Freshman Day 2021

 She's off!!  Keilie drove her to school this morning, which I think is seriously fun.  She was beyond nervous.  Allergies had kept her up much of the night, so she was truly exhausted before the day even began.  Her nerves were so taut, she was actually shaking, poor thing.  

Update:

She loved it.  She's still nervous for tomorrow, the actual first day of school, but she feels much better after going today.  She met a new friend, Evie, which is the entire reason I am excited for her to go in person.  I hope she meets a friend that will actually invite her to do things and enjoys spending time with her.

I cannot wait to see what this school year brings for my Shelby-girl.

First day... sort of

 I decided to do a "first day of school" picture tonight for two reasons.  1) The sun comes up on the front of our house and I didn't want them to squint into the sun, and 2) Shelby will be waking up much earlier than the boys.  So we cheated tonight and did a photo shoot.

I feel like I am at the beginning of the end.  My last three babes, my "three in three years," are all at big milestones this year.  Shelby: first year of High School, Brennon: his last year of Middle School, and Tyson: his first year of Middle School.  I just cannot believe how fast time is flying by.

Shelby will go to Freshman Day tomorrow, a day where all Freshman come to go to their classes for a few minutes to meet their teachers, get tours of the campus, have assemblies to tell them more about what to expect, and just get a feel for the place before the upper-classmen come for the first official day of 2021-2022 on Tuesday.

Brennon and Tyson decided before the end of last year that they wanted to continue at K12.  I am thrilled.  Brennon did tell me, though, that this will be his last year doing school at home.  He, like Shelby, wants to attend High School in person.  Tyson has made mention that he wants to go through K12 in High School.  We'll see after these next three years of Middle School.  Either way, I am truly excited to have my boys home with me for one more year.

After the kids' photoshoot, we went out back to play some Badminton.  My calves were on fire, so I couldn't play well, but that didn't exempt me from having a great time.  What started as a picture of me with my Mira as spectators ended with a photoshoot of my Mira.

This girl brings us so much joy.  We ended our night with "adoration hour" as we looked at her pictures.  Like my kids, I may be a bit biased, but I think she is the most beautiful creature.  

Here's to a great school year!

Keilie (18!)

 And just like that, my Keilie-kins is EIGHTEEN!!!!!

We woke her early to open presents before we left for church.

I had to giggle as they got into position and I noticed for the first time that they matched.  Totally not planned, but you know how much I love that.

Because her birthday is on a Sunday, we chose to go out for her birthday dinner during the week, on a day that she didn't work.  We went to Red Robin (she had been craving their mini corndogs) and then came home for molten lava cakes and eclairs.  Dallin joined us for the cake and ice cream, but he wasn't invited to join my token birthday picture.

I cannot believe my girl is eighteen.  Sure do love her.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KEILIE!!!!

Spokane

 While driving through Spokane to get to Montana, we'd planned to drop off the pop-tops we've been collecting for two years.  It wasn't until we got home and were unpacking before I realized we'd forgotten.  So when Randy said he wanted to do something fun with the kids, I suggested a day in Spokane.

*Side note that I don't want to forget:  It ended up being perfect that we'd planned it, because Randy accepted a new job on Friday with Permitium, a competitor to Tyler Technologies, and he needed to do a urine drug test, which isn't offered in the Tri-cities, funny enough.

This being our first time doing this, we weren't sure what it entailed, so we were pleasantly surprised to find it SO easy to drop them off.  It was semi-anti-climactic if I am being honest.  We've been saving these for two years, with multiple families from multiple states saving with us.  Any time my parents would come from Utah, any time we went to Utah or Mount Vernon, every family reunion, we'd save.  It all culminated with us walking up to the entry door and finding this drop-off box right outside.  We took the picture to remember just how many we'd collected and then simply dropped the bags into the opening.  We'd planned to be done collecting, but I think I'm going to change my mind.  We may not have changed the world with this collection, may not have donated millions of dollars to this amazing charity, but it was so easy, so effortless for the most part, that it feels almost wrong to end it.  Plus, we're used to popping the tops before recycling the rest of the can.  We'll see.  It would be a no-brainer if it was RMH Seattle.  I wonder why they don't.

