May Part 2: Football

May was a busy month for football--at least so it seemed. Michael was on a flag football team, was participating in 7s, and spring practice started for the high school. Not only that, the high school was gearing up for fundraising and sponsorships. 

Gabe also had flag football, and his team was really doing great--winning all their regular season games, save one. Here's Michael with Rixton, Sienna, and Ellen after practice one day. 

On May 8, I went to watch Michael's 7s tournament in Orem, and Michael broke his collarbone during his first play. I'll share more on that later, but to say this break put a brake on Michael's football season would be a vast understatement. 

Meanwhile, Gabe and his team did amazingly well. Something finally clicked with Gabe this season, and he did so good playing defense. 

During the single elimination tournament, Gabe's team made it all the way to the championship! 

Our Falcons played against the Dolphins, who they had lost to the week before. The Dolphins hadn't lost a game all season (and possibly not for several seasons since they took the championship last season).  Our Falcons started off the game with a touchdown on the first drive,  and then a pic-six right after that. The Dolphins only scored once, which is amazing because last year, I don't think anybody scored on them.  Our Falcons fought them off through a nail biter game. The last half was a straight up defensive stand. Gabe and his Falcons held off the Dolphins to take home the 5th grade championship! This was a very big deal! When the Falcons first started together a few years ago, they lost most of their games. Then, last season, they got second place, and this year, they were finally the champions! We were so proud of them all, but obviously the most proud of Gabe. 

Sienna, the only girl on the team, had also joined the girls' league, and she missed the first game of the playoffs because she was in the playoff for the girls' league. Gabe's team kept glancing over at her other team, cheering her on from their sidelines. She got to join the Falcons again for the championship game, and she loves rushing the quarterback, which in flag means she has to start several yards back from the line and then run full speed to try to pull the QBs flags before he can pass. On one play, she rushed the QB and pulled both his flags, but not before he got the ball up in the air. Gabe was next to the receiver and pulled both of the receiver's flags right after he caught the pass. It was an impressive show of defensive might! 

Here he is with Coach Dave Romney. 

And with Rixton. 

And Sienna. 

Here I am with Sienna's mom, Katie. She's in our neighborhood, and we formed a carpool for practices he last couple of seasons. She's fabulous! 

Here's the massive ring! 

Michael came to support Danny and his team for the playoffs, and he got to be a captain for the coin toss. 

 His team lost the first game. I don't think that Danny and Michael cared much for how the team was run, but I think they had fun playing together, at least when their schedules allowed and before Michael broke his collarbone. 

We all headed out to eat after the playoffs and championships, and by all, I mean Lea, Shayne, Skyler, Danny, Nana, Papa, and our family of 5. It was a fun season! We're proud of our football boys! 

May Part 1: I Love to See the Temple, I Went Inside 20 Years Ago

 Growing up, one of my favorite Primary Songs was "I Love to See the Temple." Whenever we would go on a trip to Utah, I knew we were close to coming back home when we could see the spire of the Idaho Falls Temple. I couldn't wait to be able to "go inside someday" as the song words expressed. I think I was mostly excited about the prospect of getting married there, and maybe my little romantic self liked the idea of the wedding part of a temple wedding the most. However, after going to BYU and watching my guy friends go to the temple to receive their endowment ordinances, waiting outside during Chelsea's temple sealing (and bringing Heather to the workers at the front so she could be sealed too and having to tell the recommend desk workers that I wasn't endowed yet), then watching my gal friends be endowed and married in the temple, and then Cal going to receive his endowment, the words to the song turned into a bursting desire to receive my endowments and be able to go inside the temple, and not just to do baptisms for the dead. I yearned to go upstairs to participate in those ordinances. 

Finally, on May 6, 2006, I was able to go to the temple to receive my own endowment ordinance, and it was a great day! The promises pronounced upon me that day have greatly influenced and blessed my life, even more than I could have imagined on that day. 

On May 6, 2026, I wanted to commemorate this important milestone in my life by going to the temple and giving someone else the opportunity to receive these incredible ordinances. After getting the kids to school, I headed over to the Mount Timpanogos Temple for a session. 

I loved the opportunity to reflect on all the ways making and keeping my temple covenants has blessed me over the years. As I think on it today, the scripture from 2 Peter 3: 9 came to mind: "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise" and He certainly hasn't been to me. I owe everything I am, including my life, to Him and His keeping of His promises to me. He has been on my right hand, and on my left hand, before me, and behind me. In my deepest fears regarding my health and my children, His promises sustained me. My covenants with the Lord mean EVERYTHING to me. 

A week later, I had the opportunity to go again with the sisters I'm serving with in our stake primary presidency. We went to the 5:30 a.m. session, which meant arriving at the temple at 5! The sun wasn't up, but the birds were, and it was lovely hearing them sing. Here I am heading into the temple. 

