A Touch Of Tyrell

Breckie loves to plan things and have parties.  She picked out a super cute hedgehog cake.  She invited her closest friends. Emily & Ali from next door and Faith from across the street. Plus Roxy and Haley (her little cousin).  She planned to paint as the first activity.  She planned to have cheese pizza, fruit & fruit dip.  After dinner, the girls went to hunt for their eggs. This is Breckie's favorite thing to do at birthdays. Each girl got the same amount of eggs, with the same things inside, and the same colors, with their names on the bottom.  It was super fun for the girls and it took a long time! Then presents & cake.  She chose lemon cake and it was really good.  She planned such a great party. She got some really cute/cool presents too! Happy #7 to you, Breckie!

Jake and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what to do with the lemons we'd just been handed.  We thought about a lot of different options.  Skiing in Telluride.  Skiing Purgatory.  Mountain biking & hiking in Sedona. Even Disneyland. But it was forecasted to rain on all of those destinations.  Plus after such a rough couple weeks, we didn't even have the energy required to put effort into planning a trip.  I finally just said, "I'd rather just keep the lemons and wait for the waitress to bring the lemonade". The only reason I said that, was because Edward Jones will allow us to go on another trip at a later date. So I honestly would rather wait to go on another planned trip later than to try and scramble and go on a trip now.  With so many family members in town, we were able to sneak out on a date night with the Smiths. We went to a Southern BBQ place and then played at Dave & Busters. It was reall...

Because of the Coronavirus, our trip got canceled the day before we were supposed to leave.  We felt defeated. Absolutely defeated.  And now we had 7 guests in the house. Pam & Karl (Jake's parents, from WA) flew in the watch the kids while we were gone. Brianna (Jake's sister) and her two kids, along with April (Jake's sister) and Ryan drove down (from Idaho & Utah) a few days prior to spend a little time with us and to see Pam & Karl (so they could see their other grandkids & the cousins could play).  So things went from "we need a vacation" to "FOR REAL????!!!!" super quick.  And that's how the Coronavirus has affected us, so far. It could be worse. 

Breckie spent the entire week home, sick. At first her tummy hurt. Then her head.  Then a 3 hour nap on the couch. She woke up with a  fever. Then her stomach hurt again. But much worse this time.  I asked her where it hurt. I had a feeling I should look up appendicitis.  She literally had every single symptom exactly how it was described.  She was screaming and crying like she was having contractions.  We thought about taking her to the ER. She had been laying on the couch this whole time. I made her sit up, she immediately puked in a bowl and then I had her go to the bathroom.  Then everything was fine. She was ALL better! The next day she was great until the evening and her fever came back. This went on for 2 more days.  I asked her a million questions (including, "does your throat hurt? does it hurt to swallow?") and she always said no. It was just a fever that kept coming back.  Jake a...

Jake's BOA (Branch office administrator)'s mom turned 90 and we were invited to her party.  I CAN NOT imagine living for NINTY years. That is a long time.  But Emma is going strong. Her memory is going slowly but she still sings in her church choir!

 One weekend we did a little bit of exploring and ended up in Oro Valley. It's a little less than two hours south of us. The Santa Catalina mountains really pretty (for desert mountains).  We also stopped by the Catalina State Park and "hiked" around a little and ended up playin the in the river-y stream that was running through.  It was a fun weekend adventure and it was nice to be able to enjoy the good weather and pretty scenery!

I don't get on social media very much... but since I get messages about photography on both Facebook and Instagram, I check them every few days just for messages.  A few days after Valentines Day/my Dad's birthday, this was the first thing that I saw when I opened my FB app.   He was so loved. He was so kind and sincere and was an amazing brother, cousin, friend, and father. He left a big impact on people.   He was such a lover of nature and the outdoors. He always told us kids that he didn't want to be buried in a cemetery with a headstone. "Just put me in a pine box and bury me in the woods" is what he always told us.  At his funeral, one of his brothers, my Uncle Doug, asked if he could have some of my dad's ashes to spread out where they grew up. Of course I said he could.  When talking with Wes and Tana, Wes preferred if all of dad's ashes stayed together. Anytime Wes and I talked, he always asked if I still had th...