After dropping them off, we headed to the mall.  We ended up finding the best toy store.  We had a blast looking around, but also finding stuff for Keilie's upcoming birthday.  We let the kids each get something they wanted.  The boys chose something Caden loved-- Metal Works.

Tyson finished his Black Pearl fairly quickly.  He said it was hard doing some of the small work, but it came together well.

Brennon, on the other hand, struggled.  He has always struggled with fine motor, ever since he was accepted into the Child Development Center's Occupational Therapy program in Casper.  He worked hard to overcome his obstacles, but he's always struggled with fine motor more than my other kids.  When his pieces, tiny and frail, weren't coming out as effortlessly as Tyson's, when his wasn't coming together as quickly, he got more and more frustrated, understandably.  When one of his pieces bent and broke as he pulled it from the sheet, he gave up entirely and actually threw it away.

Randy, unable to let him give up, told him he could do hard things.  Brennon, through tears, told him how frustrating it was to work with such tiny pieces in flimsy metal, and told him he didn't want to finish it.  Randy wouldn't listen, telling him to go get the tools, they'd work on it together. 

Randy worked to get the pieces out of the sheet metal while Brennon put it together.  Even Randy struggled to get them out without breaking them!  Slowly, it came together.  Randy encouraged and praised, Brennon concentrated and advanced.

And just like that, he conquered his frustrations and made something incredible.

I'm proud of Brennon and grateful to Randy.  Randy may have helped, but he made Brennon do all of the hard work without allowing him to give up.  It may not be the hardest challenge, but for Brennon, it was extremely difficult.  But like his three-year-old self, he didn't give up, worked hard, and astonished us all with his determination in the face of his insurmountable odds.

We'd planned to eat at the Steam Plant, a building that used to house pipes that would feed heat to the surrounding buildings.  Randy's eaten there a few times and was excited to show us the stacks.  Google said they opened at 3:00pm, so we planned to be there right at opening.  We arrived to find it not only locked but closed down for remodeling and new ownership.  Talk about disappointment.  However, luck was on our side when an owner happened to be just inside, saw us trying to enter, and allowed us entry to see the place.  Randy was right-- it is an incredible place.  Pipes, early-American gages and levers, water storage tanks with large coal ovens used to create the steam, and the 50-story stacks you can walk into.  Simply amazing.

They took down our information to email us when they opened.  I can easily see us going back.  Maybe we'll begin saving pop-tops again and celebrate another great drop-off with a meal at the Steam Plant.  Sounds like a plan to me!

Room Swap...Again...

 With Randy's new job being 90% at home, we decided to make a change in our home to better accommodate his schedule.

We moved Shelby into Brennon's room and Brennon and Tyson into Shelby's room, which is actually considered a Game Room.  Shelby, Brennon, and Tyson actually had drawn up plans for how the furniture would be arranged.  It's actually a really cool layout for two boys.  Before the night was up, they'd set up a fort...

And just like that, the room is perfect.

We plan to make a few changes, but this is how it will stay for a bit.  Randy's commute now consists of walking upstairs instead of rolling out of bed.  He actually likes it more.  I do too since I won't hear, "I have a call tomorrow at 6:00am," anymore.  Also, our room feels HUGE without all the furniture.

My goodness, I love my home so much!

Overload

 Can it get any cuter?!

Never gets old

 It will never get old seeing Randy play with his kids.

I'm the luckiest girl in the world!

Alaska

 I drove Randy to the airport for his 5:30pm flight to Alaska last night.  Steve picked him up at 11:00pm for their day of fishing fun today.

Above and Below are the same fish, can you believe it?!

They were so lucky!  They were getting calls that other boats weren't catching anything, but our boat was catching them left and right.  They were also lucky enough to see TWO of the FOUR whale breaches the captain had EVER seen!  Steve then took Randy to the airport at 3:00am for his flight home.  A whirlwind trip that was well worth the effort and price.  I am so glad Randy got to spend time with Steve!  And that I didn't have to accompany Randy fishing...