It was so lovely going with these amazing ladies, Heather Arnett, Armi Gorrel, and Jill Simmons. I love serving with them, and I loved being in the temple with them. When we left, the sun was barely clearing Mt. Timpanogos. 

"I love to see the temple;I love to see the temple. I’m going there someday to feel the Holy Spirit, to listen and to pray. For the temple is a house of God, A place of love and beauty. I’ll prepare myself while I am young; This is my sacred duty.

"I love to see the temple. I’ll go inside someday. I’ll cov’nant with my Father; I’ll promise to obey. For the temple is a holy place where we are sealed together. As a child of God, I’ve learned this truth: A fam’ly is forever." -Janice Kapp Perry, Children's Songbook, p 95. 

April Part 5: Ordinary Days

On many an afternoon in April, I would find Michael asleep either here or in his room. He has early morning weights, lots of football practice, and a busy social calendar. It's a lot of work to be 16. 

Brian read the book Project Hail Mary, so we went to go see the movie (on Good Friday) with our friends Annika and Royce. It was a great movie and surprisingly clean, a very rare combination these days. 

Proof that Michael is home sometimes (he's gone so much!) 

After donating our old table to DI, we found this on the receipt, written by Gabe. "Yay, Tyson, Yay!"

Wow, April was a really good month for spotting Michael at home. Here he is again! 

We rate the wind we get by how far the wreath travels, whether or not the rug was disturbed, and if our chairs got blown off the porch. This was apparently a light wind, but we still documented it with a photo. 

Heatless curls--a new method taught to me by Rachel. 

Brian and I went to the temple to do sealings, and we took some names that Gabe actually found several months ago. The bonus of the night? Brian's mission president was our sealer. It was an amazing night. 

Brian finally got the drawers installed for our next biggest pain-point cupboard. It's so nice to find our baking dishes faster and without standing on our heads! 

We also did some organizing of the kids craft room. We got bins and this shelf for our filament

And a new desk for the printers. 

We learned about how Moses had to hold his rod up above his head for Israel to triumph in battle and how hard that must have been and why he needed support. 

I pulled out a project I started a year ago and tried out my new walking foot on my new machine. 

I finally finished this quilt. I made Brian take a picture of my because I liked my hair/hat combo. 

Then I wondered why I was posing with my iron when I don't really like ironing. 

Michael had prom on April 25, and I made his corsage again. This time, I kept it to a normal size. 

It fit in the box. 

Michael's flag football team got to play in Rice Eccles Stadium for some unknown reason. It cost $30/40ish dollars for Brian to go watch him. I couldn't go because I had a big regional council meeting for my calling at church. Apparently, they got stomped, but hopefully they enjoyed playing in the stadium. 

After the game, Michael came home and got ready for prom. I missed sending him off, due to my meeting, but Brian got a picture. It's a bummer being the boy's mom because you're at the mercy of your son or your son's date's mom for photos. I watched all my friends posting photos of their girls Instagram and lamented that I didn't get to see him or his date. 

Michael did show me the next day at church (the first time I saw him post prom), and excitedly told me all the things from the night before. He had a great time. This is Maude, and apparently her mom's name is also Devri, or Devry.  I'm a little sad I didn't get to meet her. 

Brian got him to change his shoes for the dance in between this photo and the one he took at the house. Thanks, Brian! 

Every now and then, we provide a welcoming committee for when Brian comes home. Or maybe we were just waiting for him to pick us up? 

Rachel took private acting lessons this semester, and she had a recital at the end of April. Brian was in San Jose, so he missed it, but I sent him a recording. Technology is so handy sometimes. Here's Rachel with her teacher, Caroline. 

We got a little more snow in April and a hard frost, which killed most of the blossoms on the fruit trees. At least it was pretty. 

Brian went to San Jose for a conference, and he did a great job presenting. He's starting to get a lot of attention throughout the organization. We're trying to figure out if that is good or bad. Afterwards, some of the leaders from the conference reached out and said that his presentation was the most talked about out of any of them. One person even told people that if they can only listen to one talk, they should listen to Brian's ("the guy with the red beard"--what?! Brian doesn't have a red beard! It reminds me of when people used to ask my mom where she got her red hair and she'd tell them from her daddy's red whiskers, only I don't think Brian's whiskers are red, but whatever.)

My neighbor Katie and I take turns carpooling our kids to Flag Football. She is also the primary chorister in one of the wards in our stake, so we've gotten to be friends. She invited me on a walk and introduced me to a beautiful trail near our house. 

 I felt like I reached the end of April by the skin of my teeth. Maycember always starts in the last few weeks of April, and we officially were in survival mode, once again.