February 2022 Part 1: All the Small Things

I'm going to switch things up a little and start with the everyday living posts and the events that didn't merit an entire post. First up on the latter list is Groundhog Day, which has inspired the switching up of my current blogging pattern. 

Groundhog day at our house means a picnic lunch in the living room. I think I did pulled pork sandwiches this year instead of hot dogs. That sounded better. 

We're studying the Old Testament this year, and we were in Genesis in February and learned about Noah's Ark, so naturally, I needed to pull out the ark Dad made way back when Michael was a toddler. Side note: I really still miss Dad. It's still stupid. 

Brian and I got this sweet note from Rachel:

Dear Parents, I'm sorry I might be fancy here: Thank you so for helping me with so many things o. Please help me with calculating(?!). -Fancy, sincerely, love, like, thank you-Rachel

Michael and Brian got to go back to the temple to do baptisms. I stayed with the other two. 

We watched movies together. 

Michael built another airplane. 

And somehow, before I even opened this pack of gum,  I went to get a piece and found it mysteriously almost empty. I found a better hiding space for my treats after that. 

Adam came for a visit. He actually came to see his dad, who was in stage four cancer and had just gone on hospice. He came to our house for a distraction. I wish we could somehow spare him this pain, but instead, we mourn with him. 

Gabe got really into beyblades. He used his reward to get some, as well as an arena for them to battle it out. 

Gas started climbing...big time. It has been insane how much it's increased. Feel free to do the math below. 

Gracie remains my shadow. It's kind of funny. She's in this exact spot at the time of typing this up. 

She makes us laugh when she sits like this. 

We made the mistake of discovering Roxberry, which is next door to our gym. So all too often, we'll workout and hit up Roxberry as soon as we're done. 

We snuggled and hung out. 

Brian and I went to the temple. 

We cooked together. 

And we were thrilled to do it, despite this strange look of near disgust on Rachel's face. 

Gabe loved nearly everything about kindergarten. He especially loved his medal for participating in the kindness olympics. 

Gracie continued hanging out wherever we were, including on the couch in the office. 

I love the combined young men and young women activities at church because then I also get to hang with Michael. Here our youth are playing Minute to Win It type games. 

And glow in the dark dodge ball. I think I even got Michael out once! 

We went out to dinner often because cooking is not my favorite thing to do. 

We all read a bunch. 

And some of us had more than our fair share of laziness. 

We celebrated my friend Scooby's birthday with tacos and a movie. I got Scooby a birthday sash and made everyone wear these really silly hats that Gabe helped me pick out. 

And this random guy sang her a birthday dirge. It was really random, and really funny. 

Scooby brought us special cupcakes. 

And after being really cold in the parking lot talking for a bit, we reluctantly got in our respective cars and went home. 

There was some hanging out in each other's rooms, 

movies and Nintendo in the theater room, 

and cuddles in my room. 

We made it through some REALLY cold days, got spring fever, and learned all kinds of new things.