May

 

May brings the most glorious weather! We spent every free minute outside just loving it. All month long I had a perma-smile on my face just basking in the glory of spring after the longest winter ever! We took the cousins to the park on this particular Friday. These kids are the cutest little buddies.

The pool was open! I went on this day to vacuum it and even though it wasn't super warm outside we couldn't resist getting in for awhile. 

Hudson got to be part of the Mountain Man Rendezvous! I had signed up to help with setup- it was happening on Wednesday morning which is when Ray usually watches Lila so I can help at the school. When I got there they informed me that they were still several volunteers short for the afternoon, so once we were all set up I grabbed Davis and Lila and we spent all afternoon there running the "panning for gold" station.

It was a blast! Hudson had such a great time and it was fun to see him having fun with his buddies experiencing all these fun activities. Davis and Lila were so good and basically panned for gold all afternoon long! Even if we did all come home sunburnt (it was a hot day!) I was glad I was able to stay for all of it. They also make homemade rootbeer and scones, which Davis and Lila were thrilled to be part of, and Hudson deemed his favorite part of the whole event. (Also, I love that he isn't too cool to sit by the littles when all his friends were also around).

The boys helped Papa a lot in May in his yard. Which means we had a LOT of donuts dropped off in May. 

It was lilac season! I love my little Lila C! I always tell her about how her name spells out the same name as the flowers, so she calls them "Lilas" now.

The 6th grade did medieval days! For weeks leading up to it, the kids could choose to do a bunch of extra stuff to earn high ranks for the day. You had to do everything to be a king or queen- and of course my little over-achiever wanted to be a king! He worked really hard. There were assignments and art projects to complete, you had to make a catapult and a castle (he constructed both from legos), and a bunch of service that had to be done. He did it all with so much determination and got to be a king for the day! His favorite part was the feast- where the kings and queens got way better (and more) food that the rest of the kids.

Davis insists that Ben put him to bed every single night. And Ben has needed to work late A LOT. Hence, Ben's working and Davis is asleep next to him in our bed.

Davis did his hair like this one night after the bath "I look just like JackJack!" It made me laugh because when we first saw Incredibles 2, Davis was about 18 months old and we were sure the creators had clearly met Davis and patterned JackJack's whole character after him! 

May was the month I bought a huge thing of side walk chalk, which delighted Lila to no end and we colored on the driveway almost every day.

Star Wars Day! Somehow I have no pictures of my big kids (who were dutifully wearing their star wars shirts), but I do have Lila with her "Rey" hair. She wanted to wear this specific dress because "it has stars on it!" These are the little lightsabers she helped me make for dinner.

Davis requested C3PO on the brownies this year. he was delighted by my efforts. We had our fun dinner and watched Episode 7 together. I think younger Courtney would be shocked by the amount of joy this holiday now brings me. These boys- their excitement is contagious!

I love evenings spent out in the yard! Lila was making faces so her brothers up in the tree would smile nicely for the camera. I love that I could capture it!

All month long I kept breathing in the moment and just loving MAY. So many fun end of school activities. The weather is glorious. The world just felt a little lighter!

Job Stuff

 I realized I never updated this journal about the job roller coaster we’ve been on the last year! At the beginning of 2022 Ben took a new job with StockX. It was a great opportunity and he was excited about it. He liked the people he worked with and all was well. In June, StockX did a big lay-off, but he wasn’t effected. They said they made “deep cuts” so they wouldn’t have to lay off again. We felt like we’d dodged a bullet. Sadly, in October his lovely boss gave him a heads up that another layoff was coming and anyone who had been there less than a year was automatically cut, meaning, Ben. Yuck. That’s just the worst feeling. He still had a few weeks before it was official, but he began looking for jobs immediately anyway. 

At this point the job market was okay, but not the best. Big tech was announcing huge layoffs every day. And even though we knew it was coming, when the official day came that they told him what was for sure happening I was pretty teary. It was just sad. Luckily they gave him a decent amount of severance. I’m not going to lie though, it was just felt crummy. We had savings. We knew he’d find a new job (although no guarantees it would be quick). It still felt very unsettled.

Ben worked so hard and interviewed a lot. The first week of December he actually got two job offers! Neither was an ideal fit for him and he had concerns about both. But after prayer and fasting, he felt good about taking the offer with a company called Extensive. He had two weeks before he could start- meaning he’d start a week before severance ran out from his previous employer. We felt thankful for the job and were fairly optimistic about the opportunity. Our very own little Christmas miracle.

