Esme and Bear are 9!

My babies are 9! 

I was out of town on their birthday this year so we postponed celebrating by 2 days. They still had a great day though! Before I left town I made them each a chocolate confetti ball to smash with a little hammer. Sort of like a kinder egg with $10 inside. They loved it and we got to sing and smash over FaceTime with Mr and Sister Willardson on the call for p day. 

The party continued when I returned and lasted into the week. It’s birthday month! I love them so much. 

Irelance with Carly and Kasey Days 1-2: Ireland

I’m on a trip with my best friends! It’s lovely.

K and I flew to DFW, spend a few hours living our best lives in the admirals club thanks to Kasey’s perks. Carly arrived just in time for us to hop on a 8.5hr flight to London. I sat next to an adorable young couple from  Utah with a lot of questions about being a member of the Church. This particular international flight was 

We hustled through customs in London and got right onto our flight to Cork, Ireland. 

Our cottage in Kenmere was adorable! 

We arrived in the morning, and stayed up all day. My superpower is that I somehow never get jet lag (yet!). I think I’ve operated on zero sleep for so many years that I just go on like normal. Anyway, we had a great day exploring cute shops and markets in Cork and Kenmare and had a character “girl dinner” in our cottage.  The next day we drove the Ring of Kerry, hiked the Kerry cliffs, ate meals in Irish pubs and found live  traditional Irish music at night. It was all so incredible! 

Day 1: beef stew with a scoop of mashed potatoes in it! “Toasties” = grilled cheese with pickles and ruffles chips in them. Vegetable soup and brown bread with butter are the best comfort foods ever. We are determined to replicate these recipes at home. Driving an automatic car on the left side of the road has been a crazy adventure with the narrow and steep one way roads all over (with blind corners!). 

Stone walls and buildings and walkways and churches and fences everywhere. So much stone! I love it! Sheep everywhere! I want to take them home with me! The woolery mill at Blarney castle was really cool to see the process of yarn making start to finish. The Aran knits and cashmere are incredible but so expensive! I do regret not buying a sweater but there just wasn’t one that screamed out to me enough to justify the cost. And on our walk to Aldi we found a rainbow. The wild mustard yellow flowers and mossy color way in Ireland is my dreamy color palette. I could started at these landscapes all day and never grow tired of them. Add in the moody dark overcast sky and dark shake rocks give me a room full of these colors! I loved it. I also was obsessed with the hydrangeas in every color imaginable from limelight green and baby pink, cobalt blue, and bright purple to maroon red! 

Guest Room Refresh

I emptied out and cleaned this closet in our guest room yesterday, and found this scene, today. Like do I have extra people living here that I don’t even know about?

I’m trying to tackle some of the projects I ignored for 2 years while I was using all my spare energy on school.  One is our guest room. We moved the bed to Corbin’s room, and now have a space and a closet absolutely stuffed with things we no longer use-mostly outgrown clothing. 

I sent all of the clothes my big girls have outgrown with my cousin for her daughters, and I love love love seeing Lily and Lochlan sporting things that my daughters loved. The clothes Bear outgrew went to a some friends, and I have 4 bins of clothes from Corbin and Soren to take to Deb Project. A friend called this week asking if I had anything my little girls have outgrown for an associate of his who will be fostering a 5 year old. Yes. Yes I do! Supporting foster care AND purging the guest closet? Perfecto. A bonus, this friend happens to have a daughter just smaller than the size of the child in foster care, SO I’m sending all of the duplicate outfits from my twinner girls for her to enjoy! 

Yesterday I started a wallpaper project in the room and so far I think it adds to the moody study space beautifully. My teens said their orchestra assignment videos are going to have a way better backdrop this year than a closet so packed with storage they can’t close the doors in the background 😂

I have felt so content clearing out and repurposing this space for my family this week. 

Three cheers for homemaking! 



And hello to this new to me little cabinet. It was in my grandmother’s home when she was a child and before then, it was in the home of the governor of Colorado🤷🏻‍♀️. My parents just passed it on to me and I feel so lucky that it gets to be mine, now! 

Activity Days for Bear

The triple threat have Activity Days twice a month at the church and no one looks forward to this evening more than Bear. This week he won a tower building contest and is still talking about it days later! 

Corbin lately

When did this punchy little pumpkin grow up so much? Did I approve this? 

