Confession

My name is Rachelle, and I am a terrible blogger and a procrastinator and I may have adult ADD because I loose interest in things when they get boring or difficult.

My goal was to blog each week for the year so that I could print this blog as a family journal.  I got through two months!  But, I am not giving up.  I am going to sum up the rest of March, April, May, and June, and then I will continue with the week thing.  Sorry family!!

March 1 - 17 years!!!

That's right!  We celebrated 17 years of marriage this week!  It's very surreal to remember 17 years ago, when we were a young engaged couple, looking ahead and dreaming about all we would do together in our future; and then now being where we are now, and looking back on where we have come together and still looking forward with a stronger connection and love.  We celebrated by attending the temple.  It was a very full session, but I am glad we went!  The IF temple will be closing this week for almost two years for some major renovations.  It will look like a completely different temple when it reopens!  I was glad that we could spend some time where our lives began.  Oh, how I love to be in the temple!

Shawn and I also got to go to a Collin Ray and BJ Thomas concert in Pocatello this week!  It was amazing!  Both artists have beautiful, pure voices.  Love Collin Ray and his music.  And BJ Thomas was FRIENDS with Elvis!  I shook his hand!  That was pretty cool!

We learned a few lessons about studying, grades, and responsibility this week.  Sierra had a rough time with her report card, and we were worried that she would have to drop out of cheerleading!  We worked out a few details, though, and we are hoping that she has learned a few things and will communicate, study, and not procrastinate in the future.

February 22 - parties, mistakes, and the temple

Bryson played his last basketball game of the season this week. :( They won and he played great! :)  I sure do love to watch him play!

Sierra competed in district cheerleading and they won first place in every event (they were the only team in their division though), so they are going to state cheerleading!  Can't wait to go to Boise to watch them!

Jenika performed at an elementary school assembly and worked at a clinic at South Fork.  She is awesome!

Cutler finally got to have his birthday party this week!!!  It has just been so busy, that I had to put it off week after week, but this week, it was warmish outside, and we just made it work!  He had a spy party, and the kids came, put together their spy kit, and followed clues like real live secret agents to find out who stole the birthday cake.  They seemed to have a lot of fun, and Culter had so much fun!  He was just thrilled to finally get his birthday party!

I made a major mistake and agreed to go to a sales pitch for some travel club thing because they promised a free gift for going.  But... I talked Shawn into buying the product for mucho money, came home, regretted it, returned the membership the next day, and gave up the free gift!  I am way too much of a push over to attend those dumb sales pitches!  

I got to go to the temple with my cousin, Rachel as she received her endowments, and then we again went to the sealing on Saturday.  I do love attending the temple and am reminded of my covenants and am renewed with peace each time I go.

I am a poor photographer... but here are some random photos.

February 15 - big decisions

We had a pretty uneventful week, but made some big decisions. :):)

I discovered this week that I am going to need to go back to work in the fall.  My teach grant that I took out with my undergrad requires me to work four out of eight years, and my four years off are up. So, I decided that I would apply and get ready to teach again.  I am excited to get back to the classroom as a regular teacher. :)  I don't know if Brielle is ready for me to go back to the classroom though... She is attached to me at the hip!  I am her favorite playmate and she asks me to play with her about nineteen times a day.  She is very creative and imaginative and entertaining. I hope that she will be ready in a few months.

Along with me going back to school in the fall, Shawn was asked to help coach the junior varsity football team for Rigby High School.  They asked him to last year, but with survey coming, he didn't think it would be a wise move.  This year though, he is a little more freed up.  He is planning on finding a good person to hire so that he has a little more time to coach football.  He is a great coach, and I am so proud of him!

The third decision we made was to go to Hawaii in November!  We bought airplane tickets and everything!  Hooray!  We really cannot wait to say Aloha in November!!!

