The Leake's Week-March 13, 2022

 Hello!

The biggest news of our week is that Bridget turned 11 on Friday, her golden birthday on March 11th.  Bridget is a true light in our lives.  She remains our calm, happy, and content child.  She is flexible and easy-going, but she plans ahead and uses her time well with school work and jobs around the house.  Most nights during dinner, we ask the kids to tell us one good thing and one bad or hard thing about their day.  Bridget rarely has anything negative to say.  She loves life and all that it brings her each day.  She loves going to school.  She has loved musical practices.  She likes going to piano lessons.  And of course, she loves the farm.  She continues to amaze me at the farm.  There are a couple of things she does not really enjoy doing there like watering the chickens (the grossest job) and feeding hissing geese in a dark shed (who can blame her?!), but she doesn't complain about it!  She just buckles down and does it.  Bridget remains a wonderful sister to all her siblings and they all love playing with her.  She sometimes finds herself in the middle with Marshall begging to play with her and Rachel and Gretchen begging her to play with them.  She lives life in a seemingly effortless state.  So content.  On Thursday morning I was in line to buy tickets for the school musical and a 6th grade girl was in line behind me.  We struck up a conversation and I found out she was in Bridget's same cast.  She asked who my daughter was and when I said Bridget, her eyes lit up and she said, "Oh I love Bridget!  She is so sweet and always happy and kind."  My heart wanted to burst.  Bridget is all those things to me, and it made me so happy to know that her peers see that in her too.  When Richard and I went to bed after midnight on Friday night he said to me, "We officially have a tween daughter."  Oh gosh, I am just praying that all these good qualities of her's carry her through her teenage years.  

Bridget had a wonderful birthday.  We made sure everyone was up and ready to open presents at 7:00 am!  She got two Lego sets, two goat blankets, and a couple of new shirts.  She was delighted with each one.  She has put both Lego sets together already and as I type this, all the kids are downstairs playing Lego City with the new additions.  Bridget requested donuts and baked eggs for breakfast, but it was just a girls breakfast because Richard left for work at 7:15 and Marshall left for school at 7:30.  It was still a lot of fun though!  She was so happy to go to school that day.  She got to take five objects that would tell her class a bit more about herself.  She took a Harry Potter book, a pencil because she loves to draw, a little horse, her grand prize ribbon from the State Fair, and of course, a picture of her and Luv Bug, the goat.  :)  She also took rice krispy treats to pass out to her class.  After school, she had dress rehearsal for the musical.  She loved it!  She got home at 4:15 and her party started at 5:00.  She helped me with some of the prep work and then her friends started arriving.  She invited six girls and they all just had a really great night together.  She didn't want me to plan any games, which I was thankful for, but also a bit nervous about!  The party was from 5:00-9:30, so we had 4 1/2 hours to fill, but it went great!  The girls played games, made up games, had dinner, opened presents (she got 10 squishmellows!), had cake, watched some of a movie, and then just played and played and laughed and laughed.  It is a really, really good group of girls, and I am so thankful for that.  My parents stopped by yesterday to see her birthday haul, visit with her, and give her their gift.  I think it is safe to say she felt very loved all weekend long.  We sure love her.  

The rest of our week was not too exciting.  Here are some highlights...

On Tuesday, Richard worked from home, 5:00 pm to midnight.  Earlier that day, he had to go pick up his new home work station.  When he walked in with the biggest monitor he asked me to guess how much the monitor cost, I guessed $5000.  Wrong!  $18,000!  Yikes!  Thankfully, we did not pay for it!  He never had anything this fancy at the U!  Anyway, his workstation is in our bedroom, but I opted to try sleeping in there while he worked.  I figured if I can fall asleep at night while Richard is talking to me in bed, surely I could fall asleep with him on the other side of the room talking in a dictaphone!  Wrong again! I definitely dozed, but did not fall into a good sleep until 12:15 am!  I don't think he will have many of these shifts, but when he does, I will definitely be sleeping elsewhere!  

On Wednesday, Gretchen had Charlie over after preschool.  They were so happy to play together and had a great time imagining all sorts of things.  Marshall helped with a YM/YW service project that night.  Our ward partnered with the Bountiful Food Pantry and the YM/YW gathered the food donations from people's porches.  The bishop said today they collected 1500 lbs. of food.  

Bridget had a big day on Thursday.  School, musical practice, and then the farm.  She and I were working in the dark that night on the farm, and while I was out with her in the dark I thought to myself this is the only good thing about daylight savings time!  Hopefully our last time there in the dark for the next while!  

Aside from Bridget's birthday highlights on Friday, I worked in the Charger Store at the junior high, and as always, had a ball there!  It really is so fun.  Cooper's family was kind and had Marshall over for the afternoon and evening so Marshall wouldn't be stuck in a house full of girls.  He had so much fun with Cooper, and I am so glad they have been able to keep up this friendship.  I told Richard to go see Batman Friday night after work.  He loved it.  Oh, one other huge highlight from Friday is we have decided to fork out the big bucks and hire a company to finish our deck.  Richard and Bob have done an amazing job with the entire retaining wall and the 1/3 of the deck they replaced, but it takes SO much time, and with Richard's new job, we just didn't know how we could fit it in.  Initially, they weren't going to begin until April, but called us this week and asked if they could start.  Of course we said yes!  They will build the 1/3 of the deck Bob and Richard ripped out last spring, and then tear down and rebuild the covered portion.  We cannot wait to finally have a finished deck for this spring and summer!

Yesterday Bridget had Cambria over for most of the day.  All the girls had fun playing with her.  Marshall had an indoor game and then went straight to a birthday party at the trampoline park.  Last night, Richard and I went out to dinner with the Pitts.  I have written about them before, but it has been so long since we have seen them.  We met them in Milwaukee and then they moved out here shortly after us.  They live in the same condo complex my grandparents used to live in.  We haven't seen them in about three years and we LOVED our dinner out with them.  The kids did okay at home.  :)  Gretchen and Rachel were not thrilled with Marshall as the baby-sitter last night!  

Today the big highlight was Richard sang in church and I played the piano.  Haha!  I have not played the piano in a sacrament meeting since December 2007, so this was big.  The bishopric was asked to sing and with Richard being the ward clerk, I was recruited to play the piano.  The bishop was so kind and let me pick the hymn.  :)  They sang Where Can I Turn for Peace and despite all their grumbling at both our practices, they all did a really great job!  The bishop, Richard, and another clerk sang the second verse acapella and now the secret is out that Richard has a great singing voice, much to his dismay!  

