May 30, 2022-The Leake's Week

 Hello!  Let me tell you all the things I am loving right now...cooler weather, stormy gray skies, rain, thunder, lightning, and my kids being done with the school year before Memorial Day!!!  This is a first in our history as parents, and I am so happy about it!  Those four days of school after Memorial Day are such a waste!  Anyway, we have had quite the week, so much to write about!

On Monday afternoon, I checked Rachel out of school just before 2:30.  She had a dance audition at 4:00, and she needed time to get ready, and you know, eat food before dancing for three hours!  She loved getting checked out early, and I am glad she could have a little down time at home.  Gretchen was especially happy to have her sister home and no one else around!  Sara's mom took the girls to auditions.  Rachel was nervous, but not too nervous.  I waited outside with her before Sara came to pick her up and gave her a big hug and wished her good luck!  While Rachel was gone, Marshall and Bridget had piano lessons.  That night Richard and Marshall met up with Ricky and Duncan to see Dr. Strange.  When they got home I asked how the movie was and they both replied with "Strange!"  I don't think they loved it, but they certainly loved the company.  Richard and Ricky talked for a while in the parking lot while Duncan and Marshall sat alone, in their dad's cars.  The image of this just cracks me up.  While the kids were at piano, Gretchen and I took Ziggy on a walk on the Lagoon Trail and Gretchen rode her balance bike.  She was a complete delight.  Just biked and talked the whole time.  I picked the dancing girls up at 7:00 and they were so glad to be done!  They were tired!  The rest of our evening at home was relaxing and the girls enjoyed watching a show and playing.  Late that night I got an email from the dance studio that Rachel made call backs for Tuesday night.  These call backs were for the top two teams in her age group.  Fortunately, Sara also got this email, so the girls could go together!  

On Tuesday Gretchen and I ran down to the elementary school to see Rachel's class demonstrate their grape smashers.  I think I wrote this last week, but Rachel's teacher gave her students three projects that were all due this week!  Lame.  This blasted grape smasher was one of them.  Create a grape smasher using three simple machines with things you have laying around your house.  Um...yeah.  To see what kids came up with was quite impressive, I will say.  I was also so amused because there were so many dads and grandpas at this grape smashing.  There was one grandpa in particular who was literally mesmerized by every grape smasher and was front and center the whole time.  Parents, on the sides, were less than enthused with these creations and I heard lots of grumbling about how much it cost to put these things together.  One mom said, "This project just shows whose dad is in business and whose dad is an engineer!"  Ha! Very accurate!  Anyway, Rachel's grape smasher didn't work quite as well as it did at home, but after two attempts the grape was still smashed!  After school, I rushed all the girls home, quickly got Rachel ready for round two of auditions, and ran her down to Sara's house.  The girls wanted to practice together for a few minutes before Sara's mom took them.  Once again, I picked the girls up after auditions, and they were SO relieved to be done.   I was also very relieved to have auditions behind us!  I was a Nervous-Nellie for so much of Tuesday!  I wasn't expecting Rachel to get called back, so it really threw me for a loop.  That evening Marshall had a YM activity where the former high school biology teacher created all sorts of explosions; obviously, Marshall came home very impressed!

Wednesday was a day of friend's for Gretchen.  She had Harper and Genevieve over for the morning and was in complete heaven.  They played outside on the playset and inside they played Sleeping Queens and then imagined their little hearts out.  It really was so fun to listen to them up in the loft.  After those girls left, she and I had a quick lunch, and then we baby-sat Charlie for the afternoon.  Gretchen and Charlie have started to love playing board games and card games with each other.  It is hilarious to listen to them talk.  They played games with each other almost the entire time he was here!  Our Wednesday afternoon and evening was lovely because no one had anything going on.  The kids and I got jobs done after school and then the five of us found ourselves just hanging out in the living room talking.  It was so wonderful and relaxing.  That evening, after Richard was home, the kids played outside and we finally got our act together and cleaned up all our winter stuff in the garage!  Ha!  

On Thursday Richard worked from home from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm.  It was so great for him to be able to have more of a relaxing morning with no commute!  That morning, I got an email from Rachel's dance studio saying that she made the top team for her age group...the team they will be taking to a national competition next July.  I was shocked!  I know she is a good little dancer, but with her being on the younger end of the age group, I just figured it wouldn't be her turn on this team this year.  Sara also made it, which is the best news.  Neither Sara's mom or I paid much attention to the requirements for this national team before tryouts, so we spent a lot of time texting each other and talking on the phone that day figuring it all out!  It was a lot of fun to tell Rachel she made that team.  She was honestly just as shocked as I was!  She immediately asked me if Sara made it too, and I was so happy to tell her yes!  After thinking it over for a couple of days, Rachel and Sara have decided to go for it!  This will be quite the experience for them, and we are all so happy they get to experience it together.  The national competition they are attending is next July in Anaheim.  It will be fun!  In other news, I baby-sat Cal and Chase that afternoon.  They all had fun playing on the playset and Gretchen was thoroughly impressed with Chase's climbing skills and I was equally terrified!  Marshall got his yearbook at school that day and it was actually his last day of school.  Academically, he has excelled this year, a 4.0 all four terms.  We have seen so much growth in him!  But he is still figuring out the social component of junior high, and that can be hard sometimes.  And hard for a parent to watch.  He did end the day on a high note though.  The other soccer team he played with had a party on Thursday night for taking first in their division.  They had pizza and treats and played at the park and their coach passed out their first place medals.  He came home very happy from that, and even though we forced him to go, he was glad that he did!  That evening Bridget and Cambria milked the goats at the farm and I went with them.  They did a great job and are getting faster and faster.  There was one goat, London, that Bridget and Cambria were concerned about, she just did not seem her usual self.  They mentioned it to the Garlick's and then I received word on Friday that London had died.  Ugh.  This is not the first time I have had to relay bad news to Bridget about the farm, and it rips my heart out.  She handles it well, but I hate that I am the bearer of bad news.  Even though a goat did try to eat my shirt again that night, I am becoming more endeared to them!  

