This past Saturday was such a wonderful day for the Monson family! Carter was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We are so proud of him, and I think he is even more proud of himself for making this wonderful decision.

The final hours leading up to his baptism I spent trying to figure out how I was going to get things ready for our little party afterwards. As I went into the church I was feeling a little haggard and was lamenting that I hadn’t taken the opportunity to better prepare spiritually for this most sacred event.

But God truly is good and He mercifully allowed me to feel His Spirit sweetly and powerfully as I listened to the beautiful talk, heard the beautiful music, and watched Carter joyfully promise to follow the Savior and love and serve the people around him for the rest of his life. I felt the Holy Ghost confirm to me that what Carter was doing was good and would bless his life, just as my choice to do the same–nearly 24 years ago–has blessed my life. It was such a tender mercy from Heaven.

I’m so grateful for Carter and the person he is. And I’m extra grateful that I got to share this day with him.

I feel like any child entering the realm of double digit age is a huge deal. But now that it’s my child, my brain just has a hard time getting around it. But indeed, our most amazing Fay turned 10 on May 7, and we are SO glad she’s been ours for every one of those 10 years!

Fay is just as fun as ever she has been. She is a passionate, enthusiastic little gem who is always up to something exciting! She currently loves

• Reading, currently really enjoying the Babysitter’s Club graphic novels
• Dragons and books thereabout
• Science
• Playing pretend, usually some kind of epic adventure
• Being in charge of things and people
• Animals
• Every human she has ever met!

And whichever of those things she is presently engaging in, she gives it all the energy she has! It is fun to find out what her new passion will be each day.

Everything about Fay is joyful and exciting; but I think my favorite thing about Fay is that she is just so good. She has always had a strong will and mind, and she chooses to use those strengths to serve and love others wherever she can. She is also just a treasured friend to me. When I have melt-downs or just am feeling low, she always responds to my weaknesses and mistakes with patient compassion. It is humbling to feel her love for me in those moments when I am at my worst; and her example of Christlike love makes me want to show more compassion to others. ❤️ She truly is a remarkable young lady!

We’re so grateful that Fay made us parents 10 whole years ago. And we love who she has become in those 10 years. Here’s to infinity more!

This past week Josh and I escaped, just the two of us, on a week long cruise to the Carribbean! It was such a needed break for us, and one that we never could have done without the magnificent Mother and Daddy! We are SO SO SO grateful for everything Mother did to take care of and entertain the kids while we were gone! And it is so lovely that the kids got to spend some fun, memorable time with Grandmother and Grandpa before they leave for their mission this summer!

After Mother took us to the airport last Saturday, we flew to Orlando where Megan and Naomi were waiting to pick us up. Megan battled so much traffic and airport craziness to retrieve us. She is our hero!

We spent some of the evening with the Orlando Muhlestein kids and dogs, and went out on a double date with David and Megan. It was a fun-atmosphere pub place that just got more and more exciting as the night went on. The next day, after a lovely leisurely morning with fancy pancakes and the best company, David and Megan drove us to Port Canaveral (#besthostsever) to board our Disney cruise ship!

We had 4 ports of call on this cruise, each of which was amazing.

Port #1–Cozumel, Mexico (day 3 of the cruise)
Our goal in Cozumel was basically just to enjoy the beach. We went to a beach resort and spent the day there. We spent some time in the water–there was a floating obstacle course we played on (I fell off three times; Josh fell off zero times)–and a lot of time relaxing in the shade. The temperature was basically perfect, and we had a great time!

When we returned to the ship, there was a mariachi band playing! It was really fun!

Fun fact about Cozumel: It’s coastline has one of the healthiest corral reefs in the world! To maintain the health of that reef, we were not allowed to wear sunscreen in the ocean.

