2022 :: week 6

February 6

Weston created a Pokemon kahoot (quiz) and invited his Pokemon-loving cousins to take it Sunday afternoon. We got on zoom and the kids could see the quiz questions and also hear what their cousins were saying., it was really fun. Lauren was pleased to come in 2nd place. Elliott struggled to keep quiet with his answers. Miles was just happy to be there.

February 7

The first half of the week we enjoyed some gorgeous weather. Miles and Lauren ran around the tennis courts while we played at the park after school on Monday. 

February 8

Will and Elliott each had a buddy over for about an hour after school and they all shot hoops together for a bit. A lot of basketball is happening at the John house right now.

February 9

Miles has recently taken notice of the various security feeds at stores and loves seeing "Momma and Miles on TV." When we were at Hy-Vee this week he started making funny faces towards the feed. When we walked out of Hy-Vee I walked past our van and towards an almost identical--but much cleaner--van. When I realized the filthy vehicle was ours we drove straight to the car wash and got the most comprehensive wash. Then we spent close to an hour cleaning the inside. We vacuumed, threw out tons of trash, scrubbed the hard surfaces and washed the interior windows. It felt so good as we drove home, I love driving a clean vehicle. 

February 10

Something Anthony wanted to do when he became bishop is meet with the missionaries on a weekly basis. They come to our home and he talks with them about how things are going--how are they doing, how are their investigators doing, how is the ward doing at supporting them, etc. Once a month they have this meeting in the sauna, much like Tony did on his mission to Finland. He currently meets with the missionaries on Thursday evenings at 8pm, but over the course of his bishoping has met with them at different times. He met with them on Saturday evenings for the first few years he was bishop, which I didn't like as much. I have had mixed feelings about this "extra" meeting that he has decided to hold, on top of his other required responsibilities, but as we reach the tail end of his time as bishop I can see that it is a good thing. Missionaries in our ward report high levels of satisfaction with serving in our ward and I know that Anthony is genuine in his desire to help. We occasionally hear that OP2 is a coveted ward to serve in the mission because the bishop is so awesome. In this photo are Elders Hansen, Barney, Hawk and Hansen (yes, 2 Hansens).

February 11

Tara (Landon's mom) took a group of OPC boys to the SMS basketball game Friday night. They also went and watched a basketball game at the middle school this week. Will and his friends are all in on basketball right now. Friday was a busy night with Will, Lauren and Elliott each having plans of their own. Elliott had a basketball game and then a birthday party at Main Event. Lauren had a Valentine Party with a few friends from church. We did a lot of driving that night, and I know that we are just starting the era of our kids having more weekend plans that Anthony and I do. It makes me happy that our kids have such good friends and can enjoy fun activities together.

February 12

Saturday we got to participate in Tyler Wilson's baptism. One of the greatest benefits of living close to some family members is that we get to celebrate special times together. This year we have four other cousins getting baptized--one already has--and we wish we could be there with them too. (Adelaide in VA in September 2021, Camille in UT in April 2022 and Derek and Nolan in OR in April 2022).