NOVEMBER 2024

November started out so great.  We finally got Clair here with his battle with Long Covid.  He was joined by Rachel the first day and then Josh and Sam subsequent days.

We visited Dad who was very interested in his photo book as they talked through it.

We had a very nice tour of the BYU Library with Mike as host.  I learned a lot about it and was amazed at how different it is from when I attended BYU.

We hosted Clair and kids but they got to go to dinner with both LeAnn and Jennifer while they were here.  And we visited Dad several times too.

We put them to work at Dad's house hauling all the old wood from the storage closet and then taking apart the peninsula in the kitchen downstairs in preparation for remodeling.  It was very much appreciated!

We hosted a family dinner at our house while all the kids were here and that was a good time!

We were so happy they all could come for whatever time they were able!

Our Relief Society hosted a fun activity we called the SUNSET FILM FESTIVAL playing off the Utah based Sundance Film Festival.  

The decorations were spectacular including our Concessions area, a ticket booth, a red carpet entrance...

...a Marquis and large popcorn box!

My friend Alicia was the mastermind behind all the decorations!  

So, our adventures at my Dad's house are never ending.  We took down the upper cabinets in the kitchen followed by taking down the bottom cabinets.

We discovered a large flood in the craft room one night when we were there working and that mess has created another hundred hours of work to add to an already long list of things to do to get this basement ready to rent.  

I also got to help Braden install some downspouts to their gutter system this month...as a support person only!

Remember the cabinets we took down?  Well, here they are again...remade into what we want them to be now.  This was quite a project that Braden and Scott helped with over a couple days.  We are hiring out the replacement of the bottom cabinets and countertop installation.

We had our monthly dinner over Thanksgiving weekend...we do not celebrate with the kids on Thanksgiving, and they chose the Saturday after.  Elliot made his famous wings and we just had so much fun together!  Here we are making a plaster footprint of Kaia for our Christmas tree.  We also got cute Sydney's footprint for our tree!

We finished up our season tickets to BYU Football this month with 2 night games in the COLD!  One was a disappointing loss and the other a final win in a 10-2 season that we had amazing hopes for but that ended a bit disappointing with no conference playoff even with that good of a record.

However, it was a fun season and we loved our November overall with so much family time. 

OCTOBER 2024

October was super full of events...starting with taking my classes to the PUMPKIN PATCH!  We always enjoy going to Jaker's and it was another beautiful day!

Then we had Amanda and Jimmy and kiddos come for a few days over Conference Weekend so that was really fun as well.  Scott was up in SLC working most of the time, but we had Conference going and it was bingo and candy prizes and the kids were really great!

We did another family outing to Jaker's using some bouce back passes from my school so we all played in the corn and did corn mazes and had so much fun...although it was unseasonably HOT this day!  So crazy of an October.

Amanda's family caught Dad on a happy day.  He was really happy to have the kids come visit and he sat with Amanda looking at his photo album for a long time.  It was really a sweet visit.

We hosted a BBQ in the backyard and roasted hotdogs and made S'mores before watching an outdoor movie!  We had hoped to do this for a long time!

The next weekend we were back at Jakers with Austin's family...do you see a pattern here?  They came out for the weekend and a BYU football game, which did not disappoint!

Another amazing day for October and really warm outside.

This time it was baby Sydney's first outing to a PUMPKIN PATCH!!

We went to the pre-game activities by Cougar Stadium after having so much fun with Cassidy last month.  It was really another super fun time!

The kids won lots of great prizes and were so excited to get a poster!

Fox Gameday was in Provo broadcasting so the crowds were crazy but we got to the stadium early and had plenty of time to enjoy everything.  We were so glad it was a midday game and not another night game.

After the game we got together for a stadium shot.

  The main reason we got together this weekend was for the blessing of baby Sydney.  It was such a beautiful experience.  I will never forget the emotion in Braden's voice when he talked to Sydney and blessed her.  He told us that she looked up at him and he just saw eternity through her eyes.  Could not have said it better!

