March 2021

 

 WEEK 1 (March 1st - 6th) - Since Ava has started back into volleyball the younger kids have been having some volleyball matches of their own.  Kinsley sets up the court with blankets and they use a balloon.  She and Dallin get quite competitive!  Although Dallin did call a time-out so he could comb his hair...

This week the Bonneville team had their first EIVA tournament.  They did much better this tournament.  It was an all day event, but they ended up winning the entire tournament!  I can't even imagine how exhausted they must have been!  Volleyball games are much faster and competitive now and super fun to watch as a spectator.  Ava did awesome and played her heart out!

While we were gone I got a call from Kinsley saying they had a big surprise for us when we got home.  But a few seconds later she blurted out - "Dad bought chicks!"  I wasn't incredibly happy about it, but I tried not to rain on the kids' parade because they were all so excited.  The baby chicks were tiny and fluffy and cute and now in our garage with a heating lamp. 

WEEK 2 (March 7th - 13th) - This was an exciting week for Dallin because he got to go sign up for kindergarten!  I have been debating for awhile about homeschooling full-time, but over the last few weeks I decided it would probably be best for Kinsley and Dallin to go to school next year.  For Dallin, kindergarten is half-day and I'll still do learning with him when he isn't at school.  I did apply for the Chinese immersion program so we will see if he gets in. As Jed and I talked we decided if it wasn't something we didn't love we could pull him out without serious repercussions after only kindergarten.  With Kinsley we decided it would be good for her to be back in the classroom and get to know some kids before starting middle school.  I've really liked Ava and Kasen's schedules with doing some classes online and some in-person and think as Kinsley gets into middle school she can do the same, but not being in school for two years and then jumping into middle school without knowing anyone seemed a little scary for her.  It is crazy how fast the time goes, Abby sent me this picture of her with Kinsley and Ava and now Kinsley will be in her last year of elementary school and Ava just signed up for the Associate's program where she will graduate with her associates degree and walk at college graduation before she even graduates from high school.

We found out about a week ago that my parents were re-assigned to come back to Idaho. They will continue to preside over the Marshall Islands/Kiribati mission over zoom.  They have been in Hawaii for 8 months now which is crazy!  They are still hoping to be able to go back to the mission and the church said at the soonest possibly July.  However, the Embassy said plan more on 2022.  Their mission officially ends July 2022 so it definitely hasn't been the mission they anticipated.  We were excited to see them - especially Sydnee's family because they weren't able to go to Hawaii.  She took this picture of them walking up to their house when they came for the first time.

WEEK 3 (March 14th - 20th) - Kinsley has been really helpful making food lately.  She made us eggs for breakfast one day.  She made mine to look like Mickey Mouse and she made Dallin a ghost.

One night during my regular phone check of Ava's phone I saw all these cute pictures.  She told me they were her friends in English.  The red-headed girl has a pretty big personality and Ava said she is pretty funny.  This English class has been one of Ava's favorite classes.

Also exciting for Ava, she finally finished all 50 hours of driving with an adult.  I was very strict about it and clocked all of her time.  She thought I was being super annoying about it, but I kept telling her it was because I loved her and wasn't willing to put her in danger by sending her out driving on her own unprepared.  For the most part she was pretty good about it.  She scheduled her own testing appointment and passed the written portion last week, but this week went on her drive with a tester.  She passed and officially got her Idaho driver's license!  The last two pictures are just some of Kasen.  He hung out with Ava one morning at the high school before his classes started and the second one is him in class with our neighbor.  He sent me a text with the picture from his friend's phone because I don't let him take a phone to school.  The text said, "Me and Dieter working together at school just like at church." Kasen is the president of the deacon's quorum and Dieter is the secretary.  I thought it was cute that he thought to text me that.

  

Ava had another tournament in Utah this weekend.  This one was in Heber City and it was 2 days.  Once again only one spectator was allowed per player, so just she and I drove down for the weekend.  The setter was gone to play at a softball tournament so all the girls were moved into different positions.  Ava mostly played outside hitter which she did good at, but she prefers to play middle.  I think she has better timing playing outside so I know she enjoys it, but gets frustrated too because she wants the practice of getting better at middle.  The girls won the bronze bracket tournament.

