Week 20: May 17 – 23 [Abigail Temple & Drew’s Birthday Baptism]

Monday [5/17]:  Abigail and I snuck out late this morning for pedicures.  It always feels great to get pampered a bit and my feet were in dire need of some TLC.  I made some bread when we got home and couldn’t refrain from eating several slices slathered in butter.  As my dough was rising my friend Andrea sent our group text the following meme.

It was funny to be able to reply with my current endeavors and know that in a short time I would be enjoying some delicious bread myself.

Abigail sent me a couple pictures of her redeeming some deals today – makes me so happy to see I’ve raised her right – ha!

I was scheduled for two tennis matches tonight.  With rain in the forecast I was torn whether I wanted the rain to force the matches to be cancelled or hold off so I could play.  Not sure I’ll ever get past the nerves of playing.  My first match was over quickly, I hardly broke a sweat with my partner and I losing 1-6.  My partner in my second match was the woman I competed against in my first match who played the best on the court.  Surely we should have the game in the bag.  We were ahead 5-1 and then the opposing team won the next three games.  The rain was really coming down at this point 5-4 so we called it which means nobody won.  That match should’ve been a win for me had I played better.   Very disappointing.  It’s like I get out there and forget all proper form and revert back to the way I used to play – which isn’t terrible, it’s just not as good as I know I can.

 

Jason made some brookie pie tonight for dessert which we enjoyed with ice-cream. I stayed up with Abigail looking at the clothes she has ordered for her mission as she tried to figure out what to keep and not keep.  I can’t believe we’ll have a missionary in our house in less than a week!

 

Tuesday [5/18]:  I was really hoping for a Café Rio deal today so I could get some lunch while I was in Issaquah doing a Costco run.  Not my lucky day I suppose. We did discover an offer for MOD pizza tonight for the first 50 customers.  Reluctantly I shared it on HHH.  I was distracted this morning with that and so many other things that I didn’t get as much done that I wanted to but I did get some groceries (and a FREE donut).

are we tired of FREE food pictures yet, perhaps

We weren’t sure what time we needed to get to MOD to be one of the first 50 so we showed up by 4:15pm just to be safe.  We were the first in line and they never ended up reaching 50.  A FREE dinner for the family was lovely.  I shared it on HHH and to my surprise and delight MOD Pizza shared my story on their story.  Nothing really came of it beyond that but it was fun (and delicious!)

We worked on cleaning up the house a bit before winding down for the night.  I was pretty tired but had told Andrea I could come over tonight for a get together with some ladies.  It was fun and thankfully everyone called it a night shortly after 10pm so it wasn’t a late night. Turns out it wouldn’t have mattered cause once again I had a difficult time falling asleep.  Ugh!

 

Wednesday [5/19]:  We had some final sprucing up to do this morning before my Mom and Val arrived.  Actually Abigail had an entire room that looked like a dressing room had vomited.  She managed to get it done, well all except getting the sheets put back on the bed.  Jason had an ortho appt at 11:30am and I was surprised that my Mom had arrived before we got home from that.  We didn’t have much time to visit before ACJ and I had to head off to tennis lessons.  Dusko was in a great mood today and made the lesson very fun and entertaining.  There was a photographer there for the first part taking pictures of our lesson.  Not sure why exactly, but we may find our photos on their website or something.  We stopped by KK on the way home, of course.

 

My brother Ray sent my Mom a ton of Pokémon cards that Jayden didn’t want anymore.  Apparently Katie and Drew spent over two hours sorting through those while we were gone.   I’m grateful for their generosity and the simple joy it brought my kiddos.

 

Val had forgotten to pack socks and shirts for the trip so we made a trip to Covington to see if we could find something at Kohls.  We actually got incredibly lucky and found a rack of nice shirts for $8.99 – 70% off.  It was a trip well worth making and made even sweeter when my Mom insisted we pick up a dozen cookies at Crumbl.  Katie brought it up and I told her I didn’t have much interest in this week’s flavors, especially german chocolate.  When my Mom heard that her mind was made up.  Apparently german chocolate is one of her favorite treats and thankfully Crumbl didn’t disappoint.  

