Wednesday, May 13, 2026

     May has felt like one giant emotional roller coaster—complete with airport cowbells, volleyball ricochets, raccoons with egg addictions, and Tim transforming into a human fitness commercial.

     The month started with a heartbreaking phone call from Jacinda. She had been struggling to stay awake and the long distance to her doctors in West Virginia was becoming too much. After lots of prayer and discussion, it was decided she would transfer to a Salt Lake service mission while she works with doctors to figure out what’s going on. Right now, it appears she may have a form of narcolepsy.

     Naturally, we welcomed her home in the most subtle way possible: homemade banners and me enthusiastically ringing a cowbell at the airport like I was greeting a championship sports team. Nothing says “welcome home” quite like public noise-making.

     Since returning, Jacinda has been adjusting to home life and learning how different a service mission is from a proselyting mission. She set up her desk and jumped right into a demanding schedule that includes serving at the temple, the food bank, a call center, and helping with tabernacle productions. By the end of the day, she is exhausted. She mentioned that a service mission can actually be harder because missionaries have to build their own schedules based on what they are physically capable of doing. On a proselyting mission, the structure is already there. Now she has to figure out how to balance service, health, and rest—a challenge that takes a lot of maturity.

     Meanwhile, McCabe is thriving in school and has apparently decided that accounting is exciting. Truly one of the great plot twists of parenthood. He asks Tim and me lots of questions about accounting and finance, and he genuinely enjoys learning about money. I love helping him with schoolwork because I can connect it to real-life situations instead of just textbook problems.

     He’s also become quite the videographer. His latest masterpiece featured his cousin Kade knee boarding in a dyke during one final adventure before leaving on his mission to Montevideo, Uruguay. It had all the ingredients of a classic teenage video: questionable safety decisions, lots of water, and dramatic “last hurrah” energy.

      Tim, meanwhile, has entered what I can only describe as his Rocky Balboa era. Over the last two years, he has transformed his health habits entirely. His diet now consists mainly of cabbage salad, tilapia, and squash—a menu that sounds suspiciously like something a very disciplined rabbit would eat. He started by doing 100 push-ups a day, but because apparently that wasn’t enough, his May goal became 300 push-ups a day. He also bought a jungle gym so he can work out while watching the sunset like the star of an inspirational sports documentary. The hard work has absolutely paid off. He now has a six-pack and muscles that feel carved out of granite. I’m incredibly proud of the dedication he’s shown.

     Tim also took me, McCabe, and Emily Stockton to see Michael McLean in concert. It was an amazing experience—uplifting, spiritual, and deeply moving. Music has such a unique ability to unlock emotions and memories all at once. Tim loved the concert so much he actually went twice: once with Xadia and once with me. Afterward, we got to meet Michael, and Tim handed him a $50 bill as repayment for all the years people copied cassette tapes of his music instead of buying them. Michael had shared a story about music piracy during the concert, and Tim apparently decided to settle old societal debts personally.

     Xadia wrapped up volleyball season with her final tournament, and she played so well. One particular moment became instant comedy gold. A teammate spiked the ball directly into Xadia’s shoulder, and instead of ending in disaster, the ball ricocheted perfectly over the net for a point. Nobody had time to react before the entire team burst out laughing. Honestly, if volleyball had trick-shot highlights, that play would make the reel. Naturally, the team celebrated afterward with boba.

Teagan had his final choir concert of the year, and I loved every minute of it. One of the highlights was hearing him sing “A Million Dreams” from The Greatest Showman. Watching him perform, you could tell he genuinely loved being on stage. He currently takes both regular choir and theatrical choir, and it’s been wonderful watching his confidence and musical ability grow. As the kids get older, they all seem to be developing more musical interests. McCabe and Xadia have both started enjoying the piano, which makes me ridiculously happy as a mom.

     The warmer weather has also brought wildlife activity to our yard. Unfortunately, the wildlife believes our chicken scraps are part of an all-you-can-eat buffet. We set traps and caught both a raccoon and a squirrel. The raccoon had even broken into the chicken coop earlier—but surprisingly, it behaved more like a breakfast thief than a serial killer. It ignored the chickens completely and just stole the eggs.

     Mother’s Day this year felt especially meaningful. I truly love being a mom and feel incredibly grateful for my children. But I also know that so much of the goodness in our family comes from Tim’s love, support, and steady friendship. He makes parenting fun, and he gave me the sweetest Mother’s Day letter—thoughtful, tender, and deeply heartfelt. Out of all the gifts I’ve received over the years, that letter may have been one of the very best.

