Prom, Mother's Day, Mission Pics, and more

Spring is here! The weather has been so nice lately. I think they said it's an El Nino year or something, so that means it's unusually warmer this spring. Today it's about 65 degrees and sunny! Here is what we have been up to the past month!

Prom

Gabe's senior prom! Caleb decided not to ask anyone to this dance, which I didn't push because it's expensive and he doesn't have any money, and I didn't want to pay for it! Gabe went with Isabelle Marshall, a girl from his English class. He's not super interested in her romantically or anything, but he had a fun group of casual friends and he's been hanging out with some of them more lately. His group was Amos and his date, Davi and his date, Brock and his date, and Sam Billman and his date, Jackson and Kamryn. I honestly didn't know all the girls. He has known Amos forever and has gone with him in his group before, but this is the first time he has gone with all the other people. I'm glad Amos was in his group though because his dad takes really nice pictures. ;) For their day date, they went bowling and then to the BYUI ropes course. Then they came home and got ready. Then they met for pictures at the BYUI gardens and then went to dinner at Red Rabbit and then to the dance. He said he had a fun time! Here are some pictures:

The End of Track Season

Gabe and Caleb both did track this spring. Caleb had done it last year, but this was the first and only year for Gabe. He kind of just joined for something to do, but soon it became clear that he had one goal: to beat Caleb in discus. Caleb is naturally bigger and stronger than Gabe, but he doesn't really ever work hard to get better at things. Gabe, on the other hand, would go out into the field by the clubhouse every day after school with Nathan Hughes, and practice throwing the discus. At first, he could only throw about 80 feet. With every meet, he would throw a little farther. Caleb was always averaging about 105-110. As time went on, both boys improved on their scores. They both qualified to go to Districts because they both ended up being in the top five for throwers on the Madison team. Then, at the district tournament last week, Gabe ended up finally out throwing Caleb at a meet. Gabe threw a 120 and Caleb threw a 113. Neither of them qualified for State because Rigby has a whole team that can throw over 130, but it was fun for Gabe to finally throw farther than Caleb. Here is a picture with their track friend, Davi, and a picture of their final scores from athletic.net.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day this year was a little weird without Josh here because I kind of still had to do most things around the house. The kids did things here and there (mostly Gabe), but I still did the dishes after dinner and did some laundry and all that. It wasn't really a full day off. We went to church and then came home and Gabe made chicken on the grill. Then we went for a bike ride around the neighborhood. The weather was probably the best day we've had so far this spring. Also, the day before (Saturday) we went to the temple. It was a young women's baptism day activity, but they needed Gabe and Caleb and a couple other young men to come along and do the baptizing. I just went along and helped Avery in the locker room and watched the baptisms. It was a lovely day! Here are some pictures!

Josh Tours NYC

Josh has still been living his best life at the FBI Academy. He would say it's not his "best life", but the pictures say otherwise. He recently spent the weekend in New York City, touring the World Trade Center memorial, the Statue of Liberty, and other police sights. Here are some pictures of him that he texted to us. He will be coming home in about a week for Gabe's high school graduation, along with my mom who will be flying in from Wisconsin! They will both be here for about 3 days, and then go back to Wisconsin and Virginia. Then we will fly out to Virginia on June 5th to watch Josh graduate and drive back through Wisconsin on the way home. The past two months with Josh gone have actually flown by. I can't believe I almost didn't teach this year because I was so worried about being a single mom and teaching at the same time. I think I have realized just how much I typically handle on my own on a normal basis anyway! Sorry Josh if you ever read this! Whoops! But it's true. 

Avery's Orchestra Concert

This year was Avery's first year playing the viola, and she did great! She has made a lot of improvement! At first, we had to have a viola tutor named Ellie (a former student of mine who is now in 9th grade) come over and write the letters of each note in her sheet music. Now she can do that by herself, and she's really getting the hang of it! That is probably because Mrs. Loveland is the best teacher ever, and makes being in orchestra SO fun! She is excited to do orchestra again in 7th grade. At the concert, she played a song from Jurassic Park and Mrs. Loveland came out dressed in a dinosaur costume! It was so cute. She conducted the whole song dressed up as a dinosaur. Here are some pictures of Avery after the concert! I am also throwing in a picture of me and Avery on an evening bike ride around the neighborhood, which is something she is ALWAYS asking me to do! I have to document te fact that there are no houses currently built behind us, which is something that I know sadly won't always be the case!