Justin was wrapping up dinner when we got home – fajitas.  It was a yummy dinner with some fantastic cookies afterward.  We stayed up late visiting and intermittently browsing our own devices.  It’s so great to have them here even if we don’t have any grand plans.

 

Thursday [5/20]:  It was raining this morning so we hung out at home.  I baked the cake for Drew’s birthday cake and then helped Katie make some tomato soup and grilled cheese for everyone to have for lunch.  The rain cleared up after KD went to school so I went on a walk around Lake Alice with my Mom and Val.  It was a bit chilly but nice to be out and hear them comment about how unique and beautiful the area is.

My Mom joined me this afternoon at Carly’s tennis match out in Renton.  Unfortunately, Carly didn’t win, but she played well and it was fun to explain the game to my Mom as we watched.  We had some pork that needed cooked up so we prepared a marinade for the meat before we left for the match and Justin got that started while we were gone.  I made some orzo as a side which wasn’t necessarily a hit – I’ve wanted to cook orzo for a while now but I’ll need to find a different recipe if I make a second attempt.  Abigail was off celebrating a friends birthday tonight.  The rest of us relaxed and enjoyed a quiet evening at home.

 

Friday [5/21]:   Today was a full, wonderful day!  We left the house around 10:45am to head to the temple for Abigail’s endowment.  We had a little time before everyone arrived to take some mission pictures on the temple grounds.  While walking around in the soft, wet grass my left shoe completely fell apart on both of the side of the shoe.  I tried to wobble around with it but it was nearly impossible to keep my foot inside of the shoe so I finally took them off and walked around barefoot.  It felt very inappropriate to enter the temple without any shoes, so I attempted a few more times throughout the day but for the most part I was walking around without anything on my feet.

Abigail was allowed 16 guests including parents. She invited a stellar group of adults (none of her friends are endowed yet).  I consider all these people friends as well so it was great to have them at the temple to support us.  Typically, without covid anyone can come to the temple anytime, but in the current circumstances being invited was a honor and people were more than happy to take time off of work to be in the temple.  At first I thought that limiting the session to 16 was unfortunate but having the session to yourself and personally knowing each person there actually made it more special and I’m incredibly grateful for that.

We stayed in the celestial room for quite a while visiting with everyone.  There was a moment it felt a bit like a reception of some sort with everyone offering her congratulations and giving hugs.  I loved being in that sacred room with people that love Abigail so much.  As they say it takes a village and we are blessed to be surrounded by some wonderful people that have been great examples to Abigail and love her so much.  One of her friends Mom’s drove up from Utah to attend.  Abigail is adored, no doubt about that.  

 

Attending the temple for the first time is often overwhelming for people.  I should’ve known that Abigail would be the exception.  In fact as we were about to enter the celestial room at the end of the session she said that if her friend Gracie (who was receiving her endowment at 5pm today) still had a spot left she wanted to attend that session as well.  Gracie offered that last spot to several people and it remained open – absolutely 100% because it was meant for Abigail.  So instead of a big dinner with the family we ate some teriyaki at a restaurant nearby and then left Abigail with a few ladies who were attending the 5pm session as well and Abigail spent 6 hours in the temple today.

 

We headed home to pickup Jason and get to youth conference (Carly would be arriving late coming straight from tennis practice).   We made a last minute call to make it into an excursion and dragged (pretty much literally for Drew) KD with us.  We didn’t know where exactly we were heading when we left the house, or even after dropping Jason off, but we ended up at Discovery Park in Seattle and thankfully found a parking spot close to the beach.  We walked along the beach to a little cave and then back to the lighthouse.  It was a beautiful evening.  

Since we were in the area we also jumped out for a photo opp at the Fremont Troll.  

My Mom promised KD a treat for complying so we picked up some ice-cream at Baskin-Robbins before heading home.

Saturday [5/22]:  Today was Drew’s 8th birthday!  I woke up before 6am and couldn’t go back to sleep.  When I got up and came downstairs Drew was already taking full advantage of his birthday and was sitting in front of the TV watching cartoons.  Any spare moment throughout the day he was either watching Pokémon or playing on the Nintendo switch.  

