The Leake's Week-May 14, 2023

 Oh my goodness.  This week has been insane.  I have been in and out of this house and gone more than home, with only small slivers of time in between one thing and the next.  I hate to admit that my patience is running thin...and at times I have probably not been so nice to my kids.  I am losing my mind!  Multiple times this week I have had at least two kids asking me a question or needing me for something while I am trying to reply to a text about another child!  Ah...my mind!  Way too much stimulation this week.  I am craving down time.  All I want is a day at home with absolutely nothing to do.  That seems totally not achievable, but I will have to trust that some slower summer weeks are ahead!  I feel like my blood pressure is rising while I am writing this paragraph!  Ha!  Here's the rundown of our week.  

Before I start though, because I just re-read the above paragraph...the week has been crazy busy, but full of SO much good.  I am grateful our kids can do all this stuff, I am grateful I am healthy and strong and can help facilitate it all!  I am grateful we are all learning and growing and surviving the challenging things that come our way!  So, while life is packed to the brim, I am grateful for it.  

I told my girls that they have to walk to school every day until the end of the school year.  They have rocked it and my heart simultaneously bursts and breaks as I see them out the door each morning.  Gretchen's cheeks, I could kiss those squishable things one hundred times a day.  By a miracle, Rachel and Gretchen have not taxed Bridget too much in her extreme punctuality and Bridget has been a little more flexible with them in the mornings, which I very much appreciate!  Once all the girls got off to school, I dashed over to my Mom's house for Stacie's little baby shower.  All Utah Toney women gathered to celebrate Stacie and baby boy #4.  We ate delicious food, had mostly uninterrupted conversation, and just had a great, great time together!  Even though I didn't get any sisters when I was younger, I sure lucked out in the sister-in-law department, and I am beyond thankful for each of them.  And I cannot wait to meet another Danny and Stacie baby boy-he is destined to have perfect blue eyes.  The rest of Monday was a whirlwind.  Shortly after Gretchen got home from school, we waved her hair and put on some make-up.  We have never waved her hair before and it made her look like a teenager.  Then we threw on some blush, lipstick, and mascara and she all of a sudden turned 17.  The first stop with Gretchen was her Let's Play Music recital.  My Mom was also able to come and she and I cheered on cute little Gretchen.  The Let's Play Music kids sang and played their bells and even disguised themselves as little chefs.  It was all darling.  Gretchen did great!  She has LOVED music class this year and is very excited to start on the piano in the fall!  The second the recital was over, we took a picture with my Mom and then left for the dance studio.  Gretchen had dance pictures, and even though we were 5 minutes late, they were also running late, so Gretchen didn't miss out on a thing!  We quickly got her changed into her costume, finished her hair, touched up her lipstick and boom, she was ready!  Since she is in two dances, she got two group pictures and two individual pictures.  That girl was in heaven and was not shy at all posing for the camera.  As we were walking to the car, she had this cute little sassy walk going on, which I was loving and all of a sudden she turned around and said, "I hate dance."  What?!  Dagger through my heart.  I asked her why she hates Before we put the kids to bed last Sunday night, I told the girls they have to walk to school every day until the end of the school year.  They have rocked it and my heart simultaneously bursts and breaks as I see them out the door each morning.  Gretchen's cheeks, I could kiss those squishable things one hundred times a day.  By a miracle, Rachel and Gretchen have not taxed Bridget too much in her extreme punctuality and Bridget has been a little more flexible with them in the mornings, which I very much appreciate!  Once all the girls got off to school, I dashed over to my Mom's house for Stacie's little baby shower.  All Utah Toney women gathered to celebrate Stacie and baby boy #4.  We ate delicious food, had mostly uninterrupted conversation, and just had a great, great time together!  Even though I didn't get any sisters when I was younger, I sure lucked out in the sister-in-law department, and I am beyond thankful for each of them.  And I cannot wait to meet another Danny and Stacie baby boy-he is destined to have perfect blue eyes.  The rest of Monday was a whirlwind.  Shortly after Gretchen got home from school, we waved her hair and put on some make-up.  We have never waved her hair before and it made her look like a teenager.  Then we threw on some blush, lipstick, and mascara and she all of a sudden turned 17.  The first stop with Gretchen was her Let's Play Music recital.  My Mom was also able to come and she and I cheered on cute little Gretchen.  The Let's Play Music kids sang and played their bells and even disguised themselves as little chefs.  It was all darling.  Gretchen did great!  She has LOVED music class this year and is very excited to start on the piano in the fall!  The second the recital was over, we took a picture with my Mom and then left for the dance studio.  Gretchen had dance pictures, and even though we were 5 minutes late, they were also running late, so Gretchen didn't miss out on a thing!  We quickly got her changed into her costume, finished her hair, touched up her lipstick and boom, she was ready!  Since she is in two dances, she got two group pictures and two individual pictures.  That girl was in heaven and was not shy at all posing for the camera.  As we were walking to the car, she had this cute little sassy walk going on, which I was loving and all of a sudden she turned around and said, "I hate dance."  What?!  Dagger through my heart.  I asked her why she hates dance and she replied, "It makes my arms and legs tired!"  I asked her if running back and forth in the living room makes her legs tired...nope, nope it does not!  After school, Marshall had soccer practice (thankfully carpool saved me that day, and Richard picked those sweaty boys up on his way home from work).  Once Rachel was home we started on her hair and make-up.  She also wanted her hair wavy.  She looked darling.  Rachel's pictures were scheduled from 5:30-6:30, but of course that ended up being 5:30-7:00 with four group pictures and at least one individual photo for each dancer.  I was beat.  But, I did love watching my girls have fun with their friends and play around with poses.  Rachel and I were home by 7:15 and finally had dinner that I had made three hours before!  Ha!  

Tuesday morning I helped get a teacher's luncheon ready at the elementary school and then I volunteered in kindergarten.  Tuesday afternoon and evening was full of dance for Rachel, the farm for Bridget (I didn't have to go!) and a primary meeting that evening for me.  