Since anything can happen and Ben wasn’t sure he loved the idea of the Extensive job, he continued to interview up until his start date. One interview was with a company called Axon. He loved that company. He loved their mission (better police force through tech, all non-lethal solutions). It seemed really cool and cutting edge. He was hopeful to get an offer from them before his start date at Extensiv, but sadly they went with another candidate who had more industry experience. Ben started the Extensiv job and immediately did not love it.

A month later, and still not loving the job at Extensiv, the recruiter from Axon reached back out wondering if Ben was still interested as another job came up. He ended up interviewing for two more positions at Axon over the next few weeks and very quickly an amazing offer came through! It all happened so fast. It all felt right immediately and really their offer was everything he asked for. It felt awkward to quit a job he’d only worked for 6 weeks, but you gotta do what you gotta do!

Ben started at Axon mid-February and has really loved it! It has, of course, had stressful moments and a big learning curve. But overall it’s a great fit for him, 100% remote, and working on a solution for real world problems. 

The timing of all of this has really shown that the Lord is aware of us! There has been a lot of discomfort and some tears and nerves along this journey. But things have had a way of working out so beautifully! He ended up getting a huge raise to go to Axon, one he wouldn't have gotten had StockX not let him go. As uncomfortable as that was, there really was something much better in store. What a wild ride!

APRIL

April started off with our spring break! We had hoped for lovely spring weather, instead it snowed and snowed for the first several days of spring break! We got over a foot of snow! We still ventured out to get ice cream with Papa Ray on the first day. We love the Kaysville Creamery!

We had nothing really planned for spring break and instead just enjoyed a slower paced week with a few fun activities thrown in. We made nests like we do every year, which always turn out cute. 

Chase has been begging for like a year to go to the Hill AirForce Base Museum. He loves that place! All the kids loved it, but I did feel bad that Chase (who could've stayed for hours and hours reading everything) had to leave after about 90 minutes because the littles were done. 

Chase loved telling me about all the different planes. I was surprised how much he knew!

Then it was Easter! We had a lovely Easter breakfast at home and the kids found their baskets. We got all dolled up for church and had the most beautiful service there. I don't remember anything that was said, other than the spirit was so sweet and pure and I felt so much peace. The older I get, the more this holiday means to me. 

In the week leading up to Easter, we do Holy Week. Each day we read the scriptures and talk about what Jesus did that day of the last week of his life. It's brought so much more meaning to me as we've studied this the past few years. I think it helps the kids keep the focus there too. We still have the Easter bunny come and do egg hunts, but also have the focus mostly on Jesus. 

We did Easter dinner up at my parents house and Ray, Diane and Nathan came too! It was fun to have both sets of grandparents together. And I made the bunny cake! I love that this tradition keeps going. My mom made these for me growing up. I make it now with carrot cake because we love it.

After that whole week of snow at the first of April, we were all thrilled when the warmer weather showed up! We spent the rest of the month outside in the fresh air every chance we got! Blossoms finally started to bud on trees and our tulips bloomed!

Davis started soccer! His games are adorable. He's just so happy to be there. He runs really hard and kicks the ball a fair amount. He doesn't seem to care how often either team scores a goal, but seems to really enjoy just being part of it!

This is what my mom calls "the homeless fairy look". Lila is usually really dolled up, but this day she definitely had homeless fairy vibes going.

At the end of April we attended my Aunt Sonja's masters graduation. It was on a day I had Rosie anyway, so I took both of them (although with my mom and dad). They were the cutest little supporters and totally made Sonja's day to see them there. They did awesome through all the speeches and clapped for everyone. Like for 10 straight minutes! 

 

St. George

Our good friends, the Bennetts, have an airBNB down there that we stayed in. It was perfect! Spacious and comfortable and had a pool just feet away. As soon as we got down there we immediately headed to the pool. It felt amazing to swim!

The next morning Ben had to work. I took all four kids by myself and headed to Zion National Park! Hudson has his parks pass for another few months and I'd really wanted to see Zion with the kiddos. Last time I was there was in 3rd grade and I didn't remember it at all. 

The park totally lives up to the hype it was absolutely stunning. The shuttle bus hop on hop off system made it so smooth and easy to see everything and the boys loved all of it. 

We did two little hikes. The first one was to Emerald Pools. The waterfall was stunning- pictures don't do it justice. The sun was shining so we could see a rainbow at the bottom, which Lila loved. Then we headed on to the last stop in the park to the Narrows. We did the little riverside trail that leads to the entry to the Narrows and it was also so beautiful.

