A Few Changes

Got to spend an entire day with my mommy and there were just a few changes from when we used to do it all the time.

1. Traded her little yellow VW Bug or Fiat for a giant green and white Ferry

2. Traded the bright lights of Las Vegas to the beautiful Seattle Skyline

3. Traded the Las Vegas Temple to the Seattle Temple - equipped with elevators instead of stairs

4. The food stayed the same, because you don't mess with perfection. Cafe Rio all day. ALL DAY!

So great to have my mommy here. And can you believe it, we didn't even kill each other? Another successful trip, with just a few changes from our old days together.

It's Like a Blanket

A few years ago Afton and Jack got some great books from their Grandma Joy and Grandpa Jerry Westra.

One we read over and over after having a rough few weeks in church about being reverent - A Dinosaur Goes to Church. We turned it into a fun Family Home Evening.

Before we read the book we compared how Barbie and Ken would behave in church, as opposed to two dinosaurs. We talked about how we should behave in church after reading the book and they both agreed that Barbie and Ken were more appropriate. The marshmallows served two purposes. 1.  I talked to them about how we should have "Marshmallow Toes"while walking in the hallway. Our footsteps should sound as quiet as a marshmallow hitting the floor. 2. Our FHE treat! They love marshmallows! 

I remember them really enjoying this FHE, and was mostly because of this special book.

A few months ago, I did another FHE with another great book that Grandma Joy and Grandpa Jerry had given them as well. It was called "The Holy Ghost is Like a Blanket." 

The message of this book was to help us understand how to recognize the Holy Ghost. This is very important for us to understand. I want my babies to be able to recognize the sweet promptings that we can feel from the Holy Ghost. It can come in many ways,  but most importantly, it comes! 

(I wrote this blog forever ago and somehow never posted it. Look how little they are. And look at our old house! So sad at how much they've grown in such a short time. Time really does go by fast.)

This boy is funny.

I wrote this post back when Jack was 3, almost 4 - just about the same age as Jocelyn is right now. He still is a riot. It was fun to reread the silly things he used to say. 

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This boy has been cracking me up lately. At times I have to hold back the laughter so as not to hurt his little feelings, but he's truly a riot. I don't know what I love most about this age. Let me rephrase that. I don't know what I love most about this boy at this age. He's just pretty awesome all around, BUT his daily conversations, confused remarks (due to his age), and story telling skills are definitely up there on my list of favorites.

1. At the park one morning.
J: "Hi, I'm Jack. What's your name?"
Little girl: "I'm Jessica."
J: "I have two balls. Do you want to see them? I'll even let you play with them."
Little girl: "Okay, then let's go on the swings."

2. Me to Jack after dropping off sister.
"We have to go to Michael's later after our walk so I can get some fabric for your costume."
40 minutes later as we're getting into the car...
Jack: "Are we on our way now to that dude's house so he can make my costume?"
Me: "What dude?"
Jack: "Michael."

3. "It's not perfect but it will just have to do." (Afton's shorts)

4. As we're driving along, out of nowhere he says, "I'm getting REALLY tired of being called Jack-A-Jack and Afton being called Sally. My name is Flash."

5. Afton reading a restaurant sign on the strip, "What does BJ's spell mom?"
"It is the name of someone who the restaurant is named after. It doesn't really spell anything other than a nickname."
Jack chimes in, "It doesn't say BJ's. It says pj's, like pajamas. Geeze you guys."

6. "I couldn't finish my work today in preschool today mom. It's because I hurt my leg on the trampoline last night, and that one time, 14 years ago when I was a baby."

7. "I've done that before mom. I been on a submarine before with grandpa. We went, zooooom, down to the bottom of the sea, and I caught like 14 crabs. Then I bought them up and laid them all out on the beach. I told them to stay still, so they did. Then zoom, down again. Like 150 more crabs. Grandpa and I really did do this. I'm not telling a fib. This is a real story. I didn't do it with grandpa Jerry. I did it with your daddy mommy. I really did." Sidenote: My daddy died when I was just 5.

8. "I am going to write a letter to Mrs. Higley." 

Afton: "You can't.  You don't even know how to spell her name."

"Yes, I do. It's D - O - S - E. She'll know what that means."

9. "Afton, you're silly. This tunnel doesn't stink. You don't have to plug your nose."

10. "I don't know how to eat fast."

