Now that I'm not working on Fridays, I get to spend the entire day with my kids. Today was super packed with activities.  We started out at Occupational Therapy with Brandt.  He just started in the past few weeks and he loves working with John Beenfield.  They are working on washing his face and brushing his teeth.  Buddy is cooperative and does everything he asks him to do, but getting him to do it at home has been a whole different story.  Brandt says John is fun and I am not.  Hahaha
While we were at the hospital we took some time to visit with Sister Pat Keetch who has been there for the last couple months following a broken ankle and surgery.  She loves seeing the kids and spoils them with treats while they are there.  They thought it was hilarious that she had a crocheted bunny that pooped out jelly beans when they squeezed it.  We also visited Aunt Norma Arnell who has been in the ICU since yesterday with pneumonia.  She just had her 97th birthday over the weekend and her dementia is pretty bad. She was not in a very good mood and she had no idea who we were.  The kids were telling her daughter, Maxine, about Brandt working on brushing his teeth and Aunt Norma started singing "all I want for Christmas is my two front teeth."  She can't remember what happened 2 minutes earlier, but I don't think she's ever forgotten a lyric she's learned.  After we left the kids and I talked a bit about our family history and figured out that Aunt Norma is their great, great, great aunt.  Then it was off to Brandt's appointment with Shaun and Kylie's dance class.  We had some extra time in town, so we went to the Chinese Restaurant to eat.  Buddy has been wanting to go there and try his hand at eating with chopsticks ever since watching the Karate Kid.  He actually tried 3 new foods!!! Fried rice, Sweet and Sour Pork, and a bamboo shoot- and he liked them all!  Kylie stuck with her same old favorite-hamburger and fries.  Next we were off to Paris where we killed some time playing at the Paris Elementary playground until it was time to meet Officer Bart Heslington at the Sheriff's office to work on finishing passing off Brandt's Forensics belt loop for Cub Scouts.  While we were there, Bart talked to them about collecting evidence as well as internet safety.  He showed them how to dust for fingerprints, took them on a tour of the sheriff's office and explained how the dispatchers do their work, took their fingerprints, and let them try out the handcuffs.  Before they left, he gave them each a Sheriff's patch.  I'm so thankful for good people in our community who are willing to go out of their way to make an impact on my children.

Yet another fun and challenging game of spot it. Can you spot the muck boot in the first two pictures? It was abandoned by a cute but mischievous little boy who was out with the horses without his mom knowing it and whose pleas for help went unheard when he was desperately stuck. Long story short, the pair of boots were happily reunited thanks to help from grandma, mom, a prod, 2 shovels, and many mucky clothes and boots. Bryce missed all the fun at home while he was sitting at the Jazz game with Bart Bassett and rubbing it in with texts of all his close encounters courtside lol. Grandma Ellen helped bail us out big time- I could seriously still be out there drowning in muck!! PS the pictures of buddy are of his new hair cut, not of him being proud of the mess he caused- although he certainly isn't sorry about it, YET.... Although, phase one of consequences has begun with him doing his own laundry. 

My kids are watching The Karate Kid for the first time and loving it, just like I always have. Suddenly we hear a fly buzzing around and next thing I know Brandt runs to the kitchen, digs through the drawer for a minute, and comes back with chop sticks. Now I sit here wondering how long he's going to try to catch that silly fly lol. Usually nothing but electronics can keep his attention for this long...

The Call

Quoting Mariah's Facebook post from 2/28/17 "Alright friends and family.. this may come as a shock to some of you, and others have known for a while.. either way, act surprised 😉 Over the last year I have watched a lot of my very close friends prepare, get their call, and leave on missions. I have cried and hugged too many to even count! I have been so excited for each and every one and I love getting their weekly emails. One day in January, I was sitting in sacrament meeting with my mom, listening to one of my very dearest friends give her farewell talk and I just knew in that moment that I wanted the happiness she felt and was speaking about.. I wanted to feel the love and peace from my Heavenly Father that so many of my closest friends had spoken about. So I started searching for an answer. It came in the most amazing way, I was reading a talk by Elder Jeffery R Holland about missionary service, and I received my answer, "At this time in your life, a mission call from the Lord, my young friends, is the most important work you can do." This started a long 7 week journey. I got ahold of my bishop, I had an interview, I began filling out papers, I had doctors appointments, I had dentist appointments, I suffered trials, I got good news, I got bad news, I started thinking of spending 18 months away from my family and what friends I have left, I have spent many nights on my knees and in the scriptures, I have been to more interviews, I've laughed and I've cried, I have learned and I have felt the spirit more strongly in my life than I ever have before. Tonight I am sharing this because in just 2 short weeks (hopefully) I will be receiving a big white envelope with a mission call in it! Tonight I received another answer to prayer. I feel more at peace and feel more loved than I have ever felt before. As I spoke with my stake president about the heroes in my life, I was easily able to name 4 individuals who have changed my life forever. I spoke to him about the amazing selfless acts of my daddy, my grandpa Jim, my Grandpa Daryl, and my Mom! I know without a doubt that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true and I cannot wait to spend the next 18 months of my life sharing it with others! 💕"