Thursday April 16, 2026

    So proud of Xadia! She took 6th place in the 125-pound girls’ division at state wrestling, and honestly, it was incredible to watch. She has this signature move—a hip check, followed by a foot trip, finished with a neck squeeze—and when she hits it, it’s a thing of beauty. I have a whole new respect for wrestling. It is intense. Three minutes of pure, nonstop effort—no timeouts, no subs, just everything you’ve got. By the end, every muscle is spent because both girls are giving it their all.

This is only Xadia’s second year wrestling, and as a 10th grader she already won Rookie of the Year at the wrestling banquet! I cannot wait to see what she does next year.

One tragic development: apparently, I am no longer allowed to bring my cowbell to matches. I strongly disagree with this policy… but I will comply so I don’t get banned from watching my own child wrestle.

      Meanwhile, Xadia is approaching a major milestone—six months with her license, which means she can start driving non-relatives. Her friend Tasha even has a countdown going. She’s already had a few turns driving the Corvette, and now she keeps asking when she can take it on dates… which raises an important question: when exactly am I supposed to drive my own car? Between her and McCabe, I may need to start making reservations.

    Teagan is also wrestling, and he is so fun to watch. At just 14 years old, he’s already 5’10” and 175 pounds—a big, strong kid. Tim has been encouraging him to start working out and build his muscles, and honestly, the potential is definitely there. 

      I just love spending time with him. We had a fun dinner together at P.F. Chang’s where he proudly ate potstickers with chopsticks, and we even used Google Translate to decode the Chinese characters on the wall—“happiness” and “lucky.” For his birthday, we went to a hotpot restaurant, cooked our own food, and the staff came out singing with a giant neon “Happy Birthday” sign. It was such a fun night.

     Teagan has also developed a fascinating hobby: melting metal. He collects aluminum cans and turns them into rectangular ingots, and thanks to our plumber neighbor, he’s now working with copper too. He’s learning melting temperatures and experimenting constantly—at least twice a week. He has already gone through one furnace, which feels like an achievement in itself. We’re thinking about getting him into a metal forge class to channel this passion.

     Fozzie continues to thrive in our slightly chaotic household. He is obsessed with his stuffed animals, especially a long-limbed pig whose hooves he insists on chewing. In a moment of peak family creativity, we tied the pig to him—so now when he runs, it looks like the pig is getting a wild piggyback ride. He is living his best life.

I’ve been loving my creative time lately. I made a dress with an organza skirt—my first time working with that fabric—and the skirt alone took about eight hours. It turned out so fun, and I even wore it to the temple. Sewing continues to be such a fulfilling outlet for me.

      Life with Tim is still my favorite. We’ve been married 27 years, and somehow it just keeps getting better. Recently, we curled our hair together on a dare—which led to me giving him a perm. We also tried swing dancing… we were not good, but we had a great time. We’ve even started doing spa days—he lives for a good pedicure. I truly just love being with him. I even put together a video of our engagement and wedding photos, and it reminded me again what a great man he is.

     Spring break took us to California for a more tender reason—burying Tim’s dad, Steve, who passed away on December 30, 2025. He was laid to rest in Riverside in March. While there, we made time for the beach, which fed my soul. I got to do my three favorite things: lay in the sand, boogie board, and walk along the shore. The weather was perfect. Every time we go, Tim asks why we don’t live near the beach—and every time, the answer is the same: we like food and shelter. But we definitely make the most of our visits. We also went to the temple, explored the fashion district, and visited Hollywood. Tim even did a hang challenge and lasted 2 minutes 20 seconds, which was seriously impressive. He’s been working out a lot lately… I’m calling it a very productive midlife crisis.

I’ve also been serving in Young Women’s and got to go to a combined activity—a Nerf gun war. Teagan was all in, diving behind tables and fully committed to victory. Watching him was absolutely hilarious.

    We had family over for conference, which filled my heart. I love seeing the kids so engaged spiritually and striving to build a relationship with God. Their love for the Savior is something I hope stays with them their entire lives.

     Xadia went to prom with Spencer, a coworker from Lagoon, and I got to take pictures. I really cherish being involved in my kids’ lives and getting to know their friends. I was especially proud of Xadia for modifying her dress to make it more modest—it turned out beautiful.

     And we are so proud of Jacinda. She is loving her mission, though she’s been struggling with sleep, so she’s being transferred to the Salt Lake area to get the help she needs. I am so excited to have her closer, to support her, and to feel the continued blessings of having a missionary. Her spirit is such a light.

Life is full, busy, a little chaotic—and absolutely wonderful.

P.S.  The pool is open and ready!