May 2024

June 2, 2024

We kicked off the first week of summer this week. We had some good travels a camping trip near Capitol Reef from Monday through Wednesday, and then I was in Atlanta for work from Wednesday through Friday. The best news in all of this is that Desmond appears to be starting to sleep a little better at night. We are rooting for this trend to continue. To be clear, he and Kassie didn't go camping or fly to Atlanta haha.

Biker boy

Sandbox play time

Visiting Grandma and Grandpa Halvorsen's grave

On Memorial day I drove down to the Sunglow Campground with the three older where we met up with Abi and kids along with Kate. We had a blast hiking/bouldering the small canyon near the campsite and getting camp set up. The next morning we drove over the amazing and scenic Highway 12 near Boulder UT and the Grand Staircase to the Lower Calf Creek Falls hike that my neighbors had told me about. It was a long hike in the sand and sun for everyone, but the amazing waterfall was worth it (at least it seemed to be worth it for everyone!). I enjoyed hearing Kelli's sweet singing and chattering throughout most of the hike as she rode in style on Abi's and my back. When we got back to the campsite the kids played an imaginary game in which they each had roles in a kingdom, with Greyson as King. He loved it, and so did everyone else as they played for a very long time! The next morning we broke camp early, and with a desperate video call to Trent were able to get the trailer properly hooked up again to the Highlander before heading home. It was a great trip!

First camping dinner

Rock Hinck

Funny poses

Box canyon with cousins

S'Mores

Lower Calf Creek Falls

Playmates

Last night fire

Final dinner - walking nachos

I made it from southern Utah to the airport with 10 minutes to spare before boarding the plane, so that was good. My work trip was much less eventful, but still a positive experience. I enjoyed getting to know a few of the team members better as this was my first time seeing most of them in person.

On a walk

A good night's rest - and first smile for the camera!

Bath boy

When I returned home I heard all about the library summer reading program that the kids are excited about (prizes!). I didn't see Greyson till Saturday as he stayed overnight with Elder and Sister Burnside in SLC Friday night. He had a great time swimming, eating treats, and more. On Saturday morning Hinckley had his first swim meet of the season and I was a volunteer timer. He did great and had a lot of fun! He has swimming every morning at 8 and so far really loves it.

May 26, 2024

This week we wrapped up school for everyone! Adelaide and Grayson did great in their dances for their end-of-school dance festival. At Hinckley's school, they had "Spring Sing", and Hinckley did a great job. There were class parties, celebrations, and lots of treats.

Greyson fulfilled his dream of making a Ghostbusters movie on Saturday. We had his friend Luke and Adelaide's friend Brooke over to participate in the great production.

Adelaide had her final track meet on Saturday. It was pretty rainy, and once again she decided not to wait it out for one of the later races. And I'm pretty confident this is the last time we'll be doing track for a while.

Singing bros

Ready for Kinder dancing

Hinckley's singing

This was a big week for Hinckley and swimming. He went to a Rec swim camp on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. He was a little nervous at first but did a great job! He didn't have to go to the tryouts because he was told he already made the team for the summer! He was pretty stressed out, but he will be in the intermediate group so he's feeling great about that. He was the first of the kids to get to go up and spend the night with Grandma and Granddad at their apartment in Salt Lake. He had a wonderful time going to the planetarium playing board games and eating nachos.

Desmond isn't sleeping very great, but he has some very cute awake moments during the day that nearly have us forgetting the nights. He enjoyed the attention from Dahrl and Steve who visited on Friday with Matt as well.

May 19, 2024

We are on the home stretch with the school year, approaching the last final week of class this week.

Desmond continues to grow, most notably in his cheeks. He still has chicken legs! He has shown us a few smiles, and everyone is always eager to see what he is up to. We had a few really good nights of sleeping, and a few less good ones. He can be a pretty fussy guy when he puts his mind to it.

Bathtime

Baby thinking pose

Greyson reading Des stories

Greyson finished up his soccer season with his final game on Saturday. He loved running around with his friend Luke and they had a good time goofing around and periodically kicking at the ball. Greyson admitted last week that he enjoys kicking the other team members (people). Aside from kickboxing, this may be the best place for him to get that macabre energy out. He didn't have classes this week due to his Kindergarten "KEEP Testing" which went well. He is all clear and excited for 1st grade!" He had a blast watching Ghostbusters with Kassie (and sleeping Des) for his date this week. I'm glad it was on VidAngel.

Greyson's first soccer season team

With friend Luke and his sister Ivey

Addie had her final choir concert of the season which had a movie theme. They sang songs like "Pure Imagination" (Willy Wonka), "This is Me" (Greatest Showman), and "Under the Sea" (Little Mermaid). She has really enjoyed this community choir and is eager to continue participating in another season. She also had another track meet, this time in Saratoga Springs. She beat her long jump length by nearly a foot from the previous week! She had a play date with her best friend Abby who is moving next week to St. George. She seems to be handling that pretty well.