We are headed into a crazy week.  Bridget has four musical performances.  Rachel has her first dance competition next weekend.  Anyone want to give me a make-up tutorial?!?!  Marshall has soccer.  And Richard works all weekend!  Hopefully we survive!  

Love each of you,

Richard, Jenny, Marshall, Bridget, Rachel, and Gretchen :)

The Leake's Week-March 6, 2022

 Well, February basically flew by for us in a flash.  I have a full three weeks to recap.  I think I will go person by person, starting with Richard!

Richard!  Richard's last day of work at the University of Utah was Friday, February 25th.  He took the 28th as a vacation day and started with Summit Physician Specialists on March 1st.  As February was winding down, it was a roller coaster of emotion for him as there were so many lasts for him.  Working with this person for the last time, and working with that person for the last time, last MSK section meeting (that one he was real happy about!).  The department was very kind and hosted a good-bye party for him one afternoon the week before his last.  He honestly wasn't very thrilled about this, but I told him to just soak it up and be grateful for the acknowledgement and for everyone who took time out of their day to come and talk to him and say good-bye.  In the end, I think he was happy with how it turned out and lots of fellows and residents came, which did make him so happy.  The U did put the pressure on him until the very end, and multiple people let him know, including his two bosses, that he can come back at any time.  We are pretty certain that things with SPS will work out very well, but it is nice to know if they don't, no bridges were burned at the U and they would welcome him back with open arms.  Last Friday, he had to turn in his work station and his badge.  That was hard for him.  He has worked at the U either as a fellow or as an attending for almost six years!  Richard and I planned a couple of fun things for last weekend, and those definitely helped to boost his spirits.  On Saturday, we left our kids at 3:30 and drove to Provo!  I was a tad nervous to be so far away from the kids, but I talked to my parents in advance to make sure they were going to be around and could rush to the house in case disaster struck and someone needed stitches or had a broken bone!  Thankfully, there were no injuries and the kids did GREAT, again!  Anyway, Richard and I drove down to Provo, grabbed a quick bite to eat and then went to the last home BYU basketball game, which they actually won!  It was really so much fun.  We had great seats, and I was so happy to see that they have put all new seats in the Marriott Center and they are cushioned and spaced further apart so your knees aren't hitting the chair in front of you!  I was so comfortable!  It was a fun atmosphere, and fun to be at a sporting event, with Richard, kid-free.  The kids did great at home.  I wrote them out a schedule and when we got home at 9:20, we were so happy that they had eaten dinner, showered, and the girls had all gone to bed!  Bridget and Gretchen were sound asleep and Rachel was just laying in bed.  This independence we have reached is very lovely!  On Monday morning, after we got all the kids off to school, I took Richard out to brunch at The Coffee Shop at the Little America.  I love that place, but have never been there with Richard!  It was a fun little event for us.  The only thing Richard had to do for work on Tuesday, March 1st, was meet with the scheduler for an hour just to go over some things.  Wednesday was finally the day to be in the hospital!  He felt, in his words, horribly inefficient, that day.  He has to learn a whole new pacs system, and he also read body imaging that day, something he hasn't done much of since he finished his first fellowship.  He still had a good day though, and knows that he will get faster and better.  Thursday he had a great day.  He worked at Intermountain's orthopedic center with Chris (who used to work at the U) and he got to read MSK, his beloved speciality.  Richard loved it.  The night before Richard's first day, he asked Gretchen to pick out his clothes for his first day of work.  She took this responsibility very seriously, including his socks, Hufflepuff socks from Harry Potter.  Throughout the day on his first day of work, Gretchen would ask me, "How do you think Daddy is doing at his new job?  Do you think he is okay?"  It was so sweet.  When Marshall and Bridget got home from school, they asked me repeatedly when Richard was going to be home and how I thought his day was going.  We were all cheering for him!  

Marshall!  Marshall has had a very busy three weeks.  One of his biggest events was a soccer tournament in St. George over President's Day weekend.  He was rostered on two teams for this tournament, and actually, the two teams were playing in different tournaments.  There was so much going on in St. George that weekend, it was just absolutely nuts.  For almost every meal we got, we had to wait at least an hour!  The kids were always good sports about it though, and we sure appreciated that!  Anyway, back to soccer, we drove down on Friday morning and got to our hotel just before 3:00.  We had time to unload the car and settle in and then it was off to the soccer field.  Marshall played with his coach's higher level team that night.  He played well and the team won.  On Saturday morning, Richard and Marshall went to the first game with Marshall's regular team.  Towards the end of the game, Marshall took a ball to the face, and the team lost.  Double whammy.  Marshall immediately complained of a headache and felt a bit dizzy, so we immediately became worried about a concussion.  It was major PTSD for all of us.  Marshall's coach, thankfully, had him sit out the next two games of the day, which ended up as losses for both teams.  But, Marshall did feel well enough to sit on the bench and watch the games with the teams.  We also went to a team lunch that afternoon.  The girls had so much fun running around with their soccer friends and the weather was just warm and wonderful.  As the day went on, we could tell that Marshall was just fine.  He had a small headache, which we eventually just attributed to taking a ball to the face.  He didn't show any other of his classic concussion symptoms and every time he talked, laughed, and joked around with his teammates, Richard and I breathed a little easier.  While Marshall and Richard watched the last soccer game of the day, the girls and I went back to the hotel and went swimming for over two hours.  Sunday morning we slept in, watched our sacrament meeting on YouTube, went to lunch, and then went to the cemetery to see where Richard's grandparents are buried.  When we got back to the hotel, we went swimming again, but didn't last nearly as long because the pool was so crowded!  Monday morning Marshall and I went to his main team's last game of the tournament.  I prayed and prayed that entire game that the ball would never find Marshall's head!  And even though he did a header, much to my chagrin, that was his only encounter.  Marshall played absolutely great and his team won, but it was not enough to keep them in the tournament.  Marshall felt good during that game, and decided that he wanted to stay and finish out the tournament with the other team.  He and Richard had a quick turnaround to get to that game and they won, which is exactly what they needed to do to make it to the championship game.  After that game, we had lunch at the hotel, packed up, loaded the car, and checked out of the hotel.  We got to the field almost an hour before warm-ups, but the girls were able to play on the playground before the storm rolled in and they had a great time.  The team ended up losing, but it was still fun to be there and cheer them on.  We got on the road at 6:00 pm, and due to bad weather earlier in the day and a mass exodus of people leaving St. George, we made it home just after 1:00 am.  It was miserable.  We stopped in Beaver to make everyone go to the bathroom and fill up with gas because we knew we were going to hit the worst of it, and we were exactly right.  After getting back on I-15, it took us 1 hour and 40 minutes to go 13 miles.  So, so slow.  It took us five hours to get home from Beaver.  What a night.  The kids all fell asleep right about 10:00, slept the rest of the way home and then just fell into their beds as soon as we got home.  Richard and I just unloaded the suitcases and then fell into bed ourselves about 1:30 am.  Poor Richard had to wake up at 5:30 am to go to work.  What a weekend.  So nuts.  

