May 9th

 I took Layton to go and work at Melissa's at 7:30 this morning. Then I did my work out and then I did my second work out outside running/walking. I started 75 hard on May.4th, but that will be another post. 

Then I spent the rest of the entire day outside working. I mowed the lawn, planted the flowers, moved tons and tons of soil to the front, planted the tomatoes and just worked so much. It was amazing to get it all done. I also went through all the dahlias and got those planted too. I just love love love being outside. It's hard to explain how happy it makes me to be able to plant things, be in the dirt and just work in the sunshine. 

Here is proof of all the work/dirt on my face below. lol

Thomas and Kasen spent the day on a kayaking adventure. Layton worked for Melissa. Leah had a friend over. When Layton got home he helped me for a while too and that was so nice to have his help. 

May.8th

 I bought flowers and tomato starts today and I am so excited about them. Gosh I just love flowers and all the joy and beauty they bring! I really wish I got a picture of them all in my car. I'll have to take some now that they are planted at my house too.

May.7, 2026

On the evening of may.4th Layton received notification that he did in fact qualify for districts. He had been feeling a little burned out and discouraged and had mentally already checked out from track and participating at districts. He wanted to focus on training for cross country now. But he and I had a really good talk and he ended up deciding that he did want to run and to not give up the chance to compete and have the opportunity to run. I am so glad that I took the time to really talk through all of his ups and downs and feelings and then encourage him to do the hard/good/best thing. 

He got a PR in both the mile and the 2 mile ending the season with a 4:53 mile and a 10:41 2 mile time. I am so proud of him. 

May.3 2026

 I had a really nice birthday. We had stake conference and so we went to that and it was actually really good. A lot of good talks, encouraging words, and spiritually uplifting. We enjoyed a fairly quiet afternoon, took a little nap and then DJ and Somer came over and visited for a while.  It was good to see them. We had a yummy dinner of steak and potatoes and Thomas cooked it all up and was so nice. They gave me a cross net for my birthday. Thomas was also so sweet and thoughtful and invited like 12-15 couples/families to come enjoy some dessert and play games and hang out outside for my birthday. I was really grateful for him. A bunch of couples and families came and we played cross net and volleyball and visited and its was wonderful. It definitely filled my cup. Most everyone even brought me a little gift too, which was really thoughtful. 

May.2, 2026

 Leah sprained her ankle at her team Volleyball Dinner. It was a pretty good sprain, but we iced it, kept her moving and hoped for the best. We had a nice evening at the dinner. We just did a potluck, visited and played volleyball. 

Leah had a wonderful season and enjoyed playing a lot. She has gotten pretty good and I am so grateful for her awesome coaches and the joy she has playing volleyball. She improved a lot and is a really good little player!

May.1, 2026

Layton’s Running story  

I went to a track meet to watch my son, Layton run.

It’s been a discouraging season for him because of some injuries. He hadn’t been able to train and compete at the highest level that he was used to, but he still did really good. 

Luckily, he was doing a lot better and was able to PR the week before at his neat. I was excited to attend this. However, he told me that he was going to pace one of his friends for the mile race so he wasn’t going to PR.

When you’re pacing someone it just means that you go a specific speed the whole time so that you know what time you will end up at. So I went to the race, knowing that he wouldn’t go his fastest race, but didn’t realize who he was going to be pacing. 

I was first confused when he was in the second heat. The second heat is for runners that are not quite as fast and he’s never in the second heat. So as the mom, I was really confused about why he was gonna be in that heat. Even though I realized that he was going to piece a friend I figured it was just one of his close friends that is usually just 10 to 20 seconds behind him. 

But he lined up to race in the second meet, and as the race went on, I was more confused, but then understanding hit me. Layton had decided to pace one of the slowest kids on the team. 

It was awe inspiring to watch him, look back and encourage this boy while he was racing. He paced and cheered him on the whole way.

The “you got this” “come on push push push”. 

Layton slowed down to watch the boy cross the finish line. The smile on his face was unforgettable. He watched him finish and then once he crossed the finish line Layton sprinted and finished his race.

What was so cool about this is Layton was finally feeling healthy and strong and could have done really really well and got his own PR. He had had a rough season, but it was more important to him to help and encourage and lift someone else than to give himself the glory and PR for himself. 

April.30, 2026

 We are doing pretty good. The weather is getting nicer and nicer by the day which is so exciting. yesterday was just work, took Leah to volleyball, and then took layton to the gym. I did a light leg day, and then the sauna.