End of the Year and How-To Speeches

There is so much more excitement coming up in the next few weeks, but I can only talk about what has happened so far because this company I use to print my blog books is going out of business and I want one final book before the do!  So, I will just mention that we have been busy with our How-To speeches in English class and I always love the fun we have! There was a little drama involving some boys giving out buzz cuts in the bathroom yesterday... lol... but I think it's fine now. Never a dull moment! Here are a few pictures of students! I actually have loved this year and I told my students yesterday that this has probably been my favorite grade I have ever taught!

Gabe's Missionary Pics

Last but not least, we went and got a few pictures of Gabe taken at the temple the other day! I am still probably going to have Claire do some more, but this girl on Facebook was offering to do them for free, so I jumped at the chance! They turned out really nice! I can't believe we know where Gabe is going, and he will be leaving for Spain in a couple of short months! I am going to probably cry every day, no lie. He is such a good and easy, helpful kid. I love laughing with him and talking with him about my funny moments from school. It's going to be really hard! I am secretly hoping President Nelson announces that missions will be shortened to 1 year soon so that Gabe doesn't have to be gone so long! I'm not holding my breath, but it would be cool! Here are some pictures. 

That is all for now! I can't believe in the next two weeks, I will have a high school graduate! There's going to be a lot of things coming up this summer!

Gabe's 18th birthday, Bye-Bye Josh, "Brother"-Daughter Dance, Easter

Here's what has happened since Gabe got his mission call about a month ago!

Track Season

Both Gabe and Caleb are doing track this year. Caleb did it last year and did pretty well at discus and shot put. I think Gabe just signed up this year because his school schedule was pretty light, and he wanted something to do. So, he and Caleb both have track as their fifth hour class. It works out pretty nicely because it keeps them busy and then they both come home at the same time. At first, Gabe was doing the 100m and the 200m, plus the triple jump and the long jump. Then, I think he decided that he was never going to run faster than some of the top runners that had been doing track for their whole lives. So, now lately he has been practicing the discus out in the field in front of the clubhouse. Natha Hughes, my friend Claire's husband, has been going out there to help coach him after school. I'm pretty sure Gabe's main motivation is that he wants to outthrow Caleb's distance, so we will see how that pans out. Right now, Caleb throws about 105-110 consistently, so he is considered "Varsity" because he is in the top 3 people on the team. But Gabe has now also been throwing about 100 during practice, so he's trying to knock Caleb out of the top three. Nice, right? That's brotherly love for you. Gabe is about 6'1 and weight about 180 pounds. Caleb is also about 6'1 and weighs about 280, so he's got more natural muscle, but that doesn't stop Gabe from trying to beat him. 

Gabe's Visa Application

First, we had to do a ton of paperwork to get Gabe's visa application ready! Everyone on the Facebook page for the Madrid Mission moms was telling me to get started on that as soon as possible because it can take months to get his visa! So, we spent a couple weeks running around the get things done for that, and then we sent it all off to Salt Lake. We have also been starting to shop for him for pants and things for his mission. We got him a new suit at Kohl's, and I've been starting a collection of golf pants for him. He said, "Mom, you do realize I wear the same pair of jeans every day, right?" I was like, "Yeah, but when you're getting all sweaty outside in Spain, you won't want to only have one pair of pants!" So I've been making him try on stuff all the time when I order it. He loves it.

Gabe's 18th Birthday

Gabe didn't want a big birthday party with all his friends, even though I offered. So, we ended up going bowling in the afternoon at Fat Cats, and then out to eat at Fuji in Idaho Falls on Saturday night. Then, he came home and chose to hike R-Mountain with Porter, Noah, and Gabe Appleby from about 9pm - midnight. (I have no idea why he thought that was a fun way to spend his birthday.) He always enjoys those types of shenanigans with his bros though. Then at midnight, they came back to our house and we ate birthday cake. The next day was Sunday and church was at 1:30, so we could all sleep in.

