Salmon Tolman Fam: Week 5

{February 1 - 7}

Last Sunday night, we finished reading the Book of Mormon together as a family! We began reading it in 2013--so it took us 3 years to finish. We would've actually finished it by the end of 2015, but the entire month of December, we chose to read individual sections of scriptures solely about Christ to honor his birthday instead. We talked to the boys about Moroni's promise, and Josh and I both shared our testimonies with the boys of when we were teenagers and we individually asked to know the truth of it, and received the witness confirming its truth. We started reading the Pearl of Great Price next, because we've never read that together as a family. When we're done with that, we'll either read the Gospels in the New Testament or the Doctrine & Covenants again.

On Monday night, Josh and I had our first monthly budget meeting together while Ammon and the twins were at basketball practice (the twins just started the youth league this week). When they got home, we had Family Home Evening. Josh gave the lesson about following promptings of the Spirit. For dessert, we ate white chocolate/macademia nut cookies that Ammon had given us, and played SkipBo. I think doing the financial meeting earlier in the evening had stressed Josh out, because he was kind of uptight, and as we started playing SkipBo, he got mad at me and quit playing altogether. It all worked out though, because in the end I won the game ;).

On Tuesday, I had my first experience with a student who had diarrhea, and did it in his pants. I couldn't get the smell out of my nose the rest of the day. Yuck. Right before school was out, I went to the viewing of a man who's mother I work with at school. I'd never met the man before, but I just love his mother Nancy. It was humbling to spend time with her. When the boys and I came home from school, we found ham cooking in the crock pot. Josh had come home in the middle of the day, and had started it for us. It smelled so good! After I was done teaching a piano lesson, I made some stuffing and corn to go along with it. It was a delicious dinner!

Wednesday was a busy day. I had planned on taking dinner to Nancy that night, but I knew I wouldn't have a lot of time after school, so I woke up early to cook the meat and cut up all the vegetables that would go in the soup I was planning to make. Ammon had a basketball game in Ririe that evening, and Josh was driving the bus for it, so they left after lunch to go to the game. Kanyon had scouts after school, and I had a piano lesson in town at the same time, so the twins rode the bus home. After my piano lesson was over, I went and checked out my friend Kerry's new location for her nail/hair salon and visited with her until it was time to go pick up Kanyon at 5:15. On our way home, I called the twins to tell them to turn on the oven, and to put the items on the counter in the soup pot and turn on the stove. As soon as I got home, I put the rolls in the oven, and put the remainder of the items I'd prepared that morning with the soup ingredients on the stove top. I quickly made dinner, and 20 minutes later, I was out the door with the dinner items and the twins. I drove the twins to town for their basketball practice at 6, and picked up another co-worker and friend Sharon. She made the dessert and salad for dinner, and we drove to Nancy's house to deliver the dinner. There'd been a mix-up earlier in the week with the schedule for dinner: we'd originally been scheduled to take a meal Tuesday, but someone else planned on delivering dinner then, so we re-scheduled for Wednesday. It was all over the sign-up sheet at school, but apparently someone else at work didn't see it and still took dinner to her on Wednesday before us!! I was SO irritated because I'd spent so much time and had rushed and re-scheduled my day around it! Sharon and I visited with Nancy for about an hour, and had a nice time. Nancy said it really helped her spirits rise to have us there, and I'm so glad. I can't imagine losing one of my children, it's a horrible thought. After Nancy's husband came home from doing errands, Sharon and I left. I took her back to the school where she was parked, and continued talking to her for another half hour. We had a pleasant conversation in the car. I really like Sharon, but I don't have a lot of time to chat with her during the school days (we're on a different lunch and recess schedule), so I was very grateful for this chance. I stayed in town for another half hour, and then picked up the twins. Their ball practice had ended around 7, and then they'd walked across the street to the church to go to Young Men's. They played the Farming Game, which was a new game for them, and they'd liked it. The twins and I got home around 8:30, and I finally ate dinner myself. Kanyon had been home for a couple hours all by himself, and had enjoyed watching whatever he wanted on TV while we were gone! As Jonah and Micah were getting ready for bed that night, they were preparing for the next school day, and needed to take $3 to school for their AR goal pizza party. We couldn't find Micah's wallet anywhere--and he knew where he'd previously put it. I don't usually carry cash, but thankfully I had exactly $3 in my wallet that I gave him. Josh texted me to let me know how Ammon's game went: Ammon was able to play all 4 quarters, and had scored 8 points. He'd had a pretty good game, but the team lost 35-60. They got home after midnight that night.

On Thursday morning, Micah's wallet magically reappeared, but with some money missing, and he knew which one of his brothers had taken it. So later that day, Josh and I had to have a serious talk and consequences for the brother that had done it. Not fun. Sometimes parenting sucks. Once again, Josh surprised us by preparing dinner in the crockpot during the day. When the boys and I walked into the house after school, the house smelled so good due to the cooking roast. It was such a welcome surprise! I made some mashed potatoes and gravy to go along with it. Kanyon helped me peel potatoes for the first time, so it took a little longer than I'd anticipated, but we got it done and ate before Ammon had to leave for basketball practice.

