Never a Dull Moment

Times goes by so fast when you're busy.  Over the last few months there have been many milestones.  

First, Nick got his driver's license in June 2015.  Our first teenager to drive! Connor got his in September and Ally is hoping to get hers by the end of the year.  Having extra drivers is AWESOME! 



Also, exciting is that Jeff and I traveled to Europe for some much needed alone time.  We went to Scotland and Paris.  

In the fall, the kids went back to school.  Ally is a senior, Nick and Connor are juniors, Natalie is an 8th grader and Adam is a 6th grader.  It was my first time having a child do senior pictures: 

Goodbye House of Children, Hello House of Teenagers

We are officially a house full of teenagers and pre-teens!  Ally is 17, Connor is 16, Nick is 15, Natalie is 13 and Adam is 11.  I feel my role of mother has been completely transformed.  And, I have to admit, this phase is a lot harder.  I miss the easy life of changing diapers, functioning on 3 hours of sleep, and stepping on Legos!  Now life is filled with keeping teenagers organized, focused, and emotionally happy, while at the same time strengthening testimonies and teaching independence.  Everyday is filled with small successes and failures, which I've learned is okay.  Life doesn't have to be perfect.  In other words, it's okay to admit you don't live in the Garden of Eden.  :) 

          

Goodbye Sweet Grandma

On January 26, 2014, my beautiful grandma passed away after suffering a stroke just three days prior.  My grandma meant the world to me and has always been my rock.  I was blessed to grow up living very close to my grandparents, and when my mom passed away, my grandma became my mom.  She was there for me through college, the birth of my babies, my accomplishments, and my trials.  Through all of my adult life, I've talked on the phone to my grandma several times a week.  I miss our talks...I miss her laugh...I miss her advice...I miss my grandma.  

 

The Wedding Day and Life Since

 

 

The wedding was the most amazing day!  Everything went off perfectly and we are now a family of 9.  Jeff's oldest son, Jake, was sick on our wedding day and was unable to attend :(  But, all of Jeff's siblings were there and my grandparents made it.  Jeff's brother, Gordon,  is a bishop and performed the ceremony.

So much has happened since that day...over 14 months ago.  First, the kids and I moved to Seattle.  It was unbelievably hard to leave our friends and home in Spokane, but it has been a very smooth transition.  Heavenly Father blessed us all so much with a wonderful new ward, amazing friends, and a love for Seattle!  Wow - Seattle is one beautiful city.  Here's a quick recap of the last year:

Jake - got married to Michelle, his high school sweetheart, who we love, love, love.  He works for Microsoft and they live nearby.
Ryan Keyes - left on his mission in February 2014.  We are so excited for him and look forward to his Monday emails.
Connor Keyes - maintains his 4.0 gpa and loves playing basketball and running track.
Ally Zorich - made varsity on her high school gymnastics team and just made the cheerleading squad for 2014-2015.  Way to go!!!  She's got her driver's permit and is hoping to get her license this summer.
Nick Zorich - was inducted into the honor society and loves running cross country, playing basketball (he is an amazing point guard!) and is currently playing baseball on a select team.  He's just a couple tasks short of his Eagle - which he should earn in the next few months!
Natalie Zorich - continues to be the most social of all the kids with a zillion friends and a playdate scheduled for every day!  She has new talents in drama and singing.  She recently auditioned and earned a spot in our local community theater's production of Peter Pan. 
Adam Zorich - learned he loves books.  He is most often found with his nose in one.  He has also discovered basketball and plays in a year-round league.  He even took a break from baseball this spring to focus on basketball (he usually plays post).  He still loves the Boston Red Sox and will literally sit in front of the TV and watch a WHOLE baseball game and then rewind and watch it again!!! 

We are busy with work (I still work from home for the Court of Appeals and Jeff works for a software company called, Atlantis Computing -- he spends a lot of time in Silicon Valley!), school, sports, seminary, church, and lots of skiing and boating!  

Our next adventure...we just bought a house!  It was built in the 1990s and needs lots of updating, but I LOVE the location (right by the church!)  I've never had much talent with home improvement, but Jeff loves it, so this will be fun!         