Josh left us

About 3 days after Gabe's birthday, on Wednesday, March 27, Josh left in the early morning to drive to Virginia, where he will be until June. He's doing this FBI Academy thing that we've known about for months. I think he was really excited about it because everyone told him how awesome it was going to be, but now that he's been there for a few days, he's like, "This kind of sucks." Haha, I told him. Too bad, so sad. As for us, we are doing fine. I still hate making dinner, so I think I will be bringing home food a lot instead of cooking. 

"Brother-Daughter" dance

Of course, the middle school had to hold their annual Daddy-Daughter dance the first weekend that Josh was gone. So, Gabe got to take Avery to the Hawaiian-themed dance! It was really cute. They dressed up in Hawaiian clothes. Avery had a ton of fun, and I told her she probably had more fun with Gabe than she would've with dad because Gabe actually danced and did the silly games with her. She had fun hanging out with her friends, Nora and Sarah, at the dance too. Then they went to G's Dairy afterward. They were gone from about 6:15 - 9:00. When Josh took Avery last year, they were home by like 7:30 (I think because Josh mostly wanted to be done.)

Easter

Easter was on March 31 this year, and so Josh had been gone for about a week. We did the typical Easter baskets in the morning. (For future reference: Avery's was in the blanket basket in the living room, Gabe's was in the gun closet, and Caleb's was in the dryer.) Then we hung out in the morning, I prepped ham and salads for after church, we went to church from 1:30-2:30 (only sacrament was held), and then we came home and ate. I didn't really want to go anywhere, even though Josh's parents were having people over. I don't really like driving places that are far away to eat, cause you know, my stomach and all. So, we just relaxed and it was very nice.

Gabe asks Isabel to Prom

I have been trying to convince Gabe to ask someone to prom for about the past two weeks. It was getting to the point where I was seeing Instagram posts left and right with girls posting which boy had asked them. I kept telling Gabe he had better figure it out before all the girls got asked. There's this girl named Isabel Marshall that has been in classes with him this year, and he's mentioned her a few times. I kept telling him to ask her, and he kept saying no. So, I did what any mother would do. I messaged one of his female friends (Taylor Stucki) on Instagram and told HER to tell Gabe to ask Isabel! By that evening, Gabe had made a poster and gone to her house, and asked her. It was kind of funny. I got home after school and casually was like, "Gabe, so did you get any ideas of who you could ask today?" And he started to tell me about Taylor talking to him, then it must've clicked in his head as I stood there smiling, and he's like, "WHAT DID YOU DO?" lol I can't hide my secrets. But he still wanted to ask her, so he went over and asked her that night. Here is a picture! Poor girl had just gotten out of the shower and had wet hair and no makeup on. She still looks pretty cute to me!

Junior High News

School is cruising along. Did I ever mention that next year I am teaching part-time? I can't even remember. It was this big ordeal for about a month, and the principal and I finally figured it out. He had first said I could in like, January. Then in February, he was like, "No, maybe not." Then I was like, "Seriously? I really wanted to! Now I'm pissed!" (I didn't say that EXACTLY to his face, but I let it spread around that I MAY quit if I didn't get part-time... lol) And then he made it happen.  It sounds like I am going to work from 8:00-12:30, which really isn't too bad. I am going to teach 3 classes though, which is still kind of a lot, but better than being there until 4:00 every day! I am excited about it, even though I probably won't be when I see my smaller paycheck this fall!

Also, they are almost done with the addition to the junior high. They are adding 8 new classrooms. I know I won't get one because I am only working part-time, but I don't really care because I don't mind my room. It's pretty ghetto and there are a couple holes in the walls... haha, but it's fine. I have a big window. Caleb and I broke into the construction area one evening on the weekend and took a look around. Here is a picture of Caleb in a hard hat that we found as we were snooping around!

So that's all for now! 

Gabe is going to... SPAIN!

So begins the story of Gabe's mission! 

After filling out the application online starting in early February, Gabe met with Bishop Johnson and President Rawson. He was eager to get everything submitted so he could get his mission call hopefully before Josh had to leave for his FBI Academy on March 26. After Gabe's final meeting with President Rawson on Sunday, February 18, everything got officially sent off (via online) to Salt Lake! 

