December 30, 2023
We had a memorable Christmas in Lehi. On Christmas Eve the kids and I went down to Provo and enjoyed a walk/hike in the rocks and trails at the foot of Y Mountain. We had a delicious southern breakfast feast Kassie made in commemoration of our trip to Charleston earlier this year. It included Pimento cheese on biscuits with eggs and grits. We watched The Shepherd and opened ornament gifts. Going to bed that night we caught Greyson trying to sneak down to see if the gifts were out. Christmas morning everyone was happy with their various gifts and candy for breakfast. They immediately set about working on Lego creations, playing basketball, and watching
Space Jam. We enjoyed having Mom and Dad over for Christmas dinner, and we played one of the new games we received with them which was really fun.
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| Hiking with Nana and Grandpa on Christmas Eve/Nana's birthday |
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| Southern Feast on Christmas Eve |
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| Christmas Eve 2023 |
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| Santa's stash |
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| Ready on Christmas morning |
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| Hinckley's gift to Greyson |
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| Greyson's gift to Addie |
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| Addie's gift to Hinckley |
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| Christmas morning joy |
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| Watching Space Jame and doing Legos on Christmas Day |
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| Christmas day with Nana and Grandpa |
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| Hinckley's NASA rover Lego creation |
The rest of this week has been a fun break. We've aimed to do one thing out of the house each day. We've been ice skating, and swimming, played at the church gym with another family in the neighborhood, went to a live animal show at the local Hutchings Museum, and also moved Hinckley's bedroom into my office as we will experiment with sharing that space. Hinckley had a bunch of friends over this week to play "the battle game". It is sort of an imaginary fighting game where they talk a lot about their characters and "the storyline". It is a thing they've been doing during recess and he wanted to host it at the park near our house and so last week he made invitations and scheduled it and everything! 4 friends came and they watched
The Princess Bride after which went well.
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| In "jail" at the Hutchings Museum |
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| Snake at the live animal show |
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| Opening gifts with Grandma and Grandad |
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| Grandma and Grandad's gifts |
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| Pizza night with Grandma and Grandad |
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| Ice skating in Lehi |
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| Addie's completion of the Lego Friends playhouse |
John and Naomi Burnside arrived on Thursday this week and have been adding to the fun. They leave on their mission to Church Headquarters in February. It will be great to have them nearby for the next 18 months!
December 24, 2023
This week there were many Christmas class parties, school singing performances, and excitement for the coming holidays. Greyson received permission to color himself green and brown with markers and had me film his 3rd Grinch movie with himself cast as the green humbug. He and Addie have really enjoyed the "Grinch on the shelf" antics this week though he declared he knows "elves and Santa aren't real" but....are they? Hinckley had his Christmas sing at his school this week and I got to see some of that performance. Addie too, but hers was not open to parents.
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| Grinch boy |
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| Making Christmas cookies with Mom |
Kassie had some women over in the neighborhood for a cookie exchange Thursday night which went well. We had more cookies than we knew what to do with! On Friday Hinckley and Addie had a lot of fun with the Kays while Kassie took Greyson to an art studio in the Provo Towne Center Mall. They had fun making things out of recycled materials and doing screen printing. Friday night we had a memorable nativity and music night at Locust Lane with Nana and Grandpa and cousins. It reminded me of the many times we did that when I was young and it was fun to have some candles in the mix this time along with scriptures. Our kids loved that a lot! And they had a little time (not enough in their estimation) to play night games before it was time to go.
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| Greyson with the Claus' |
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| Greyson with his friend Luke and his little sister |
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| Addie and Sadie doing Legos |
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| Hinckley, Logan and Jack playing video games |
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| Ready for the nativity! |
On Saturday I took the kids to the Saratoga Springs hot springs (maybe where the city got it's name?). It is only 10 minutes or so from our house, and about a 1/2 mile walk from the parking lot. It was pretty cold walking there but then it felt good getting in the warm water and playing. Addie watched as she didn't want to get in. Mom and Dad came and watched the kids in the evening and Kassie and I went and ate at one of our favorite spots in SLC. We haven't been on a date in nearly 2 months due to many confounding factors, so we were grateful. The kids enjoyed playing games with Nana and Grandpa.
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| Saratoga Springs hot springs |
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| Greyson and Kelly with Nana's birthday cake |
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| Reading scriptures and lighting candles with cousins |
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| Nativity - Greyson as Joseph, Addie as angel, Hinckley as wise man |
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| Greyson (Joseph), Kelly (Mary) and Tristan (donkey) |
Today we participated in the church service in many ways. Addie, Hinckley and I sang in the ward choir (Christmas Medley and First Noel), then I sang in a men's chorus (Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel) and then Kassie (flute) and myself (trombone) played in a ward orchestra (Joy to the world). That last one was arranged by a brother in our ward and we had a huge turn out! Maybe 10+ strings, two sisters on piano, a triangle/percussion, a bass, and 4 of us on brass, not to mention Kassie as the solo woodwind. She had a really good solo for a whole verse. It was wonderful.
December 17, 2023
We had a full week of things. Greyson had his Kindergarten "Christmas sing" on Monday and had a great time with his friends singing. He continues to love the Grinch and after a lot of persuasion a Grinch "elf on a shelf" showed up half way through this week to his and Addie's major delight. Greyson immediately set about plans to create a new Grinch movie, which is currently under development. On Saturday Hinckley had his violin concert. It was a somewhat stressful affair for him as he didn't feel he was ready. He also broke his violin on Tuesday, but we were able to get it repaired in time to practice another day or two before the performance. He did it anyway and it all worked out and he seemed happy after it was over. He and Addie also entered some artwork in the American Fork art contest and they both won second place in their age groups! That was a fun thing they did with their art teacher. They love creating.
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Ready for the Christmas sing with Luke and Dax
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| Hinckley's sleeping hutch |
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| Orem temple open house |
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| First violin performance |
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| AF art contest |
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| AF art contest |
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| Outside AF library |
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| Grinch boy |
We finally finished the work being done in our front room and Hinckley has taken to sleeping in the closet of that front room. He loves the dark enclosed space and how quiet it is (no ragged breathing from Greyson). On Friday night we went to the new Orem temple open house. Everyone was not in the most spiritual of moods, but it is a beautiful temple with some remarkable stained glass and interior designs.
December 10, 2023
This week I was in Orlando for a conference. While I was out Kassie and the kids went to a neighborhood treat and service night where they donated some materials to a local food pantry and enjoyed some hot cocoa. I had a good conference and was happy to see everyone again when I returned on Thursday.
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| With my team at Epcot |
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| Team dinner at the hotel |
Addie had her big Christmas choir performance including a solo on Saturday! It was wonderful to see how excited she was about it and she really got into the music. She loved seeing some familiar faces in the audience including her teacher from school, and some cousins and grandparents! She did a great job and her choir director named her "president" starting in the new year which she is excited about.
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| Greyson and team |
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| Baller |
Hinckley has been practicing violin in preparation for his concert next week. It has been difficult but he seems to be pushing through that and is improving. He proudly made his first quesadilla this week and was excited about that.
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| Bruised face boy |
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| Finished shelves |
Also this week our front room work was completed and there is now a door and closet in that room. I finished building some shelves in the garage too so that big project has come to an end at last!
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