Friday!  The last day of school for Bridget and Rachel!  The girls begrudgingly let me take their pictures that morning, even though I reminded them we do this every year!  After the girls left for school, Marshall and I got ready, took Gretchen to Charlie's and then I took Marshall out to breakfast at Sill's Cafe.  It was a delightful morning out with him, and he is now begging to go back because they serve giant scones as big as a plate.  We each ordered our own breakfast and then shared a scone.  Marshall, who is usually very stoic in public, was in heaven when he took the first bite of that scone slathered in honey butter.  I honestly wish I got a video of it!  It was a fun morning with him.  When we got home, I left Marshall with Gretchen and ran errands I had desperately been needing to get done all week.  Gretchen has become a little monster at stores, so it is just so much easier to go without her!  After errands, I was home for 5 minutes to grab Ziggy and Gretchen so we could all pick up the girls together, per their request.  Bridget, bless her heart, as soon as she got in the car, burst into tears.  Bridget loves school, loves her friends, and has especially loved her teacher this year and saying good-bye was all just too much for her.  She cried all the way home, and then she and I went up to my room and she kept crying.  Bless her!  She eventually calmed down, took some time to re-group, and then Cambria came over at 3:00.  It was just what those girls needed, as I heard Cambria also cried after school!  Hello pre-teens.  :)  Yikes!  It was great for those two to be together.  They played here all afternoon, Marshall had two friends over at 5:00, I got pizza for everyone, and then I took all five of those kids to the rec center to swim.  All of them had a great, great night and it was a good celebration for the end of the school year.  Rachel was off to Sara's very soon after getting home from school.  They played at Sara's house, went swimming at Sara's cousin's house, swam for three plus hours, ate Chick-Fil-A, watched a movie and then Rachel came home and crashed.  It was a great day for her!  While everyone else was gone, Richard and Gretchen had a little date at home.  They watched Tangled and played games.  They have the cutest little relationship, and I love watching it.  Just with our phase of life and Covid and Richard being home more, he has had more time with Gretchen as a young child than any of our other kids and she loves him dearly.  And I love it.  We all fell into bed incredibly late that night, but I would say very happy.   

Our Saturday was a full day!  We all did sleep in, which was very much needed!  At 11:30, Stacie came and picked up Bridget, Rachel, and me, we picked up my Mom and then drove into Salt Lake and met Audrey, Lisa, Anna, and Cadence at Corner Bakery up by the U.  We had a wonderful lunch together.  It took quite a while to get our food, but that gave us plenty of time to talk and catch up with each other.  The younger girls were so patient to wait for their food, and they had a lot of fun together.  After lunch we drove to Pioneer Memorial Theatre to see "Hello Dolly", one of my Mom's most favorite musicals.  She bought tickets for all of us months ago and it was so fun to go together.  It was an absolutely fantastic production.  The stage is not anything fancy, but the costumes were beautiful and the singing and acting was just wonderful.  Anytime the whole chorus was on stage, the sound they produced was just amazing.  It was so well done!  The scene with the waiters was so fun and my girls were captivated by the entire thing.  It was so well done, and I am so glad we could go!  We got home just after 5:00, Richard had dinner ready for the kids, I said hello to Marshall and Gretchen, and then said good-bye to all four kids and Richard and I were out the door for the symphony!  We had a quick dinner at Blue Lemon and then walked over to Abravanel Hall.  The symphony played three pieces that night and the first was a violin concerto by Beethoven.  It was over 40 minutes long, and I was nervous about staying awake!  But it was completely captivating!  The symphony had a guest violinist, who played on a violin from 1693!  She was phenomenal.  She did not open her eyes for the entire piece, which normally I find almost awkward to watch, but not this time.  She stood in front of the symphony, in a beautiful green dress, eyes closed, subtly moving, and you could just tell she knew every note of that 42 minute piece.  At times it was just the symphony playing, sometimes just her, sometimes all together, but she knew every single note of that concerto and played flawlessly.  It was 42 minutes I don't think I will ever forget!  When we got home, all the girls were sound asleep, and Marshall was half asleep on the couch.  :)  After such a hectic week, and a rather emotional one for me and others in this house, it was so great to get out of the house with Richard!  

We had a good Sunday yesterday.  After church we all had a relaxing afternoon, and that was wonderful.  We had my Mom over for dinner last night since my Dad is out of town.  There was a lot of energy in our house last night and I am happy to report my Mom survived dinner with us as well as a game of Sleeping Queens and Know It or Blow It, and the dog!  We loved having her over.  After she left, we had FHE, and then the kids talked us into having a sleepover, in the tent, in the big family room.  It actually went way better than we expected.  I think they were all asleep by 10:00, no one came up to our bed in the middle of the night, and they all slept past 8:00!  Win!  The tent is still up, so I have a pretty good feeling they will be sleeping in there again tonight.  :)  

Well, I am spent.  This has taken me entirely too long to write, and it feels clunky!  But, I cannot improve it, so I am signing off until next week!

Love to each of you!

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

The Leake's Week-May, 23, 2022

 Hello!