Drew’s baptism was at 10am at our church in North Bend.  Drew didn’t want to invite anyone so we didn’t.  There was a member of the bishopric there to preside and the primary president came with her husband as well as the two sister missionaries serving in our ward.  Otherwise it was just my family, my mom and Val and Justin’s parents.  

Mike and Linda arrived 20 minutes late.  We waited for a while but then started the meeting without them so they missed the opening song and Carly’s talk about baptism.  They still weren’t there when it was time for the actual baptism so we put it on pause and Abigail played the piano while we waited.  Drew’s smile during the baptism was beaming.  Entering the water and exiting all with a huge smile.  Abigail played the same piano arrangement while they changed clothes that she did six years ago when Jason was baptized.  It’s one of my favorites.  Justin and Drew took a long time to change so Abigail played another big arrangement as well as several other songs from the songbooks. I love that she still has that talent and I’m sure she’ll use it often in the mission field.  Carly and Jason gave wonderful talks – I was so impressed with both of them and grateful for their willingness to participate in that way. Katie and Mike were the witnesses.  So cool to be able to have Katie fulfill that role.  

We took a few pictures afterward and then one of our cars zipped over to the North Bend Bakery to pick up Drew’s birthday donut. 

Justin & ACJ didn’t have long at home before they needed to leave for Justin, Abigail and Carly to get their second vaccination shot.  Not the best day to do it but it made sense with Abigail being set apart on Monday and Carly having several tennis matches next week.  Jason was also able to get his first shot so it was a productive outing.  Justin dropped CJ off at the stake center to spend the rest of the day/evening at our stake youth conference.

 

Drew wanted to go to the park this afternoon and he picked Steller Park which isn’t one we visit often.  We spent MUCH longer there than I would have expected, but he had a great time and the adults had some fun as well.

Drew’s been super indecisive about what he wanted to have for dinner tonight.  We weren’t planning on eating out but somehow that’s the direction we went.  Picking a place was another ordeal.  We finally settled on Red Robin in Issaquah, but the wait was over 45 minutes so we bailed.  An alternative was Jersey Mikes but the closest one didn’t have indoor dining so we placed a sandwich order online and drove out to North Bend to eat inside that location.  We had enough points to cover one of our giant sandwiches and then I asked them if Drew could get a free sandwich since it was his birthday.  The guy said yes so we scored.

 

More tech time back home until KD went to bed then Justin and I went for a walk until nearly 11pm since I was feeling pretty lazy and needed to shower anyhow.  

 

I shared this picture on Instagram:

These two! ❤😢🎉

 

I don’t have the words to describe how amazing this weekend has been. Being with Abigail in the temple yesterday as she made covenants to continue to strive to become more like Christ will be an experience I will always cherish a highlight for me. She surrounded herself with people she admires and who have helped shape her into the incredible young woman she is. I’m so grateful for their examples, love and support. 

 

Drew turned eight today and was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Carly and Jason gave wonderful talks and Katie stood as a witness.  Drew beamed today and then proceeded to spend the remainder of his birthday enjoying unlimited tech time and far too many treats.

 

These are the moments that make the hard stuff worth it.  Oh, how I LOVE my crew!

Sunday [5/23]:  A very chill sabbath day at the Fletcher house today.  The kids had youth meetings at 9am and then we all attended sacrament meeting at the church at 11am.  They announced today that we would be adding second hour to the block in June and that starting next Sunday masks would be optional.  Hip Hip Hooray!

 

Justin was released from the Elders Quorum presidency today and sustained to serve as a “specialist” for the teachers quorum which basically means he with assist the advisor with activities.  Jason is in the teachers quorum so at least now I’ll have someone I can get after for not organizing some fun activities for the boys.  Jason will be 14 this summer and in the 6 years he’s been in cub scouts and youth he still hasn’t done a single campout!  That’s crazy business.

 

I had prepped some stuff this morning for us to have with a salad after church and then I made the rest of Drew’s birthday cake and got that all assembled.  We had a quick CFM lesson before CJ headed off to the stake center for the closing meeting for youth conference.  So grateful they had such a great weekend even amongst the busy things we had going on as a family.  We prepared a quick tortellini salad for dinner and then cake!

