January Volleyball

 Benjamin’s team had another tournament that I could go to so we turned this one into a girls trip. Emma and my mom came with and we went nonstop. 

First off was shopping at the outlets in Barstow. We made out great with some awesome deals. Then to skip out on some traffic we stopped to go see a movie. We went to the new mean girls and walked out. I had no idea it was a musical and it was horrible. I’ve never walked out of a movie before and still can’t believe how bad it was. 

Before the first day of games we went shopping at some wholesale stores and oh my the deals we found. We had giant bags and were so excited that we kept going. Which was a lot since we were in downtown LA by skid row. We got into it though and hit up those street vendors. Still can’t believe the deals we got! We all made out with amazing scores and had the best time. 

Volleyball till late at night. We surprised Benjamin he had no idea my mom was coming to watch him too. It was wonderful. I was only able to make it to two tournaments because they were all in different states so it was so fun having more supporters for him. He has grown so much and is getting so talented. Can’t wait to keep watching him. Emma was so excited she saw the actress Peyton Elizabeth Lee who was the star in a few of her own Disney shows. Peyton was a doll and so kind chatting with Emma and taking a picture.

We went to Newport Beach and got to go to our favorite farmers market and donut shop. We went down to the water and could have stayed all day, but didn’t have near enough time. We headed to Downtown Disney where I also wish we would have had more time and actually in the parks lol. I’ll take what I can get though. We turned our Disney walks on and got our favorite treats and shopping. Emma scored and got herself a Messi Jersey which put her on cloud 9! Love seeing her happy face. 

For how many times Benjamin has been in California he has not been to the beach once this season. I gave him the choice to head home or go to the beach and the beach it was. We went to Venice beach which was the closest. The kids all got in and swam. The weather was pretty nice for January. I wasn’t even cold watching just enjoying the sun and sand. Emma was on fire finding all the most amazing seashells. She found full connected shells and three full sand dollars. Which is perfect since grandma got her a sand dollar necklace as a momentum for the trip. The kids all wanted to stay longer, but school and work the next day so we ended our trip in California traffic heading home. 

I’m so grateful for the trip and time spent bonding and laughing with Emma and my mom. We did not sit down for a single meal. We went hard from 7 am to midnight every day. Thank you to our awesome Uncle Richard and Aunt Sheryl for letting us crash at their home. Can’t wait for next time. 

Happy 2024

 Yay for a New Year!

This year we went out to the Zerkle’s property. We had a fire and roasted hot dogs and s’mores. Our favorite. We also got to have grandma Schraft and Papa Jack and Grandma Peggy with us. The kids loved exploring. Vernon knocked it out with our own firework show! He picked the best ones and we loved it. The kids had fun helping and then playing Harry Potter with Roman candles. Definitely something for a new tradition. I can’t wait to see what the new year brings us. Best wishes to everyone :) 

Christmas

We had one of my favorite Christmas mornings. This year was a little quieter, but just the best. The kids all picked out gifts for everyone in the family. They used their own money and each got little shopping trips with Jake or I to pick out their gifts. I loved seeing everyone and thinking what others would like. Christmas morning came and I figured they would want Santa and mom and dad gifts first. Nope they were moving gifts out of the way in order to find their gifts to each other. Their excitement as they gave and watched others open their gifts was priceless. I’m so proud of them and their kindness. I love that they experienced the gift and joy of giving this year. They were already talking about ideas for next year. 

Benjamin loved his new vans and practice switch blade knife. Emma got a new blanket and mattress foam topper for her bed. Noah got some crystals and headphones. Navy was so excited for her new doll. Jake got new work clothes and shoes. I got spoiled and completely surprised with a new wedding ring. 

Next off we went to grandma Deedee’s for scones. It was our first year over on Christmas in a while and we enjoyed the yummy breakfast again. Grandma had books for everyone to pick from. All of Jake’s siblings were together for the first time in a long time too. 

Over to grandma Cindy’s and Grandpa Richard’s. We played games and enjoyed some chill time. For Christmas gramps and Grammy helped get the kids a Nintendo switch. Then grandma Cindy and grandpa Richard helped by getting games for all the kids. So each family has a switch now and we spent lots of time playing sports and Mario kart. It was the best gift this year with how much time and bonding everyone has done playing together. 

Merry Christmas to all. I am so grateful for my family. 

 

December volleyball

 

Benjamin has had a lot of tournaments and I was finally able to make it to one. We made it a mama and Noah weekend. I loved spending time with my boys. Jordan and Noah cheered non stop for the team and the boys won the silver bracket!  Champions right here!