Port #2–Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands (day 4 of the cruise)
On Grand Cayman we took a tour of the main city, Georgetown, learned a lot of history, visited a fascinating rock formation known as “Hell” (and met “the Devil”–a cooky old guy who owns half of “Hell” and runs a gift shop right next to it) and went to a turtle farm! The turtles were the best part! Another best part was the police officer directing traffic right off the port (no picture). He was almost dancing as he helped cars and pedestrians get around safely, and always with a big smile you could see despite the mask he was wearing!

Fun Fact about Cayman Islands: They are still governed by the UK, and their judges all have to wear white wigs in court.

Port #3–Falmouth, Jamaica (day 5 of the cruise)
Jamaica was quite the adventure for us! We had a shore excursion booked that would take us to an aviary, enchanted gardens, and a waterfall we could hike to. But when we arrived at the meeting place that morning, nobody was there from our tour company, and nobody who was there had seen them. We waited a while before giving up. Later, however, we got a ride on what’s called a “Pedicab”–a bike trailer type thing. We told our cabby, Mr. Happy, that we just wanted to get a taste of what Jamaica was like, because all we knew about it came from watching Cool Runnings. He obliged and pedaled us around the “tourist approved” parts of town. It was a very humbling experience to see the situation so many people lived in. We can only imagine what things were like outside the “tourist approved” areas. Mr. Happy explained to us that many people can only feed their families each day because of the wild fruit that grows plentifully all over the island. Two fruits that are absolutely essential to the survival of many Jamaicans are Bread Fruit and Ackee. The latter is the national fruit of Jamaica and is, quite interestingly, poisonous until it naturally bursts open when fully ripe.

Fun Fact about Jamaica: People really do say “ya mon” all the time. I never got tired of it!

Port #4–Castawy Cay, Bahamas (day 7 of the cruise)
Castaway Cay is Disney’s private island, which they lease from the Bahamian government. It was another paradisiacal beach/tropical jungle, marvelously maintained and easy to navigate. We again, enjoyed the beach (much easier to enjoy it longer when you can wear sunscreen and you’re me). We signed up to go parasailing–which I was SOOOO excited about! But right around our time window, the wind picked up and our adventure was cancelled. It was so sad. The skipper explained to us “I could definitely get you guys up, but I’m not so sure I could get you back down; and that’s something we typically like to do.” We had to admit that was fair.😂 It also started raining, which cut our beaching a little bit short, but honestly not too much. We still had tons of fun and relaxation!

Between ports, we had lots of fun on the ship, too!

Fun Fact about Disney Cruises: There is live music being performed at almost any hour of the day. We enjoyed some beautiful piano and violin!

Then Saturday morning came nice and early and we were off the boat and heading back to the airport. BUT, when we arrived at the airport (at 8:45 AM, our flight departed after 7:00 PM) we quickly rented a car and headed out again! We fulfilled a long-standing dream of mine!

Gatorland!

Gatorland is exactly what it sounds like. It is a park dedicated to alligators (and some crocodiles) and other freaky Florida wildlife. I feel like the other theme park it is most similar to is SeaWorld, only not so big. Gatorland doesn’t have roller coasters; but it does have a series of ziplines, which looked cool. Like SeaWorld there are some shows you can sit and watch about some of the animals they keep in the park. We got to watch alligators jump out of the water to grab raw chicken straight out of a handler’s hand! It was way crazy, especially since all you usually see an alligator do is pretend to be a floating log.

It was seriously so much fun (and somewhat terrifying) to see so many alligators! But there was another thing that was really fun for us to see, as well. There are TONS of cranes who make their home in Gatorland, and many just happen to have chicks right now!

Fun Fact about Florida: My Mom is from there! Also, in Orlando, we probably passed at least 4 streets with the word “Orange” in their name.

And then, after returning to the airport and flying back to Utah, we returned home to happily sleeping children, a clean house, and all the laundry folded! 🤯🥰 We had a fantastic time, and we are so grateful to Mother and Daddy (again) for making it possible!!

Carter turned 8 years old yesterday. He celebrated with all his favorites: donuts, juice, tacos, and a father-son trip to the skate park. We love this dude so much!

