Nathan's book

I spent most of October and November working on a nearly 400-page book about Nathan's childhood, with written history and pictures from 18 years. I gave the book to Nathan for Christmas, and it was my favorite gift to give this year.

Here's a look at some of the pages: 

 

September Misc

 Alex went on a couple of work trips in September.  

Weston had a fun friend birthday party, which was steam punk murder mystery.  Weston had to go in costume as a steam punk adventurer. 

I cut my own hair the beginning of September and then cut it shorter again the next month.  I didn't really want a short hair cut unless I could maintain it on my own.  I didn't want to keep paying for maintenance cuts every few months.  Savannah looked cute for her school picture day.  She did a new painting of Kai.  She loves the dog!

A highlight for the month was having the missionaries over for dinner.  Elder Parks had just started his mission, with his home ward being my sister's ward in TX where her husband is the Bishop.  I got to show him the video Audrey had recently posted of the choir singing.  He recognized the soloist and got a little piece of home.  Owen's seminary class had fun making a pyramid one morning.  We discovered Weston's plastic spoon collection (from school), which he was carrying around in his backpack.  So weird.  It was pretty cool to see the dew drops on the spider webs.  It wasn't cool walking head on into one of those webs another day (when I didn't see the web).  When I discovered that I also had the giant SPIDER from the web on my hat, I flung my hat off pretty quick!  Blah. 

About the middle of September, our clothes washer broke.  We did some loads by hand before we got a new used washer.  The dryer still works.  Shortly after the washer broke, our fridge also stopped working, so we also had to buy a new used fridge.  We're not sure how long these used appliances will last, but we didn't really have money to buy anything (with our Utah housing woes). It was funny that we immediately covered the whole fridge with chore charts, reading charts, and magnets again - also a little weird.  

Anyway, Weston's mini fridge came in handy during the transition.  This was a little amusing, because we picked up the mini fridge a couple months earlier off the side of the road.  It said "free" and even though I said we didn't need it, Weston insisted that he needed it and wanted to bring it home and put it in his room.  I guess it turns out we did need that mini fridge for a bit - another of Weston's "prophecies."  He's had a few other times when he said or had some random little prophecy.  He asked for toilet paper for Christmas 2019 (right before the 2020 toilet paper shortage).  He said he wanted to visit Ukraine "while it still lasts".  A couple months later, Russia invaded Ukraine.  He wanted to buy Ford stock with his "Covid money" but Alex didn't let him.  And then Ford's stock prices went way up (should have listened to Weston on that one).  We say he has the gift of prophecy, but it just comes out at random times.  He can't predict the future or the stock market, but sometimes he says or does something that has us marveling.  

I did a lot of yard work, cleaning, organizing, and decluttering in September.  I made a lot of progress, but it also felt like I was just doing manual labor all month - which was tiring.

September wasn't a great month, but I also enjoyed Owen practicing singing for his solo for his choir class.  He doesn't like the way he sounds, but I enjoyed hearing him practice. 

July Misc

 Over spring break, we saw this artwork of Gandalf at a shop.  Our friend Jack really liked it, but it was horribly expensive.  I snapped a photo of it because Savannah said she could paint it.  She did that this summer and gave it to Jack, sort of as a graduation gift, since he just graduated high school.  I think she did a really good job on it. 

Owen and I have still been playing volleyball at the church once a week.  It's pretty fun, but I do get bruised up sometimes.  This one was pretty bad, but not enough to keep from getting back out there the next week.  

I saw a butterfly on my bedroom window one night, and I was surprised to see it still there in the morning.  I always think of my grandma when I see butterflies now, so maybe it was a sign she was near.  We did a lot of fruit harvesting this summer.  The random lemon picked for lemonade was just funny.  We actually got several plums this year, along with peaches, apricots, and grapes.  

The kids were pretty bored this summer.  They didn't really do many fun things.  They had to just hang out for 2 weeks at home while Alex and I were on our trip.  They did a couple of camps and sports.  Other than that, they were mostly at home.  Savannah hung out with friends one day and got free slurpees.  We did a beach day with friends.  The kids mostly played the board games, but we did a family Ticket to Ride one evening that was pretty fun.  Savannah continued with twice a week swimming, which was summer conditioning.  Weston ran with the school cross country team this summer, as he decided to join the cross country team in the fall.  

Along with summer league basketball, Owen did a couple weeks of volunteer work, helping kindergarteners learn safety skills.  They actually had a film crew there during the 1st week, filming for a documentary, so maybe Owen will show up in that.  Owen enjoyed singing songs and helping the kids.  He met a little kid named Billy who just liked to laugh a lot.  One of the girls the second week really liked Owen.  Apparently the girl went home talking to her mom about "the boy".  The mom was curious what boy she had met, but she realized who that was the next morning as her daughter ran up and hugged Owen's leg.  "Oh, you're the BOY she was talking about." This little girl clung to Owen all week. Owen discovered that he really enjoys working with kids.  Owen also started a part-time job towards the end of the summer.  He plans to continue doing that throughout the school year, working Saturdays when he can. 