Addie and Abbey

Running the 400 M at Westlake High

Hinckley had his final violin concert of the season on Saturday and did really well! He played the theme song from Pirates of the Caribbean and another Suzuki piece. Despite his lack of joy in daily practice, he still seems to enjoy violin enough to want to continue with that which is great. Also this week Hinckley had his "wax museum" and dressed up like Nikola Tesla. There was much drama as he attempted to dye his hair black...but it ended up going a bit purple, and then after going swimming the next day, it developed a greenish hue. He is learning resilience. He has swim camp this coming week and plans to join the summer swim team. This marks the end of our twice-a-week visits to the Lehi rec center where he swam laps in the morning while I "coached" him on the side.

I started work back up this week. People at my job have been very supportive for which I'm grateful.

Violin recital

Nikola Tesla

3 pushers

May 13, 2024

This was my last full week on paternity leave as I head back to work on Tuesday (tomorrow). I got to volunteer in Greyson's class again serving ice cream...I think it was a prize for learning something. This week he made some strides in learning to ride is bike, though he is not quite there yet. He is motivated by the idea that when he can ride we will ride to the gas station for a treat. He continues now to record "podcasts" (audio files on my computer) of various books. He just reads and reads and reads despite not knowing much of the words he is trying to read. He was puzzling this week why Heavenly Father made the world "live action instead of cartoon" as he thinks about the various forms of media haha. Greyson had his final Let's Play Music recital and played the bells to the tune of "Are You Sleeping". We have run out of energy to continue pushing him in this program, and to his older siblings amazement and anger are allowing him to quit and not do the final year. We have bitter-sweet feelings about that.

Greyson and his Kinder buddies eating ice cream

Mothers day morning

Hinckley and his friend Tyler

Greyson's final Let's Play Music performance

Addie's first long jump at the track meet

Addie had her gymnastics showcase this week and was so excited to show us what she has learned. She also had her first official track meet at PG High School and she got up the courage to try the long jump. She loves cooing over Desmond along with her brothers and is always eager to see what kind of face he is making. This week she was spotlighted at school in her class and basked in the glow of all the attention and kind words that came with that. She loves her teacher and has lamented to me multiple times this week that "I wish nothing ever changed!" She is already sad about the idea of growing up.

The pink-coated gymnast

Trophies!

Addie's daily white board

Family watching Addie's gymnastics

The Farmer of the Week

Cuddles with Mom

Hinckley has taken off this week in building the courage and energy to go down to UT lake with a friend or sibling and explore/build in the trees there without adults. It is great to see him spread his wings this way! He also mowed our back lawn for the first time and got interested in the idea of starting a business some day. We watched a few episodes of Shark Tank which he was fascinated by.

Mother's day dinner with Grandma

May 5, 2024

This week I went on a field trip with Greyson's kindergarten class to a nearby park where the kids ran wild and ate sack lunches. He had a lot of fun with his friends and it was fun to see them in all their kindergarten glory. Our neighbor Cathy had Greyson over at her house to watch Harry and the Hendersons and she fed him a 4-course meal consisting of soda, chicken nuggets, tater tots, and cake. He was in heaven.

Drawing with Kids YouTube

Greyson, Dax, and Luke - on the Kinder Bus

Greyson living the high life at Cathy Carter's

Addie and I went on a date on Saturday, hiking in Draper. It was ideal weather and we had a great time spotting flowers and she told me all about her autobiography she is writing at school. Unfortunately, she got stung by a wasp at the end! But she did a great job and was feeling much better by the time we were eating fro yo :) She is feeling a little nervous about being a 4th grader this coming year, but also excited. Her best friend at school is moving to St. George this summer and she got to go to her birthday party this week. Lots of big feelings there.

View from the trailhead

Hinckley is working on a final report about Nikola Tesla. He and his friend Logan had a couple of fun hang-out sessions this week down by Utah Lake. He also picked up trash on the lake trail as a part of the boy's activities and was delighted to report that all the boys in his group valued his extensive knowledge about algae and lake ecosystems. He and I continue to enjoy watching episodes of Star Trek The Next Generation together.

We had family photos on Saturday and Desmond did great! He slept through the whole thing. He is having more good nights sleeping in manageable stretches. Kassie took him to a few appointments this week and determined he has a lip and tongue tie which may explain why he nurses for up to 1 hour but barely eats during that time! We are hoping to get that remedied soon. We enjoyed having Trent and Abi's families over and seeing M&D one more time before they continued on to their next adventures.