Shawni

It’s been a tough couple parenting weeks in these parts over here in the desert. Oh boy. As I said in my Instagram #givethanks post a couple days ago, when the going gets tough, the depth of gratitude I have for the parents who raised me and Dave overwhelms me.…

Yesterday we celebrated fifty years of this guy. How amazing is that? Fifty years for crying out loud! And I’m putting this post in late tonight just because this guy, true to form, doesn’t want to be the center of attention. But I do have to put at least something…

One of my best friends from high school and her husband are mission presidents right now. Last week she wrote about the incredible difference a good companion can make for missionaries. She talked about how one of the sister missionaries was really struggling when she came to the mission. She…

Claire got a volleyball season. After club was curtailed back in March, and the corona virus raged, we had no idea what this season would look like. But it turned out that these girls got to play, with a delayed start, with safety protocol in place (talked about the beginning…

Our traditional Thanksgiving gratitude tree was looking a little measly on the leaf deal up until all the kids got home, and now it’s starting to rock:) (Lots more about our traditional “Thankful Tree” back HERE and HERE.) Let’s take a look at all those thankful people: (Ok and Dave…

Our prophet, President Nelson, gave the following short address yesterday. I re-listened to it this morning, as I was working on some odd jobs around the house and had to stop in my tracks, in tears, so, so grateful for this beautiful message of hope and gratitude. Just wanted to…

Welp, Grace has gone from her home MTC (missionary training center) days here at home to Austin, Texas, where she is on a steep learning curve but happy as can be. It is so strange to have her gone but it’s so good to know she is tucked safely into…

As always, I have a lot to learn in life. When the Black Lives Matter movement became the center of the news front, I realized even more deeply how much learning I have ahead of me. I wrote a little bit about that back HERE, and so many people had…

I am working hard to catch up on life over here. And on the documenting of it. I’m working on my “March little things” post and realized I haven’t posted about the trip we took for Spring Break right before the world shifted due to COVID. Before any travel bans…

For those new here, about six years ago, when all of our five kids were still at home, we had the unique opportunity to live in China for one school semester for my husband’s work…and for the adventure of a lifetime. We put our kids in Chinese schools and tried…