Sporty February and Belated Christmas Parties

Winter sports always hits hard in our family!

3 out of the 4 kids were on a sports team.
 Which led to lots of dividing and conquering.

Even when you don't know how you are going to

physically make every ones schedules work, it magically falls into place.

Then you sit back and feel the deepest gratitude for children who 

love to be active and succeed in trying new things.

That was Lindi this round.

She gave basketball a first shot!

Was she a natural?

Not necessarily.

We were all a little nervous for her first game (herself included).

But she came out with smiles and a little more confidence!

She went from running the opposite direction when the ball

was being passed to her, to making baskets and helping with the score! 

It also helped that her coach was the nicest man on planet earth!
Oh, his patients with the whole team was bar none.
When  kids left the gym with tears in their eyes from another loss, 
he encouraged them to keep trying and together they will get better!

Her practices worked out perfectly as they were at Rusty's school at the same time

he had his flag football games!

See, it magically always worked out. 

Lindi was pretty timid at first, but Penelope helped get her aggressiveness
going. That girl is not afraid to fight for the ball!

I love how friendships help balance things out and teach you different things.  

Rusty was a lineman for his team.
Not his first choice, but once again so proud of him for having a good attitude and

being grateful to be on the team and contributing to his best ability.

Down at the high school Lane was living his best life at short stop!

We somehow made the playoffs and the purple panthers were pumped!

It was a good first experience, and I think she has an itch for more!

Keeping it real, I came home exhausted from one of Lanes games.
Casey was out of town, and I had barely managed to get dinner on the table.

I got a phone call from Lane that he locked his keys in his truck.
We only have one key.

After 20 years of never using AAA, it finally paid off to have it!
Just a few weeks prior I told Casey to get rid of it because
my car has it's own roadside service through Cadillac.

Now to add Lanes name to the account so I don't have to be there in person
when they come to the rescue! 

 

Physical therapy in the living room. 

Amongst the non stop daily life, we got together with both my extended 

families since we never got together during the holidays.

Which I actually love.
It's too crazy during December and more people can come in February. 

And I feel at home at Aunt Marcia and Uncle Dea's home.
I love it there so much. 

It's nostalgia to the max.
I spent many Summers here with cousins.

The planned 1 night sleep overs always morphed into almost a whole week.

I am the oldest in my family, and lets just say I lived in a very sheltered bubble.

So being over there with 9 children in their family, half of them

being teenagers or young adults was always exhilarating for me!  

They had a backyard door that was never locked, and nobody knocked.

It was constantly opening with friends pouring in all hours of the day.

I  swore I would have a house like that someday.

Anyone and everyone welcome. 

Lets just say my aunt is a SAINT!!

Not much has changed, either.

The love in this room was tangible.

Almost like a distant heaven with family members
who I adore and love being around!

My dad is the baby in his family.

This is his only brother, Jim.

He has a brother who died at birth, David.

And my sweet aunt Marcia!

She is the oldest in the family.
My dad has 2 other sisters who weren't there.

Aunt Karen lives in Washington.

I love her dearly, too.

And aunt Judy.

They sat in this corner chatting away basically the whole time.
They don't get to see each other very much.

Stephanie hosted the Udall party!
My grandma is too old and feeble to do much these days, which is sad she wasn't
able to make it.

Grateful for those cousins who put forth the effort for gatherings so we
can stay connecting other than social media!

Hey, hey!
Los Betos for the win, again!

We are becoming good friends:)

Trellany put together a fun trivia game that included 
facts about family members.

Amber had her mission homecoming at church!

I didn't take this picture, but I'm glad Marnie did!
It's always fun to see Casey in action at the pulpit. 

Still loving on Amber every second she can get!

 

Valentines Day Special- Hermana Whitmer is Home!!

On second thought, we DID do something extra special on Valentines Day.

We went to the airport to welcome home Amber from her mission in Mexico!

Oh how she has been missed!
Especially from the girls. 

Quick side track story.

I was telling Della not to wander too far from me ( I can't remember where we were).

She wasn't listening, or was challenging me as to why she didn't need to be safe

and stay close by.

I told her it would be really sad if she got kidnapped and taken to Mexico. 

Without skipping a beat she said that would be just fine, because Amber was in Mexico

and would be there to help her. 

And in fact that sounded like a great idea because she would get to see her!

I think I blankly stared at her figuring out how to explain that's not how it works. 

That girl!!

At any rate, it was cute to see how much she was
 desperate to see Amber after a long 18 months!

Everyone waiting patiently for her to walk out of the terminal!

These 2 have grown so much since she left!

I think these people were expecting a celebrity to walk by!

There she is!!!

Hugs all around!!
It was the sweetest reunion!
My heart was bursting and she isn't even my child!

I don't know how I am going to survive when it's my turn 
to send a kid on a mission.
 I can't even think about it without getting teary!

These 2...
Della was like a dog clinging to a leg.
She was not about to let go and would have gladly let her carry her all
the way to the car!

We went over to visit some more after her release and ended up 

staying for dinner!

That wasn't in the plan but they had oodles of food for whoever came

over to welcome her home. 

Lane's turn after baseball practice was over.

 

Now time to find her a husband!
Just not right away:)  

Best of My Love

It was a happening month of Valentine celebrations!

First off was our annual Lip Sync Battle!

We did have a little scare.
It dumped and poured BUCKETS of rain the whole week leading up 
to the big night, plus the morning of!

