Closing out 2015

2015 is coming to a close and we are getting ready to welcome in a new year.  As we welcome 2016, we will be starting it off with some changes.

Mikayla will start a new school in January.  She will be attending a school that is part school, part homeshool, part independent studies.  She will attend school 3 days a week for 10 hours a week and the rest of her schooling will be done at home.  She has done very well in school and has always made the honor roll.  Since August she has already read over a million words.  She loves to read.  Mikayla has been very helpful around the house and with the rabbits.

Ashlee started her first year of seminary and highschool this year and is doing well with both. Although, she doesn't like having to wake up so early in the mornings, but she sets her alarm and gets herself up and ready every single day.  She is taking a couple honors classes and is doing well in all her classes.  She has an A in seminary and over a 4.0 GPA in school.  We hope that with the start of allergy shots she will have a healthier year this year and will feel better too.  It's hard to believe, but Ashlee will get her drivers permit this year too.  She has several jobs that she is doing and is saving away her money to buy a Jeep some day!  Ashlee has also been very helpful around the house and with the rabbits.

John ended his rabbit partnership with his friend as of 12/31/15 and we will try to make a go of the business on our own.  The business is very time consuming and 2015 has been a very rough year.  It was to the point where it wasn't worth the amount of work for what the business was generating and having to split that with two people.  I am a bit hesitant about how it will all work out, but John is confident it will all be fine....John still doesn't care too much for his job but he likes the hours, as long as it isn't harvest!

I will start working full time now as of January.  My mom who is the office manager where John and I work, and the manager, are both retiring.  So I have my hands kind of full.  I am trying to learn my mom's position, while at the same time helping and teaching our new manager.  It's going to be an interesting and probably stressful year.  I am not sure I am cut out for this, but it's what has to be done.  I worry about working full-time and not being able to be there as much for the kids and our family, but I hope things will work out.  Both girls have been huge helps at home and that has been a lot of help to me.  I hope and pray I can do this!  I have lost lots of sleep at night over this.

Christmas

Christmas morning we opened gifts and John made Crepes for breakfast.  John has always wanted to try crepes and Teresa happened to give us a crepe mix and a crepe pan for Christmas so he put it to use.

The girls got clothes and shoes, things they were in need of.  Ashlee bought Mikayla some targets for target practice and a hat.  Mikayla bought Ashlee a new selfie stick.  John and the girls got me some clothes that are current with fashion trends trending now (my wardrobe is really out dated). My mom got me a bread machine for Christmas.  Hopefully I can finally make bread and have it turn out right! The girls bought John some headlamps to use at night when he is feeding along with some Carmel Milky Ways.  The girls and I got John a motion detector for our driveway.  Hopefully we can catch those dang theives that keep breaking into his truck!

We hosted Christmas Dinner at our home this year.  We had my Mom and Terry, Adam and his family, and Grandpa Billy and Kay over.  We shared a quick video about Christmas, enjoyed dinner and exchanged gifts.  It's always nice to get together with family, but it always seems like our time together is short.

Family Temple Trip

Ashlee has been asking for some time to go to the temple so she can take the names she has done family history work on and do baptisims.  Life has been crazy and we haven't had the time so a few weeks ago we decided we would make a trip in the month of December and since Mikayla turned 12 several months ago too, we could go to the temple as a family.
We were able to join in with a small group of youth from Jackson and do baptisms with them.  It was a nice, spitritual day, and being that it's December, we got to see the temple all decorated for Christmas.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Having four days off for Thanksgiving was great.  We visitied and spent time with family the entire time.  Thanksgiving we spent the day with John's sister Teresa and her family at Sam & Heidi's home.  We had an excellent meal, did a craft and had our annual family competition, which this year was a game of Pie in the Face.   Mikayla won for the kids and we got our very own Pie in the Face Game.

Friday we went up to Grandpa Billy's house and cut some logs for a church activity I am in charge of, helped him do some things around his yard, visited and the did a little target practice.

Saturday we had Thanksgiving dinner at my Mom's house with my brother and his family and my grandpa.  Sunday we spent the day at church and resting.

It would be so nice if every week was a three day work week and we spent the rest of the week enjoying our families and being thankful for our many blessings....just think how different the world may be????

