Faves

The 40 minutes of one on one time with Sloane every day after school is my fave. We talk, listen to Little Women, sometimes we run a quick errand in town, she asks to go to swig every day and every day I say “not today”, and lately we have started going for little walks. She  ever runs out of things to talk about. Sloane is very good company. 

New favorite candle alert! I only have one and it’s going to be so sad when it’s gone. 

The Little Flock elders saw the Anderson missionaries last week and called asking for cuts after seeing Elder Cassel. I wish I’d taken a pic of Elder Ita’aehao from the side. I’ve never cut Polynesian hair before and it was super soft. Not coarse like I had imagined. His fade looked amazing and he said he was very excited to see the mission leaders in a few days while looking so fresh. Caring for missionaries is my fave. 

Homemade bread is my fave. I loaded this with cheese and the sharp cheddar was 10/10. 

We are still going on the post dinner trip to the stop sign and back any time we are home and not rushed out the door. Some nights the kids take one of the rocks they’ve been kicking around. 

Corbin in glasses is my fave. I recently learned that the maternal urge to bite of nibble on a squishy newborn baby because it’s so cute you can’t handle it is called “cute aggression.” 

That’s exactly what is happening here. Run away, Corbin! I’m finna bite you! 

Homemade Zuppa Toscana is my fave 

Esme looking so much older with her new frames is my fave. I hope her dimples never go away. 

Sloane’s 2026 resolution is to eat dinner with the family without complaining. She came up with this idea on her own and we are all feeling the blessings from her efforts! Mealtimes are soo much more peaceful 

A gift from Eunice is my fave. I spent some time with her twice this week and she is just so dear to me. I love her and thank her for showing up in my life. She is a true, thoughtful, wonderful friend and mentor. I have learned so much from her. 

Anyone want to teach me how to use a typewriter? If I can get it going, I have a very cute idea for its use. 

Flexy Soren is my fave. He has signed up to run spring track and pole vault. He’s also playing on the Next Gen Krusty Krabbs basketball team. His appetite for activity and food apleat insatiable, but he also takes in solace and quiet time. Soren can still be found strayed in a corner somewhere creating. He changes so much every day. I love every version of him, especially the one that snuggles or likes to talk for an hour. Jr High Soren is a Willardson Flex. 

Cousin Steven/Elder Oelrich is headed to Baltimore and joined Jamae in the Provo MTC yesterday. The timing of this is perfect. Way to go, Elder Oelrich! You’re my fave! 

The first MTC P Day FaceTime was my fave. What a week she had. Jamae is using her spiritual gifts to bless others. She is doing a lot of stretching, compassionate loving, teaching, and learning! 

Peeking in on cello lessons is my fave my kids are so lucky to have Mr Finch

A quick shopping and dinner date with bestie is my FAVE

Soren curly ginger hair twinning with Trace on a my fave

 Warming up by a fire with these people is my fave

Rim Reapers 2026 Season Opener

In late summer, Corbin made some changes to who he spends the majority of his social time with, and it resulted in some hurt feelings. Corbin smoothed over the friendships quickly, but was booted from his own B&G Club basketball team, the beloved Steezy Boys. He spent months building a new team, carefully selecting each player and asking them to agree to a moral behavior standard before they committed to play. Once he had enough boys for a starting lineup, he started picking up other boys that were booted from the Steezy boys. The two teams were friendly though, and played pickup ball a few days a week.  

And then …two players left the Steezy boys didn’t return and opted for another team. And two others left and  moved over to the Corbin’s team.

Lastly, a week before registration, the two friends who booted Corbin from the Steezys called and asked to join. 

I thought this was a tough call. But Corbin shrugged and said, “forgive and forget, Mom. The Steezy Boys were their own worst enemy and the group fell apart. They don’t have a team anymore. If they can’t play for me, they won’t be able to play at all. If they agree to the contract, they can play.” 

So there you go. Well played. 

Late last weekend, the Rim Reapers ended up gathering for an official team meeting because they were kicked out of the stake center on and told they are not allowed to hoop there anymore as they are not a church sponsored team. They met here to 

1) elect a team captain

2) discuss playing time strategy and ideals 

3) draft an email to parks and rec asking for the schedule that was promised them a week ago. 

4) discuss solutions for not having a place to practice anymore. 

5) make season predictions

Corbin was elected captain. He called parks and rec and got the schedule the following day. 