WEEK 4 (March 21st - 27th) - This was officially the start of our spring break!  Unfortunately, leading up to this week was really nice spring weather and the kids had been playing outside a ton, but of course the weekend before spring break we got SNOW!!!  And not a little bit!  Since we didn't have any plans for spring break and weren't going anywhere the kids were a bit disappointed.  While we were in Utah I found out that my application for VIPkid was finally completed.  I had been waiting for 6 months for my background check to be approved which they blamed on covid.  So I signed my contract and opened up some teaching slots.  I decided Monday I'd do some research and get ready to teach.  I called my friend Natalie who had taught and she gave me her supplies to borrow and talked me through some things.  By Monday afternoon I had 9 classes booked for the rest of the week!  I couldn't believe it!  So Monday the kids did some chores and things around the house. 

Tuesday I taught my first four classes!  I had to wake up at 4:30am to get ready and at 5am my first class started.  It was very fun and I wasn't as nervous after that first class.  The kids were so cute and sweet.  The rest of the day we stayed home and then that night we went up to Jaxon's 5th birthday party.  It was very fun to see how excited he was.  Dallin was so excited thinking about his 5th birthday party coming soon.

Wednesday and Thursday we did a few errands.  Dallin had swimming lessons and he finally turned a corner on being scared.  I was about ready to tell them it wasn't working out, but it just all clicked apparently.  My parent's went down to Utah last week to see Aunt Susan who they weren't sure would make it much longer.  I feel like it was a tender mercy they were here and mom could see Susan one last time because Thursday afternoon she did in fact pass away.  I will always remember Aunt Susan as being someone who was constantly laughing and having fun.  Anywhere she went she brought a party.  One thing I liked about her is she didn't take herself too seriously.  She had been sick for awhile and because her body was weak I'm happy she could pass and get rest.  But death is always hard for those left behind and I wonder how her kids will be...

Thursday we also went to the library.  The kids all got some good books and it reminds me that I need to be reading more with them like I did with Ava when she was younger.  That night we did our first "spring break" activity - we went swimming.  We went up to Heise Hot Springs so not the typical spring break water adventures but it was still fun.  Abby and her family joined us.

Friday we were able to celebrate Vanessa being sealed to Johnny as his daughter.  We weren't allowed to attend the sealing, but we were outside when they came out.  They have a crazy story and it is amazing to think about how Vanessa found her Erickson family through family history and geneology.  It made me wonder how many people have gone through life not knowing who their family was because they didn't have the technology we have today.  

These were a few other cute pictures I took at the temple...

WEEK 4.5 (March 28th - 31st) - Saturday night I was able to fly by myself to Phoenix, Arizona!  My high school friends had wanted to plan something 2 years ago to celebrate 20 years since graduation, but we never got anything planned.  Then last year was covid lockdown, so this year they were bound and determined to go on a trip together.  Shalee was our party planner and originally I wasn't going to go.  Then Shalee reached out to me again to see if I was sure and I realized they had changed the dates and it could actually work out!  I am so grateful she thought to reach out again because we had the best time ever.  7 of our 10 friends were there and it was so fun to spend time together.  These friends were so important in my life and I'm so glad we've continued to be friends through the years.  We actually stayed at a resort (Westin Kierland) in Scottsdale and spent most of our time lounging by the pool, eating, and staying up late talking and laughing at night.  We also went hiking in the desert and got dressed up fancy one night for dinner.  I wore jeans as my fancy outfit!  I realized I have changed a lot from my high school days.  We only stayed 4 days and I was the only one who didn't have to check a bag.  One of my friends brought 13 pairs of shoes.  I have definitely become a light traveler compared to the rest of them!

I got home Tuesday evening and it was so great to see the kids and Jed again.  I love my family so much.  While I was gone they handled everything just great.  It is so nice to have Ava be able to drive places.  Kinsley and Dallin got to hang out with G&G Erickson.  I'm so grateful they helped out.  These were the last two pictures of the month: Dallin with his hair combed like Donald Trump (Donald Dallin) and Kinsley balancing on a stool she made out of rolled up newspapers from Grandma Ericksons supply.