Another Monday edition of the email.  Our Sundays just go so fast, and with our busy weekdays and Saturdays, I need a day to catch my breath!  This is the last week of school for my kids and I am THRILLED they get out before Memorial Day weekend...this has never happened for them before!  Anyway, we will see what our summer weekend schedule is like...in the summer, it might be easier to write on Sundays.  Speaking of Sundays, I will do a quick recap of yesterday.  Richard worked yesterday, so we missed him, but he was home for dinner and that was great.  We enjoyed our evening as a family.  Bridget had the treat for FHE and chose Grandpa Yancey's caramel corn.  I don't even remember the last time I made that and it was divine.  Ziggy was beside himself because we didn't intentionally feed him any, but at one point he did get a bit off from Richard's handful-sneaky dog!  The kids spent their afternoon outside, playing Lego City, and they did watch one movie.  It was a great, great Sunday.

Jumping back to last Monday...Richard worked from home, and it was great to have him around, without a commute!  While Gretchen was at preschool, I picked up my Mom and she and I, along with Ziggy, hiked the Wild Rose Trail.  I discovered this trail in 2020, and it has become one of my favorites.  It is pretty, no matter the season, and it was beyond wonderful to have uninterrupted conversation with my Mom!  Ziggy was a trooper, and though the hike is just about two miles, that dog was pooped the rest of the day!  The wildflowers were gorgeous and the views were just so pretty.  I do wish we didn't have the view of the airport and refineries to the west, but everything else is lovely.  :)  It was a delightful way to spend a Monday morning!  After school, I took the girls to the library, per their request.  I have been making two trips a week to the library lately for Bridget.  Marshall had a soccer game that night with the higher level team.  It was a big game, which they ended up losing, their only loss of the season.  It was a HARD game for me to watch, and I ended up leaving early, I couldn't stand it!  The team was not playing as a team AT ALL, Marshall hardly played, his coach was frustrated and I felt he was incredibly reactionary in his subs, and frustrated with the boys on the field, but unwilling to mix anything up or sub Marshall and another player in!  I couldn't take it, so I left!  I might get a tad bit wrapped up in these things.  Fortunately, Richard was there the whole time with Marshall.  Bless him.  Richard fixed all our broken sprinklers that night.  Bless him again.

Tuesday I remember absolutely nothing about how Gretchen and I filled our time during the school day that day!  Rachel did get to celebrate her un-birthday at school that day, so she was pretty happy about that.  After school, Marshall and Bridget had piano, Marshall had soccer practice, and Rachel had dance.  At gym that day, Marshall slipped on wet grass while he was running and fell right down on his tailbone.  He wasn't in too much pain, until soccer practice and then he came home and laid on his stomach the rest of the night!  He was pretty miserable.  

On Wednesday, Marshall just did a half day of school.  Sitting in a hard chair did not sound too appealing to him.  So he went to his two most important classes, gave a presentation, and then came home back to the soft couch.  Gretchen had her last day of preschool, I can hardly believe it.  I can't bring myself to say she is our last, so I am just saying our youngest is all done with preschool.  They had a cute little sign on the white board about it being the last day of preschool, and it made me a bit emotional!  Another milestone with the little bear cub.  Per the usual, she had such a great morning there and loved it.  She has learned SO much this year, and she is definitely reading for kindergarten.  After school, Bridget had horseback riding and Rachel had dance.  Bridget also finally had her birthday outing with my parents.  She chose a painting class and my parents were so kind to take her.  She painted a bird and flower and did a great job!  It really is fantastic.  And she loved it.  We were able to hang her masterpiece up in her bedroom that night!  Are we on top of it, or what?!  :)  

Thursday, again, no recollection of how I used my time during the school day!  Oh wait, Richard was home for a good chunk of the day!  It was lovely.  He cleaned out the garage, and I did yard work and cleaned some things up inside.  Adult life.  :)  We also played games with Gretchen.  She is currently in love with the game Sleeping Queens and she is ruthless, but also delightful to play with!  Richard left for work about 2:00, and was working at the same hospital as Ricky that day, so he was so happy about that!  Bridget and Cambria fed at the farm that night, so I went with them.  It has been about a month since I have been on the farm (a blessed month for me).  They did some rearranging of animals, so Bridget and Cambria were thrown off their groove a bit, plus they kept getting distracted with the animals!  What usually takes them one hour, took two!  I was slightly annoyed, but I was also listening to an audiobook, so I couldn't be that annoyed.  :)  When we got over to the hen house though, we found it completely changed and required me to go into three separate enclosures to get the waters...one area had all the geese...hissing geese!  I told the girls to say a prayer for me and I am happy to report I made it out unscathed!  Farm life is something else, and Bridget is still loving it.  It is almost time to shave a goat again...joy!   

