February always starts with Aubrey’s birthday. She turned 11 on February 10th. With our weekly Kasibbons dinners (Sunday dinners with our family and the Kasallis family), Aubrey got to pick the families that joined us for dinner and Audrey made the dessert of Aubrey’s choosing. She picked Audrey’s raspberry bars and she asked the Kandersons and the Rahls to join us for dinner. One family from church and one family from school. It was fun celebrating her birthday with friends and family.
Aubrey’s actual birthday was on a Monday this year, so I took this picture of Aubrey before she left for school that morning. She was very particular about what she was going to wear to school that day and how she wanted her hair. She’s definitely the Diva of the house and the most fashion minded. She loves everything Abby does and wants to be a teenager just like her already. She even had some of her closest friends at school wear blue (her favorite color) on her birthday to honor her. Who thinks of this stuff? Aubrey does which is why we love her! We went out to eat for her birthday that night and she chose Olive Garden. The waitress was really nice and brought out a dessert plate with “Happy Birthday” written in raspberry sauce. The birthday hat she had Aubrey wear was a hairnet so we all got a good chuckle. Happy Birthday Aubrey!
Valentine’s Day always follows Aubrey’s birthday. We didn’t have any big plans; however, Abby did. She wanted to make Tyler and I dinner. So she and her sisters and her friend, Sabrina, made all the plans, found a recipe, and prepared us a lovely dinner for Valentine’s. They made a salad and an Italian sausage pasta dish that was delicious. They set the table fancy, used candles, and served us each course of the meal. They even turned on music and Taryn danced for us for entertainment. It was so cute. I was very impressed. Abby had even made a playlist of romantic music to play in the background. It was even better when some of the songs from our wedding video played on the playlist. I thought it was a nice touch. It was a great evening that we really enjoyed. It may have to become a new tradition. We loved it and we love our girls and the awesome ideas they have.
At the very beginning of February, Tessa had Solo and Ensemble for band. She prepared two solos this year and a percussion ensemble. She is not a huge fun of playing/performing in front of large crowds, but I’m always very proud of her for doing hard things and overcoming her challenges. This year she prepared a solo on the marimba and another one on the steel pan like last year. I took this picture of her with a few of her band friends while they waited to get started.
Here she is performing or getting ready to start her solos on the marimba and steel pan. My dad accompanied her on the piano for both. Both songs were catchy tunes and she did a great job. The judge, Mr. Beach from Franklin HS, even made a comment that we’d probably all be singing her marimba song for the rest of the day because it was such a catchy tune. She scored a I+ on both solos which is the highest score you can receive. We are so proud of her!
This year Mrs. Allen, Tessa’s band teacher, had everyone in the honor band participate in an ensemble, so Tessa was in a percussion ensemble with all the percussionists from the honor band. They played a fun song using a variety of instruments. Tessa played the bells and the triangle. It was a fun piece and they also scored a I+ for their performance. Tessa is the only girl in the percussion section again this year, but all the boys are very nice to her and she has a fun time playing with them in band.
In February we had a few snow days and for Texas, that’s saying something. You can see behind Taryn how much snow we got one morning and because of that, school was delayed a couple of hours. The little girls took advantage of the extra time and played in the snow for a little bit. They were able to make a tiny snowman that they put on our wall that separates our driveway from our porch. They kept saying it was one of Elsa’s snowman babies.
Abby’s second big tournament was the El Paso Bid Qualifier. For the division we played in, we ended up playing at Five Set courts instead of the convention center, so it wasn’t as big feeling as it usually feels. Five Set is where we did all of our scrimmages last month. The girls played hard and won some games and lost some games ending up third in their pool which put them in the bronze bracket again for Sunday play.
I took a few pictures before their last pool play game while warming up. I love watching Abby set. This team that they played was very good, an older team, and they beat us soundly. But it did help the girls feel challenged and rise to the occasion. By the second set, they were playing better and making some really good plays. We love watching them play, even when they lose.
In between games, we took the girls outside to eat and relax. We set up camping chairs so the girls had a place to sit and while eating lunch, they all decided to dab for the picture that one of the moms was trying to take. Sometimes these girls have too much fun.
Maddie, one of Abby’s teammates who hadn’t been playing due to injury, was able to get their medal from the El Paso tournament during one of their final practices. Abby wasn’t there to play on Sunday either, but they gave her a medal at an earlier practice.
The girls had a team bonding in February and we all met up at a Menchie’s for ice cream. Coach Martin had promised them ice cream if they won their Sunday games, so this was their reward for pulling through. The girls enjoyed getting to see each other dressed up instead of in workout clothes and they had fun visiting, eating ice cream, and walking around the shopping center. Abby ended up inviting AJ and Milo, two of her friends, so they were hanging out in the background and photobombed the picture when the mom who took the picture didn’t know that the boys were with Abby. Most of the girls knew them from school, but they were nice enough to hang out while Abby visited with her teammates.
Another event from February was our ward temple trip to Gila Valley. I had never been to that temple before so I was excited to go. Abby and Tyler had gone the previous year, and we took our entire family this year. The younger kids and teenagers hung out in the church in the same parking lot while the adults did a session in the temple. And then some of the parents stayed out with the little kids while the teenagers went in the temple to do baptisms. It was a four hour drive one way to and from Gila Valley so it made for a very long day, but it was awesome to be with friends in the temple and to visit a new temple. Here are a few pictures in front of the temple after the youth finished with their baptisms. Abby took the picture of Tessa with the sun behind her.
And here’s a picture of all the youth that attended the temple that weekend. We have such a good group of youth. I’m so happy that my girls have awesome friends and other church members to grow up with. They’re all great kids.
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