Richard had Wednesday off, which was so wonderful.  Bridget got up at 5:45 and went to the Bountiful Temple with the young women and had a great, albeit, early morning there.  After all the kids got off to school, Richard and I tackled cleaning up our outdoor table and deck on the east side.  It was not the easiest job as it seemed something died on that table, but it is all cleaned up now and hopefully sanitary!  After lunch, I checked Marshall out of school for an orthodontist appointment.  Unfortunately, he had two lower brackets that had fallen off (which he didn't realize-probably tells you how well he is brushing his teeth!), and those teeth had already started to regress.  So the orthodontist had to fix those and then just put things back to how they were at his last appointment, so not much progress is being made there!  Sigh.  After school, my Mom came and picked up Marshall just after 4:00.  She saved us that night.  She took Marshall up to Roy for his soccer game and spent the whole evening with him.  With Marshall's injury from the previous Saturday, Richard and I were hesitant to have Marshall at a soccer game without one of us there or a grandparent.  My Mom stepped in and helped us out big time!  After Marshall's soccer game, they went to Cal's t-ball game, picked up dinner, and Marshall was finally home about 8:30.  Thank you Mom!  That afternoon, Richard took Bridget to her piano lesson and then as soon as those two got home, Richard and I left.  All the way back in 2019, Richard got us tickets to see They Might Be Giants in 2020 to celebrate 30 thirty years of their album, Flood, one of Richard's favorites.  Richard's friend, Marshall, and his wife, also got tickets.  Well, we all know how 2020 went, and this concert ended up being postponed two more times.  So, four years after we bought the tickets, we finally got to go!  So nuts!  Richard and I got dinner, found a place to park, stood in a long line, got into the concert venue, met up with Marshall and Marietta, and had a great evening.  The majority of the music they played came from Flood, which was a lot of fun since Richard loves it and I know it quite well myself!  Thankfully, They Might Be Giants is getting old, and has less stamina, so the concert was done about 10:15 and we were home just before 11:00!  Ha!  It really was a great time though, and even though we didn't get a lot of time to talk with Marshall and Marietta, it was still so great to see them.  The girls did great here at home.  Rachel had dance that night, so for a huge chunk of the night it was just Bridget and Gretchen home together and by all accounts they had a great time.  All the girls were sound asleep when we got home, and even though we told Marshall to go to bed at 10:00; of course, he was still awake when we got home!  Cute Bridget let Gretchen sleep with her that night.  Love.

Thursday morning after everyone had left for school and work, I picked my Mom up and drove her to Murray to pick up my Dad's car from the dealership.  Anytime with my Mom is so wonderful, but especially when it is kid-free because then we can talk without interruption!  I might be a tad selfish about this!  I did love my 30 minute drive with her.  Soon after getting back home, I loaded Ziggy up and off we went for a dog-training consultation!  Haha!  We are potentially thinking about sending Ziggy off to obedience boarding school.  Richard and I are loving the idea, and we just really need to commit to it.  The kids are heartbroken about it and don't think they can live without him for three weeks.  I just want a more obedient dog!  Keep you posted!  Ziggy and I made it home just before Gretchen got home and then we had a pretty quick turnaround to get to dance.  That afternoon Rachel also had her 4th grade program.  I was able to go and see it and cheer her on.  She was a darling pioneer and spoke her part so well.  She also got to hold up the Davis sign when they were singing the song about the counties in Utah.  Great program, and I am so glad I could be there.  After school, I picked up Gretchen who had gone home with Genevieve after dance, Rachel had piano, Bridget had the farm (I didn't have to go again, though I have a double whammy this coming week), and Marshall's band concert.  It was a whirlwind.  The band concert was actually really fun.  It was outside at the junior high and people brought blankets, lawn chairs and dinner and we just lounged around and listened to music.  Made me excited for summer!  My Mom was also able to join us and Richard met us after work.  We missed Bridget, but Marshall was glad the rest of us could be there.  

Friday morning I sent everyone off and then ran to Home Depot super quick to get pots for my big hostas!  After dropping those off at home, I went to the elementary school to help with the 4th grade Rendezvous!  I was at the rug braiding station so I spent two hours teaching boys how to braid!  It was equal parts fun, hilarious, and exhausting!  I was supposed to have another parent with me, but they never showed up!  I survived though and it was fun to help Rachel's group when they rotated to my station.  When I was done helping there, I picked Gretchen up from Naomi's house and we came home for lunch.  After lunch, I put on pajamas and loaded up the van and Gretchen and I went to the church to set up for a primary activity.  Why on earth did our primary presidency decide to plan and host a primary activity in May is beyond me, but in March it sounded like such a good idea!  Ha!  It was very successful though.  We had all the kids come in their pajamas (pj's) and we talked about prayer, journals, and scriptures.  I think it was mostly successful and I was thrilled when it was done!  I got a 20 minute nap in at home that afternoon, which was very much needed.  Cambria and Naomi came over to play, and all the girls had a great time together.  When Melanie dropped her girls off, she mentioned what time she would pick them up because Cambria had an appointment at the junior high to select her instrument for band.  What?!  Thankfully, she forwarded me the email and I snagged a 6:00 pm appointment for Bridget.  Nothing short of a miracle!  After friends left, she and I zipped over to the junior high and Bridget has officially decided to play the trumpet!  She was deciding between the clarinet and trumpet and she was able to play both of them.  She actually did great getting sound out of the clarinet, but the trumpet was significantly easier for her.  Months ago when she told me she was thinking about the trumpet, I admit, I tried to persuade her to another instrument.  But, a couple of weeks after that we were at Marshall's band concert and a girl who lives next to my parents played the most beautiful trumpet solo-I was sold!  I am elated Bridget picked the trumpet and I think it will be fun to have another instrument in our home!  We had a late dinner that night as a family, but I do think it was the only night we were all home together to sit around the table!  After dinner, we had a relaxing evening at home all together, which is exactly what we needed!

Marshall and I were up early yesterday morning for a 9:00 am soccer game in Huntsville.  We were out the door by 7:30 and had the most beautiful drive through Mountain Green.  It is SO green.  I have never been to Ireland, but I imagine that is how it would look...minus the snowy mountains I think, but man, just fields and rolling hills of green forever it seemed!  So gorgeous!  Marshall's team tied, but they played well against a very physical, and might I add, very rough language team.  Yikes.  The game was at Huntsville City Park and the street we were on was charming.  Buildings straight out of the 1800s, but they all looked so well preserved.  We drove by their city hall, at least that was the sign that was out front, who knows if they still use it, but it was no bigger than 20x20.  The town bells chimed at 9:00 am, right at kick-off...it was amazing!  The first thing Marshall said to me after the soccer game was, "Bridget should live here!  She would love it!"  It was so quaint and charming.  During dinner last night he told her she should live in Huntsville.  She immediately asked, "Does it have cars?"  Marshall told her yes and she quickly replied with, "Ruined! Horse and wagon only!"  Ha!  He reminded her that Vernal (where she dreams of living) also has cars.  He then told her she will have to join the Amish if that is the lifestyle she is looking for!  Anyway, back to the day...Marshall and I got home just before lunch time.  Richard has had to work from home 10:30 am to 6:30 pm both Saturday and Sunday, so that has been lame.  Marshall, Gretchen and I did yard work yesterday afternoon.  I transplanted two more hostas and Marshall helped me prune a demon bush and wonderful Gretchen clipped off all the dead daffodils!  So helpful!  Bridget went to Lagoon for the first time this year and she and Avery only stayed two hours, but she had a great time.  Last night Bridget had Cambria, Claire and Avery over and Gretchen had Naomi over.  It was a wild house full of girls, but fun was had by all.

