Tim, Sasha & Family

Sunday, November 5, 2023

I had a great birthday. As I get older, birthdays become more special. We did not nod anything big. I went to Xadia’s volleyball game against Centerville Jr. High and her team won. The family made me dinner. We had Costco rotisserie chicken, loaded mashed potatoes, and a quinoa salad. Xadia made me a fabulous birthday cake with multiple layers. It was so nice to be remembered. Later that week I went to lunch with a childhood friend. We always have a good time catching up. It is amazing to reflect on the different relationships in my life and to see where they are now. Some people I’ve lost touch with others are still in my life. However, family takes priority…that is for sure.

McCabe went to homecoming with Ashlyn. He forgot to order a wrist corsage, so I had the opportunity to make one. It was my first time ever and I think it turned out pretty good. Of course, it was huge because I went overboard. But is was just so fun making it. I also got to take their pictures. However, silly me called Ashlyn by another girl’s name and McCabe (and MJ Smith) gave me the look of death. (Oops!) That was the second time I called one of his friends (who happens to be a girl) by the wrong name. The truth is, I cannot keep them all straight because he does not introduce me, and he always refers to them as “my friend.” Oh well, they had a good time at the dance, and I got some really good pictures.

I love the fall colors. Teagan and I went on a geocaching walk/hike. It got my heart racing because it was so high. The clue was, "snow cannot touch me." Um, yeah because it was at a top of a fence post. Here is Teagan with the scroll of names on the geocache find.

Xadia had her 14 birthday last month. She got some ballerina pink crocs. Unfortunately, the wrong size came so we had to return them for a larger size. She finally got them. Xadia loves to play with the dog, Fozzie. Fozzie is a good sport to put up with so much love. Xadia decided to make Fozzie a halloween costume out of an old sheet and take him on a photo shoot. In order for him to hold the bag in his mouth, Xadia put a chewy stick with the handle and told him not to eat it. Fozzie puts up with so much. He is a good dog. The joke with the picture below is, "If you don't believe in ghosts, explain this to me."

Jacinda is big into Cosplay and working at the local community theater as a stage hand. She has multiple costumes for the same event. Here she is getting ready to go to anime Bonzai. I am amazed with her talent of costuming.

Let's take a moment and talk about the world I live in. Inflation is taking its toll on everyone. People are maxing out their credit cards and dipping into retirement funds. Gasoline 3 weeks ago was $3.99 per gallon. It has gone down to $3.49 a gallon now. There is war over in the Gaza strip dealing with Hamas, Palestine, and Israel. Trump, who is a former president, is being prosecuted for fraud while our current President Biden, receives suspicious funds from relatives who have ties to foreign countries. People are having identity crisis trying to figure out if they are a man or a woman. To help exaggerate the craziness, Tim occasionally send funny memes such as the ones below.

I love it when Tim and I get to have a date. McCabe was at a another dance and the other kids went to the Living Aquarium. Tim and I seized the moment and went to El Matador. Jacinda was sending us updates about the aquarium so I sent her an update about me and Tim. Here we are waiting to be seated.

Halloween was a success. The kids went with a Spongebob theme. Kade was mermaid man. Teagan was Barnacle Boy. Xadia was Spongebob. Kate was Patrick. They went trick or treating for 4 hours and got so much candy. Xadia weighed her bag and it was 15 pounds. That is going to contribute to a far amount of cavities if they don't brush. Yikes!

Here are the trick or treaters the next day knocked out with a sugar coma.

I was able to dress up for halloween. The office was holding a party and a costume contest. I won first place and got $50. Yeah me! That $50 went to pay for 1/2 of my car's oil change.

I love where we live. Coming home from work the other day I had to stop for some turkeys to cross the road. These silly birds have also left their prints in the new sidewalk that was poured near the trail head. What a crack up.

Jacinda was invited to a Gala fund raiser with Seth. However, she did not have anything to wear. I put on my fairy god mother hat and got to work. We went to the D.I. and found a dress for $10 and a men's jacket for another $10. I transformed the jacket into a more feminine version. I just love to create fun clothes. Here is the jacket before the make over.

Here is the jacket after the make over.

