May 2025

Do you wanna know what these random items are in the shopping basket? Well it all started the previous Friday. This day happened to be a Tuesday. I had told Millie that I was no longer going to wake her up in the mornings because she treated me horribly, and it usually ended with her telling me she hated me.

So on this special Tuesday morning, I reminded her twice that her alarm had gone off, and I came downstairs, but she didn’t get up. So at 6:45, when they normally leave for school, I told Jack to leave. I also left. I had no lunch, I didn’t have my coffee, and I really wasn’t prepared to leave for the school day because I normally don’t have to leave until 8 o’clock.  However, I had to prove a point. 

She called my neighbor and my neighbor said she would take her to school. I explained to Elise the situation and she had a good talk with Millie. I’m happy to report. I no longer had an issue with her getting out of bed and going to school.

Sometimes you get a good idea and you bring your buddies over to shave heads.

And Carter, the boy to the far right really stepped out of his comfort zone to shave his head. We were also proud of him!

The carnage

Our kids make us proud every day, especially when they get academic awards that are tagged to their sports awards.

My niece, Emily, made a surprise visit in the middle of May. Her dream job has always been to be the dance coach at Mountain View high school. The job became available and she applied. Then she came out for an interview. A couple weeks later, they offered her the job. I don’t know if they’re gonna move from Dallas, Texas to Gilbert, Arizona, but they might. They are young and have no obligations so now is the time to do it.

And they got to see one of Jack’s volleyball games.

Stuart finally joined the 50s club. Even though we had gone to Seattle as a surprise for him, claiming it was for his 50th birthday, this party was actually the first thing that was scheduled. He was surprised!

Heidi, to my left, and Yvette, to my right, are the girls’ volleyball moms. 

His birthday was such a fun night! The food was amazing! My boss, and friend, Kristi’s mom Patty made all the food. 

We had quite the spread. 

Stuart’s 50th surprise party was so much fun. My friend Chris had this cake made for him. So perfect!

Remember that time she didn’t want to play soccer but they won the championship? This girl!

The semi finals didn’t end the way we hoped, but the boys played hard. 

We love you, Long Beach! Millie had a tournament and she played really well. They didn’t win a 🏅 but her play has improved so much!

Ice cream is always a must on vacation or on any day!

My girl volleyball crew! We cruised around the bay. It was so much fun.

Millie has grown so much this year. Most of these girls will go on and play for 15U next year, but hoping some of these friendships last a lifetime. 

Does Jack have a friend who lives on a ski lake? Yep! Living his best life!

Also, we trusted Jack to stay home over Memorial Day weekend on his own. We got back from Long Beach, just Millie and myself, we had dropped Stuart at LAX to fly to the UK to see his family for two weeks. The next morning Jack said to me, ‘Mom, I was a bit scared by all noises at night. And then I did wonder where the extra paper plates were. I had to use real plates.’ I love how he thinks a plate fairy just comes around and refills that shit. He did tell me that the weekend by himself made him realize how much I actually do around the house. Ha!

Did our anniversary number hit three times at the casino on Friday when I went with my boss? Yep! Did I come home with any money? Nope. It was still a lot of fun! The month of May has flown by! The summer will as well because we are all volleyball, all of the time until July 28, and then boy’s club starts and girl’s club starts. So really, we are just all volleyball all the time until Spring 2030, at least. Fun!

April 2025

Our lives are consumed with volleyball at the moment. If it isn’t high school ball, it’s girls’ club ball. Oh, and Millie is playing soccer this quarter as well. Busy, busy!

Tatum had this shirt made with pictures of Jack all over it. It was Hawaiian night at the game. 

This is Millie’s ‘bestie’ (aka crush). This is Will, the team libero. He had the exact same shirt on as Millie before the game, but wouldn’t put it on for the picture. However, he was kind enough to take this picture with her. If you think Millie won’t eventually date one of Jack’s friends, think again. 

Jack went with Tatum to the lantern festival in Phoenix. Before hand he asked me to order this necklace from Amazon. I knew when I saw it, it looked familiar but couldn’t place where I had seen it. Then, this day, it hit me. It was the sun emblem that Rapunzel had on her wall in the tower from the movie ‘Tangled’. It was so thoughtful and romantic. All Stuart could say was, ‘That chain is going to turn her neck green, it was so cheap’. Thanks for the info, Stu! 

Look how cute they are!

This is Joy and Roy Lawson. He was the senior pastor at Central Christian Church when I sang there in the 90’s. He also was one of the ministers who performed our marriage ceremony. We have kept in touch with him over the years. Roy and Joy came to see us in Dubai and we visited them when they were staying in London a few years back. They were in town for the retirement of the pastor that took over when Roy left. It was a short visit, but it was meaningful for sure. They were shocked at how tall Jack was. 

