Kendal's baptism!

Kendal has been anticipating her baptism for a long time, and her special day finally came this past weekend! 

We started out the day having a family breakfast. (Brett and Vanessa kindly hosted us all at their house.) The Darrington grandkids were all over enjoying time together and we had our fill of food and enjoyed a bit of time together. 

Afterwards we all headed over to the Church for the baptisms. There were nine kids being baptized so the chapel was overflowing with loved ones. The program was simple, flowed quickly, yet was special and thoughtful. 

Because Casey and Kendal had basketball games in the early afternoon I called and asked the Stake primary president if Kendal can go first. So our ward (Kendal and Caleb Oaklberry) got to go back to be baptized first! Kendal was a little bit nervous, but afterwards she said she felt so happy and good! After she got dressed we went to another room to do confirmations. We got to introduce family a bit and Mom D gave a wonderful testimony. Kendal was confirmed by Casey and surrounded by wonderful men that love her so much! I felt the spirit and so much love for this beautiful little lady. She truly is a special and wonderful little girl. My heart is full of gratitude that our wonderful family came and supported us, full of joy that my little girl chose to be baptized a member of the Church, full of love for a wonderful gospel that gives light to my life and makes theses amazing people mine for eternity!

Casey had to shuffle off quickly after pictures so he could make it to his basketball game. My family came back to our house for a quick lunch before I had to wisk Kendal away for her game.
It was kendal's last game and she did a wonderful job. She was focused. She got to play center for a bit and did well and had some assists and a rebound. She also defended like a boss and did a great job overall! It was quite the game between some great playing by the girls, some intense coaches, and it ending in a tie in overtime. It was a great way to end the season! Kendal had a lot of family support and love coming at her during the game as well.

After Kendal's game the kids got in some cousin time with my family back at the house. We went out to dinner at Johnny Carrinos. After we are we went back to Kimberly so the kids could see nativities, visit Santa, and see some fireworks. ( I didn't get a picture of Alice with Santa because she had just woken up and I didn't think she'd be nice for him. )

It was a very full and busy day; but so full of great happenings and wonderful memories. 

Traditions

We're fully into basketball season. Our first couple of years here there were very few games that the kids and I missed. Last year my pregnant body didn't love sitting through games and this year busy days, and a wiggly baby are keeping us from attending as much as we used to. However I'm still determined to go, support, cheer, and let the children, enjoy, and see Dad in one of his many great elements. We made it to a couple of games this past week. I love that Kendal is more aware and knowledgeable about the game, I love that Peter is old enough to go off and find the bathroom and get a drink on his own (even though he stays away to long, thankfully his teacher is the one at the door stamping hands so I know he's got friendly eyes looking out for him) and I love that Alice likes to sit on my lap and absorb the busy game. (She lasts for almost the whole time, having snacks never hurts either ; )

We've typically done Jammies for the kids on Christmas eve. It's one of those traditions I dreamed about doing with my kids and have loved doing for years. However this year I felt that it's kind of a waste to wait to enjoy holiday jammies. So I decided to wrap them up and let the kids open them to start this month out!
Peter and Kendal were thrilled to get to open them early. It was Alice's first ever present. She didn't care much, and wanted the phone more than her gift when I started taking videos. But it's all good; and my goodness they're pretty cute and Awesome kids!

While I'm all about traditions, I'm learning its ok to tweak and change them from time to time. Sometimes it's an adjustment, other times it's still just as wonderful. (I also made my traditional caramels early to have for Kendal's baptism instead of at Christmas.)

Ongoing celebrations!

Kendal woke up excited and happy on her birthday. She opened up her presents from us at breakfast. She got an umbrella, scripture case, necklace, and camera. She's been wanting an umbrella for ages; and I felt she was ready for a better camera as well. 

Unfortunately Peter wasn't feeling well. After throwing up twice I kept him home from school. He fell asleep arguing with me that he still wanted to go to school. Awhile later I had to wake him up to go pick up a promised birthday class treat for Kendal. Sadly a few minutes into our doughnut pickup at Smith's, I had to rush Peter to a nearby trashcan to throw up again. I felt so bad and couldn't decide what to do. To make things more difficult Alice fell asleep for a much needed nap in the car on the way to school. So I had a bad mom moment where I ditched the sleeping kid and sick kid in the car while I booked it into the school loaded with treats for Kendal class. I dumped the treats, said many apologies and ran back to the car to wait for school to end and Kendal to get out. Peter threw up in the car while we waited for Kendal 😷. Luckily Casey saved Kendal's day. I dropped her off with him. She hung out in his class for a bit and did some homework. Then they picked up some Arctic Circle and headed over to Casey's game. Kendal got to enjoy Casey's game and stayed for the varsity game as well. She got some sweet calls and messages from family and ended her birthday on a good note. Thankfully I got Peter to eat a dinner of oatmeal before he went to bed and after a good night's sleep he was doing better. Alice was my trooper and dealt with a chaotic day.  She had an off few days, but nothing compared to big brother. She turned ten months old on Kendal's birthday!

