First Day of School

The kids started school today! Kaydra is a sophomore which makes me feel really old.  I remember being a sophomore and I am not ready for her to be that old…yet, here she is!  She is taking a good group of classes and I am proud of her for stretching herself.  She is taking Athletic Training, Orchestra, and Stomp for her elective classes.  She is taking Algebra II, ALP English, ALP Biology, AP World history, and French II. 

Kanyon is starting 7th grade this year.  He is growing so much.  I can’t believe how tall he is getting.  He has caught up to Kaydra and is getting close to catching me.  It will probably happen this year.  Right now, all three of us wear the same shoe size!!  Kanyon is taking ALP English, ALP math, Orchestra, Health, World Cultures, and Life Science.  He is most excited for his Science class and he thinks that he hates math but I hope to change his mind on that one. 

Miranda is starting 3rd grade this year at Winton Elementary.  Her teacher is Mrs. Smith.  When we went to the open house last week, we found out that her teacher just had a baby and she will not be at school until after Thanksgiving.  We met her substitute teacher, Mrs. Pope.  Today we showed up to her classroom to discover that Mrs. Pope will not be her teacher, but someone else!  I can’t remember her name right now, but it starts with a C.  So Mrs. C will be Miranda’s teacher until Thanksgiving.  Miranda will learn a lot about being flexible this year, I think!!

Timberlyn starts Kindergarten this year!  She has been dreading this day all year long.  Seriously.  Every time we talk about school, she says she is not going and she does not want to go.  Every time.  Until we went to the open house last week and met her teacher, Mrs. Brixen.  Timber saw the classroom and all the games and toys and books, and decided that school might not be so bad.  She has been excited about school all weekend.  She was disappointed that I wanted to take her to her first day instead of letting her ride the bus.  She was FINALLY ready to go.  I thought she would be crying as I left her today, instead it was me that was teary as I said goodbye and she didn’t even turn around once.  She followed her teacher into class and had a great day!  I love when they are successful at a change that comes into their lives, but it is so hard to let them grow up!!

Shylee gets to stay home with mom…for 3 more years!!  This little squirt misses the deadline by only a month and a half, so she will be nearly six when she finally gets to go to school.  In fact, Kaydra will graduate from high school and then the next fall, Shylee will start kindergarten!! She has a while to go.   I don’t mind, but she is not happy.  She wanted to go to school today.  It helped to include her in the morning pictures!  Little does she know, I have a lot planned for her to learn at home!  First on the list is potty training!  Wish us luck!!

End of Summer Vacation

Today was the last day of summer vacation.  The kids have a mix of excitement and apprehension as they think about what is in store for them tomorrow.  I am also feeling the same.  I am excited for them, to see them grow and learn.  I am nervous for them, and the things they will be exposed to.  I worry that they are going to the right school for each of them, that they will have good friends and be good friends, that they will be kind, and remember who they are.  All these feelings seem to multiply on the day before they start a new year.  I have been amazed at the speed of the summer and that each year it seems to speed by a little faster than the last.  Timberlyn is starting kindergarten.  She will realize that her mom doesn't actually know everything. She will be stretched, and twisted in ways she never imagined.  She will learn, she will be hurt, she will blossom.  Apprehension. Excitement.

Thankfully, to help us get through the last weekend of the summer, my parents came to visit.  We loved having them here!  It was great to visit and catch up with them and update them on our summer adventures.  They arrived here on Friday afternoon.  We showed them our new bathroom (Yay! an official guest bathroom!) and visited with them that evening.  The next day, we planned a bike ride on the Hiawatha Trail.  Right on the Idaho-Montana border, this 15 mile ride is breathtakingly beautiful.  We have been on the trail before, but it was my parents first time.  It was fun listening to the kids describe the ride to my mom and watching her get more and more nervous about the "dark" tunnels and high trestles.  We were worried about the weather, but it ended up perfect.  A cool day that was just right for biking a 15 mile trail.

I love the trestles.  The tunnels are cool, but the trestles are just amazing. 

I think I got everyone in a picture at one time or another, we never managed to get a picture with all of us in one frame.  Oh well.

