June 2021, Part 1 - End of School, Albuquerque Temple Trips

I worked on a quilt for one of Abby’s volleyball teammates, Sophie, who turned 16 in June. Her mom brought over all of her old t-shirts so I could turn them into a quilt. I worked on it for a couple of weeks and I had Abby hold it up for a picture before I delivered it to Sophie’s mom. They were super excited about it and they loved how it turned out. Abby helped me with the layout of the shirts and she helped me pick out the back fleece material to make sure it was fit for a teenager. I loved how it turned out as well.

 

Our stake had its seminary graduation in June. They spotlighted the seniors, but they had all the seminary students come up and receive their certificate for the year, so Abby went up with the other sophomores. We took some pictures after it was over. Here’s Abby with her friend Celeste, the one senior girl from our ward. And another picture of Abby with Gracie and Amelia, two of her friends from another ward.

 

The girls’ last day of school was June 15th. We took the obligatory pictures outside our house. It was such a late end to the year. We’ve never gone to the middle of June before, so the girls were done with school and ready for the summer. Here’s Aubrey and Abby on their final day of 6th and 10th grades. 

 

Here’s Tessa on her last day of 8th grade and one of the three girls together. Abby had already left for school, so I didn’t get a picture of all four of them.

Here’s Taryn’s last day of 3rd grade picture. Luckily, I was able to get a few pictures from Taryn’s teacher, Mrs. Orton, that she took on the last day of school. I was very happy to have a picture of Taryn with her teacher to keep.

 

Tessa had an eventful last day of school. Unfortunately, because of the pandemic, the usual 8th grade celebration events didn’t get to happen. We didn’t get to do an 8th grade party or an 8th grade graduation like they normally would have done. Tessa did find out during the last week of school that she was awarded the spirit award in band. She got a medal and her name was engraved on their plaque that stays in the band hall. She was very excited to get the award and to be recognized for the hard work and dedication that she’s put into the three years of band at the school. On her last day of school, I asked Tessa to get a picture by the school sign since it was her final day there.

 

The school posted some of their signs on social media, so I saved the pictures to remember Tessa’s school. They had the Congrats Tornados sign right outside their parking lot and the Class of 2021 sign right outside the main entrance doors.

 

Even though they didn’t have a typical graduation or celebration, they did plan a drive by parade. I was at work so I didn’t get to see it myself, but Tessa met up with some friends and I got some pictures from other parents. Tessa was in the back of the pickup trip with her friends and they took water balloons and water guns to spray the teachers as they went through the parade. They had a lot of fun.

Tessa also spent the first couple weeks of June going to drumline practices at Franklin. She wanted to audition for the marching band and they had to audition on the snare drum and marimba to determine if they made the drumline (marching) or the frontline (pit). She was very nervous about the audition, but she went in there and played her best. She found out a couple days later that she had made the drumline. She was so excited because even though she loves playing the marimba, she really wanted to be able to march. The band directors at Franklin are new this year and in the past Freshmen weren’t even allowed on the drumline. Tessa was the only Freshmen who made the drumline this year, so we like to say that she’s the first ever Freshman on the Franklin drumline. Either way, we’re super proud of her. She practiced a ton for her audition and she’s been working really hard ever since to keep up with all the new things she’s been learning.

 

We participated in a lemonade stand that the Activity Day kids put on from our ward. We were all so excited for summer. The kids love to get together and play. Audrey caught these kids playing and took this picture while they climbed on each other.

 

In June, we scheduled an appointment to go to the Albuquerque temple. We haven’t been able to go to the temple in over a year, so it was so great to be back at the temple. We went with the Kasallis family and the kids got to do baptisms. Tyler ended up staying home with Taryn and Teagan because he was not feeling well. He and the three older girls had gotten the second dose of their vaccination the night before, and it had really taken a toll on Tyler. He was not up for the four hour drive, so he stayed home and slept while the rest of us headed to Albuquerque.

We got there early enough to take some pictures before our scheduled appointment time, so I got some with the girls in front of the temple and then some of just Aubrey since it was her first time getting to go to the temple to do baptisms. 

Ryan and Brandon Marshall came along too, so we had a lot of young men there to do the temple work. Everyone brought their own family names and they were able to do 5-6 baptisms each.

We took more pictures after our appointment up closer to the temple. I got a picture of myself with the girls and then one with Aubrey and Sam after their first time serving in the temple.

 

This was the first time I had been to the Albuquerque temple, so I wanted pictures of everyone. Here’s Abby and Tessa in front of the temple.

 

We took some pictures by the water fountain too. We loved how they turned out with the sun setting behind us. 