Friday was a big day for little Gretchen...preschool graduation!  She has been so excited for this day for weeks!  For days she has been debating about which necklace to wear, it has honestly been the cutest thing.  She woke up so excited that morning and eagerly got ready for her big morning.  She was so cute!  Oh my heart.  My Dad was able to join me for the graduation, and it was great to have him there.  We were able to get a front row seat and were right in front of Gretchen in her cap and gown.  The kids sang three songs.  Gretchen sang her little heart out, but there was no sort of accompaniment, and the songs seemed to get slower and slower!  We showed my Mom the videos on Saturday and she equated them to a dirge!  Oh, it was so funny.  Despite the slow pace and possible minor key, Gretchen did great.  After the songs, they had each of the kids walk across for their diploma, a short spotlight, and a picture.  Gretchen said she wants to be a fairy when she grows up (I cannot think of a better profession for her!) and her favorite thing from preschool was playing in movement with her friends.  And she has made great friends this year.  She has blossomed into a social butterfly and it has been so fun to see.  I have mixed feelings about sending her to kindergarten in the fall, but she is ready.  Just today she pulled out a lunch box and pencil box and said she is ready to go back to school.  Sigh.  They grow.  After graduation, we were home for a while before going down to the elementary school.  I helped serve a spaghetti lunch  after school to the kids in Rachel's class who have passed off their division facts.  Rachel was one of them, and with spaghetti being her favorite meal, she was on Cloud 9.  It was fun to watch Rachel with her friends, and they were so kind to include Gretchen.  While that was going on, Bridget was outside participating in the team building activities for the student council.  She finds out on Saturday if she made it.  After getting all the girls home, Bridget and I left 15 minutes later for the Davis Heritage Festival, the event that has replaced the Davis County Fair.  4-H put on this weekend event, and because Bridget is in 4-H she was required to volunteer, and because she is not old enough to be dropped off and left, that meant that I also got roped into volunteering.  Lovely!  We signed up to walk by the horses while kids were on them for two hours.  Bridget was excited, I was less than thrilled.  Friday was a chilly day and when we got up there at 3:30, it was SO cold.  We each had on four layers of shifts/hoodies/rain jackets.  We had hoods on.  We had gloves and hand warmers and Bridget was wearing two layers of pants.  It was cold!  Thankfully, the wind and rain stopped, and while it stayed chilly, the sun at least came out, though we never peeled off any layers!  Once we got going, the activity itself was quite fun.  We helped kids of all ages, and some were brave and some were scared, and it was a lot of fun.  My phone told me we walked two miles in two hours...two miles in an oval!  So that got a bit old, and we were tired by the end!  We picked up dinner on the way home and then had a girls movie night at home.  Richard and Marshall went to Father's and Sons up by Morgan.  Richard got stuck at work longer than he was expecting, so they got up to the camp 30 minutes after dinner started and when they got up there there was NO food left!  Isn't that nuts?!  I mean, not completely surprising, but still!  Our neighbor was in charge of the food, and he loves food, and I would never believe he could underestimate food, but he even said he could not believe how fast that much food was gone!  Richard and Marshall still had a great time though.  Marshall hiked and played checkers with some young men his age.  Richard, believe it or not, had fun talking with men around the fire.  They did not plan to spend the night up there, so on their way home about 9:30, they picked up some dinner...they were starving!  

Saturday brought us another very busy day!  I left just after 8:00 for a book club breakfast at Kneader's.  It was a great way to kick off a morning!  I have not had their french toast in years, and it was as good as I remember it.  We had a great book discussion.  Richard was a great dad at home, got the kids cinnamon rolls for breakfast (we have become obsessed with Dick's cinnamon rolls on the weekends!) and then he loaded them all up to go to Marshall's soccer games.  I met everyone at the game just a few minutes before kick off.  It was a chilly morning, but the girls stayed warm by playing and they had a lot of fun.  The soccer team, per the usual this spring, ended up with a loss, 0-3.  However, the ref was not great and the other team only scored on 2 PKs and a corner kick, so easier ways to score.  After that game, I left with the girls (still scarred from Monday's game) and Richard stayed with Marshall for the other team's game.  The girls and I had lunch at home, finished our jobs, and then went to the library.  The other soccer team dominated, won 6-0, and Marshall played half the game and played great.  So a wonderful report!  That afternoon, Bridget and I went back up to the Davis Heritage Festival, this time to fit helmets on the riders and sterilize them after each use.  I was thrilled to have this job, but Bridget seemed a little less thrilled.  We really lucked out though because I thought our shift went until 6:00, but the entire event ended at 5:00...I felt like I gained back an entire hour of my life!  While we were gone, Richard took the younger girls to Home Depot to get things for a stupid grape smasher project Rachel has due tomorrow.  Let me say that Rachel has three big school projects due this week.  LAME!  This teacher has only solidified my dislike of her this week.  Sigh.  Anyway, once we all made it home, a guy came to install a huge shelf in our garage, the kids and Ziggy played outside, Rachel and Richard worked on her project and finally at 7:00 I drove to Cafe Rio to get takeout.  We ate out on the deck and had a late and lazy, but good dinner!  Finally, at 10:30 pm, we were all clean, the house was cleaned up and we were all in bed!  What a day!

And I already wrote about yesterday, so there you go!  Four more days of school!!!

Love each of you!

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

Oh, one funny Gretchen story, on Saturday when the girls and I were coming home from the library, I pointed out the Bountiful Temple up on the pretty green mountain.  Gretchen immediately said, "Temples look better on the ground."  :)  It made us chuckle.  

The Leake's Week-May 15, 2022

 Hello!

Happy Sunday!  I am sitting outside on our deck on a beautiful and warm Sunday afternoon writing this email.  Ziggy is at my feet, and I just woke up from a Sunday nap a bit ago.  It is a moment of pure bliss right now, and I am grateful for it!  We have had a good and very busy week!  Here are the highlights...

Richard had Monday off of work and it was wonderful!  It was just so nice to have him around, and he also certainly appreciated the break!  He took Ziggy on a walk to pick up the girls from school, which Ziggy, Bridget and Rachel were all happy about.  Bridget has decided to try for student council.  All it requires is an application and an interview.  I think they choose 12 students, all who will be 6th graders next year.  The interviews were on Monday, and I think I heard they interviewed something like 50 students, over half the current 5th grade!  She was nervous for her interview, but she felt good about it and did her best.  This week they have a team building activity with all the applicants and then we wait until the end of the month to find out if she made it.  She has a good attitude about it, and we are just proud of her for stepping out of her comfort zone and giving it a shot!  Marshall had piano after school and Rachel had an extra dance rehearsal for her recital.  