Although our visit was short, it was amazing to see friends from the very pleasantly memorable past. 

The Space Needle was on our tour. 

Pike Place Market was also a must see. 

This was a fun wall! Yep, exactly what you think it is. 

I surprised everyone by bringing them to Seattle the weekend before Stuart’s birthday. It was such fun. The biggest surprise, which is the entire reason I booked the trip, was when James, Louise, Billy and Zoe showed up our second night. Louise had messaged me two weeks before and asked if there was any way we could get to Seattle as they were given a free cruise leaving from Seattle and going through the inside passage of Alaska. This was due to all the tour groups she puts on cruise lines. Of course I jumped at the chance. Stuart was surprised about Seattle, everyone was surprised to see Louise, James and the kids. It was so great! 

Clam chowder and fish and chips down on the Pier! Of course we did the touristy things and the kids road scooters, but just spending time with the family was the best. 

Last picture of our 36 hours together. Not cheap, but totally worth it. We have created so many memories with these four people and I love every second of it. 

For Stuart’s birthday, we went out, just the two of us, to the Epicenter. We haven’t been there before. It was great. We had reservations at Undertow, but arrived early and went to The Barn for some beers beforehand. 

We had cocktails at Undertow, a cute little speak easy in the Epicenter with a submarine flair. It was so cool! The cocktails were leather. So much so, that I think my blood sugar spiked and we didn’t even keep our dinner reservation. It was so weird!

Stuart made us brunch before leaving for Gallup the Sunday after his birthday. He made homemade English sausages and they had been in the freezer. So we got what the British call, a Full English. It was delightful. 

March 2025

We got a tattoo for Vicki for her birthday. 

We had lunch at Hidden House, Vicki (Gavin’s mom), Chris (Owen’s mom) and Kristi (Carter’s mom). We had a fantastic day! 

Jack got home from his volleyball tournament and we tried to figure out why the sweeper wasn’t moving in the pool. Millie dug a rock out of it and it was all fixed. Whew! That saved us roughly $600. 

This sophomore volleyball player continues to amaze us and make us proud. 

I had to have a check engine light looked at so I took my car to the mechanic. I had to use Jack’s car. This keychain is on his keys that just happened to sit on my desk at school all day long. Ha!

Does anyone else wash their dogs toys? 

The team had a tournament in Las Vegas the first weekend in March. Here we go! 

So it seems I had some misfiring in my car. Instead of paying $1600 to the mechanic, my little handy man fixed it for $200. What a deal! 

This tournament at Chandler High, Wolf Howl, was full of games and shenanigans! Jack outweighs Carter by about 50 pounds. Poor Carter! 

Jack had a great tournament. 

Carter, Jack, Owen and Gavin, the original gang. 

I made Jack drive to GCU to a volleyball game. This fall he will be driving to downtown Phoenix for club practice so I felt he needed to practice.  Tatum rode shotgun!

Will, Carter, Coach Jaxon, Jack and Owen. Will is a new addition to the gang and Coach Jaxon plays volleyball for GCU and is one of their club coaches. 

Elise, Sherry, Mary and Gina came over for dinner. As always, we had a lot of laughs and quality time together. We decided we would take a trip together this fall for Mary’s birthday celebration. She’s going to be 75! Love these ladies. 

Mary and Sherry brought these beautiful flowers! I love flowers. 

During spring break Tatum and her sister, Camdyn, came over for the day. Millie and Camdyn painted boxes to hold their swimsuits and Jack and Tatum just watched them. 

Anyone else’s husband lay down to test out pillows at Home Goods? 

Another day of spring break, Stuart and I took our kids, Tatum and her sisters (Camdyn and Breckin) and went bowling it was such a good time. We love Tatum and her family and glad that Jack and Tatum have mended their friendship. 

I beat Stuart. Spent the day bowling, and then the evening playing games on the tv; Guess the Lyrics, Blind Karaoke and then Guess the Lyrics Disney. I was amazed at all the songs Jack knew from Disney movies. 

Millie had a great tournament at Combs High School. She played so well. I’m amazed at how she has improved this season. 

The Men’s Volleyball Boosters ask parents to provide a meal for the teams before each game. My mom did a meal last year and I talked her into doing on this year as well. She made the same thing as she did last year, pasta and meatballs. It was a hit again!

Garlic bread and sugar cookies were a nice addition. 

Each game they won, the award the War Horse to the player they think contributed the most. This was the second time this season Jack has received the War Horse. I was shocked. He was thrilled. 

Sometimes with as much volleyball as this boy plays, his recovery includes a cold plunge in our non-heated pool. Cold!