October 2025

 Conference Time!

Gwen had such a special experience- My friends Michelle and Jenny offered to take their girls and a couple others to Story Con in SLC. They got to go to lots of seminars from writers and even meet Brandon Sanderson. Gwen came home on a writer's high!

Miles's last football game! Grandma and Grandpa were always good to come support. 

Miles and I really wanted to go see Ben Rector play at BYUI . I tried to make it a friend thing that I  would chaperone, but last minute, his friends backed out. The way it turned out was way better though! We got to have Gwen and Lindy come with, and it was such a fun little getaway with the 3 olders! I loved showing them around campus and East Idaho. We got to see the Christensens. We hit the IF temple on the way home :) 

Halloween! We went with a "Emporer's New Groove" theme. :) Gwen was the shoulder angel, Miles was Kronk, Lindy was Yzma, Benson was the squirrel, and Davy was Cuzco. Gwen's shoulder angel costume doubled as another costume with her and Eve. They wanted to go as Idioms :) and Gwen was a "Blessing in Disguise". We had an awesome co-op party, and got in our trick or treating!

The rest of October, including our finished postcard wall (1 from every state!), co-op activities, applesauce, and Grandpa's birthday. 

September 2025

 Benson turns 9! He was extra lucky this birthday because last minute, we were invited by the Millers to go hang out on the river all day. They played hard all day swimming and jumping off rocks into the river. Then we came home and had banana cream pie for dessert! He also got to have a friend party this year. We had his friends come with us to Wahooz to play in the arcade for an hour or so, then we came home and watched the Minecraft movie. I think the thing  he was most excited about was that he got a Nintendo switch! We love our Benson Boy! 

First Day of School!!!! Obligatory pics in front of the door. Davy 1st grade, Benson 3rd grade, Lindy 6th grade, Gwen 9th grade, Miles 11th grade. First day of co-op!  I can't wrap my head around how fast time is going 

So many new learning opportunities! Grandma and Grandpa offered to teach history and science to a small group of families at their house- the youngers of the families usually went to the Mcbrides to so science more on their level. The younger 3 started a program called Mad Dog Math. Julie and Dan Kotoff are phenomenal at helping kids be excited about getting those math facts down pat! Gwen started a 2 day a week program at Stacey Lytle's. She runs a LA based program out of her home for homeschoolers, and Gwen fell head over heels in love with the whole thing. Super grateful for such a wonderful mentor in her life. Lindy and Benson started a Orchestra and Percussion group at a nearby place, so while they were doing their thing, Davy and I would do school in the gym. Miles was fully invested in his BYUI classes and spent most of the days in his room on his lap top! 

                                                No explanation needed September photos!