Tuesday was a day!  Richard left early for work.  He was presenting at tumor board that morning, and he reported that all went well.  The kids and I were all out the door by 8:40 am.  I dropped Gretchen off at Genevieve's house and then ran over to the elementary school for the 5th grade field trip to the Hill Air Force Base Museum.  The teachers had arranged for two buses to take all the students and parent chaperones up to the museum, but in the end, only one bus came.  So they decided to squish all the students and three teachers on the bus and they asked the parents to carpool up with each other and meet up there.  I will take this arrangement any day over a bus ride with crazy kids!  My next door neighbor was also chaperoning, and offered to drive, so I hopped in her car, along with another mom in the neighborhood.  When we got up there, I met my group of kids, including Bridget, and we started our time in a classroom.  About 15 minutes in, Bridget told me she did not feel well and she and I spent the next long while in the bathroom.  Poor girl was just miserable!  Oh I felt so bad for her, but also so glad that I was there!  Bridget's teacher was so kind and took over my group and my neighbor was a lifesaver and just let me drive her car home with Bridget, once she felt like she could leave the bathroom!  It was not the morning either one of us were expecting at all, but we are both so grateful for how the driving situation worked out and that I was on the field trip!  We got home without creating any mess in the Atkinson's van (fortunately, I found garbage bags in their van so I covered Bridget's seat with garbage bags and gave her one to hold) and Bridget was so happy to be home.  She spent the rest of the day laying around and watching TV.  By 1:00, she was through the worst of it, and so far, no one else has gotten sick!  Knock on wood.  The rest of our day was routine with soccer practice for Marshall and dance for Rachel.  

Wednesday was a much anticipated day in the Leake home!  I think I wrote a few weeks ago that we bought a playset and Wednesday was the day it was finally to be delivered and installed!  The kids were so excited!  Three men came while Gretchen was at preschool, hauled it up our hill and set it up, bolted it in the ground, and were gone before she got home!  She was SO happy to see it when she got home from school.  I know the novelty of this playset will wear off one day, but for now the kids are loving it.  Gretchen has played on it every single day with Charlie, and now we are just trying to teach these two five year olds how to pump!  Richard is very much their preferred swing pusher, clearly, I don't cut it, but will do when he is not home.  Rachel played on the swing set from the time she got home from school until we called her in for dinner 30 minutes before we had to rush her off to dance.  I hope that it will bring days and days of fun, and so far, it is doing just that.  Bridget did have piano lessons after school, Marshall had soccer, and Rachel had dance.  And Gretchen had the swingset!  BYU Fanfest was in Farmington that night and Richard took Bridget and Gretchen.  It was a different experience for him without Marshall there, but he had a great time and the girls loved it.  Gretchen is adamant she hates BYU, but this experience definitely warmed her up to it.  She had a great time!  Bridget was a big help and stood in line to get a football poster signed for Marshall.  And they brought Cougar Tails home...delish!

Thursday morning, our little social butterfly Gretchen, got to spend the morning at Charlie's house while Richard and I went to the temple.  I slept through another endowment session.  :)  But, it was still nice to be there.  After lunch at home, Gretchen and Charlie played outside while Richard spent who knows how long swinging them.  :)  I went to the junior high to accompany Marshall for his clarinet solo.  I don't know who was more nervous...me or him!  He did great though, and I only made one mistake, on the second to last note!  Ah!  But, it was minimal, and we both breathed a huge sigh of relief when it was done!  This was just yet another experience when I shook my head, not being able to believe that I have a child old enough to be in junior high, going to the same junior high I went to.  So nuts!  Richard worked at home from 4:00 pm to 11:00 pm, but thankfully, everything that we usually have on Thursdays was cancelled or done for the school year so our afternoon and evening were wide open and that felt great!  The kids played and played outside and Rachel had Sara over.  We had an easy dinner and then I took Ziggy on a walk while the kids got ready for bed!  We have reached a new level of independence!  

Friday was another busy day.  Richard was up and at 'em early for work.  I volunteered in the Charger Store for the last time this year.  I have LOVED doing this, and though you wouldn't know it by looking at Marshall each time he comes to the store when I am there, he has also loved it.  :)  Because of spring break, I hadn't been in the store for two months, and he kept asking me when I would be there.  And then he also told me I had to do it again next year.  For sure!  I just get such a kick out of interacting with these junior high kids.  It is so fun.  Cambria walked home with the girls and she and Bridget had a ball playing outside for basically three hours straight.  Rachel had Eily over and Gretchen and Charlie were pretty much inseparable all day long.  All the friends left right about 5:00 and the kids and I had an easy dinner at home and then drove to Farmington High School to see our stake's production of "Joseph Smith, the Prophet".  Richard met us there right after work.  My parents were performing in it, as well as many people from our ward and it was great to go and support.  The music was beautiful and it was extremely well done!  The kids all did great, except Gretchen who asked after every single song if it was time to go home.  I am sure the people sitting in front of us loved it.  :)  