11. "Please don't call me that. I am Flash."
Preschool ART teacher - "But it says your name is Jack."

"Fine, then you can call me Mr. Jack Flash."

12. "Smiling is the worst."

13. "Mom, what's an ankle?... oh, I thought that was just a giant skin pimple."

14. "Okay, now I can really hear you mom."

15.  Jack- "Mom, what's the name of his kind of gun, a Sugar Shooter?"

Me - "No, I think it's an assault rifle."

Jack- "Oh yeah, the SALT rifle."

Jack's Kindergarten Graduation

Jack will be a second grader in just a few short weeks. 

That's depressing, I know. 

I'm currently researching every school in the areas around our home (again), jumping through every hoop I can (again), calling in the reinforcements (again, but with my sister-in-law this time who is a principal in a completely different part of Washington), just to help make sure this boy is in a good school.

So while I'm stressing over being a parent and trying to do what's best for my children, I'll just look back at these pictures from his kindergarten graduation from a good school with an AMAZING teacher. 

Ms. Higley pushed Jack to try & do hard things, be creative, and want to learn more. She encouraged him to be a leader, helper, and an example to others. She praised him for his hard work and positive attitude. She instilled good school habits and life lessons that have helped him to become the kind, smart, young man that he is today. She really did set the bar pretty high, and I love her for that.
Jack will be a second grader in just a few short weeks. 

That's depressing, I know. 

I'm currently researching every school in the areas around our home (again), jumping through every hoop I can (again), calling in the reinforcements (again, but with my sister-in-law this time who is a principal in a completely different part of Washington), just to help make sure this boy is in a good school.

So while I'm stressing over being a parent and trying to do what's best for my children, I'll just look back at these pictures from his kindergarten graduation from a good school with an AMAZING teacher. 

Ms. Higley pushed Jack to try & do hard things, be creative, and want to learn more. She encouraged him to be a leader, helper, and an example to others. She praised him for his hard work and positive attitude. She instilled good school habits and life lessons that have helped him to become the kind, smart, young man that he is today. She really did set the bar pretty high, and I love her for that.

 

"She just gave it to me for free because it was my special graduation day. That's pretty nice of her. (Whispers under his breath) I wonder what else I can get."

(Clarification: I love both of my school-aged babes and want them both to be successful in a good school. But, I also know of their personal strengths and what could help benefit them the most. Afton will survive in any school setting because she is outspoken and not afraid to let her teachers know that she is already capable of doing. Last year she sat alone at table to teach herself multiplication and division - thankful to have had a teacher that recognized that she could. She will asked to be challenged and engaged. Jack is so chill and non-confrontational, that he will just quietly go along with whatever he's learning, even if he's already worked hard to learn it. Last year Jack's 1st grade teacher made him count on his fingers to do his math facts because all the other kids had to. He had memorized, passed them, and continued to practice them through the summer so no fingers were necessary. But a "requirement" instead in his teacher's class. Ugh.)

We are so BLESSED.

This post was started, ummmmmm, almost 3 years ago. Clearly I never finished it.

And as I happened to be looking through my blog for something else, I found it.

And it made me sad for a few reasons.

1. Jocelyn is no longer a teeny tiny baby and we will never have teeny tiny baby again.

2. I miss how little Afton and Jack were. They had a love for their baby sister that was so tender and sweet. Now, that tenderness has been replaced mostly by annoyance.

3. I can not understand why I have no actual pictures of just JOCELYN in her beautiful blessing dress. WHAT THE CRAP? HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?

4. I miss our old courtyard. I miss our old house. I miss the memories our little family made there. I miss Las Vegas.

5. I miss Tanner Barnes. He took these pictures and he is off on his mission like a big boy, no longer annoyed by his aunt for asking him to take our family pictures outside in the hot sun as opposed to sitting in our nice air conditioned home.

6. I am sad that these pictures are so terrible - too much sun, too many shadows, too much whining. I can say this because Tanner Barnes - the very skilled photographer now - would agree with me.

7. I am sad that we don't have pictures of all of our family and friends that were there celebrate our special day for our baby girl.

8. I miss that shirt. I think I got rid of it in one of my frantic states of..."I have too many clothes!!!!"

9. I miss that set of dishes. I sold it when we moved and I really liked it a lot.

10. Overall, just a feeling of sadness, which is silly because truly we are so blessed.

Okay, I am no longer sad. Pity party over.