In other Marshall news, he has enjoyed going swimming with the deacons and teachers in the ward.  He and Richard also went to the symphony to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.  They loved it.  On February 25th, Marshall competed in the District STEM Fair.  He missed school that day and was just up in Layton at the fair.  I dropped him off at 8:30 that morning and throughout the day he presented to three different judges.  He was finally excused at about 2:00, but he was invited to come back that evening at 6:00 pm for the award ceremony.  Marshall and I drove back up to Layton that night for that.  In his category of engineering, he placed 2nd in the entire district!  It was so fun to be there and cheer for him.  He has the option to go on to the region STEM fair.  We checked into it a few days ago, and he has decided to pass, which is completely fine by me!  It is 100% virtual, which is lame, and he would have to completely re-do his powerpoint and make a video.  No thanks.  We sure are proud of him though.  With both the school and district competitions he had to navigate new and stressful situations, and he has handled it well.  Marshall's last two Saturdays have been filled with indoor soccer games with his main team, and he's having a lot of fun with that.  

Bridget!  Bridget's afternoons and evenings have consisted of school musical practice, piano, horseback riding, and working on the farm, solo!  The musical is in two weeks, she has her lines down perfectly, loves her costume, and cannot wait to perform.  Their first full dress rehearsal in costume is this Friday, on her birthday, and she is honestly SO excited this is how she gets to spend the afternoon of her birthday.  She has really been loving horseback riding the last couple of weeks.  She is working on doing figure 8s around barrels and has loved that.  Two weeks ago she rode bareback and said that the horse kept her so warm with its body heat and thick winter coat.  And speaking of animals, she has had a few more nights at the farm milking and feeding the animals.  I always go with her, but she does almost all the work.  She is just in heaven there.  More baby goats are expected on the farm this week, so that will be fun.  She is getting better at milking all on her own, she doesn't leave quite as exhausted!  She continues to amaze me with how committed she is to the farm, she does not shy away from the hard and gross work, and she just does such a good job.  I have been able to have some fun moments with her these last couple of weeks.  I helped with her class Valentine party and did a few minute-to-win-it games with the kids.  Bridget was in the most darling group of girls.  I cannot say the same for the other group of girls that rotated through-mean ones!  Gretchen wanted to come with me for the party instead of staying home with Richard and I think she instantly regretted her choice!  I think she was quite overwhelmed with the volume and energy of a bunch of 5th graders!  Bridget's teacher, who was also Marshall's 5th grade teacher, and I absolutely adore her, was so attentive to Gretchen while I was running the games.  Mrs. Crowley and I are both crossing our fingers she gets to teach Rachel and Gretchen.  She is a gem of a teacher.  Anyway, the party was great, but we all agreed it felt so weird to have a holiday party at school on a Monday, it kind of threw my girls off for the rest of the day!  Last week I put on my big girl pants and went on a field trip with the 5th grade.  They were visiting the capital and the only reason I agreed to go is because they said they didn't have room for parents on the bus so we would have to drive ourselves to the capital and meet the kids there.  Well, two days before the field trip I was informed that they decided to use two buses and so they wanted all the parents on the bus!  Ahhh!!!  25 minutes of straight singing, screaming, laughing and yelling from 5th graders on a bus is not how I would ever choose to spend my afternoon!  The capital itself was really neat though, and almost made the bus ride worth it.  :)  Once we arrived, they put all the 5th graders from our school in the old supreme court justice room and we were able to hear from three representatives.  They each did a great job with the kids and it was actually really neat to listen to them.  After that, they divided us into three groups for a tour and then within our smaller chaperoned groups, we went on a scavenger hunt.  That was really fun to be with Bridget and her friends; it is such a good group of girls.  Bridget and her friend, Avery, decided ahead of time to wear the exact same outfit (thank you Old Navy).  They were two cute girls strolling through the capital.  Bridget participated in the school spelling bee last week as well.  She was so nervous, afterward she told me she was shaking like Ziggy when he is scared, full body shakes!  Because of Covid, they only allowed parents to watch on Zoom, which was so lame.  When she got out, I just wanted to run down to the school and give her a huge hug.  It just about killed me.  She told me she was relieved to be out and very much enjoyed just sitting and watching all the other spellers!  The day after we got home from St. George at 1:00 am, she was the only child in our family to go to school.  She set her alarm for 7:30, and got herself already to go.  Bless her soul!  

Rachel!  Rachel is currently composing her own song for the last semester of her Let's Play Music class.  For the last several weeks, she has been working on little assignments that lead up to her creating her own composition.  It has made it all seem very doable!  Two weeks ago, she met with her teacher one-on-one, and Rachel played some little motifs for her that she had composed, and her teacher helped her string it together in a song!  She has LOVED playing it at home.  I think she has some more to add, and then she is done!  Other than that, she is our dancing queen.  She had a dress rehearsal for her competition dance last week.  She was so excited to get to take her costume to dance.  I bought all the make-up this week that she needs for that, and survived that stressful trip, now I just need a serious make-up tutorial because I have NO idea how to do eye make-up!  Rachel, of course, is enamored by all of this.  She is currently reading a book on Michelle Obama for a school report and it has been fun reading that with her in the evenings.  

