Basketball time

It is basketball time again. Ashley played in her first game today. She was so excited to play this season. McKinnlie her best friend is on her team and her coach is her PE teacher. She also knows a few other girls from past seasons and soccer.

It is going to be a great season. I love watching her play.

Allison's basketball season also started today but she didn't get to play. A couple of weeks ago in practice she fell and hit her head and had a concussion. She was starting to feel better and I thought that she would be able to play in her first game of the season but on Thursday this week while she was sitting out in PE she got hit in the head with a ball. The headache is back and we are playing the waiting game for her to be cleared to play again.

It is hard seeing her sit on the side line because I know how much she wants to play. I hope my girls have better luck next year and don't have to sit out.

First Date

Madison has been anxiously awaiting to go on her first date. There is a girls ask guys dance this month at school and she has been trying to get the nerve up to ask out this boy at church but realized that it was harder then she thought so wasn't going to ask him.
Today while she was at physical therapy Micah the boy from church came over with flowers. Kevin answered the door and he ask if Madison was home. Kevin explained where she was and then Micah said he wanted to ask her to the Valentines Stake dance. Kevin told him that he would have Madison call him when she got home.
Kevin ran over to get her and went into the office with the flowers and Madison didn't believe Kevin. She thought he bought the flowers to play a joke on her. He finally got her convinced and she could not stop smiling.

Next Saturday she goes on her first date.

Basketball

Tonight Meridian high girls played in the last game of the season. Madison has been feeling really good and tomorrow she should be cleared to resume normal activity. She has been itching to play in a game. Creech told her that if there was an opportunity for her to play at the end he would put her in for 5 seconds or so. She was so excited that he said he might put her in. The game was coming to an end tonight and it was looking like she was not going in and then with 9 seconds left he called a time out and Madison went to go check in. She had the biggest grin on her face. She threw the ball in and then there was some passing around of the ball before Madison shot and mad it. The team was playing against Eagle who was in first place so they were down by quit a bit but when Madison made her shot the crowd cheered like she had just won the game. So many people were excited that she was able to play for a few seconds this season. She has been greatly missed and she felt very loved tonight.

Licensed driver

Madison is now a licensed driver. She passed her written test.

I kind of have mixed emotions about this. She is a safe driver and pretty responsible but it is still hard to let her go. First of all she is directionally challenged. All my friends said that driving helps with that but I am still worried that she is going to get lost. I don't know how parents did it before cell phones. At least I know she always has that on her so she can call me. Also, I know this is the first step in her independence and it just doesn't seem that she is old enough. Where has the time gone?

I did get a taste of how nice it is going to be though tonight. She had to be at the high school for a game and I didn't have to run her to drop her off. I know tomorrow when I get to sleep in when she goes to her team breakfast that I will be liking it too.

Tonight was the pink out game. Madison had a lot of fun getting all dressed up to cheer on the Varsity. I think she is starting to feel more normal again since her surgery. It is fun to see her have fun with her friends.

It is almost done

This morning we went by the house to meet with someone to have our windows measured for blinds. There were so many people there working.

It is so exciting to see so many cars in front of the house. We are down to the wire.

Carpet went in yesterday and we didn't have a chance to go by and see it so today was the first time that we saw it. I can't believe how much carpet really makes things seem finished and some of the rooms seem bigger too.

The carpet is the final piece to the puzzle of our house and I love how everything looks together.

The cabinet doors also got installed today.

I love them even more.

Our bathtub in our master bath has also went in. I have missed being able to soak in a bath. I have told Kevin that soaking in that bath might be the first that I do when move in.

The last thing that went in today was the doors. I have been waiting to see the front door on. I am so excited that Kevin agreed to have a red front door. I love the way that it looks.

Fifteen more days and we can call it home. We are all so excited we can hardly wait.

Busy Saturday

We had a busy day today. Our day started out with a baptism. Daniel from our old ward was baptized this morning. Kevin and I were his nursery leaders when he was younger. He was born with Cerebral Palsy and has wanted to get baptized for a long time. He is such a special little boy and I am so glad that we were able to be there and share in his special day.

After the baptism I headed out to Kuna for to hang out with my friends and get a little quilting done. We are all taking a quilting class and working on a monthly wall hanging. Quilting has always interested me. I love learning new techniques. We worked on February's today. I didn't get it finished but love how it is coming together so far.

Kevin had his hands full while I was in Kuna. He first took Madison for her drivers test. She is a good driver but I was so worried about this test. I didn't have to do a drivers test when I got my license and I think that is why I was so nervous. I didn't know what to expect. Well she did a great job and passed. Now she just has to pass the written test and then she will be a licensed driver. We will go do that Friday after she takes her finals. I am trying to prepare myself for her driving on her own.

Finally we ended our day with a little party for Allison. She has wanted to have a birthday party for the past couple years but it is always so busy around her birthday that we just never get around to it. She has been struggling with friends lately so we really wanted to have this little party for her. She had a great time and I love all of her friends. This move has been good for her. There are so many girls her age and most of them will live just around the corner from our new house. I am glad for these new friends. She has been pretty sad and missing some of her old friends since we moved. I know we didn't move that far but apparently it was too far for some people to remain friends with her.

I love to see her smile.

Looking good

We were not able to get into the house yesterday to see if they did anything. The girls think Kevin and I are a little obsessed, especially Madison. She only goes in to see the house when she is prodded along to. She says she will get excited about the house when we move in. Allison and Ashley do show more excitement then her but not as obsessed as Kevin and I. Today Kevin had to drop something off at the house and we were hoping that it was open so we could see the progress. Thankfully it was and we were so happy to see that the counter tops were in on the main floor. I love the granite. I think that the contrast of the white cabinets and the dark granite looks so good.

They also worked on the tile back splashes. Over the last couple months I have worried if everything we picked would go together. It is looking good. I don't know why I worried. We had the help of an interior designer.

In the master and powder baths we decided to put a white counter with the darker cabinets.

Quartz is also more durable then granite so we thought with straighteners it would hold up better. The back splashes also were completely finished in the master bath. I love how it all ties in with the shower. The powder is slightly different in what we picked.

The rest of the counters should be finished tomorrow.

Tonight I was looking at the schedule and it looks like if they stay on schedule everything should be done next Friday. The next week will just be touch ups and making sure everything is done correctly. The final week is cleaning and we are then we move in. This has been a long process and there has been many times that I never thought that I would see the light at the end of the tunnel.

After looking at the house Madison and I went to Relief Society. Brother Mitchell her seminary teacher from last year who has since retired was speaking and she ask if she could tag along. She came home all of the time telling me how much she enjoyed seminary. I was very interested to hear him speak. He spoke on scripture study. I know why she enjoyed him so much now. When he was done I didn't even notice that an hour and a half had went by. He had some helpful tips at making scripture study more meaningful and on getting it done. Sometimes I walk away from meetings like this and feel so overwhelmed and like such a failure but he did not make me feel that way at all. He said that the best way to start reading the scriptures daily is by starting with just 10 seconds a day. I was a little shocked at first but then he explained that time will come but the habit needs to be set first. No wonder so many of his students that I knew in my old ward always talked about how they had made scripture study a habit in their daily life. I like his approach to be realistic and set achievable goals. It was a great evening and Madison loved visiting with Brother Mitchell again. She wishes that he wouldn't have retired.

My favorite quote from the night. Do you see Heavenly Father as a repair man? (I think that I need to frame this.)