Corbin has a cutie date to BHS Homecoming. He asked her in the cutest way (that he came up with on his own) by showing up at her house with Raising Cane’s and a poster that said “Cane’s you be my date to HOCO? We would make a great combo”. Brooklyn is adorable and Corbin had fun meeting all her little siblings, who were eager to do what little siblings do when a teenager drops by to see their big sister. He also met Brooklyns parents, whom I already know, but it was delightful to watch him squirm a bit anxiously. 

15 has been pretty funny for Corbin. He has an entourage of bros with him at all times and they run around playing basketball, going to the square for whatever excitement is happening that week downtown, watching every kickoff or sporting event they can, working out at the gym or one of our houses, swimming, pickleball or volleyball courts, and of course a million trips to Don’s (Mc Donald’s). They are crazy active and always on the go. 

The other day, I noticed a mirror leaning on the dumpster at a local storage unit and the boys decided it would be perfect for our home gym. So we took a little field trip and I died over the amount of flexing they did before putting said mirror into the van. Landon picked it up and gasped “there’s a baddie in this mirror!” They’re so funny. 

Corbin currently serves as Teachers Quorum President in our ward, and one Sunday, the bishopric and Elders Quorum presidency were all out of town. Our stake High counselor sat on the stand, but we joked from our pew that if Brother Cutler hadn’t been there, Corbin would have been the presiding priesthood holder in the meeting lol. Corbin takes his calling seriously and does a really great job leading the quorum and finding opportunities for them to serve the members in our ward and out in the community. He also serves on our ward Activities Committee and helps set up and take down chairs and tables for ward gatherings. My dear friend was hospitalized after an aneurysm two weeks ago, and there was an invitation to fast and pray for her before she went into a very complicated surgery. Corbin prayed for his friend and Steezy teammate and for his mom that morning in our family prayers and texted me around 3:30 that afternoon “how long do we fast for?” I was really touched that he had decided to participate in exercising faith for his friend’s mom. 

The kids Corbin runs around with are all great, and there seem to be new faces coming by our home with him every day. This week, he brought the Steezy Boys over to watch the first NFL game. He did text a few minutes before they arrived, “can I bring a few friends over for kickoff?” Which translated to aaron to pick up 3 cases of soda and some snacks.  I love that he is so inclusive, and an inviting host.

Quincy plays cello for stake conference

Quincy was invited to play in a small strings ensemble for Stake Conference a couple weeks ago. They played Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, which was a piece the same group prepared for Stake Youth Conference. She also serves on our ward Self Reliance committee and just accepted an assignment on the Stake Youth Committee. even though her senior year is getting busier and more academically challenging than ever before, she is always willing to serve. 

I was able to hear their dress rehearsal for stake conference right before the meeting, and stood with Dave H, and Sarah W and the Spirit filled the room as it swelled with beautiful music praising our Savior. The three of us were all moved to tears and it was a lovely moment witnessing our youth and their peers use their talents in an amazing way.

Soren is 12

Soren turned 12 on Friday. For his special day, I picked up donuts at 6am, then Aaron and I checked him out of school for lunch at Chick Fil A (his choice), and he went to a Naturals game with the deacons quorum and dads that night. He loved the fireworks. 

He asked for a really soft orange blanket from Target, and a pudgy penguin stuffy for his bday. He also got some feastables and nerds clusters, a game, and the big hit, a Darth Vader magic 8 ball that tells random fortunes like “your future is “Luke” warm in a Darth Vader voice.  It’s so funny and we’ve laughed really hard at the answers all weekend. 

Oh my Soren. 

We rocked out to Pete Yorn life on a chain on way to school. 

“I was waiting over here, for life to begin. Always looking for the new thing. And you are the sunshine in my front line, always just arohnd the corner from me.” 

He really lights up my life in an indescribable way. 

Happy Birthday Soren! 

Aaron and I interviewed him during lunch: 

What Makes You Happy? Playing my cello, drawing, being with our family or my friends 

What Makes You Sad? When I get hurt

What Is Your Favorite Thing to Do? Draw, write comics

What Is Your Favorite Food? Rice/haystacks

What Do You Like to Learn About? Science is cool, math is interesting. Animals are cool, especially weird ones. I like to learn how to make things 

What's Your Favorite Subject in School?

Who's Your Best Friend? Corbin

What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up? No idea! 

Where Would You Like to Travel? New Zealand to see a rock hopper penguin. My favorite animal is the king penguin but the only live in the arctic and I’d rather go to New Zealand 

What's Your Favorite Place to Be? Home. Anywhere really. I like to be with family.

What Would You Buy Right Now If You Could? A passport 

What's Your Favorite Show to Binge? Star Wars movies