The Orchard Team Huddle

Birthdays tend to drag on for a really long time in our house by the time we have a friend party, a cousin celebration and get all of our favorite things in.  This year I decided we were going to have one really super fun day on June 5th, your actual birthday! I didn't allow a friend party this year but I did let Mason invite one friend to spend a few hours at our local new trampoline park, Altitude.  He invited Tanner Telford.  He really enjoys him as a friend but he is also brave and adventurous and will do tricks with Mason! I failed to get a picture with his friend but he had a great time bouncing for 2 hours! Mason picked In N Out Burger for lunch and Tanner got to come too.  The timing was right for Stockton to call home and wish his brother a happy birthday! 🎉🎈 I like chatting with Stockton each p-day but special occasion calls are the best. ❤️   It was a little loud and crazy but I know Mason loved hearing from his big brother!...

10 years ago we got to experience this tournament with Douglas and had a ton of fun.  I was excited when Mason's team decided to go.  However, the price of the hotel ($200 per night), airfare ($300 per person) and rental car ($400) was giving me heartburn so we decided to drive. The plan was to leave Wednesday at lunchtime and drive all the way through so Mason could go to school for half of the day.  The weather did not cooperate so we decided to leave Tuesday after school to avoid an incoming snow storm.  We made it to Vegas. We didn't have a reservation so we grabbed a cheap room on Hotels.com.  It was the Fiesta in Henderson for $30 plus a $20 resort fee.  We asked for a King bed and Mason agreed to sleep on the air mattress we brought for this very reason.  When we got to our room we were grossed out to find the garbage overflowing, bed sheets all a mess and used towels laying on the bathroom floor.  Needless to say, we requested a di...

Snow days are rare!  Neither Douglas or Stockton got the opportunity to have one.  The last one I could find on record was in 1993.  Imagine our surprise when school was canceled today!  At first glance, you could tell there was a lot but we didn't understand just how much until we actually got out there. I thought it was a little troubling that you couldn't see the parking curb in the middle of the parking lot.  It was all leveled out. We started the day with some lazy TV time.  This is rarely allowed! The night before, Russell had to fly out to St. George for a 1-day trip.  It had been snowing for a bit and he shoveled a few inches from the driveway.  He told me to leave whatever fell overnight for him to clear the next evening.  I would have happily done that but I am pretty sure there is no way we would have made it out of the driveway without getting stuck.  And, Amelia needed to get to work.  She spent th...