April 2025 Part 5: Everything In Between

Michael got sick over spring break...and didn't get better until May! Turns out, he had walking pneumonia. We finally took him in to see a doctor when his "cold" didn't get better after 2 weeks, and he kept just feeling really terrible. The poor guy had to miss so many football practices and most of his 7 on 7 games due to not being able to run because he couldn't breathe. He went to a practice and didn't tell the coaches he was sick, so they just yelled at him for being lazy. When he finally went back to practice after his second round of antibiotics, I made sure that he told his coaches that he had walking pneumonia so they would know not to push him too hard, and they were really good at watching out for him. 

Brian got invited to be among a very select group of presenters at an Adobe Conference in San Jose. When he checked into his hotel, he was very surprised to see that it was basically a penthouse suite. Too bad he found this out after working in a less than ideal place at the San Jose Adobe Campus; he could have been working in this lap of luxury instead! 

While he was gone, I busted out my watercolors. I'm trying to create more art to use in my surface pattern designs, but more than that, I'm trying to figure out what kind of art I enjoy the most. I'm trying to think of myself as an artist, and I'm trying to figure out my style. So, I did a little experimentation. It felt good to step away from planning our big Europe trip and enjoy a little art therapy. I painted these lilacs. 

I drew lots of flowers, especially while I was waiting for Michael to finish his workouts at Stroformance (a speed and agility type gym that we had already signed up for before he caught walking pneumonia) and while I was waiting for Rachel to finish her Wednesday MDT class at COPA. 

When I was in Idaho for spring break, I had this idea to try to watercolor all the dogs on the Chadwick side--because there are so many and they are constantly getting together. So, I got everyone to send me a picture of their dog (s), and I worked on drawing and watercoloring all of them. Here's Ethan's dog, Murphy. 

Here's Charlie, Cal's dog. 

I had a terrible picture to work with, and he really is kind of an ugly little dog, but here's Brutus, my Grandma's dog. 

Here's Lucy, Chelsea's dog. 

And Daisy, Chelsea's other dog. I think this one is really funny because it makes Daisy look so serious and dignified, but she's actually the most playful dog in the bunch. 

I still had Taryn's dogs, Mom's dog, and Gracie to do, but this is what I finished in April. 

Our magnolia tree had so many blossoms this year, and I actually got to see them before the wind came and destroyed them. 

We had the Watsons over for a game night, and it was nice enough to do it out on our deck, and it was lovely. 

Brian and I both liked my outfit that day, and I meant to take a picture of it in the daylight, but alas, our room before changing into pajamas would have to do. 

Lea was going to take Danny's prom pictures (he had asked me, and I was too slow responding). Lea mentioned something about feeling rusty, so I offered to give her a quick refresher course. Somewhere along the lines, I offered to lend her my nice camera and lens, and she practiced using my camera with me as a model in the terrible lighting conditions in my backyard and shed. This was the only one she took of me that I liked, not because of her efforts, but because I wasn't trying to be a model. The prom pictures turned out really cute, but I wasn't surprise; she's always had a good eye for composition in photos. 

Gabe, after working really hard (and maybe getting lectured by his mom when she found out he'd mostly been playing games at Code Ninjas), Gabe finally earned his yellow belt at Code Ninjas!! 

We got a late round of snow, as per the usual in Utah. 

Gracie hunkered down for the storm. Don't worry, she survived this weather situation. 

We received news that our friend, Sue Alexander, passed away, and Brian ran the kids to all their things so that I could be there for her funeral. We laughed and cried. She was an incredible lady. She was an incredible organist and ward choir director, which makes sense as she was a music educator. She was a force to be reckoned with! Once, I gave a talk in church and said that I often felt mediocre, and she got after me like a mother getting after a misbehaving child, saying, "You're not mediocre; mediocre is the queen of the crap!" I never wanted to be on her bad side, and I think I was successful. She is missed. 

It was nice seeing so many old friends and neighbors, like the Harmons. He's 96!! Sister Harmon used to teach Michael in Primary, and I just adore her!

I also got to see Kirsten and Braxton, who has grown and changed so much! 

And Angeline Oler, who I once got to minister to, and Brittany Jones. 

And I got to see Dallin, Sue's grandson, who was in our first Sunbeam class when we first moved into our Fox Hollow ward. Now, he's a missionary!!!

I got to see Dottie Odom, who I absolutely adore! (And I miss being her neighbor!)

Every Saturday in April took us to Pleasant Grove Junior High School for flag football games. Here's Michael waiting for his practice to start with Nana, who was waiting for Gabe's game to start. 

Gracie finally located the bone she had buried in her toy basket. 

One Sunday, I came back from a meeting to see workers out in my neighbor's yard. Sometimes, we've had workers who wanted to work on our yard on Sundays, which I didn't like, but I figured it was on them, so I initially thought that maybe she was in the same situation. And then I noticed she was out working with them. I went into the house and said, "Brian, Colette is out working in her yard. I don't think she'd be doing that unless her ox was firmly stuck in the mire. I think we should go help." So we all changed into grubby clothes and went to help. She was about to leave town and needed this sod laid down and her sprinkler line repaired so she could turn on her sprinkler system without having to worry about mudslides. So, we helped with digging some trenches, some holes for trees, and then laying her sod. The people I thought were workers were other neighbors, and it was fun to be out serving together, even if the weather was a little cold and rainy. 

In preparation for our trip, I knew that it would be really important to get good, cushioned walking shoes for each of the kids. Brian and I took the boys one night while Rachel had her MDT class, and I took Rachel a day or two later. Rachel was super thrilled to be trying on the limited selection in the Nike outlet. 

She did have more fun when we made our way to Famous Footwear, but you can't tell from this picture. These are even the shoes she picked. 

This is how I parked one day when we had something at the kids' school, and Brian had to poke fun at me for it. I'm normally a much better parker, and poke fun at him for his parking jobs, so turnabout is fair play. 

I was trying to work on our Mediterranean cruise check in, and I thought they needed a selfie to do it. Turns out, they did, but not the kind you upload, and not the kind with a smile. So this one just gets to be for posterity instead. 

The youth had a campfire activity up the canyon. They played some funny games that involved spoons? Or maybe Michael was just being funny. I wasn't there so we can only speculate wildly based off of this evidence. 

I loved seeing these sweet little house finches showing up daily at our feeder. They really are so cute. 

Then all of a sudden, we were in May.