Gretchen!  Gretchen's biggest highlight of the last few weeks happened just yesterday.  One thing we gave her for Christmas was tickets to Disney on Ice with Richard.  She was SO excited about this on Christmas, but as the event got closer, she was adamant she would only go with me!  We made the conscious choice to not bring up Disney on Ice for the last three weeks.  Marshall, being Marshall, spilled the beans to her on Friday night, so we almost made it before she fell apart all over again!  She has been funny lately.  She gets fixated on something, and it could be anything, and if it is not going how she wants she has a huge breakdown.  Youngest child, maybe???  Anyway, you just kind of have to ride her emotions with her, and eventually, the problem resolves and she goes back to being happy and delightful and that is exactly what happened yesterday.  I got her ready to go yesterday morning all while she was sobbing, just sobbing.  I snuggled with her, sang songs, she snuggled Ziggy, and then I put her in the car crying and off they went.  But just as we suspected, she calmed down and had a great time with Richard and LOVED Disney on Ice.  She has been telling me all about it since she got home and can't wait to go again!  She loved Tinkerbell, Aurora, and of course, Elsa, Anna, and Olap, as she says it.  Other highlights for the little bear cub:  playdates with Charlie, Genevieve, Cal and Chase.  In St. George, Bridget reluctantly shared a bed with Gretchen on our first night and then discovered that she loved it because Gretchen is a snuggly bear cub.  For the next two nights Bridget and Rachel fought over who got to sleep with Gretchen.  :)  

Me!  A couple of weeks ago, I had lunch with my dear friend Mary.  We have been friends since 5th grade, and even though she only lives 20 minutes away, it has been far too long since we have seen each other.  We had a great lunch visit catching up with each other, and while it was not nearly long enough, it was still wonderful.  A week ago Saturday, I went to brunch with Shannon and Tamra for their birthdays.  It was so fun to celebrate them and I am so grateful for friendships that span decades.  We went to a place I had never been called Roots and it was completely delicious.  Thursday night I went to our RS birthday party.  It was a wonderful evening and we did a favorite things gift exchange.  I lucked out and walked away with some of my favorite things, a notebook and two pens!  Yay!  On Friday night I went to book club-the neighborhood book club that I organized!  It was a huge success and it just made me so happy.  I love the women in my neighborhood and I am so glad this book club has been so well received.  My biggest hope is that it will just continue to strengthen friendships, and so far, it seems to be doing just that!  Marshall said a funny thing to me yesterday and it just cracked me up.  As I was driving him to soccer he asked how book club went.  He then told me he thought I should commission an oil painting of myself, frame it, and insist it be displayed at every book club meeting with a plaque under it that says, "Our Founder".  Oh, I was dying of laughter, while also really liking this idea!  Haha!  I have been missing Richard this week.  His last few months working at the U were so laid back because he had zero academic responsibilities.  We were just coasting along!  This new schedule is nothing we can't handle, and still an improvement over the years of training, but just different from the last few months.  

Okay, well, that was a long, long email.  Bless any of you who made it this far.  Here's to March!

Love each of you.

Richard, Jenny, Marshall, Bridget, Rachel, and Gretchen :)

Oh, I can't forget, Bridget and Rachel have taught Ziggy how to shake.  It makes us laugh every single day.  

The Leake's Week-February 13, 2022

 Hello!

Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow!  Several years ago, when Rachel was a baby, we developed some Valentine traditions that have stuck, and it is honestly one of my most favorite holidays to celebrate as a mom and as a family.  I could do without the Valentine boxes for school, but I also realized this year that those are fleeting years as it is only an elementary school tradition!  I am equal parts relieved and sad that Marshall doesn't need to do a box or put together Valentines to pass out.  Time flies!  

Here's a rundown of our week...

Monday was a pretty basic day.  All the kids went off to school and Richard worked from home 4:00 pm-8:00 pm, not a bad workday.  :)  He did have some training for his new job that morning.  One more thing done and one step closer.  Marshall and Bridget had piano lessons on Monday.  They are both really enjoying their new teacher and I can already tell that in one month's time, they have made loads of progress.  What is even better though, is that Marshall, specifically, is back to playing the piano for fun, which makes me so happy.  And speaking of Marshall and music, he can sing the entire song "We Don't Talk About Bruno".  He is on pitch, and catches all the little phrases and does a great job!  He had to register for 8th grade this week and I tried to talk him into adding choir on top of band, but he didn't even entertain the idea!  Sometimes I catch him in these moments of movement and song, and I remind him that music and dance are just ready to burst out of him and to stop repressing it!  He is a musically talented kid, so even if he isn't in choir, I am still glad he is currently playing the piano and the clarinet!  

Tuesday Richard returned to work and Gretchen and I spent our day at home catching up on life and playing games.  Her little voice, gosh I love her.  Bridget stayed after school for musical practice and that evening Rachel had dance.  

On Wednesday, Bridget had horseback riding.  She is working on doing figure 8s with the horse and is loving it.  Rachel went to dance.  Marshall had a YM activity; they played Minute to Win It games and he had a lot of fun.  

Thursday morning, thanks to Richard and Stacie, I had a really fun morning!  Stacie and I went out for brunch at Sweet Lake Biscuits and gosh it was delicious.  I had been there once before and it was even better than I remembered!  I got a raspberry limeade and I am still thinking about it.  Both Stacie and I ordered the eggs benedict served on their homemade biscuits.  So flavorful, soft on the inside, slightly crunchy on the outside.  Just divine.  It was so great catching up with Stacie.  After brunch, we went to Trader Joe's and bought whatever the heck we wanted!  We left with beautiful fresh tulips, some personal/family favorites, and some new things!  It was a great, great morning with her.  Richard and Gretchen had their own fun morning.  Richard and Gretchen also went to brunch at Chick-Fil-A, and ran errands for me.  :)  I definitely got the better end of the deal.  After school, Bridget had musical practice again and Marshall went to soccer practice for both teams and played 2 1/2 hours of soccer.  He was tuckered out when he got home!  Bridget had to milk at the farm that night, her first time milking on her own.  I went with her, since it was dark, and also for moral support, but I made it perfectly clear to her that I would NOT be milking.  Gag!  She had to milke five goats that night.  One was super easy and she finished her in probably five minutes.  The other four goats are brand new first time moms and were quite a bit harder!  Bridget worked and worked and laughed and made her own little goat sounds and one hour later she was finally done!  My job was to refill the grain bins as those hungry goats were being milked.  I could definitely handle that!  Bridget came home exhausted that night, showered, and then promptly fell asleep in her bed!  

