Brothers!

It's not very often I get a picture of these two together...especially with them smiling! I love these two boys. They hold my heart! I love even more the days they actually get along! They have had a love/hate relationship their entire lives. Most days now, as they are maturing, they actually "kind of" get along. I'm hoping it just keeps getting better and better and they one day understand what a blessing it is to have each other. 

Spring Yard Work

The grass we planted last summer was absolutely gorgeous all summer long, then in the fall it started to turn brown and look like it was dying. We bought a kind that had two different seeds in it. The fast growing seed was suppose to die out after it shaded the slow growing seed so we thought that's what was happening. But....now its spring time and the grass was all matted down and nothing coming up. I made the kids help me rake it one day. It is a huge yard and took us hours. They were troopers. We are starting to see a little green poking up through in most spots now so I'm hopeful it helped! Fingers crossed! 

 

Tandem IQ

With Oakley's schooling switched to online and then the end of her semester and her having to move home for the 2 weeks between we thought it would be a great time to get her insulin pump upgraded to the new Tandem IQ system. This system is INCREDIBLE! The changes we've seen in the 14 years we've had diabetes is INCREDIBLE! Technology is amazing! With this new system Oakley's pump read's her blood sugar numbers every 5 minutes (with a sensor under the skin) and if it can tell her blood sugar is climbing and will soon be out of range it gives her insulin. If it can tell she is dropping and will soon be too low it shuts her pump (insulin) off.  We were a little skeptical and heard that a million adjustments are needed to make it work, but with alot of prayers and heavens help it has worked from day 1 and has been a huge blessing! At 19 years old Oakley still feels pretty invincible and because of that she hasn't been taking great care of her diabetes since she headed to college 2 years ago....or actually before that even....so to have the pump do so much of the work for her has been a blessing! We are thrilled with how well it is working and feel like this is as close to a working pancreas as this girl may ever get!  

*The pictures are upside down...that's how she sent them to me...but you can see the white line is right in the middle of the red/yellow lines just like it is suppose to be! Yay!!

Beauty Salon - Quarantine Style

One morning during the quarantine when I went down to wake up the kids I found a bleach/hair dye kit in the garbage in the basement bathroom. Not having seen any of the kids yet I wasn't sure who the bleach was used on and, not going to lie.....a little nervous to find out! Apparently after I went to bed Oakley and Laiklie decided it would be a great time to highlight Rhett's hair. They had bought the hair dye on a grocery run I sent them on that day without telling me. Can you see me rolling my eyes?!?! Stinker teenagers! They have done SEVERAL stinker teenager moves over these past few weeks of quarantine so it didn't surprise me. Luckily I actually think they did a great job and it looks nice. If it hadn't he would have definitely been getting a major haircut! ;) Glad it turned out ok!

Coronavirus

The first few days of quarantine from coronavirus were kind of weird. They hadn't put the stay-at-home order in place yet, it was more just social distancing and avoiding public places, stores, etc. So Rhett, Laiklie and I did some social distancing at Freeman Park down by the river one day and a drive up to Palisades Dam another. It was so nice just to get out for a minute. Little did we know that it was going to get worse. Not long after this the stay-home order was put in place and since then we don't go out other then for the essentials. It has been a time of doing yard/farm work, puzzles, crafts, scrolling through our phones and making up tiktoks. (dances) We have loved being together (most days hahaha!). 

Cress Creek/Quarantine

On March 13th the kids didn't have school. The sun was shining and gorgeous so Rhett and I took the opportunity to run hike Cress Creek for the 1st time of the year. There was still some snow in the shaded areas and a little mud here and there, but better then we thought it would be and seriously just what we needed! The sun beating down on us was so nice! 

March 13th was also the day that they officially announced that the coronavirus had hit. It had been here, but this is when it started to really affect Idaho. We were told that quarantine was possibly coming and to take precautions when going out in public. Monday, March 16th was the last day my kids attended school for the 2019/2020 school year. On March 16th they cancelled school for the rest of that week and the following week (which would have been our spring break anyway) and told us to wait for more info closer to April 1st. Today is April 15th and the Governor of Idaho just announced today that we are still on a stay-home order until atleast April 30th. This has been an interesting time for our family. No church, no school, no going out other than for groceries. Luckily we live on a farm (and still have a job which is an incredible blessing right now with how many have been laid off) and plenty of work to do. We also have the priesthood in our home and permission to do our sacrament services here. The first week was awkward and Rhett's comment was it felt like we were "playing house" (and it did feel that way) but we've settled into what church at home feels like now. The kids started online schooling April 3rd and we are a few weeks into that and attempting to still figure it out and make it work. We are healthy and happy and enjoying our time together as a family. We are extremely blessed! 

Always time for a photoshoot....

At this house we believe that there is always time for a photoshoot. Lol! Seriously though, Rhett and that camera are always looking for someone or something to take pictures of, even if he has to rig it up to take pictures of himself. :) Such a talented kid!