Ayres Insanity

  Christmas came and went and it was lovely. Busy, but lovely nonetheless. Mom was here celebrating her 60th birthday and it was fun to have her. We saw the Forgotten Carols & Christmas lights, shopped, ate, and crammed as many things in as we could. By the end of it all I was exhausted, but isn't that always the case that time of year?   The new year has been full of change already and I was right not to hold my breath. After only a week of Russ being on day shift, the company decided to make their employees as miserable as possible, and take weekends away from almost everyone. Russ opted to go back to the graveyard shift for the sake of making it to church, he now has Wednesday & Thursday nights off, so he sits at home alone on his days off while everyone else is gone, then goes back to work when the rest of us are just starting our weekend, causing me to spend my weekend yelling at the kids to be quiet while dad sleeps. In case you can't tell, I'm no...

  Russ has been working for Union Pacific for 13 years. We have always considered it our retirement job; good benefits, pension, decent pay. This has always been our plan, but now we’re not so sure. In addition to Russ losing his foreman position about a year and a half ago, they have been closing shops like crazy, & just 2 weeks ago, they laid off 47 guys in the shop. That’s over 60% of their workforce... and just 3 weeks before Christmas! We have been heartbroken for the families that have just lost their livelihood, some of them are friends of ours. Russ made the cut, but we can’t help but wonder for how long, this doesn’t exactly instill confidence in the company. We’re praying about what to do so I guess we’ll see where the Lord takes us, but we’re sticking it out with UPRR unless we feel directed to do otherwise.   With all of the layoffs, Russ' schedule changed, he has Sundays and Mondays off on day shift...DAY SHIFT! We haven't had that in 13 years! I used to hate...

  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 ...