2024 was good to us!

Family Highlights - Addy getting home in Feb and Estelle joining the family in May!!! We took a quick family trip to St George when Addy got home, Jazz games and BYU games, spring skiing and Dec skiing, temple open houses - Manti, Layton, Taylorsville and Tooele, Blain and Heidi went with friends to Nashville with visits to: Country Music Hall of Fame, Bluebird Cafe, Honky Tonks, some Civil War sites, etc. We really enjoy going to plays at Hale Center and Sundance with friends and family. Love going to concerts: Sarah McLachlan, Walker Hayes, Bluebirds at Sundance. We had our annual Hall reunion in Duchesne UT at Paradise Resort and the Wilkey Reunion was here in town where we celebrated G and G 50th Wedding anniversary 70's style. Of course we love our camping with friends and family all summer long. Our favorite family trip this summer was to Oregon for a week. We drove the whole OR coast and stayed at cute places along the way. We made a trip to Logan over Fall Break complete with a western murder mystery dinner….super legit costumes, acting and decorations. We made a trip to DC and Virginia when we found out Blain had a work event there and our friends have a house in VA. We participated in our first and maybe last Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving (maybe only Heidi and Blain finished). We took the family to see Beauty and the Beast at Hale in Sandy and by far it was the most amazing use of the stage and actors we’ve ever seen there! This past weekend we all went and stayed at Sundance for a little Christmas get away. It was complete with ugly sweaters, white elephants, hidden talent shows, dinner at The Grill, a dip in the Springs, skiing with the gang, lots of game playing and laughing. We also got to meet a certain someone…details below. 

B & H - Blain served as the bishop of our ward for the last 5 1/2 years. He was released in June and is now the Sunbeam teacher. Best calling ever! Heidi has been serving in the Young Women’s organization where we held a month long youth mission activity in Jan, had girls camp on a ward level and then was released in Aug when she was called to the Stake Primary. Blain hiked to the top of Timp with some friends in October and was only a little sore afterwards. Heidi started working as a virtual assistant after 20+ years of not working (she has Laural to thank or blame for that ).

C & M found out in Jan they were having a girl, Estelle Heidi came in May 8th. They have been adventurous with the kiddos and tired some first with them: backpacking, Bryce Canyon and Craters of the Moon. Monica was just called to be the Young Women’s president in their ward which is a good stretch for her. Christian is still working at Rainbow Restoration with side gigs like loans and painting Einstein Bagels after hours. He was training for a marathon but the timing with baby and sickness crushed those plans. Maybe next year. Huxton (2) and mommy (and Estelle) go to the library a couple times a week and he loves to read, read, read! It shows too because he is crazy smart. Huxton loves cars, his Teddy, playing outside and taking toys to bed with him. Estelle (8 mo) loves to eat, is super attached to mom, is very smiley and loves to sleep with her bunny on her face. 

Addy (21) returned from her LDS mission in Bismarck, North Dakota on Feb 17, toured BYU-I in March and moved to Rexburg, Idaho to start a Vocal Performance in April….but has since switched to Marriage and Family Studies with an emphasis in Advocacy. She loves the group Gentri so we took her to see them for their Easter concert before she left. She also got to do one more fun thing before she left, she got her wisdom teeth out. She got a job as a tour guide on campus and loves her job. It also came with the fun perk of a handsome young man named Ethan and they have decided they want to make permanent arrangements, as in eternity. 

Bonus Picture :)

Jack (19) is serving his LDS mission in the Argentina, Neuquén mission and he loves it! He has been out now for 16 months, which means we’re down to 8 months left….but nobody’s counting. He is serving as the zone leader and has his very first native companion. It has been so neat to watch him choose to follow Christ on his own. He truly is happy where he’s at which also makes being away from him at the holidays a lot easier. Not to mention it’s 90° down there right now so he’s not feeling like it’s Christmas. He got to use his piano skills to play at the mission conference with Elder Gong. He has embraced the asada, bread and maté that are plentiful down there in Argentina. 

Lauren (16) turned sweet sixteen in February and as tradition goes, she got to have her birthday party up at a cabin at Sundance with a couple of friends, which is a fun park that we get thanks to Dad. She has been dating and going to HS dances, but her favorite dancing is on the Dance Crew at Timpview HS. This past summer, she attended FSY at Snow College with a friend and had really fun and spiritual experiences. She is taking voice lessons again and gets to show off her skills at a community sabbath praise music night called Rad Sab. She was on their lineup in June and Dec. She went to Jamaica with her cousin Summer and got fired as well as stuck at the airport in FL for 3 days during the world wide glitch. And she got her license finally!!!! 8 months later, better late then never. She’s taking good care of Jack’s car while he’s gone. 

Lia (12) got her temple recommend early so she could attend the temple the first day it was open this year, Jan 2. She really enjoyed being apart of the Elementary School’s theater productions of Lion King Jr in Feb where she had the role of Sarabi.  She also enjoyed her last year of early morning choir at the elementary. Their choir teacher is amazing and made all the early mornings worth it. She finished her first year of online school and started 7th grade online. She is also at the public middle school for the last period each day. For her 12 year old trip she choose to go to NYC and I think we did all the “musts” possible in a one week span including seeing two musicals - Back to the Future and Wicked. I hosted a smaller one night Highlights from Camp Little Springs and called it a reunion for Lia and the OG girls who came last summer.

