Happy 14th birthday Jace!

Today, Jace turns the big 14. He has grown up a ton in the last year, both physically and emotionally and now towers over most of us in the family, except his dad. He is over 6 feet tall and wears a size 14 shoe, and he's not done growing yet. We spent the day as a family at the Hill Air Force Base museum (pretty cool, actually), having lunch at Pizza Pie Cafe (maybe someday he will grow out of that being his favorite!) and shopping at Station Park for presents/things needed for our upcoming cruise. He requested Shepherd's Pie for dinner and DQ cake, but we were still so full from lunch, we skipped the Shepherd's Pie and will have that tomorrow and went straight for cake for dinner,  as you do sometimes. We played games into the evening and just had the best day together.

Here's some thoughts that have been on my mind- I promise I'll tie them in eventually. :) I have been struggling in the past few weeks with a lot of turmoil at work. It's been overwhelming, stressful, and just rough. I admit, I have been wallowing and been a bit down about it. I need to make some choices and honestly, I don't like either choice, which makes the whole thing harder. I went to the temple yesterday with some friends, hoping for some clarity and guidance on the situation. I didn't get any. Sometimes that happens. However, after the temple, my friends and I went to dinner. I told them about the situation at work and how stuck I feel. My friend Annette told me that many years ago, while she was going through a rough time, I had told her that she should "look for joy". That absolutely does not sound like me, now does it? But she swears it came out of my mouth and she wanted to remind me of it yesterday. Look for joy, despite the struggles, she told me. It struck me pretty hard. I have a choice to make and I can choose to still look for joy, even today, tomorrow, and in the weeks to come, despite the crazy at work.

As I drove home, I thought about her words. One person came to mind immediately who epitomized joy during his life- my brother-in-law Chris. I thought about him and all the struggles he faced and how he did it all with joy. It's been 16 years since he passed away and he still remains one of my heroes. Chris went through one of the hardest things I can imagine, and despite the illness that took so much from him, he was still happy, grateful, and service-oriented until the end. I often think of the story of him going to help set up chairs for stake conference, despite his limitations. It was a way he wanted to serve, and he did. I remember him saying "thank you" to everyone who helped him, all the way up until the end. He was full of gratitude. He is such a good example of looking outward, not inward, during his challenges. 

Jace was born on Chris's birthday, and no March 1st goes by without me thinking about Chris while we also celebrate Jace. Jace was born two years after Chris passed away. We probably would have given him Chris's name as a middle name anyway, but because he was born on his birthday, it was extra special. Despite the fact that Jace never met Chris and is not biologically related to him in the least, the two share a lot of characteristics. Besides Chris, Jace is the most grateful person I know. He is always looking for ways to serve others and he is always upbeat and kind. He cheers for the underdog. He says thank you so much we often have to tell him to stop. Recently, I was in Chicago and our ward had a break the fast. Devin didn't want to go, but Jace did. He took himself to the church without anyone in the family, sat with friends, and enjoyed his meal. My friend (the mom of his friend) sent me a photo of Jace after the meal sweeping the gym floor. No one asked him to do it she said, he just saw a need a filled it. This is 100% Jace. I couldn't be more proud that he embodies many of the same characteristics as his namesake, Chris. 

Happy Birthday Chris. Thanks for being one of my heroes!

And now, some pictures of Jace over the last year. Except for this first one. How did he go from that tiny baby to a now giant 6' man?! Jace loves playing the cello, Dungeons and Dragons, Star Wars, time with family, service, school (he was student of the month- 4th picture down), sports, exploring the world, baking (he is always begging to bake something, especially snickerdoodles), going to the temple, and being a student body officer for his junior high. He is a well-rounded kid. Oh, and he has his first crush! I won't name names, but he did surprise us all by buying a girl in the neighborhood a Valentine! We had to tell him that it's probably time to start doing his hair and wearing clean clothes if he hopes to catch a girl. :) 

St. George & Youth Conference

 We had a quick trip to St. George this weekend for Hallie's soccer tournament.  We have been down a few times in the past for her tournaments, but this one was extra fun because we got to go with our friends/neighbors the Gyllenskogs. Their two daughters are just older and just younger than Hallie and play on United teams sandwiching her, coached by their dad Kirk. Hallie's coach, Nick, asked Kirk to come help coach his team this weekend and he agreed as long as Mollie and Josie could play. So, while the weekend was really for soccer, it also doubled as fun with our friends. We took just Hallie and Lizzie, who gets along great with Gyllenskog's youngest daughter Gretel. We left the rest home, Jace for youth conference, and Mishell to watch Flor. 