Friday morning, after getting all the kids off to school, I ran a few errands and dropped Ziggy off at doggy-day care.  We are going to St. George next weekend for soccer and so Ziggy will make his return to this place.  Since he hadn't been since the summer, I dropped him off for a five hour practice.  He seemed equal parts excited and nervous when I dropped him off, but he fared well during those five hours!  I worked in the Charger Store at the junior high and had fun as always, I really do love it.  Rachel went off to activity days right after school.  They made homemade suckers and frosted sugar cookies and she had a great time.  Bridget went to a farm activity at the Garlick's where they played goat jeopardy, she was so excited!  I took Marshall to his indoor soccer game that afternoon.  Marshall's team is made up of boys born in 2008, but in this indoor league, they are playing mostly 2006 and 2007 teams.  The boys have played well, but they haven't won a single game.  On Friday, at the end of the first half it was 0-3, with the other team ahead.  But, our team came out in the second half and dominated the first 15 minutes.  Within minutes it was tied at 3-3, and then we scored again to make it 4-3.  By this point, there were just 5 minutes left, and the other team kept the ball on our side pretty much solid for the last five minutes.  They had shot after shot and it was a combination of defensive skill, good luck, and pure madness, but the other team didn't get a single ball in and we pulled off a win 4-3!  Marshall was one of the defenders for those last several minutes, and it was intense!  Once everyone was home from all their activities and Richard was home from work, we made dinner for the kids and then Richard and I left!  We stepped into a new realm of parenthood with older kids and we were gone for 4 1/2 hours!  We left them a list of specific things to do, with the last one being going to bed!  When we got home at 10:15, we were completely shocked and thrilled to see that all three girls had gone to bed and Marshall was on the couch watching "The Mandalorian".  Our prediction was that Bridget would be the only one asleep, so it was a real win!  Not only did the kids surpass our expectations, our night out did as well.  We grabbed a quick dinner at Cubby's and then went to the symphony, Bravo to Broadway.  We bought these tickets months ago and I don't know if I never knew or if I just forgot, but it was more than just the symphony.  The Utah Opera was there as well as three Broadway performers, and it was stellar.  They did multiple selections from The Sound of Music and Oklahoma, and those were my favorite.  They also sang songs from South Pacific, Carousel, The King and I, and others I know I am forgetting.  The music was largely focused on Rodgers and Hammerstein, but they also featured a couple other composers.  One of the men who sang is the longest running Phantom on Broadway.  The woman who sang is from England and has performed as Mary Poppins on Broadway and in London and has personally been asked by Queen Elizabeth to perform for her three times!  It was just an amazing evening, and I cried twice.  Such beautiful music and beautiful talent.  

Saturday morning was spent running errands and getting jobs done.  After lunch, Richard and I took Marshall to Centerpoint to see "The Play That Goes Wrong".  Richard and I saw this play in New York and loved it, it is a hilarious comedy!  When we found out that Centerpoint was doing it, we bought tickets and decided to take Marshall too.  Marshall was not overly thrilled that we were forcing him to leave the house on a Saturday afternoon, and deep down, he liked the play, but outwardly he tried extra hard to keep a scowl on his face.  Teenagers!  We did catch some laughter and gasps from him as well as some smiles.  :)  Richard and I were pleasantly surprised at how well they did for a community theater!  It really was so well done, and if you have the chance to see it ever, I highly recommend it!  Last night, Bridget had Cambria over for a late night.  We got pizza for the girls and they played and played.  I really don't think Bridget and Cambria ever stopped running!  

Today has been a good day.  It is so warm today, which I am loving, but also makes me very nervous about Utah's drought conditions this summer.  The kids played outside for a good portion of the afternoon after church.  My parents dropped by for a visit this afternoon and it was so good to see them.  Tonight we had our annual candlelight Valentine's dinner, a tradition we have had since 2014.  I appreciated Marshall's willingness to step away from the Superbowl!  

Alright, that is it!  I was not great at taking pictures this week.  I will make up for it this coming week though...I hope!  

Love,

Richard, Jenny, Marshall, Bridget, Rachel, and Gretchen :)

The Leake's Week-February 7, 2022

 Hello All!  Happy Monday.  We are coming off a busy weekend, hence the Monday email, but I did not want two weeks to escape me without one!  So here we are.  It is February!  I am not one who detests January, so when we flipped our calendars on Tuesday, I was a bit in shock that the first month in 2022 is already behind us.  Time flies.  Speaking of time flying, here is what has occupied us this last week...

Last Monday, Richard had the day off because he had worked the weekend.  It was great to have him around in the morning, I am pretty sure he ran errands for me.  Bless him.  I hate running errands, and I am so happy to have married someone who loves to do it!  The kids all went off to school for the first time in a week, all masked, because we were still in our ten day Covid window, but they were all happy to be returning to school.  Monday afternoon, Richard went and got his new Intermountain ID badge and went to training for his new job.  It is getting real!  We were able to have dinner as a family and then Marshall went off to soccer practice.  

Tuesday, Richard was at home again...I will say, this will be an adjustment when he starts his new job in March!  Between the ever-changing pandemic and work schedule and the fact that he no longer has any academic responsibilities, we have gotten real spoiled with having him around a lot more than he is gone.  March is going to bring a very different reality in some ways!  Gretchen had Genevieve over to play that morning and was in heaven.  She was so happy that Richard could finally meet her!  Rachel was able to return to dance that night after missing all the previous week.  She was so happy to be back.  I have a goal to do puzzles this year.  I am trying to slow down my life some and practice sitting and being, and I feel like a puzzle is a good way to do that!  Tuesday evening I pulled out a puzzle that we bought for Christmas when we still lived in Wisconsin and we had never opened it.  Never.  This tells you how long I have been trying to slow my life down.  Haha!  It is just a 300 piece Mickey Mouse puzzle made out of emojis.  It was a great starter puzzle for us.  We started it on Tuesday evening and had it finished by Friday evening.  Bridget was quite taken with it, and she even involved Gretchen.  It was fun to just have it set up in our big family room and people could spend time on it whenever.  On to a new one this week!  

On Wednesday, Richard finally returned to work after not being in the hospital for a week and a half!  I think he was happy to go back.  :)  The kids all went to school, and I was alone, for the first time in days.  I celebrated by running errands.  Gag.  Marshall and Bridget had piano lessons that afternoon, Rachel had dance that evening, and Marshall went to a YM activity.  