 

We had an amazing time and were so happy to be back in the temple. I’m so grateful to know that families can be together forever and I love my family very much. 

I’m also so thankful for good friends. We love being able to go to the temple together. And I love how my girls have these boys to grow up with who are like brothers to them. I love these pictures.

We took some more pictures of the kids with their friends. Here are the older teenagers: AJ, Abby, and Brandon. And then one of the younger teenagers: Logan, Tessa, and Ryan.

We asked one of the temple ground workers to take a picture of our entire group. It was a great experience. I love the temple.

The following weekend, our ward had scheduled a temple trip at Albuquerque too. Tyler and I went with one other adult leader and 9 youth from our ward. I was happy to have Tyler with us this time and the kids had a great time. I took another picture of Aubrey by the temple, from a side view and we took one with all of the youth who came on the trip. We stopped by Five Guys for dinner before heading home. We have a great youth group and we’re happy to help them serve in the temple.

 

May 2021, Part 2 - End of Sports, My Birthday Month, Joseph’s Graduation

Tessa and Aubrey had a spirit day at school to dress up like little kids. They had fun putting their hair in pigtails and finding fun kid clothes. They had their picture taken together at school and it was posted on the school’s facebook page. I was able to find it there, so I could keep it and use it here. I love that the girls get into their spirit days at school. Aubrey decided to try out for their school’s dance team. She went to the after school practices to learn the audition routine and she practiced a lot on her own at home and with friends. The last night before the tryout day, she practiced over and over with the music. The other girls were helping by giving critiques, so I had to take a picture because it looked so cute. She had three pre-judges who helped her prepare and feel confident for the audition. We found out the next day that Aubrey had made the dance team. She was super excited. Her two friends that she tried out with did not make the team, so she was very sad about that, but looked forward to the new year of dance and making new friends.

We took a family selfie one day randomly and I loved how we were all smiling. My favorite is Tyler who hates to have his picture taken, but I love his smile in this one. It made me happy to have a family picture with all of us smiling happily. I love my family.

To finish off Taryn’s and Tessa’s sports, we had to divide and conquer. Abby and Aubrey took Taryn to one of her final basketball games. They took a picture together while there and I was happy when they sent it to me. These girls don’t always get along, so I love to see when they do.

Taryn’s basketball season ended with a bang. They played well as a team and Taryn made a lot of baskets and a lot of rebounds. It’s been fun for her to be one of the tallest players on the team. And as the season went on, she was able to build on her confidence and really feel comfortable with handling the ball and playing with her team.

 

She was always good about passing the ball to teammates and giving everyone a chance to take a shot. This final picture was at their last game right as Taryn took one of the last shots. It was funny because she was looking around for someone to pass the ball to as she got closer and closer to the basket. Finally, Tyler yelled “shoot it!” so she looked up and shot the ball and made the basket. It was fun to watch her play. We took a team picture with her coach and the players that made it to the final game of the season.

Tessa’s final game of her softball season was against Lincoln, another middle school from the west side of town. They were more evenly matched, so it was a fun game to watch. Tessa hit a double at that game and made it all around the bases after her teammates continued getting on base. I took pictures as she was up to bat and as she crossed home plate.

It was a very competitive game and some parents were really giving the umpires a hard time about some of their calls, but the girls were just having fun playing and at the end of the game, they were all such good sportsmen and gave each other high fives and cheered each other on for a great game. They even took a picture with both teams together. When I asked Tessa how she felt about the game, she mostly talked about how nice the other team was and how they got along so well as they played the game. I thought that was awesome.

 

We took one more picture of the 2021 Hornedo Softball team after their final game. Tessa invited her team to come over for a swim party after the game and most of the girls came. They had a fun time, but I left them on their own, so no pictures of that; but Tessa was happy to have one more event to hang out with them as their season came to a close.

For Mother’s Day, I was able to get some pictures with the girls. Tessa wanted a picture with me so she could post about it on Instagram which she had recently joined. I also took one after church with all of us. Tyler’s always in meetings after church, but I still wanted a picture with my girls.

 

At school, I helped decorate a hallway for teacher appreciation week. We did a Hollywood theme and had a red carpet for teachers to walk on as they came into the school. They thought it was really cool and fun. Some of the teachers took pictures as we handed out gifts that first day of the week. Here I am with Lupe, the secretary to the principal, and Ms. Lugo, the principal. Later in the month, I showed up to work and found my cubicle decorated for my birthday. The ladies that I work with in the office are so nice and fun. I thought it was a cute surprise and I loved seeing it, although I spent that week telling anyone who walked in that it was my birthday because they always asked what the decorations were for. That’s ok though, it was still fun.