The boys loved all of Zion. They were great hikers and had such good attitudes. I love that they sincerely seem to appreciate the beauty of nature and the unique experiences they get living so close to these natural wonders. Lila on the other hand...took ZERO steps in Zion National Park. And by that I mean she made me carry her for 3.5 miles of hiking. Whenever I tried to set her down she would scream and refuse to even let her feet touch the ground!!!!! I have no idea what got into her, but it was hilarious and exhausting and I may have gotten a little frustrated with her. Also, I was glad I work out as much as I do so that I can carry a three year old while hiking all day!

 After a fun 6 hours in Zion we headed back to the airBNB for more swimming. It was fun to be on vacation to stay up late watching movies, finding fun restaurants for dinner, and just relaxing!

The next morning Ben was able to take a few hours off work to explore with us, so we headed to Snow Canyon State Park. It was also so beautiful and unique! We spent a good long while at the Sand Dunes, where Hudson directed several photo ops, and all the kids loved digging in the sand.

Then we headed over to the rocky part and the kids LOVED climbing all over these rock faces. Even our Hudson, who is typically quite scared of heights faced his fears and found a love for it!

After a stop for donuts at a local bakery and a little more pool time, the kids were getting restless. So I took them to Dixie rock to play around and climb on even more rocks while we waited for Ben to finish work and headed to get some pizza for dinner. 

Our last morning before driving home we headed to Thunder Junction park. It was super fun! Dinosaur themed and so many cool things to do. The kids had a blast there for a couple of hours before packing up to make the long drive back home. 

This trip was a lot of fun- and a lot of work. I had very realistic expectations of how Lila would do. And truth be told, she did a little worse. But I was still so glad we did it. These memories are the best!

Davis Turns 6!

 

Sweet Davis waits through so many birthdays every year before it’s finally his turn! 5 birthdays in 8 weeks in our family and his is the last one. He was so excited this year and could not wait to be 6!

Due to Covid and life busy-ness, Davis had never actually had a friend birthday party! We finally did it this year. I was really hoping for nice weather, but it was freezing and snowing the whole week of his birthday. We reserved our church gym and invited like 12 little friends! (He has way too many friends!) I took no pictures but it was awesome! I had a few ideas in mind of games to play, and also planned to  just let the kids run around because kids love that. As soon as we got there, Hudson immediately organized the kids into games and continued to just host and run the entire birthday party! It was amazing!

We had spidey-themed cupcakes and Davis opened his presents and he felt so happy and so well celebrated! He really is just the best kid and it was so fun to make him so happy! 

Initially he was so sad that his birthday fell on a Saturday, meaning he wouldn’t be able to celebrate at school. His teacher assured him they’d do an alternate day (the 3rd) and he kept referring it to as his “half-birthday” like the summer birthday kids do.

The next day we did Sunday dinner at Nana and Papa’s and celebrated Davis and Papa together like we do every year. Nana made papa cherry pie (his favorite) and we brought leftover Spider-Man cupcakes.

A few things about 6 year old Davis:

• He continues to be just the cutest, funniest child ever born. I say this about him all the time, but it’s just true. I don’t know how humans this cute even exist.
• He loves people. I love how quickly he embraces people of all ages. He’ll talk to anyone.
• He has so much energy! He learned to cartwheel this year and he does at least 20 every single day (probably many more). He’s always had a passion for any situation that puts his feet over his head.
• He’s reading so well. He hates to do his reading homework, but he’s really picking it up!
• He loves school. He is excited to go every single day and when I ask him how it was he says “SO SO GOOD!”
• He loves Spider-Man and Ironman, Sonic, and the Transformers.
• He wants to spend all time forever with his dad, he can never, ever get enough daddy time. He told me that he likes his dad better because “you decide what we have for dinner mom! Also, dad is taller.”
• His favorite food is definitely pizza, and he also loves hamburgers a lot. Anytime Ben takes him on a little date he always wants to go to McDonalds so he can get a hamburger and “black rootbeer” and play on the play place.
• His BFF at school is Luke R. And they hug every day before going home. Around the neighborhood he loves to play with Will and Hudson, but lately has been playing quite a bit with Daniel and Grant, who have lived in our neighborhood for years but are both in his Kindergarten class so he’s gotten to know them better.

To teach him to spell his name, I taught her a (modified) version of a cheer from my high school days, “D-A-V-I-S, Davis Jack is the best!” And it’s true, Davis Jack, you really are the best!