January 2025

 We had an awesome snow day! We don't always get a good snow dump, so the kids took advantage. The Austin kids came over and they were outside almost all day building an epic snow fort. They ended the day with hot chocolate and games. 

                            

                    We got the sweetest Sunshine package from Aunt Jenn and Aunt Adrienne! 

We had a burn pile that needed to be taken care of, so we invited some friends over and had a weenie roast! Great way to brighten up a January night. 

                                                            Davy lost his very first tooth!! 

Big deal for our family! Adam and Lorina Rogers in our ward who have bred dogs and sold puppies for years were looking to rehome one of their mamas. They offered her to us for free! I was hesitant, but the prospect of breeding her and making money selling her puppies was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Welcome Daisy! 

This year at co-op the focus was Shakespeare. They held a dinner for all the families and the kids were recognized based on how many plays they had watched or read up to that point. Go Gwen and Miles!

                                                                Co-op Ice Skating Day!

Breakaway showcase in the books! I'm pretty sure Miles was in this one too, but for some reason I didn't get a pic! 

Bonus pics from January- Benson passed off all the BOB books, so that deserved a treat- it happened to coincide with getting another crown and his mouth was hurting. Davy had entered his cooking phase. The younger 3 playing survival. Youth temple trip. The pic of the dresser marks another side hustle I picked up. I took a note from my friend Aesalina's book and started "flipping" furniture. As of this writing, flipping furniture only lasted for the year of 2025, but it was a creative way to make some needed cash. 

Miles turns 16!!! Crazy! I have a kid old enough to date and drive! Since he had just had a friend party the previous year, we decided to play this one close to home. He again chose pulled park sandwiches and german chocolate cake for dinner with the grandparents. On his actual 16th birthday, we decided to break in his dating era by going on a date with me. We went and saw "Wicked" in theaters and then drove to an arcade, hoping to take pics together in a photo booth. We got some small ones. :) Love this kid so much. 

Christmas and New Year's 2024

 Jeff and Makenna were in town for Christmas! It was so fun to be with them! We had a yummy dinner at Mom and Dad's and then played different minute to win it games. When we came home, we got dressed in our Christmas pj's that Gwen herself sewed!! It's getting harder and harder to cram all the kids into the same room on Christmas Eve! They're getting bigger! 

Christmas Morning! All lined up. :) We had a great Christmas! The 3 youngers got gi's and Jiu Jitsu lessons. That night we went to the Caldwell lights with Jeff and Makenna and Grandma and Grandpa. 

One of the gifts Lindy got for Christmas was that she could get her ears pierced! So Gwen came along and we went to Claires. :) The only pic I got of New Years was part of our meal! We had some awesome fondue, watched "It's a Wonderful Life" and banged pots and pans to welcome 2025!

December 2024

Poor Benson- So far he's the our kid with the most expensive mouth. Another round of crowns for this kid. 

We had an Elf watch party, so of course we had to have spaghetti with syrup and poptarts :) 

 Miles and his kind heart wanted to put on a doughnut and hot chocolate stand to raise money for the giving machines. I admit, I had a bad attitude about it. One more thing for me to do, and all that jazz. It was cold, customers were few and far between, but his good friends Lincoln and Jaylee were sweet supporters. When all was said and done, we had enough to purchase a few things to donate, and my heart was softened. 

Since we were doing Christmas Eve dinner with family, we did our Hawaiian dinner early. :) 

School stuff: Lindy's class was studying ancient Greece and had a mini olympics. Lindy was so proud to beat everyone in the class (including the boys) in arm wrestling. Gwen made an awesome Grinch cake for her cake decorating class. Simple machines with Grandma and Grandpa!

                                                                Homestead and Extra Pics!

At the end of December, we got the hard news that the church would not be selecting Richie to be a seminary teacher. It was a hard season in many ways for our family. We had so many kind people reach out to reassure us that God was aware of our situation and offer help. At this point, this was the first time in the past 5 roller-coaster years of job drama that we didn't have a backup plan, but we had learned that we were full of grit and creativity, and that we'd figure something out.