Carter is our little Everything-Man. He seriously loves so many things! He loves soccer (especially drop-kicking), scooters, bikes, trampoline jumping, and playing with sisters. Those are the outside activities.

Inside, Carter loves solving Rubik’s cubes (he can do 2×2 and 3×3 cubes all by himself), puzzles, games, building things and marble tracks, playing the piano, reading, and video games. Among other things.☺️

At school, Carter loves math (he was on the math team), science, his speech class, playing soccer at recess, and making new friends.

Carter is also just an easy going kid with a giant heart. He is kind and considerate to everybody. He loves to help others be happy. And he is our favorite boy in the whole world!

Happy birthday, Bud! We love you!

Our sweet little Bianca Reine turned 2 years old this past Tuesday! However, we were all, and she especially, laid up with a stomach bug; so we didn’t actually celebrate her birthday at all until Thursday. It was very convenient that she is young enough not to care about the change.

She had a list of birthday plans. If you asked her about her birthday leading up to it, and even afterwards, she would say “Candles. Ice-cream. Cookies. Yummy.” It is probably the cutest thing anyone will ever hear!

Anyway, to help you get to know Bianca a little bit here are some fun facts about her at this stage of her life.

• She is just a happy girl! Like anyone, she has her moments of rage, but most of the time she is smiling and excited to do basically anything!
• She loves playing at the park (especially the big slides), going on rides in the red car, taking care of baby dolls, and playing pretend.
• She normally eats about 4 breakfasts each morning. It makes for tough blood sugar management.
• She adores her older siblings, and they all adore her.
• She is talking more and more all the time! She is a little parrot of things the kids say, and that we parents say. It is the cutest to hear her sing songs and chastise the dog.

She is also probably the cutest diabetic the world has ever seen. Diabetes definitely does NOT define this girl; but she knows that it is something that sets her apart a little. Some adorable examples of her owning this disease are:

• When Portia first started getting shots at meals, Bianca would hold out her arm and exclaim that she was the one who got shots (in a one-year-old way).
• Once, when Helen was pretending to be a diabetic raccoon (yes, you read that right), Bianca emphatically declared “Uh MY betes!”
• Sometimes when we approach her with her needle, she’ll scoot away and adorably say “No dose!”
• When she wants a candy or fruit snack or something, she will tell everybody “My low!” (Meaning “I’m low”.) The kids joke that she should name her first son Milo.
• When she is getting a shot, she will sometimes hold out her hand to somebody and say “Brave.” Meaning she needs somebody to hold her hand to help her be brave.

I realize that probably some people will feel uncomfortable hearing about how a baby deals with the realities of something as invasive as type 1 diabetes; but I feel like this is the perfect example of a situation where you will either laugh about it or cry about it. Bianca’s joyful temperament and chubby little cuteness make it so much easier to laugh about!

Bianca is a super joy in our lives! We love every minute we have with her!

Our gorgeous Helen turned 4 years old yesterday! Her requested decor was raccoons. We did our best.

Helen’s birthday planning usually coincides with Portia’s because their birthdays are two days apart. Portia had very specific plans for all her birthday meals about a month in advance; but Helen took things slow. I did get her to pick out a breakfast before-hand so we could have it ready when we got up; but it wasn’t until about 11:00AM that Helen could be persuaded to pick a lunch, and about 4:30 when she chose her dinner. And with her birthday being on a Saturday, we offered her a choice of anything she wanted to spend the day doing, and all she said was that she wanted to play with her new kinetic sand. So that’s kind of all we did. Helen has always been quite easy going, and we love it!

But we must not forget that she is also Helen Raccoon. She definitely still loves raccoons and can frequently indulge in some raccoon mischief. It is fun that of all the things she could choose to get really excited about, she chose raccoons.