I had talked to my kids ahead of time letting them know that she was going to be sending in her papers and they both cried- and so did I. Every time we've talked about it, Kylie cries and Brandt avoids. Honestly none of us can imagine going 18 months without seeing her or talking to her.

Tonight we were humbled to witness her open and read the following at Jim and Jane's (Jane fell and broke her pelvis a little over a week ago so it's difficult for her to get out and about anywhere). 

"Dear Sister Hillier, You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Washington Federal Way Mission. You will report to the Provo MTC on June 7, 2017. You will prepare to teach the gospel in the English language"

I couldn't for the life of me control the tears rolling down my face and it didn't help that I was seated directly across from Lisa who was also crying lol. Even after she read her call and everyone was cheering and congratulating and hugging her, I just sat there and kept crying. So many mixed emotions.... We've talked together many times over the past few years about her desire to serve a mission and I've always encouraged her to do just that. I know with all my heart she's making the right choice and I'm so proud of her and grateful for her shining example, especially to my children. I was so relieved when she read that her area is state side and in a beautiful, safe place. Since my accident in July I've gone through various stages of not feeling like I could control my emotions. For a long time I would cry at the drop of a hat, especially if I couldn't do something or remember something that I could before. I've gone through a time more recently when I am easily agitated and don't have as much of a filter when it comes to the words that come out of my mouth. I've never been a cusser since a short rebellious period in middle school, but even Bryce has mentioned that I've been a potty mouth at times recently. Another frustrating thing that has happened is that there have been a lot of times when I should have felt sad or empathetic and would have normally cried but I didn't feel anything. It's like my brain has detached and put up some kind of a block to not let me get emotionally hurt, especially by those who have done just that in the past. The thing about Mariah is I've never had to put up any kind of a wall when I've been with her. She's one of the purest, kindest spirits I've known and I've never been afraid of her betraying my trust or feelings, even though she knows me well and knows my many faults and shortcomings. In some crazy way I'm actually grateful for the emotions I'm feeling tonight because it feels more like the "normal" me- the me who empathizes with others and cries at things like tough goodbyes and things of a spiritual nature- especially when the two are combined. It feels good to feel the spirit and to feel the assurance that all will be well with Mariah leaving for 18 months, even though I secretly want her to still be like 14, my road trip buddy, and my go to babysitter. I love her so much and one of the qualities I love about her most is her love for the Savior. I know that she will be an amazing missionary just as I know there will be many more tears shed in the next few months. I also know that she will be blessed as she has the opportunity to continue to touch many lives just as she has mine.

This little girl has her daddy wrapped right around her finger and she knows it. She writes him "love notes" often and he is quick to let her know that he'd better be the only boy she does that for until she's much older. This is one of my favorite ones from a couple nights ago. Her writing and sounding out skills have come so far in first grade! Obviously from the pictures, she got what she wanted, which was to snuggle with daddy in our bed to go to sleep. Good news is the next day she was my best helper and did the hardest parts of changing our sheets and making our bed for me.

Snow, snow, go away!!

We have had record numbers this year in the snowfall department. I think buddy is one of the only people in Bear Lake who is actually still happy about it. He LOVES shoveling snow, especially when grandpa slips him a couple bucks for doing it. These pictures were taken just a few days ago after we had snow and wind. The kids had something like their 6th snow day out of school on Monday because of zero visibility and dangerous driving conditions. Now it's warming up fast and started to flood in a lot of areas around us. So far we've been blessed to stay dry at our house, but it's started to get pretty mucky for our poor little calves and other outside animals. We just have to keep praying that we'll continue to be protected from the elements and be grateful that we won't have a drought this summer.

Brandt was up until almost 4am last night and awake again already when Bryce went to chore at 7 am. He's been going full throttle all day and doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon, although hopefully some time on the piano will help. Just one of the joys of ADHD and autism spectrum... His sister on the other hand slept all night and is now "napping " at 5:40. 😆💤