A week went by, and on Monday, February 26, I started posting on social media for everyone to get their guesses in for where they thought Gabe was going to get called! We really thought his mission call was going to come the next day (on Tuesday, February 27) because lots of his friends were getting their calls at the nine day mark, but that day came and went, and alas, no mission call came to Gabe's phone messages! So then we figured we had to wait another week!

On Tuesday morning of the following week (March 5) at about 10:30am, Gabe got the text notification saying, "Your mission call is available to view!" He sent me a screenshot and we were so excited! It was really hard to think we were going to have to wait until later that night to open it! So Gabe decided to do something kind of crazy. He called Grandma Sue in Wisconsin and said, "I want you to take my login and password, log in, and read where I am going. Then, I simply want you to tell me if I'm going within the 48 continental United States, or outside the continental United States. Then I can wait to find out until tonight."

So my mom logged in from Wisconsin (as Gabe), read his mission call to herself, and then texted him, "Foreign." Then, I found out Gabe had done that, and of course, I had to call her and try to read her voice tone. She sounded so calm about it that I felt like I immediately ruled out him going to Africa in my mind. I said, "You sound so calm and comfortable," and she said, "I am!" And I said, "Well, maybe he's going to like, HAWAII?!" And she laughed and said, "Well... not THAT comfortable." LOL So then I was thinking maybe it was someplace like Canada for the rest of the day!  

When school ended and I left the junior high at 4:00, I went to Albertson's and got a cake (the lady wrote "Called to Serve" on it) and then I stopped at Crumbl to get a few cookies in case anyone actually guessed the place correctly! Then we had to wait until 6:30.

At 6:30, we gathered across the street at the clubhouse and got ready for the big moment! Lots of friends and family came, and we had the big map with pins all over it filled with guesses of where everyone thought he might be going. With everyone watching and me filming a Facebook Live, Gabe started to read his email off his phone. He was reading so fast that it was hard to even understand him! He said later that he just really wanted to get to the part where it told where he was going as quickly as possible! Finally, (after about 3 minutes) he got to the part where he read, "You are assigned to labor in the Spain Madrid South Mission" and everyone gasped and hollered! I think my first emotion was shock because I felt like my mom had been so calm that it was going to be someplace that was *barely* considered foreign. But I can't even imagine a better mission for Gabe. I think it will be amazing! I really wanted him to learn Spanish, but to go someplace that was somewhat safe, and I feel like this exactly fits that description!

He starts the home MTC on July 22, and reports to the Provo MTC on July 31. He flies out to Madrid on September 6. It's going to be an exciting summer, and I can't believe he is already at the start of this journey! We are feeling so blessed and happy!

It's 2024! Caleb's Broken Arm, Avery's First Temple trip, Sicknesses, Sweethearts Dance, Gabe's Mission Papers, and Grandma Sue's Health Scare

I have been meaning to update this for a while, and now I have about 7 weeks to write about! It seems like the last time I wrote, second trimester at school was just getting underway. Now here we are, only two weeks away from being done with it! I always feel like second trimester goes pretty fast. Christmas break kind of breaks it up. Anyway, it's been eventful the past couple of months!