Week 19: May 10 – 16

Monday [5/10]:  I really needed today to be a productive day so I was up fairly early and ready to get some stuff done. I started a couple loads of laundry and cleaned up the kitchen and got started on Mike’s books by late morning. Jason took me a bit by surprise last night by telling me that he has three friends coming home with him from school so as I move about the house today I’m trying to pick up as I go. Hopefully he spends most of the time being active outside with them because today is a beautiful day. We’re supposed to have gorgeous weather this week.  This may be the best spring weather we’ve ever had in Washington.

 

My friend Lauren dropped by some amazing macarons this morning for Mother’s Day.  I tried one immediately and no surprise – it was amazing.  She made raspberry lime.  Seriously, she makes the BEST macarons I’ve ever tasted and I’ve tasted my fair share all around the world.  Right here in Snoqualmie, WA – the very best!  I’m going to try to ration the other two, but it’ll be hard.  

Once KD went off to school I was able to get in my scripture study and otherwise tried not to think about my matches this evening.  I decided to participate in the local tennis league I was invited to join and tonight I have my first two matches.  Both are doubles matches which makes me even more nervous because if I don’t play well I bring down my partner as well.  Sommer stopped by this afternoon to pick up her macarons – I was the convenient drop off house who had to look but not touch.  I’d Marco Poloed earlier in the morning about being nervous about my tennis matches and she was quite the cheerleader for me.  And “so proud of me for putting myself out there and stepping outside of my comfort zone.”  Ha!  This afternoon proved to stretch me even further when a friend shared my HungryHippoHacks (HHH) account on her Instagram stories.

I’m flattered.  She was one of the friends who’s suggested I share my ways with the world.  Flattered but also very uncomfortable.  I’m generally a pretty private person so it’s one thing to put myself out there anonymously, but it’s another for someone else to put myself out there to who-knows-who.  I’m sure it won’t led to much traction, but it still caused me some anxiety.

 

I was so nervous when I pulled up to the tennis courts tonight.  The first match was pretty close though we lost.  I also lost my second match but was playing against some stronger players – I’d say I was the weakest of the four of us. Everyone was super nice though and incredibly encouraging.  My serve was better than I thought it would be and I won most of the sets I served.  I’m playing another doubles match Wednesday with two players from my first match tonight.   Think I was stronger than both of them so I may stand a chance to win depending on my partner.  Anyhow, point being I survived, had fun, and met some really nice people.  I’m excited for the rest of the season.

 

Tuesday [5/11]:  I was up earlier than usual, dressed and in the office before Justin got home from his run.  I was going to tackle some items on my to-do list but somehow got distracted with the HHH account and ended up writing up a post about the current quarterly cashback bonus rewards.  KD hung out in our backyard with the neighbors today.  Partially on devices, partially playing or drawing.  Katie actually got a sunburn on the back of her legs from being out there so long. 

I grilled up some paninis for lunch today.  It was Drew’s meal last night which I skipped cause I didn’t want to eat too much before my tennis matches.  They tasted so yummy.  Abigail and I dropped KD off at school on our way to Deseret Book to pick up a selection of garments.  They were a little low on stock, but she’ll want to figure out what she likes best before we buy a bunch anyhow.  She also got her mission scriptures engraved with Hermana Fletcher.  She asked the lady if they could engrave them in Spanish and the lady had to go ask someone else if they could do engravings in Spanish.  Ha! 

 

I convinced Abigail to stop off at Krispy Kreme on the way home.  My first free donut of the week.  Krispy Kreme was right next to Starbucks so Abigail picked up a frappuccino with a half off coupon.  That’s my girl!

Are we tired yet of the free donut pictures?

As soon as we got home I left again to head to Carly’s first tennis match of the season.  They were playing Skyline which is the toughest team in our league.  Carly fought hard, but in the end none of our players won their matches.  It was a hot afternoon and even as a spectator I was uncomfortable wearing a mask the whole time.  The players all wore masks as well and no doubt that made it more difficult.  Next week we’ll have Carly wear a more breathable mask than the one she had on today.  So fun to see her back on the court!

