April and May

 In our Family the last 2 months...

* Surgery for Lexi! What?! During the Mountain View game in April, Lexi (unknowingly) broker her finger in the first half of the game. She just thought it was jammed and played the rest of the match. On Monday, when her finger was still a bit "deformed" we decided to take her in and get it X-rayed. When they didn't just tape it up and send us on our (and instead made an immediate appointment with an Orthopedist) we knew it was a bit more serious! She had broken the top knuckle of her ring finder and the bone was displaced. She ended up needing surgery (which happened within 48 hours of meeting with the Orthopedist - so that was FAST!!) where she was the lucky recipient of Two Titanium Screws! This put an end to her Rugby Season as it was a 6 week recovery. The end of the 6 weeks landed on the day of the National High School Tournament in Wisconsin (which the surgeon said she could possibly play in depending on how the healing went... Spoiler Alert: She WAS able to play!!)

* Easter - We had a really nice Easter Sunday. The week leading up to it, we tried to spend time each day focusing on the final week of Christ. We ended up going out to the Dinkle's place for Easter Dinner and had a nice time visiting with them along with our whole family. The meal was delicious and we played some games afterwards! Grandma and Grandpa Carlson were super generous and so everyone got some new clothes and extra money as a gift. 

* The Twin Girlies turned 17!! Can't believe that! They've had big parties for the past 4 years and decided to just have a small friend group and go out to dinner and celebrate at the house. Mom wanted to make their actual birthday special so she put together a "This or That" mystery card activity. Basically this was where I would hold two cards out for them to pick one of (without knowing what they said) and then we'd do whatever was written on that card. They ended up taking turns picking the cards and here's how the day played out:

1. Breakfast with mom and dad at Joe Momma's Breakfast Eatery

2. Went to Ross where they were each able to pick out any one thing they wanted from the store.

3. $20 to Spend at Bed Bath and Beyond

4. Painted Ceramics at "A Way With Clay"

5. Sweet Treat at Smallcakes Cupcakery

6. Dinner at Red Robin with their Boyfriends

* The Rugby season went strong all through April and May for both the girls and Nathan! Mom kept busy doing the photography for all of the boys and girls matches (both D1 and D2 - so yes, that's A LOT of weekly games!) Rugby season is like a full time job for dad (and mom!) and so we were kept super busy with keeping everything going (LOTS of design work and keeping things up on Social Media). Good thing we enjoy it! Lexi was out the remainder of the season for her finger/surgery but was able to make it back on the pitch when we played at Nationals. She was the best little cheerleader on the sidelines for those 6 weeks and attended every practice! Our D2 girls ended up taking the Plate Championship for State and we made the hard decision to NOT participate in the D1 State Championship game (we would be going for 3rd place - behind Eagle and Rocky). We had some girls trying to heal up and we thought it best to stay healthy and let girls have a rest week before going to Nationals. Here are some of my favorite pictures of each of the kids during the season!

* Our girls team took 2nd at the High school National Championships in Cottage Grove, Wisconsin! Say What!? The girls worked SOOOO hard at fundraising (they each had to raise $1,500!) and they did it!! Raffles, Sponsors and donations were always on our mind (since December!). The team boarded the plane early on May 16th and we were off to Nationals! We landed in Milwaukee and then rented SUV's to get the team down to Cottage Grove (about 1.5 hours away). We got checked in for the tournament and then made our way to the hotel where we had a macaroni Bar Catered by Noodles and Co. We were back to the fields early the next morning and set up our area. The wind was out in full force and it was so cold!! For this tournament, we were seeded 4th and had our first match up against Hamilton Rugby (the 5th place seed). We brought a pounding to them and won 70-17 with Aubrie making every single conversion kick! All 10 of them!! Wowie! That is quite the accomplishment! Lexi was the kicker (for kick offs) and she did amazing as well! She even scored a TRY! Go girls!! Coming off of that win, we were scheduled to go up against DSHA (seeded #1 and Ranked #1 as the single school Rugby Team in the Nation). We were excited and ready to face them! Last year, we went up against them and after a hard fought match, we ended up loosing to them by a conversion kick (5-7). This year, they took a quick lead and as we were approaching the half, they were up 12-0! The girls came back in the second half and we ended up WINNING! BY A CONVERSION KICK and the final score was 14-12! We celebrated so hard and this was the victory of the tournament for us!! We were all on cloud 9! Securing that win, put us in the Championship game - excellent, right!? Well, our opponent was a very familiar one - Eagle (yes, the same Eagle that is just a few miles away that we play all the time. So yes, we travelled 1500 miles to play our local rival!). Honestly, we were all still pretty excited to have an all Idaho Championship (how cool is that!?) and while we came up short - we still walked away with a big ol' trophy and the bragging rites of placing SECOND!! What a way to end the season!

