Ayres Insanity

  My sweet girl got baptized 2 weeks ago. She was so funny about it because for the longest time she was very hesitant to do it, but after much discussion, she revealed that she didn't want a lot of people watching, it was particularly stressful for her to have tons of kids gathered around the glass watching... A little claustrophobic perhaps? Either way, we respected her wishes and only had immediate family and grandparents come. Grandma Cindy made her a beautiful dress patterned after mommy's wedding dress, at her request, and Pop Pop & Grandma Airplane flew out and spoiled her rotten! We did a party with family at the lake that evening and it was fantastic!    It was such a busy week for me with girls camp and getting ready to go back to school and work, but I had an amazing experience at camp and knew that Heavenly Father was mindful of my Zo ey .   The night before I left for camp, I prayed that with her baptism coming up, I would know som...

  This summer has been amazing! I'm not sure if it's just because I had been looking forward to it more than any other, or if it really has been that amazing.    June was pretty chill, we spent pretty much every Tuesday at the lake paddle boarding and enjoying friends. Dan bought us a pedal boat, which has been a fun addition to our rapidly growing collection of lake toys.   July was jam packed with Fun! We celebrated the 4th here in the neighborhood with a pancake breakfast, the Grantsville parade, a huge neighborhood party with a bounce house, bike parade, complete with all of the guys wearing matching flag shorts. After a little time at the lake with Russ' family the evening was spend BBQ-ing with good friends and a firework show that was just as incredible as any professional show I've seen, I love my neighborhood!   July also included the baptisms of 2 cousins and our niece Amber's mission homecoming. She served in Independence M...

  12 days left of the school year, my cute friend Rebecca made me a count down paper chain for my birthday so I’ve been counting down since February. I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited for summer! Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful to have a job to supplement our income but if I had a choice, working while there is still so much need for me at home is not what I’d choose, but hey, 12 days and we’re free for the summer!   I’d say the school year has been decent. Taevin turned 13 in January. He is enjoying Jr High and getting good grades for the most part, and he has an amazing group of friends, which I’m super grateful for! He’s rockin the braces right now and probably will until the end of 8th grade, he doesn’t love it but is being a good sport about it. He really is such a good kid and I’m very proud of who he’s becoming.   Ryler is doing well in school as always, it seems to come naturally to him. He got in a fight at school the other day, at first I was pretty m...

  Today our lesson in Young Women's was on gratitude, and a fantastic lesson it was! Did you know that statistically, grateful people are happier? No joke! There have been studies done on this topic. I won't go into detail but I found it super interesting, but not surprising how much just a simple thankful attitude can change your life.    With this month being November, gratitude seems to be in the air as we prepare for Thanksgiving, and I can't help but think about the many things I've been blessed with.   My last update was in August and shortly after that I started my job as a lunch lady at Bonneville Academy. With the changes in Russ' job earlier this year, my job has been nothing short of a blessing and I'm always amazed at how God's hand is working in my life. I got my job before we had any idea what would happen with Russ', but it is obvious to me that God knew and had a plan for us all along. I am grateful for a job that I enjoy and that I w...

  I think the older my kids get, the busier I get, and the less I remember it all. No joke, I'm sitting here scrolling through my calendar trying to figure what we've done all year. Thanks to old Facebook posts, I can give an update.   January- Taevin turned 12! My sweet little boy is growing up! 12 is a big number, he was ordained to the Aaronic priesthood on January 22nd by his dad, It was a fantastic experience. That week Russ & I took him to dinner then to the Bountiful temple to do baptisms for the dead for the first time, Ron had given us some family names to do, I loved being there with him and watching him help ancestors take their first step toward the gospel. The following week he passed the sacrament, he was so nervous but with plenty of help from his dad and some good friends he did great!    February- I turned 38. Nuff said. OK, there's actually more. My grandma went to Arizona to stay with my aunt DeAnn for about 3 weeks so while ...

  Taevin is a good kid, I've always known that, but the other day I had to ask him a defining question.   We were at the store and I said "Son, imagine you're alone at the store, you check out and go to leave and find yourself in in a miserable windy rainstorm, so you take your cart full of groceries and make a mad dash for the car. Once you finally get your groceries loaded, do you: A- abandon the cart in the middle of the parking lot, or B- tromp through the rain & return it to the cart corral?" Without hesitation he said, "return it". I said, "congratulations son, you passed!"   I continued to explain that there are 2 kinds of people in this world, cart returners, who are kind, considerate people who are mindful and concerned about the welfare of others, and there are cart abandoners, who are ignorant selfish jackasses who only think of themselves.   He gave me a weird look but still a parenting win if I do say so myself! I feel validat...

  I saw the sweetest post on Facebook today, I assume by an older mom who's kids are all grown, and it really resonated with me. It read; My children each year ask me the same question. After thinking about it, I decided I'd give them my real answer: What do I want for Christmas? I want you. I want you to keep coming around, I want you to bring your kids around when you have them, I want you to ask me questions, ask my advice, tell me your problems, ask for my opinion, ask for my help. I want you to come over and rant about your problems, rant about life, whatever. Tell me about your job, your worries, your sig nificant other. I want you to continue sharing your life with me. Come over and laugh with me, or laugh at me, I don't care. Hearing you laugh is music to me. I spent the better part of my life raising you the best way I knew how, and I'm not bragging, but i did a pretty darn good job. Now, give me time to sit back and admire my work, I'm pretty p...