5th grade wax museum in

Ellorie was assigned Martha Washington!  If you look back a year I think Hunter was George Washington!  

Date night!

Be

n and I got all dressed up for a friend’s daughters wedding!  It was fun! 

Savannah’s grad party!

Savannah graduated high school!!! A whole 1.5 years ahead of her class!  She is ready to take on the world!  

6th grade football

This season didn’t go as well as the previous three, but the boys works hard.  

Ellorie’s 5th grade Outdoor Ed

Season 4 football Jr Storm 6th grade first year they didn't win championship

This year they lost in the first round of playoffs.  

Washington County Fair Rodeo

Ellorie invited her friend Lily Weier to come with us.  It was a fun night filled with funnel cake, cotton candy, and shaved ice!

Playing catch

Hunter came down hard on the head of another kid and bit his lip hard!  

Can we take a moment to appreciate those lashes? 

Temple night for Austin

Austin went to the temple to make covenants with the Lord on July 29.  It was a great night.  He had lots of support. 

Scott and Natalie Haughawout 

Dave and Mandy Parry

Janette and Joe Porter

Sara and Brian Fochs

Chanda and Seth Cornish

Evan and Keri Hatch 

He is nearly mission ready.

Watching fireworks

Family pics 7/4/2021

At the Zoo

We could not have picked a more humid day to take Chloe, Austin’s girlfriend, to the zoo!  It was a great day though! 

Father’s Day 2021

our first Father’s Day  with one out of the nest.  

Savannah Fire fighting

Savannah completed a fire fighting cadet program.  It was three months long, every Saturday from 8-12.  

She was named Captain in her class!  

Radiance 2021

Mission call

He reports on my birthday.  It is the most special gift I have ever been given.  A son. Willing to sacrifice his time, talents, energy and life to serve God.  

mom at 42

A good day.  A good moment.  

It never lasts.  That’s why it must be documented.  

Bird poop

When life imitates art...or when art imitates life?  

Fresh poop on a freshly washed car.  

Not my car.  Her car.  That I washed for her.  With no thanks...Just an...I didn’t even notice.  

My effort to do something kind. 

Not noticed.  Not appreciated.  Not even acknowledged.  

Shit on. 

Energy wasted.  Even the best of intentions feel more like a slap in the face. 

I want the Savannah they get.  Helpful.  Kind. Generous. Engaged.  Happy.  

Instead...I get bird shit. 

5th grade graduation- Hunter

Adios Elementary school-  Hunter is middle school bound!!

Cheer pics 2021 Season

The girls competed at US Finals in Kansas City and missed 1St place by .75 points. 

Radiance was a great time filled with great teamwork and even greater girls! 

Prom 2021

Savannah and her first real boyfriend Eli Sutton. ❤️

WSA cheer competition- First Place!!

Following a crisis

I have never been the parent of a child in crisis.  I have fought hard to protect them from the big, life altering, no coming back the same kind of events that can happen to kids. 

No divorce.  No abandonment.  No sexual assault at a sleepover.  So how do I find myself following an ambulance carrying my child to get help. 

Sometimes...our job is protecting them from themselves.  

Failure

She is sick and I can’t help her.  She is broken and I can’t put her back together. She is angry and I’m the punching bag. She is sad and I can’t save her.  She is dark and repels the light I offer.  

My words only manage to make the cuts deeper and the bleeding worse. Do I withdrawal and hope someone comes along that can help her? Do I turn myself in and take the blame because I already feel the guilt. 

There is no warmth in our interactions.  It’s strained and fake and I have no tools in my belt to make it better. My presence and inability to be who she needs causes my soul to writh in agony all the while my stupid ego keeps talking, rambling, circling.  She needs my silence. My ear. My embrace. My strength. But all I offer are more words and crossed arms.

She feels nothing.  No love. No gratitude. Her awareness brings tears to both our eyes. The pain is written all over her like tattooes or scars.  Deep. Aching. And my futile attempts at apologies feel like bandaids on gunshot wounds. 

Her failures are my failures. Her pain, mine. Yet we sit far apart with hard hearts, wanting the same thing. Unable to breech the distance.  Allowing the darkness to engulf us and erode any hope for reconciliation.  

Alone. Sad. Together.

Fake birthdays and sombreros

Savannah told Parker she was going to tell the server it was his birthday but instead Parker said it was hers.  

She got a free sombrero and some fried ice cream!  We all got a good laugh when Brayden tried to say it was his birthday too and the server said she would need proof! 

Skiing with Mike and Randi

We planned a “ski” trip in Sioux Falls with Mike and Randi and the kids.  It was so so so cold but we had a blast!  Hunter was real quick to pick up skiing and he and Parker were the lay off the hill.  

Ell and I never made it off the bunny hill and never figured out how to stop without throwing ourselves to the ground.  

Savannah and Brayden hit the snowboards and had fun and Ben did the bunny slope twice and went straight to the big hill.  It was so fun!

Team pics Radiance 2021

Ellorie and Sloane!! 

My girl!

I drove with Austin back to school for the semester so he could have a car.   We hit some serious wind and some blowing snow but it’s Wyoming and I expected nothing less.  

Got to have dinner with my soulmate and every minute I can spend with her makes me a better, stronger person.  I don’t know how I got so licks as to find her.