* Mother's Day! I had a really nice Mother's Day and felt loved, supported and celebrated! Dad smoked some "Poor Man's Burnt Ends" (which I requested) and I didn't lift a finger for any of the dinner or clean up! We had John and Anne join us as well as August and McKendra. I love being a mom to these kids and feel so blessed that Heavenly Father has blessed me with my family!

* PROM! Another Prom season came upon us! When mom and the girls were out dress shopping, they both fell in love with the same dress! To my giddiness, they decided to BOTH get the same dress and be MATCHING!! Yay!!! They weren't going in the same group (Charlie isn't much on formal dances and so Aubrie went with a group of friends while Lexi went with Dominic in a different group). But we still commemorated the matching dresses with photos!! Nathan asked Aria Clark and they went with the same group as Lexi and Dominic. Sadly, a big rain storm rolled in - just as we were starting to take pictures! Noooo!! but we made do and utilized umbrellas (and the large overhanging tree branches) and cut it a bit short! We were still able to get some cute pictures of everyone though! They had dinner at The Yard House in the Village and then some went to the dance while others decided not to.

* A huge milestone came upon us in the month of May - Nathan's High School Graduation! He has worked so hard and persevered working to overcome his Dyslexia! He worked for many hours every week being tutored by Grandma (via FaceTime) for YEARS! We have so much gratitude for Grandma sacrificing her time to come up with lessons plans and then to meet with him (started off with daily sessions for 1-1.5 hours and then over the years tapered down to 2-3 sessions a week for an hour). They worked on reading, comprehension, grammar, writing and everything in between! He didn't want a party but said he'd go for a family BBQ and invite a few friends to celebrate. So we had grandma and grandpa Vogt, the Hatch family, Hunter, Matthew, Issiac and Noelle Austin over.  Dad smoked burgers and we had quite the feast! Then all of the kids went to the park and played volleyball for a few hours while the adults visited. Nathan felt celebrated and we're all excited to see where his next steps in life take him!

Spiritually Speaking...

D&C 49:27

Jesus is our “bodyguard “

“Behold, I will go before you and be your rearward; and be in your midst, and you shall not be compounded.” 

This verse  tells us that Christ is our ultimate bodyguard! He promises to protect us from the rear, walk beside us along our way and lead us from the front. He will always be there - but will we notice him?

How can I notice the Savior more in my daily life?

• I can pray to notice His influence more

• I can record the moments and times when I notice His influence

• I can ask my family as we’re gathered for family prayer when they noticed His influence

• I can recognize that even things that I don’t initially give credit to Him are ways He’s showing up for me

• Take time each day to reflect back on the previous 24 hours and see when the showed up

President Eyring's talk “O Remember, Remember” from October 2007 (this is a story about how he looks for the hand of God everyday). My take aways:

• God gives us experiences for us to write them down

• He wants us to remember the times He has shown up for us 

• He wants us to write those times down for us, our children and posterity to read in the future to help us

• This was the talk that got me started on including “Spiritually Speaking” in our family history blogs

• President Eyring writes a few lines every single day how he saw the Lord's hand that day (at night before bed) no matter how tired he is - he never missed!

• Before he would write, he would ponder this question: “Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family?”