Later that night I took Kasen to the gym, and did the sauna again and then biked for 20 minutes. I also had over 10,000 steps because I did a couple mile walk too. Feels really good to feel good. 

Today we've got Laytons track meet so thats fun. It seems like there are a lot of things going on right now. Thomas has a lot of projects that need done and he will need to get done within the next few days. I'm grateful for the work. We are really trying to figure out what his future is going to look like career wise. It's been a struggle for sure. 

All the kids are doing good. We are happy, healthy and grateful. I've been thinking a lot about positivity/negativity lately. How it affects me and how to be better.

I've been noticing people that are negative around me and how it gives me the ick. I want to be a positive person. That doesn't mean I don't ever complain, or have hard days or share hard things, it just means I don't want to be the person that nit picks everything. That makes every inconvenience a victimization circumstance. Does that make sense? 

Focusing on positivity and being more of that.

April.28, 2026

 I am so excited for the weather to be warming up. It's only a high of 56 today but we are getting warmed and warmed every day this week and will be mid 70's by Sunday. Thanks for the birthday warmth coming my way haha.

Yesterday was a pretty normal day. I was able to make a good dinner, spend time as a family, I cleaned up outside, pressure washed the back patio, did a lot of laundry. I don't know I'm just feeling very caught up on life. I also mass made a bunch of egg burritos to have on hand for breakfasts, so that was good too. I'm grateful that I am feeling like myself lately. I woke up this morning super energized. Not totally sure why, but I feel like I'm actually in a really good place mentally and emotionally right now so that is a good feeling to have.

I am really craving being more busy and productive at work. I want to contribute more and be busier. I hope things can get busier around here.

I really want some more to help me feel like I'm contributing to something bigger than myself. Hopefully this all comes in time. My back has also been doing really good, so that is encouraging to feel that hope. I think im ready to be walking more and going to the gym more and things, so that is really exciting!

April.27, 2026

Here is our weekend recap.

On Friday I took Layton and Jackson to the temple. They did baptisms and I did initiators. Then I took them to the Ravsten stadium because they wanted to watch Ezra run in his race at the track meet. I dropped them off in cold and snowing weather lol. While they were there I went to Sams club and stocked up on a grocery run.  

Then I picked them up and we got home after 4. Unloaded groceries. Cleaned up the house etc. Then Thomas and I went out for date night and we went to The Rusty Lantern with Tara and Ryan. That was fun then we went back to their house and we watched Robin Hood with Kevin Costner. 

We got home way way late and ended up going to bed at like 1:00 am. Which is fine though since we didn't need to be anywhere till afternoon

Leahs' volleyball tournament started at 12:30 in Rigby. She did good. They played teams that were 1-3 years older than them, so they didn't win every game, but they still did good. We did have to leave part way through the 3rd game to go to Layton's track meet.

Luckily the weather was nice, but I did misread the order of events and we ended up getting there over an hour early from his run.  He did really good and got a PR of 4:55. Proud of him.

We got home around 5:45 I think. It was a beautiful evening and I didn't want to waste it so I ended up spending the evening outside and put down a bunch of weed barrier in the garden. I'm not done yet, but it was good to get done all that I did. Went inside around 8:00, then just kinda chilled the rest of the night.

Sunday was church. I watched a movie with Leah after church, then I went ministering, then got home and got dinner going. Took Layton to choir. Picked up Layton from choir etc. Had a later dinner around 7, but it was so so so so yummy! Loved it! I also made lemon bars that were really good. 

That about sums it up! It was a good weekend.

April.24, 2026

Not too much going on here. Yesterday was a slow boring day at work. Came home and honestly it was s cold and windy outside I curled up in my bed and took a 20 minute nap and it was wonderful. Then I got dinner going, and also set up the upholstery cleaner machine that I bought. I bought it to clean all the chairs and I'm excited about it. Thomas and I each cleaned one and it seemed to work great. After dinner, I took Leah to her volleyball scrimmage. She did really well during it. They practiced serving with a higher net and behind the back line, because that will be the rules for this weekend since they are competing against 6th and 7th graders. Leah didn't get it over the first few times, but then she did really good and was getting her serves over consistently, which was really exciting. 

Last night Thomas and I stayed up late just chit chatting about lots of things. It was fun to just connect in that way and talk and talk. 

Today I am taking Layton and his two friends James and Jackson to the temple. I'm going to do initiatories while they do baptisms. Then I will take them to the track meet to watch Ezra run. While they do that I will probably pop over to Sams Club and stock up on a few things. Then I'll get them and get back home. Then Thomas and I are going to go on date night. I think we are going to play Racquetball and then go to dinner. 