Caleb's Broken Arm

As January started, it finally started to dump some snow! We really hadn't gotten much in November or December. It snowed a couple of times, but nothing compared to last year when we had HUGE snow banks piled up by Christmas from shoveling at the townhouse. Then all of a sudden, it started to snow a few big snowstorms in early January. Caleb was excited because he had bought a season pass for Grand Targhee and wanted to put it to good use to go snowboarding with friends. Unfortunately, one Thursday on his friend Benson's birthday (January 11), I gave Caleb permission to skip school and go enjoy the new snow with his friends. It was his 7th trip of the season out with his friends, Benson and Cole. I got a call from Benson's mom at about 3:30, and she told me Caleb hurt his arm. The snowstorm was really starting to hit and it was starting to get dark, so I told her not to stop anywhere and get it looked at, but to just hurry home and we would take him to a doctor in Rexburg. When Caleb got home, Josh took him to our friend Matt Eysser (just at his house) and Matt said it was probably a dislocated shoulder, but to come into his office the next morning (which was Friday) so we could take X-rays. To our surprise, it was actually a broken bone in his left arm, right below his shoulder. It was the "humerous" bone to be exact. I will show the X-ray picture! The good news was, they said the angle of the break was good and that he wouldn't need surgery. He got sent home with a special arm sling and got comfy playing video games in the recliner for the next month. Luckily, we had bought the insurance policy when Caleb bought his $500 season pass. This was something you could do to get refunded a partial amount if he would get injured. Because he had used it 7 times, the amount he was calculated to get back was about $210. This can be applied to his next year's season pass, so at least he gets some money back. It wasn't exactly the big season he had hoped for, but at least he went 7 times before he broke his arm! As I am typing this, it is February 18th and he isn't even wearing the sling anymore. He goes back in for a checkup in a few days, so hopefully they say it's just about healed. Track season starts soon! He's been still going to morning weightlifting before school because it's considered a class for football, but he hasn't really been doing much with that arm.

Avery's First Temple Trip

A couple of days after Caleb hurt his arm, Gabe, Josh, and I went with Avery and the youth in the ward to do baptisms at the temple. This was Avery's very first time going inside the temple! She was really excited. Gabe went along so he could be the one to baptize her. It was pretty special. Sadly, Caleb had to stay home with his freshly broken arm. When Avery got done being baptized and I walked with her into the locker room, she said, "I want to do that again!" Part of that might be that she just loves water and swimming and it was like being in a giant, warm bathtub. ;) I can't believe that our days of having primary kids are gone now. Avery is officially in young womens!

Winter Sicknesses

Tis the season for sickness! Even though this winter has actually been unusually mild, everyone still seemed to get sick in January! It was so bad at school. Kids were absent left and right, and there wasn't just one thing going around. First, Josh got sick. His was a horrible hacking cough, fever, chills, and body aches. Then Avery and Caleb got sick. Theirs wasn't so much a cough, but they both had fevers and body aches. Then Avery even came home from school early one day and threw up all evening long. Then Gabe and I were the last ones in our family to get sick. Mine was all in my sinuses. I couldn't breathe through my nose at all for about 48 hours, but then I got on an antibiotic and got better pretty quick. It took about three full weeks, but then I think the sickness had run its course (in all its many varieties) and it seems like our family has been healthy now for the past few weeks! Hopefully, now spring is around the corner and we can put all the winter sickness behind us!

Sweethearts Dance

In January, Gabe and Caleb both got asked (with posters left on our doorstep) to the Sweethearts Dance! The dance was on February 9th. Gabe got asked by a girl named Landyn Twitchell and his group was small this time with just him and Landyn and his friends Evelyn and Cail. He went with Evelyn to the last dance in December and for a minute there, I think Gabe and Evelyn were more than friends, but now it's February and things seem to have cooled. I don't really know what happened, but I guess it's for the best considering Gabe is going on a mission in a few months! Anyways, Caleb got asked by Camri Call, who is a girl that lives in Summerfield and used to live across from us for about ten years! They practically grew up together. I even posted a picture of them in kindergarten side by side with their dance pictures on Instagram! It was very cute! haha I was glad that she asked him and he said that he had a lot of fun. His group was BIG. I think there were about 7 couples. Camri had to go to a basketball game during the morning, so they didn't really do a day date, but they started the evening at dinner time and ate at one of the girl's houses. Then they went to the dance and had a lot of fun. Gabe had a day date of snowmobiling and then they went to dinner somewhere and then to the dance. The girls were in charge of planning this one, so it was nice that my boys didn't have to do anything except show up! ;)