• As he pondered on this question, he would see evidences of the Lord that he did not recognize in the busy moments of the day

• When we try and purposefully remember, this gives God the chance to show us what he’s done

• Think of the song “ Count Your Many Blessings”

• This us what he noticed: “More than gratitude began to grow in my heart. Testimony grew. I became ever more certain that our Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. I felt more gratitude for the softening and refining that come because of the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ. And I grew more confident that the Holy Ghost can bring all things to our remembrance—even things we did not notice or pay attention to when they happened.”

• Seeing the hand of the Lord takes the Holy Ghost

• Quote: “the challenge to remember has always been the hardest for those who are blessed abundantly. Those who are faithful to God are protected and prospered. That comes as the result of serving God and keeping His commandments. But with those blessings comes the temptation to forget their source. It is easy to begin to feel the blessings were granted not by a loving God on whom we depend but by our own powers.”

• Helaman 12:1-2

• “And thus we can behold how false, and also the unsteadiness of the hearts of the children of men; yea, we can see that the Lord in his great infinite goodness doth bless and prosper those who put their trust in him.

• “Yea, and we may see at the very time when he doth prosper his people, yea, in the increase of their fields, their flocks and their herds, and in gold, and in silver, and in all manner of precious things of every kind and art; sparing their lives, and delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; softening the hearts of their enemies that they should not declare wars against them; yea, and in fine, doing all things for the welfare and happiness of his people; yea, then is the time that they do harden their hearts, and do forget the Lord their God, and do trample under their feet the Holy One—yea, and this because of their ease, and their exceedingly great prosperity.”

• Again, it is the Holy Ghost that will bring to our remembrance the things the Lord has done for us in our lives. We must live worthy for this constant companion.

• The promises we make each week as we take the sacrament will help us live to always have the Holy Ghost with us!

• We promise to always remember the Savior

• Take His name upon us

• Keep His commandments

• Closing Invitation from the Apostle (Henry B Eyring): “Tonight, and tomorrow night, you might pray and ponder, asking the questions: Did God send a message that was just for me? Did I see His hand in my life or the lives of my children? I will do that. And then I will find a way to preserve that memory for the day that I, and those that I love, will need to remember how much God loves us and how much we need Him. I testify that He loves us and blesses us, more than most of us have yet recognized. I know that is true, and it brings me joy to remember Him. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.”

Take Action Item: Jot down in my spiritual journal (either at night or in the mornings when I’m doing my scripture study) when I saw the hand of God in my life during the previous 24 hours. I’ll start right now!

• John was able to get 2 tickets to MHS  graduation and were able to attend

• I’ve been tasked with the assignment to engrave all of the wooden medallions for the youth camp next month. I was so worried about doing this and before walking into the place, I had said multiple prayers that things could go smooth, that I would remember how to work the machine and not run into major issues -  and that’s exactly what happened! It went so well and so smooth! It certainly took a lot longer than I had anticipated. It took about five minutes per medallion so at the end of my time slot (close to 3 hours!) I only had about 33 of them done. I  have another appointment next week to go back and finish. I know He will show up again and help that timeslot go just as  smooth!

• I saw how Mandy Hatch is living close to the spirit and trying to rely on his guidance in regards to the sisters in our ward. This was evident at our presidency meeting.

• I was trying to fill up the Explorer at Costco and realized I forgot my card. I almost just gave up and left, but I had the thought to go ask the attendant if there was any other way I could get gas even though didn’t have my card. Turns out I had already set up my account on the app on my phone and with his guidance, he showed me how to access it, and I was able to get the gas!

• And looking a little further back to last weekend at the national tournament – I know the Lord was with us and kept the girls safe, protected and healthy! We walked away from a whole weekend of games with very minimal injury to the team! We do start each match with a prayer and ask for his protection, and we certainly saw that fulfilled!

• John was blessed with good rides and good fairs yesterday while Ubering! Additionally, he had no incidences with the truck and was kept safe while he was out on the road for so long! This is one that continually is impressed upon me! With how much he drives every day, he has not gotten into any wrecks and the truck has not had any issues or breakdowns

• In the Rise XP app I heard this quote that I want to remember “life is short, so enjoy it! But remember, eternity is long, so prepare for it!”