Just a note about Marshall here that I want to be sure to record.  On Thursday, Marshall participated in the school STEM fair.  Marshall and Richard had been working on his STEM project since the beginning of the school year.  His project was due for class in January and he had to put together a powerpoint presentation and write notecards for his presentation in class.  He did a great job and his teacher selected him, along with a handful of other students from her 7th grade honors science classes to move onto the school STEM fair.  In preparation for that, he had to print off his powerpoint and arrange the slides on a big board that would be displayed.  He went into school early two Wednesdays in a row to work on this and this last Wednesday he also had to stay after school.  He texted me to let me know he would be staying late, and then about 4:00 he told me to come pick him up.  He walked out of the school with his big board and told me he needed to finish up two things at home.  On our drive home, he told me that he was so stressed out that morning at school about getting everything ready that he thought about texting me to tell me he was too stressed out and didn't want to do the fair.  But, he said he just kept working, and then realized he didn't have that much left to do, and that he could do it and the more he did, the better he felt.  Now, if you know Marshall well, you know this is HUGE.  One, he chose not to run away from a stressful situation.  Two, he recognized that his stress dissipated as he kept working and stayed in it.  And third, he was able to put words to all of this and articulate it to me.  Boom!  HUGE!  And on top of that, he came home from school, worked on homework until piano, came home, had dinner, went to YM, and then came home and did more homework and finished his board.  He never freaked out.  Another win!  I took him to school on Thursday morning so he didn't have to navigate the bus with his big board.  He had to pack nice clothes to change into at school, and while I could tell his emotions were a bit elevated that morning, he kept himself in check.  All the 7th and 8th graders who were participating in the fair were excused a bit early from their last period class so they could change into nice clothes and get their boards set up.  Judging began at 3:15 and was only supposed to last an hour, but it lasted until 4:50.  During that time, the students had to stand by their project and present to the four judges who came around individually and asked questions.  My Mom was so kind and really helped out that day by picking up McDonalds for Marshall and taking it over to the junior high for him.  She got there at 4:30 and kindly waited until he was excused from the gym.  She said at 4:50, the students came bursting out of the gym yelling, "Freedom!"  Haha!  Marshall was over the moon about McDonalds, even though it was hardly warm!  Richard and I got over to the junior high at 5:30 when they opened up the STEM fair to everyone.  We found Marshall in good spirits, still very happy about his McDonalds dinner!  We walked around and looked at all the projects and my parents also came at 5:45.  At 6:00, they gathered everyone together and gave awards for the top 3 7th grade projects and top 8th grade projects.  Marshall won 2nd place for the 7th grade and moves onto the district STEM fair the end of February!  We are so thrilled for him with this accomplishment, but even more thrilled with how well he handled everything leading up to it, especially Wednesday and Thursday.  It shows such huge growth in him, and that is the biggest payday.  

Okay, onto the rest of our Thursday.  On Thursday morning Richard gave his last lecture to the residents.  It was definitely bittersweet for him.  The thing he will miss the most about leaving the U is his interaction and teaching the trainees.  On the flipside though, he will not miss staffing them out on the weekends and early morning hours and fixing their mistakes!  That afternoon I baby-sat a crawling baby boy.  Ziggy was stressed out of his mind.  Literally.  It was equal parts sad and hilarious.  After school, I went to music class with Rachel.  After dropping her off at home, we left Bridget in charge of doing dinner for herself and her sisters and then Richard and I went to the junior high.  Bless Bridget.  She is so reliable and fed everyone and did a great job.  

Friday afternoon, Cambria walked home from school with the girls.  Gretchen might have been more excited about this than Bridget!  Gretchen was literally counting down the minutes until those girls walked in the door.  They are always so kind to involve Gretchen and everyone had fun.  The girls created an entire farm in the big family room and they ran wild with their imaginations until dinner time.  Rachel went and played with Sara for a couple of hours that afternoon.  Marshall was on a roll and came home from school, did his homework, practiced the piano, and did some jobs.  I was in shock.  After dinner, some of us watched the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics and the younger girls watched another show.  Just before 8:00, I dropped Marshall off at a friend's house for night games and I went to my Foxboro book club.  It was great catching up with those women, eating a most delicious chocolate mousse and of course, discussing the book.  :)  It is actually one of my favorites that I have listened to three times now.  Tell Me More by Kelly Corrigan.  Great little gems of life's lessons in there.  

Saturday morning was spent sleeping in, thankfully!  After breakfast, the kids semi got going on jobs.  Marshall went to Hayden's birthday party that afternoon from 12:00-2:00 and had a great time there.  It was all boys, except one girl.  When I picked Marshall up I teased him about it being his first boy/girl party.  He was hilarious.  He threw his head back and rolled his eyes and said, "Mom, stop!"   An epitome of a classic teenage moment right there.  Richard had to work from home on Saturday and I squeezed in a walk with Ziggy and a nap on the couch before going to the farm with Bridget.  She was assigned to feed the animals that evening, and to speed things up, I went with her.  Six new baby goats have been born and are now old enough to be outside. She was so happy to see them, and I will say, they are darling.  If I knew they would stay that small and fluffy and cute, I would finally give in to Bridget's begging for a goat.  But, I now know the strength and stubbornness of adult goats and I have ZERO interest in that!  Bridget did great at the farm, and I even handled it better than two weeks ago, I wasn't quite as disgusted.  :)  Speaking of Bridget and animals though, on Saturday morning we paid the kids allowance and helped them figure out their tithing and savings.  In doing this, Bridget discovered that she actually has a hefty sum of money in her wallet.  That immediately got her wheels turning and she honestly spent all morning begging me for a mouse, rat, hamster, gerbil, vole, ferret, and pretty much every other rodent under the sun.  It was exhausting.  I kept trying to tell her that Ziggy is one hundred times better than any rodent and way more fun, but it was hours before she let up.  

Saturday night was one for the books.  For Christmas, we gave Marshall, Bridget, and Rachel tickets to go see Hamilton with me.  We were supposed to see it in January, but too many people in the cast ended up with Covid, so it was postponed until now.  I am so glad it still worked out for me to take them!  They appeased me and stood in line so we could take our picture with the Hamilton backdrop behind us and then we found our seats.  We were on the third to last row of the highest balcony, so far away, but we were right in the center.  It was phenomenal.   Marshall and Bridget were captivated the entire time.  The show didn't start until 8:00, and I was a little worried about how Rachel would do.  She did love it, but she fell asleep and was out cold halfway through the second half.  She did love it while she was awake though and I had to silence her singing a handful of times!  The man who played Hamilton was stellar and I loved the actor for Aaron Burr.  I did not love the Aaron Burr Richard and I saw in New York, so I was pleased this guy did such an amazing job.  The Room Where it Happens remains one of my favorites-it is amazing!  So, to sum it up, it was a great evening out and a fun adventure with my three oldest.  Richard also had a great night.  Months ago he bought tickets for the BYU Gonzaga basketball game.  When Hamilton ended up falling on the same night, he invited Ricky to go with him.  He had bought seats way up high, but an hour before he left, the guy who we refinanced our mortgage with months ago gave Richard two tickets to the game, free of charge, on the 7th row, right behind the BYU bench.  Richard was so happy!  The good seats and his evening with Ricky overshadowed the terrible BYU loss.  We all pulled in just after 11:30 and said a huge thank you to my parents who had come to stay with the little Bear Cub.  