 

For my birthday, one of the things I asked Tyler for was a short-sleeved comfy dress. But in addition to my dress, I asked Tyler if for my birthday he’d get all of the girls a dress because they’re always complaining that they need more dresses. Well, Tyler is an awesome shopper and he picked out and ordered a dress for each of us. The Sunday before my birthday we all wore them to church, so I had to have a picture. We all love them.

I even got Tyler to be in a picture with all of us after church that day so we could have a family picture in our new dresses. Tyler had recently gotten a new tie, so it was perfect. Everyone who saw this picture was very impressed that Tyler could pick out dresses so perfectly for each of us that matches our personalities and likes. Tyler just laughed it off and said he just picked ones that were on clearance. Either way, we all thought they were perfect.

I was able to go to lunch with my friends for my birthday. We went to a new place called the Grove and we had yummy food like eggs Benedict. It was fun to get to talk to them and hang out and we found this cute mural wall at the shopping center to take a picture at while we waited to be seated for lunch. I have awesome friends and I love them so much. This is me with Niki Deca, Audrey Kasallis, and Kristina Anderson.

The weekend after my birthday was Memorial Day and we traveled to Wichita Falls for my nephew’s high school graduation. We pulled in Friday night and went straight to the place where they were having a graduation party for family and friends. Matt and Taylor were there with their daughter Mollie, my great niece. She and Taryn hung out together and watched shows on her iPad together. She’s a cutie who talks like an adult, so we had fun getting to know her.

We spent the next day at a ranch resort where they had a lake and fun activities to do like mini golf, inflatables, a maze, and lots of swimming pools. There was this sculpture of an alligator outside the event hall that we had rented, so we took some pictures of the girls with their cousin Rebecca. They also had to do a silly one. Aubrey is quite the actress.

 

They had lakes for swimming and lakes for fishing. The girls got on life jackets and played on the inflatables in the water. They took turns as they raced around the obstacles that were on the lake and having fun trying to not fall in the water. Tyler took some time to fish with my brother Paul and Aubrey went with them. She caught a fish and had Tyler take a picture of it for me. 

There was a jumping balloon that the girls had fun on. I couldn’t help posting two pictures because between the two, the girls had awesome jumps. I couldn’t get them all up in the air at the same time in just one picture. The first one has Aubrey on the far right and she has the perfect, high toe touch. In the second picture, the other three had awesome poses with Abby being the best with how high she got. They had fun. Abby even had a boy come up and ask for her Snapchat so he could message her. We all teased her about that, but I think she secretly was flattered that a boy had approached her.

 

There were also some farm animals that we drove around to see with John and McKaye. They had horses, geese, goats, and chickens. The girls liked the mini horses the best. We didn’t get to go on the hay ride that showed all the animals and let you play with the goats, but we did get to see them from their fenced areas. The girls loved this statue of a monkey and had to have their picture taken with it. It was a fun ranch with so many things to do and see.

 

There were multiple pools that you could swim in, a splash pad, and even a bubble pool. The girls followed Mollie around and played mermaids with her at the pool. They had fun swimming and sunbathing. Rebecca, Mollie, and Taryn were the only ones brave enough to try the bubble pool. They thought it was cool and had fun popping bubbles and blowing them around to get on everyone else. This pool area was full of sudsy bubbles, but I didn’t get this pictures until after the majority of them had popped leaving a pretty muddy mess. But the girls had fun playing in it together. 

We all did miniature golf together. We realized as we started to play that some of my girls had never played mini-golf before. They quickly learned and had fun trying. We tried staying together, but there were so many of us, that it was taking forever, so we started breaking into groups with some people moving along a lot faster than others. Tyler, McKaye, Grandpa, and I were probably the best golfers, but everyone had fun. I think Grandpa and Tyler even got a couple holes in one!

That night was Joseph’s graduation. They had the ceremony at the football stadium. It was full of people, but we were all there to support Joseph. Melody had to ask for extra tickets to get us all in, but they made it happen and we were all able to go in person. Tyler took this picture of our group as we waited for the ceremony to start.

After church the next day, we took some more family pictures. Scott and Nevla weren’t able to drive up, but everyone else was there for the weekend. My parents had gotten an AirBnB house that we all stayed in together which was fun. We made our own meals and got to hang out in between all the other scheduled events. John and McKaye didn’t make it to church, so we took pictures with Grandma and Grandpa and Paul and Melody’s family.

We got a family picture with Tyler since he took the picture of the larger group. This is the church building where I grew up, so I love having pictures in front of it. What a good looking family!