February 8, 2015 - Sierra is Driving! and Some Valentines Love

Sierra is driving!!! Sierra took both her skills test and her written text on Friday and she is driving!!! Truth be told, I am both scared out of my mind and so excited that I am jumping up and down for joy!  I think she feels the same way.  She will enjoy her new independence and I think she is ready for the added responsibility.  Now, to find her a job??? :)

The after school program at the elementary schools started up this week.  I have been busy getting classes put together and finding teachers.  I am excited to have about 13 BYU-I students come this way to teach classes.  I hope that it will be a continuing part of our program because so far, they are awesome!!  Cutler is taking a "Mission Impossible" class and Jenika is feeling extra important because she is teaching a jump rope class.  One Wednesday down and five to go!

This week I sent (actually, I drove one of the teams) Alysa Love on a birthday scavenger hunt.  It was a little stressful to get the clues written and set up, but driving the girls was lots of fun, and hilarious.  Girls that age are just so funny and they loved it!  Then the very next day, I sent Whitney Love on a date scavenger hunt for a girls' choice Valentines Dance.  I don't know if they could possibly have as much fun as the 11 year old girls.... I think they were probably too busy trying to impress their dates to enjoy themselves looking like goofballs.

Basketball (Bryson's, Cutler's, and the highshcool), gym, cheer, jump rope, America's Hope, skiing, and violin lessons certainly filled up the rest of this week.  Valentines day was Saturday and so after the games, we went to Broulim's got sushi, chicken for the kids, chocolate covered strawberries, and a couple of movies for a fun night in.  It was just lovely. :)

Bryson, Kiegan, and Christian getting ready for skiing

In honor of Valentines Day, here is a Valentine's Day love post for all the people I love:

I love Sierra! She is patient, and beautiful.  She doesn't ever stress out too much, and she is always ready to give a hand to others.

I love Bryson!  He is determined and motivated.  He takes the things he does very seriously and wants to be good.  He loves his mom and is always willing to give her a great hug!

I love Jenika!  She is sympathetic toward others and is very responsible.  She is beautiful and she is always concerned with the feelings of others and she knows how to include them.

I love Cutler! He is enthusiastic and happy.  He feels everything intensely and he expresses himself with power.  He loves the company of his mom and gives great hugs.

I love Brielle!  She is the best gift ever!  She is cute and fun and so entertaining.  Her imagination is large and so is her energy level.  Mom is her favorite person in the world!

I love Shawn!  He is strong and smart and good.  He works so hard to make sure that we have the things we need and he supports me in all of my crazy ambitions.  He knows how to have fun and how to keep me balanced.  He is intensely loyal to our family and loves us all deeply.

I love my Heavenly Father, for He has given me the best family!  I am so blessed that they are all my Valentines!

February 1 - A Baby, a Baptism, and a Funeral

If last week was busy, this week was busy on steroids!  We had a funeral, a baptism, a baby blessing, and a bridal shower all this week!

Grandma's viewing was Monday night in Blackfoot and her funeral was on Tuesday in Thomas.  It was so nice to see all the family and to spend time remembering Grandma.  She really left a legacy and her children and grandchildren know that she loves them.  It was fun to see pictures of Grandma and Grandpa together and to see all of her friends from her old ward.  She was important to a lot of people.  We are sad that she has left us, but we are so happy for her and for her reunion with Grandpa and with Jessica, my sister and with her parents and all her siblings who have passed on before her. Shawn gave the opening prayer (he did a wonderful job), Jerilyn, Cam, and Angie gave her life sketch, all the kids and grandkids sang Families Can be Together Forever; Melanie, Casey, Chelsey, Whitney, and I sang "Let Us All Speak Kind Words to Each Other" and "Each Life That Touches Ours for Good", and Josiah spoke. It was a great meeting and Grandma was proud and pleased, I am sure. :)

