March!

Here we are at the end of March! This month started out keeping us busy but the end of the month made us slow WAY down! We've had some really nice Spring days that we've gone out and taken advantage of. We have tried to do a little shed hunting and on our first outing, we found two matching sets. We were super excited and made us want to do more and more!

The boys decided it would be fun to set out some raccoon traps and see how many they could catch. We have gone out every evening and checked them and have caught a few. They put up some trail cams by them also and it's been fun to see what animals are out there!

One nice Saturday evening, we went out in the hills with our friends (the Mangus, Anderson and Shumway families) and built a fire, cooked dinner, looked at some petroglyphs and hung out. It was a bit windy, but it was nice to be able to get out and enjoy the outdoors again!

I was able to get my second dose of the COVID vaccine. As a substitute teacher, I was able to get it through the school district. I had my first shot the end of Januarary and missed the second dose day in February because we were gone for state wrestling. The first shot made me have a sore arm for about a week, but that was it. The second shot pretty much took me out for a day. The day after my shot started out fine. I took the boys to dentist appointments, but within a few hours of being awake, I started to get body aches and fatigue. As the day went, I developed a fever and a headache. The body aches were probably the worst I've ever had! I pretty much spend the day on the couch sleeping! The next day I was pretty much back to normal, just didn't have much energy.

We had our annual St. Patrick's day dinner. We love corned beef and cabbage and every year I ask myself why we don't cook it more?! Maybe this year I will cook it more than once!

I have been subbing A LOT...like every day. One of the highlights is being able to eat lunch with my kids when I'm at their schools. At the elementary, there is a salad option at lunch for teachers only and Landon has heard me talk about the salads they make for the teachers and really bad wanted to try one. Our scedules worked out just right one day, that I was able to order a salad and trade lunches with him so that he could eat my salad for lunch. He was so excited and it was fun to have lunch with him in the room I was subbing in! That kid love his salads!!

The high school released their honor roll. Carson had a great first semester and we are proud at how hard he works!

Travis and Landon have started rec basketball and have been enjoying that. Travis also started track and is glad that he isn't sore any more after the first week of practice. But, all of that came to a hault on the 22nd when we found out that Christian had covid and we all had to quarantine. Who would have thought that a year later from the start of all of this COVID stuff, that we would be back in quarantine again! Over the weekend (so like March 19th), Christian developed a sore throat and some congestion, which wouldn't have really alarmed us, except his brother, that we had previously been around, had tested positive on the 18th. We pretty much stayed to ourselves over the weekend just to be safe and see if Christian started to feel any better. By Sunday afternoon, his sense of taste and smell were starting to go and we knew that this wasn't just a spring cold. I was supposed to attand a Stake Youth Fireside as part of my calling on Sunady, but decided I'd better not until we knew what was going on. We decided to keep the kids home Monday for two reasons: 1. Landon had not been feeling well either over the weekend and 2. We were trying to figure out what to do with the other two boys for school. Christian really didn't want to get tested, but we didn't feel right about sending the other two to school knowing that Christian probably had COVID (and they definately couldn't afford to just not go to school either). We tried and tried to figure out a way to get them in virtual school without having Christian tested, but knew there was really no way around it, so that afternoon, he went and got tested. Within a couple of hours he received a call from the dr and confirmed that he had tested positive and so our quarantine began! For the most part, Christian felt pretty good. He just had congestion and no sense of taste or smell and was pretty tired most of the time. We are so thankful that it wasn't any worse for him! He pretty much stayed in our room and came out occasionally with a mask on (the school nurse wanted to make sure that he could isolate, so we did the best we could realistically). Christian has to quarantine for 10 days from the onset of his symptoms and we had to for 10 days after his positive test. Because I had receive the COVID vaccine, they told me that I didn't have to quarantine, but I pretty much did. The schools and teachers have all been really great to work with during remote learning! They have been patient and have definitely gone above and beyond to make sure that my kiddos are staying on track with their schooling. The principal at the middle school (who is also our neighbor and ministers to us) delivered Travis' pile of work from school!

We have loved the drop off's friends and family have made, texts and phone calls and are sure thankful to have such great people in our lives! Our bishop (Bishop Grant) dropped off a two week supply of ice cream for us! The boys loved that!!

Our friends, the Felkins, delivered pizza for dinner to us one night! It was so nice to not have to cook for one of the nights!

Grandma Asay made several stops and brought treats, work from school, and groceries!

