Mother's Day, Avery's Piano, Tumbling, and Orchestra, End of School

In the month of May, a lot happened! I already wrote about Caleb's proms and his activities, so now I gotta write about Avery's stuff too!

Avery's activities in 7th grade

This year, Avery finished up seventh grade - her first year - at the junior high. She was involved in tumbling at Airbound on Wednesday nights, orchestra at school where she played the viola for the second year, and she started piano lessons from Claire every Monday afternoon in October. She really has learned pretty fast I think! She had her spring recital the last week of school. She also had her tumbling showcase and her spring orchestra concert. We are trying to get her to do volleyball on the school team this fall, but she's just so shy about it. She did play church volleyball though and everyone kept saying to me, "How long has Avery played?" and I'd say, "Oh, she doesn't play on a team or anything," and they'd be like, "Seriously? She doesn't play on a school team?! She needs to!" So we will see if I can convince her. 

Mother's Day

I also had my first Mother's Day without all three of my kids present to shower me with love. We did get to talk to Gabe on Facetime call though, and it made me think about how grateful I am that we get to talk to missionaries once a week now instead of just on Mother's Day and at Christmas! I really don't know how those moms did it to be honest. I think I would have gone completely crazy and into a really deep depression (even deeper than I did already lol...). 

So Josh got me this really pretty ring (that I asked for haha) and the kids got me some snacks and just tried to be nice for the day. The next day, I asked Caleb to get something for me and he was like, "It's not Mother's Day anymore!" So nice. He did take me golfing though on Friday of Mother's Day weekend and that was really fun. It was sad not to have Gabe here, but I'm glad he's loving his mission and doing so well. He was saying when we were on the phone that Elder Jara wanted to call his mom too, and he had told him, "No, you did last week on Spain's Mother's day, and you will call her on P-Day tomorrow, so you can't call her tonight!" and I was like, "Gabe, you let him call him mom right now! If he wants to call her and you're calling your mom, he can for sure call his mom." And he was like *sigh*, "ELDER JARA! Call your mom!!" and then I heard Elder Jara yell, "Gracias, Hermana Rhodes!!" haha I hope Gabe isn't on a power trip with that poor boy telling him he can never do anything. 

End of School year

This last week was also the last week of school! I have officially made it through five years as a junior high teacher! Crazy! I always said that it would be my goal to get through seven years of it because then Avery would be done with junior high, and then at that point I would reassess and see if there was something else I would want to do. It's crazy to think I'm only two years from that goal! I really have liked it, and it's hard to imagine not teaching now. I just wonder if I would like teaching at the high school a little better. Junior High kids are both really fun and also somewhat annoying on some days! But overall, I really like them. It was also really nice to be only part-time this year, however, the money part was not nice. My pay was waaaay lower this year than it was last year. I am not sure how much longer they are going to keep me part-time, but it's looking like for sure next year I will be. Sometimes I'm grateful for that, but sometimes I'm like, "Ok...why am I working for seriously $15 per hour. I could get a job at Hobby Lobby for more pay than this." It's tough, but I will for sure do it next year because Avery will be in 8th grade. 

Caleb's "Senior Sunrise", Josh Fishing, Spring Flowers

Some other random end of year things! Caleb is now officially a "rising senior." I really don't think I am ready to have another senior. Senior year is such an emotional time for moms, and I don't think I am even remotely ready to go through it again because then it means that sending ANOTHER missionary off! (insert crying emoji here) But anyways, on May 23, which was graduation day for the seniors, the juniors that were just finishing their school year did a "senior sunrise" where they go out to R mountain and watch the sun rise on their senior year. It's like a symbolic start to their senior year. I am not okay. Anyways, Josh also has gone fishing a couple times, so there's a picture of that! Then I threw in one of Claire making quesadillas for fun haha. We love our ladies recipe club nights! Lastly, Caleb shaved his head and bleached it blonde. (sad face) He actually loved his long hair and that was not the plan, but when he went to Lindsey for a "trim" and ended up with a major hack job, he decided to just go big or go home and do something totally crazy! So there's a picture of Caleb, looking like Eminem. 

And that's the beginning of our summer 2025 so far! ;) *Also... Caleb is officially way taller than Josh, even with Josh wearing shoes! haha

Easter (in Idaho and Spain) and Caleb's Junior Prom

Easter / La Semana Santa

Easter this year was on April 18, and it was also a big deal in Spain! They have big parades in the streets and celebrate for like a whole week. It's called La Semana Santa (Holy Week). So Gabe got to experience that and sent us pictures and videos! He spent Easter Sunday at their Bishop's house, who they love. They ate paella and there was lots of singing and dancing! 

Here in Idaho, we celebrated in the usual American ways. On the day before Easter, we went to Brad and Diane's house for a grandkid Easter egg hunt. Caleb found the special egg with the $50 bill inside! Avery brought her two friends, Espyn and Briella, along and they found a bunch of candy and about $30 between the three of them! 