Photo of Rubie and I are a track meet last week. 

April.23, 2026

 Yesterday was a good day.  I went and picked up some potato soaps from Emily Farmer yesterday. We ended up talking for a while and it was good to see her and visit. After work I went straight to the gym. I only walked for 3/4 mile and was super frustrated because it really tightened up my back and had shooting pain. How dumb is that to not be able to even go on a simple short walk without it flaring up. I did the red light therapy after that and that was nice. Then I went to go to the Sauna but it had been turned off for cleaning, so I couldn't do the sauna. Oh well. I got home and got Leah to Volleyball. It was nice cause I got to go home and help Thomas put up the railing. It's so nice! I am so glad he got that done. It looks really really good! It's funny how sometimes just thinking about a project makes it seem so much harder than it is, but then once you get going it's not that bad. So I helped Thomas with installing that a bit, and we got it done.

Then I just worked on the house and got things cleaned up, and got ready for book club. I hosted book club which started at 7. I was grateful that Britni Burnside brought Leah home from volleyball for me, because I was just able to get ready for book club.

I hosted and the book we read was "Love your Life, Not Theirs" by Rachel Cruze. We had a good discussion and then just hung out and visited etc. We had a great time. Everyone left probably around 10:15. The people that came were Julie Yates, Marilyn Debry, Keiver Hawke, Carolyn Wood and Tara Wilding.

Yesterday, was a good reminder for me that we all need each other. So many people are suffering, and struggling and going through so many things that we just would never know unless we talk to them. We all need community and friends and people to do life with. 

I want to be a gatherer of people.  A place where people can connect and cry and laugh. I want to be a giver of hope and light.

April.21, 2026

 We had a good weekend. 

On friday we watched Layton's track meet. We were so excited to watch him and it was fun also because Rubie had come into town to watch koral throw for her shotput. 

Layton was ready to run the 2 mile and was feeling good. However, about halfway through I almost immediately noticed he was struggling. I noticed his try changed and he was struggling to keep up with the pace. I watched him drift further and further to the back and thought it was his ankle. He ended up gettingTimes by a lot of people and coming in that last. It was really sad to watch, but mostly I was worried that he was injuring himself. When he finished the race, I went down to the field and luckily it was the Rigby invitational Physical Therapy meet. And our old Bishop, who is now in the state presidents is the main physical therapist that was there. He has always set up in the middle of the field to help with and whatever athletes might need

He immediately was already on the field, helping Layton by the time I got downtown. I thought it was his ankle because he had tweaked it a little bit the day before.I got to him he said it was his feet and that his feet were killing him. Trent was able to find the spot on his foot that was really hurting him and he was in a lot of painIt could be a stress fracture, but then we told him about Layton’s hip pain and injury that he’s been having for several weeksLayton was not in pain anymore trying to dig some digging up higher in his butt/glute muscle muscles. He found a spot that was really painful in Layton’s acute muscles and hip and knew right away that that injury was not fully healed and even though he wasn’t experiencing any pain there that was the starting point and Because of that, it was affecting his stride and pulling on the muscles and ligaments all the way down his leg to his feet and that’s why he was experiencing so much pain in his. Specifically his left foot. So he did some work on thatSaid that when the track meet was over, we should come over to his office so that they could do some micro needling. So we went over to dinner to Tyrell and BreAnn’s house and had a good evening there, but then Trent called and said he was over at the office. So we went over there and did micro needling and he explained how the hip pain was the problem for the foot pain and he helped him so much. It was amazing because the next day Layton didn’t have any pain in his foot and was able to race for the mile. 

I wasn’t there however because I had gone to the funeral for aunt Carol. It was in Logan Utah. It was a nice funeral and I’m glad I was able to be there and support their family. I drove over with Ezra and then drove home with Ezra and then Amron. Amron stayed at my house on Saturday night and we played some card games and watched a movie and had dinner. It was fun to visit with him and Addi. On Sunday, we just had church and then had lunch, went for a little family walk, Then went up to Rexburg to pick up the truck that was at the Mechanic . Visited with the Gwilliams, came home, made a dessert, took late into choir practice and then went over to the Wilding for dinner. We had a nice dinner and played volleyball and had a good time.

While we were there, our dog Cooper was attacked by another dog that they were dog sitting and had a pretty good cut on his ear. It bled a lot, but luckily he’s healing just fine and is good to go. Just glad it wasn’t worse.