Metal-Free

 Finally, after nearly 18-months, Shelby is metal-free!!!  I am so happy for her!!!  I love that you can see her true smile now, so big and beautiful, instead of a mouth full of silver.  She has always smiled like this, it's good to see it again without blemish.  Man, I love her so much!!!!

Calling

 I was called as Primary President today.  I have known about it for two weeks now, but it didn't fully hit me until just this very morning.  I woke not really being able to breathe because my heart was beating so quickly.  As they released me from Primary Pianist and Primary Activities Leader, I was shaking so badly that it was hard to stand up when they called me.  I was shaking so badly, I could imagine coming out of my own skin!  I am overwhelmed with nerves and humble faith at this call.  So, here we go...

Play before Vacay

Ashlee and Russ came to play before we all head to Montana for a Family Reunion that we've had planned for two years.  Here are some of our adventures in play before we head out to vacay...

 McKaylee getting a cut and color for her birthday

My monkey, Everly.  I love pictures like this where we can show how little she was and how strong she was.

We did lots of swimming.  It was fun to have another little girl for Everly to play with.  Can you tell which blondie is which?

We did a sewing class with Jamie, of course!

We now have beach swim bags for all of the Burrell grandkids, since we have plans to play at the beach in Montana.

Up next: ALL the "adventures" we endured had in Montana!

Catch Me

 Because of my shin splints, Shelby and I have been doing the bike at Orange Theory instead of the treadmill.  So when I realized I'd be riding the bike for Orange Theory's challenge workout, Catch Me If You Can, I figured I'd just try my hardest to beat their time.  I didn't understand all about it, but I knew I wanted to beat the times listed for each minute, so I was simply going to peddle my heart out.

Less than a minute in, I knew I was going to kill their times.  Instead of worrying the distance for each minute, I got it into my head that I was going to make it as fast as I could to the last distance they had on the paper: 7-miles.  I made it there at 12:48.  As soon as I hit that distance, I slowed considerably, basically stopped.  I chatted with a girl for a sec, wiped my face and hands, and just caught my breath.  Not sure what else to do, I thought, "I'm not sure what to do, so I'll remember 12:48 was my time for 7-miles, and just keep going."  So I stepped up my game again and started peddling my heart out.

If you don't hit the distance by the time listed, you got off the treadmill/bike/strider and went to tell them your distance.  Next time, you try and beat that distance in addition to the challenge of beating their distance.  I should have realized then that they didn't care about that 7-miles, they just wanted me to get that by the end.  It didn't matter to me, as I felt on top of the world for beating their distance until I was sent this picture from Danielle that night...

That's me, tied for FOURTH!!!  I was a mere .2 behind 3rd, who happens to be a friend.  It was then that I felt disappointed in my performance!  Had I realized ahead of time that I should have just gone as far as I could as fast as I could, I would have had a real shot at being 3rd!!!!  I stopped!!  I wiped my hands and face and basically didn't really try to move those peddles!!!  I'm coming for you, Eric!!

So, no matter how my legs feel next time they do this challenge workout, I plan to get on that bike and peddle as far and as fast as my little legs will carry me!  I will beat my own record and hope to place in the top 3!  Challenge accepted!

Growing

 Sometimes I catch sight of my kids and think, "Man they're growing up," or "Man, they're handsome."  Tonight I thought both when I looked at my Brennon!

I still see the three-year-old that always said "next" when telling stories, but I also see the teenager that is quickly becoming a strapping young man.  I'm the luckiest girl in the world.

Float

I have always wanted to float the river.  I never did it growing up, even though I lived minutes from multiple rivers.  We never did it, despite always talking about doing it, when we lived near the Platte River in Casper for 7 years.  Today, I finally checked off a Bucket List: Float the River!

We also caught sight of three turtles, sunning themselves.  Cameron has lived here his whole life and never knew turtles were in this river.  It was fun to see them!

We had such a good time, we now want to take our kids with us.  I hope we get to it this year because I don't want them to wait until they're 40 to float the river-- it's fun!