Backpacking with Bakers

Ashlee made a cute little carrier for Lucky to carry her food and a bone.

Lucky was backpacking too!

Bakers joined us for our second night of camping.  

They brought a hammock, which Thomas loved playing in.

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I think we went a little early in the summer so there was still lots of snow on the ground, and the nights were very cold. 

This year there was not very many fish to catch, so the kids ended up catching the same fish over and over with their hands.  Still fun!

A welcome ride at the end of our backpacking journey.

We had a lot of fun!  Thanks Bakers for joining us!

 

Ashlee's Crazy Mix up Week

Because the kids were not used to being home all the time due to Covid-19, they got a little bored.  So Ashlee came up with a very creative idea to have a competition week, with a new challenge each day.  

The kids had various levels of excitement each day, and our kids don't do well competing against each other, so it ended up being just a fun dress up week instead of focusing on points earned.

Here's some of the days:

Miss Match day

Orange-Yellow-Red day

Tourist day

Green-Blue-Purple day

Girly day

It was surprisingly fun dressing up, and added a little excitement to our temporarily stay-at-home status.

 

Spring 2020-- Quick Recap

Thomas successfully completed his first preschool basketball clinic with Bro. Norgord as his coach.

Ashlee and Ben got Superiors on their piano pieces for Festival.

Sam's birthday!!!  He turned 10!  He wanted lemon cake, along with lots of whipped cream.  :)

Then he partied on at Dart Warz, with 2 of his best friends: Elijah and 

This was right before the pandemic hit, and everything shut down.

Sam had fun doing YMCA basketball with his good friend Cory,

 while Ben tried club volleyball for the first time with his dad as one of the coaches.

Thomas joined a little preschool coop this year, and we went on all kinds of fun little outings together.  Here they are at Amy's Donuts, where they each got to decorate 2 donuts for free!  

Ryker (and his sister), Hudson, Thomas, Aubrey, Luke (and his brother Wesley), and Benny.

Not pictured: Theo

Playing in the snow with an impaled snowman. :)

The kids really look forward to April Fools day every year.  This year Ashlee put eyes on the bananas, and all the food in the fridge.  But I fooled everyone the most with my "orange juice" I served at dinnertime.  It was really a mac n cheese packet mixed with water and it tasted terrible. :)  Sam was pretty upset about it.

And we can't forget about Easter!!!  

Decorating Easter eggs is always a hit with the kids. 

Eliza was thrilled with finding eggs, and especially all the candy inside of them.

 

2020: the Year of the Pandemic

And then Coronavirus happened.  

In the middle of March, everything shut down.  Schools, church, restaurants, gyms, all unnecessary businesses.  The kids had to finish up the school year online.  

Then summer happened, and we tried to plan vacations, but many things fell through because of Coronavirus.  Colorado began requiring masks at all public places.  Sports got cancelled or postponed.  Grandma and Grandpa no longer wanted visitors.  

We planned a few trips, but felt bad visiting people in case we were spreading germs. We ended up going anyway because we were bored sitting home all summer, but felt kind of bad at the same time, like maybe we shouldn't go.  

It has been a weird year.  So far we have all stayed healthy though, so that is good news.  And there have been a few good things to come from all this:

-Mornings are unrushed.  I can sleep in in the mornings if I want, and I have time to read my scriptures.  

-We've had lots and lots of family time (for good and for bad)

-It's great to have Ashlee home so much, since I feel like I hardly have seen her during the school year.  

-We have been able to slow down a little, and not be rushing here and there.

-I like having church at home/ Gabe made some sacrament trays for us and other family members.

-We have done lots of hiking around Colorado Springs

-Sunday dinners with Grandma and Grandpa Black

Whew, it's been a YEAR

I can't believe I haven't updated this thing in so long.  It's been a busy year.  Probably the biggest thing is that we MOVED end of July to a brand new house on Walnut Creek Court.  This house is special cuz it is all ours.  Gabe and I made all the decisions that went into it, just the way we wanted.  :)  I love it.  Some days it feels too much for me, but I do love it.  And it is becoming more like home every day.

So that took up most of my thoughts all years, not to mention the kids changing schools, new ward, making new friends, all the while managing 5 kids and all their activities.  Whew, it is a lot to handle, but I love it.

Right now Ashlee (9th grade) just finished a successful basketball season.  I am so proud of her being brave and getting on the C team.  She is braver than I ever was.  And she has improved a lot.  She even played on the JV team sometimes.  I have a video of her making a basket that I should put on here.  As if that is not keeping her busy enough, she is on the Hot Shotz volleyball team as well as a practice player, so she is keeping up her volleyball skills too.  She just got her hair balayaged (if that's a word?) and she is a beautiful young woman, and getting so grown up.  She is working on getting her drivers permit (what?).  I don't know where the time has gone.  In a few years she will leave the house and that makes me so sad I don't want to think about it.

Ben (6th grade) has been on a club volleyball team (COBOVO) for the past few months as well.  He did really well as one of their youngest players.  He also played with the boys from the ward in a stake basketball tournament.  He did cross country in the fall, and is super smart with all straight A's in his classes.

Ben and Ashlee are both in piano and are getting ready for Festival this weekend.

Sam (4th grade) is such a good hearted little boy.  I love how he loves to talk to me and give me hugs.  He has been keeping busy with volleyball and basketball too through the YMCA.  Daddy coached his volleyball team in the fall.  Then for basketball he played with his friend Elijah on one team, now he is playing with a new friend Cory on another team.

Thomas is very bright and energetic.  He played soccer in the fall, and scored a lot of goals.  Now he is doing a basketball clinic, and loves it.  He has also been doing swimming lessons during the week, and mommy preschool a couple days a week with friends from church.

Eliza just melts my heart.  We all adore her, and her funny little personality.  She likes to wipe things, like her nose, her face, wipe up messes, etc.  She is always pulling out the wet wipes.  She is a very clean girl (yet she likes to play in the toilet too...)  She loves her doll, doggy, kitty, bear, and blankie, and LOVES reading books.  We read lots of books together before bed.  She is a cutie, and I just love to squish her.

Well the kids are growing fast, and I can't keep up with everything but I am trying the best I can.  I love my family more than anything.

Gabe and I have started a 6 month diet bet, and we are supposed to lose 10% of our bodyweight in 6 months.  I have started going to the YMCA 3-4 times a week, and I just love the classes there.  I am really enjoying it!  Unfortunately I love to eat too, so hopefully I can lose the weight I need to.  Well, that's a quick sum up of what is going on in our lives right now.  I will try to write more often, so I don't have to do these big long monster posts...