On Sunday, Avery and Caleb found their Easter baskets, then we went to church and then came home and the Hughes family came over. We did a little egg hunt in the backyard for her kids and then we had some carrot cake and played Scattegories. 

Caleb's Junior Proms (Twin Falls and Madison)

The last weekend in April, Caleb and three friends drove down to Twin Falls and took some girls they had never met before to prom! It sounds weird, but it was basically because Lindsey Summers asked them to. It was her niece, Maely, who was a senior, and her friends. Apparently, no boys had ever asked them to a dance in all of high school! Sad. So Lindsey formulated this plan to have Colter (her son) and his 3 friends come down there for the weekend and take these girls to their prom. Caleb was the one that got paired with Maely, and she was a really nice girl. They had fun, didn't have to pay for anything, and there was so stress or anything. They did a little cooking show activity that the girls' moms had prepared for their date before the dance, then they took pictures, ate dinner at one of their girl's houses, and then went to the dance. It was kind of funny because apparently Caleb made quite a scene doing the worm and acting all crazy like he does, and one of Devin Dial's sisters, who lives in that town, even told Devin how awesome this group of boys from Rexburg was.

About two weeks later, on May 3, Caleb took Lexi to prom. For their day date, they went paint balling in the morning. Then they went back home and got showered and got ready, They did pictures with Colter's aunt in the BYUI gardens, and then they went out to dinner at Fresco. Caleb said he had a lot of fun, and was only a little annoyed that he had to spend like $150 of his own money because he actually did really like the girl he went with. ;) He even made her the bouquet (no corsages this year) all by himself (mostly) and it turned out so cute. It matched her dress perfectly!

Gabe's 19th birthday, A New Greenie, Church Ball, Easter

Gabe's 19th Birthday

Gabe celebrated his first birthday away from us in...well, FOREVER! :( I was pretty sad that he wasn't with us for his 19th birthday, but he hopefully felt very loved. Not only did we send him a digital birthday greeting video with all of his many family members and friends wishing him a message (I think I had over 30 messages that I put together into a 12 minute video) but he also felt some love from his fellow missionaries. All the missionaries in his zone put together a video for him too (which I didn't even know they were doing). THEN, one of his favorite people from his last area in Aranjuez, an 18-year-old boy named Bautista, came on the train and brought him a surprise birthday cake and meal! It was so sweet. Bautista's mom, Daguimar, was so sweet to Gabe when he was in Aranjuez. She's a single mom with four kids. Her oldest is on a mission, then Bautista, then she has two daughters that are like 16 and 13. She basically treated Gabe like one of her kids and had him and his companion over for dinner a lot when he was in Aranjuez, so it was super fun that Bautista showed up at church on Gabe's birthday with a cake! He ended up being so tired that he fell asleep on the tables in the church classroom. lol

A New Greenie - Elder Jara

About a week after Gabe's birthday, they got transfer news and they found out that Elder Bradshaw would be leaving Cartagena and Gabe would be getting a greenie to train! Gabe was sad that Bradshaw was leaving because he only had one transfer with him (six weeks) and he really probably got along with him the best of any of his companions so far. But he was excited to become not only a trainer, but also a district leader. So in the beginning of April, he took the train to Madrid and met his new greenie, Elder Jara! They also found out there would be two other elders added into their apartment, which turned out to be Elder Leal and Salmeron. Long story short, they were fun guys, but not really great at following the rules. Gabe was not too sad when the mission president decided to transfer Leal and Salmeron away by the beginning of May. Now it's just Gabe and Elder Jara in their apartment and things seem to be going well! Elder Jara likes to cook Peruvian food for Gabe, and Gabe likes to do the dishes, so they are like a happy little married couple. ;)

Church Ball Tournament

One thing that was going on here in Rexburg in March was church ball. This year, our ward dominated. Like, we actually did. We ended up winning the championship! We had Robby and Lucas Matthews and their cousin, Kamden. Then also Caleb, Sebastyn, David Elliason, and Gabe Appleby. It was pretty fun to watch them play every Wednesday in March and some of April. All together, I think there were about 10 wards in our stake that they had to play over the course of about 6 weeks. We won every single game! 

Caleb's Spring Sports / ACT / Asking Lexi to prom / Gold Bug hike

So, Caleb and Gabe both did track last year and kind of competed with each other all season to see who could throw the discus farther. Gabe did end up getting to over 120 feet by the end of the season and I think Caleb was about 115. So I really thought this year, Caleb would be amazing and get even better. However, he also decided to sign up for tennis this spring, and whenever there was a schedule conflict between going to a tennis meet or a track meet, he chose tennis. So, by the end of the season, he hadn't really improved at throwing. I honestly don't even think he will do track next year. He said he wants to for sure do tennis again. He liked tennis a lot because his friends, Benson and Noah, were also on that team. 