He also texted the Bentonville Stake presidency and made a pretty convincing case seeking permission for 10 young men from Bentonville and Rogers stakes + 2 friends to hoop in the church gym. After much letter-of-the-law dialogue, they can play. Corbin needs to get a Bentonville stake bishop of a unit that meets in the building to approve two adults to supervise playing time and reserve the gym for an hour not exceeding once a week. Gone are the days of youth pick up basketball at the stake center.  Corbin is trying to get some playing time at the Bella vista building to compensate, but it’s not ideal since the court is half the size, so they can only play 3v3 comfortably. I journal all this because I’m impressed with the way Corbin is handling everything. I think all these setbacks will help him launch into adulthood smoothly, and be a very amicable missionary companion . 

Ok onto GAME 1! 

Right off the jump, Hyrum had a LeBron worthy goal block that will go down in boys and girls club history. 

Reapers got a 12 point lead, right away. Corbin subbed in after a bit a lbd played for about 4 minutes, hit a beautiful 3 pointer and a layup. They held their lead until the half. 

The opposing fans were awful to them. More than typical trash talk. They cursed and said cruel things to the players, and the stuff on the court. Two fans were evicted from the gym by the refs. 

After the half, 3 Reaper newbies rotated in at the same time and they lost a little chemistry. Two are brand new to playing basketball at all, but even though they almost lost their lead, the team held firm to everyone getting playing time. When it was time to rotate Corbin back in, he made a calculated decision to give his spot to keep a better player in the game. I loved seeing him demonstrate such thoughtful leadership. Team first. And the team won. 

Landon W, Bruce, Peyton T, Neal R, Hyrum J, Logan B, Noah H, Ammon J (on the roster as a player but active as a coach) Richard A, Corbin, Brody S, Chase W, Ryker H (hype man), and the Reaper (who is currently identity-hidden to add mystery, like Cosmo Cougar) 

I bought a grim reaper costume and threw a jersey on it. 

Corbin got emotional driving home that night. This win was a really big deal. Before he went to bed he hugged me and then patted my back, “we did it, Mom. I feel so proud. I built a good team.”  

I’m proud of him, too. The behind-the-scenes disappointment, drama, and sacrifices involved in this kid’s desire to have a team to play ball for could be a feature length film. The struggle, the forgiveness, the underdog determination? Pure cinema. 

I hope they win it all. 

 

Tenney Cousins!

 My Auntie Marilyn Tenney and her daughters Kathy (Tenney) Chase and Karen (Tenney) Wall stopped over in Arkansas for the night while on a girls trip. We had a girls night with my mom, my sister HolleeAnn, and our cousin Mattie. We gathered at my house, then went to dinner and then ended up back at my parents after for a visit and more laughs. I love my Tenney cousins! 

Heart Hikes 2026

Aaron made a family new year goal for us to go on a minimum of one family hike a month. Well the goal is a walk or hike weekly, but baseline is one each month. To keep the non-enthusiastic participants more excited about this, I encouraged them to look for hearts in nature, and we’ve found some pretty cool ones already on our two hikes. These family hikes are now called Heart Hikes and the kids are learning you will find love if you look for it! 

 

Christmas Morning 2025

Catching up here. Christmas morning was special this year because it was just us. Reese was serving a mission last year, and my parents were not feeling well this year. It was just me, Aaron, and these 7 amazing people. 

We also celebrated not having to wake up at 5am. The children slept in. Phenomenal.  We gathered up in the loft and watched the nativity video and had a mini testimony meeting before the annual stair lineup photo and calling them intonthe living room one by one. This is the first year the sun was up for this part our 21 years of parenting! 

A fun thing this year were a couple of puzzle boxes I added to Corbin and Soren’s stockings. Soren figured his out after 30 minutes, but Corbin’s was hard! It took all morning, and once he did open it, I only had a cryptic poem leading him to the other room, where he found….

…another puzzle box! Everyone was invested in this and it made for a funny running joke all day. He finally opened the 2nd box and received gift cards for one date/month. He has already used one. Being a boy gets expensive. When my girls were dating in high school, they were the only ones with a job so they paid for their own way most of the time—-not always, but often. It truly never bothered them, but Corbin expressed often that he wanted to pay for his dates, so he REALLY loved this gift! 

Sloane and Esme got robes and sleep masks and they rotted in them alllll week. Winter break perfection. 