Bree and Elliot brought Grandma Taylor down for the day and it was really so special to have her there!

We are so grateful to have Sydney in our family!

The next weekend Mitch was in town so we all got together to bird for a couple hours on Saturday out by the lake.

Braden and McKenna send me little notes like...COME AND SEE ME!  How can we resist??!!

And baby Sydney LOVES BOOKS!!!  She reads a lot each day and this one is obviously one of her favorites...BIRDING FOR BABIES...oh yes!

The next weekend we were off to New Jersey to spend a week there with the kiddos.

We are loving the new house and all the room they have to spread out and play and host.

We love getting to be grandparents that support their grandkids events!

Bennet ran 2 races while we were there so that was a really great time for us!  He is such a good kid!

Carter ran a big Freshman race as well and did amazingly well!  

He came in like #4 out of all the runners and there were over 100.

This is gymnast soccer player Cassidy showing off some moves.

She is actually really a great little ball handler and not afraid to get in there and move the ball.

Klay is also on a more competitive soccer team so it was fun to see him in action!

Scott made this fun print of an action series of him throwing in the ball.

Jenna humored her bird nerd parents by taking us different places almost every day.  We went to the park, to the reservoir and to the coast.

Not much happening right at the beach, but we do love getting out there and seeing the waves and such. 

Here is a shot of the Jensen family in front of their new home.  It is a great space for them!

And some great park shots with the fall colors for family pics!

Wish we would have gotten all the kids individual pics like Cassidy!  Such a beautiful family!

We loved our month of so much family and so many important family events!
 

SEPTEMBER 2024

SEPTEMEBR was fun and busy!  We started the month having Dana come visit for about 5 days.  We took her to a concert at the Covey Center in Provo.

The Great Salt Lake Yacht Club played old favorites from our day so it was a lot of fun!

I took her to see Dad a couple times.  The first time he was just sleeping, but we caught him awake on a Sunday and he got a Dana hug!

I loved this pic that LeAnn took of the "boys" wearing matching hats!  I love the newsboy style hat!

This time of year I love taking my class on field trips like this one to a cool park!  I have really cute and sweet students again this year!

We hosted our annual FALL BBQ for our Arizona Phoenix Mission friends.  We were surprised bya visit from a senior couple the McDaniels, who recently moved to St George from Las Vagas. making them a little closer!

Our most recent transplant to Utah was Brad Skalka who moved from New York.  I remembered he helped make us this cool horseshoe coat rack!

We had about 30 little families come see us and that made for a full sandbox most of the afternoon!  They dug up tons of treasures and had a blast!

My preschool went to the Fire Station this month as well!  SO cute with their little hats!

Speaking of cute...while Scott left us to work in Argentina, Jenna and Cassidy flew out to come see baby Sydney.  

Cassidy was my birder friend while Jenna ran on the trails.  She was really good at it!

We got as much baby time as we could...and yes, Jenna hijacked Sydney all the time and Grandma just had to watch and love it!

OK...we photo verified that at least ONCE I got to hold her!  HA!

So, we had tickets to go to the Kansas State vs BYU football game that started at 8:15 at night...make that 10:15 for our New Jersey visitors.

We went several hours early to the field south of the stadium for activities there and it was SO MUCH FUN!

Cassidy participated in a bunch of booths with activities and just had a blast!

Then we spun the wheel to win prizes which was also very exciting!

You can sort of see some of the booths behind us here to get an idea.

Then, the game was REALLY EXCITING!  And cute Cassidy who swore she would stay awake for the entire game, fell asleep before halftime.  I cannot believe she slept through probably the loudest game I have ever attended including fireworks!  It was insane!

But, BYU pulled off a big upset to win the game 38-9.

We visited Dad on Sunday and he was pretty sleepy but happy to see us in his own way.  It was hard for Jenna to see him so changed since last fall.  

We took a beautiful walk up in the canyon...and Jenna spotted two "American Dippers" birds in the river for us and we went to our favorite spot at Bridal Veil Falls!  Cold but fun!

We had a wonderful month with family and friends!