One Last Night at Midway...

Friday my parents had gotten word that the sale of their home in Midway was going through and they didn't know know much time we would have before the keys would be handed over to the new owners. So late Friday night, after Kenna's Fiddler on the Roof performance, we loaded the kids into the car and took off for one last night together in Midway. We knew a storm was coming through so we decided to leave Friday night and miss the storm instead of hitting it in the morning, well, we went through the worst of it that night. We arrived around midnight and trudged through the two feel of snow on the driveway to get the kids into their beds. In the rush to get to Midway we hadn't packed any food, so after getting the kids all settled, Garrett headed out for milk, cereal and donuts. I turned on the fireplace, sat in the quiet, dimly lit great room and cried and cried...then I slowly walked to each bedroom, layed on each bed and looked around the room and cried some more. I plead with my Heavenly Father to help me remember this beautiful home and all the memories we had made there...all the times we were together with grandma and grandpa, cousins, aunts, uncles and close friends... playing rummikub, mexican train, mancala, rushhour, shooting bb guns, riding the golf cart, playing trains with grandpa, swimming, sledding, snow-shoeing, knocking out teeth, walking the river, fly fishing the rivers, playing tennis, shooting marshmallow guns, the kids playing in the Harry Potter room with all the pillows, watching the Olympics, celebrating New Years Eve, Christmas, Thanksgiving, 4th of Julys, birthdays, watching general conference with cousins, eating at Dairy Keen almost every trip, hiking Memorial Hill, playing ball in the yard, watching movies and just being together with no interruptions from home. The tears wouldn't stop and it felt good to just cry.
A huge weight has been lifted from my parents, to have Midway sold, but it's hard to see it end. Saturday afternoon as we locked the place up, Garrett and I walked out together and I told him I was at peace. We look forward to the next adventure...

Winter Fishing...

Fly fishing the Provo river is one of G's favorite things in the world. Saturday morning, G hit the river for some early morning fly fishing. Even two feet of fresh powder wouldn't keep him off the river.

If You Could Just Remember...

Our stake president is starting a new tradition of meeting with the bishops wives every year to counsel and give a priesthood blessing. Last Tuesday evening was my turn. Just that day I was struggling with the question of whether or not to get Colt started in comp baseball, knowing that every year he's not a part of a team it just gets harder and harder for him to find a team. During the spring and summer months I feel like I'm already running like crazy getting my kids to their activities and who knows where I would have to travel to get Colt to baseball and if I could even find a team at this point...well, during my time with Pres. Thurgood, I asked if he could give me one piece of advice at this point in my life. He said, "Sister Sill, try to simplify your life." Then he added "Always remain faithful." I knew what he was talking about and later that night after talking to Colt about baseball, he didn't even seem to care about being on a comp team (that, along with what Pres. Thurgood had counseled was my answer). Lately, I have been trying to take the time to get back to the basics and surprisingly it hasn't been too tough...I just need to continue to be consistent!

In the blessing given to me that night, President Thurgood also blessed me with the knowledge of remembering the kind of woman I was in the pre-existence and how much my Father in Heaven loved and trusted me to remain faithful and fulfill my obligations and commitments here on earth, and that if I could just remember that how much taller I would stand and how much more confident I would be in all that is required of me in leading my family and those around me to Christ. When he finished, I turned to him with huge tears in my eyes and told him that I wished every woman could hear that...I am truly blessed!

The Gentle Healer...

Friday night, G and I were invited by our friends, Thayne and Tracy, to the Granite Education Dinner and silent auction at the Little America. Before dinner, we walked through the rooms filled with paintings, vacations, food, clothes, crafts, jewelry and sports memorabilia to bid on and I fell in love with one painting...The Gentle Healer by Greg Olsen.
At the end of the evening, we had not been outbid and were able to take the painting home with us. I had plans of hanging it upstairs, but G mentioned we needed a nice picture of Christ in the basement and quickly found the perfect spot for it...I love it!

Fiddler on the Roof...

