More January and February

(Sierra hard at work, during school....the hat helped produce her best work!)

Time marches on. We have been back for a couple of months (almost). We are continuously asked if we are glad to be back. We miss the RV journey, a lot, but we also are happy to be back and doing what we are doing...I suppose we are happy wherever we are! We repeatedly are commenting on how grateful we are that we had the chance to take that adventure, and grateful that we DID take it!

But, just being with my family is a huge gift and blessing. So, we have been up to a lot! And so much good has been going on....this post is LOADED with pictures. Guilty. :)

Ryah was excited to have an oven again, and got the itch to do some baking. She made a fun chocolate cake for us to enjoy with her, and had fun decorating it, too!

Feeling the love:

Daxton got a fun science experiment book from the library and was in charge of executing them for us. He had Sierra help him build the volcano--

Getting the baking soda and vinegar "lava" concoction ready with Colton--

It worked perfectly!

Since Colton is a Deacon now, he can also go to the temple! So exciting! For his very first time, Jonnie and I took just him. He prepared his own ancestor names, with Janson's help, and he was ready to go!

So proud of him! It was a very special day.

Afterwards, we took him out for some ice cream! Such a great time with our Colton.

Daxton and Colton have been having a blast building with ALL the legos we have! :)

Family game night! This "Speak Out" one cracks us up every time...

Janson and Sierra, snuggling during a movie. :)

Sierra had come close to learning to ride a two-wheeler on our trip, but she was often pulled by another biker, with the tow bar, so hadn't quite gotten there. She and I dedicated about a week where we went out every day and spent some time practicing. She picked it up, alright! She has taken off. It seems like she's been biking for a long time!

We went on a family bike ride one Saturday, all of us together. everyone on their own bike. She loved it! And she kept right up with the kids as they ventured down grassy hills and such. Little daredevil.

So much fun!

We finally got a picture of Sierra with the name sign of our neighborhood entrance:

Colton is our newest contacts-wearer! It was challenging for him, but he stuck with it. We went a number of different times for him to practice and try to get the contacts in his eyes. He was so surprised when he finally did it! Then, at home, the first day or two of getting them in and out was challenging. But, he stuck with it--and he is a pro now! He quickly acclimated and has gotten SO good at it! Yay for Colton!

This semester, for history, I have Ryah taking a turn teaching a lesson to the younger kids. She does it about once a week. I thought it would be a good way to have her involved, and still learning, before she moves up to the high school classes online next year. She has done a great job!

She's so good about including an activity or art project with the lesson. When learning about Julius Caesar and his army, she had them make their own armor shields out of cardboard.

They came out great!!

We did manage to sell our car-carrier trailer! Daxton helped Jonnie get it ready for me to take pictures. We were grateful to sell it....we have one more thing to get fixed on the RV and then we will be ready to sell it. That will be bittersweet.

We got to take the kids skiing!

We have gone every year, since we first taught them to ski in 2019. Last year, we skied at Lake Tahoe. This year we were back up at Snowbowl (outside Flagstaff). Jonnie found the days with the cheapest tickets, which is nice!

Getting out the snow gear....Sierra graduated from these mittens (too small for her now), but wanted a picture of them before we parted.

We intended to go up the night before, stay in a hotel, and actually stay for 2 full days of skiing. It didn't work out that way, but we still had a great time!

Daxton laid out all his snow gear, getting ready--

The whole gang, up on the mountain!

Riding the lift with Daxton and Colton--

And Ryah and Colton--

Sierra REALLY got good this trip! She first tried when she was 2 years old! And we had her just do a little bit when she was 2 and 3, helping her get the feel of it. Then, last year in Tahoe, she started to get the hang of it more on her own. And this year....she's a skier! She's a cutie!

Following Dad down the mountain!

She graduated from the "magic carpet" and was ready for the chair lift!

So fun to see her growing!

It was a fantastic ski day!

