MAY 2019

MORE SPRING - Our front neighbor Stan Ray had some colts in his pasture.  They were so cute.  We loved to drive really slow up the driveway to watch them play together.

I brought my camera out one sunny afternoon to practice with.  These two didn't have any problems being followed around by me.

I just love how pretty and green everything has gotten - especially the leaves on the trees.  My photography doesn't do it justice. Can you spot Dallin in the 2nd picture?

Trampoline time - warming up.

Intermission entertainment...

Now on to the show!

Kinsley had some really great moves on the trampoline.

BIRTHDAY BOYS - May is such a busy month especially with two birthdays to celebrate!  We woke Kasen up with breakfast in bed for his 11th bday.  All he wanted for his birthday was Golden State Warriors gear so he got some new jerseys, shorts, and a hat.  He was pretty excited to wear his new stuff to school.  Ava wanted to make his cake this year and she totally nailed it with this Ironman Cake.  Kasen is such a fun loving kid.  He is always thoughtful and sincerely wants to do what is right.  He is starting to care more about looking "cool" and loves to ask me if his outfits match and look good.  He wants to get really tough and have a six pack so he has started doing some pushups and running on the treadmill.  He likes running and school.  He likes basketball and football.  He likes horses but hasn't gotten too into roping yet.  He is such a nice brother to Dallin and rarely gets mad at him - even when Dallin takes stuff out of his room without asking.  We are so lucky to have Kasen in our family!

Two days later Dallin turned 3 yrs old.  He is also really obsessed with Golden State, namely Steph Curry.  He also got a jersey, shorts, and basketball cards.  He was very excited about his blue and yellow basketball signed by Steph Curry!  Dallin is such a fun guy and we couldn't imagine life without him.  He is full of energy and enthusiasm.  He is 3 going on 11 because he thinks he should do everything that Kasen does.  He loves being around the other kids and loves to wrestle with anyone that is on the ground.  He is a sweet boy and gives me soft hugs and kisses and squeezes really hard when he hugs his dad.

MOTHER'S DAY - This year Mother's day was after Dallin's bday so I got a special day too.  I don't mind sharing with a birthday boy, but Kasen reminded me in his note that it will only happen every 7 yrs for his bday to be on Mother's day so I guess having the day to myself won't be that unusual.  I always love to see what the kids come up with for Mother's day cards.  Kinsley even found a heart shaped rock and gave it to me.

Jed gave me beautiful flowers and made me an omelet for breakfast.  The kids decorated with streamers.  After church we went over for a cookout with Jeff, Tresa, and Tyler.  Jed and Jeff did a great job on some yummy food.  It is always fun to get celebrated.  I love being a mom even when it is a little tiring or feels thankless.  My kids are so special to me.  I love that Jed always puts so much effort into making me feel loved and special on Mother's day.

SCHOOL/ACTIVITIES - Kinsley and I had our Mother/Daughter activity for church.  She has really enjoyed being in Activity Days and her leaders are 3 of the sweetest older women you could imagine.  One leader is spunky and loud and I think the girls all love her.  The activity was a Disney-themed tea party.  Kinsley went as Merida from Brave and even made her own bow and arrow.  I went as Minnie Mouse.  Another exciting thing for Kinsley this month was she was accepted into the Gifted and Talented program!  So far all three kids have been a part of it.  Kinsley was so excited and proud of herself.  I literally felt like throwing up knowing she wouldn't have the opportunity to be in the program like Kasen and Ava have because of the move.  Kinsley also had her violin recital.  She has enjoyed her lessons, but it has been a struggle to get her to practice.  Her teacher is a little interesting so we were ready to be done.  I wish I would have stuck with the violin longer though so we will see if she decided to continue...

Ava had an extra credit activity for GT science at a park one Saturday to release fish into the ponds so we tagged along and played on the playground.  I really love all the activities the kids have been exposed to through the GT programs in our school district.

Speaking of GT, Kasen had his end of year open house.  The last unit he worked on was energy and he was part of a group that built an electric windmill.  The units and research they are taught to do is so awesome and looks much more advanced than their grade level.  He was proud to show us what they made.  Ava finished up her last few Kindness Club meetings.  She has been a trouper keeping the secret of moving quiet and it has been really hard for her to listen to all her friends talk about what classes they are registering for next year.  I honestly have a broken heart over the kids having to move again.  Their school opportunities are so awesome and I hate moving them away from them.  Especially because my kids love learning so much.  They have every opportunity to be pushed academically with really great teachers here.