We had some family photos taken. What can I say....my family is the best! Look at these fabulous pictures.

Sunday, October 1, 2023

Tomorrow is my birthday. I am very excited and we as a family will decorate the house for Halloween. It is our family home evening activity.

This past weekend was general conference. It is spiritually fulfilling. I really like the talk about face blindness. I can relate to being face blind and only seeing people as rule makers or as a set of rules instead of a person.

Jacinda has been working at Center Point theater as a stagehand. She absolutely loves it and got some comp tickets to Jekyll and Hyde. Hallee, Tanner, and I got to see it. Wow! What a wonderful performance. Such great talent. Jacinda also impressed me with her binder of notes. She marked areas where she is supposed to get a prop for a character or when a glass of water is needed for an actor. It is absolutely her element. Jacinda recently dyed her hair bright red. It is a change.

I get the privilege to help McCabe with his homework. Some of it I remember, and some of it I am using Google to find the answers. Last night we solved for standard deviations. Then we identified molecular structures of amino acids, carbs, fats, sterols, and nucleic acids. We spent a good 2 hours on his homework, and he got it in by midnight. I consider that a success. Something funny happened about two weeks ago. I was at work and got a phone call from McCabe. He said I was on speaker and wanted to know 2 results of the 1935 Nuremberg Law. He was playing a game in one of his classes and didn’t know the answer so he asked the teacher if he could make a call. The teacher said, “yes,” so McCabe called me. Good move, I quickly Googled the law and gave him the answer. I thought that was funny. What kid calls their mom for help on a school game?

Xadia is playing volleyball for the Jr. High. It is so fun to watch her games. She has had a season of learning and growing. I like how she claims the ball and talks to her other teammates. She is not afraid to hit the ball. She steps up.

Teagan is playing soccer and is a beast. He has a solid defender kick and is a wall when opponents come against him. I took my cowbell to the game yesterday and cheered. A little 18-month girl took interest in the bell and had the chance to walk around ringing it. She was so cute. Teagan also got to have a dinner night out with us. He chose Texas Roadhouse and enjoyed a 12 oz. steak. Teagan also went to Fan X as Spamton G. Spamton. He was so excited when people recognized his character.

Fozzie got a haircut to help him stay cooler. We go 4 new chicks and Fozzie took on the responsibility to helicopter over them. He loves to watch them and run after them. He is so funny and is absolutely perfect for our family.

Sunday, September 3, 2023

Summer is gone and school has started. A couple of events from summer. Canda came over and played. We had 4 girls from Taiwan stay with us for a week. They were Xadia’s age and she had a good time getting to know them. The girls thought McCabe was so cute.

We visited Myron and Linda Nalder’s grave around July 24, 2023 in remembrance of them for pioneer day and played a game with a thimble of water.

During the summer, we went on a lot of walks. It has been nice since the road to the temple has been completed. I don’t worry so much about encountering rattlesnakes on the new road. Previously we have encounter rattlesnakes twice on the dirt path before the road was constructed. It always made me worry but we are good now.

Tim and I had the opportunity to got on trek this year. It was absolutely amazing. It was a time of great reflection on the lord and the pioneers as we walked in the wilderness with no phones or everyday distractions. We got to experience many emotions because of the comparisons made from our day with the pioneer day. There were humbling moments such as the women’s pull and the sharing of scriptures and pioneer stories. There were also fun moments such as the hoe down, water fights, and root beer floats. I was honored to be a ma of nine children. I enjoyed getting to know each one of them and hope to have a lasting relationship with each one. I look forward to going again when Teagan is old enough.

Teagan is big into dirt biking. He wants to go any time someone is willing to go with him. I had the opportunity to ride in the mountains with him. He was really fast. I was slow. I enjoyed the ride every moment of the way. We got high enough that the temperature was a little cooler than at the house and the smell of pine filled the air. It was fabulous. It reminded me of the days my family would go to October fest at snowbird. I love the mountains, the fresh air, and the wild plants.

