Christmas Eve 2019

I spent Christmas Eve with with my family and we had so much fun!  We played Shanghai rummy all evening while eating all manner of treats (both of my sisters are excellent cooks).  Then, as is tradition,  Sean and Tashena opened their Christmas pajamas and modeled them for us (we all got Christmas pajamas this year but we didn't model them).

Merry Christmas!

Gingerbread Houses 2019

Last night Marilyn, Sean, Tashena, and I made our traditional gingerbread houses.  We have done this every year since Tashena joined our family and we always have so much fun.  Here are our finished houses.

Making our gingerbread houses.

Sean's House.

Tashena's House.

Marilyn's House.

My House.

Our Gingerbread Village.

It was so nice to be able to relax all day and spend time with Sean and Tashena (I am so glad she is home from college for a little while).  I am really looking forward to a lovely holiday.

Volleyball Road Trip

Whenever I would go to one of Tashena's volleyball games, basketball games, or track meets, I always envisioned going on a road trip to see her play one of these sports on the college level some day.  Yesterday that actually happened!  Tashena is on the volleyball team at Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake, Washington and the Vikings had a road game against Treasure Valley Community College in Ontario, Oregon (which is a five hour drive from SLC).  We decided to surprise her and go to the game so Kristine and Trent rented a van and my Mom, Marilyn, and I joined them.  It was such a fun road trip.

Tashena had no idea that we were coming and I will never forget the look on her face when she saw my Mom walk in the gym!  She ran over to her and hugged her with tears in her eyes!  Every minute of the five hour drive was worth it for that moment!  She was so happy to see all of us and I have to admit that I also had a tear in my eye because I have really missed her.  Big Bend ended up losing in three sets but they were close and it was a lot of fun to watch them play.

We sure do love this girl and we are so proud of her!

It was really hard to say goodbye but we will get to see her again soon at Thanksgiving!  We are already planning some epic games of Shanghai rummy!

Off to College

Today Tashena is leaving for college!  I don't know how this happened!  When did she get old enough to go to college?  She will be attending Big Bend Community College in Washington to play on the volleyball team.  We will really miss her but we are all excited for this opportunity for her.  Marilyn and I are already planning care packages!  Last night my family went out to dinner to celebrate and Marilyn gave her this awesome quilt that she made out of all of Tashena's sports shirts from high school and junior high.  Isn't it amazing?  Good luck at college Tashena!

Bountiful High School Class of 2019

Yesterday Tashena graduated from Bountiful High School.  We are all so incredibly proud of this girl (but we don't know how this happened because she was a five year old starting kindergarten yesterday!).

Congratulations Tashena!  I can't wait to see what you do next!

A Champion

This weekend Tashena competed at the Utah State UHSAA Track and Field Championships at BYU.  On Thursday she competed in the javelin and ended taking ninth place with a throw of 100.01.  She had not competed in javelin all year but her coach asked her to throw at the Region competition to get Bountiful more points.  She ended up getting third place and qualifying for state!  I think placing ninth is absolutely amazing!  Yesterday she competed in discus and ended up taking fourth place with a throw of 115.11.  I know it is not the finish she wanted but I am, and always will be, so proud of her.  She is a champion!

Region Champion

After her best performance ever at the BYU Invitational last week, Tashena took first place in discus (with a throw of 120.5) and third place in javelin (with a throw of 104.6) at Region yesterday!  I am so proud of this girl and I can't wait to see what she does at State next week!

BYU Invitational

Yesterday my niece competed in discus at the BYU Invitational.  As the name implies, only the top athletes are invited to this meet.  Tashena has been invited every year because she is amazing in discus but she has really struggled at this meet (she doesn't like the cage at BYU) and has never reached the podium.  Not this year!  She took third place with a throw of 118 and I am so proud of her!  The State Championship is in two weeks (also at BYU) and I am so excited to see how she does after this confidence boosting performance!  Go Tashena!

ZNP With Tashena

During our recent road trip to Southern Utah, Tashena and I made a little detour to Zion National Park.  It was a really quick visit but I loved being among the red rocks!

The weather was absolutely perfect and the park wasn't very crowded!  It was a wonderful afternoon!