SPORTS - Ava was able to start practicing and playing again this month.  There were only a few tournaments left but she was happy to at least play in a few.  She ended up playing Avery's team in a tournament but they lost and got second place.  We were not as impressed with Crush as we had thought we would be.  It was tons more time driving out to Nampa 2 nights a week and for tournaments as well.  Hindsight is 20/20 though.  If we could do it over we would have kept Ava at Club Idaho even though it wasn't as "competitive."  It was a good lesson to learn that sometimes the competitiveness isn't the most important thing.  It's important to do the best you can and want to win for sure, but all the extra time and the politics from parents and players weren't worth it.  Sometimes it's ok to just have fun too!

Kasen's football team had their championship games at the first of the month and pulled out another win. That is 6 championships.  It is fun to see your kids' teams win, but it is so easy to get sucked in to being that crazy parent that is obsessed with it too.  I tell Jed that I have a love/hate relationship with sports for that reason. 

ALL THE EXTRAS - In an ironic twist of fate, my washer gave out just a month before we needed it to!  The repairman took it all apart and there was a crack in the tub.  It was pretty cool to see what it looked like inside actually.  That $100 washing machine from craigslist lasted us 5 years and is pretty amazing considering.  We decided to just take the laundry to the laundry mat for the last few weeks, but it turned into way more of a hassle and was a big pain!  I also had my last few weeks of watching Johnny.  I will definitely not miss having to take care of a baby, but Johnny was a pretty funny kid and I actually loved having another redhead in the house.  The kids really liked him and even filtered him a few times. Overall, I calculated that I made just under $7000 watching him January - May. 

Kinsley was able to go to the last few Activity day adventures - to a soap making facility and on some picnics.  Kasen was able to get his last awards from scouting as well before we moved.

One evening I was feeling restless and frustrated about having to move and all of that so I invited people to go on a hike with me, but the only that would go was Kinsley.  We went over to the foothills and hiked around and had a great time.  I loved spending time with Kinsley out in nature.

Dallin decided he was done with the crib and ready for his big boy bed this month.  He did great right from the start.  We sold his crib and I expected to be somewhat sad about selling my last crib, but I wasn't really that sad.  Sometimes it just feels completely normal to move into a new stage of life I guess.  Here are some other funny pictures of Dallin this month. 

Last month I felt like my little path of self discovery led me to e-commerce.  In talking with the girls we decided we would start an online boutique.  We had great visions of working and shipping items side by side and making lots of money while learning important skills. I started researching buying inventory and website design and shipping a little bit in April, but it really all came together this month.  We began receiving inventory and Jed was questioning his decision to marry me and endure this mid-life crisis I had been having for the past 5 months I'm sure.  I designed this logo and tried my hand at product photography.  I thought I did a pretty good job.  We weren't sure how to exactly go about selling - on craigslist, facebook marketplace, social media, shopify store??  Plus with moving and getting packed up and the kids finishing school I didn't have a ton of time to put towards the store but it was fun to get the wheels turning.

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND - We decided to head over to eastern Idaho for Memorial Day weekend.  It was this week that we told all the kids about moving back to Rigby.  Kasen and Kinsley were soooo sad to have to move.  The kids love their friends and we all loved our house.  We really felt like Eagle was our forever home.  I'm sure it was a relief for Ava to not have to keep it a secret anymore.  She was such a good support for Kasen and Kinsley as they were so upset.  Memorial weekend was the time we went under contract with our house in Meridian and knew for sure we would be buying our house in Eagle.  Now here we were again 2 years later getting ready to do the same thing.  A few weeks earlier I had broken down during a YW presidency meeting and told the other ladies that we were taking a job in Rigby and were moving.  I really poured it all out to them and told them about Roman's dishonesty and how frustrating it was for Jed working there.  I told them how I didn't want to leave at all and was angry that it seemed to be our only option.  I told them I didn't want to move back at all and was in fact dreading it.  They really got the full storm of my emotions and were so kind and loving and supportive.  They cried with me and shared their personal hardships with moving and how they had struggled as well.  It was so good for my soul to tell someone and let them know!!!  I will always remember the sisterhood that was there as I really felt that they "carried my burdens" and "mourned with those that mourn" as the scriptures truly teach.  Jed also told Roman that he was leaving as well.  It didn't go terrible, but Jed knew that Roman would be fine in the moment and then his wrath would come out like it always did.  After he had told Roman I texted my counselors in Beehives.  It was just a few hours after I had texted when one of them and their husband called to express interest in buying our house.  In some weird way I had thought to myself that they would end up buying our house.  It was interesting that it worked out just like I had already thought it would - sort of like a deja vu type of thing.  It was very preliminary, but we left to eastern Idaho feeling a little less nervous about selling our house and hoping a weekend with family would get our kids excited to be moving closer.  Kasen had a plan to make pens for his grandpas for Father's day from the Perry tree so we hiked up there and found some good wood to take back to Eagle. 

