Our Family of Six: March 2026

February 14 - 28:

Isak participated in the Nashville Cubing Competition held at Vanderbilt University. It was on February 14 from 8 a.m. - 3 p.m. Nels took him in the morning and the rest of us came in the afternoon. He competed in the 3x3, 4x4 and Square 1. He made it to second round for 3x3. Isak was super happy he met his goal and got two personal records. He got a a PR of 15.11 second solve and a PR average of 19.42. He was hoping for a sub 20 second average and he got it. It was so fun to watch him do his thing! Here's photos from the day:

A couple of his friends from school were competing too. So it was extra fun to have them there.

Nels captured Isak's face when he got the 15.11 second solve! 💙

Isak also judged. I loved how he would complement the participates and he was always kind and encouraging to them.

Here's our crew supporting Isak.

Nels was there the whole time. I think him and Isak enjoyed their time together.

It was a fun day in Nashville watching Isak cube.

During the lunch break of the cubing competition, Nels and Isak met up with Nels's friends from college! They ate at Maple Street Biscuit Company. Clark, Amanda, Ryan, Nels and Isak. They had a great time and I'm glad it worked out to spend time with them and do the cubing competition!

Before we left for Nashville, Noah and I played outside together. We played some basketball.

Then I thought it would be a good idea for him to practice riding his bike without training wheels. He had tried in the past and it always ended in tears. This time I said, let's just have fun and have a good attitude. And we both did! And guess what?! He got it. It clicked and he's riding two wheels like a pro. His sisters came outside and were surprised and happy for him. I think it helped that he wore his coat because I just grabbed onto it for a few times to help him figure out balancing...then I let go. He was sooooo happy.

Yay, NOAH!!

We decided to go for a scooter ride around the block...quick cute picture of Kira.

She made those cute earrings.

We got all ready, then Noah surprised us and said, "let's do our bikes instead!" OK!!

And off we went on our bikes. He made it all around the block. Only a little trouble getting on and off the sidewalk.

I'm proud of him for learning this new skill, but I also loved his attitude during this time. He even mentioned it, "I had a good attitude!" Even when it was hard and frustrating, he controlled his feelings and chose to laugh and have fun instead of crying. So I feel like that was a big thing he practiced too!

Kira made all of these homemade stickers for a friend at church.

Noah and I learned a new game called Summer Camp. It's a fun one!

Now Noah can't wait to go on bike rides. So we went again the next day...

Isak decided to run instead and kept up nicely.

Beautiful day, so we did sidewalk chalk. The neighbors joined us.

Boys did some basketball.

Isak and I played hopscotch. I won. :) Barely. I remember doing hopscotch a lot as a kid.

Kira made a mega 100 hopscotch. Photo of 67...

Lots of fun and sunshine.

Sofie and Kira spent a lot of time making a mini mall for their dolls to shop at.

Perfecting the dance bun for Sofie.

A morning drive with Isak. His school is about twenty minutes away. We carpool with others so that has been helpful. I drive three mornings a week. This is Isak one morning...doing homework and eating breakfast. :)

Noah typed a story about Minecraft on Canva. He just wanted to do it and worked a few days on it. I loved seeing him be creative and type and come up with a story.

Here's Noah and his friend Dominick running to Dom's house. So fun that they are friends and go to each others houses often.

Sofie's cute panda room. She regularly rearranges it. This is how it was in February.

I took this picture on my drive to the temple...

Made it. Very enjoyable. I'm grateful we live close to the temple.

Another bike ride for Noah.

Ok! So I made homemade brownies and they were soooo good. My friend gave me the recipe and I loved them. If you like fudgy, borderline too rich brownies, these are for you!

Kira and Isak participated in a piano judging called Federation. It's like Festival where I grew up. They play two memorized pieces for a judge and get feedback. Here's Kira playing before we left for it.

And Isak:

They performed at MSTU and they both did great. It was quite the experience. Kind of stressful.

We got donuts afterwards.

Sofie made slime eggs. I made real eggs. Can you tell which is which? The one on the right is slime! She did a great job. Haha.

Pretty YW greeting us at the door for church.

I played Summer Camp with Sofie, Noah and Isak. Sofie won!

Nels finished Norway 500 piece puzzle.

Nels's mom sent us this cute card for Valentine's Day.

Kira had a band concert. They did great! I'm so impressed with how much she has learned this year with trumpet. Here's the whole 7th grade band.

Can you see Kira in the trumpet section?

I think this is the closest pic of her.

And there she is with her class while we listened to the HS band perform.

She did a great job and I'm glad we got to see her perform.

Isak's choir also performed. His performance was during the day for judges, but we were invited to come too. I was able to come and listen to their performance.

They did great and received all Superior ratings.

Me... :)

I did something crazy...I applied for a job!! It's a part time job at a pickleball membership facility. And I got the job. I'm so excited. I'll hopefully start in another week or two.