Cora's First Temple Trip

Cora was super excited and a bit nervous for her first temple trip. We decided to go with another family in our ward so she'd have a friend to go with and we did it before the ward trip so she wasn't caught off guard and would know what to do.

It all went well until I showed her where the dressing rooms and lockers were and told her to pick a locker and get dressed in the jumpsuit. She put the brakes on big time saying she didn't want to do it. I put our stuff down and walked out to the baptismal area so Lance could give her a pep talk but that didn't work either. I told her she didn't have to do anything and we could just sit, so that's exactly what we did. She didn't want to be a witness or do any confirmations at all, she wanted no part of it. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed but the important thing is that Cora holds a temple recommend. She can go and sit any time she needs to.

Two days later when our ward temple day rolled around Cora just outright refused to go. Knowing her like I do, if I don't push her outside her comfort zone especially in positive and uplifting situations, she will never try new things. She was crying and screaming that she didn't want to go but I made her go anyway and it was a positive experience. I think it made her feel better knowing she didn't have to do anything but sit there and feel the spirit. There were no expectations that she was to do baptisms, be a witness, or do confirmations.

She really loved learning about the prayer roll and wrote down Grandpa Goofy's name since he had surgery, and Bonnie and Kempton's names. She still wanted to think of people that needed extra prayers so she wrote down a teacher at her school because she was pregnant.

I'm proud of her for doing something hard! I learned that even though she's growing and maturing, I still need to be flexible and adapt to her comfort level and meet her where she is. Big overwhelming teaching moments will only scare and intimidate her, but it's also appropriate for me to push her when needed, being by her side for extra support. My goal is to have her do baptisms at least once before the end of the year. I think I'll have to call the temple and do a special session with just the four of us, similar to keeping numbers very minimal at her own baptism. That way it isn't so overwhelming and when she does decide to participate, there won't be 30 different pairs of eyes on her.

CMS Choir 2024

 

Boxing and Parkour

Kimball just started boxing at a gym. I got him a personal trainer to work with him for three sessions so Kimball can learn the proper techniques and educate himself about the sport. Then he can go back whenever he wants, it's a 24/7 gym but at the moment we're just at once a week. 

Cora and Ezra are taking a Parkour class and really loving it. Cora is the biggest and oldest, but she's doing a great job following directions and learning the different moves.

 

Ezra Spotlight

Ezra is such an easy-going, fun-loving guy. He's very athletic and doesn't know what to do with the energy in his body at times. Sometimes I think he might explode when we ask him to sit down for dinner or sit down for FHE. He always gets his chores done and since he's had his own room it is always spotless. He's such a good friend to anyone he meets, I don't think he knows a stranger. His reading is mostly caught up but all other aspects of his academics he excels in and particularly loves math and science. His brain is made for math, he can do all sorts of equations in his head that I would need a calculator for. He can't wait to be baptized this year and is such a sweet little guy. We love him so much!

His paper reads: 

I am thakful for Jesus. 

One reason is he made us.

Another reason is he died. Also he is kind.

 I feel happy for Jesus.

Here is his M&M dispenser he made out of legos.

He also made a foosball game out of legos.

Last week all second graders presented their cardboard arcade. All the students were so creative! Ezra's partner is Luke and their game is Fire Ball, presented with game rules so everyone could play.

Following the arcade presentation the second graders had their concert for the year. Ezra is such a little performer, always pulling faces and dancing, just like Kimball.

Then on Friday his class earned a Panda Paw Party and he was awarded student of the month for his academic achievements. Way to go Ezra!

Hockey Games and Jordan Peterson

We love going to the hockey games and cheering on the Chiefs!

For our date, Lance and I went to a lecture by Dr. Jordan B. Peterson who's a psychologist/motivational speaker/conservative influencer.  He mostly spoke about resentment, what we learn from Cain and Abel, what we learn from Moses and Noah. It was really good and I wasn't sure what to expect but despite his usage of big words I was still able to follow along.

 

Teacher Ordination

This month Kimball was ordained by Dad to the office of Teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood. Because Lance is in the bishopric, he was able to do it here at home and then part of our FHE lesson was learning to tie a necktie. Ezra gave up pretty quickly, haha.