Gabe's Mission Papers

Gabe started filling out his mission papers earlier this month (February). Then he had to get a dentist's appointment and a doctor's physical. He also had to get a couple of shots to be fully up to date! Then, he met with the Bishop and tonight with the Stake President. Now, all we have to do is wait for his call! President Rawson said he would set a reminder in his phone to submit all of Gabe's stuff online tonight. Everyone says it usually takes about two weeks and it always seems like the calls arrive in the email on Tuesdays, so if I was a betting woman, I would guess it will arrive on Tuesday, March 5th. I guess it COULD arrive on Tuesday, February 27th, but that would be only 9 days away. Gabe is REALLY hoping to go someplace foreign. I said, "Are you sure you'd rather go to Africa then someplace like Florida?" He said, "Yes." I really hope he doesn't get called to Africa. That's kind of the running joke that he's been making for years. But I would really prefer he go someplace that's relatively safe. I said that Puerto Rico would be good because it's kind of foreign and you could learn to speak Spanish, but yet you can still get stuff at a Walmart or Walgreens. You don't really feel like you're completely someplace out in the middle of nowhere! I was asking Gabe if he wanted me to plan a little party for him to open his call, but he says he's just going to open it no matter where he is when he gets the text message. He said even if he is in school, he will go to the bathroom and open in it in the stall. I told him he still needs to have a party and just act surprised. We will see what happens with that! Here is the picture we submitted of him with his paperwork. I can't believe we are actually to the point in life where this is happening! 

Grandma Sue's Health Scare

This one isn't so fun to write about. A couple of weeks ago, my mom went in for a routine mammogram. She actually didn't even plan to get a mammogram, but while she was getting some other things checked, her doctor said, "You are overdue for a mammogram. Stop over there on your way out and get one done. It's been 3 years." So, she reluctantly made her way over to that part of the hospital and got it done. I guess they found a little something that made them slightly concerned, but they told her not to worry and they would just send it out for a few more tests. Then, she got a call a few days later and they told her it was breast cancer. She was shocked, and so was everyone else. Then, she had to go back in a few days later for LOTS more tests and she had to get surgery so they could take out a chunk of whatever it was and biopsy it. The goal was to see if the cancer had spread or if it was all still in her breast tissue. That surgery took place on Monday and they told her they would hopefully get some answers to her by Wednesday or Thursday. Well, Wednesday was Valentine's Day and no one called her with results. Thursday came, and still nothing. Finally, on Friday she called them and they said they were still "working on it." Finally on Friday at about 7:00, her doctor called her and said it was good news. The cancer had not spread and it was something that they could treat with radiation (not chemo) and it would be easy to get rid of. We were all sooo happy! My mom told me, my sister, my brother, and my grandma Dahlke the good news in a group text and we were all so relieved. 

Part-Time Next Year?

The last thing that I feel like I should maybe mention is something that I'm so excited about! I wish this would've come sooner, but honestly, this school year has been pretty good, so I guess I can't complain. Basically, what happened was, my principal at the junior high, Mr. Carlson, emailed me one day a couple of weeks ago and asked me to come stop into his office to chat about my "plans for next year." I just thought, "Oh great, here we go again." I told Josh, "I'm just going to tell him I'm planning to stay so he leaves me alone, but then I will quietly keep looking around to see if there's anything else I want to do." So I went in to visit with him in his office and right as I sat down, he said, "So, do you still want to go part-time?" I was shocked. I have literally told him I would like to teach part-time about a thousand times in the past and he's always told me that wasn't ever going to be an option. So, I was very surprised. I was like, "Um, yes!" Then he told me about how they are trying to make some budget cuts and it would actually really help him if I would go to part-time next year. So we chatted for a little bit longer and we still have to work out the exact details of my schedule, but it sounds like it would be I the morning from about 8:00 to noon. I called and talked to the HR lady for the school district and she said if I can be a 0.5 then I still get to count the next year as my fifth year of teaching, which helps me because I am then considered "vested." If I can't get them to agree to that, then I guess I will be a 0.4, but that kind of stinks because then the next year wouldn't count for my 5 years. So, I'm going to try and push for that. We will see! Either way, I'm just really excited about the idea of only teaching two classes a day next year! I really want to be home more and be able to help out with things like Caleb's football dinners in the fall. Plus, I know this is weird, but Gabe will be calling home once a week and I don't want to be stuck at work and not able to talk with him! 

I feel like there are a lot of things coming up in the next few months with the school year ending, Josh going to Virginia for 10 weeks, and then Gabe leaving on his mission. I feel like I really need to make the most of these last few months with him at home, but it's all going to go so fast!