Sunday was a day of church and all of us being excessively tired!  Ha!  Richard also had church meetings and then worked from home a good chunk of the day.  We had a delightful evening though.  We invited Xavier and Madie over for dinner.  We know Xavier from the Milwaukee City Branch.  We hadn't seen them since the summer of 2020, so this visit was long overdue.  They are about to have their first baby so we are so grateful we could catch up with them.  It was just great to have them over.  

I have to end with two cute things Gretchen has said.  The other day she asked me, "Are pigs made out of meat?"  And today, before she got dressed, she asked, "What is the degree like today?"  It cracked me up.  

Alright, that is it!  Love to each of you!

Love,

Richard, Jenny, Marshall, Bridget, Rachel and Gretchen :)

The Leake's Week-January 30, 2022

Hello!

It has been an eventful two weeks in the Leake household.  We have spent A LOT of time together, thank you Covid, and I am just praying for a "normal" week for us next week...but what is even normal anymore?!  I will start with this week, and then backtrack to last week, which did have happier moments in it.  :)  

First, I will start with something positive!  Richard had to work last weekend, Saturday and Sunday, but it was his last weekend of call shifts at the U!  He is well underway with his credentialing and everything that needs to be done before he starts his new job on March 1st!  We have his work schedule through May, which is so nice to have!  He is getting his ID badge tomorrow and finishing some more training he needs to do for Intermountain.  It is exciting!  Also, he has worked from home so much the last three weeks, that I think it will be less of a drastic change for him as he transitions from academic medicine to private practice.  

Okay, onto the adventures of our week...

Last Monday I kept Gretchen home from preschool.  She had a bit of a cold, we had not tested her for Covid, but she is currently having to wear a mask to preschool because every week it seems someone else in her preschool class tests positive for Covid.  My kids really dislike wearing a mask when they have a cold (who can blame them?!) so I opted to just keep her home.  Well, on Tuesday morning, I woke Rachel up for school, and listened to her sniff, sniff, sniff.  She was SO congested.  After listening to her just while we read scriptures, I took her temperature, no fever, and then spent the next 15 minutes convincing her to stay home.  She begged me not to stay home, but she was also not real inclined to get off the couch and start getting ready for school.  Eventually, I persuaded her, and spur of the moment, at 8:15, we decided to give her a Covid test.  We have taken no less than 20 of these home rapid Covid tests since the fall and we have never gotten a positive.  Well, less than 15 minutes later, we looked at her test and were shocked, completely shocked, when it was blatantly positive.  Covid finally found us.  Tuesday was kind of a whirl of emotion.  Because we are all fully vaccinated, the rest of us could keep going about our lives, with a mask on, as long as we felt healthy.  Marshall and Bridget were good sports about wearing masks at school.  Once Rachel tested positive, we just assumed Gretchen also had it.  I woke up not feeling great on Tuesday, and chalked it up to being tired, and then when Rachel tested positive, I thought I might have it too!  Richard and I both took home Covid tests that morning, and both came back negative.  Sweet Rachel, though not terribly sick, really did not feel good on Tuesday.  She never had a fever, never coughed, she was just so congested and was very tired.  I tried, and failed, to try and get her to do some school work, but she was really quite out of it.  We did have zoom parent teacher conference for her at 4:00, and she just kind of leaned on me and nodded her head yes or no when needed.  :)  At 7:00 pm, she said she wanted to go to bed, so we just had all the girls head up and get ready for bed.  After several minutes of waiting for Rachel to come out of her room, I walked in to check on her.  I found her in pajamas, but laying on her closet floor.  She was SO tired!  So I picked her up, carried her to the bathroom, brushed her teeth, and then sat her on the floor up in our little hallway so I could comb through the mass of tangles in the back of her hair.  Well, something happened to her while I was combing her hair, and within minutes she was talking to Bridget, and then she asked if she could play with the girls, and then at 7:45 she wanted more dinner and by 8:00 she was running and leaping all over the house.  It was crazy!  She slept great that night, and woke up still somewhat congested on Wednesday, but still brimming with energy.  And that sums up how she has spent her five days in quarantine!  One day of feeling crummy and four days of bouncing off the walls.  She was really good about getting her school work done Wednesday-Friday, practicing piano, playing with Gretchen, and watching loads of TV!

On Wednesday, Gretchen and Rachel set up a train in our big family room.  It was really so cute.  They made tickets for each of us and could not wait for Marshall and Bridget to come home from school.  The elementary school had early out Wednesday-Friday, so Bridget was home just after 1:30 on Wednesday.  The train was set up and ready to go.  We each had our tickets and Rachel and Gretchen took our tickets one at a time, punched a hole in it, and showed us to our seats.  Rachel took all of our orders for food, and was happy to make any food request.  Gretchen was the conductor and kept the ride exciting with lots of downhills and tunnels.  It was honestly so darling.  We repeated all of this at 3:15 when Marshall got home.  He was a real good sport about it and it was fun to have our entire family, and Ziggy, on the train.  :)  After this magical train ride, we decided to test Marshall for Covid because he had been a bit sniffly that day.  Sure enough, positive.  He was THRILLED.  Anything to have school at home!  Funny story though, a couple of weeks ago, Richard bought some more heavy duty masks for his own use.  Wednesday morning, Marshall asked Richard if he could wear one of those masks to school.  Richard said yes, and gave Marshall a new mask.  Marshall tried it for a few minutes before he left for school and hated it.  He complained that it was too thick, that it felt weird, it was tight, etc.  We reminded him that we weren't making him wear that mask and that he could just wear one of his regular masks to school.  Well, that afternoon, when he tested positive, for the most faintest of sniffles, he found that mask and wore it until Friday night!  He only took it off to eat and sleep!  He was committed to that thing.  

