Letter P

The letter P was a fun week. This is one letter she already recognized and she is getting better and better each week at remembering the letter we are learning from day to day and the sound it makes.

Monday we started off with gluing pom poms onto the letter P.

Then for our activity we did puzzles together.

Tuesday was all about popcorn. First, she created a bag of popcorn. She cut out the bag, painted the white stripes on her red bag, and then glued on cotton balls for the popcorn. Last, she painted the cotton balls with some yellow paint so that her popcorn was nice and buttery.

Then I showed her what a popcorn kernel looks like and we popped some microwave popcorn to enjoy for a little snack. We listened as it made all the popping sound as it cooked.

Then she did a popcorn kernel sensory fun and played with the popcorn with her Paw Patrol toys. Lots of letter P's in there!

Wednesday was our pizza day. First she created a pizza paper plate craft. She cut out the cheese and then painted red on her plate for the pizza sauce. She then put on "cheese" and "pepperoni". 

Then we did some pepperoni counting. I would put different amounts of pepperoni on a pizza that I printed off. She would then count the pepperoni and then we did that a few times.

And for lunch, McCall made her own pizza to enjoy. I used an English muffin as the base and we had some marinara sauce that she spread on. Then she sprinkled on the cheese and pepperoni for the perfect little pizzas.

Thursday we started off doing a parrot craft. First she traced her hand on a few different colors of paper. I cut out all the pieces and then she glued it all together. I showed her a few different pictures of real parrots to help with her understanding.

Then for the activity we played with playdough. We cut out different letters and McCall was so cute and using her elbow to smash the cookie cutters into the playdough.

Friday, she made a pig paper plate. She painted her plate pink and then cut out the different pieces to make a very cute pig.

Then to end our P week, I made a matching game with lots of different things that start with the letter P.

Another fun week of preschool in the books!

January Moments

We kicked off 2026 with some wonderful family time because Peyton came home from his mission in Ecuador! It was so sweet to be at the airport when he arrived and it was so sweet to get a  hug from him. He is one amazing guy and we had a few night with family before everyone had to go back to college and school.

We enjoyed the last thing to do for our Get Out Pass and went to the trampoline park. The girls always have fun and we are excited that we got the pass again for this next year to enjoy.

Our ward was in charge of a tri-ward amazing race. We pretty much had 3 days to plan and prepare it but we did it. The activity was so much fun and was amazing. We had about 30 youth show up which is a great number for us. I put a lot of time, thought, effort, and love into it and I love that it turned out.

The youth started by dividing up into teams and then each team had to find 5 little Jesus figurines that were hidden around the church. Then they had to either make homemade butter by shaking a small jar or heavy whipping cream or three team members had to eat a whole jalapeno. It surprised me that most of the teams chose to eat a jalapeno. So many of them came out of that room crying and running to the drinking fountain for some water. Then they each had to clean a panel of windows in the foyers, match the picture of the temple with the location, and then put the books of the Old Testament in order. Then in the gym there were three challenges to complete before finishing the race. They all worked together and it kept everyone mostly engaged. We had refreshments from around the world and it was a success!

Nate has been buying replacement Tupperware lids for year and he has listings where there is a whole bunch to choose from and he decided that it would be best for each of them to be listed individually. So we got all the lids out of the garage and I helped him get them all organized and listed. It took some time but was worth it.

Baylor got sick pretty much within the first week of going back to school after winter break. So she had some time at home with McCall and I and she made this Chase costume out of paper for McCall. It was very creative and even had a backpack that had wings that folded out so she could fly.

Then of course McCall caught the sickness bug which means falling asleep on the couch and Mom sleeping on the couch with her so she could breathe and so I didn't have to get up a million times to help her. It allows Nate to sleep since he has to work and I can be right by her whenever she whines throughout the night.

We have had some fun science experiments going on this month. A bird died a few months ago and has been in our yard and it finally decomposed down and Baylor thought that it's bones were so fascinating and she loved looking at them in her microscope she got for Christmas. Baylor also cracked open the two geodes she got for Christmas. One had quite a big of dirt it in that she had do wash out but the other was was gorgeous. And right now she is working on growing some crystals with a kit we found at the thrift store.

We have had some pretty nice days for January so occasionally McCall and I will make our way over to the park and feed the ducks, play on the playground, and enjoy the gorgeous view of the lake.

Baylor got a hold of the camera one day and took pictures of things that she loves. She has quite the collection of rocks and art in her room.

A few more pictures by Baylor.

Paige finished up her last year of gymnastics at the middle school level. She competed on floor and beam at the Varsity Meet and did amazing. Her team ended up getting third but was SO close to getting second. We went to an end of season banquet and Paige got the Coach's award. She loves gymnastics and is sad it is over.

Baylor and McCall kept busy on the bleachers while we watched the gymnastics meet. McCall loved going to the top and I got the top right picture and it reminded me so much of this picture I got of Paige (bottom right).