We had only two accidents,  The first was that I lost my sunglasses in the Taft tunnel.  It is the first tunnel and the longest one.  Just over 1.6 miles long.  I lost them just over half way through I think.  I went back to look for them, but couldn't find them.  Miranda took a fall just after that tunnel with 13 miles left to ride.  She was a trouper and climbed back on that bike riding the rest of the way.  She was pretty tired after we were finished.  But she never gave up even though her legs were done!  She’s a trouper.  Even Mom enjoyed the ride, although the heights and the kids playing near the edge of numerous places practically caused a heart attack!!  I’m glad they were able to come with us.

Kaydra, Miranda, and Kanyon are terrifying their Grandmother by sitting on top of this tunnel.  This was on the way back to the car.  You get to ride through the 1.6 mile tunnel twice to get back to your car.  Pretty fun!!

We are so blessed to live in such a beautiful place.  If you haven’t done this bike ride, you should.  It’s awesome.

The next day was Sunday, a day of much needed rest.  My Dad came prepared with his stuff to portray Captain Moroni in Primary for Sharing time. 

The kids loved it.  Yes, our primary is small but I am pretty sure that this is the very first time that EVERYONE is looking at the person talking at the same time!! It was fun to see them react to a real person teaching them about the Book of Mormon.  They had so many questions and were fascinated with his sword and his gold plates.  Thank you Dad!!

That night we enjoyed some of Dad’s famous chocolate chip cookies with some homemade huckleberry/raspberry ice cream.  A recipe I got from my Grandma Parry.  We also had a pecan pie that we picked up the day before.  Dessert for dinner is the best!!

Today, Monday, Mom and Dad planned to drive back to Idaho Falls.  They had time for one more adventure so we went mini golfing.  I don’t remember ever taking the kids before.  We had free coupons so that was even better!  Shylee was awesome.  She would push that ball all over the green.  If it happened to go the wrong way, she would pick it up and put it closer to the hole to give herself better odds!  Then, when she got it in the hole, she would say, “Yes!” and shoot her hands up in the air.  It was so fun to watch.

Thanks for coming Mom and Dad!  It was sad to see you go, but we were so glad that you came!!

The New Bathroom is Finished!!

We have been threatening to finish our downstairs bathroom for a long time.  Kaydra’s room is down there and every morning before school she has to walk up two flights of stairs to get to the shower.  We have really wanted to finish it sooner but school and life just got in the way.  We have worked on it a little bit at a time over the past year and a half or so.  But now, I can officially say that it is finished and that it is my favorite room in the house – because it is clean I am sure that will change soon!  It is really hard to take good pictures of such a small room, so bear with me.  Hopefully, you get the idea.  This project was a team effort.  Leonard and I worked on it together.  I like working on projects with him.  He framed, sheet rocked, mudded, and taped the walls.  Then ne textured the walls and ceiling.  I painted the walls and ceiling.  He put in the shower pan liner and I created the cement slope for the tile shower floor.  Then I tiled the shower floor with help with the cuts around the drain by Leonard.

Then we tiled the shower with barn wood tile (which I LOVE!) This step took us a good three days!  We thought it would take one day.  We were wrong, but I am very happy with the finished product.

Then we installed the cabinet and figured out where to get some granite for a good deal and then figured out how to cut it with his circular saw and a special blade!! (we were a little scared with that part!).

Then we tiled the floor with slate, which turned out awesome.

I tiled the backsplash, then we installed the mirror.  Leonard built the shelves for the closet and trimmed the doors and I put a coat of poly on the doors, trim, and the shelves. 

Then we decided to put slate around the floor for the baseboard.  It turned out awesome.

Then we installed the glass shower door which was much more difficult then it should have been, but it works!  

Leonard installed the sink and then called a friend of ours to help connect the water to everything and install the toilet, shower handle, and shower head. 

It works!! Isn’t it pretty?  I love it and so does Kaydra.  She is pretty spoiled down there in the basement now and I am not sure she will ever leave – which is fine with me!!  We officially have a guest bathroom right next to her bedroom for any visitors!  Makes me happy!  Now on to the next project!

Kaydra turns 15!