This year, McKenna took a class called Musical Theatre. When she signed up for this class, she didn't know anything about theatre, but thought she would like that more than art...little did she know how much she would love Musical Theatre and all she would get to be a part of at the school! This year, Legacy jr high performed 'Fiddler on the Roof' and she was able to be part of the ensemble cast, and also tried out for a part at a bottle dancer and made it...she loved every minute of it. Next year, this class will be one you have to audition for, and she's already looking forward to that, along with being a part of yearbook, volleyball, basketball and maybe cheer, and trying out with the Forza soccer club this summer, instead of La Roca. In fact, there are so many things she wants to do and be a part of at school, that she's taking summer P.E. so she can have more time in the school year for all of her classes. This girl wants to do it all and sometimes as her parents, we have to gently remind her about homework and grades, ha ha. Grandma and grandpa Nichol, grandma and grandpa Sill, aunt Whitney and Bryson came to watch her perform...oh, and I can't forget that her friends, David Rich, Kaden McKenzie, Jeff Hansen and Jaren Hawks also came to see her. When I took this picture of Kenna and David, I noticed his arm around her shoulder and quietly gasp to myself then quickly took the picture so he could put his arm down...aaagh! McKenna has so many good friends at school...here she is with Sadie, Sophie and her cute friend Kenna.

Weekend in St. George...

A few months ago, I made hotel arrangements for our family to spend the week in St. George for Kenna's soccer tournament. The plan was to leave Thursday for St. George and spend the weekend through Monday watching McKenna's games. We planned to spend two nights at the Hilton and then two nights at the Marriott, to mix things up and because we had a Marriott card to cover those nights and Hilton points to cover the Hilton stay...so 4 free nights! Well, apparently, I messed up the reservation and instead of reserving the 17 & 18 of Feb in St George, I reserved the 17 & 18 of December...and because everyone was in St George that same weekend for soccer or baseball or the home show, there were no rooms available when G figured out my mix up and so we were in trouble. But, then come to find out that that same weekend was Kenna's jr high musical opening weekend, Fiddler on the Roof, that she was performing in...we had never put the two activities together and when we did, we realized we were in more trouble. The Saturday I figured both these things out was a pretty miserable day...and Garrett just smiled all day long!! (I've since bought a day planner and I'm keeping it with me everywhere I go and writing down everything, even if it's three months out.) No way could she perform Thurs, Fri and Saturday and be the keeper for her team in St George Fri and Saturday too. With help from her awesome play director we were able to make it all work and she was able to be in the play on Thrusday night, and make her games in St. George. We woke early Friday morning and drove to St. George for their first game at noon. They won 5-1 and then another game in the evening, under the lights at Snow Canyon high school, where they tied at 0. Friday was sunny and warm and beautiful. After her last game we ate dinner at IHOP and then drove four extremely tired kids to one of the only hotels we could find...the Quality Inn in Zion Park. Yep, we drove 30 minutes to the park for the night. It will definitely be a trip to remember with our cooler and homemade sandwiches! Garrett was such a trooper, pulling into our Zions Park hotel room late at night, hauling in all the kids, all our bags and our food and then crashing into bed for a quick night's sleep. Saturday morning we woke to pouring rain and freezing temperatures. Stopped at a local rock shop in Zions so the kids could pick out some rocks and I could buy a beautiful blue geode, then we headed to the game. The girls played Rampage's premier team and tied 1-1, then went into double overtime with no more goals so then into a shootout. McKenna played tough that whole game. She was knocked over three times by the same girl from the other team...Haylie, who is a friend of hers from school. Haylie received two yellow cards for the way she was playing. One yellow card for running into Kenna and blowing her over and another for knocking another girl down. We didn't find out until later that Haylie had broken a girls wrist in a game she had played the day before. Our parents on the sidelines were not happy with the coach and refs for not pulling her out...it got pretty ugly. Garrett and I just watched in awe. At one point, Kenna was knocked to the ground and had a hard time getting up...that was hard to watch, but G held me from running onto the field. She had to sit out a few minutes, but kept telling her coach, TJ, "I've got to get back in there and help my team!" TJ later texted me and told me she was the leader of the team the whole tournament, especially that game, and that he is so impressed with her determination to help her team win and build them up when they headed into the shootout. In the end they lost and it was devastating. Some of these pictures are so hard to see, yet I love them because they are filled with such raw emotion. I love that Garrett took the time while she was on the bench to counsel her and later at the end of the game he was so quick to get to her and let her know what an amazing job she had done...being a keeper is so tough and yet rewarding, too! She told me after one of her games that she loves making a tough save and then hearing the cheers that are just for her from the sideline...funny girl!
Losing in the semi-finals meant Kenna's team didn't play on Monday, so we decided to leave Sunday night instead of Monday. The Talbots were in St. George to play for the weekend and invited us to go to church with them and then over to Ty's parent's vacation home for a yummy lunch. The kids were so excited to go to church with Kobe, Trey and Owen...even though we go to church with them every sunday something about being on vacation away from home makes everything better! Owen and Wyatt loved sitting on G's lap during sacrament meeting and Ty didn't feel one bit guilty about letting G take care of Owen because every Sunday he gets to sit up on the stand all by himself...so true!! We love Ty and Di! We loved visiting with Ty's brother, Cam and his sister, Jami, and her family, too.