In early April he also took the ACT (he got a 20), and asked Lexi Packard to prom (more about prom later) with a little Easter egg hunt in her front yard. He also went up to Gold Bug Hot Springs with his friends, Noah and Benson, for a little overnight hike and camp trip. (Josh drove up with them, but stayed at the base of the hike so they could have their own boy time. lol)

Josh's Birthday

Josh turned 45! The ladies at the Family Crisis Center plastered pictures of his face all over the windows on Main Street, which I thought was hilarious. lol 

Caleb's Sweethearts Dance and the Cruise with the Matthews

Again, I am not very good at keeping this blog updated! I feel like I am on this blogger website all the time, but it's to update Gabe's mission blog!

Quick update on Gabe - he's in his second area now! He got to Spain on September 2, 2024 and stayed in his first area (Aranjuez) until the middle of February! He started there with Elder Bright and then Elder Bright left after 12 weeks. Elder Olson arrived and moved in with him and they got to baptize Boyan, Smith, and Damaris. I think his highlight was teaching and baptizing Smith, who he called "elect" all the time. ;) Then, the same day that he got to go with Smith to the temple for the first time, he got on a train with all his bags and left Elder Olson and transferred down to the southeast coast to a place called Cartagena. He's been there about a month now with Elder Bradshaw. They seem to get along well, and they had their first baptism (a girl named Enma) on Sunday! Also, the man named Emmanuel that Gabe talked to on his train ride to Cartagena ended up getting in touch with his local elders and getting baptized on the same day! So Gabe considers that one kind of "his" baptism too. ;) I think Gabe's biggest concern right now is that summer is right around the corner and pretty soon the weather is going to get really HOT. He's worried he's going to be sweating all summer! His birthday is coming up in a few days, and so I'm busy trying to make a video for him with all his friends and family wishing him a happy birthday! (He celebrated at his zone conference, hence why he's wearing a birthday crown!)

So now about Caleb! Right now third trimester just started and Caleb is busy trying to do both track and tennis. The weather has been so snowy though, so their track meet today just got cancelled! He also went snowboarding a lot in the past couple months, but his snowboard rental is due back to Al's on April 1, and we are just waiting to see if there's one more big snowfall for his to go again this season or not. (He's already been probably 15 times.)

Also, Caleb went to the Sweetheart's Dance in February with a girl named Kenzi. I know her mom because she had subbed for me before. They had a lot of fun and were kinda dating even after the dance, but we just got back from a cruise and she's been busy with volleyball, so I think that might be cooling off.

Avery has still be doing weekly piano lessons with Claire on Mondays and she's been going to tumbling on Wednesday nights. Tuesday nights she usually goes to young women's, so those three things keep her at least a little busy after school. She also had her spring orchestra concert where she played the viola, but she didn't let me take any pictures. :( We also went to the orthodontist yesterday and scheduled her appointments to get her braces put on! She's going to start the process in May!

We recently returned home from our cruise with the Matthews! We flew out to Florida on Thursday, March 6 and first spent a few days with my dad and Melissa. We flew into Tampa and rented a car, and that first morning, Caleb and Josh met up with Johnny (Alex's husband) and did a little ocean fishing from about 8am - 1pm. Avery and I did a little shipping during that time! Then, we drove to North Port (about an hour) and stayed with my dad and Melissa for the rest of Friday, Saturday, and we left Sunday afternoon. We had a lot of fun going to Boca Grande beach, riding the golf cart, doing a scavenger hunt, and just hanging out.

On Sunday night, we drove to Miami (about 2.5 hours more) and stayed in a hotel. The Matthews (Jessica, Kyle, and Robby - not ALL of the Matthews) took a red eye flight and then came to our hotel at about 8:00am. We hung out there, ate breakfast, and then took a shuttle to the cruise ship. We boarded at about noon and then the fun began!

We really loved eating dinner in the nice dining room every night. Caleb and Robby went crazy ordering things (actually we all did), and it was just fun to chat at dinner. We spent the first day in the Bahamas, which was just okay (it was windy and we just took a bus tour around), then the second day on Coco Cay (the private island of Royal Caribbean - which was AWESOME), and then the third day was just a sea day. Coca Cay was definitely the high light of the trip. We paid extra to be able to go to the Thrill Park and do all the water slides. I loved that there was also good food everywhere you went, clean bathrooms, clean sand, and it was just overall really fun and really nice. It wasn't even that crowded. We went and laid out at the beach after the waterpark too. By about 4:00, we got back on the ship, but I wished we could've stayed there until sunset. It was so nice.

Another highlight was watching Caleb sing "Hit Me Baby One More Time" during karaoke night. He had the whole audience singing along and he did the worm at the end. It was really funny. 

We flew back home on March 15, tanned and tired, and now we are back in snowy Rexburg. I am really ready for some spring weather! It's feeling like this year is going by fast because we are in the last trimester of school now and I know it won't be long before it's May and we are wrapping up this school year! We are trying to figure out some summer plans, but I am thinking our next big trip will be to Spain in 2026! I can't wait for that!

That's all for now! Here are some pictures!