Setting a Date

After Jeff proposed, we looked at the calendar to set a date.  We wanted to be sealed together in the temple for eternity, but neither of us had started the process to break our sealings to our prior spouses.  Not knowing how long that process would take (and not wanting to wait too long!), we decided to have a civil ceremony first and then set our sealing date for February 14, 2014 (2/14/2014...how cute is that?!?)  We set the date for our civil ceremony for February 9, 2013.

Wow  -- that meant I had 4 weeks to plan a wedding!

I'm so thankful for the most amazing grandparents in the world and an army of friends that stuck by me through the hardest 2 years of my life who helped Jeff and I pull everything together.  I even found time to attend two bridal showers hosted by my dear friends Jani Davis and Andrea Hainsworth.  I love these ladies! 

My South Hill Girls

 

 

My Valley Girls (minus a couple who left before the camera came out!)

 



 

October 2012 - January 2013...Courtship

The pie that changed my life....
 
During conference weekend I met Jeff for dessert.  We had become friends on Facebook through a church Facebook group (you join the group and then you get announcements of events for singles like dances, firesides, etc.) By coincidence, we were both in Salt Lake for conference at the same time (he's from Seattle).  It was late, so Jeff and I met at the only place we could find open  --  the Village Inn.  I walked in and sat down across from him.  To this day I cannot tell you half of what we talked about; I was too busy being lost in Jeff's eyes, his voice, and his confidence.  He was one of the best conversationalists I had ever met and was so dang handsome.  How could this guy be single?!?  I was getting that dizzy feeling...that feeling that he could "be the one." 
 
And, indeed, after four months of dating that turned out to be the case!
 
On January 12, 2013, while visiting Jeff in Seattle, he proposed.  We were walking around the Seattle Temple and reminiscing about being teenagers and coming to the Seattle Temple for youth baptisms.  When we reached the back of the temple, under the sign "Holiness to the Lord, the House of the Lord," Jeff went down on one knee and proposed.  He surprised me with the most beautiful ring I had ever seen.   
 
I'm thankful for pie.  Funny, I can't even remember what kind of pie I ordered, but I remember those handsome eyes.

  

October 2012 -- General Conference

We have a tradition in our family that after a child turns 8 they get a special trip to general conference with either mom, dad, or both.  Adam turned 8 in 2012, so I had the privilege of taking him to conference for the first time.

Our trip was so bonding and spiritual.  With four children, it is hard to get quality one-on-one time, so I am extra thankful for these opportunities.  Adam and I stopped at the newly dedicated, Brigham City Temple on our way to Salt Lake.  Adam was so sweet and reverent on the temple grounds.

Then in Salt Lake we spent some time walking around the conference center before going in.  Adam loved the waterfall there (he has always loved water, which is probably why he is such a great swimmer and water skier!)  He also loved when President Monson walked into the conference center and everyone stood and was completely silent.  Adam told me he felt "happy inside" when that happened.  It is so sweet when our children are learning about feeling the spirit.

Also amazing about our Utah trip is that I met an intriguing man one night for dessert at a hole in the wall diner.  The slice of pie that night changed my life, but more on that later....

The Last Eight Months....

Wow!  Have I really not posted in 8 months?

There have been so many changes for our family over the last 8 months.  My next several blogs will be catch-ups showing all the amazing and wonderful adventures we've had since last October.  

Another Great Cross County Season

Tonight Nicholas finished his cross country season with districts at Central Valley High School.  We have been very blessed with amazing weather this fall...lots of sunshine and warm temperatures.  But, not today.  It was only 39 degrees and pouring rain!  The sad thing about cross country is that there is a lot of standing around, waiting for your division to start and then the run only lasts about 10 minutes.  Nick was soaked by the time his group started...but he had a personal record, running 1.5 miles in 9 minutes 28 second.  I'm so proud of him.  Now, he can focus on just soccer for awhile...until basketball starts!  

Obviously this picture is not from today -- I wish we had some sunshine! 

Primary Program (aka My Favorite Sunday of the Year!)

Sunday, September 30th, was the Primary Program.  The theme this year was, "Choose the Right."  I'm so touched that my children are learning at an early age that agency is a gift from Heavenly Father and that we can use that agency to choose the right.  Obedience is truly the only gift we have to give to our Father in Heaven, who has blessed us with so much.  

Here's a picture of Natalie and Adam on the morning of the program . . . they are my only two children still in Primary:

Back to School 2012

When you see these lined up....