 The kids playing Pie in the Face at my Mom's house.

Weekend Trip to the Cabin

It seems like it's been forever since we have been anywhere. Teresa and Dan offered to let us use the cabin for the weekend so we decided to take them up on their offer.  A nice, quick, weekend trip away after working 6-7 days a week straight for months was needed very much.  We relaxed at the cabin and went for a little drive, picnic and hike.

Idaho Trip

For a while now we have been wanting to take a trip to Idaho.  We had originally planned on going during spring break, but with John's wisdom teeth, broken jaw and arm issues it wasn't possible.  John only had two vacation days left for the year, so the only way we could squeeze the trip in was on 4th of July weekend.  Friday was a paid holiday for the 4th since it fell on a Saturday this year and then Monday and Tuesday he used his last two vacation days for the year.

We left Thursday afternoon after work and drove to Elko.  We had some interesting weather that day.  We had rain, wind and dust, something you don't expect in July.  We arrived to Elko a little after midnight.  Long enough to get some sleep and continue on early in the morning again.  From Elko we went to Shashone Falls in Twin Falls Idaho.  Very pretty place.  Lots of green grass, trees and a nice lake/swimming/picnic area too.  Very clean too, nothing like you would see at a lake at home.

Mikayla and Ashlee at the state line just outside of Jackpot

Shashone Falls.  Notice the rainbow?

After a brief stop at Shashone Falls we went to Idaho Falls to Dave and Diantha's home and spent a couple days at their house with them.  We went up to Rexburg so Ashlee could see what BYU Idaho looks like, did some site seeing around Idaho Falls, watched the 4th of July parade, watched fire works along the Snake River in front of the Idaho Falls Temple.

 Rexburg Temple

 Ashlee and Mikayla in front of the Rexburg Temple

 Rexburg Temple

 Rexburg Temple

 Rexburg Temple at sunset

Fourth of July Parade in Idaho Falls

Snake River in front of the Idaho Falls Temple

Idaho Falls Temple

Fourth of July in Idaho Falls.  Mikayla, Ashlee, Madison and Gavin

John, Mikayla and Ashlee along the Snake River in Idaho Falls

Idaho Falls Temple in the background along the Snake River

Snake River

Idaho Falls Temple

Sunday morning we left Idaho Falls and drove to Mountain Home Idaho to Pam's house.  Pam prepared a nice lunch and delicious homemade ice cream.  We vistited with her and her family for a few hours and Carl and Pam gave us a tour of Mountain Home.  I screwed up and didn't get any pictures of our visit. From Mountain Home we went to Boise.  We spent Sunday, Monday and Tuesday night is Boise and checked out the Boise, Kuna, Meridian, Star, Eagle area.  We had a little bit of extra time on Tuesday so we went and toured the state capital in Boise.  Nothing like our state capital here.  Very clean and quite, the area it was in was clean, no security to go through, no metal detectors, nothing.  Mikayla took lots of pictures of the capital.

We enjoyed our trip to Idaho.  It doesn't get dark in Idaho until after 10pm at night so that was weird.

After 9pm in Idaho and still daylight

 It was nice to see green grass and trees, since everything back at home seems to be turning brown and dying because of the drought California is in right now.  We didn't see any graffiti, or streets littered with homeless people, the towns were clean, the malls were bright and clean and rather empty, in comparison to our malls.  Complete strangers would wave at you and say hello to you.  A gentleman at the capital offered to let us park in his space since he still had time left on his parking meter.  The van door accidently got left open at a mall in Idaho Falls and when we returned our car and all it's contents were still there, along with a nice note saying that they found the door open, didn't see anyone in the van, so they shut our door and wished us a happy 4th.  At home our car would have most likely been gone!  Totally different environment there compared to California.

Makes you wonder what makes places so different from one place to the next.  The people, the culture, the local government, beliefs,  social services, etc.  I believe it is all of these things.  Makes you also wonder how come the states that are suffering so badly, don't ever stop and take a look at what other places are doing right and implement some of those things as well.  Unfortunately too many of the states in bad shape, think that what they are doing is right.  We are living in a society that views right as wrong and wrong as right and everything is so twisted and turned that many have forgotten what they believe and what truly is right.