February 2021

February 28, 2021

This week flew by as we keep running through the routine each day. For FHE on Monday Kassie asked that we all go through the house and find 1 thing that is valuable to us and bring it back to the table. Hinckley went right for Greyson and “grabbed” him, which of course Greyson didn’t like and he began to scream and cry. Hinckley was genuinely wanting to bring Greyson to the table as his valuable haha. It was pretty cute. Later Addie eagerly sat with Greyson in the bathroom as he was on the toilet to tell him stories which I enjoyed listening to as I swept up the kitchen. She said something like, “Once there was a princess...don’t worry this is a boy story....and she met a truck. And then they wanted to marry each other, so then they married each other, the end.” Then after a moment's pause, Greyson said, “I want another story.”

Family pile

Hinckley happily passed off his level one in gymnastics this week, which is exciting as this was one of his goals he had set for a physical goal. I’m glad he is having the experience of setting a goal and achieving it! That is so important. We talked about learning discipline and gave him a challenge in response to wanting money. He "fasted" from sugar for 4 days and earned 50 cents per day, but couldn't resist some candy on Saturday. Slow and steady right?

Hinckley passing off level 1 gymnastics

We had a full Saturday in that M&D came to watch the kids while Kassie and I enjoyed the Roots of Knowledge exhibit at the UVU library. It was incredible! We’ll need to go back sometime and bring the kids. In the afternoon I took Hinckley and Addie swimming at the rec center while Kas and Greyson went on their date to the Butterfly Biosphere. And we are ready for a new month and hopefully a new season of weather.

Nana and Grandpa visit

February 21, 2021

President’s day we went as a family to Lowe’s Trampoline Park in Provo per Kassie's birthday request. We had a lot of fun jumping and swinging and bouncing around there and am happy to report zero injuries. My favorite was the super tramp which made it so easy to go incredibly high. It was amazing how much effort though it requires to maintain! Hinckley and Addie had a ton of fun flying into the foam blocks and Greyson jumped and run for nearly an hour straight. Everyone was very tired the rest of the day. Later in the day I went to DI and got some throw pillows and did some work so now I have a really nice podcast studio! I’m excited to put it to good use. It sounds amazing! It is funny what a small thing like buying throw pillows at DI can do for me, I got pretty excited and it was fun to have Greyson and Addie “helping” me as well.

Leaving the Jump park

Another awkward family picture at the Jump Park

For Kassie's birthday, we had some great Thai food and cheesecake for the dinner and we had fun playing fruit basket turnover. Greyson made a lot of really cute faces at us which had us all laughing pretty hard. Hinckley said it was the “best day at school ever because of the snow at recess”. He told us all about a huge snowball he and his friends made that he got trapped under, and how he tricked a bully and his followers by making him step in a big ice puddle. He was so wet and stinky when he came home from school he changed clothes. He was in heaven! 

Cheesecake for Mom's 33rd

Mom birthday hugs

Valentines Day Kicker

Taking inventory of Valentines day spoils

Greyson continues to ham it up all day every day. I love to tickle him and eat my “Greyson pie” (tickling his tummy), and it is delightful when he comes to me or Kassie and says, “I have a little Greyson pie left in my tumbly, but don’t eat it all! Dad wants some too!” He LOVES when I make his clothes or his pull-up come “alive” and he has to chase them down in order to put them on. He’ll try stamping on them with his foot and diving at them to catch with his hands, laughing like mad the whole time. It is very delightful. The other afternoon he was playing extensively with my alarm clock and he managed to turn the radio on. With NPR blabbering about COVID and whatever else he looked up at me when Addie and I came into the room and he quick guarded his resource, “NO! I’m listening to stories!” And when he saw that we weren’t going to take it away, he caught the word “school” from the radio and happily chirped to Addie, “They’re talking about school Addie! I heard school!” He is a light in our family, despite the train wreck fits that are common in early 3-year-olds.


Addie was scared the other night from a dream she had and was getting pretty worked up about going to sleep as she didn’t want the same dream. She was starting to get a bit hysterical and all of my and Kassie’s ideas were falling flat. Then Hinckley, using his Blobby voice and holding out one of his slippers said, “I’ll sleep with you! And eat all your nightmares!” And Addie exploded with joy and in euphoria exclaimed her excitement. It was pretty special to see Hinckley do this and also how happy it made both of them. As I read bedtime stories with Addie she kept smiling at the “Blobby” and talking to him. She then tucked him in “just the way Hinckley does it” and went to sleep. She was happy to report no scary dreams the next morning.

Greyson's "famous face" as he prepares for Friend to Friend

Bundled up kids

We watched the Friend-to-Friend event which was really cute and uplifting. Our kids hung in there for just about the whole thing! We also had the first session of our first virtual Stake Conference Saturday evening. Hinckley and Kas had a date in the afternoon so I tried to keep the younger two busy. We had a “nap” in my bed while listening to Junie B Jones, bathed Greyson, made chocolate chia pudding, went to the park, and played with legos. They go non-stop till they crash!

February 13, 2021

We had a fun day today going up the canyon to play in the snow with the Kays in the morning and watching Ratatouille this afternoon. It was wonderful to see baby Kelli underneath Abi’s coat and the boys had a fun time building a big snow fort while Addie and Sadie wandered around playing various imaginary games. Greyson probably had the hardest time as his gloves kept falling off and he didn’t quite know what activity to participate in. He did really well with going to the potty this week, perhaps due to working on a second sticker chart with the prize of cotton candy. He is getting more comfortable making it to the bathroom, and Addie really likes to "help" him ("Your a little MOM" - says Hinckley).

On Friday Kas and I had a date to the Vertical Diner in SLC, an all plant-based food place that was really good. I met Brandon for lunch this week and it was nice to visit with him for some time. It is remarkable the differences in our lives and how apparently our shared interests have grown increasingly apart. And yet he is enjoyable to visit with and there is plenty to discuss. I’m grateful for his friendship.

The rest of the week was a bit of the regular humdrum of daily routines, the outbreaks, and resolutions of ceaseless arguments and desire for attention and love. I shot some hoops with Hinckley and Greyson and played a kind of variation of baseball with them when Addie went to music class. Addie drew another pile of mermaid pictures (did you know you can find pictures of just about every Disney princess as a mermaid?) and continues to enjoy Junie B. Jones books. Kassie is learning more about our neighborhood as she is now the treasurer for the HOA and figuring out how to navigate some things there.

All in all, we are pressing forward continually with our best hope in Christ and the great plan of our Redeemer.