 

Ice Skating at the Ribbon

 

2024 Recap

• Our heater died so we had a staycation at the bnb and attended our first hockey game and loved it. Once the heater was replaced and we came home, we found water damage along the interior garage wall that needed more repair work. 
• Saw Nate Bargatze live
• Lance went to Thailand with Benton for 10 days to visit Kempton and Bonnie
• Savannah came to visit for a week
• Charity got her mission call to Missouri and moved out
• Grandma Watson turned 94
• I went home for a weekend to attend Savannah's patriarchal blessing; it was also the same weekend as Charity's mission farewell
• Had major water damage in the laundry room bathroom and had to renovate it
• Cora and I saw Disney Princess Favorites on Broadway
• Mom and Christine came to visit for a week during spring break
• Donna and John came to visit
• Kimball got two parakeets - Diamon and Lemonade
• Purchased a warehouse to offer more services through Inland Mortuary Services
• Saw the Northern Lights!!!
• Went with girlfriends to see Kristina Kuzmic
• Lance and Kimball went to Las Vegas to visit Jeff and Penny as Penny was suddenly in liver failure
• Christine and Scott came to visit for a week before I hosted the Pettingill reunion
• Lance and I kayaked the Little Spokane River
• Cora and I saw Frozen on Broadway
• Family vacation to Ocean Shores, WA coast where the kids experienced the ocean for the first time
• Lance and I saw Pentatonix
• Skipped school for a week and went home as I escorted Savannah for her endowment, and a Cox reunion at the cabin since Kempton's post in Russia is over
• Lance gave a TedX Talk! Donna, John, Kempton, Isom were there, and TJ flew in to support Lance whom we've not seen in about 15 years
• Went to President Doxey's mission reunion in SLC
• I got to go to UT craft day for a whole week!
• Penny passed away and Lance flew down to LV to speak at the funeral and help Jeff
• Kimball's birds suddenly passed away
• Lance and I went to the Glenn Miller Orchestra Christmas concert

Christmas Break 2024

 We have had very little snow this year but once we finally got an inch, Ezra made an itty bitty snowman ad Kimball made sow cubes. 

For our family activity we went to the Jedi Alliance Arcade for some nostalgic fun. My favorite was the drums, I even gave myself a blood blister on my palm because I was so into it, haha.

They had some incredible movie and gaming memorabilia! Boy did it take me right back to my childhood!

Christmas was so relaxing and magical this year, if I do say so myself! We were spoiled by our family, ate too many goodies from friends, and really enjoyed each other's company without any responsibilities. And I mean, I really went lenient--I didn't care what the kids did or ate, it was every man for himself for two weeks.

For the last three years we have been saving money to take the kids to Disneyland. We gifted it to them for Christmas with new luggage, and in each luggage had a clue as to where we were going. We'll be spending 3 days at Disney and 2.5 days at the beach. To say the kids were excited is an understatement, especially Cora. I know in the picture Ezra doesn't look thrilled but that's because he was up all night Christmas Eve throwing up and still wasn't feeling well. Poor kid, what a horrible time to be sick.

Ezra can be our stowaway, haha.

The ornament we made this year were clay Christmas bulbs, I forgot to get a picture of the finished project. They have googley eyes and a face on them as well, they turned out cute.

Everybody was busy Christmas day working on a project. Cora's doing a dreamcatcher, Kimball a wood burning kit, and Ezra was busy painting some Minecraft figures.

Random Happenings

Last month Lance bought this old antique horse drawn funeral carriage. It is currently being stored at the warehouse and when Lance has pockets of time, he works on restoring it. I estimate it to be finished in 10 years.

I got so tired of Lance always complaining that the house is cold, especially when the boys are hot from playing and I'm hot from cooking dinner. So I gave him part of his Christmas early. These are sherpa lined socks and a sherpa lined ankle length robe. When Lance put both on he said, "I feel like I climbed into the gut of a camel!" I laughed pretty hard at that one, how does his brain think of things like that?

We attended the Glenn Miller Orchestra Christmas concert downtown, it was fantastic!

Sadly, both of Kimball's parakeets died within a week of each other. Diamond passed away suddenly in the middle of the night and when Kimball got up one morning, he was just lying on the floor not moving. We were all quite surprised. Parakeets are companion animals so we suspected that Lemonade wouldn't last without Diamond. Sure enough, about 5 days later as Kimball was getting ready for church he could tell something was off. So he held Lemonade in his hands until he passed. That was a hard day for Kimball, he literally watched as life slowly drained from his beloved pets.

Cora earned student of the month for the character trait of caring. Way to go, sis!

While Lance is away, we will play!