April

Favorite Book Character Day at school. I made these from the Elephant and Piggie Paper Lanterns I had from this Back-to-School Party.

Kindergarten has an extra Parent Teacher Conference in the spring (the rest of the grades only have one in the fall), so Peyton got to stay home for a couple days.

She got to go with me and Logan to a special story time at the library where the author/illustrator of the Ladybug Girl books came and read a few of his books and showed how he draws Ladybug Girl.

But mostly we just played games and hung out around the house and enjoyed having her home with us. Her teacher gave a glowing report of her when I went in for her conference. I of course already know she's a pretty special girl, but it's always nice to hear that from her teacher who spends so much time with her when she's away from home.

Corbyn, Peyton, and I rode scooters up to Sunnyside Elementary to play at the playground there. (Logan and Rog drove and met us there.) The cherry blossoms were in full bloom and made this picture extra pretty.

We had a free Redbox to use, so we rented Rock Dog and watched it one Saturday afternoon. Apparently Logan and Rog didn't find it very entertaining, but the rest of us enjoyed it.

Preston Bond had a birthday party at the Mt. Scott Community Center Skating Rink. Rollerskating did not come naturally for any of the kids, so there was a lot of holding on for dear life and hilarious falling, but it was still a lot of fun.

(Funny video of Logan here.)

The Sunday before General Conference, it was announced that there would be a special meeting for the Sunnyside Ward, Happy Valley Ward, and Mt. Scott Ward the week after conference. It wasn't too difficult to guess that the Mt. Scott Ward was being dissolved and two new wards were going to be formed from the three. Having just been moved from the Sunnyside Ward to the Happy Valley Ward just over a year earlier, we hoped that we would be safe from the change. But our friend Brenton who lives right by us and had been serving in the Elder's Quorum Presidency was called in and told he was being released as part of the change, so we pretty much knew we were also going to be involved in the change. The Tuesday before the change occurred, we learned all the details of the change when Rog was called as the new second counselor in the bishopric of the newly formed Mountain Gate Ward. 

We were all basically devastated by the change. We hadn't been too happy about being moved the previous year, but we quickly learned that had been a huge blessing for us. We made so many good friends in the Happy Valley Ward (many who have kids who attend the same elementary school as our kids). And Rog and I both loved our callings in that ward and the people we served with. We have been able to remain friends with many of the people we met, but the transition to the new ward was a huge challenge for us. 

Somehow life moved on. Logan was being silly and stacked everything in my drawer up while I was getting ready for the day.

Roger's mom had a birthday and I got a little creative making a card for her from some fabric scraps.

Spring baseball in Oregon. You sometimes get a little wet!

The kids were obsessed with making tall towers from the Duplo Legos for awhile.

I had some pots leftover from the RS Garden Party, so I had one final craft night to decorate them. My friends, Melissa and Susie, were the only people who came. Both also got moved to the Mountain Gate Ward from the Happy Valley Ward with us. 

I did a green and gray pot, a patriotic pot, and a watermelon pot.

Rog had planned a little trip with Peyton to visit his Grandpa in St. George. The kids had a random Friday off, so they left early that morning.

I kept us busy while they were gone. On Friday we invited the Martyns to come to Wippersnappers with us.

Then we got donuts from Joe's Donuts.

Whenever we go to Joe's we have to take a picture with their red and white brick wall. 

We got (free!) pizza for dinner. Then we watched Up (because I follow @magic_kingdom_mamas on Instagram and I was in a Disney Pixar mood with the start of Pixar Fest that weekend).

After I put the kids to bed I watched Ratatouille and made these eggs from the Wood Connection.

Saturday morning Corbyn had batting practice.

I pushed Logan on a run.

And then he splashed in puddles until practice was over.

After lunch I dropped Logan off at a friend's house and took Corbyn on a date to see A Wrinkle in Time. We had just finished reading it together. He liked the book better, but I think I liked the movie better. I remember liking the book a lot more as a kid, but didn't love it as an adult.

We made hamburgers for dinner and then went to Salt and Straw.

On Sunday we had our first Sunday in our new ward. The bishop announced that our family was in St. George because Rog was missing his first Sunday as the 2nd counselor in the bishopric. (He didn't realize that just Rog and Peyton had gone.) So then I got to explain that the whole rest of the day to anyone who knew us. I also was just exceedingly unhappy to be there. Logan was terrible in Sacrament Meeting. Sunday School and Relief Society seemed to be full of weirdos and it was different to suddenly not be in the presidency in Relief Society anymore. But we made it through the three hours and headed home. 

