12-Months of Marriage! Another year under the belt! We had a great first year out in Milo, Idaho. We love our ward and have some pretty wonderful neighbors! We enjoy the peace and quiet and are adjusting to the further drive from town. I know if the girls haven't napped, they will fall asleep on the way into town. We enjoy having animals like the kittens, horses, lambs, pigs, cats, new chicks, and Elliott and spending time outside as a family. The kids love it when we are all together, and so do we! We love riding the Ranger and 4-wheelers around 109th. We are becoming quite fond of this area!
11-Kids in our Sunday School Class! Kolt and I got called to be the Sunday School teachers for the 16-18 year olds in the Foothill Ward. We have loved it! Kolt teaches the lessons, and I make treats for our class. We make a pretty good team. Kolt is an excellent teacher and always fills the room with the Spirit. We enjoyed having Brand in our class before he left on his mission. We had several other seniors we celebrated as they graduated from Rigby, Bonneville, and Ririe and even went to several of their activities and graduations. There are great youth in the church!
10-Pigs! A big thanks to Kolt for putting up with with my pig obsession by feeding them most days and creating new pens for them, and a big thanks to Shane and Angela also for letting us keep the pigs here. Over the course of the year, we had 10 pigs at different times. We got 4 pigs last fall that we raised to butcher: Spotty, Jack, Pixie, and Brownie . We got 3 new feeder pigs this spring to raise to butcher: Chocolate Chip, Reddy, and Skinny. They were a Hereford breed which gave us some fun colors. Later this spring, we got 2 gilts named Flinstone and Pork Chops. They are so nice! Pork Chops comes to her name. We were able to find a boar named Bubba to breed them and are expecting piglets anytime now. I can't explain how excited I am!
9-Volleyball Players on my Volleyball team! Last fall, I coached my 6th volleyball season with the freshman at Bonneville High School. I love the chance I have to get to know great young woman who inspire me. There are really some good kids coming up. I love the chance I have to share my volleyball knowledge and help them become better volleyball players and love the sport that I love. A huge thank you to Angela for watching the kids EVERY single afternoon, so I could coach without the kids. It made a huge difference and helped me be able to focus on the kids. I was also able to have an assistant Neal Scott from Idaho Falls High School. I have coached against him for years until he resigned from IF. He walked into my gym one day and asked if he could helped me. He was a big help for me, and we all enjoyed having him in the gym.
8-Falls on the ice in Sun Valley! In April 2018, we took a trip to Sun Valley as a family. Kolt attended a PA conference while the kids and I waited for him to get out, so we could play. We took hikes arond Sun Valley and Craters of the Moon, swam at the pool, walked around Sun Valley, shopped, and ice skated. The kids loved ice skating. Kolay was fearless, and Kason was reserved. We all took turns falling, and luckily we went home without any injuries. Ice skating is hard! It was a really fun activity though, and we were excited to experience it. The trip was really fun!
7-Hours in the hospital with Hallie! Also in April, Hallie got into some rat poison. We called poison control who sent us immediately to the hospital. We didn't know if she ate any, but it didn't sound like it was a risk we shouldn't take. The hospital gave her a charcoal drink to deactivate any poison, and then they kept her overnight for observation. She did great and had no problems which was a huge relief! I am sure thankful for modern medicine and for Priesthood blessings that left us with an overwhelming peace in the hospital that everything would be alright.We spent a little longer than 7 hours there, but it was pretty smooth.
6-Seasons of White Collar! Kolt and I like to watch movies together at night before bed. This year we got into White Collar on Netflix about a con artist who gets hired as an FBI agent. The whole series is pretty intense with lots of different White Collar crimes. We enjoyed watching it together after the kids went to bed!
5-New Activities for the Kids! The kids started a whole bunch of new activities this year. Kason and Kolay played T-ball on the Dinos team that I coached. Kason improved a lot from last year, and Kolay was pretty dainty about it. She loved wearing her tutu to the games. Both kids started gymnastics at Terri Johnston's gym class at her home. Terri is actually a Piquet, so that was cool! They have gotten so much better at their headstands, pushups, frog jumps, and somersaults. Kason played soccer this year. He improved a ton: starting from barely running behind the group to scoring 3 goals in his last 3 games. It was also fun to play with his cousin Kylen. Kason also completed his first session of swimming lessons at Green Canyon. He did a great job and had fun with his cousins. I was proud of how brave he was in a class all by himself. Finally, Kolay participated in his first dance class this summer at KidsTown. She loved it, and loved being with her cousin Taybrie. They had a recital in June, and she did a great job. She soaked up the stage! I'm grateful my kids have the opportunity to experience so many fun activities.
4-Baby Lambs! This spring we got 4 lambs from my Uncle David: Jackie, Whitey, Heidi, and 3-Legs. A couple of them didn't make it, but we ended up with Jackie and Whitey who have thrived! We had so much fun bottle feeding them in our house for a while. They have been like little dogs: hanging out on the porch and in the backyard. They are very friendly and a perfect size for the kids to handle. We are excited to eat some lamb this month!
3-Kids! We have learned a lot about raising 3 kids. Life seems like it is always hectic, but we are adjusting. Kason and Kolay both started preschool this fall. They love going to school and love their teacher Mrs. Whitehead. Kason turned 5 this year and had a dinosaur birthday party. Kolay turned 3 this year and had a Skye birthday party. Hallie is growing into a little girl. She turned 1 this year and had a horse birthday party. She loves keeping up with the kids and can hold her own. She is our best sleeper and loves the animals. We feel pretty blessed to have these sweet spirits in our home.
2-Tonsillectomies! In July 2018, I had a tonsillectomy. I have had a sore throat for practically a couple years and some really bad tonsil stones, so I finally did it! It was a pretty rough surgery that took about 3 weeks to recover. Thanks to my mom who stayed with me a few nights, Netflix who entertained me with Heart of Dixie, Kolt for taking work off to help me, and my niece Saydie who stayed with me for a week and helped me with the kids. I'm not sure I would ever do that surgery again, but I am really glad I did it. I can tell a huge difference 3 months later. Kason also had his tonsils and adenoids out in August. He bounced back pretty well with lots of chocolate ice cream and snuggling. I doubt we will regret that decision! He seems to be doing great less, and we hope he gets strep a lot less often now.
1-Year Completed at RHS! Kolt finished his first year at Rehabilitative Health Services in September. He is really enjoying working there. The staff is very kind, and he enjoys working with his coworkers. We are thankful for a great job that is very flexible for our family. They are always inviting when the kids and I stop by. Kolt is a great Physician Assistant. I may be biased, but I think he does a great job and really cares for his patients. If only they knew how much he thinks about them and how to better help them. We are sure thankful he is a hard worker and provides for his family.