... you know it's that time of year again:  Back to School!!!

Ally is in 9th grade, Nicholas in 8th, Natalie in 5th, and Adam in 3rd.  

Today was a crazy day for our family.  Nick especially had a long day.  He was gone from 7:30 this morning until 8:00 tonight.  He had school, cross country, and soccer practice.  Nick is such an easy-going kid.  He never complains and seems genuinely happy to be active.  He's growing like crazy.  When I dropped him off this morning I heard a girl, who was walking behind him, say "Wow, Nick grew this summer!"  As you can see in the picture above, he is now taller than his "big" sister.  Nick will be busy this year with school, sports, scouts, and serving as 1st counselor in his Deacon's Quorum.  I know he's going to have a great year!  

Ally loves high school so far and felt comfortable with her classes.  The only one she wanted to change was drama (she wants to take photography instead!)  She's most excited about her Spanish class.  I think she'll excel at learning a second language.  A few years ago, I taught the children some basic sign language. We had a book we studied and I put up charts around the house.  Ally loved it and continued to learn more words and phrases on her own.  This summer, there was a hearing-impaired girl at Girl's Camp and Ally was able to use some of the sign language she learned.  I think she'll take to Spanish like she did to sign language.  Also keeping Ally busy this year will be seminary.  It starts on Monday.  Ally's amazing teachers stopped by a couple nights ago.  They have such sweet spirits!  I know they're going to be a blessing to Ally each morning.  Ally is doing competitive club cheerleading and looking forward to trying out for the high school squad in the spring.  

Natalie is most excited this year to be at the "top of the school" as a 5th grader.  She loved going back to school and seeing all her friends today.  Natalie is definitely the most social out of all of my children and very liked at school by her peers.  She was welcomed back today with tons of hugs and kids calling out to her.  She's excited to serve on the ASB again this year; mainly, because she loves doing the announcements over the PA system in the morning.  We've been pondering a lot lately about what a good extra-curricular activity would be for her that won't aggravate her asthma.  We discussed options and prayed about it and decided she should sign up for a dance class.  She wants to do jazz.  I think this will be a good match for her.

Adam (also known as "coco" or "the baby of the family") also had a fabulous day.  He has probably the BEST teacher at his school, Mrs. Skeman.  Adam loved her instantly.  I know he's going to have a great year.  He starts soccer this week and will be busy with that and cub scouts.

The night before school started our wonderful home teacher came by and gave each of the children a blessing.  The spirit was so strong that night.  I was especially touched how each blessing was tailored to each child.  I have no doubt that our Heavenly Father loves us and knows us individually.  

The lazy days of summer are over, but there are no 4 people I rather be "busy" with than Ally, Nick, Natalie, and Adam.  "I believe that the ultimate treasures on earth and in heaven are our children."  Elder Dallin H.Oaks.  

Alaska

I'm so thrilled that I can now cross "See Alaska" off my bucket list!  I'd heard Alaska was a beautiful state, but, truly, words or pictures can't perfectly capture the breath-taking scenery of Alaska.

The kids, my grandparents, and I went on a one-week cruise from Seattle to Alaska, with 3 stops in Alaska (Juneau, Skagway, and Tracy Arm Fjord) and 1 stop in Canada (Victoria).  It was such a great opportunity to spend time with my family and to behold the beauty that Heavenly Father has created for us.  My heart was full looking at mountains, glaciers, wildlife, and the ocean.  Alaska is so pristine.  I left with more respect for our amazing planet and more resolve to take care of it.


We also spent 4th of July on the ship.  We were actually in Canada on the 4th, so for the first time ever...no fireworks for us.  

It was a little windy!  

  
One night on the ship was formal night for dinner.  Here we are ready to eat (although we look like we are going to church!)

April 7, 2012 was Adam's Big Day

Adam was baptized the day before Easter.  What a wonderful weekend to focus on Adam's decision to be baptized and also to celebrate the miracle of the resurrection.  Adam was actually blessed on Easter...8 years ago!  The following Sunday he bore his testimony about his baptism experience.  The faith of an 8 year old is such a beautiful thing!    