It’s hard to imagine that I have a 15 year old!  I feel very blessed to be Kaydra’s mom.  She is an amazing person.  She is very kind and she rarely gets mad.  She is funny and smart and extremely talented!  How did I get so blessed?  The North Idaho State Fair was in town for Kaydra’s birthday (August 25) so we thought we would take advantage of that and spend the day at the fair!  It was a beautiful day.  We brought Autumn (Kaydra’s BFF) along with us.  The hospital had a family pack deal with the fair this year so we had ride passes for all the kids.  We got to the fair at 10 am right as it opened and spent the day.  The rides didn’t open until 2 so we spent the morning going to shows and walking around to see the animals. They have a farm to table exhibit and I was jealous of their beautiful garden – at the fair grounds – where no one lives!!!   Isn't it pretty?

Here are the kids waiting for a show.  Timberlyn is not in the picture because she was mad that we were watching a show. She didn’t want to watch a show, thus she didn’t want to be in the picture.

They a show about animals in Australia and at the end, she let everyone pet a baby kangaroo.  The kids thought it was pretty neat.

Finally, the rides opened.  Shylee had a great time.

I left with the three little girls at about 6:00.  Kanyon, Kaydra, and Autumn stayed until the fair closed at 10:00.  Miranda had activity days that was a mom/daughter date.  We saw the Coeur d’Alene Summer Theater perform The Little Mermaid.  It was awesome. It got over at 10:00 so then we went back to the fairgrounds and picked up the big kids.  They had a good time.  They weren’t impressed with the hypnotist though. They said it seemed like everyone was faking!!  Leonard was out of town that night so we waited until Sunday to celebrate Kaydra’s birthday.  She wanted the Tunnel of Fudge cake, which is so yummy.  For her birthday she got some money to go clothes shopping, she got some Google VR goggles for her phone and a new memory card for her phone.  Like I said, we are so blessed to have Kaydra in our home and we are grateful for her and the beautiful young woman she is!  Love you sis!

Amazing Weekend

I haven’t written much for about a year.  I am going to try to go back and update things.  I keep thinking that I will catch up but somehow, I seem to keep getting further behind.  I don’t want to forget things that are happening in our lives.  Time seems to be moving faster and faster and I want these memories recorded for my kids and my grandkids.  Someday, they may want to learn more about me and my family and I want to leave an avenue for them.  So I will start with now, and try to catch up as I can.  This past weekend was pretty special in our family.  We had much to celebrate.  Miranda turned 8 in February.   That meant she was old enough to be baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Turning 8 is a pretty big deal in our church.  She has been thinking about this day for awhile and decided that she wanted to be baptized.  She had a hard time deciding who she wanted to baptize her but in the end, she chose her dad.

 

I wanted to remember that over the past month, she has been wanting to practice her baptism every day.  She was so nervous that something would go wrong.  I love her!!

We were thrilled to have lots of family members here to celebrate with us.  Grandma and Grandpa FitzSimmons and Kelly and Sara FitzSimmons and their family were there, of course.  Grandma and Grandpa Fuller came from Idaho Falls. Markell and Andre and their family came from Sequim, Washington.  Reid and Michelle and their family came from Nampa (minus Thomas, who is in Guatemala serving a mission!)  And several friends and ward members came too!  It was amazing to see so many people supporting Miranda’s decision to be baptized.  I didn’t take enough pictures, and she looked very pretty in her dress.

We had a little trouble with Timberlyn and family pictures, this is as good as it gets when you are 4 and would rather eat then take pictures with your family….

We love them all and feel so blessed to be their parents!  I bore my testimony this weekend about how grateful I am to have the chance to be a mom and how I know that it was an assignment I was given from God to raise these kiddos.  They represent what is truly important in this life and I hope I can help each of them reach their potential.  I have felt the love their Heavenly Father has for them so much over this weekend and I know he is pleased with their choices to follow his gospel and follow Jesus Christ. 

We had another spiritual opportunity this week as Kanyon was ordained to the office of a Deacon in our church and given the Aaronic Priesthood.  This happens when a young man turns 12, after he is interviewed by the Bishop and found worthy.  Kanyon is doing a great job as he learns and grows.  He is a great example to his friends and I have seen him show great love to them as he helps them.  He is such a good friend.  It worked out well that he was ordained the same weekend as Miranda’s baptism.  Everyone that was able to come, could see both awesome things! 