We went to a pioneer day celebration.  We had great food, hanging out, and activities for the kids.  They had a little obstacle course race, which was hilarious to see Weston and Owen doing with their friends.  I guess I cut the video off too early, but Owen did pull out the win in the end. He was really flying with his friend Aubree in the cart!

Alex spent a week in Oklahoma with his parents, helping out as his dad went in for knee surgery.  Alex did some yardwork and chores around the house.  He sent one picture of him all sweaty from working outside.  It's a little bit hotter there in the summer than here in CA...  His parents got to briefly chat with Jared on his weekly mission call, and I snapped a screenshot. 

Here are a few of the youth activities for the summer - the girls sewed their own purses.  There was a combined activity night with minute-to-win-it games.  Owen and Jack were determined to finish this puzzle they started in one of the challenges.  The youth did a sunset hike one night. 

It was nice to have Nathan home for the summer.  He got a full-time job (8am-4pm) so we didn't see a lot of him.  He didn't necessarily like the manual labor that he was doing, but he did learn some maintenance skills and enjoyed doing things with his hands.  He now wants to find a job that isn't just behind a computer all day.  Nathan was also involved this summer in all the singles ward activities and scripture study nights, so he kept pretty busy.  He bought a car this summer too, a 2013 Honda Civic.  He's pretty excited to have his own car to drive around.  He went on a hike before he left and snapped a few pictures.  I think he liked being home for a few months.

Alex and I did our monthly temple visit.  Savannah and I sang a duet in church, which was a little nerve-wracking, but we did it.  We sang "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need".  Savannah sang the alto part and did a good job. We had a special day one Sunday when Weston received his patriarchal blessing.  Savannah wasn't able to attend with us, so we dropped her off at our friend's house.  Our good friends just moved to the same town as the Stake Patriarch so it worked out pretty well to have dinner with them and then go to Weston's blessing.  Alex, Nathan, Owen, and I had a very spiritual experience being there with Weston.  Some amazing promises and gifts were mentioned depending on his faithfulness.  Some things were similar to his brothers, with a mission, family, and leadership in his future.  Gifts of kindness and love were mentioned, with the ability to develop many gifts through service.  It was just really spirit-filled experience and we felt close to family that had already passed on to the other side.  

The last picture was actually after the blessing.  On the way back to pick up Savannah, we saw someone having car trouble.  Our boys jumped out, along with some other guys, to help push the car into the gas station.  I liked how it didn't matter that they were in the church clothes.  They were quick to lend a hand regardless, and I like to think that it's those small acts of service that help these kids develop the attributes they need to succeed in life. 

March Misc

Savannah did some more painting - she likes doing the landscape pictures.  

We did some lunch outings for minimum days and friend's birthday - Chili's, Mexican, and BBQ Mexican restaurants. 

Owen and I went to a concert by BYU's Vocal Point and Noteworthy groups. They're an acapella group, so all the background sounds you hear is done by their voices.  They're really good!  One of the performers is the son of a local church member, so they had connections to get the group to come here. 

The youth did a St Patrick's potato dinner, show, and service auction night to earn money for summer camp. We enjoyed the entertainment.  The girls did a lip sync dance, Weston's group did a synchronized swimming show, and Owen's group did a trick shots video. We bought some cinnamon rolls and cookies.  Savannah offered to be a mother's helper for her service, and Owen and Weston signed up for mowing and weeding.  

                                          

December festivities

 We got our tree put up and decorated.  I got my new missionary ornament for Jared, which I love.   

Alex, Owen, and Savannah went to the ward Christmas party.  Owen played the part of Joseph in the Nativity.  Savannah was an angel.  Alex played a wise man.  I got ahold of a few pictures.  He also participated with the Bishopric in a 12 Days of Christmas song.  I never got a video of that, but apparently it was pretty funny.  I still made cookies and rolls for the party even though I couldn't attend.

I went wild with treat deliveries this year.  I ended up doing 3 rounds, with 4 days of deliveries. I tried to calculate how many I ended up making total.   It was around 318 snickerdoodles (26.5 dozen), 125 cake truffles, and 47 chocolate peppermint loaves.  I also sent out about 60 cards locally and 70 to friends and family far away.  Savannah found a picture online to re-make as a painting for the cover of our Christmas cards.  I scanned her painting, designed, and printed them out on cardstock.  I love how they turned out.  We had a mountain-themed Christmas letter this year, so it went well with our letter.  I didn't send out letters to all the local people, but several got the card and family photo.  It was a lot of work, but I love serving during the Christmas season.

I got to do a few fun things during December.  We went Christmas caroling with a group to older folks.  I took Weston out for lunch on his minimum day.  I also got to eat lunch with friends one day since a friend was visiting from out of town.  Owen is wearing the Christmas socks - just a random funny thing for the season.  He wore them to school. The last collage has a picture of Savannah and a couple good friends at school (sent by a mom).  There's a picture from Owen's choir concert and a screen shot of one of our video chats with Jared.  Nathan has been able to join on the calls from BYU pretty consistently.  I love my Monday phone calls!