The kids loved playing and playing with their cousins and I think it was good for all of our hearts to see that.

It was freezing and that was the only drawback!  We are not ready for this wind.  It was wonderful to spend Memorial day visiting the cemeteries with family.  Kinsley loves going to see Great Grandma Melba's grave and we discovered that Great Grandpa Neal was born on Dallin's birthday and died on Kasen's birthday.  I'm not sure how no one ever noticed that before!

We spent lots of time at the ranch together as Grandpa & Grandma Foster's last few weeks are sneaking up on us all!  The kids all sang I Hope They Call Me On a Mission in church.  My parents were asked to speak in every ward in the stake and it was so sweet to listen to them speak and such a good experience for the grandkids.

On the way home we stopped in Twin Falls to see the Shoshone Falls.  We have talked about doing it many times, but Jed hates stopping.  He just wants to get where he is going as fast as he can.  I am much more the "let's enjoy the journey and stop for an adventure" driver.  But Jed was sweet enough to stop and it was really cool.  The falls were amazing!  It was a little scary with Dallin and he kept trying to stand up on the fence and pull himself up.  He was being way too brave.  You can see Jed trying to wrestle him and me holding him with a big scowl on his face! We will definitely not miss the drive from Boise to Rigby.  It is the worst drive and 5 hrs doesn't seem that long, but it is such a long drive!  We may not ever drive to Boise again once we finally move for good!

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL - The kids' last day of school was May 31st.  It was a Friday.  Cantwells had their annual last day of school pool party and it was so fun.  We will so miss the wonderful families we have gotten to know in our Eagle ward.  Dallin was a little fish and just loved every second.  He is definitely a party boy and thinks he is way too old for his own good!  Thank goodness for whoever invented the front facing life jacket with arm floaties!

Kinsley had a whole group of cute girls her age in our ward and one boy.  He was in her class at school and church and was a nice boy.  His mom always said she wanted them to get married because she thought Kinsley was the cutest girl.  I can't remember his name now, but he was a funny kid.  One day he fell asleep on the bus and missed his bus stop.  Actually I think that happened multiple times. :)  Maybe one day they will meet again!

It was a fun afternoon of swimming, badminton, golf, and an outdoor movie. A great end to an Eagle era for us.

Out of any school year I would say this was the year all three kids changed the most.  They all looked a lot older by the end.  Ava grew taller, Kasen didn't grow that much but his face changed, and Kinsley grew up too.  So much change!  It is crazy to think about how fast these two Eagle years went by for us.  It doesn't seem fair and seems cruel in ways, but we have to trust in God's plan and have faith that He knows what is best for our family and is guiding us.  I know He loves my kids even more than I do and understands that while it will be hard they will learn lessons and grow in ways they wouldn't have had we not moved.  Jed and I have faith that work will work out and Jed will be able to be busy and provide for us.  There is a sign I have in our office that I bought years ago.  It says "BE STILL and know that I am God" - Psalms 46:10.  I have had to just sit and look at it so many times over the last 5 months and let the words sink in.  I have to be still and just exercise all the faith that I have that He knows what He is doing.

I loved these thoughts this month!  I have to remind myself that while I want to do so many big things and change the world with my big ideas that sometimes our callings are just to do simple things consistently.  It's much less glamorous from a worldly perspective, but I'm reminding myself more often that we are commanded not to be of the world.  God's ways are not man's ways, neither are His thoughts our thoughts.  If you want to be different and change, then you have to do things differently and change in different ways than you have done in the past.  I've got to start thinking in new ways to become who I need to be for myself and for what God has in store for me as a mother, wife, and whatever else He has planned for me.