Reese and Logan opened their gifts over face time and we had face time/zoom calls with Willardson and most of the Lawrence families.  

Paul and HolleeAnn’s family came over and brought  cute gifts for the kids and their new puppy. 

Nappers got their Christmas nap on! 

Nephew Garrett was the recipient of the highly coveted Almond Box, and he was so deserving of it, none of us have the heart to fulfill our duty of being sore losers. Bragging rights for a year, G! Serve it well! 

Another fun story: 

Aaron found these little mystery bag items in some random store and couldn’t resist adding them to the kids stockings. Esme’s was a random emoji stuffy…but Esme didn’t understand why Santa would give her an emoji with an angry expression and $#@&! Symbols over its mouth. 😂😂😂 of all the emojis, she got the one that is cursing. Looked like this: 🤬 we told her it was to remind us NOT to use bad or unkind language. She thought this was a great idea and hung it up in place of the mistletoe in the kitchen. The older kids laughed all day about whether it meant you could* use a bad word or throw a salty insult as long as you were standing under the emoji-toe. It came down before Quincy was set apart and our home was consecrated as home MTC. 

But Sloane also got a wacky surprise in her mystery toy bag. A freaky little bendable creeper clown that was scary as heck. He even came with a little elf on the shelf type note but instead it was a haunted rhyme about how he lurks around being naughty and watching you sleep. But Sloane named him Jackie and spent the week hiding him in our beds, on the shower head, on the van steering wheel, in a shoe, and really anywhere that might give a jumpscare…and it did many times. Once freaky Jackie disappeared, we  all walked around wondering where he was hiding. He disappeared the night before Reese left and the kids suggested that perhaps he went back to the North Pole like all the Eld on the Shelf dolls do. Soren quickly pointed out that Jackie is a little jerk and 100% a South Pole Elf. Reese finally admitted to taking one for the team and eliminating him. We don’t know what that means and we are not asking. Bless the eldest daughter. This would have been unforgivable if I had done it, but Sloane couldn’t stay mad at Reese for even a minute. 

In the evening, I cooked a ham and rolls and Quincy serenaded us with one of the happiest sounds I can think of. We puzzled and ate snacks and my heart felt so full. It was a very Merry Christmas with my beautiful not-little family. 

 

Happy Birthday: Sloane turns 11

 

We celebrated Sloane Winifred’s 11th birthday on January 1st. Our New year baby had a great day filled with phone calls, a shopping date, swig, lunch at Taco Bell, and a free cookie from CFA. 

She added to her pusheen snow globe collection, received a tiny sequined cat backpack purse with a travel art pad and markers in it, a watermelon hand sanitizer spray, a couple of crafts, and a pusheen New Year’s Day t shirt. 

London S, Cousin Gigi V, Flora G, Zara G, McKenzie D, Cousin Lily M, Sister Esme, Cousin Lochlan M, and Evelyn G

For her party are had friends over for a “spa day” which was actually Reese set up at a table to gel paint their nails, 2 at a time while the rest of us played a homemade version of “Priorities.” Super fun! Then cake, some gifts, then everyone loaded into the Willy bus for a Swig run. 10 girls belting out “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters was pretty darling. The music from this movie is the new Frozen. Much like “let it go”, every little girl in the world just suddenly somehow knows all the lyrics and dance moves. Very cute. 

Happy Birthday Sloane! You are the main character and life is better and brighter with you in it! 

Sunday School 2026

Me, Ella R, Katie J, Tommy B, Anna H, Kailey S. Clara F, Ksenya H, Riley S. Missing Karina F, Seth D, and Benson R

A new year means a new Sunday school class to love! 

This year, we’ll dive into the Old Testament. This week was a “preview of coming attractions”. I had a whale, a donkey, 2 of several animals, an earth, a rock, a staff, a serpent, 20 sheckles of silver. A sword and some crisco (fat), a Barbie-turned-into salt, 10 sided dice with 10 commandments on them, a golden calf, and 2 she-bears (don’t mock prophets or bald people, folks!) for the kids to see if they knew the Bible story associated with each. They took turns storytelling and tied each story back to Jesus christ. I showed an old seminary video about a map with hole burned in it. I’m so thankful for the scriptures and what I ca. learn from them. I’m thankful to have the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price to help where doctrine is missing from Bible translations. The hole in the map was a great visual. 

These kids are fun! It’s going to be a good year.