Our Saturday morning was crazy and long!  Richard was up at 5:20, I was up at 6:00, and Marshall was up at 6:15.  Richard left for work shortly after 6:00 and Marshall and I left for soccer at 7:30.  Marshall had two soccer games that morning, one at 8:30 and 10:30.  I could not be at either one, and with Richard working, obviously he couldn't either.  I asked another mom to keep an eye on him for the first game (I have become incredibly worried about soccer injuries!) and my Dad was so kind to go to the second game.  Marshall's regular team lost their game, they have not won a single game all season, so it is a real bummer.  But, the other team won their game and is undefeated!  So it was a big range of emotions for Marshall yesterday.  :)  My Dad was so kind to treat Marshall to lunch after that game and I really appreciated it!  When I got home from dropping off Marshall, I started getting Rachel ready for her dance recital and me and the girls were out the door at 9:30 for her recital.  My Mom met us there and we enjoyed an amazing dance recital...that was over two hours long.  :)  Well, my Mom and I enjoyed it, but Bridget and Gretchen did not so much.  :)  The recital was all the competition teams from Rachel's dance studio.  They each performed all their competition dances as well as a ballet dance.  It was SO well done.  Dance has come so far and changed so much in the last twenty years and it is really quite remarkable.  The strength of those high school girls is stunning.  I told Richard last night that I am just praying Rachel dances all through high school.  She is our strongest child, so she has the capability, and I hope she just sticks with it!  Rachel loved everything about yesterday morning.  She got to see some of the dances from backstage, and I am so glad she did.  She was in two dances and the finale and I had to help her change after each dance. She would meet me in the hallway just beaming and on Cloud 9.  I was so happy for her.  She has tryouts for next year in two weeks, so we will see what that brings!  The girls and I didn't make it out of the high school until after 1:00 pm.  We were all tired and starving!  I picked up pizza on our way home and we all ate lunch out on the deck.  I allowed us a relaxing afternoon for the next hour before I started cracking the whip on finishing jobs.  Richard got home from work, we finished jobs, Bridget went to a friend's house, and Richard and I went on a date!  It was a great way to end the evening after a busy day.  

We have had a good Sunday today.  Richard didn't have meetings after church, so we forced our kids to sit down and set new goals, which they just loved doing.  :)  Other than that, it was a very relaxing afternoon.  :)  Gretchen set up a train for us in the big family room tonight where we had family home evening.  She was darling about it.  

This is Gretchen's last week of preschool and the older kids just have two weeks left.  So nuts!  But I am very ready for summer!

Love each of you.

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

The Leake's Week-May 9, 2022

 Hello!

It is Monday evening, and I thought about not writing at all because the day and last week is slipping away from me, but I have had such a full heart this last weekend, I just wanted to quickly write down my thoughts and then send out some short highlights from the week.

Friday, May 6th, was our 17th wedding anniversary!  17 years!  My goodness.  It was a mostly regular day.  Richard had work, the kids were at school, I baby-sat Cal and Chase and quickly remembered that taking care of an adventurous one year old is no easy task!  I ran errands, washed the car, did laundry, and cleaned my bedroom and bathroom, relatively mundane tasks, but I was just so full of joy and gratitude all day.  I kept thinking back over the last 17 years and all that we have experienced!  So much!  Just like any marriage and family, we have experienced highs and lows, the happiest moments, and heart wrenching moments.  We have celebrated and problem solved, complained and cried, cheered and yelled.  We have grown, we have changed, and we have learned.  Our love has grown exponentially, in a way that can only happen after years of living together and raising a family together.  I feel completely and abundantly lucky to be living the life I am living, with Richard by my side, and four kids to spend my days with.  Our life is full and I am so grateful for it.  I have written this before, but as the kids are getting older and branching out to different activities, I am so glad we all get to support each other in our endeavors!  It is so fulfilling to me as we attend each other's events and clap and cheer and support and love.  It is a true privilege and a complete joy for me to be a part of this journey.  

On Friday evening, we met Richard after work at Rachel's last Let's Play Music recital!  She has finished her three years in this program and has learned SO much.  At this final recital, all the kids play songs that they have composed and Rachel was first on the program.  She wrote a song about trick-or-treating with her friend this last Halloween and she just did a stellar job.  My parents were also there to cheer her on and it was just a delightful recital.  After the recital, my mom took our kids home and Richard and I went to dinner and a hotel!  We had a very brief time away, spent 11 hours in the hotel, but it was a break, and we welcomed it!  

The next morning, we drove to Riverton and met my parents there with the kids for Cadence's baptism.  The kids were elated to see us, despite hardly being gone, and by all reports, the kids were great for my mom.  Marshall was beyond excited to get out of the van and tell me he had tied his tie all by himself that morning!  Yay!  I told him this morning now he just needs to learn to comb his hair!  Back to the baptism, it was lovely.  Cadence was so brave and sang a solo and did a beautiful job!  I am so glad our family could be there to support Cadence and share her special day with her.  After the baptism, we went to Ben and Lisa's for muffins and fruit and the kids played and played with cousins and Richard and I were able to catch up with my parents and Anne Beale and Bob. It was a great way to spend a morning!  Once we made it home, we had a quick turnaround for soccer.  The weather was beautiful, so I took the girls with me and they played at the park during the entire game.  Marshall's first game was with his regular team.  They lost, but Marshall played well.  The girls and I left before his second game, with the higher level team, but Richard stayed, and they won!  I took the girls and Bridget's friend, Avery, to Lagoon.  Bridget and Avery went off by themselves and had so much fun and felt so grown up!  Bridget finally rode Flying Aces for the first time and loved it.  Rachel, Gretchen and I stuck with the little rides and they had a blast.  We got home just after 7:30 pm and by 10:00 pm all kids were fed, clean, in bed, and Richard and I had run to the store to get food for our very easy Mother's Day menu!  

Yesterday was a lovely day.  We had breakfast as a family, which we usually don't have time for on Sundays.  Richard has very shortened meetings, which was great.  I only did a bit of food prep and clean up.  The girls were SO helpful for all meals and both Richard and I appreciated it!  That afternoon, I snuggled with each of the kids in bed, one at a time, and it was delightful.  And then I ended it with a nap!  We spent about two hours at my parents' house and it was perfect.  For dinner we had grilled hot dogs, tater tots from the air fryer, fruit, veggies, and smores cooked over the stove!  A dinner for the books!  But so easy, which is exactly what I was going for!  I went to bed so happy, just as I had done every night that weekend.  Life is so many things, but it is especially good.  

