December 2025

December 28, 2025

We had a very nice Christmas week, starting the previous Sunday with a trip down to Provo to perform the Nativity story with cousins and Grandpa. Kassie’s sister, Lee, stayed with us for most of the week, and it was very helpful. Christmas Eve was calm and meaningful, with a candlelit dinner and some singing together. Christmas morning went well.

Christmas morning

Christmas Eve at Chuck-a-rama

Daily ritual of looking at Christmas cards

Dinner at Nana and Grandpa's

Nativity Story with cousins

Addie enjoyed the slower pace of the week and enjoyed joining Greyson on one of the trips to the skate park. She also enjoyed movie nights, library trips, and having extra time to connect with friends.

Hinckley also got in on the skate park trips this week and had fun working on his computer game he's developing this week. He seemed to enjoy the break from homework and swim practice this week.

Greyson, of course, went to the skate park every chance he got. He is overflowing with energy and inflexible desires which is testing us all in new and profound ways.

Desmond has loved having everyone around. He is always eager to go outside or pressure someone to turn on the TV. He was sick for a bit this week but seems to be recovering well.

Cards against humanity family edition at the Kays

Desi's new slide

Family walk

Lee time

Ready to deliver cards and treats

Jazz game with Mom and Lee

Hot Wheels and slides with Lee

December 21, 2025

This week felt noticeably calmer, with no recitals or performances on the calendar. Greyson and Addie both had Christmas parties in their classrooms, and Kassie enjoyed going into Greyson’s class to help with his party. Greyson was sick for a couple of days, which is always easy to spot—he stopped talking almost entirely and spent hours quietly sitting on the couch, which is very unlike him. Once he turned the corner, he was back to his very exuberant and high-volume self.

Addie had a fun week socially. She hosted a movie night with a couple of friends on Friday and went all out with handmade posters, blankets, and a cozy setup. She also had one friend over with Greyson, and for the most part everyone got along. Addie and I went on a nice date together, eating out and doing a little Christmas shopping for the person she drew for the kid gift exchange. She and Greyson also came with me to the Red Cross for one of my regular blood donations, and they actually did great together—snacking and talking since the TV was broken.

Greyson's 2nd grade class before the "sing"

Bed time teeth brushing

Desi's dream land (Lowe's)

Blood donation photo - haha

Sampling the Christmas cookie dough

Making Christmas cookies with Mom

Greyson has been enjoying being back to full strength and spending time with friends. He’s been bouncing between school activities and home time and seemed happy to be included in everything this week.

Hinckley spent time with friends over the weekend playing video games and hanging out. He’s been especially energized by a video game he’s developing with the help of AI and is excited to work on it every day. It’s been good to see him so focused and enthusiastic about something.

Desmond has become officially addicted to cookies this week. Between Kassie baking batches for neighbors and attending a friend’s annual charity cookie night, cookies have been everywhere. He’s generally unhappy unless he has one in his mouth, so we’re navigating that new phase.

Kassie and I went on a date using our Get Out Pass to a place called Plunj, where you rotate between a sauna and an extremely cold pool. It was definitely a unique experience, and we’ll see whether it turns us into toxin-free superhumans or not. On the work front, I officially wrapped up the year and felt good sending off two big projects. Hard to believe it’s all done.

December 14, 2025

This was a week full of concerts for Addie. On Monday, Kassie took her to Salt Lake, where her choir sang in the Joseph Smith Building. On Tuesday, I took Addie and the two older boys to Provo for another concert at the chapel at the Utah State Hospital. Addie was overjoyed to have the Kays, Kate, Nana, and Grandpa there to watch. On Thursday night, Kassie and I went up with Abi for the Tabernacle Choir’s annual Christmas concert, which had some great music. And on Saturday night, we saw Addie riding on a float with her choir in the Lehi Santa Parade, even though we couldn’t hear much singing. Addie also dealt with a bout of sickness this week, throwing up once, but she recovered quickly.

Choir girl

Choir girl in action

Tabernacle Choir concert

Hinckley in a trio

The violinist

Hinckley had a big week as well, with his violin recital on Friday. It was neat to see how much he’s progressed this past year. He also had a very long swim meet at the University of Utah and was excited to get his first two state qualifying times. It's amazing the progress he's made and I hope he'll realize it someday haha.

Greyson spent much of the week going off jumps on his bike and was thrilled when Kassie could take him to the skate park today. He created a model skate park out of cardboard so he could run his finger skateboard through it. He enjoyed his last basketball game on Saturday and loved playing with his friends. He and Desmond have been very entertained by all the nightly Grinch locations and antics (our version of "elf on a shelf").

Sick baby

Grinch cookies

Addie's "Christmas corner"

The dream team

Addie' choir float

The mini skate park model

Desmond had a fever this week and wasn’t quite himself for a couple of days. He loves going outside to ride his bike or walk into the middle or the road. He and Greyson now officially share a room and that is going pretty well.  

December 7, 2025

This week we had Hinckley’s Christmas orchestra concert, held at the high school. It was neat to see the junior high students perform alongside the high schoolers, and the music sounded great. Mom and Dad came to support, and it was a really nice evening. We left Desmond and Greyson at home with a babysitter, which was nice.

Des poses at ward Christmas party

Des decides to clean at the party

Sister time

Reviewing our thankful leaves

Ready to ride

Hinckley poised for performance

Addie's homemade ornament gift and box

Desi discovers the Grinch and his antics

Addie is getting excited for her upcoming choir concerts, especially since she gets to wear some very cool choir robes. She had a good week with friends and has been enjoying a new seating arrangement in her classroom. Her class is preparing for a holiday market, and she’s been getting ready for that as well.

Greyson spent a lot of time outside this week, getting big air on his bike jump and loving every minute of it. Desmond is determined to be just like him, always trying to climb onto his tricycle and put on his helmet. His latest thing is a very cute impression of Santa - “oh, oh, oh” gets everyone laughing.

Hinckley joined me for the Mercedes book reading at Mom and Dad’s house on Saturday and also went to Christmas Around the World with them and cousins. 

Orchestra man

At the reading at 1220