May 2026

 Richard was teaching a temple prep class to the graduating seniors and Kaylee wanted to make a treat for them. She found a really cute way to decorate it using a temple cookie cutter we have. Richard gave us his lesson ahead of time and he did such a great job on temple symbols!

For my birthday, the girls randomly had school off so I got to spend the day with them. I found a candle making place and Kaylee and Brooklyn went with me. It was actually really fun and we had a great time choosing which scents we wanted and what combinations worked and we all came home with a candle. 

Our anniversary was on Mother's Day this year. Mother's Day was not my favorite this year and I was in a pretty bad mood. We decided to go to these swinging benches at Quarry Trails Metro Park and it was really nice to just enjoy the good weather and chat with our girls. They asked questions about us dating and it was also really fun to look back on our 18 years together!

McKenna finished her first year of lacrosse! She has been getting really brave at trying new things and it's fun to see how she gets good at all of them! She didn't get much playing time this season but learned a lot and thinks she will continue playing it in the future. 

Our friends decided to do a couples book club with a handful of people from our ward and their ward. We read a young adult or children's book every month and get together to chat while the kids play in the gym. Brooklyn was thrilled that this little one wanted to hang out with her!

Kaylee had her last concert of the year. I'm glad she has stuck with viola and has gotten pretty good! Her orchestra teacher was retiring and she said he kind of stopped caring but I still thought they played well. 

We took McKenna out to ice cream so we could talk to her about a situation that happened to her online. I wanted to make sure Kaylee and Brooklyn got one-on-one time too so I took them both on dates. Kaylee and I went to Barnes and Noble and then got ice cream. She was driving and I kept telling her to turn but either I said it too late and she was reacting too late so she kept missing the turns and we were both busting up laughing. I love sharing those moments with my kids!

Brookie and I also went on a date but it started out kind of frustrating. We went to Half Price Books and found an HP game. We then tried to go get dessert but every place we tried had a problem, it was pouring rain, and by the third place, Brooklyn was really frustrated. I told her the story of when Richard wanted to kiss me for the first time and all of our plans that night kept changing or we would find somewhere to sit and then the sprinklers got turned on, etc. I told her that we started just saying "let's try this way" and turned it into a joke and were able to enjoy whatever happened that night. It really turned our night around and then next place we went to that didn't work out, we just said, "let's try another one!" I was grateful for her resiliency and we eventually did find an ice cream shop that we ate at!

On Memorial Day we went kayaking with the Crossley's and the Christman's. It was cloudy and looked like rain so I think that deterred a lot of people and we were able to stay out in the boats as long as we wanted! By the time we were done boating, the clouds had cleared up and it was a gorgeous day. 

We had a picnic at the park and then came back to our house to have a Mario party. We made Mario food and watched the new Super Mario Universe movie. McKenna put on her creative hat and grabbed some felt and very quickly put together these adorable characters for the party too. I love doing themed parties!

Brooklyn is done with elementary school forever!! She is ready to move on to middle school but it makes me so sad! It's crazy to think my baby is that old. I went to the school to do a 5th grade clapout and got to take pics of Brooklyn with some of her friends and teacher. She was devastated to be leaving the Arrow program and all the friends she made there but was happy to be moving up. Her friend hosted a pool party after school and so she didn't have time to be sad since she got to hang out with her friends the entire day!

Our region held a women's conference that Jill and I went to. They had a broadcast that was being held live in New York (I think) and then we had two separate panels from our stake who answered questions submitted beforehand, with a lunch in between. 

While we were at the conference, Jason offered to watch some of the kids and also invited our kids to hang out at their house. He roped the kids into going with him to get mulch and do a bunch of yardwork for him but they also had a lot of fun! That night they held their first Teen Book Club, which they hope to keep going every month. 

April 2026

 General Conference was on Easter this year. I bought donuts and donut holes to make little tombs and all of us drew a tiny resurrected Jesus for it. It was a fun new tradition to do while we read the story of Christ appearing to Mary at the tomb. We went on a walk with the Crossley's in between session but it ended up being VERY windy and colder than we expected. 

Kaylee and McKenna went to "Mormon prom" at a nearby stake and had a blast. They both looked so beautiful and grown up! They met up with some friends and even got matching corsages with Clair.

Mom and Dad got to come visit! After the kids got home from school, we went to try an escape room that was new in one of our malls. Unfortunately, it was the worst escape room I've ever been to! The room was tiny, there was hardly anything to work on, and the A/C was broken so it was very hot. We were very disappointed we wasted our money on this one when there are so many good escape rooms we could have gone to! 

Dad and Richard spent Saturday morning cutting down a tree that had grown too tall and was ruining our roof. Kaylee thought it was fun to learn how to use a chainsaw! Mom and Dad did so much work to help make our house look nicer and we were very grateful!

Dad stayed home and worked on some other projects while the rest of us did some shopping.  Brooklyn and Kaylee got to pick out some things with their birthday money and we bought all of the things we needed to put together kits for a service project. We put together kits for women at a shelter for Mother's Day, which was really fun. 

Mom and Dad went with us to church and then we drove to Dublin to drop off the kits. We had our usual Sunday game night at our house and it was fun to introduce Mom and Dad to our friends that they've heard so much about.

The next day, the girls went to school and Mom, Dad and I volunteered at the Food Pantry. Unfortunately, we decided to go at the last minute and by the time we got there, the only job they had left for us was filling bags of dog and cat food. Definitely not the job we would have preferred but it was fun to work together! 

Then we picked Brooklyn up early from school and went to the mall with her. She got a new game that we tried that night. Some parts of the game require physical challenges and we all get really into it. I even got a video of Dad and Brooklyn army crawling across the room! It was fun to see a sillier side of Grandma and Grandpa. Also that night. they were able to go to one of McKenna's lacrosse games. She didn't play much but we cheered loud for the few mins we got to see her play!

Unfortunately Mom and Dad had to leave the morning of Kaylee's NHS ceremony but Richard and I were able to go. Kaylee works so incredibly hard in school and also loves to volunteer. For Richard and I, we just had to get good grades to be in NHS but it is a big process at this school! Kaylee had to have several teacher recommendations, write an essay, do an interview, and show proof of at least 100 hours of service over the last two years!

Kaylee was also really excited to go on a field trip to Tolles for a health fair. They got to dress up  in PPE and learn all kinds of things that nurses get to learn. Kaylee loves all kinds of medical stuff and it was good for her to see a little more detail about what it might be like if she goes into that field. 

 A lady in our ward arranged a girl's night out for us to go see The Devil Wears Prada 2. I really liked the movie and thought they did a really good job on a sequel that was 20 years after the original! We have gotten to know a lot of really good people out here and I was grateful to be included in this group.