Another thing Helen LOVES is preschool! Anything that happens at preschool or that comes home from preschool is the best thing that ever could have happened! When there’s a new month and a calendar comes home, she immediately puts it on the fridge and we say the poem on the back together. When they learned about doctors and dentists and she brought home a toothbrush, she immediately ran up to the bathroom to replace her old toothbrush with her new, better, preschool toothbrush. And when she received a little paint set from preschool for her birthday, she came home declaring over and over that she was an artist and that she needed to paint immediately! And she assured me that she wouldn’t mix colors. I love when I get to walk her to and from preschool because she is at her very happiest!

Some other tidbits about Helen are:

• She really likes things that are hers. She understands that a lot of things we play with must be shared, and she doesn’t mind sharing. But she loves when she can claim something as all her own.
• She loves jumping on the tramp, reading stories, and going on walks, and riding her bike when it’s warm enough.
• She consistently dislikes sauces on her foods. Ketchup, mayo, salad dressing, etc. are all emphatically declined. However, she does make exceptions for gravy and pasta sauce.
• Helen LOVES the song “I Love to See the Temple.” We sing it together every time we can see the temple from the car, and at least once every Sunday, and several other times throughout the week. I love that about her.

Ever since Helen was about 6 days old we’ve called her Helenator as a nick name. And some time between then and now I began calling her Helenator, My Favorite Flavor! If anybody asks her “Who’s our favorite flavor?” She will always respond with a big “Me!”

She’s absolutely right.

Happy 6 years to Portia this past Thursday! We love this spirited little girl we have so much!

Some fun things to note about Portia include, but are not limited to:

• She loves reading! She is a gifted reader who will spend 30+ minutes reading to herself for fun, or spend time reading to her little sisters!
• She loves beavers (as you may have gathered from the cake she selected). If you want to know why; don’t ask us. But we love it!
• She loves kisses and hugs and being carried and being held like a baby and anything where she gets snuggled. And she truly gives the best hugs! I love that she still loves all that even though she’s getting so big!
• She loves music. She is getting quite good at picking out melodies on the piano, and loves to sing along to her favorite songs.
• She is still a fabulous little talker. She began expressing herself in sentences long before she turned 2; and she still has an impressive mastery of language and communication. She loves to chat with friends at school, and she sometimes makes jokes and comments that are so funny I would think an adult had thought of it. Talking with Portia is always fun!
• She LOVES helping in the kitchen! No matter how big or small the thing we’re making, she is the first one to volunteer to help out and loves basically every part of it. I love having her as my sweet, happy little helper!

We are SO glad we have Portia in our family and for the modern medicine that keeps her with us! She is truly an amazing little girl who shows daily just how strong God made her. I always look forward to seeing the myriad wonderful things she does with every new day of her life.

If you can sing the title, you get extra points. But don’t sing the rest of the song, because–since acquiring the lovesac–we have learned that it really isn’t a very good song. That’s probably the reason why I only ever knew the chorus. Or maybe it’s because the chorus is the only catchy part of the song… Who knows?

ANYWAY

Based on these pictures, it looks like Portia is the #1 user of the Lovesac; but I think it is equally used by all the children who are big enough to get on it and read on their own.

Life has just kept putting along around here. I feel like we have become basically accustomed to double diabetes; though it is still not fun. But a lot of fun things have happened for our family in spite of it! I’m going to just do pictures with explanation this time around. Enjoy!

Moving when we did, we were behind on arranging things like preschool, so Helen spent the autumn at home with me. But our awesome neighbor down the street had one of her 3 year old preschool students move away at Christmastime and she invited Helen to enroll in her preschool. Helen LOVES going to preschool! She loves her teacher, Miss Karie, she loves doing show-and-tell on Tuesdays and tumbling on Fridays, she loves going on the field-trips. She LOVES everything about it! I also think it has been so good for her to have something special just for her–especially since it is her sisters just older and just younger who get ALL the attention for their diabetes.

We got a giant bean bag chair for the movie/game room downstairs. The kids love it; but not as much as the parents! Here are all the kiddos piled on top of it. Aren’t they adorable?!

Helen found the scissors one night. I don’t feel like it needs much more explanation.