 

While Abigail and I were out this afternoon we took a little detour to Chick-fil-A to pick up some nuggets and fries for Abigail’s meal tonight.  Her roommates introduced her to Chick-fil-A pizza and she was excited to cook it for us.  I told her she had to actually make the pizza dough though in order to count it as cooking. The pizzas were delicious and probably the most expensive home-cooked meal we’ve ever had.

I was messing around with my camera while Katie was eating a banana and like these shots of her.

Braydon came over tonight to hang with Abigail and she invited Morgan over to join as well.  The three of them ended up playing Settlers with me, Justin and Jason until nearly 11pm.  It was a torturous game for all except Jason and Justin.  Jason was in a great mood the entire game because he was killing us.

 

Wednesday [5/12]:  We’ve moved KD piano lessons to Wednesdays since they only have one class in the morning.  I was fairly productive today wrapping up Mike’s 2020 books.  He had someone hack into his email account today so I spent well over an hour dealing with that this morning as well and then another 1.5+ this evening doing tech support with him for Facebook.  It was a stressful day for him.

 

Abigail went ski diving this afternoon with Morgan and Braydon.  Jumping from a plane 13,500 feet in the air!  No thank you.  She loved it though and continues to just live her very best life.

 

Tennis lessons were great.  We worked on serves and continued to work on getting our hips involved in all of our strokes.  I felt good about it though and was pretty confident going into my match at 5pm.  I was supposed to be playing against two so-so players I played with on Monday but they switched up the schedule and I played with the same partner from my first game on Monday and no surprise we lost again.  I could blame it on her, but I didn’t play very well either so it was disappointing for me.  

 

I had to beeline it home to get showered before my zoom call with the primary kids.  I was in charge and asked each kiddo to come to the activity prepared to share something – a hobby, a skill, a talent, whatever.  Drew was really difficult to nail something down for him to share.  The obvious choice would be piano.  He plays so well for a 7-year-old, but he hasn’t had any experience playing for others and he was dead against it.  I somewhat jokingly said he could show everyone how to cook something like ramen noodles and he grabbed onto that and stayed the course.  Katie shared her love of Harry Potter and showed her big Harry Potter Lego set as well as some of the HP books she enjoys.  The activity actually went incredibly well and the kids really had a great time.  I was ON the entire time.  Asking questions, giving positive feedback… I was exhausted when the hour was up.  Fingers crossed this was our last virtual activity EVER!

 

Justin and I haven’t sat down together to watch a show in well over a month.  We talked about doing it tonight, but then I got on the phone with his Dad and he ended up getting a call from an older brother in our previous ward who also needed tech support so the evening was hijacked, but I suppose we’ll get brownie points for our service.

 

Thursday [5/13]:  I keep thinking I’ll sit down and catch up on the blog, but I keep getting sidetracked with so many other things.  Abigail didn’t get home last night until after we were all in bed so I didn’t get a chance to talk to her about sky diving until today.  I had several things I needed to take care of online today and Mike also called with some questions on his books.  Katie’s been dying to get to the library so we did that before dropping them off at school and they had a little extra time to read in the car before heading off to school.  

Abigail had lunch with an Auburn friend this afternoon and brought home some Crumbl cookies at my request.  Unfortunately the blueberry cookie was so undercooked in the middle that I found it uneatable.  I submitted a review in the app, but I probably should’ve called the store directly and they would’ve given me a refund.

Carly had a match added to the schedule for today in Issaquah so I was off to watch that with Abigail and then I needed to pick up some groceries at Fred Meyer and Costco before heading home.  Things are getting busier around here.  The reality is that we’ve only had a few activities added back into our schedule but it’s a sharp contrast from life a year ago with is the polar opposite of our busy lives two years ago.  Makes me grateful that we’ve landed in the middle for now.