Colt's Basketball...

Ouch...that's pretty much all I need to say to wrap up this years basketball season! There were only a few good things about basketball season this year: First, that Colt, Kobe and Seth were all on the same losing team and second, these boys learned a great lesson...how to give it your all, even hold your head up high and smile even though you lose every game by more than 20 points. We finally realized after the first 5 games that no one on our team played comp basketball and all the other teams had an average of 5 comp players on their team...it was definitely a noticeable difference. Having good friends to chat with at the games always makes everything so much more fun and Diane, Kristy and I laughed at each other quite a bit this season, especially when Diane would suddenly get a headache just before a game and had to send Tyler with Kobe to the game...lol! Garrett loved this and even had me check the next week with Diane because he knew Ty was out of town and he worried that she wouldn't be able to get Kobe to his game because of that instant headache that would come just before a game.

Wyatt's Fieldtrip to the Post Office...

For Valentines, Wyatt's awesome preschool teacher had the kids make Valentines cards for their parents and then scheduled a field trip to the post office for them to mail their very own letter. Colt was off-track so he got to tag along. Ash was off with friends. We planned to go to the park afterward, but with the incredibly freezing cold days we've been having lately that wasn't an option. Wyatt enjoys school...it's not his favorite, but his buddy Lincoln sure is! Every day Lincoln asks if Wyatt can be his brother and I love how he calls me 'Steph.' Always has from the first day I met Lincoln...we all love Lincoln!

Grandpa Nichol...

I have been blessed with the best dad in the world and I'm realizing that more every year as I go through different experiences in my life with my own kids. I've always known my dad loves me, yet I'm understanding more how eternal and unconditional that love is and how it continues to grow and deepen. I'm also coming to know how patient he was with me as a teenager...especially when he was teaching me math or how to ski or how to do pretty much anything and I wouldn't listen to him because I thought I knew it all and yet I look back and see how I didn't know anything, but I wasn't about to let him know that. I love to see that same affection and love that I grew up with showered upon my own kids by my dad...it's something I will always cherish. My dad loves and knows each one of our kids and always goes out of his way to let them know and feel that. As I went through some pictures from January I found these I had forgotten I had taken them....I know my kids feel this way about both of their grandpas. I feel blessed they have so many people that love them unconditionally.

Valentines...

I love having the kids off-track and love that Ashlyn is such a great and capable baby sitter. She wanted to spend the day taking care of the boys so dad and I could meet for a Valentines Day lunch at Market Street, one of my favorite places to eat. This year, instead of bringing home the chocolate cake we decided on the incredible fruit tart...and it did not disappoint. While I was out with G, Ashlyn made this amazing heart for us to stick on the garage for dad! What a cutie...and he loved it! We enjoyed a homemade Cafe Rio candlelit dinner and had fun eating together and enjoying Valentines as a family!

Happy 40th to G...

I'm afraid to admit it but sometimes Garrett's birthday gets overshadowed by Ashlyn's. This year I had great plans of throwing a huge surprise birthday party for G, but everything, really everything, kept getting in the way, and in the end I realized it's not for him. First, our ward temple night fell on his birthday, so skipping ward temple night and inviting everyone from the ward over wouldn't have worked out too well, then when I planned to do it on Friday night, we got an invite to join in the celebration of 4 great young men in our ward, David, Jaren, Kaden and Braeden, who had earned their Eagle, then ward temple night was changed to another night, so I thought it still might work, but it was getting too late to put something together, then he was needed out of town for work, so in the end we spent G's 40th birthday at Colt's basketball game and then home for cake and ice cream. But he did get quite a celebration at work...Amanda, Chris, Jake and Josh (really only Amanda) blacked-out G's office, bought maybe 50 balloons to put all over, put a wheelchair in place of his office chair, built a tombstone with his name on it and then the aforementioned people dressed up in suits with boutonnieres and Amanda in a dress for G's funeral...it was awesome! Garrett is currently transitioning from CFO at SNMC to train to take over from his dad as CFO for the SNFC and I know he's going to miss these great people he's worked with for many, many years and I know they are going to miss him. We all went to lunch at Benihana's downtown to celebrate G!