Janson and Daxton--

We got there for skiing the next day, but it wasn't to be. It was bitter cold, but it was the wind that changed our plans. The lifts were closed because of severe winds. They ended up closing the whole place later on, as the wind got up to 90 mph at the top of the mountain, but we got our "credit". So, we would get to go back for our "second day" another time (stay tuned....)

Lots of fun happenings on the home-front.

Ryah and Sierra playing piano together--

Jonnie and Colton working on music:

Train track building fun!

Come, Follow Me.....studying the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount:

Exploring questions together:

When we were in New Orleans, and had gotten beignets at Cafe Du Monde, we also bought a box of the mix to make our own....so we had a our own "New Orleans morning" one Saturday....

Sierra continues to read like crazy. It's so much fun. She has gotten into "Berenstain Bear books", and Calvin and Hobbes, and whatever she can get her hands on!

Shel Silverstein poems--

She'll come to wherever I am, and read to me--

like when I'm cooking....I love it.

I have no pictures of it....but we had our traditional chocolate fountain for Valentine's Day, and we watched "Return to Me". Good times!

Sierra's "Valentine hair"!

Daxton has been researching various topics in school, and then he likes to report and share them with us. It's been awesome.

And it's awesome how Sierra looks up to him, and wants to do what he's doing. So, she's told me she needs to do some "research", too. She has also started writing stories! And then she likes to share them with the family. It's the sweestest!

We made a very quick weekend trip to San Diego. My nephew returned from his mission to Mexico City and was giving his homecoming talk. So, we went for a visit! We had a great visit. I didn't get enough pictures, but we had a great time. Craig told us about his mission, the kids played basketball and other games together, my sister and I got lots of talking in, and Craig gave a GREAT talk! It was awesome.

We got a pic with Craig, and Zach said "what about me?"--so I got one with him, too!

All together!

We had car problems on the way there, were told it was fine and couldn't be replicated, and then we had car problems on the way back. We were in Yuma when the car died on us, again. But with prayer, and pulling together, we were able to get it started again but had to keep it running the whole way home. We made it. And it was honestly nothing short of a miracle! We were very grateful. We took it in to get fixed, but just the bare minimum....it is time to be looking for a new car, unfortunately. It lasted us all through our RV journey and since we've been home...and that's a blessing.

Daxton had a birthday!!! The boy is TEN. We had a great time celebrating him!

He requested blueberry pancakes and bacon for breakfast.

I LOVE this picture! Big brothers are fun!

Sierra and Colton both made him special birthday cards--

And he got a few fun gifts, too.

A story that Sierra wrote for him--

Shang Chi legos--

He asked for Teriyaki Bowls for dinner, and then Fruit Trifle for dessert. He wanted the Mandalorian mask on top....Ryah and Sierra helped me create that, out of berries and chocolate syrup!

Happy Birthday, Daxton!!!

Yummy.

He asked me to share the story of his birth and then came and gave me a hug and said, "Thanks for bringing me into the world, Mom!"

Love this kid!

Colton and Sierra "matching"--hats, shirts, shorts, and socks!

We got to have our February trip to the temple--and this time, we had all 3 of them. Jonnie and I with Janson, Ryah, and Colton. Love being there with all of them!

And Daxton had his first babysitting gig! He and Sierra hung out and played games and watched a video (and had a neighbor from church be "on call", in case he needed her)--but he did great!

We took the bikes down to the skate & ride park. The kids love it--

Sierra loves riding with the big kids--who would've thought she's only been riding for a month or so!

We had our "second day" up at Snowbowl ski resort. It was a PERFECT day! They had just had a few feet of snowfall the week or so before we got there. And it was beautiful.

Colton, Daxton, Ryah, and me--

Ryah, Sierra, and me--

Sierra is a total skier now! She moved on up to the "intermediate" lift and run. She's amazing! She is really good, and great at controlling her speed and stopping. She seems so fearless!