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.