About that night...

When you are graduating from high school, you are completely clueless as to what life will actually bring. You can't wait to be free. You are so excited to be a real grown-up and all it has to offer because, clearly, you have no idea what it actually entails. If you had, you would rue the day you had to finally grow up. You say naive things like, "Best Friends Forever." "There is nothing that will keep us apart." Or, "Of course we will keep in touch." Those numerous friendships that were your entire world at one time, fade. Quickly.

When you graduate from college, at least for me, it wasn't a big deal, saying goodbye and embracing the next step in your life. I had made a few friends in my classes, but no relationships that caused me to ever say something as foolish as, "Best Friends Forever" or "There is nothing that will keep us apart." Maybe that is because I wasn't in a sorority or didn't ever really hang out with a group of girls/boys from school. After a brief time at BYU, I came back home to finish school at UNLV. I had no need for new friends, because the few good ones I had from high school were all I needed. The phrase quality over quantity was what my life was like now, so different from high school. And when I graduated, I was married and spent my days happily with my new best friend, my Sugar.

Our lives became as one, getting older and wiser, and more freaking grown-up each day. Life and all it's challenges were upon us and we did it together. So when he got into dental school, after a few years of frustration, it was as if I had been accepted too. I was so excited, overwhelmed, and scared for the next chapter in our lives. As was he.

And man oh man, those four years were way different from my high school years or my personal college years. They were filled with a new set of friendships forged together by commonality. We were all embarking in this challenging time together - The Life of a Dental School Student, and their families. The husbands were hard at work, studying constantly, attending lectures, boards, clinic time, scheduling issues, dealing with horrible professors, ridiculous assignments, cramming for midterms, finals, and pop quizzes of all sorts. All the while missing home cooked meals, family time, and anyone else, other than classmates robed in the lovely red scrubs they all were so excited to don at first, or the lovely ladies at Circle K.

Meanwhile, us wives were on our own. We could not understand fully the rigors that our husbands were facing. We could not understand the pressure that was placed upon their shoulders to do well, not only for themselves, but also for their families that depended on them so much. We could only do our best to be supportive and manage everything else in life, without them.

Just as the husbands were united to their study groups and close friends/classmates, us wives found comfort in spending time together, uniting us. We needed each other to get through this time. Play dates, vent sessions, pot-luck meals, baby showers, Facebook UNLV DENTAL WIVES 2016 posts, group dinners were our norm, all without our husbands, as we needed each other. We could understand what each of us were going through. We were all in the same situation.

And as those years were coming to a close, I grew sad. Because I was no longer naive. I was no longer as dumb to think that we would stay friends forever and/or as close as we were during those 4 years of dental school. The last semester I kept saying to my Sugar, "Aren't you sad that school is ending?" And he would always laugh at me, like that was the most ridiculous question he had ever heard. But I was. I knew that life would change in such a drastic way, and although it was exciting, it was still hard to think of all of us going our separate ways.

I remember feeling so many mixed emotions for my Sugar's final UNLV Gala. I was so excited to spend one last night with our closest friends of the last 4 years, dressed up, laughing, eating, and just enjoying the night. Meanwhile, I knew full well, that this would be the end of that chapter in all of our lives, and so it must be cherished.

Not quite all of the girls and that makes me sad.

My Shannon

His Joel

Bunch of crazies

Loved our vent sessions and heart to hearts.

Love you Cecile!

These 2 always made me feel loved.

The After Party

These 2 are my go-to girls. Always there no matter what!

On top of the Stratosphere riding ALL of the scary rides, where one of us literally threw up, one of us may have peed a little in her pretty gown, and the other one rode some more rides completely by herself because she was just that DIE HARD!

I felt like Homecoming and Prom all over again.

I will always love this city.

And I will always love these people!

We have all gone our separate ways, the husbands doing their dental things, and us wives being the constant support they need. I am so thankful for the friendships that I made throughout those 4 years. The support and love that was shown to our sweet family, personally, is something I will always hold dear to my heart. I am even more thankful that the ability to see each others lives through social media is available. Although we are not physically living in the same city, we are still able to keep in touch. And I am so thankful to have Facebook reminders pop up in my "Memories" of the good times we had together over those 4 grueling years. And especially the ones about that night.