Grandma had said that she was ready to go long ago, especially when she started forgetting things and not being able to be alone anymore.  She was frustrated that her body wasn't working right anymore, and that she was still here.  She didn't ever want anybody to have to take care of her... She was the one who took care of everyone else.  I am sure that she didn't understand why she was still here when she missed Grandpa so much and felt that she had done all that she was meant to do on earth still.  But as I read my scriptures this week, I remembered Moroni.  He felt the same thing... That he had accomplished his duties and fulfilled his purposes on the earth and that there was no more that he could do.  For the Nephites were all extinct and had all died from war because of their evil and sin and the Lamenites would not listen to his messages - they would kill him if they found him.  He was all alone.  But Moroni said goodbye three or four different times in the Book of Mormon.  After recording the account of the Jadeites, he was ready to die, but Moroni recorded some of the most powerful chapters of the Book of Mormon after he thought he was finished.  The lessons taught at the end of the Book of Mormon were of utmost importance.  I wonder if the lessons that we needed to learn from Grandma were lessons that we needed to learn while we served her and waited for death with her.  I learned that Heavenly Father is in charge and that a few years in Heaven's time is but a blink of an eye.  I learned that we must be patient in our afflictions and keep our eyes and hearts focused on our Savior because He loves us and knows better what we need than we do.

Grandma's legacy continued with Cutler's baptism on Saturday.  He was so excited to get baptized and our Stake baptism was on his birthday (at the same time of Sierra's cheer competition), so we decided to "borrow" my parent's stake and have him baptized in the Tyhee Stake building so he didn't have to wait clear till March.  It was a wonderful meeting and Cutler was awesome!  Sierra, Bryson, Jenkia, and Cutler sang The Beautiful Gift of Jesus.  Melanie and Russel gave a talk about the atonement and baptism.  Cutler was baptized by Shawn, and then Griffin gave a talk about the Holy Ghost.  Cutler was blessed with the gift of the Holy Ghost by his dad too.  It was a beautiful blessing. Shawn blessed him to be a leader and lead others to the Savior, and also a follower of Jesus Christ.  He blessed him to remember the love of his family and of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  He blessed him also to learn to recognize and to listed to the Spirit of the Holy Ghost.  After the meeting, we gathered for lunch of meatball subs and veggies and chips and visited for a little while, and then we were off. :)  It was perfect.

Casey blessed her new baby, Blake on Sunday, so we drove back to Pocatello for that Sunday morning.  It was fun, again, to see familiar faces in the ward, and to spend more time with the family. Blake is adorable and Casey and Luke are such cute parents!

I am grateful to be a member of a true church, the only true church on the earth today that uses and honors the Priesthood for special ordinances that bring us close together as a family.  I love that we gather together to honor special events and share special times together.  I feel that our families time together is short and that our lives go by so quickly!  It seems that my memories consist of fleeting moments of the most special, sacred occasions, and I know that these are the important reasons we are here.

January 25 - Happy Birthday Cutler!

Another busy week behind us!

Grandma has been declining and hasn't eaten anything or been away since Friday or Saturday.  I went to see her on Monday during Jenika's jumprope.  She was sleeping peacefully and Jerilyn had music playing in the room.  It was very peaceful and tender.  I told her that I loved her and that I would see her again someday, and left.  Mom texted me on Thursday that she had passed away around noon.  My dad and Angie were there with her when she died.  She is an amazing lady and I love her so.  She has lived a wonderful life full of service and love.  I can imagine that the reunion with her and Grandpa was very sweet.

Basketball games, lessons, church activities, jump rope, and skiing kept us busy all week and we didn't have much time to be sad about Grandma.  She wouldn't want us to sulk, but to get busy and get to work.  Sierra had a cheerleading competition in Pocatello on Saturday and they did great!  They won first in everything (and they even had somebody to compete against)!

Cutler's birthday was on Saturday!   He turned EIGHT years old!  He got some walkie-talkies and some scriptures, and a basketball.  He played a ball game and then when to lunch with Shawn and Bryson.  When we got home from the competition in Poky, we celebrated! :)