For work, Richard was required to get a rapid test and a PCR test on Thursday or Friday.  Since I woke up on Wednesday still not feeling great, I scheduled a PCR test for myself on Thursday.  Richard and I took Bridget to school on Thursday morning and then went to the Farmington Clinic to do that.  I was convinced, absolutely convinced that I had Covid.  I really had not felt well Tuesday and Wednesday, and slept a lot, especially on Wednesday.  By Thursday I was feeling better, but went ahead with the test.  We both got our results Friday evening and they both came back negative!  I was relieved, but also confused!  I found myself doubting the accuracy of every single Covid test our family had taken that week.  I am still wondering if how I felt earlier in the week was like a psycho-somatic response, or if I was sick with something else?!?!  I cannot believe that after breathing the same air as Rachel and touching all the things she touches that Richard and I didn't get sick.  I wonder now if Gretchen ever really had Covid.  Did Bridget ever get it?!  Ahhh!!!  The questions are endless.  I sure am grateful for our health, but when Rachel tested positive on Tuesday I was certain that it would just rip through all of us, and I was almost relieved Covid had finally found us.  But now I feel like we will return to life tomorrow and we still get to worry if every cough, sneeze, and headache is Covid!  Ah!  

One big perk to having some of us in quarantine this week is that our evenings were suddenly very open!  With dance and soccer off our calendars, we got everyone to bed early every night and also enjoyed time together.  Richard could tell I was losing my mind on Thursday though.  After I escaped for an afternoon walk with the dog, and a late afternoon trip to Target, Richard told me to go get myself some dinner and take even more time away from the house.  I sure appreciated that!  He and the kids made pancakes at home and I drove around, listened to a fascinating podcast and got myself dinner at Kneader's and isolated myself to a very unoccupied corner.  It was lovely.  

Friday night we had pizza for dinner and Richard and I finally watched Encanto with the kids.  That music has been playing almost non-stop in our house since Christmas and it was fun to finally see the movie!  It was so good.  I loved it.  And it made me love the music even more!  

Yesterday morning, since Richard and I knew we didn't have Covid, we snuck out for a morning date.  We drove up to Layton and got breakfast at Sill's Cafe.  We have been hearing about this place for a long time, and it did not disappoint.  It was delicious!  We each got our own breakfast, and then split a scone.  That scone was huge, and so good and loaded with honey butter.  Yum.  Last night, Bridget and Richard drove down to Provo and went to the BYU men's volleyball game and I stayed home with the kids who were still in quarantine.  :)  Richard and Bridget had Waffle Love for dinner and then had a fun time at the game, which BYU won!  At home, the other kids and I had dinner and then I introduced them to Sister Act!  Marshall and Rachel had their reservations, but then ended up loving it!  

A couple of other things from the week...

Bridget and Rachel both had parent teacher conferences.  They both got glowing reports from their teachers.  Rachel made another huge jump in reading, and I am just so proud of her and grateful for her continued progress.  Bridget had her first play practice for her role as Carlotta on Thursday and had the best time.  She has had other rehearsals, but they have been for the chorus.  She memorized her lines for Carlotta a couple of weeks ago, and was so happy to finally rehearse them with the cast!  She loved it.

Okay, jumping back to the previous week, I will just touch on the highlights...

The kids didn't have school Monday and Tuesday and Richard didn't have work.  On Monday morning, we picked up my Mom and drove up to Midway to go to the Ice Castles!  I have been wanting to go there since we moved to Utah and we finally made it happen!  We got there right when it opened at 11:00 am and the sky was a gorgeous blue.  We got some amazing pictures right at the beginning with the blue hues in the ice and bright blue sky right behind us.  It really was so cool to see the natural colors of the ice during the daylight.  It got more overcast as the morning went on, so I am really glad we had the first hour or so with the blue sky.  It was so neat to walk around and explore.  There was a gorgeous fountain, slides, an amazing tunnel to walk through, as well as so many different passage ways.  One had a cathedral ceiling and it was just amazing.  The icicles were so cool!  So many different formations.  There was also a big ice chair that Rachel found that we had fun sitting in and taking pictures.  We dressed really warm, and we all wore boots, but the ground was a little tricky to walk on.  It was snow and ice chunks, but the snow wasn't packed down, so it wasn't easy to walk through.  Gretchen, who was so excited to go to the ice castles and even wore her Elsa shirt, did not like walking around.  She has never liked walking on uneven terrain, and this was the epitome of uneven!  That definitely soured her enthusiasm and even though she started having more fun at the end, we listened to a lot of complaining from her.  :)  The teenager was also done having fun within 15 minutes.  So, despite our oldest and our youngest, the rest of us had a great time!  Bridget and Rachel could have stayed for hours!  It was so fun having my mom there with us, and we also all loved talking to her on our drive to and from.  When we were done at the Ice Castles, we stopped for a late lunch at Dairy Keen, along with everyone else in Heber it seems, but it was still good!  It was a fun outing for us and after living here for 5 1/2 years, I am glad we finally went!  I would love to go back at night in a couple of years to see it all lit up!

Another highlight for me from last week was I organized a neighborhood book club and I hosted our first meeting!  It was a huge success!  I am really, really looking forward to this!  We have a great group of women and that night we scheduled all our meetings, picked all the books we are going to read, and planned who is hosting when.  It was so much fun, and I am so excited!  

Last Saturday night Bridget had to work at the farm.  The girls she usually goes with couldn't go, so I went with her.  I was grossed out, literally, the entire time, but I was also in awe at this little farm girl!  She navigated hungry and excited goats, sheep and chickens.  Those chickens, gag, the fresh eggs are not worth the smell of a hen house I will tell you that!  I was just so proud of her.  She is just completely in her element there.  She works hard and never gets flustered and loves those animals.  

And lastly, just a couple of random notes and funny moments I want to record.  Rachel has lost a total of eight teeth and none of her permanent teeth have been quick to come in.  Well, she has been missing four of those eight for well over a year, and they are finally growing in!  It is so crazy it has taken so long!  I also find myself really soaking up every minute of Gretchen's smile with her tiny little mouth and tiny little teeth.  I am pretty sure I am going to cry when she loses her first tooth.  And speaking of Gretchen never growing up, tonight at dinner we were talking about what Richard and I want to be called when we are grandparents.  :)  Yes, we are thinking way down the road!  Anyway, Gretchen immediately chimed in and said, "I will be here with you!  I stick with you!  I am never growing up!"  One more Gretchen story.  For some reason I had to give her a fast bath last week, can't remember why.  Usually, she has a bath bomb and long play time, so she was real upset this had to be so rushed.  She screamed and cried the entire time.  When I pulled her out she yelled, "That was hideous!"  

And one more funny thing, and then I promise I am done!  One night last week, Marshall said, "Okay, so I just want to make sure, you don't get paid in medical school right?"  Richard just about died and set him straight real fast!  Haha!  

As always, thanks for reading!  Here's to February!  I cannot believe the first month or 2022 is almost done!  

Love,

Richard, Jenny, Marshall, Bridget, Rachel, and Gretchen :)