 

Friday [5/14]:  What gorgeous weather we’ve had this week!  Low 70’s and sunny is pretty much my sweet spot.  KD were excited to wrap up their morning call and head out back with neighbors to their umbrella tent hangout again.  Carly’s had the last two days off from nannying so it’s been different to have her around in the mornings.  She made some pasta salad for dinner this afternoon before heading off to tennis lessons and was only home long enough this evening to eat a bowl and head to the lake with friends. Abigail doesn’t stay put for long and was off on a hike this morning with Kalli who just flew in last night for the weekend, lunch with a friend from high school and then back with Kalli and others for the night.

 

I worked on the blog and then when Justin was done with work we went to the YMCA courts to play tennis with J.  Jason was only half invested – a means to tech I suppose – KD played at the nearby parks.  

 

Saturday [5/15]:  Right after I got out of bed Justin asked if I wanted to go play tennis and I can’t say no to that.  We played for about an hour and I felt like it was really good practice for me.  I figured out that on his serves, because they are so fast, I need to stand much further back then I had been.  Justin also threw a whole container of balls for me to work on my volleys.  Hopefully I’m ready for my matches on Monday.

 

Justin was outside for hours working on the yard and I tackled the inside with some resistant kids.  I didn’t want to do much cleaning just straightening up and getting through some laundry.  Justin was finally cleaned up and ready to head out on date night around 6pm.  We decided to drive up to Lynnwood to check out the mattresses at the Cariloha store.  A blogger I follow gave it rave reviews and it’s much cheaper than the Purple mattress we looked at a few weeks ago.  There was also a Purple store nearby so we were able to compare the two.  Mattress are so tough!  I wish I could just buy one and be done with it instead of needing to do so much research and price comparison.  We decided to eat dinner to think on it and just as our food was arriving we’d decided to get the Cariloha if we could get the blogger’s discounts as well as the stores offer for free sheets and delivery.  Unfortunately, the store closed at 8pm and we didn’t finish dinner in time to run back over.  I may try to call and do it over the phone or maybe we’ll wait and continue to stew over all the various options – ugh!  There was a WinCo nearby (within 3-4 miles) so I came prepared to tack that onto our night.  Justin was thrilled – ha!  Not a big grocery run, but enough to get us stocked up on a few things.  We were SO tired by the time we got home that we didn’t wait up for Abigail and headed to bed before midnight.

 

Sunday [5/16]:  Drew met with Bishop Hammer today after sacrament for his baptismal interview. He wanted to meet with bishop alone which had me a bit worried because Drew has been all over the place with getting baptized.  When we were getting ready for taking the sacrament I had him come sit by me and we talked about the sacrament prayer.  I pulled up the prayers on my phone so we could look at the promises we make at baptism and the blessings we are promised.  I reviewed the KAT acronym – K=Keep the commandments, A=Always remember Him, T=Take his name upon us.  Bishop had Justin and I come in at the end and told us Drew has been the only kiddo able to tell bishop what KAT meant.  Bishop even shared the experience tonight at the stake mission prep meeting.  I’m glad we reviewed just moments before!  Drew is ready for baptism and I am excited for him to receive the Holy Ghost and be confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  

 

Our ward made some new additional changes to covid restrictions.  No more health attestation form to turn in each week and today, for the first time in nearly 15 months we sang hymns in sacrament meeting – with masks, of course.  Our state governor announced this week that we would be reopening statewide on June 30 and that all counties would move to phase 3 on May 18th.   The June 30 reopening could happen earlier if 70% of Washingtonians over the age of 16 initiate vaccination – we are currently at 56%.

 

Another notable change is that the CDC issued a statement this week that fully vaccinated people – meaning people who are two weeks removed from their second shot will not need to wear a mask or physically distance except where required by laws or local business guidelines.  Our schools followed up by stating that masks will still be required at school – hopefully just for the remainder of this school year.

 

The girls both went to missionary prep tonight which was in-person for the first time!  Yay!  After they got home we had CFM and dinner which Katie and Justin prepared (pork and mashed potatoes).  The kids played a little spike ball in the backyard but mostly it was a pretty lacks afternoon/evening.  I spent several hours catching up on the blog which I would like to get wrapped up before all the events of this coming week – I’m so close!