I took the twins to the clinic on Friday morning for their 2nd round of 7th grade shots, and Kanyon came with us so he could pick out his valentines afterward. It took longer than I'd anticipated to see the nurse to do the immunizations, but Kanyon was very patient and the boys were troopers to get their shots. I took them to lunch at Burger King, and then we went to 4 stores looking for just the right valentines, and Kanyon finally found exactly what he was looking for: Despicable Me cards and flavored Tootsie Roll candies. I worked on a college assignment that afternoon, made dinner, and then we all went in to town to watch Ammon's basketball game against Challis. Ammon had another great game (he scored 8 points, and was 100% for his shooting), and his team won their 2nd game this season (the first game they won was also against Challis).

After the game, Ammon went to watch his friend Tim play in the hockey tournament at the Salmon ice rink, then he went to Eli's house afterward for Tim's birthday party. I went to visit Kerry at her house, and we had a good time chatting for a while before going to the theater's late showing of "Sisters". Even though I'd already seen it in Boise, it was just as funny the second time! I picked up Ammon at Eli's house after midnight, and he was sad that he had to leave the party earlier than others, but glad that he could spend time with everyone else again the following day.

On Saturday morning, Ammon went to do community service as I vigilantly worked on college class assignments. I worked on it all day long, and when I started getting a headache from staring at the computer screen so long, I decided I was going to quit--and right then, I got a bloody nose. I don't remember the last time I had a bloody nose, and it totally grossed me out. Jonah had a friend over in the afternoon, but the friend fell asleep on Jonah's bed since he'd been up late the night before. That's never happened before! Ammon went to some hockey games in the afternoon, and came home before his basketball game to get prepared for a sleepover at Eli's house that night after the game. His basketball game was against Butte. Josh, Micah, and I went in to watch him. Jonah stayed home with Kanyon, who'd had a fever throughout the day and didn't feel well enough to come in. There wasn't a very large crowd due to cheerleader competition out of town, an away wrestling meet, and the hockey games. But the boys played incredibly, and they won again!! It was an awesome game and I enjoyed it immensely! Ammon's a great defensive player, and he had some good plays in the first two quarters of the game.

I volunteered to sing the national anthem at the start of the Varsity game since the band wasn't in attendance that night, and although I flubbed up a tiny bit at one spot, I was proud of myself for not forgetting entire phrases or words, or having my voice squeak since I was a little sick.

The Varsity team lost, and the game wasn't a fun one to watch as a result of the poor reffing and the boys giving up. But my favorite part of the night happened at half-time during the rodeo 50/50 free throw shoot. The money pot was up to $134, and the first name they pulled was a boy whose family is having a fundraiser event next week due to their father's cancer expenses. The teenage boy came down out of the stands, threw the ball, and it bounced out of the basket, circled around the rim, and then went in! The crowd went wild and the boy was SO excited! It was truly a highlight for me to see, and he was so deserving to receive the money! After the game, Ammon went to watch another of Tim's hockey games, then spent the night at Eli's house with Tim and some of his hockey teammates. Ammon had a fabulous time, and Josh and I laughed at some of the snapchat videos he posted of the boys using a blow dart gun to shoot at random targets that each other held (like bottles sticking out of their pants).

Today, Kanyon stayed home from church because he had a fever of 101, and was complaining of a sore throat. Although he knew he would miss being sung to in primary, because his birthday is this coming week, we thought it was the best decision for him. Ammon met us at church after seeing the first period of Tim's hockey game this morning. Josh and I played our testimony contest, and I won with the highest points ever: 7 out of 10. It was an excellent testimony meeting--one of the best we've had for a while. I truly enjoyed the spirit of the meeting, and was glad to be in attendance today. Josh ordained Ammon to the office of a Priest during priesthood, which was nice, too. After church, we prepared for the Superbowl. We usually host a little party with the Tarkalsons, but they were out of town and couldn't join us for it this year. So instead, we went to the Jackson's. Darcy and I both made a large spread of food, and there were lots of savory and sweet dishes. The Superbowl this year was between the Broncos and the Panthers. Everyone made their guesses of who would win and their score predictions, and everyone was betting on the Panthers except Josh. So, I chose to bet on the Broncos, too, just to create some competition for Josh. The game was kind of boring, but the company was enjoyable, and we had a good time! My favorite parts were the colorful half time show with Coldplay, the head ref who was officiating his first Superbowl--he used clear hand signals that made it look like he loved showing off his muscles, and the fact that the Broncos were winning, so I was in the minority of people present who was happy about the result! The Broncos won 24-10, and although I was hoping to not let Josh win by default from being the only one to bet on the Broncos' victory, ultimately his prediction did win the bag of chocolates (but I was close)!