October 1, 2023
We had a good conference weekend with legos, basketball crafting, candy bribery, and uplifting messages! Overall the kids did pretty well. We also put up the Halloween decorations which is nearly as exciting for everyone as putting up Christmas decorations. They were extremely enthusiastic. It was great to take Hinckley and Addie to a session of Conference on Saturday, and fun to ride up with Trent and Hallie and see some other familiar faces at the conference center. It was a good time.
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| Williams bros |
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| Ready for conference |
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| Half time break |
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| Conference lego spelling |
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| At the Saturday afternoon session |
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| The entrance to the conference center |
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| Halloween decorations up |
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| Hoop crafting |
As for the rest of this week, we went to two fall festivals - one for Hinckley's school and one for Addie and Greyson's. The kids enjoyed the games and activities and little prizes they earned. We shared our big news with you this week about another child coming to our family in April! The kids ask about something related to the baby on a daily basis. Greyson has already made many crafts "for the baby" including a basketball court made from a cardboard box that our new laundry hamper came in. He threw a HUGE fit when he was unable to get the materials needed to make a hoop that goes "up and down for the baby". That boy always wants to be crafting if he isn't actually playing basketball or watching it on the screen.
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| Fall festival dunk tank |
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| Playing with "sticky guy" |
We went for flu shots as a family and despite Addie's near anxiety attack the night before, everyone actually did really well when we went to the doctor's office. It is nice to have that behind us. We enjoyed seeing lots of family up the canyon on Sunday, it was a fun time for sure.
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| Family dinner at South Fork Sunday evening |
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| Chatting with cousins |
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| Getting dinner |
September 24, 2023
This week we finally put down some sod where the play structure used to be and I ripped out the green turf that was in that spot. Hopefully, the grass will grow. I'm grateful for our amazing neighbors Dick and Kathy Carter. He took me over to the sod place in his truck and helped me sharpen my lawn mower blade. He is so great!
The kids had a lot of fun with Nana on Wednesday when Kassie and I went to our first temple session at the Saratoga Springs temple. It was a success!
Addi was overjoyed to get her cast off this week and she can run free now without that extra weight. She did really well in her cross country meet on Monday, it was a 3K which felt much longer than a 2. She is working her way into being quite the runner and it is fun to see her sense of accomplishment at the end of a race. Greyson loved it too because the park she had her meet at had a "Jazz court" - a basketball court with a Jazz logo. He was in heaven.
We've had our trip planned to Lagoon for a month or more and it finally happened on Saturday. Hinckley has really cooled towards scary roller coasters. Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun and we even saw people from our neighborhood there including Addie's two best friends. It was a good time all around and everyone was very tired when we got home. On Sunday after church, we went up and saw some of the amazing leaves against the brilliant blue sky up at South Fork in Provo Canyon and on top of Squaw Peak.
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| South fork |
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| On Squaw Peak |
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| Above Lagoon with Addie |
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| Getting ready for the Terror Ride with Greyson |
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| The Roller Coaster |
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| Hinckley's favorite ride |
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| Paratrooper with Brooke |
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| Mostly a family picture at Lagoon before leaving |
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| nearly 2 hours into our wait at the new ride |
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| Rattlesnake Rapids |
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| Addie and Greyson in the Kiddie area |
Kassie and the full primary presidency was released at church today which brings some mixed feelings. They did a great job! I had my last doubles pickleball set of matches in the Saratoga Springs league that I did with a friend. That has been a lot of fun and am sad I don't have that to look forward to on Tuesday nights! We'll have to keep playing.
September 17, 2023
This week zipped by. Addie had another cross country meet and ran a full 2K! She was pretty tired after but felt accomplished. She is worried about a 3K tomorrow. The boys were happy at the event because there was a pond to throw rocks in. Also what a appeared to be a haunted farm house nearby which had them all excited. On Saturday I had a fun date with Addie swimming at the AF pool. She was finally able to try out her mermaid tail she got for her birthday and was really excited about that! She was very cute in showing off all the things she's learned from swim lessons and it was nice how empty the pool was. She's been very sensitive lately to "fashion" and what she is wearing and other girls are wearing. She has been "dying" for a jean jacket and we picked one up after swimming that she is pretty excited about.