Today has been a good day!  Richard pulled off a breakfast for me, all the while thinking he had ward council at 9:00 am.  I mentioned to him earlier in the week that it was odd they were doing ward council on Mother's Day.  But, off he went, and was back five minutes later.  :)   Turns out he did indeed read the email wrong about ward council!  The kids were mostly good and kind to each other this morning.  I was showered with school gifts of the best kind and a new necklace and earrings.  I even got a 20 minute nap this morning, praise the heavens for 12:00 pm church!  The primary kids sang in sacrament meeting today, and I honestly don't think I have ever heard them sing better.  I soaked up having Rachel and Gretchen up there.  During the second hour and Bishop spoke to the women for about 20 minutes and then we had pie and got to visit-it was amazing!  Word is that two men covered singing time in primary for us today.  One brought his acoustic guitar and the other man brought his electric guitar!  The kids LOVED it.  For the third year running, I had individual snuggle time with each of the kids this afternoon, though with Richard working in our bedroom, we were displaced to the movie room, but it was still great.  It has become such a fun tradition.  The kids semi-helped with dinner tonight and then my parents came over for the evening, which was wonderful as always.  We talked, put up with Marshall's antics, ate cake, and played a game.  A wonderful evening.  Richard is now back to working, just wrapping things up, but hopefully he will be done soon!

And since it is Mother's Day, I should probably say a few words!  As if I haven't written hundreds of words already!  Ha!  I am so grateful for my Mom and Richard's Mom.  The older I am getting, the more I am realizing that being a mother is never-ending, no matter how old you or your children become.  Endless support, love, prayers, worry, stress, help...it is all there, all the time.  And in my own role as mother, I am so grateful for it.  All I ever dreamed of as a girl was being a mother, but I only ever imagined being a mom to little ones.  Now I feel like that time has slipped through my fingers and I am left wondering where it all went.  But, I am also learning how much I LOVE being a mom to the current ages of my kids.  They are at such fun ages and I love all that I get to do and experience with them.  They stretch me in ways I didn't know I could be stretched, and sometimes that stretching seems like too much, but here I am, continuing to try each day.  I wouldn't trade it.

Love to each of you.

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

The Leake's Week-May 7, 2023

 Hello!

Another chunk of time has flown by.  Life is so busy!  If we can make it through May intact, it will be a miracle!  I am just going to go through the last two weeks, hitting the highlights only...but there are lots of highlights.  :)

*Monday, April 24th:  Richard had the day off of work.  It was so nice to have him home!  Gretchen has music class on Mondays, and every other week is a parent week.  It just so happened that Richard's day off fell on a parent day for music class and Gretchen wanted Richard to go!  She was over the moon that he could come and he was such a good sport about being the only dad there and not knowing any of the songs.  :)  

Tuesday, April 25th:  I helped in kindergarten.  Gretchen has had another leap of improvement in reading-so, so fun to see.  She is reading so well!  Bridget and I worked at the farm that night.  She loves it.  I hate it.  She and Cambria did get to see the four new baby goats who had just been born three days before.  Heaven for them.  :)  

Wednesday, April 26th:  Richard had another day off, which was wonderful because I could not have pulled off the day without him.  That morning I met Katie Irion downtown at Eva's Bakery and had a delicious breakfast (minus the sub-par hot chocolate!)  It was the absolute best catching up with Katie-she is a gem of a human being.  Great way to spend a morning!  Richard spent his afternoon up at Davis High School for Marshall's last track meet of the season.  He ran the 1600, coming in at 6:03.  He has shaved a good 30 seconds off of his mile time this season-so proud of him!  He also ran the 800 and got 2:47, 11 seconds faster than the previous week!  He didn't qualify for the district meet, but he showed huge growth, improvement and progress.  We are so proud of him for trying something new and sticking with it.  My Mom also spent time up at the meet and enjoyed cheering Marshall on and endless topics of conversation with Richard.  As soon as Marshall was done running the 800, Richard whisked him away to his soccer game.  He made it just a few minutes late for warm-ups, but he made it and he played a great game, even though his team lost.  That night Rachel had dance, Bridget went to a stake YM/YW activity and I took Gretchen to a neighbor's house for the evening.  :)  Weeks and weeks ago, Richard and I had bought tickets, along with several of my family members, to go and see The Johnson Files in Ogden.  When we bought the tickets, the only thing on the calendar was dance for Rachel, but lo and behold, we bought the tickets, and our calendar exploded!  I shouldn't have been so surprised!  Anyway, I dropped Gretchen off at the Howell's and then my parents picked me up and off we went to Ogden.  Richard stayed for all of Marshall's game, drove him home, and then came up to Ogden.  He was pretty late getting there, but he still caught the last bit of the first half.  It was such a fun, fun show.  We were all laughing and had tears rolling down our cheeks.  Despite the chaos of the afternoon/evening, it was all worth it to sit and laugh for two hours!  We will surely go see them again, and hopefully all adults in my family can come!  

Thursday, April 27th:  Back to the farm for Bridget and me that evening.  Lovely.  Two times in three days.  :)  The four baby goats were being moved outside that night though, and they were frolicking all over the yard, and I must admit, they were darling.  Made the farm a little more bearable for me!  And Bridget successfully milked Montana all by herself (Montana is a devil of a goat!).

Friday, April 28th:  Last day in the Charger Store for me this school year.  Already signed up to do it again next year!  It will be so fun to have Marshall AND Bridget there to come and visit me!  I took Bridget and Gretchen to the Teerlink's house that afternoon at 4:00.  Melanie was beyond kind to feed them dinner and take them to the elementary school art show.  Bridget had helped set up most of the artwork the day before with the student council, and because she hadn't seen her artwork, she had a feeling her's was a finalist.  She was right!  I am so happy she got to be there and so thankful to Melanie for making it all possible.  Bridget's picture is darling and we have already framed it and have it hanging in the living room.  It is whimsical and peaceful and so Bridget.  I love it!  At 5:00, Meri and Sara came and picked up Rachel and me and off we went to a dance competition at Salt Lake Community College.  The girls performed Clue, their hip-hop production number, and rocked it.  It received a platinum ranking (highest possible).  We stayed for awards, the gala, and more awards.  By the time that was all done, and we got the girls a VERY late dinner, we finally got home at 11:20 that night.  Geez.  Richard and Marshall had a laid back evening at home and Richard picked up the other girls from their late night at 9:30.  Everyone was sound asleep when Rachel and I got home and the two of us just fell into bed.  What a day.  

Saturday, April 29th:  No rest for the weary.  Bridget and Cambria had the farm Saturday morning, and Melanie saved me again by taking them.  It takes a village!  Rachel and I were up early too and were out the door at 10:00 to go back for day two of competition.  Richard had to work all weekend (thankfully at home), but the three kids pretty much had to fend for themselves!  Rachel's team competed great.  Walk the Line and One Shoe Blues both received a platinum ranking and Walk the Line placed 3rd overall for the age group and One Shoe Blues placed 5th!  So, so proud of all these girls!  That night, I took Bridget and Rachel to see Centerville Junior High's musical of Bye Bye Birdie.  We LOVED it!  I grew up watching that movie, and though I had not seen it in years, I could not wait to see this on stage and introduce my girls to it.  Even though it was a junior high cast, they knocked it out of the park.  My girls loved it and we knew so many kids in it.  Rachel now aspires to be "Mama" one day in that musical!  Ha!  She would rock it, I have no doubt.  