Grandma Foulger came one day and brought treats and stayed and taught us a new card game (since she already had COVID). It was fun to have someone else to talk to and hang out with for a couple of hours. Our neighbors brought over cookies one night too! We have definitely felt loved! Our days have mostly been filled with school, puzzles, movies, games and some playig outside when it's been nice.

Christian was able to go back to work today, and we are definitley looking forward to the 29th, when we will be out of quarantine!!

Carson's Wrestling

Carson's first year of high school wrestling has come to an end. This year, he wrestled mostly in the 138 pound JV weight bracket. Towards the end of the season, he was moved up to the 145 varsity spot. He learned a lot this year and was in a pretty tough weight bracket. At regionals, he wrestled 138# and went 0-2. His first match was a great match and lost at the end of the 2nd period to a senior who went on to take 2nd at regionals. His second match was against another freshman and he got pinned in the second period also. He was disappointed in how the day turned out for him, but excited for their team who ended up taking 1st at regionals. It was a great day for Lovell Wrestling. Their team ended up placing 19 out of 26 kids for state! Coach DeWitt's mom comes to all the tournaments and takes pictures of all the boys and is so kind to share them with us! It's fun to see what she captures.

We decided to head down to Casper for state wrestling this year even though Carson wasn't going to be participating. It was fun to get to watch so many matches and Carson enjoyed being able to hang out with the team again one more time. The team didn't quite do as well as they had wanted and ended up coming home with a 4th place trophy.

Catching up!

January absolutely flew by and February to on track to do the same! We have been busy with lots of things! This year has been a busy year for subbing in the schools and has certainly kept me busy. I'm currently doing a 3 week sub in the computer lab and the lady that I'm subbing for is so sweet and left me this note and treats hidden around the room. Landon made sure to find all of my chocolates the first day so that no kids would find them and take them. I have been thankful to have a stash of pop to get me through some of the longer days!

Wrestling. Wrestling has been very different this year (no all day tournaments), but it has been kind of nice. We have had duals a couple nights a week where they will wrestle a couple of teams. Carson has sure learned a lot this year. He has been wrestling the 138 JV weight division most of the season. Recently, his coach has moved him up a weight class, 145 pounds, and to Varsity. He hasn't had a lot of success, but has had some great matches and is certainly learning a lot. The season is starting to come to end and we will be going to regionals next weekend! It's been fun to watch him and his teammates as they have competed this season.

We had to document his first varsity win...even if it was by forfeit!

It's also been so nice to be able to watch matches that we can't make on line this year!

Travis decided to try out a new haircut for a day. He wanted to see if it brought the Buffalo Bills good luck and take them to the Super Bowl. THey ended up loosing the game and so we went home and cut the rest of it off. He says that next time it's time for a haircut, he wants to cut it like that again and leave it.

On February 3, Carson was set apart as a priest. Grandpa Asay, Bishop Grant, and his dad were there to set him apart. A few days later, he was able to bless the sacrament for the first time in our home during home church. I am so proud of him and the young man that his it. He is a peacemaker in our home and a great example to his younger siblings. Hopefully, he will get the chance to bless the sacrament in church soon. We currently have 16 priests in our ward and will FINALLY be meeting back together as a whole ward this Sunday after several months of being split apart and going at different times as part of COVID restrictions.

Landon got to make his own Valentine's box this year and knew that he wanted an eartag Valentine's box. This was the best we could do and it definately the most original Valentine box to leave our house!

Landon was chosen to be the bucketfiller for his class one weeek. He has had a great year, and has really grown in his reading! I'm so proud of how hard he continues to work to improve each day!

Travis got his second round of braces on! This time, he has a full set instead of just a few on the top and on the bottom. His mouth actually hasn't hurt, which has been so nice for him! Here's to a new smile...in a couple of years!

The boys have been watching a reality show called Alone where they drop a group of people off in a remote area and see who can last the longest. He got the idea one Sunday, to build a fishing nest like one of the contestants on the show. He did a really good job...and it kept him busy all day!

We got a bunch of snow last Sunday and so Christian and the boys spent the morning going around to our elderly neighbors and shoveling them out. Travis met up with the other boys from his deacons quorum and they went around to homes in our ward and shoveled. They were all out for several hours doing service. Since Sunday, we have gotten more snow and had many days of below 0 temeratures. The snow is beautiful, but I could do without the really cold temps!!