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| Addie mermaid |
After some shuffling things around with my work schedule I tried something new with Hinckley. We went twice before school this week to the rec center where he swam laps. I came up with some basic workouts for him and as he swam I did my scripture/journal stuff. It worked out pretty well as I then took him to school right after. It just means I start work right after I wake up super early in the morning (instead of scriptures). He really enjoyed it and is excited to keep going, so we'll see if this works for now. He has refused to do any other sport or physical activity, so maybe this will stick. He had a couple of playdates with a new friend from class this week and seems to be really enjoying his class and new school. He also got a new Zelda game that he bought with his own money. He is over the moon about that.
Greyson continues to craft a mile a minute, building sports things for every place in the house. Last night he was in the bath, shooting a small rubber basketball into a tinfoil and yarn hoop he had taped to the shower. It was leaking blue marker all over and he was in heaven. It is astounding how obsessed he is. He begged and begged us to let him paint soccer lines on our grass so he could have an official field in our backyard. He just keeps pushing for more.
On Friday I went down to Sanpete county and camped with the TSL men's group (The Strenuous Life). It was great to get to know those guys better. They are some really good people. I tried out sleeping in a hammock and managed to stay warm (it was high 30s low 40s) and also took a Grandpa Halvorsen inspired skinny dip in the creek I found in the morning after watching the beavers swim around. It was a really wonderful time! It turned out that I had a flat tire, so the men there helped me get the back up on the car so I could drive it slowly back to Spanish Fork Discount tire to get it fixed up.
Kassie had her first of 3 intro to Pickleball classes this week and enjoyed it! She also started volunteering at the reception area at the Red Cross donation center here in Lehi (new) and in Greyson's kindergarten class. She's also been working through a Microsoft Excel class online which she has been enjoying.
September 10, 2023
For labor day we went to a jump park which had a ninja course and even some basketball hoops near trampolines. I was so excited to try that I began jumping right away and almost immediately injured my back (not serious). I'm not getting any younger haha. We were all exhausted after that so there was plenty of grumpiness to go around for the remainder of the day. We had some brilliant blue-sky days for much of the week and tried to find ways to get the kids outside to enjoy it.
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| Airborne jump park for Labor day |
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| Trash cleaning man |
Hinckley cleaned out our trash cans to earn some money for a new video game he is eyeing after beating the latest Zelda game. Greyson continues to make basketball hoops and crafts for people. Addie continues to draw cute pictures and is enjoying her cross country practice despite some friend drama. On Saturday we did a service activity at a park as a part of "day of service" for 9/11 and everyone actually helped without complaining. It was really special, and we capped it off with slushies at 711 which cemented it as officially a good time.
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| Family service at Olympic Park in Lehi |
September 3, 2023
This week Addie had her first cross-country meet. She is doing it with a friend and seems to have a good time running around the park. She did great! She has been loving her class at school, taking the bus home with her friends, and writing cute nice notes for people. She comes home happy and has really been loving "Dork Diaries" books in the evening.
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| After the big race |
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| Addie at the starting line |
Greyson made a "slip n slide" this week out of tinfoil. He was pretty upset when we told him not to use it given it had multiple staples and push pins in it. He also made a "basketball shoe" out of tin foil and we've been reading more books about basketball. We've had to institute a policy on how many times we will move the hoop location in our backyard, and the hoop height, and the mini trampoline at the base of the hoop that he likes to jump from in order to dunk. He is always on the move creating or doing basketball. However, he did take a break from these things to scatter (and shatter) the trash at the park with a friend which is having us re-think our willingness to let him be at the park without an adult.
Hinckley and I had a great adventure hiking Timp on Saturday. He has been wanting to do that this summer and despite some difficult moments on the glacier (SO slick) and the long journey back to the trailhead we had a really great time. The wildflowers were beautiful, and we saw a lot of mountain goats and amazing sweeping views of the mountains. He has been learning his states and capitals and we've been rehearsing those in our morning drives.
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| Ready to hike! |
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| Chasing the mist up the trail |
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| A boy in the mist |
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| Surviving the slick glacier |
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| The Devil's Staircase |
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| The misty summit! |
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| A view in the basin above Emerald Pools |
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