The boys went on a hike with the young men to King’s peak. That meant the girls had a girls night out. We went to Farmington Station and visited Ulta, Harmons (where we got Teagan some Mexican Coca Cola), waffle love, and younuts. I had never heard of Yonuts until Xadia told me about it. It is a place where they cut a donut in half and fill it with ice cream and other toppings. She Thoroughly enjoyed it. After our shopping, we came home and watched Xanadu. What a fun movie of the 80’s. The music and costumes are great. Jacinda enjoyed watching the scene changes. Every time she watches a movie, she looks at it from a director’s/stage manager’s perspective. I watch for pure entertainment.

Xadia and I have been practicing volleyball. She wants to try out for the Jr. High School team. Try outs are shortly after school starts. Here is Xadia hitting a ball against the school’s wall. Spoiler alert, Xadia makes the Jr. High Volleyball team.

We love cooking at our house. Teagan and Tim are cooking up something good. Teagan likes to make criss cross fries. I like to make desserts and McCabe likes to lick the bowl. It is a great family.

The kids have started school.

McCabe is in 11^th grade.

Xadia is in 8^th grade.

Teagan is 6^th grade.

Jacinda has graduated and is on vacation with Doug and Denise. She went four wheeling and motor biking on the beach in Oregon. She had such a great time with the cousins and her aunt and uncle. The cousins would try to draw like Jacinda. They stayed by her side every minute unless she was sleeping. Every time I called is seemed like she was sleeping so she could get a break from the cousins. Jacinda found 2 starfish and caught a bird. She was having such a good time that she did not want to come home. But she did and I am happy she is back with the family.

Sunday, July 9, 2023

Teagan did some track through the rec. center during spring. He did the 4 x 4 relay, long jump, and the 200 meter dash. It was fun to cheer him along with Sam Sorenson and Kade McPheters. I was so proud at how hard he tried. Unfortunately he did not make it to district or state, but he had a good time.

Jancinda is a busy girl. She just graduated High School and is working at Poki Bowl. She has enrolled at Salt Lake Community College and is working towards going on a mission next year. This summer she wants to work and spend as much time with friends before starting her "adult life." Just a little side note, I cheered so loud at her graduation, McCabe told me to quiet down. I smiled and told him not to worry, I will be just as loud when he graduates. I even ordered cowbells for the next graduation.

I love where we live. We get incredible lightening storms from time to time. I barely escaped this one before it got to our house. The views over the valley were amazing.

Every 5th grade student gets to do a decade day. That is when the student gets selected to report on a decade. This year Teagan got 200 to 2009. He had to research the events, political, social, and worldwide during that time. He also dressed like a person from that time and shared some cheeze puffs which were a popular food during that decade. He did a super job.

Xavius got to spend a week with us during the end of May. We love having him. He was a big help with setting up and fixing flags for Memorial day and building a chicken coop for our new chickens.

Xadia is loving her volleyball. She has gotten very good for her age. She has a great time playing with her cousin Canda Squire. The both go to Hive Volleyball to practice.

June started off with Jacinda getting her wisdom teeth removed. (She was out for a week but recovered nicely.)

Two days later family joined us for the rest of June. We had the Stubbs visit from Texas along with Edmund and Kaleel from West Virginia. They came up so the older boys (14+) could to go to the all stars camp. We had so much fun. Amy made strawberry jam. We went swimming, hiking, rope swinging, and made forts in the hallway for sleeping. We also all took a quick trip to Washington to visit Doug's family and Steve Fisher. I have never been in a car where kids farted so much. They made a game out of it and it was super annoying. They kept saying "door knob," or "after shock" when they farted to warn everyone they might want to roll down their windows. Besides the flatulence issue, it was super fun with more cousins. While in the Northwest we ate at VooDoo donuts, saw fungal apples on oak trees, had a BBQ, and rode quads.

After returning home from Washington, we went to the Saratoga Spring Temple open house. It was absolutely gorgeous. I always love to see the color scheme. This one was done in a blue, lavender, and cream. We are so blessed to have temples on the earth. Not many people know that but in time they will. After the open house, we went to the BYU creamery and got some yummy ice cream. That was a big hit. Then we took Lance to BYU so he could unpack and get acquainted with his new dorm life. It is sometimes hard for me to realize these cute little babies are growing up. It has been such a treat watching these kids (the Stubbs and my own) grow up and become adults.