Kaydra also had an orchestra concert this weekend with the Coeur d’Alene Junior Orchestra.  She is the concert mistress (1st chair violin) right now, so that was pretty cool.  It was awesome that she could have support at the concert from people that normally can’t go.  Both sets of Grandparents, Markell, Michelle, and I had a lovely evening listening to the orchestra and watching Kaydra play. 

As I said, I feel so blessed to be a mom.  I don’t know how I ended up with such wonderful kids, and I hope that I can be the mom that they need.  They are amazing and I can’t wait to see what else they will accomplish in this life!

Grandpa John (Jack) Paul Parry

I am behind on my blogging but I just attended my Grandpa Parry's viewing and I have a few thoughts that I don't want to lose.  I thought I would write them down before I had to get back to my life and time slipped away.  As I get older, time has become something that seems to move at warp speed and if I don't take an opportunity when it's there, it seems to disappear.  My Grandpa passed away last Friday.  He hadn't been feeling well for quite some time, but it was still a bit unexpected.  In fact, just two weeks before he was out on the golf course with his son.  He didn't suffer long.  Over the last week, I have reflected on my interactions with my Grandpa throughout my life and tried to remember my best times with him.  I actually can't really think of any bad times with him.  I know without a miniscule of doubt that he LOVED me.  Truly.  He didn't have to say it or tell me often, but he worried about me, knew me, and cared what happened to me. 
Some of my first memories are of him reminding me to wear a helmet as he was helping me start a motorcycle for me to ride.  I was only 8.  I remember him cooking steak on his grill outside (burgers for the little kids!) and being proud that he could provide steak for his entire family.  And what a treat it was.  I remember watching countless softball games with him pitching.  I specifically remember when I was young and him telling us that we could cheer for him as long as we didn't call him "Grandpa"!  He was too young to be a grandpa to all us crazy kids!
Some of my best memories involve the sports I played.  He loved to watch his kids and grandkids play sports and rarely missed a game.  He cheered me on in softball, basketball, track, and volleyball.  I remember in high school he once told me I had a great jump shot and I should use it more. It felt so awesome that he would notice.  I wasn't a great basketball player, but he saw some potential and instead of criticizing me, he chose the one thing he noticed that was great. That's who he was.  He chose to see the good in people.  He chose to look beyond the mistakes and disappointments and find the hope and the beauty in people.  He knew we weren't perfect, and he loved it that way.
My clearest memories start in college.  My grandfather once drove to Coeur d'Alene from Idaho Falls to watch me play volleyball -- actually he did it a few times -- but once he made it in 6 hours so he wouldn't miss any of the game.  There was no speed limit in Montana at the time and he made the best of those long roads in the middle of nowhere.  It was only 18 years ago, so he was in his 70's while driving at breakneck speeds.  He didn't want to miss the first serve....and he didn't :)
When I started having kids, we lived near him.  My kids were the first little kids in awhile to live near them.  He didn't want to be called Great Grandpa because it sounded so "old"!  He wanted to be called Grandpa Great.  He told the kids his name every chance he got and we fostered that name until the kids knew him only as their Grandpa Great.  He loved it.  And they loved him. 
Timberlyn did not want to come tonight to the viewing.  We tried to make her but it wasn't going well.  I asked her why she didn't want to come.  She said, "Grandpa Great is alive.  He is living in heaven and I don't want to see his dead body."  She is right.  He is alive, sharing the gospel, working hard, and reuniting with his sweet wife and daughters who went before him.  He is preparing the way for his 100+ descendants and their spouses to live together for eternity.  I know he won't give up until all of us are with him.  I will miss you terribly Grandpa.  Thank you for living your life so that we could be so proud of you.  Thank you for supporting me, teasing me, and loving me. I can't wait to see you again and catch up.

Easter Weekend

On Friday morning of our trip to Oregon we packed up and headed to Portland where we dropped off Kanyon and Leonard at the airport to fly to Salt Lake City for General Conference.  The girls and I headed home.  It was a long drive and we were very glad to finally be home.  We had a good time while all the big boys were gone.  Neil and Kelly drove to Salt Lake for Conference, so it was just the Mom’s and Grandma that were home for Easter.  We had a little Easter egg hunt at the farm with cousins.  The kids got tons of candy and had a good time.

After the egg hunt we dyed some eggs.  The girls loved this, they love to do any type of craft.

Shylee couldn’t wait and wanted to eat hers right away.  Go for it girl!!