Sunday, April 30th:  Toney FHE at my parent's house that afternoon/evening.  We missed Richard, and others who could not come!  The weather was finally good enough that we were able to eat and play outside the entire time!  

Monday, May 1st:  An actual chill day!  No work for Richard.  I transplanted five of my hostas into pots.  I have very high hopes for them-so far, so good!  The only thing after school was dance for Rachel!  AMAZING.  Spur of the moment, Richard and I took Marshall out to dinner-it was delightful.  After dinner, we went driving with him in a church parking lot.  He loved it.

Tuesday, May 2nd:  Richard worked 3:00 pm-10:00 pm at home-nice to have him around during the school day!  Bridget was back at the farm with Cambria and Melanie.  Marshall had a soccer game that evening and I was able to catch a little more than half of it between all the running around of children!

Wednesday, May 3rd:  That morning I went to breakfast with three friends in my neighborhood.  It was so, so wonderful and I loved it.  Bridget went to horseback riding that afternoon.  After dinner Marshall had YMs and then hung out with Johnny.  Bridget's YWs activity was at the farm and you can bet she was on Cloud 9!  She loved helping to show off all those goats and took enormous pride in knowing ALL of their names!  Rachel had dance that night as well.  Gretchen found herself alone with just her parents and was not that thrilled about it!  I helped her walk down to the bottom of the cul-de-sac and invited the youngest three Howell girls to play with her outside.  They readily accepted her invitation and she had a ball outside all evening playing with neighbor kids.  In just the last couple of weeks, Gretchen has seemed bored during the afternoons at home.  I think she is very ready for summer to have her siblings home more and I think she is more than ready to start first grade in the fall!  

Thursday, May 4th:  This was a day.  We were all out the door early in the AM.  Gretchen had her kindergarten field trip to the zoo, and out of the goodness of my heart, I had signed up to be a chaperone!  The girls and I were all at the school at 8:30.  Gretchen was beyond excited for this day, and her enthusiasm helped me be a little happier about going on this wild ride!  Haha!  We got our group assignments and I was relieved to be paired with two other moms, both of which I knew!  Three moms, only five kids, totally doable!  I also totally lucked out and didn't have to ride the bus-happy dance!  I gave Gretchen a big hug before she got on the bus and said see you soon!  We spent two hours at the zoo and didn't lose a single child.  Having three parents for our little group was a lifesaver.  We got to ride the carousel and saw an incredibly active polar bear having the time of his life swimming around.  The two elephants (which Hogle Zoo is getting rid of!) were being trained and that was SO much fun to see.  The kids especially loved the seals and we got to see them from above and below.  Some of the monkeys were fun and active.  Two hours actually went so fast and the kids were really so good.  At noon the kids got back on the bus (and I got in my car!) and we drove to Liberty Park for playtime and a picnic lunch.  It really was a fun, fun morning.  Gretchen and I were home by 2:00 and I promptly took a nap on the couch while Gretchen watched TV.  The adrenaline had completely left my body!  At 4:00, Marshall and I left to drive to Logan for a soccer game-told you it was a whirlwind of a day!  He played well, but again, his team lost...frustrating spring season.  Thankfully, Richard was just working in Bountiful that day, so he was home with the girls by 5:30.  They went to dinner at Waffle Love and then spent the evening doing homework and playing.  Marshall and I were home by 9:00 and Grandpa Bob arrived shortly after to spend the night at our house.  It was great to see him!  

Friday, May 5th:  Bridget had her 6th grade dance that morning!  We waved her hair and she looked gorgeous.  I helped with the food for the dance and spent my entire morning at the school.  Bonus was getting to see all the kids during their snack break and spying on them from behind the stage curtains while they were dancing.  :)  Bridget had a great time and she and her friends loved it.  Richard worked from home that afternoon/evening.  Bridget and I went to the farm and Rachel had a friend over.  I made Rachel promise me to let Gretchen play with them while I was at the farm.  Rachel was not thrilled with this idea, but when I got home after they had been playing for two hours already I was met with the happiest faces!  Rachel, Eily, and Gretchen all kept playing together even after I got home.  Bridget also had three friends over after the farm.  It was a wild house over here Friday night, but so much fun.

Saturday, May 6th:  Our 18th wedding anniversary!  We spent zero time together until that evening.  :)  Rachel had her last dance competition of the spring.  She and I were out the door with hair and make-up done and costume on by 8:45.  We picked up Sara and drove to Sandy.  The girls competed all three dances and rocked all of them.  Each dance earned a diamond ranking (highest in this competition).  One Shoe Blues placed 2nd overall and won a judges choice award and Walk the Line placed 1st overall!  This was a regional competition which they needed to advance to nationals in July!  They scored so well that they are officially nationals bound!  So, so proud of Rachel and all her hard work and literally hundreds of hours of dance since last August.  The girls were finally done about 4:30 and home shortly after 5:00-what a day!  Richard held the fort down marvelously, which included mowing the lawn, inspecting all sprinklers, (nothing needs to be fixed which is a huge miracle!), putting together a new storage thing for the garage, doing homework with Gretchen, helping Gretchen with allllll her jobs, and going to Marshall's soccer game.  Marshall's team finally won a game, but with 15 minutes left, Marshall completely got taken down from behind, and obviously had no idea what was coming.  Richard said he just fell flat down, his head guard flew off, and his head hit the ground.  Ugh.  My stomach dropped when he told me this when I got home.  Tyler pulled Marshall out and multiple people, including Richard, checked him for a concussion.  All seemed good, so after sitting for a few minutes, Marshall said he could go back in.  He only played for a handful of minutes before the game was over, but Richard could tell he was not quite himself.  When I got home, Marshall was just laying on the couch and was over any question we asked him about how he was doing.  We spent most the night worried about him and his head.  He has had two serious concussions, but he has had other head injuries which have not resulted in concussions, but it seems to give him major PTSD (can't blame him).  So, it's all just a little hard to figure out if he is okay or not. He did go to bed with a headache, and woke up feeling a bit better, with his biggest complaint being a sore neck and face.  He has relaxed most the day, and we have seen steady improvement and his mischievous side coming back, so we are feeling with 99% confidence that he does not have a concussion.  Ah!  It is an emotional roller coaster ride for us all.  At 6:30 last night, we finally felt like we could sneak away from the kids and go celebrate our wedding anniversary.  We drove to Morgan to eat at Taggart's Grill, a new restaurant for us.  It was so great to drive and talk and we enjoyed a fantastic dinner and amazing desserts.  I am so grateful for Richard and for the life we have built together the last 18 years.  He is surely one of the best.  

Today!  Richard didn't have work and we just had a normal and relaxing Sunday together-the best!  The kids and I are all running out of steam with the school year...only 3 weeks left.  We all need a break!  

Love each of you.

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

The Leake's Week-April 23, 2023

 Disclaimer!  This email is 9 pages long in a Word document!  Skim, skip, or just look at the pictures!