Paige loves to find recipes and new things to try and do on Pinterest and made these pretzel bites. They turned out so good and we ate them all in one sitting.

We were able to have our first youth temple trip of the year. It was one of our young women's first time going and it is always a sweet experience to see someone go through the temple for the first time.

We had another fun young women's activity of making homemade donuts and painting mirrors.

Paige has been wanting a guitar for quite awhile and my parents have one that they were willing to give to her. We originally were going to get it in April when we were going to meet up with them for spring break but then we met them in Boise for the dance competition so Paige got the guitar early. She is so excited about it and has been tinkering around on it and watching YouTube videos about it ever since.

We got to enjoy a 15 cent hamburger this week. Dick's has a special every year to commemorate their opening and you get to buy a hamburger for the original price when they first opened. So we got 5 hamburgers for less than a dollar which was incredible. We met up with our neighbors and enjoyed visiting and dinner in our van since it was cold outside.

Then we had our annual chopped combined youth activity. This was the first year that I got to be a judge and it was a fun experience. Paige's team won again and she has won every year since she has been in young women's. We'll see how long she can keep her record going.

One evening we went to the STEAM night at Baylor's school. Baylor has been looking forward to it all week. Baylor and McCall had lots of fun and did quite a few activities.

Friday evening, Nate and I went to the temple to support Mikey as he went through the temple for the first time. It was really sweet to be in the celestial room with family and ward members. It also made me pay attention more since I was wondering throughout a lot of it what Mikey was thinking being a first timer. We haven't done endowments for awhile so it was good for Nate and I to do that and I even printed off some family names to do. Paige was a rockstar and babysat for us. It is nice having a teenager in the house! She got them to bed and even had the house all cleaned up. She is a keeper!

Then to end the month of January, I went shopping with some of the young women and we got some hygiene items with money that was donated for our ward service project. For being a small ward, we got quite a few items to donate to Vine Maple Place.

Today was a beautiful day and it got up to 60 degrees! As a family we went to the park and walked around the circle while Paige and Baylor rode their bikes. It was sweet to play outside for a bit. We are ready for spring even though I'm sure February has other ideas.

Happy January!

Cousin Time in Boise

We made the quick decision to drive to Boise for a long weekend with cousins. It was worth the drive and so much fun! It all happened because I found out on Sunday that Derek and Amy were staying in this big house that had lots of space and then I realized the girls didn't have school on Friday so I made the quick decision to make the drive. We drove most of the day on Thursday and arrived about 15 minutes ahead of Derek and Amy. It was perfect timing and these girls immediately started having fun. They love their time with cousins. They loved wandering around the house, playing games, doing gymnastics, and just being together. Thursday was a relaxing night though it ended with McCall in tears and complaining that her ears hurt. She was on the tail end of a cold so we got worried that it was an ear infection. It was late by this time and we didn't want to take her to the ER. So I rocked her to sleep and Nate gave her a priesthood blessing which was a miracle that she pretty much went to sleep right after that and slept through the night and was good the rest of the time we were there.

Friday was a lazy morning with more just relaxing at the house and then after lunch we went and had some fun. Grandma and Poppy had arrived at this time so Grandma was tired so she stayed back with McCall and Baylor and Derek stayed back to work but the rest of us went bowling. It was so much fun!

The place we went bowling was called Wahooz Fun Zone and it had all sorts of things so we did one game of bowling and still had some time so Paige, Juliette, and Emily all went on the ropes course that was three stories high. They could have stayed up there way longer but we had to get back home to make dinner so we could get to the high school in time to watch Charlotte do her solo dance.

Charlotte didn't know that we were coming. I made a big poster/birthday card since this was her 18th birthday with all sorts of pictures of her and we all signed it. We walked into the gym and the reaction on her face was perfect and priceless. It was surprise and shock but she was so grateful. It was so sweet!

It was so beautiful to watch Charlotte dance her solo! It was so Charlotte and so beautiful and graceful. I was in tears watching her. 

Charlotte will always hold a special place in my heart. She is the one that made me an aunt and I just love her with all my heart.

Saturday was an early morning with going to the team dance competition. Nate ended up staying home with McCall, Baylor, and Juliette and they went to some thrift stores while the rest of us went and watched the military and pom routines. The facial expressions kill me but it was so fun to watch and they did so good.

We had a couple of hours in between for a lunch break so we went home to chill and make some tacos for lunch before we all went back to watch the dance and hip hop routines.

We stayed for the awards and then my parents left so the rest of the night was just relaxing and spending time together. We hade dinner together and then celebrated Charlotte's birthday.

Sunday we got up early to drive back home so we could be home in time to watch the Seahawks win. They are going to the Superbowl! It was a wonderful, long weekend. I love these times that we have together as family and that it all worked out so we could support Charlotte.