April 2021

It may have been April Fools Day, but I ain't no fool. I got my first dose of the Covid vaccine and I felt so proud and happy. I shared the following on Facebook:

Feeling a little stronger thanks to my first vaccine dose!

Thought I’d share some thoughts I’ve had today. I learned about Oswald Avery when I read The Great Influenza by John M. Barry last year. Avery was a medical researcher who started his career during the “Spanish Flu”. “Avery is best known for his 1944 discovery that DNA is the material of which genes and chromosomes are made.” (After 20+ years of research full of dead ends.) Barry said, “In fact, what Avery accomplished was a classic of basic science. He started his search looking for a cure for pneumonia and ended up ‘opening . . . the field of molecular biology’.”

I am in awe that a discovery made by a man whose work was inspired by the flu pandemic 100 years ago helped make possible the vaccine I received to relieve the pandemic today. Incredible!

 

It was so fun to surprise the kids with visitors. We are so lucky Grammie, Papa T and the cousins came to visit for spring break. They hit General Conference, Easter and Tad's birthday too, which was so fun.

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Papa taught the boys to play dominos.

It was the best decision to get an inflatable bouncy house for the week. And very fun to surprise Tad for his birthday.

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A 5 with sprinkles!

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These 6 together make me so happy.

Little Women play

Like father like son.

Beach day!

Now...

and then. (3 years ago)

Our first successful geocache of the year.

The treehouse Logan and Papa started. A very fun project that is yet to be used much.

Just a boy enjoying the book Papa T sent him.

Janie is often coming up with fun and games for the boys. 

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We love it when strawberry picking season comes again. And I've never met a kid who likes picking them as much as this one. He would fill buckets all day if I let him. And this year there was a field right down the road, so we hit it up several times.

Can't remember what these three were doing exactly, but I love the view of them playing from my window.

March 2021

 More crafting in my free time. (It was Logan's idea to make Tad's backside more.... shall we say... realistic.)

Musician pictures for the elementary school.

Another super fun creative date night from the Adventure Book. I can feel and smell Spring just looking at this picture.

And speaking of spring - enter this year's Yellow Tide.

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Logan loved having a couple of his young men from church work with him in the shop to come up with their own creations.

Our traditional green meal for St. Patrick's Day.

My sweet friend got me a beautiful flowering plant for my birthday. I also got to spend a fun morning having brunch with some friends. What a great way to spend a birthday!

Carli made me a cinnamon cake for my birthday. 

I fit into a size skirt I haven't fit into for years and I had to document it. I worked hard from May to October to lose weight and get into shape and I've felt great keeping up those habits. I am truly grateful to have good health.

Janie Lou proved herself to be quite the math whiz yet again! She won 4th place in the individual competition and 1st in the team. She's one smart cookie!

And she wanted to celebrate by going out to eat at Panda Express.

We cleared out more land and I started the fire when I was at home alone. That may have been a mistake. This New Mexico girl will never be comfortable with big fires out in the open like that.

What an incredible sight to see! I've never see a Luna Moth in real life. It really made me think of my dad who loved butterflies and moths and had a collection of them. It hung around for quite awhile before the wind kicked in and sent it away.

February 2021

 I might've found myself with some extra time on my hands with the kids back in school. (Ahhh, peace and quiet.) So, I made Carli a bookshelf quilt. It was really fun to design and sew.

Still experimenting with this whole Carve Out a Niche thing. Logan put his wares in the local antique shop. It was fun to go by and see his display.

Janie was really happy to be on the news team at school.

Man, she's a beauty.

This Valentine's Day I decided to change things up a bit. Turtle cheesecake with homemade fudge and caramel sauce can't be a bad change.

Something about watching this girl go through yet another eye appointment made me a little nostalgic. She sure went through a lot as a little girl and it's so nice to see all that paid off now that she's older.

We made Valentine's for each other and I forgot to get a picture before something spilled all over them. :(

My parents found this cool article about my grandpa. Logan isn't the only one who carved out his niche with his woodworking.

For Valentine's Logan gave me an awesome creative date book. This was a picture from our first date from it where we picked out clothes from a thrift store for each other. So fun!

I went walking on the walking trail and saw this beautiful artwork and couldn't help taking a picture and sharing it on Facebook.

I caught the quilt-making bug when I made Carli's quilt so I finally finished a quilt that I started a block for years ago. I decided to make it for my parents' 50th anniversary. It was a really fun pattern and I really love the embroidered names on the sides.

January 2021

Logan had the idea that we should use our Christmas money to get a grand piano. What an excellent idea!! So, we spent a day on Hilton Head trying out some pianos and spending time in nature.

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Voting... again...

Man, this girl had WAY too many clothes.

Back to school they go. These kids were really incredible during such a weird time. They kept up on all their school work virtually and really excelled in everything they did. We were ALL ready for them to go back to school though. There were some nerves after having been home for 10 months, but they were courageous and excited to go. I sure love them. (And looked forward to my mornings of quiet...)

Made his dad so proud to find this in his backpack.

Carli made a delicious coffee cake.

It was a surprise to me when Tad went to preschool he introduced himself as Thomas. A little sad to my mama heart, but he is Thomas at school. He'll always be our little Tadders though.

Puzzle time

This having a teenager thing is pretty fun.

And my new baby! (Except it's not a baby, it's a grand.) What a joy and a blessing it is to have this instrument in our home.

It was fun to find these personalized piano bags left in its bench. I think it must have been loved before us.

Logan's favorite place to shop - Old Jack's Sawmill

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One of Janie's favorite pastimes - making treats for everyone.

Not sure where she got it...

Pretty full moon

Is there anything better on a cold night than homemade soup and biscuits?

Milo started seeing a behavioral pediatrician this month. She had some great suggestions to help with some of the difficulties he has, including using chopsticks to encourage fine motor skills and avoid using hands to pick out what he wants and doesn't want to eat. He loved it. And so did little brother.