Hello!

 

My, oh my, life is flying by.  I am three weeks behind in writing this email and there is so much to catch up on!  I am sitting in the JFK Airport right now in Queens, NY, waiting to board a flight home with Richard and Bridget.  We are wrapping up her 12-year old trip.  Bridget is sitting next to me working on math homework, and I told myself I have to start this email if I am going to have any hope in getting it out by Sunday night.  For the sake of my memory, I am going to work backward in chunks of the weeks.  This week, New York!  Last week, mostly regular life and school for the kids.  The week before, Spring Break!

 

New York:

 

Richard had Tuesday off work, which was so great, because up until 3:00 he and I were going, going, going to get ready to leave.  Becky got to our house about 2:00 and we said good-bye to our little Bear Cub at 3:00 and drove down to the elementary school to check Bridget out of school.  It was seamless getting to the airport and through security and we were the closest A gate!  So amazing!  We grabbed an early dinner at Shake Shack and then waited to board our plane.  Unfortunately, the plane was delayed in arriving in SLC, so that set our whole evening back, but thankfully, we only had one child with us, and that just makes things so much easier to handle!  Despite being delayed, everything else about our flight went great.  We flew over Milwaukee and got a fantastic picture of that city and it made Bridget and I so happy.    We landed at JFK just after midnight, but had quite a walk through the airport.  By the time we got our bags, a taxi, drove into the city, and got to our hotel room it was 1:45 am!  Fortunately, it only felt like 11:45 pm to us, but still a very late night!  Our hotel was on the 43^rd floor of the Marriott Marquis, but despite being sleepy, Bridget was enamored with our view of Times Square, the city, and even the Statue of Liberty!  That’s right, far in the distance, between two buildings, we had a perfect view of Lady Liberty!  It was pretty neat!  We were in bed with lights out by 2:00 am. 

 

Wednesday morning Richard and I got up at 8:15 am, and woke Bridget up at 9:00 am.  We quickly got ready, had breakfast at the hotel, and then we were off into the city!  We walked just a couple of blocks to the subway and Bridget immediately grabbed my hand.  She so rarely does that (I honestly think the last time she willingly held my hand was when I went on a first grade field trip with her!)  I was so glad she reached for my hand though, because I was just about to reach for hers!  This was my first trip to NY as a mom and I found myself hyper vigilant about one of us holding on to her and keeping her in our sight at all times!  That was honestly probably one of my favorite things about our trip and a memory I will always cherish-walking the streets of NYC with her hand in mine, or walking behind Richard and Bridget while he was holding her hand.  Love.  Anyway, back to the subway.  We got our subway passes and showed Bridget how to scan her card and go through the turnstile.  It took her a few tries to get the hang of it, but she figured out just the right speed to swipe her card through and then she had it!   Our first stop was the Manhattan Temple so Bridget could do baptisms.  When you come up from the subway, you are right across the street from the temple.  Bridget was so surprised at the sight of it.  A relatively plain, squat, rectangular building surrounded by so many other grand ones.  She later told us seeing the outside of it was one of the things that surprised her most about our time in NYC.  As soon as we walked inside, of course it felt like any other temple.  We were warmly greeted and shown to the baptistry, which is just through one door from the foyer.  While we were in the dressing room a Hispanic woman, who it seemed spoke little to no English, came in for an appointment to do initiatory and an endowment session for her sister who had passed away.  The card she brought in didn’t show that her sister had been baptized and confirmed.  They verified this online and told this sweet woman she could quickly be baptized and confirmed for her sister.  There was one temple worker who spoke Spanish so all of this could be communicated to her.  Of course, the three of us didn’t know this was happening as we were in the dressing rooms.  Richard later told me that as soon as he went into the dressing room, the Spanish baptismal prayer popped into his head.  He found this odd, dismissed the thought, and got changed.  When he came out of the dressing room, temple workers were waiting to talk to him.  They asked if he knew Spanish and explained the situation, asking if he could baptize and confirm this sweet Hispanic woman for her sister.  Of course, he readily said yes.  Richard baptized Bridget first and she was able to do five names and then he baptized this woman.  It was so tender, and she was so emotional.  Once we were all changed, we met together for confirmations.  A temple worker did three confirmations for Richard, and then Richard did three names for Bridget, three for me, and ended with this sweet woman being confirmed for her sister.  The Spirit was palpable in that room.  Once that was done, a female temple worker who spoke Spanish came and got this woman and told her they would help her with the rest of the ordinances.  One of the temple workers who had been with us from the beginning thanked us for coming and talked to Bridget about how this woman was meant to be in the temple at the same time as us so Richard could help her.  It was a very special moment, and I am so grateful that all three of us could experience it. 

 

After the temple, we took the subway back to our hotel, quickly changed, and then left again, this time on foot.  We walked just a few blocks to Los Tacos No. 1.  Richard and I discovered this taco place last time we were in NYC and talk about it often!  Bridget, one of our more picky eaters, had been adequately prepped by us to try a taco.  She willingly cooperated and ate her entire chicken taco!  A miracle!  It was her first taste (literally) of so many restaurants in NYC.  Loud, long lines, workers who talk fast, no chairs, standing room only.  She did great, and legitimately enjoyed her taco!  When we were done eating, we walked across the street to the matinee of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”.  Bridget had been looking forward to this for months and it did not disappoint.  It is long, as in almost four hours long, but so, so good.  It is not a musical, but the instrumental music was captivating.  The choreography, even though it wasn’t set to words, was enthralling.  So many times characters were wearing capes/robes and the way they would move them around was dance-like and just added to the mystery of it all.  The special effects were hands down truly the best I have ever seen.  Bridget was enthralled for the entire thing and kindly elbowed me on the handful of occasions I dozed off.  A long matinee after only six hours of sleep was a challenge for me, but Richard and Bridget saw every minute of it and I am sure I saw 95% of it-which is pretty good if you know me!  The theater itself was amazing and helped set the perfect mood for the show.  Such a fun, fun afternoon. 

 

After the show, we walked back to our hotel to change again and put on comfortable walking shoes.  Then it was back to the subway and we kept our Harry Potter run going by going to the Harry Potter store, another thing on Bridget’s bucket list.  She was beyond excited for this one and loved every minute in there.  They have some original movie props and Bridget loved looking at each one.  She browsed and browsed (Bridget, despite being simple in all her tastes, is turning into quite the shopper!).  We loved walking through the store with her as she explored it all.  We got butterbeer, which we also told her she had to try.  Bridget only drinks water, with the occasional chocolate milk and hot chocolate.  I got a video of her trying butterbeer and her facial expressions honestly reminded me of feeding babies solid food for the first time.  Oh my goodness, it was hilarious.  She hardly took more than a few sips of it and passed it onto Richard, but we were proud of her for trying!  When we were done at the store, we walked across the street to kill some time at Madison Square Park.  Spring has completely sprung in New York and flowering trees were in full bloom, as well as planted pots.  It was a lovely setting to lounge and relax.  It is not a large park, and we soon discovered two dog parks, right next to each other, one for small dogs, and the other for larger dogs.  By this time it was after 5:00 pm and I felt like all the dogs of NYC had come out to play.  We had a ball sitting on benches watching dogs coming and going and playing in the dog parks.  Bridget’s heart is truly with the animals and she was in heaven.  Every time we saw a small goldendoodle we pined for Ziggy and Richard just rolled his eyes at us.    It was honestly such a fun way to pass an hour or so of time.  We talked about what it would be like to live in NYC and what it must be like for all these dogs!  They all seemed very excited to be arriving at the park and very sad to be leaving! 