Fay and I worked together to design this dress, and then I made it! I am SO amazed and pleased by how well it turned out! So frequently I attempt a sewing project thinking “Oh yeah, this will be really simple and come together easily and quickly” and then I’m completely wrong and I either ruin it and give up or it takes me FOREVER to finish it. But this one just worked out almost exactly how I expected it would. And it really did come together quickly and easily. I only worked on it for a total of about 3 hours! And believe me, nobody is more astonished by its success than me!

The first weekend of February we decided it was time to escape to severe cold and spend some time in the slightly less cold of St. George. It was a very quick trip–we arrived Friday evening at 6:00 and left for home on Sunday morning in time to make it to our 1:30 church meetings. But that Saturday we had there was basically perfectly spent! It was the perfect combination of going out and doing fun things and hanging out at our AirBnB doing relaxing things. Everybody had a fantastic time!

Since October, Fay has been practicing for the school musical. She finally got the chance to perform this month! The musical was “The Adventures of Lewis and Clark” and Fay loved being in it! We loved watching her in it! I was even THAT mom who got all misty-eyed watching my sweet girl perform!

To help Portia cope better with receiving shots all the time, we implemented a sticker chart where she gets a sticker every time she behaves reasonably for a shot. After completing one of her charts her selected reward was a frosting/sprinkles set from the grocery store and the privilege of making cookies to decorate with Mommy. Portia loves helping in the kitchen all the time for everything, so this was a total dream-come-true for her. And she’s even wearing her chef’s hat!

Valentine’s Day was lovely. We had some fancy pink and red things for breakfast with the pictured decorated table. The kids all had their parties at school. And for dinner we did simple cheese fondue, followed by a trip to Leatherby’s for ice-cream!

But my favorite thing we do for Valentine’s Day is something that lasts the whole season–there IS a Valentine’s season, right? 🙂 Anyway, we have a decorative Valentine’s mail box which we use to send little love notes to all the members of our family during the month leading up to Valentine’s Day. After somebody reads their love note we put it in another heart-shaped box decoration thing we have. On Valentine’s evening, we re-read all the notes from the month and feel ALL the love! It is such a happy little tradition!

Anyway, that’s a little taste of our past couple months. It’s always a party around here with all these cuties and their goings on.

It’s a new year and I am so excited to really get started on my word of the year! Usually I’ve got a pretty good idea of what word I want to use for the next year by about Thanksgiving time; but this year I had a rough time deciding what I wanted to do. I went back and forth on a list of 10 or so different words each with varying degrees of concreteness (think “engage 2018 vs read 2021–read is far more concrete than engage). But finally I just followed my gut and went with the first word I had considered.

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So welcome to Date 2022! This is meant in the very concrete way of: I just want to have way more dates with my love this year! In the past handful of months I have realized just how immensely important it is for Josh and me to just spend time together doing fun things without the kids. Literally every single part of my life is better when I have had a real date with Josh! And I know things are better for him, too. So it’s just a good thing!

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At the beginning of our marriage, I felt like every day was a date! We did go out occasionally on “official” dates; but I definitely felt no lack of connection with Josh. But as kids came, it became harder to go out and easier to get too busy/tired to do planned activities together, and so we really slacked off for … years.

But this past autumn, I felt like it was time to change that. So on weekends where we didn’t have a babysitter (most weekends), we committed to doing planned, legit at-home dates. We did great for about a month, and it truly was fabulous! That month was probably the best one of the whole year! But then “fill-in-the-blank” happened and we got out of the habit again. So it’s time to return!

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So this goal is marvelously simple, but actually still a decent amount of work. It takes lots of planning and effort to secure a babysitter for 5 kids and then get them/the house ready for that babysitter. And it also takes a lot of effort to plan novel, engaging at-home dates–which is why we didn’t do it for so many years. But that time with Josh and me together is truly transformative for both of us! So I’m super excited to have this be my challenge for the year! The official goal is to have a real date every single week. I will be shocked and delighted if that really happens; but if we get anywhere close to that I know it will be wonderful!

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