Okay, real quick, other highlights and then some funny things from Gretchen:

*Marshall was able to participate in his first band concert on Wednesday night!  Beginning band has almost 100 kids in it and they sounded great!  The jazz band was so impressive and so fun.  I am no band expert, but even Richard was impressed with some things!  We were all able to go, except Rachel who was at dance class.  The concert was a little long for Gretchen, but everyone else loved it!  I am so glad Marshall could do it!  

Okay, so there was only one other highlight.  :)  Three funny things...

Marshall asked Richard this week if it is possible to dislocate your head.  :)  Thirteen years old and still so full of random questions!

At Lagoon on Saturday afternoon we rode on the Flying Tigers and when Gretchen got out, she kissed the tiger!  It was hilarious!  Both me and the Lagoon employee got a kick out of it.  

Later that night, when Richard and I ran to the store, we took Gretchen with us.  We were driving down our hill and I was admiring the colors of the sunset.  I asked Gretchen if she thought the sky was pretty and she replied with, "Boring!  I only like skies with kitty cats and unicorns and flying sloths!"  Oh my.  Richard and I were dying.  That girl.  She lives in a world of complete imagination.  She has also become excessively bossy.

Alright, that is all!  

Love each one of you very much.

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

The Leake's Week-May 1, 2022

 Hello!

Another Monday edition of the email!  Here's what we've been up to this last week...it's been busy!

On Monday, everyone returned to school and work, and now, a week later, I have zero recollection of what I did during the school day!  Oh wait, I went to a last minute birthday lunch for a friend in the neighborhood.  It was great to visit with those women, and Gretchen was perfectly behaved and sat on my lap and ate everything I bought her for lunch!  That afternoon, I was very busy chauffeuring Marshall and Bridget to and from piano lessons and soccer for Marshall.  Marshall went to both team practices last Monday evening and played for 2 1/2 hours.  Richard and I took Ziggy to the park where Marshall was and took Ziggy on a walk for the last 45 minutes of practice.  Ziggy was in heaven.  He is so funny the second he sees us grab his harness-he knows exactly what that means!  Last Monday was beautiful weather and the girls did play outside a lot that afternoon and evening.  

Tuesday morning, after the big kids left for school, I took Gretchen to Genevieve's house for the morning.  I had an appointment for initiatory at the temple and they were so kind to let Gretchen come and play.  Gretchen, of course, was on Cloud 9 about the arrangement!  Tuesday was another beautiful weather day.  The kids spent a lot of time outside that afternoon and evening and I spent time weeding the front flower bed.  The next day Gretchen said to me, "What is a plower bed anyway?"  I tried to explain it, but I think she is still confused!  Rachel had dance that night, and did have a good time there.  Bridget also had a primary activity that afternoon.

Wednesday morning I kept Gretchen home from school because of a minor cold, but her nose chargers were in full use, and I figured it would be best to keep her home.  Marshall has late start on Wednesday mornings, but he did have a band practice, so Gretchen and I dropped him off at 9:00 am.  Every time I drop him off at school, I always laugh to myself after he gets out of the car.  It still just blows my mind that I have a child in junior high and that he is going to the same junior high I went to!  I have memories, that seem just like yesterday, of my own parents dropping me off there and I just cannot fathom that I am now the parent in this situation!  Anyway, I am so glad Marshall was able to go to this band practice.  You might recall that he got a concussion last December and missed both band rehearsals and their concert!  I have been praying daily for the protection of this boy's head!  After Gretchen and I dropped Marshall off, we drove straight to Home Depot to get some compost and mulch.  Once we got home, I got Gretchen settled with breakfast and a show and I got straight to work outside.  I worked out there for about three hours weeding, mixing in compost, moving two bleeding hearts and putting down mulch.  I loved it!  Gretchen came out after about an hour and joined me.  She was delightful and was such a great helper watering the plants at the end.  I have become obsessed, and that is maybe an understatement, with this front flower bed this week.  I have made each member of my family come and look at new hosta shoots and leaves with me.  I seriously check on them ten times a day and it completely delights me!  On Tuesday, Marshall said to me, "I don't remember you caring about flowers this much in Wisconsin."  Haha!  He's right!  I told him this is what old age has done to me!  I am finding this front flower bed very rewarding!  Wednesday evening Richard and Marshall went to a meeting for his soccer club, it was long and boring and dare I say a waste of their time!  Rachel went to dance class and it was fun just having time with Bridget and Gretchen.  We took Ziggy on a walk and Gretchen asked to ride her balance bike.  She has been riding it almost daily in our driveway for the last couple of weeks, and she keeps asking to bring it on Ziggy's walks and each time I say no.  I feel terrible writing this!  I just had zero confidence in her navigating the hills in our neighborhood with it and was certain we would get a block or two away from the house and she would decide she was tired and I would be forced to walk the dog and carry the bike.  Well, on this evening, she refused to take no for an answer!  She did awesome, and I felt so bad I have continually denied her this opportunity!  She sure showed me.  She never once complained or wanted to stop.  She stayed on that bike, and even though she isn't the fastest, she never fell and navigated it all so well!  She went up hills and down hills, and I was just SO proud of her!  She even started lifting her legs up for a couple seconds at a time so she was really balancing.  That night, she told Rachel she would teach her how to ride a bike.  :)  