My parents and Katherine came up to visit a couple of days later. We went out shopping after lunch while the kids were at school. Alice stayed back with them while I took Kendal and Peter to the dentist after school. (No cavities!! Healthy teeth!) We enjoyed a night at home that evening. My parents gave Kendal a sewing machine, bracelet, and game for her birthday. She's so excited to use it and we tinkered around with it figuring it out that Sunday. Katherine gave her a sweet CTR ring with a dragonfly on it. 

That night Peter's gunk caught up with me. I spent hour after hour running to the bathroom feeling horrible and dealing with one end or the other. Poor Alice wasn't happy in the pack n play and was up quite a bit so Casey had to deal with her and poor Katherine had to hear it all from the next room. 😖 

The next day Dad, Casey, and Peter went into D and B. Kendal played with grandma and Katherine. I was just trudging along; however I did get a cake baked that morning. Kendal had her third basketball game early that afternoon. She played the post position and did her best; but the other team was fierce and ended up winning. Alice fell asleep with Grandma while Peter bugged for treats and disappeared with buddies. Kendal chose chick-fill-a for a birthday dinner. 

The next day my Dad was a hero and took all the kids while the rest of us went to the Meridian temple dedication. It was spiritual, and good. I laughed at Elder Uchtdorf's comment that things last longer in the fridge so the poor people stuck outside the Temple in the frigid cold will definitely last longer. (Thank you Dad for watching the kids!) It's wonderful to have another temple in Idaho. I can't wait for Pocatello's to be built and hope Peter is old enough so he and Kendal can go to that dedication. 

Kendal continued her birthday celebrations by having a friend's party on Wednesday. The kids were out for thanksgiving break so we had the party that morning. Kendal wanted a girly party. We made lip gloss, played a nail painting game, decorated cookies, did friendship bracelets, played freeze dance / tag.
It was busy, loud, silly, and messy; but I chalk that up to a good time.
Pictured below. Right to left. Top: Estella, Brook, Meadow, David, Ashlyn, Lily. Bottom: Echo, Kendal, Breanna. (A few buddies couldn't come, becca was home sick, and funny enough David was all about the girly party and wanted to join, so he did. 😁)

Peter had a "Thanksgiving feast" at school last Tuesday. I opted out so Alice could nap, but I was told that he was cute and did well in their program. Kendal didn't want me to throw away her turkey she worked so hard on, however there is no way I'm keeping the plethora of papers and projects that come home so a picture sufficed this time.

 Wednesday: Casey took Peter and Alice that morning so I could manage the party. They ended up at McDonald's while the car was being worked on, I switched later and had the other car worked on before we headed out to Raft River.
Grandma and Grandpa were wonderful and gifted Kendal her first full set of scriptures for her birthday. She was so happy to get them and proudly took them to church today.
We got to spend Thanksgiving with Grandma and Grandpa Darrington!! Brett, Vanessa, and their crew were there to celebrate with us also! It was a good day with wonderful food and family. While the pictures weren't ideal, I'm sure grateful for the wonderful people within them.
Kendal discovered that her precious new CTR ring from Aunt Katherine was missing. With loads of prayers and Load of luck the ring was found in the sand box the next morning.
Friday we had a chill morning at Grandma's. Nicole, Jordan, Terry, and their kids came for the afternoon. The kids played the afternoon away and even got to sit in the manure truck for a bit with Grandpa. We came home that night so Casey could be around for basketball practice Saturday morning.

I did some black Friday doing online, and we got a bit more done Saturday afternoon. We also got our tree and decorations up! Peter wants Christmas to come soon, (but I need more time, between big birthdays, an upcoming baptism, and busy lives I need all the time I can get. ; ). Today was a nice day of church and family time. Kendal had her baptism interview and is even more excited (if there can be even more than she already has been for her special day this Saturday!)

We learned my Great Aunt Bonnie passed away this past week. I'll always remember visits to her home, her amazing garden, love of humming birds, stories, countless 24th of July parades seeing her and spending time with her, and the care she had for us. I'll miss her sweet presence and love. I'm happy to know she's back home with long lost family and our Father in Heaven. Till we meet again Aunt Bonnie; till we meet again. 💗

It's great to be eight!

