Spring of 2016 had a lot of ups and a lot of downs for our family. Here are just a few:
Bennett tried to be his independent self and cook a scone in the microwave. He got it out of its plastic baggie, put it on a plastic plate and put it in the microwave. Unfortunately scones don't need to be reheated for 5 minutes.... I was upstairs and Bennett came up to greet me by saying something I couldn't understand. As we were talking I smelt smoke and said, "Bennett, is the oven on?" He sheepishly said "yea....." and I went running down the stairs to see our microwave in flames. Needless to say a fire extinguisher's residue is toxic so we had to get a new microwave. Luckily everyone was save. No harm done.
Bennett enjoyed some quality time with "papa"
Fun trips to the Museum of Curiosity. We have a season pass and its a perfect outing now that these two walk independently.
They LOVE the Water Works exhibit within the museum. I usually have to bring a change of clothes for both of them because the smocks really don't do much.
.... as you can see one time I forgot to bring Jillian a change of clothes so she went naked in Bennett's jacket.
Late night Costco runs because my kids love Costco as much as I do (which is a lot)
Tony stepped down as the head coach of the Chargers so Lance stepped in and coached the boys throughout all of Spring Fling. They ended up winning the championship as well as went undefeated in their Easter Las Vegas tournament. Go Lance!!
I was really honored to receive an award from BYU's Nursing program. I have worked with several student nurses throughout my three and a half years as a nurse. I remember the mentors who taught me and really impacted my practice as a nurse, and I remember those nurses who were annoyed and tired when they had students. I promised myself that I would always strive to be that exciting and fun nurse who gave my students a good experience and apparently it paid off. Two BYU students nominated me for the Outstanding Student Mentor award :)
... as mentioned above... we spent A LOT of time in the gym (like nightly) throughout April/May. Clearly Jillian had had enough.
Many fun days at our neighborhood park.
Kiddie swimming pool days in the backyard.
Yardwork. For some reason Bennett and Lance have bonded over our lawn care. Bennett grabs "his hat" and "his mower" and "his weed whip (my mop)" and follows lance around the yard.
Jillian always getting into mischief when she should be napping.... (case and point).
Apparently you need to wear a helmet when you vacuum?
Miracles will be Miracles. When one door closes another opens. Lance was pretty sure (like very sure) that he would be able to make a smooth transition to becoming the head coach at Corner Canyon. We had built relationships with the players and their parents, we were comfortable and felt at home at the school and the job was truthfully his dream job at his dream location. We went through the interview process and at the end they gave the position to a more experienced coach from a different school district. We were devastated. Like the nights before we found out Lance slept on the couch because he couldn't sleep and after we found out we had several sessions of tears shed and sadness. He truthfully felt like his calling in life was taken from him and he had no purpose. I tried to be supportive and optimistic that something else would come, but it was really really hard.
He met with the new coach a few different times and from our perspective we didn't think the new coach handled the situation well, and Lance was not offered an opportunity to stay on staff as an assistant. At that point Lance was even more devastated than when he had initially found out he didn't get the head position. He had no place, no opportunity to continue coaching at any level....
We searched desperately for another assistant job. He needed, we needed to be apart of something basketball. A friend and former nurse co-worker of mine, Ashley Wilson's husband had just gotten a new head coaching job so I texted her asking if he had any openings. He didn't but it was that text that opened the door to a great opportunity. Things aligned the way they were supposed to. The next day she texted me saying Cottonwood High School was accepting applications for a new Head Basketball Coach. Lance and I was in disbelief. They had just hired a new coach back in March, and now in June they were hiring again?! He applied, we waited. He interviewed. He was offered and he accepted!
Backstory:
March/April
Ashley's Husband: Garrett was coach over Taylorsville HS.
He got the Brighton HS job.
The Cottonwood HS coach took over at Taylorsville HS.
Cottonwood hired some new coach with another coach who was a close 2nd choice.
May
Cottonwood HS's coach resigned and took a Junior College position, but took over a month to submit his official notice in writing (which postponed the principal and school districts ability to post the position).
June
Position posts, Interviews happen. The principal interviews and believes that she is gonna probably hire the guy who originally came in 2nd during the March/April interviews.
As she contemplates who to hire Lance's name comes to her mind. Then a flood of emails from former players, other coaches, and Corner Canyon parents (thank you) are received to the principal all in Lances' behalf.
Position offer to Lance. He accepts!!!
Literally, the timing of everything was absolutely divine intervention. We then spent the majority of June getting open gyms lined up, parent meetings, practices, and a week long tournament. Here are pictures from the parent meeting where Jillian and Bennett had a blast walking around Cottonwood HS's courtyard.
We got season passes to Cowabunga Bay. They love the slides and the lazy river.
Jillian took a scary spill on the treadmill and endured some tread marks on her back. Luckily she was okay.
Father's Day gift: A homemade tie rack.