 

After that, we walked a few blocks to the Empire State Building for sunset!  I had no idea what a tourist destination this would be (duh, Jenny!) but it was still amazing!  Richard, bless his heart, did not last long outside with us, but Bridget and I took our time walking around to all the sides and of course, spent the longest on the west side.  Bridget took so many pictures on this trip, and she started with the sunset.  It was beautiful!  This was my third trip to New York, but my first trip hearing SO many different languages spoken.  It was amazing!  There were multiple times when we were on the hotel elevator, or in the subway, or anywhere else, including on top of the Empire State Building, where I felt like we were the only native English speakers!  It was so cool to listen to, but also an odd feeling at times, especially in the hotel elevator, when languages were swirling around us, and I didn’t understand one word!  I think there were many European families on vacation, and I was amused that we dream of taking our kids to Europe one day and here are European families probably fulfilling their own dream of vacationing in America!  Anyway, the Empire State Building was so cool and the views were amazing and despite the crowds, I am so glad we were up there at sunset.  Of course, we had to spend time in the gift shop because we had Bridget with us.    By the time we were done it was late, but we hadn’t had dinner, so we walked a few blocks to Joe’s Pizza (the best NY pizza place in our opinion), and at 9:00 we got our slices and ate in their little make-shift building in the street.  Bridget loved the pizza and the whole experience.  We finally made it back to our hotel very exhausted!  We had some downtime and then lights out for a lovely night's sleep! 

 

Thursday morning we took the subway to Ess-A-Bagels for breakfast.  I am not kidding when I tell you I think about these bagels often for the last year and a half!  So delicious.  Bridget stuck to her basic ways and ordered a plain bagel with plain cream cheese.  Just about killed me, but she devoured it and liked it, so I had to let it go!  We were able to snag an outside table to enjoy our breakfast and just took in the daily life of the city, it is honestly so fascinating to me!  Couples having breakfast together and then going separate ways to work.  Delivery drivers squishing into parallel parking spots to deliver the days needed supplies.  Construction workers everywhere.  Dogs on morning walks!  I could honestly sit and people watch for a full day in that city!  Anyway, after breakfast, we made our way back to the same subway station and Richard made sure we noted a very large something on the ground to make sure we didn’t step in it.  Bridget was appalled.  Rightly so.  Animal waste is one thing, human waste another!  She seemed very leery any time we went down into the subway after that!  We did not let it ruin our day though and we rode the subway all the way to the public museum, which has its own stop that let’s you out in the museum!  Richard and I had never been to this museum before, so it was fun for all of us to experience something new together.  Bridget was in heaven, and our time there just confirmed to me that all animals have her heart.  I was in heaven looking at the gems and minerals, but Bridget breezed through there to get to the African mammals.    We spent a solid three hours there before Bridget declared she had seen all she wanted to and was ready for lunch and Central Park.  We got lunch from a street cart, walked across the street to Central Park and found a bench to sit on while we ate.  We had fantastic weather our whole time there, low to mid-60s, slightly cool breeze, sometimes sunny, sometimes cloudy-it was honestly ideal and Thursday was no exception.  After lunch, we strolled through some of Central Park.  We saw two huge sections of gorgeous, colorful tulips.  We stopped to see the Belvedere Castle and the Bethesda Fountain.  We walked over quaint and grand bridges.  We saw squirrels and listened to performers and it was just a quintessential afternoon in the park.  When Bridget was tired of walking, we made our way to the subway and found an ice cream shop close to Times Square.  We grabbed our cool treats at Van Leeuwen’s and after finishing them, walked back to the hotel for a chill afternoon.  Bridget watched TV, Richard and I napped, and then came up with our game plan for the evening.  We had a completely open evening and Bridget decided she wanted to try and see one more play.  We had been seeing signs all around for “Peter Pan Goes Wrong”, the same writers of “The Play That Goes Wrong” that Richard and I saw in October 2021 in New York and LOVED.  Down right hilarious.  Neil Patrick Harris, who Richard and I also love, happened to be playing a role for three weeks of this run as well.  Richard looked it up that afternoon and snagged three seats all together (I am certain they were the last three seats available because I did not see one empty seat!).  We went to Junior’s for dinner and then walked over to the play.  Oh my goodness.  We were laughing within the first five minutes and did not stop laughing until it was all done.  Absolutely hilarious and clean and so, so clever and witty.  Some of the actors were the same actors we had seen 18 months ago, and Neil Patrick Harris was amazing.  So fun to see him in person.  Bridget loved it as well.  I was sitting next to her and loved hearing her laugh right along with me.  A great, great evening and I am so glad we were spontaneous and went! 

 