I seriously was scrambling for a plan B venue.

Around noon it stopped raining and I could breath a little easier knowing we
wouldn't be drowned cats in the backyard singing our hearts out!

Albeit being frigid cold, we survived the night (with a couple minutes of why the heck
is it sprinkling??)  thanks to some outdoor heaters and telling everyone to dress
in their best AZ snow storm attire:)

We hired Los Betos to do the food.

Oh how I LOVE CATERING!! 

They came, set up, supplied EVERYTHING down to the paper plates,

and then in a blink of an eye whisked it all away while we 

were in the middle of our party.

I didn't have to step foot in the kitchen and that is a wonderful thing as a host!

And on top of them being so amazing, their tacos are the BOMB diggity!
They were a major hit and felt "fancy" to have them serve you up hot
 and fresh from the flat top grill. 

Scrumptious desserts brought by everyone. 

The entertainment did not disappoint!

Allen's performing, Delimma.
They impersonated Nelly and Kelly Rowland perfectly!

 

The Lloyds doing a Richard Simmons skit.

Mabrys-  You've Never Had Chocolate Like This
from the new Wonka movie.

This was their first time coming to the party and they did so good!

Kim and Mark with Boom Boom.

I was not on the ball this year, so the Taylor Swift compilation dance I did for girls camp
came in clutch for us! Added bonus that Travis Kelce was going to play in the
Super Bowl the following week, and these 2 are
 the hottest couple and current talk of the century!

I was dying at the Whitmers! (no pun intended)

Ghost by Justin Bieber.

A closer look at what's in the frame.

This drawing was spot on of Miche!!

And then she comes, hahahahaha!

I was rolling!

How are they so clever?!!!

It seriously got better with every song!
Or maybe we were just slap happy at this point!

Courtney and Cory.... NAILED IT!!

They did the Jimmy Fallon and Will Ferrell,
 "Don't Stop Believin" heckler skit.

Cory knew every.word!
He said he had been practicing for weeks.

So proud!!
(They got 2nd place). 

Jenny and Thomas with, If it Makes You Happy, by Sheryl Crow.

I love how they turned it towards their love for the Suns and how they can't be that bad...

They each took off 3 jerseys, they definitely love them if they have that
many Suns Jerseys!

Dane and Carli Patterson, I mean Snoop and Dr. Dre with
Nuthin' but a G Thang!

Okay, and how can the Rudd's make the dumbest song be so funny and entertaining!

Mah Na Mah Na from the Muppets.

Tait was on point with his Mah Na Mah Na's, lol!!

Here comes the cowboy portion!

Sumerae and James did Vivir Mi Vida by Marc Anthony.

Fancy Like,  Ft. Kesha.

Get it, Jeanette!

I love Marc's expression, checking out his wife rocking out. 

The Howards are unstoppable!

Ryan seriously needs to go into acting.
It was like we were watching the Encarnacion clip straight from Nacho Libre!

Spoiler alert, the won first placed!
So well deserved!

First of all, it was freezing!
And who has the guts to wear red spandex undies in front of 30 people?

The Git Up, by Blanco Brown.

Saved the best for last.

Blaylocks have a secret side to them.
 The Stake Presidency members always have a wild bone!

POUR SOME SUGAR ON ME!
In the name of love

yesssssssss!!!!

WOAH!!

It was epic!

We ended the night playing a game of Valentine Family Feud.

The Priests came over to make cookies and cut out hearts to attack the

widowed sisters doors in our ward.

 

I helped in Lindi's class party.
I thought I would be a good parent and provide veggies and fruit.

Who could resist homemade ranch in individual bags?!

Well, I came home with about half of them, and one kid told

me he was here for the sugar, not healthy stuff.

Noted!

Also, I was dry heaving watching these kids play the straw game trying to suck up

as many M&M's as they could.

The amount of  different slobbers in the bowl was disturbing. 

Note to parents, not a good game for class parties!

Annual Daddy/Daughter dance for activity days!

The girls came home excited saying dad got 2nd place in the limbo!
Casey CAN get low!

We had a little galentine party and watched the Bachelor!

I've never seen a box of chocolates so big!

Stephanie hosted our family Lip Sync night!

The Figueroa's with Beetlejuice's Day-O scene.

So, so good!!

Memories of watching that movie as a kid hit hard!

 

Another childhood movie reenactment from the girls!

Sea Cruise from Kidsongs!

I helped them with the choreography at my house.

Hats off to dance instructors!

I was sweaty and made Della cry at one point, oops!

But they were so good and earned that 2nd place gift card!

 

Cohen, I love that he stepped up for Nora who was having

nothing to do with the mermaid costume!

Under the Sea!

Taylor and Travis came back for another performance. 

Never have we ever laughed so hard at my parents!

Hoagies and grindies.
Navy beans, navy beans.

Lunchlady Land!

Ew!

With Sara and Alison!

Ew, and step dad Gary!

Hehehe, they nailed the whole skit.

At this point Casey whispered that we really needed to step up our game.
We were pretty lame compared to everyone else!

Okayyyyyyy.

These boys were absolutely hysterical!

All on their own they mimicked the Pointer Brothers on Instagram

with their wedding dance moves.

We were all crying laughing and not wanting them to stop!!

Bravo, bravo!!

 

 

Now that I'm documenting this I realized we didn't

do anything on actual Valentines Day, ha!