linger longer at the park, since there's a ward that meets after us. Abby was climbing like a monkey, per usual...

The last couple of weeks have been a bit stressful as we were told that Mesa Public Schools has to cut $18 million in budget cuts. We were told last  Monday that we would be losing a special education contract. There's 4 of us and she said that one of us could move into a general education position since there would be a few openings. 2 of our 4 are not dual certified, so they wouldn't be able to move even if they wanted to. None of us wanted to move, but that left me and my co-worker to decide because we are both dual certified. my co-worked had spent 18 years as a kindergarten aide and she student taught in 3rd grade last year, and there just happened to be a 3rd grade opening. She knew that I didn't want to move, so she made a big sacrifice and chose to take the 3rd grade position. We are so bummed, but I'm also relieved that I don't have to move. I'm also feeling a bit of survivor's guilt because she didn't want to move either but she took one for the team. My heart is with my special ed kids, I can't imagine doing anything else. It stinks that our school district decided to prioritize other positions over special education, but I feel very blessed to still have a job next year. 

Jacob went to Winter Formal last night with his friend Sarah. They did a day date to play pickleball and her whole family went too. I told him that he should've invited us too! They also had dinner at her house before they went to the dance. They were having lasagna, and Jacob is so picky that he won't eat ground meat. He was worried about having lasagna, but he said that Sarah didn't like meat either. He said that the lasagna ended up being meatless, he was saved! He said it was pretty good. He said that the dance was fun, he wish they had played better music but he got to jump around a lot. Sarah's brother also went with them, because his date had to back out because of a big orchestra competition they were having. He decided he wanted to go anyway, but I guess he didn't stick around them the whole time. He said it was a fun first date. I'm still waiting on pics....look at my cute boy in his first suit!

 

Life can change in an instant!

Ashlyn got to spend time with her best friend Maddie at As you Wish painting pottery. She painted this beautiful heart platter!

It turned out really cute!

The dogs sure love our Ash!

Cute memory!

And they love Abby!

Cute Austin got baptized last weekend! It was a beautiful ceremony, and we watched Grandpa Hahn give his Holy Ghost talk. He did a great job!

Abby tried out for our school news broadcast show again for the weather reporter and although she didn't land the weatherman job she gets to be an editor! I'm proud of her for trying out again. She's excited to start and Mondays will be her day behind the camera!

This week was a tough one for Ashlyn. She found out that she didn't make it into the Easter pageant and she found out that if she doesn't take classes this semester she'll lose her scholarship. So even though she planned on just working this semester, her plans changed and she signed up for more classes. I'm proud of her for forging through her disappointment and switching lanes quickly. It's not always easy to change your plans. 

 

Week in Review...New Years!

Ashlyn looking cute!

We got to meet most of Ricks family in San Diego for a 50th wedding anniversary party. They rented a big house on the top of a mountain with a beautiful view. We enjoyed swimming in the pool, hot tub, playing air hockey, ping pong, basketball and sitting by the fire pit. It was fun to be with the family and spend time together and share memories that we had with Rick's parents. They're a very loving couple and we are grateful for their example and love. 

Abby loved playing in the pool with her cousins. She lucky to have 3 cousins that are her same age, all boys but she keeps up with them. 

We enjoyed a yummy dinner at Anthony's grotto which is a family tradition. The Johnsons love their seafood. 

All the siblings with their parents...

Siblings and spouses...

The whole gang...

It was a beautiful property...

We were able to go ice skating in downtown Mesa and we had fun....

Lots of beautiful plants in San Diego....

They also had a fun trampoline...

We had a really fun break! It's sad that it's over now, we enjoyed lots of family time together. One other mishap that we had was Ricks car started leaking gas, so it wouldn't start because it kept leaking gas. We had it towed home before we left for San Diego. When we got home, we were able to have someone come to the house and figured out that the overflow gas tube had disconnected. So once we got that connected it was good to go. Thankful it was an easy fix!