Our sweet home teacher, Brother Smith, baptized Adam.  This man has gone above and beyond in taking care of our family over the last year!  Grandpa and Grandma came up for the big day and then stayed for Easter.  It was a wonderful weekend filled with family, fun, and closeness with the Savior.  

 Adam and Brother Smith

Arriving at the church for Adam's big day

 Easter Morning

 

Adam's Baptism

I'm so excited for this Saturday.

Adam will be baptized at 5:00pm at our stake center. All are invited.

I'm so happy he has made the choice to follow in his

older brother and sisters' footsteps

AND in his Savior's footsteps!

The Light of Christmas

Why is it that at this time of year, my heart is soft and I feel the need to reach out more? Why is it that at this time of year the very mention of Christ's name brings tears to my eyes? Why is it that at this time of year, my soul feels overwhelmed with gratitude for my blessings? The answer, of course, is the light of Christmas...our Savior's love. It envelops me, causing me to draw near to Him and want to be more like Him. If only I could bottle these feelings and keep them with me all year long.

Along with a full heart this time of year, I've also had a lot of happiness and laughter with these 4 little angels:

And, grateful for these 2 angels who have given me unconditional love and support my whole life:


And, thankful that this bearded-man loves his children and that they love him right back!

It's That Time of Year Again...

We were so excited last Sunday when Santa made his annual stop at the Zorich House to find out what these 4 amazing children wanted for Christmas:

And then today we had a "sweet" time decorating gingerbread houses:

Thoughts on Snow

I am so, so thankful Heavenly Father made snow the color white. I don't think the view from my house would be as breathtaking to me if snow was black. Small blessings....

Hopes, Dreams, and New Paths

I recently came across this cute picture of Andrew and I cutting our wedding cake. Man oh man we had big hopes and dreams on that day. And, for the most part we made a lot of those dreams come true with a temple marriage, college degrees, four beautiful children, and 18 years of memories. The path, though, ended for us as a couple, but continues as parents of those four beautiful children.

Halloween 2011

We had another super-fun Halloween, filling the day with parties, friends, and, of course, CANDY! We started the day with parties at the kids' school. Then we made our annual trip to my office for some "chambers trick-or-treating" and lots of attention from my co-workers! They all refer to my children as their "office babies" because they've known my children since they were born. Next, we went to some friends' house for some group trick-or-treating, hot cocoa, and great conversation. All and all it was a great day and evening, although there were some sad moments as I realized this is the start of my first holiday season as a single mom. There are so many traditions that will have to be tweaked to make up for Andrew's absence. But, I'm sure we'll be able to make new traditions that the children can enjoy with each of us separately. Andrew and I are committed to making sure the children know how much we love them.

This Halloween also marked the fact that my big two are getting...well, BIG. Ally wasn't interested in trick-or-treating so she went to a friend's house to watch movies. Nick refused to dress-up, insisting it wasn't "cool." He did finally cave in before the night was over and threw on a football jersey and head out with his best buddy, Teague, to trick-or-treat. I had already put my camera away, so I don't have any pictures of him. But, here are some pictures of my little two with their friends:

The Winning Goal

Nicholas just finished the most amazing soccer season. We love, love, love his coaches. 2 are wonderful men from our church and the other 1 is a teacher at my children's school. Each coach brings a different strength that, in the end, resulted in an undefeated season! It has been such a joy watching Nicholas play soccer. He played a lot when he was 4 -7 years old. Then quit because where we use to live the spring soccer season and baseball season overlapped too much to do both (baseball is his first love!) He picked up soccer again when we moved to the valley and played like he'd been doing it all along. He mainly excels because of his stamina. Without a doubt, Heavenly Father has blessed him physically with great endurance.

Last Saturday was the last game of the season. Nick's team was up 5-0 at the half. But, things fell apart in the second half. They were tied 5-5 with less than a minute to go. That's when Nick's best friend, Teague, passed the ball to him right in front of the goal and Nick tapped it in. Awesome play and awesome celebration between two best friends afterwards. While I know Nicholas works hard and excels because of his dedication and intensity, I also recognize tender mercies from a loving Heavenly Father who knows that my sweet son has had a tough year and really needed a moment like that to lift his spirits. Man oh man, I'll take tender mercies like that any time!

Here's a picture of Nicholas with his dad after the game. So great that Andrew could come up to Spokane and see the winning goal!