Friday morning we were up early and out of the hotel at 8:00 am.  We rode the subway almost all the way to Battery Park , but got off a stop or two early to hit up another bagel shop!  I think about New York bagels way too often!  Haha!  Liberty Bagels did not disappoint.  Bridget and I both got the French Toast bagel.  She stuck with plain cream cheese, and I did the strawberry.  We both LOVED that bagel.  It had a hint of cinnamon and sugar, which Bridget loved, and my strawberry cream cheese was divine.  Richard loved his bagel breakfast sandwich and we all walked out of there incredibly happy and well fed.  Liberty Bagels, I will be back!  After breakfast, we walked the rest of the way to Battery Park and got on the ferry to go see the Statue of Liberty.  We spent the entire morning there and loved it.  We walked all around the base of the statue, taking in the sights of New Jersey, Manhattan, Brooklyn, and of course, Lady Liberty herself.  When we were done with that, we took the elevator to the top of the pedestal.  Once again, Richard did not last long out there, but Bridget and I had a great time!  The walkway is narrow, so at times with all the people up there it was a tight squeeze, but so great!  It was just fun to be up higher and see all the sights better and get a different perspective on the statue.  When we were inside, we were able to look up into the statue to see the tight winding staircase and all the beams holding her together.  So cool!  On our way down the pedestal, we stopped in a museum all about how she was made and it was fascinating, even Bridget loved reading all the exhibits.  The Statue of Liberty is truly a magnificent work of art!  When we were done in the museum we stopped in the gift shop, of course.    There were five to ten seconds in there when we did not know where Bridget was, and I panicked!  But we found her within seconds and all was well again!  After that, we boarded the ferry to head back to New York.  When we got off the boat, there was a man selling fresh fruit cups and we bought Bridget a cup of watermelon to sustain her on our walk to Joe’s Pizza.  It was perfect and she was in heaven.  We walked down Wall Street and made our way to Joe’s Pizza for a late lunch.  After lunch, we stopped by Trinity Church to see Hamilton’s Grave and then made our way to the 9/11 Memorial.  We walked through so many vendors and food trucks with hordes of people lined up to buy things-it was chaos!  And then, we walked across the street to the memorial, and it was quiet and so peaceful.  No one was selling anything, people talked in hushed voices, and even though the sounds of the city still surrounded us, it was quiet and reverent.  We visited both memorial pools and Richard showed her his friend’s name who was killed that day and we just spent time remembering and reflecting and taking in the quiet.  When we were done there, we hopped on the subway and went to the Harry Potter store one more time.    When we were there the first time, Bridget didn’t buy anything, but had a list of about seven things she wanted to buy!  She was going back to make her final decisions!  She surprised us both and left with only buying a $25 notebook!  Amazing!  She has already turned it into her sketchbook and story book and is loving it.  We got back to our hotel mid-afternoon with just enough time to nap and relax before heading out again.  At 5:30, we left for dinner at Stardust Diner.  My Mom took me there when I was 17 and I could not wait to take my own daughter there.  We had to wait for about 30 minutes to be seated, but considering it was a Friday night, I had zero complaints.  Stardust Diner is full of servers who have the biggest dreams of being on Broadway.   There is not a quiet moment in there as they take turns singing and dancing, while also waiting your table and serving you food.  It is so, so fun.  There was confetti falling from the ceiling, leaf blowers used as wind, straws being thrown during “Let It Go” and at one point all the servers joined in to sing “Be Our Guest”.  It was a delightful dinner!  A little much at times for Richard (our server assured Richard he would survive and all would be well!) but Bridget and I loved it.  We got out of there at 7:30, walked one block to Wicked, used the bathroom, took our seats, and the show started.  Perfect timing.  This was my third time seeing Wicked, but first time seeing it in New York.  The stage and everything they do here is SO amazing in its permanent home.  The cast was stellar and hands down just as good if not better than the original cast.  Richard declared it his favorite musical he has ever seen performed live!  Quite a statement coming from Richard.    It was just so amazing and don’t worry, I have already looked up the actress who plays Elphaba on Instagram.  Bridget asked me if I was going to stalk her, which I have a tendency to do with performers I love!  Ha!  The woman who plays Elphaba just started in this role on March 9^th and both actresses for Elphaba and Glinda have had this dream of being in Wicked on Broadway since they were young!  And here they are!  So amazing.  Ah, I could go on and on, such an amazing night and what a way to end our time in NYC.  Bridget was only somewhat familiar with the storyline, but she loved, loved, loved it and followed along without missing a beat.  She also loved that there was a professor who was a goat.  She honestly lit up when he appeared on stage and then proceeded to eat paper.   

 

It took us a while to wind down after we got back to our hotel room at 11:00 pm!  We packed, got ready for bed, and tried to settle down, which is hard after seeing such a fantastic show!  We finally had lights out at midnight and woke up at 6:00 to check out of the hotel.  Short night.  We have all slept some in the taxi or on the plane, and though we are sad for this trip to be done, we cannot wait to get back to the other half of our family!  A huge thank you to Becky for taking care of Marshall, Rachel, and Gretchen.  I left her with SEVEN pages of instructions, mostly full of phone numbers for carpools and who needs to be where when.  She did it all flawlessly and I am so thankful for it. 

 

This time with Bridget was a dream.  We took Marshall on his trip just one year ago, so it has just been interesting to compare and contrast.  By Thursday, it was apparent to me that while Bridget loved NYC, she could never live in a big city like that.  She was bursting with energy each night we were back in our hotel room.  This girl needs room to run and move and play and create and imagine, and that all seemed stifled for her.  She also desperately missed her siblings.  By Friday morning she was texting Marshall and the kids’ Gabb phone frequently.  She loves them and is such a good sister.  Bridget is confident and adaptable.  She is slower to make decisions, but I think that’s because she is trying to decipher what she really wants.  She is flexible and intentional, and a downright goofball.  We had so much fun playing with her for three straight days and will remember this trip always! 

 

Last Week:

 

We had an excellent Spring Break and I definitely enjoyed the slower pace of our life, but I was very happy to send all the kids out the door on Monday, April 10^th!  Purely to just have the kitchen stay clean in between meals is enough to bring serenity back into my life.  Ha! 

 

We had a pretty basic week.  School for the kids.  Soccer, dance, farm, piano, music class, etc.  Marshall was supposed to have his first track meet on that Thursday, but it had rained and snowed in the morning.  The district deemed the field and track too wet to set up all their equipment, so they cancelled it.  Marshall was incredibly relieved!  But of course, by 3:00 pm it was sunny and dry and so lame they cancelled the meet! 

 

Despite bad weather on Thursday, the rest of the week was lovely weather.  The girls have started walking to school again and that is lovely! 

 

Oh, one highlight is Wednesday morning Richard was invited by Jaxon (our nephew) to go to school with him for breakfast for “Bring Someone Grand” day.  Richard was shocked to get this invitation!  Even more shocking though is his work schedule actually allowed him to say yes!  Richard has never, even been able to do something like this with our kids, but I am honestly so glad he had a later work shift that day so he could say yes to Jaxon.  He picked him up at 7:45 and off they went to Jaxon’s school!  What a fun morning for them! 

 

On Thursday, Rachel came to the farm for the last hour Bridget and Cambria were working.  Rachel has desperately been wanting to see all the baby goats, so Richard dropped her off.  It was actually a lot of fun to have her there and gave Bridget and Cambria good motivation to work quickly!  I would say Rachel enjoyed herself a little too much (it would send me over the edge if I had two kids working at the farm!), but it really was so fun to watch her!  And of course, Bridget loved showing her around. 

On Friday we had a ward party/fundraiser for the youth programs.  Richard had to work that evening, so the kids and I went solo.  Technically, the youth were supposed to make desserts to be auctioned off.  But, Marshall and Bridget were hardly home on Thursday and Friday, and not that I had much more time than they did, but I ended up making both their desserts, finishing the last of them at 5:32 and they walked out the door with them at 5:40.  It was a whirlwind!  We did homemade oreos for Marshall and cinnamon roll blondie bars for Bridget.  We have an incredibly generous ward and together we raised over $5900 for the youth programs.  We walked away with a dozen homemade delicious cinnamon rolls, car detailing (hooray!) and daily walks for Ziggy for one month straight.  Ziggy will hate it!  It was a very fun evening though.  The kids had fun with friends, I enjoyed chatting with neighbors and spending money!  All for a good cause though! 