This sweet, amazing little lady turns eight today! She's been so full of anticipation and it's only going to continue as she has her baptism to look forward to in a couple of weeks!
Kendal you made us parents eight years ago. Your sweet soul has filed our hearts and our lives with so much joy and love. You have an amazing gift of love and friendship. You enjoy connecting with others. You are so smart. We think it's wonderful how much you devour books and enjoy learning. We love your tender heart. You've always had a milder temperament, but you have emotions that run deep (and sometimes on the surface). You are so talented Kendal. You give it your all and we are so proud of the work you put into basketball, piano, learning, and life. You have a great love for the gospel, for going to church, for Heavenly Father, and Jesus Christ. They love you unconditionally, just as we do.
Sweetheart never forget you are a daughter of God, a special little lady, a beautiful person inside and out, and loved so very very much!
Love, Mom and Dad

Kendal's favorites at 8yrs old!
Favorite color: Pink
Favorite Toy: American Girl Doll
Favorite food: Pizza
Favorite Animal: Duck
Favorite Song: Gethsemane
Favorite Holiday: Birthday
Favorite snack: Grahm crackers and milk
Favorite books: Fairy books, Rainbow magic, Elsa and Anna
When she grows up: Teacher and a coach
Favorite parts of school: everything
Nickname: Sweet Pea
Favorite part of birthday: presents!
Fun fact - the above picture is a sneak peak from her baptism photo shoot. ( She wanted to raise her arms and yell "I'm getting baptised in almost every other picture ; ).

Kendal loves that she shares a special connection with Alice because they were both born on Sundays and the 15th of their month! So - happy ten months Alice!
Alice has gained two teeth this past month. When her teeth or tummy isn't giving her issues she sleeps really well at night now! She is exploring more and getting into anything she wants. She walks along furniture, but won't take steps behind her walker. She babbles quite a bit and gives sweet smiles. She's more into table food than baby food these days ( who can blame her though ; ).

This, that, and the other

We got a good layer if snow a couple of weeks ago. The kids happily piled on their gear and spent Friday afternoon and Saturday out in it. Casey joined them Saturday add they built a snowman and snow benches. The kids were loving it! I was just grateful it melted within a couple of days.

Both Casey and Kendal started basketball at the end of October. The high school girls put on a basketball camp on the 3rd. Casey got to see Kendal work on her skills and Kendal got to spend a few hours learning and playing around with friends and the high school girls. She's been nicknamed "little D" by the JV coach. Kendal's team name is the Sun's this year. She's one of twelve girls on her team. Kendal has had two games; on the fourth and eleventh! Her first game she was a wing position. So she got to pass in the ball a lot, however she didn't get a lot of ball handling time on court. They lost in overtime by two that day. Kendal had less playing time at her second game on the eleventh. She was still a wing position, but on the other side. It was another close game ending in a loss. Same score as the first. 12 - 14.

Casey has a good size group this year for basketball. They have varying talents as usual, but overall they'll be decent. His first game was Saturday in American Falls. They pulled out a win in overtime!
Casey's also growing his beard out this month with the rest of the middle school guys. While I admit he's handsome as always, I'm still against it and will happily go back to soft kisses in December. ; )

The kids had parent teacher conferences this past week. Kendal has excellent marks in everything and her teacher had only good things to say about her. She's amazed us with her reading this year, loves math, surprised us with neat penmanship, and is simply loving school.
Peter's teacher had nothing but praises about how much he knows and how well he's doing in class. She's noticed a bit more silly behavior lately, but says it's not really a big deal. (She thinks he's just really comfortable in his environment now and is always quick to be refocused if needed.) I'm so grateful he's gone into this school year with enthusiasm and willingness!


Since last week was patent teacher conferences Casey and the kids had Friday off. We took the opportunity to make a quick trip up to Meridian to go through the new temple. We met up with Brett, Vanessa, and their crew to go through. The kids were so excited. Peter, Kendal, and Becca held hands through most of the temple, David counted stairs, and the babies were happily passed back and forth. I loved being able to show the kids Heavenly Fathers special house. It was a wonderful trip! We quickly ate some lunch afterwards so we could Jet home for Casey and Kendal's practices though.
(I'll add more pictures when I can get Vanessa to send them to me.)

We've had some rough days and many rough nights with a cold being passed around. Alice is also teething and has poped out two teeth these last few weeks. To top it off Peter is having a really rough time with growing pains and his clock is off thanks to day light savings.
Here's hoping for a good week of better health, a happy birthday, sleeping kids, and winning basketball games!