We had free time after spending half the day in the gym. We spent both night at Santa Monica pier. We met Uncle Rich and Aunt Sheryl for dinner Friday night at the pier. It was beautiful being on the beach at sunset for both nights. It filled my soul for sure. We did some shopping and Noah picked out gifts for everyone for Christmas. We also got stuck in nasty California traffic and the boys napped on a two hour drive that should have taken 20 minutes like it did on the way there. 

We saw dolphins at the end of the pier! The second beach night the boys swam. I couldn’t believe it because I was freezing just watching them. They had a blast though and it was so much fun. We rented scooters and zipped all around Santa Monica and muscle beach. Noah and I even crashed right into the sand with an audience… luckily we just had some scrapes and bruises, but that dang scooter just completely stopped on us. 

Championship day! Loved so much watching Benjamin and his team finish out so strong. After we went to the best bakery, Porto’s. My boys loved it just as much as we do. Great weekend making special memories. 

The Scow’s

 Introducing the Scow’s! We are so excited to welcome Benjamin Richard Scow to the family. 12-30-23 my sister married the love of her life.

The rehearsal the night before was a dinner and all of us siblings gave speeches. Ben’s siblings all gave memories of growing up with Ben and how they look up to him. His older sister Megan talked about how excited she was on the first day of his freshman year to have home studies with him and show him around high school. Then by the end of the day he was sitting by a girl… Taliah! How cute can they be. Charlotte talked about looking up to taliah growing up. Madi gave them always and never for marriage. Kylee talked about them in high school and his first family outing with us at the fair and instead of throwing up on Taliah with his motion sickness he got sick in his shirt….. love all the memories. Hahaha. On taliah’s mission she said she never wanted another girl roommate and she wanted to marry Ben right away. Well she couldn’t have done that part faster and with no brothers now she gets her first boy roommate and wished her luck! lol 

We couldn’t have asked for better weather. It was never freezing or hot. It sprinkled for a minute between the temple and reception, but the storm never came. We sent them off at 7:30 and at 7:40 the wind came during clean up. Taliah and Ben never even knew. 

All of the kids had the best time, but Navy was on cloud 9. She got to help hold her train while taking pictures and then would have danced with them for hours. Benjamin even ended up matching Aunt Janelle at the rehearsal dinner and wedding day, too funny how coordinated they ended up being. 

The reception was beautiful. We had hot cocoa with all the toppings, popcorn will all different seasonings and so many donuts. Everything ran so smoothly and made it such a great night. We danced and sang and played lots of games. We had big jenga, T and B tic-tac  toe and the big hit for the boys was their Gaga ball pit. Those boys played all night.

 One of my favorite parts was Ben singing to Taliah “Hooked on a feeling”. I adore Ben and the way he looks at my sister. Grateful you have each other. I got to dance with my boys and Jake danced with the girls. My dad danced with all 5 of his daughters. Grandma even danced with Benjamin and Emma. Love my family. 

We had a blast in the Photo Booth. It was a hit with a line all night long. We would have taken more, but that was a hot commodity. I love all the gems we did get though! Look close hahahah

Happiest wishes to the beautiful couple. We love you so so so so much! Can’t wait to see the real photos and video. 

Noah looking all GQ. My dad got the first photo when Noah didn’t know anyone was looking and just chilling. Then he smile for the camera. 

Jardine Schraft photos

Over Thanksgiving everyone got together for pictures. It was a cold day and we had sick kids, but great to get together and document what we can. 

The grandkids had to replicate the great grandkids. 

Our amazing parents, we are so grateful for them. 

Christmas break

 Our first half of the break has been movie filled and family fun. I went to lunch and the new hunger games movie with my friends and for a last girls day with Shanni who is moving to Utah. We will miss their whole family. Next up we took the kids and cousins to see Wonka and loved it. First thing into the movie Navy said, “ I have a crush on him” then a few minutes later said, “and if I marry him I’ll have all the chocolate I’ll ever want!” That girl cracks us all up. We did movie nights at home. One which was our grinch night. I added the photos of the first grinch night which was pre navy and Noah. Charlotte, Benjamin and Emma look so little.  I love spending time with my family. The holidays are stressful and everyone is so busy. Grateful we had some chill nights that we could just hang out. This holiday season we did lots of fun things, but also took it down a notch so we could remember the true reason of the season. I’m so grateful for our savior and my family. 

We skipped last year, but now with Taliah back we made homemade chocolate covered cherries again. Love making these with my sisters. 

Second half of the break was all thing wedding and family. Everyone came into town and we had shopping and errands. We got to visit a lot and Aunt Rachael came! It’s been a couple years so we were all stoked to see her. Kelsey and Oakley stayed with us and the kids adore them. I love all of our million target runs and spending cousin time together. 

More shopping for the kids using Christmas money. Naps, wedding stuff and more switch games. Noah made breakfast for all the kids while us adults got stuff ready for the wedding.