Noah Turns 17

My little Noah - 17!! It's so hard to believe! And he's definitely not so little anymore. 

Some fun things about Noah: Football, wrestling, and lift are life. Another favorite is hanging out with his friends, whether it's eating out (Canes, El Toro, McDonalds, and Buffalo Wild Wings are the spots), watching a movie, or playing video games. David and I are always laughing about the sounds of "Idiot!" and "I don't know what you're doing but it's trash, trash, trash" coming from his room during their gaming sessions. He's such a talented artist though that's completely on the down low. His drawings of soldiers and Star Wars guys absolutely blow me away! He has suffered from an acute case of senioritis since his sophomore year and is truly looking forward to summer break. He's a pretty picky eater - no "foreign foods" - but has still managed to eat a ton since he's started bulking for football. He's up 25 pounds since wrestling ended at the end of February. He's still quick with the wit and incredibly funny. Whenever I need help with something, he says, "I got you" and I especially love when he's willing to hang out with us. 

He got an extra gift for his birthday this year - no school due to state testing. He spent most of it in bed, lounging and playing video games.

His special dinner of steak and potatoes.

Sweet birthday wishes from Savannah...

and a phone call with Xander.

To cap off the night the Clarks came over for some birthday cake and ice cream!

In an effort to make his birthday extra special we cooked some of his favorite meals all week.

We've been experiencing such beautiful spring weather that we were able to eat out on the deck one night.

Saturday we headed to Canes for his final birthday dinner of the week and the Clarks joined us. It was a wonderful week celebrating Noah's 17th birthday!

Youth Service Project

I love when our church youth do service and this one was such a wonderful experience. An organization called Family Promise turned an old motel into a shelter for homeless families. Awhile back we helped out with some major cleaning and prep work of the shelter; tonight it was all about light cleaning and preparing the rooms for the families. The kids did such a great job!

Injured!

We were waiting to get pictures from Savannah's last rugby tournament; instead, I got a phone call from a crying Savannah telling us that she thought she might have torn her ACL. Ugh! My poor girl. The trainer at the tournament thought that she had and it was confimed by a doctor a few days later.

The very first thing she said to me after she told me of her injury was that she was going to lose so much muscle because she wasn't going to be able to work out. I kinda chuckled and told her there were probably other important things to think about at that moment. But look at her - still working out days after her injury. She's a beast!

There was so much prayer and decision making regarding what to do about this injury of hers and ultimately we all decided that the best thing would be to bring her out here to have the surgery and recover. Mason will be in Missouri for an internship from the end of May until the end of July so if  Savannah stayed in Utah she would be all alone with no one to take care of her. Although they'll be apart, which is always difficult, we'll take good care of her. This isn't our first ACL rodeo!

Solar Eclipse 2024

Back in 2017 there was a solar eclipse. We were living in Maryland at the time and were at the pool hanging with Melissa and her kids when it happened. We had special glasses for viewing and were so excited to witness this amazing event! And then we were all completely underwhelmed.  It seemed as if nothing happened. So, when talk started about this year's solar eclipse and everyone was super excited about it and getting their glasses, I just didn't feel it. We had school off the day of the "big event" and, as the hour approached, I just kept doing what I was doing. And then all of a sudden it started getting darker and darker! David and I ran outside and were able to witness when the eclipse reached totatlity. And there was the difference between this year's solar eclipse and the one in 2017 - location. Here in Ohio we experienced totality whereas, for this year's eclipse as with the one in 2017, Maryland still only witnessed a partial eclipse. All I can say is yes, it was completely cool and we were blown away with how dark it got, just like at dusk! Everyone's outside lights turned on and the birds were chirping away.

The pictures don't do it justice! The ones NASA posted were amazing!

And just like that, the sun was uncovered and it was bright and sunny again.

Wrestling Banquet

Before heading into Noah's wrestling banquet, we sat in the car listening to President Nelson's General Conference talk. He was the final speaker for the Sunday afternoon session and he always announces new temples. Rumor was Cincinnati was going to get one so we sitting there hoping that it was true. When President Nelson said "Cincinnati, Ohio", my heart just overflowed with joy and I got immediate tears. I can not wait until this temple is built! It's only going to be about 20 minutes away! What a tremendous blessing!! 

Noah's wrestling banquet was nice but extremely focused on the Varsity team, which is fine, but doesn't really apply too much to us. So we ate our food, clapped for everyone, and were ready to go home when it was done.

Noah and his buddy, Max.

We're so proud of Noah and his great improvement in wrestling this season. Each year he's getting better!

Prom/After Prom

Noah decided not to go to prom but Ashlyn went with her new boyfriend, Jay. She looked stunning!

After Ashlyn's pictures, Heidi and I headed over to the place where After Prom was being held. I absolutely love the idea of After Prom, a safe, fun place where the kids can go when prom is over. Our friend Missy has been involved the past few years and convinced us to join in the fun so Heidi and I signed on. Typically junior parents are the ones who volunteer though there are still some senior parents who help out. Heidi and I attended only two planning meetings and then signed up for decorations and food. In years past there have been around 20 adults setting up; this year, about 5 of us. You can imagine how that went! This picture is from the early hours when we were fiull of energy and happiness.

The theme was Movie Night so we were hanging up all kinds of movie posters and things related to famous movies. Missy's husband had this cool helmet and suit for a "Top Gun" display so of course I had to try on the helmet. Once he closed everything up on me, I could not breathe! Kinda had a little panic attack but it made for a fun picture.

Still going strong!

And now we're starting to lose it a bit. There was just so much to hang up!

We started decorating just before 7:00 and finished literally minutes before 11:00, when the kids started showing up. We were only able to finish because all the parents who showed up at 10:30 to run different things at After Prom dove in and helped. At 11:00 we headed upstairs to help with the food. I manned the dessert table after seeing kids take well more than their fair share of goodies. Heidi tried to help put out more food or load empty boxes into the trash bags but the food committee just jumped in and did everything so we were kinda not needed. Thank goodness our kids came and visited us from time to time.

I love the caricature drawing Noah and Nate had done!

The joys of being on the food committee! All of the ladies were super nice but we were starting to get tired!

Our prom pictures, ha ha!

And here it is - we somehow missed the memo that we only had to do one or the other, not both! We were some of the only parents there from start to finish!

Our last picture of the evening. Around 2:15 we were given permission to start cleaning up. We tore down all the posters and cleaned up food and then, at 2:30, I said I'd had enough, and Aimee, Heidi, and I just headed right out the door.

I'm glad I could help out but honestly, I'm so glad I never have to do it again! And I don't think Heidi will either even though she has two more kids that will come through. I haven't been up that late in who knows how long! I was so glad General Conference was the next day because I was able to sleep in until around 11:00 and didn't have to get ready for church. It was a long night for us but Noah said he had a great time and that's what truly matters.