Richard didn't have to work until 3:00 on Thursday, which was nice, but did leave me with an insane afternoon and evening, but it sure was great to have him around during the school day!  He mowed the lawn and we set up Marshall's big soccer goal.  He left for work a little after 2:00, and then I took a quick nap while Gretchen watched a show so I could gear up for an afternoon and evening marathon!  I picked the girls up from school, we were home for 10 minutes, and then I put all the girls back in the car.  We dropped Rachel off at her last Let's Play Music class and then picked Cambria up and dropped Bridget and Cambria off at the farm.  I told them not to get distracted by the baby goats and just to work hard and fast until I was able to come back to finish helping them with the chicken waters...gag!  Gretchen and I ran home, picked up Marshall, and took him to his soccer game in Farmington.  He was so kind and let me drop him off early, so I could rush back to pick up Rachel from class!  We went straight to the farm and I was elated to see that Bridget and Cambria were already starting on the chicken waters, so I just helped them finish up and then we were done!  Rachel and Gretchen were delighted to have a few minutes at the farm to see their new puppy and all the baby goats.  After the farm, I took Cambria home and then dropped the girls off at home and rushed to Marshall's soccer game.  I got there about 25 minutes late, but my parents were also kind enough to come and also cheer him on.  The team ended up losing and did not play particularly well, but Marshall played well.  It has been a few months since my parents had seen him play and they were impressed with the strength of his kicks, he has gotten much stronger!  Once Marshall and I were back home, I made a quick dinner for people who were hungry, cleaned up the kitchen, bathed Gretchen, said good night to everyone and ran down to book club.  The girls went to bed well at home, and Marshall held down the fort for me.  Book club was so fantastic, and it made me so happy, yet again, that I went out on a limb and started this!  By the time I got home, and Marshall went to bed, Richard pulled in...it was a late night for all three of us!  

On Friday, Gretchen had her last show-and-tell at preschool.  She brought her Baby Aurora she got in Disneyland, she was just elated!  Once the girls got home from school on Friday, we ran a few errands together including a trip to the library.  Gretchen returned the five books she got from the library the week before, and before putting each one in the return slot, she kissed each book.  It was so cute.  We got home just in time for Rachel to have two friends over, Eily and LIly.  It was beautiful weather on Friday and they spent most of their time outside.  Bridget also played with a couple of friends outside and Marshall and Gretchen played outside as well-a great Friday afternoon!  That evening we had our ward party and Richard pulled up just in time on his way home from work.  It was dinner and a dessert auction (with fake money) and we walked away with some divine mint brownies.  Heavenly.  After the party, Marshall went straight to a friend's house (soccer and junior high friends) and had a really great time.  We put the girls to bed and then Richard and I enjoyed a relaxing evening of watching Downtown Abbey...he says he doesn't like it, but I do not believe him!  

Our Saturday began bright and early.  I was up at 5:45, Rachel was up at 6:30, and she and I were out the door at 8:00 am with her hair and make up done.  I still have to read the directions on how to apply the eyeshadow and Rachel looks in the mirror and critiques my every move!  Ha!  While I was doing her make-up, she said to me, "When will you were eyeshadow?"  I told her probably never and she replied with, "Well, maybe one day when you are on a talk show!"  Ha!  I have zero plans for a talk show appearance.  :)  Anyway, she and I left at 8:00 and drove down to Salt Lake Community College for her third and final dance competition of the season.  Her team danced great and she sure had fun.  When we were done there, we drove a few minutes to Xavier and Madie's and dropped off a big bag of clothes for their baby girl, Xailie.  She is not quite two months old and she is the cutest little thing  Rachel could not get over how small her fingers and fingernails were.  I still think Gretchen has baby hands, but not compared to a newborn!  While we were gone, Richard and Marshall were at soccer game #1 of the day.  Marshall's team lost, but they actually played great, much better than their Thursday loss, so while it was not a victory on their records, it almost seems like one!  We were all home for lunch and enjoyed some time as a family and forced the kids to finish their jobs.  Just after 2:00, Richard and Marshall left for soccer game #2 and dropped Bridget off at Cambria's house.  The younger girls and I enjoyed a relaxing afternoon (I slept for 90 minutes!) and we also played outside for over an hour and Ziggy was in heaven.  Bridget had a blast at Cambria's house.  Marshall's team won their game 9-2, but Marshall got creamed three times in the process.  Thankfully, his head is safe, but the rest of him is quite beat up!  One of the other dads got the second hit on video.  That kid is darn lucky I have no idea who he is, or you bet I would be on his front porch pounding on his door!  That player did not get carded for that hit, or the previous one.  Ironically, on Friday UYSA sent out an email to all soccer parents in Utah that effective immediately coaches, parents, and players cannot question a ref's call or be demeaning in any way (that part is good), but of course that is the weekend that Marshall literally gets taken out three times from behind in one game!  The third time he got hit, which was a different player, that kid did get a yellow card.  Thank you very much!  That night I met Lara Vanhille in Layton for dinner.  I don't think I have seen her in person since August and it was beyond wonderful to catch up with her.  We talked for three hours straight and could have talked for three days straight!  She is a great human being, and I am so glad to know her and call her a friend.  

Yesterday was a pretty relaxing day, and that was so wonderful.  Marshall woke up incredibly sore, but after ibuprofen and warm rice bags, he managed to get dressed and walk slowly to church.  :)  Fortunately, by yesterday afternoon, he was feeling much better and moving around great.  After church we played games, watched a movie, and took naps!  It was a good Sunday.  Richard picked his parents up late last night from the airport.  They spent the night here and drove home this morning.  It was great to have them here in the morning and they got to see all the kids before they left for school.  Gretchen had a bad dream last night and came to find us before we had even gone to bed.  This morning I was asking her if she remembered what happened last night.  She launched into the whole dream that involved her current fear, a ghost named Abigail.  I was trying to explain to her, again, that Abigail (from a kid's tv show) is not real.  Well, I had zero success because she looked at me and said, "Stop it!  You are scaring me out with your words!"  It cracked me up.  Scaring me out.  

Alright, that's all I've got!  

Here's to May!

Love,

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