Logan had been doing well with pee, but struggled hardcore with 💩. It seemed like we spent half the day in the bathroom trying to get him to go and the other half just waiting for Rog and Peyton to get home.

Meanwhile, Peyton and Rog had a blast in St. George enjoying the sunshine and blue skies.

They spent lots of time with Grandpa Phillips.

They went hiking and explored the red rocks.

They visited Grandma Phillips' grave.

They played at an awesome new park with a splash pad.

On Sunday they went to church and then walked around the St. George temple before their flight home.

We were so excited when they finally got home!

During this time I discovered that the constant gray weather we sometimes enjoy in Portland in the springtime doesn't really affect me when life is good, but a few weeks of the constant gray in the midst of this difficult time did nothing to help my mood. I decided that I had to do something to pull myself out of this funk I was in. This song from Moana came to my mind when I was really needing it.

And also this quote from a handout in Relief Society was a good reminder. It took some conscious effort, but I was able to get to a better mental place again.

I was able to go on a field trip with Peyton to see The Very Hungry Caterpillar play. I struggled a bit to stay awake, but that's usually the case with these types of things.

A few days later it was Corbyn's turn for a field trip. We went to Ramsey Signs (makers of the famous Portland Oregon sign) and learned about how they make all different kinds of signs.

This was a sign they made for a Nike commercial years ago. It switches between I love this and I hate this.

Logan wanted to jump on the tramp, but the kids weren't home and he insisted I join him.

Corbyn had his opening day of baseball and the sun made an appearance for the occasion.

We had a date night coming up and I decided I really needed a fun date. It was Pizza Week in Portland, so we found a location that had a pizza we wanted to try and enjoyed $2 slices.

Then we rented BIKETOWN bikes and rode around the waterfront.

We had a great time riding over the bridges and enjoying the views of the river.

We ended at Wiz Bang Bar, Salt and Straw's soft serve location. At the time they had a Birthday Cakes and Blackberries Magic Cone Sundae that was very much like the Birthday Cakes and Blackberries flavor they have at Salt and Straw in July. 👌 It was the perfect date and just what I needed to reming myself that even though we had to switch wards again and Rog was back in a bishopric, life could still be fun.

Peyton had been having a weird rash on and off for a week or so. The last day she and Rog were in St. George she hadn't felt super great, but was feeling better by the end of the day. A few days after they got home, the rash appeared.

It got bad enough that we had her miss school and I took her to the doctor. Turns out it was just a virus that was giving her hives, so we gave her some allergy medicine and she was back at school the next day.

The room we were in had a huge seat and we thought it was pretty funny that Peyton, Logan, and I could all fit in it. (Rog had joined us for the appointment since he works there and he took this picture.)

Peyton had dance on Mondays from 5:30-6:30 and most Mondays Corbyn had a baseball game from 6-7:30ish. Sometimes Rog was able to get home in time to help out, but when he couldn't, we would drive to dance, drop Peyton off, drive to baseball, drop Corbyn off, drive back to dance, pick Peyton up, and then drive back to baseball to catch the end of Corbyn's game. 😅 I think I definitely earned my mom chauffeuring badge for those days!

We often have skookies in little cast iron pans, but this week Peyton requested one in our big cast iron skillet for FHE. I agreed to it because her birthday was coming up, but it was way too big for our family and I let everyone know this wasn't going to become a regular thing.

Rog and I are NCIS fans and we've loved Abby over the years. We were sad to see her go!

My friend Tracy and I started doing a toddler swap once a week. We did it whenever was convenient for our schedules that week and took turns taking the kids. Logan and Riley are cute little buddies and it was so nice to have a few hours of free time every other week!

Sometime in the midst of all this we celebrated Peyton's 6th birthday. (I'll be blogging about that next!) 

On the 27th our friends, the Martyns, watched our kids, so we could celebrate our anniversary with dinner out at Noodles and then Rog spoiled me by letting me buy some Birkenstocks I had had my eye on. (Boomerang here.)

I received a special text from Dale, the Relief Society President I served with in the Happy Valley Ward and took a screenshot because I wanted to remember it. (I should note that Bishop Collins did eventually say he was sad to see us go after things had settled down a bit.)

At some point in the month I finished this Easter truck I had purchased years before from the Wood Connection. I did really good crafting my way through the Easter crafts I had purchased in previous years this year!

And that was our April. Dreary and trying, but by the end of the month, the sun had come out and things were looking up again.