I was only in St George a day and a half or so and then drove home to be here for Saturday's portion of youth conference. Hallie's team only won when I was there, so that must be saying something. Devin stayed for the Saturday games and then when they lost, he drove home with Hals and Lizzie. The Gyllenskogs also had one of Mollie's teammates with them & she was so much fun and I really loved getting to know her. 

In my short time there, we hiked to Scout's Cave (minus Kirk-- don't ask where he was), Devin and I went to the temple early Friday morning (darn goals- one may or may not involve the temple this year). It was fun to see a different temple. I had never been in this one before. I then met up with  my friends/coworkers Cami, Bridi, and Cindy for breakfast. Nevermind that we see each other all the time, we were all in St. George so we thought that would be fun. I was back to the house just about the time everyone was getting up and going. :) 

The girls played great that day and won. It was so warm and just so great to be in the sun. We went to dinner all together and I took the girls for Swig, promised to them if they won, then headed home. 

Youth Conference: 

Our ward also held youth conference this weekend. I missed the fireside portion Friday night, but heard it was amazing and the speaker really inspired the youth. Saturday was a day full of fun with the Amazing Race organized by a couple in our ward. They did such a phenomenal job. The kids were divided into teams and had 15 clues throughout the day that led them to several stops, including an assisted living, the family history library, Station Park (they had to ride the train there), a park, and several clues at the church. It was a mix of games, scavenger hunts, and service projects. It was awesome and so well done. They had the check in mat, actual clues in clue envelopes, clue boxes all over town, a gnome, penalties for messing up, and all the real-deal Amazing Race stuff. The kids had so much fun and performed a lot of service throughout the day, including making blankets and wigs to donate. There was a lot of competition as well, which was really fun to watch. Jace was team Orange, and while his team didn't end up winning, they had a great time. We had lunch at Station Park and a baked potato bar back at the church for dinner. It was so well done. I love working with the youth and interacting with them. Devin got to stay in St. George and watch the rest of the soccer games and then he headed home. We made it home about the same time last night after our busy days!

Whoever won each leg of the journey got to have the gnome for that leg-- it was a real privilege! Jace's team got it a few times.

Sometimes I Surprise People

 My friend Camille and I decided back in December that it would be a lot of fun to fly out to Chicago and surprise our friend Haylee. She had no idea we were coming, but we coordinated with her husband and made plans to show up at her son's basketball game Friday night. Mille and I flew from our respective homes and landed a few minutes apart at Midway Airport, and then off we went. We were super late to the game, so by the time we got there, it was over. We waited in the lobby of the school for Haylee to come out. She did, looking a tad bit angry because her son's team had lost and because he didn't get to play much. Then she saw us and went from looking angry to confused, and more confused. Haha. It took several minutes for it to sink it that we were actually there and then she was just shocked and really excited. I told Camille it would only be a successful surprise if she peed her pants or cried. She cried, so it's a win.

We had no plans at all, but had a fantastic weekend. We stayed at a hotel together, staying up super late as we do catching up on life and laughing and crying. These ladies have been my best friends since 6th grade, so we know everything about it each other and have so much shared history. Day one we spent in Rockford area, near where Haylee lives. We toured the town, saw the school where she works, and got to see her house. We also visited her friends -Camille and I's old roommate Stefani's brother lives there with his wife and they are Haylee's close friends. It's a very small world. We then drove to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, thinking it would be fun to go into WI. We entered the town and there were a TON of people there. A little googling told us it was the annual snow sculpting contest. Lucky us! We walked way out on the frozen lake, which was super cool, and saw all the amazing snow sculptures. There are some super talented people in the world! That night, we went to a Rockford Ice Hogs Hockey game, the local team that feeds into the Chicago NHL team. Hayes and Justin are big fans, and now Camille and I are too! I predicted a win for the hogs in shoot-out & lo and behold, that's exactly what happened. Who knew I had hockey guessing skills?? 

Day two we went into Chicago. On our way in, we had Chinese foot massages, our very favorite thing to do together. We also had breakfast at Wildberry, reminiscent of our first trip together to Chicago in 2018. We then went to the famous Bean and walked down to the pier. It was a lovely day, perfect for walking. At the pier, we happened upon our second cool thing- which was a groundhog day event with several of the actors from the movie. They pulled out a groundhog and he did not see his shadow, so it's apparently supposed to be an early spring. I will take it! We then went to pizza at the Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Company, again something we have been dreaming about since our first trip in 2018. We remembered it well and it did not disappoint. It's super delicious and a fun little restaurant. Sadly, we then had to take Hayes back to her husband and Camille and I stayed overnight close to the airport so we could fly out at the crack of dawn today & get back to our day-to-day lives. 

Love these ladies and the role they've played in my life. Now a few pictures, in backwards order, because why not.