I really should spend more time on this blog, It's the only kind of journaling I do, and our lives are so full of things that are worth remembering. I actually had to re-read the last post so I could remember what I needed to catch up on.
As per the usual, the kids went back to school in the fall, Taevin entered his senior year which was exciting and crazy and involved some ups & downs. The nice part was that since he had most of his required credits completed, his schedule was pretty flexible and I got to spend a little extra time with him. The awful part was that he had his first relationship... and she was a nightmare to put it lightly. I find it interesting that people get so worried about their daughters being mistreated in a relationship (and I'm no exception) but few really consider the possibility of their sons being in an abusive relationship, but when it happens, there are few things more heart-breaking for a mama. Let me explain, feminism has become front and center in the world today, but not in a good way, modern feminism is not what feminism was ever meant to be, women are “empowered” to the point that they feel like they need to destroy men in the process, “toxic masculinity” is the buzz word that justifies the behavior these days, and men are just expected to take it.
I’ll leave out the miserable details, but what I will say is that it was a lesson learned, and we are beyond grateful for Taevin‘s current girlfriend Hayley, who is beautiful inside and out, and genuinely loves him for the amazing person that he is. More on that later, but luckily Taevin was freed from the monster by Christmas time last year, and since he'd be graduating soon, we really wanted to do something big before he left home, so for Christmas, we gave the kids a cruise to the Bahamas!
Russ and I had gone on a cruise to Mexico with our friends, the Hanna's in November and were so excited for our kids to experience it. We left at the end of December and stayed for a week. We flew into Florida the day before the ship embarked and spent time enjoying the beach and the warm weather. It was a bit of a debacle getting to the port, but we made it and couldn’t have been happier to be boarding the beautiful Carnival Sunrise! The cruise was an absolute dream, and in my opinion, the best way to travel as a family. The kids enjoyed more ice cream than any person will ever need, and there was plenty of food and activities on the boat to keep everyone happy.
We swam with stingrays for our first excursion at the Princess cays, and had signed up to swim with the pigs for our next excursion on the island of Nassau. Unfortunately, the weather took a turn for the worse, and they had to cancel it, which was life-shattering for Zoey, she had been looking forward to this and was completely inconsolable. We jumped off the boat to see what our options were, and were approached by the kindest, most wonderful man named Damien, who saved the day! He saw Zoey’s broken heart and helped us get signed up for an animal encounter excursion, and was our personal guide for the entire day, giving Zoey everything she wanted. We swam with dolphins and had an amazing experience with Bonnie the sea lion, who was the highlight of the day!
We stayed in Florida one day after the cruise and although I’m usually ready to head home after a vacation, I think we all could’ve stayed forever. The kids still talk about that trip and are insistent that we do it again before Ryler graduates.
Speaking of Ryler, 2022 was his first mountain biking season. He decided it was something he wanted to try early in the year, and as it turns out, he's a natural! Ryler’s coaches told me he was good but I had no idea until I went to his first race, that kid is a beast! I’d never seen him so focused and dedicated. Because it was his first year riding, he was placed in the Freshman C category, which he was way too advanced for, but as a result, he took first in his division as point leader, and completely crushed it! I’m generally not a competitive person, but dang was I proud of that kid! His uncle Josh told him that if he won, he’d buy him a new bike, I don’t think he actually thought it would happen, but he came through and he ended up going halvsies with us on a new bike for Ryler, which we were incredibly grateful for.
Ryler was bumped up to the JV B category for the 2023 season, which was much more challenging, but still, he did well. He missed 1 race in favor of a trip to lake Powell with his friends, which caused him to barely miss the qualification for state, but we're confident that next season will be amazing for him.
The girls both made the move to a new school this year, with Zoey entering middle school, and the only district school being a huge school in Tooele, we decided that the local charter school, Excelsior Academy would be a better option for her. Aspen moved with her simply for convenience. It has proven to be a fantastic choice for Zoey, I haven’t loved it for Aspen, but she seems to be liking it OK, so we’ll stick with it for the time being.
Taevin has had the most going on so I'll get back to him. He started dating Hayley shortly before the end of the school year. She had graduated the year prior and was already living in Cedar city for college, but ended up spending most of her summer at home to be with him. As luck would have it Taevin was accepted to SUU and decided to register for his freshman year of college there. He graduated with the class of 2023 and worked through the summer saving up money. We moved him in to his college apartment in August, and when it was time to go, we both lingered as long as we could, but finally had to say goodbye, and this is the most unfair part of parenting. I miss him every day, but I am so proud of him, he’s working hard, taking care of himself, and will no doubt do amazing things. He has been with Hayley for 6 months now and they are so in love, and have even talked about marriage, but they are wanting to wait a couple of years.
We hosted Thanksgiving just a few days ago, and the Christmas season is here again. Oh and I almost forgot, but Russ is no longer working two jobs! He was promoted at Union Pacific and was able to quit UPS. He’s on call most of the time, but it’s still way better than being gone all day every day. I’m working for primary children’s as a scheduler which enables me to make a little money working mostly from home, which is nice. We have lots more going on but I’ll save that for the next post.
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