 

Saturday the 15^th was a lovely day for us.  A bit of a slower paced Saturday and that felt wonderful.  We all slept in a bit, which made us all happy.  Bridget and I had a nail appointment at 10:45 to get our nails done for New York and when we were done, Richard and the other kids met us at the movie theater to see the new Mario movie.  The week before Richard and I had gone to see a movie and saw a preview for the Mario movie.  It looked SO dumb and I had zero intention of going to see it.  But, then it came out and I heard so many good reviews from kids AND adults!  I was shocked!  Then on Thursday, Gretchen and Rachel, independently of each other, asked me if we could go see the movie because everyone was talking about it and loving it.  So we figured with our open Saturday we would all go!  When we were in line for concessions Richard and I realized we had not been to the movies as a family since February 2020 in Mesquite!  Isn’t that nuts?!  But, based on the prices of movies and concessions these days, we will keep it as going once every four years!  Haha!  The kids did end up loving it.  I slept through the entire second half-I could not be roused!  But I did love the first half!  Gretchen has been listening to that peaches song for days now and driving me slightly crazy with it.  After the movie, we had time to just be home in the afternoon and that was wonderful.  At 5:30, Richard and I left for a date to the symphony.  We grabbed dinner at Fat Jack’s downtown and then walked over to the symphony.  The symphony was celebrating 100 years of Gershwin and it was an amazing night.  They ended with Blue Rhapsody, which we have seen performed once before and it is just amazing.  The pianist was fantastic all night.  Blue Rhapsody reminds me so much of my Grandma and Grandpa Yancey.  I honestly don’t know if I ever listened to it in their home, but growing up, we had a VHS tape of their pictures and slides and it was set to Blue Rhapsody.  We watched it occasionally and Blue Rhapsody is just ingrained in my mind from looking at pictures of my grandparents when they were younger and raising their own family.  A true treasured memory, set to an amazing piece of music.  Anyway, a great evening indeed.  Bridget also had a great evening.  My parents came and picked her up at 5:45 for her birthday outing.  They went to dinner at Arella’s and then went to Centerpointe to see “Matilda”.  Bridget loved it and my parents were so kind to take her. 

 

On Monday the 17^th, Marshall finally had his first track meet.  He ran the 1600 and 800.  I was able to be there to watch him run the 1600.  This was his first time ever running a mile in such a setting.  When he stepped onto the track I was SO nervous.  I texted Richard and asked him who was more likely to throw up, Marshall or me?!  Later that night, I asked Marshall how nervous he was before the mile, he ranked it as a 7 out of 10, so pretty nervous!  But, he did great!  He took 7^th in his heat of 23 runners and got his own personal record of 6:07!  I was so proud of him.  I had to leave to go to the farm after that, but Richard was able to make it in time to watch the 800, which he ran in 2:50.  My parents were so wonderful and came and stayed for the whole meet, with their cushions to make the bleachers a bit more comfortable!  That day was nuts for Marshall.  He went from school, to the track meet, straight to soccer practice, finally making it home that night at 8:30 pm.  This track season has been discombobulated, due to the weather and the coaches, but we are so proud of Marshall for sticking with it.  He has one more meet this coming week.  Hopefully this will turn out to be a good practice year for him and he can jump in next year with more confidence and familiarity and continue to improve, work hard, and love it. 

 

Spring Break:

 

This seems like eons ago, but I have to document a handful of things.  We started off our spring break with seriously three straight days of snow.  It was nuts.  On Monday, Lisa brought her kids up to sled for the afternoon.  My kids had so much fun and it was the perfect way to kick off spring break.  On Tuesday, I baby-sat Danny and Stacie’s boys and we again spent that afternoon sledding.  Marshall spent that entire day at Johnny’s house, so he wasn’t around, but all three of my girls had a blast with all three of Danny’s boys.  So much playing and laughter and snow! 

 

The rest of the week the kids played with friends.  Bridget felt so grown up by spending two hours at Station Park with her friends one afternoon.  We relaxed, played together, slept in-ah!  It was a grand week! 

 

On Friday afternoon, I said good-bye to my children and Ziggy and left for the airport!  My Mom and I spent less than 48 hours in Arizona and had the BEST time.  We got to our hotel in Mesa early evening.  We unpacked, relaxed a bit, and then came up with a plan for dinner.  The weather was lovely and the restaurant was less than a mile away, so we opted to walk.  We had a bit of a wait, but we sat outside and talked and just enjoyed warm weather!  Our dinner was fantastic at this fun Mexican restaurant!  Such a fun night!  The next morning, we attempted to sleep in, but the hotel alarm went off at 6:00 am!  Ugh!  But, it felt like 7:00 to us, and our minds were already going, so we opted to just get up and start our day.  We drove a bit in search of a hike, but couldn’t find it, so we ended up at Tempe Town Lake, which proved to be delightful!  We walked three mils round trip on this path that just followed this canal that was full of rowers!  The weather was perfect, wildflowers were blooming and once again it just felt wonderful to be outside in the sunshine without a coat or a jacket on!  After our walk, we went to a wonderful place for brunch and loved it.  After relaxing, naps, and talking to our families stuck at home, we went back out and walked Main Street in Mesa.  We found the cutest shops and just enjoyed looking and walking around.  We drove a bit for dinner to a delicious smokehouse that was attached to the most eclectic store.  We could have wandered around for hours, but we had to get back to the hotel for our main event!  We quickly got all dressed up and walked back to Main Street to the theater to see Alvin Ailey Dance Theater perform-the whole reason for our trip!  I have seen Alvin Ailey multiple times and they always amaze, but this was my Mom’s first time seeing them.  I LOVED experiencing it with her!  They performed four pieces.  The first was Night Creature, choreographed by Alvin Ailey and set to the music of Duke Ellington.  So beautiful.  The second piece is a recent work, a duet between a man and a woman and it was riveting.  The strength and movement was unparalleled.  The third piece was also choreographed by Alvin Ailey and was about Nelson and Winnie Mandela.  It was beautiful and intense and so, so well done.  The last piece, as always, was Revelations.  I cried no less than five times during Revelations.  I have always loved it, but I seem to love it more and more each time.  The strength!  The artistry!  The precision!  The energy!  The costumes and music.  Alvin Ailey choreographed this in 1960 and it was such a sensation they have been ending every show with this for decades.  Isn’t that amazing?!  Ah, it was such an incredible night.  We got back to our hotel room late and packed and tried to wind down after such a high.  We got up early, drove to the airport, flew to Utah and my parents dropped me off at home at 11:30 am.  I was happy to be home to spend Easter with my family. 

We had a beautiful Easter Sunday, complete with lovely music all during sacrament meeting.  We spent the rest of the day as a family just being together and focusing on Christ.  Richard was great while I was gone and did all the Easter bunny stuff for the kids on Saturday.  Due to the weather, they had their Easter egg hunt inside, which Gretchen loved.    

 

And there you have it!  Three weeks and eight pages later, I am all caught up on life! 

 

The school year is quickly winding down.  Our May calendar is bursting at the seams with this event and that.  Summer is so close, and I am VERY excited for a slower pace in life!  Here’s hoping that really happens!

 

Love to each of you.

 

Richard, Jenny, Marshall, Bridget, Rachel and Gretchen