2023 in the rearview mirror

Highlights from 2023: Time together with family and friends. Perks at Sundance such as dinners/Bluebird Cafe/cabin stays/cantatas/film festivals/skiing/harvest markets/theater/etc. Attending theatre plays with friends at Hale Center, Pickleville, Sundance and Tuacahn.  Our adventurous travels which include a 9-day Greek cruise with friends (including our favorite stops to Jerusalem and Nazareth/Capernaum/Galilee), several camping trips, 10 days in Hawaii with friends, Logan UT with family complete with a murder mystery dinner party, twice to Escalante one of which included a 12.95 mile hike through Coyote Gulch, Bear Lake for a fun friend trip, our Hall Family Reunion in St George and our Wilkey Family reunion in mid west to visit a bunch of church history sites including Nauvoo, Carthage, Far West, Adam-Ondi-Ahman, Independence and Liberty. We’ve loved attending BYU games: football, volleyball, basketball and soccer. We have the best Neighborhood and fun monthly gatherings (in the warmer months), we love serving with the youth and enjoyed girls camp and youth conference with them. 

Blain & Heidi 

Blain won a Gozney Roccbox (a pizza oven) at a golf tournament and has perfected the 90 second fire cooked personal sized pizza. Heidi has perfected the sourdough pizza crust to go with that oven as a result of her year long quest to make sourdough as our only source of bread. Blain has cured his heartburn, not by prescription or surgery as the doctors have suggested but by intermittent fasting. Gone. 100%….as long as he continues to intermittent fasting, which isn’t a problem because it also has another positive side effect, weight loss. Upon finding out that our school district canceled Camp Big Springs (a 5 day camp for 5th graders) Heidi put together a backyard camp for Lia and her 10 closest friends called Camp Little Springs. They had a lot of fun with all kinds of adventures - ropes course, a day at Sundance to ride the lift and do a hike and lunch at the restaurant, swimming at my cousins pool. Lots of fun camp songs, and camp food and even a camp store. Camp classes and storytelling and very little sleep for 3 nights. 

Christian & Monica

Christian and Monica have big news. They are expecting baby number two in May. Details to come on the gender. Monica has been a trooper because her pregnancies are pretty rough but things are starting to get better. She is the best mommy and loves her time together with Huxton. Huxton is obsessed with cars. Cars in any form are his favorite right now whether that’s the movie Cars, toy cars, cars driving down the street or toy cars he rides on. He has a very extensive vocabulary for a little guy who’s not even two yet. Some of his favorite words are fruit snack - fruip nack, come… - cup, sit, play cars, sticker book - tigger book, binky - minky, Mater - mayner, Drummer boy - dummer boy, Ladybug - Ladid bug And Buddy has the best hair so far (maybe in the whole family). Christian has been training and plans to run a marathon this summer. He’s doing great with his progression and proudly acknowledges that he is now past the below average for his health and age. He is working hard for Rainbow Restoration, and he still does home loans on the side. He and Monica purchased their first home this year. They got a cute condo in American Fork.

Addy (20)

Has served faithfully for the last 16 1/2 months on her mission. She has been serving in the North Dakota Bismarck mission and is currently in Bismarck. She will finish out her mission there and return home on February 17. We could not be more excited to see her. Her love and testimony of our Savior has grown immensely and she will miss being a missionary and special witness of Jesus Christ. She has also discovered about herself that she wants to live in a small town. This works out well for two reasons. She now thinks she’s from the South and speaks with an accent and she is headed to a small town called Rexburg, ID for school in April where she will be majoring in Music with an emphasis in Vocal Performance at BYU-Idaho. 

Jack (18)

Finished his senior year at Timpview High and graduated with honors. For his senior trip he and his best buddy headed to Hawaii for a week, he chose that over his Senior Prom, oh well. He has been accepted to both Utah Valley University and BYU. He decided to accept both and wait to decide where he’ll attend until after his mission. He is so excited to serve a two year mission for our church and has worked hard his whole life to save for this. He was called to serve in the Argentina, Neuguen Mission and started his Home MTC on Aug 28th then left for the Provo MTC on Sep 5th. He is now in Argentina and loving it. He worked several jobs to save for his mission including mowing lawns for neighbors, landscaping, Christmas tree lots and BYU events. He left on a high note of finally beating his dad at golf so he holds the current “trophy”. 

Lauren (15)

This year Lauren and Lia tried an online school for their core classes. Lauren also goes to THS for her Dance Crew team and her seminary class. It seems to be a good fit for her. She loves to dance and loves her Dcrew team. She has been invited to sing a few times with a fun nondenominational night of worship songs. She’s the youngest one by far and she can hold her weight. She’s enjoyed a great week down at Snow College attending FSY (youth church conference) with a friend. She got her learners permit but doesn’t love driving. And she works hard at 3 different jobs teaching piano lessons, working at the snow cone shack over the summer and her cleaning job she’s had since she was 11. 

Lia (11)

Lia finished up 5th at Rock Canyon Elementary where some of the highlights were being Christa McCauliffe in the wax museum, participating in Colonial Days and our last field trip to the State Capitol. She has also been doing an online public charter school for 6th grade, but participates in early morning choir at the grade school. She decided to audition for the school play Lion King Jr and got the role as Sarabi which will be in Feb next year. She is the youngest in our family, but well on her way to being the tallest girl in the family. She checks almost daily! She is finally graduated from Primary and looking forward to being in Young Women’s next year. She loves to play soccer and ski.