Random January

Audrey has become more independent and likes to feed herself. It is, um, a little messy. She's a good eater, but like her books, her tastes ebb and flow. 

Lynette finally retired from UPS after working there for over 20 years. We went to her farewell party since there was cake. ;)

This is random, but every spring thousands of birds fly in a swarm in this area and it's really cool to see. 

Yes, we still love Baby Yoda

Audrey has learned how to drink out of a "big kid" cup, but we only give her water since she drinks most of it and then joyfully pours it down her front. 

We took Audrey to the park by City Hall, and she loved it. This phase is a lot of fun. 

Steven turns 12

The twelfth year isn't usually a milestone birthday, but for young men in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, it is when young men are able to receive the Aaronic Priesthood. Mike was leaving for five weeks in Guam, so before he left, he and Tyler Pew ordained Steven to the office of a Deacon. We are proud of his decision and Mike gave him a nice blessing with his ordination. He passed the Sacrament for the first time on the 19th and I may have teared up a little bit. He was very reverent when he passed it.

Since Mike wouldn't be around for Steven's birthday, we celebrated on the 17th. He got his standard junk for breakfast and lunch. For his party, we took a couple of his friends and Amelia to VR Junkies. They all had a blast! Afterwards we had pizza and Ice cream cake, which has become Steven's favorite.

Here is his healthy breakfast. Yes, so healthy. ;)

Steven is still an absolute joy to be around. He is an early riser and wakes up ready for whatever the day has to offer him. He is a dynamic story teller and has something to say about most topics. He is a wonderful big brother. Adam still always prefers to play with Steven, and he always includes him when he plays with his friends. He adores Audrey and after he gets home he takes her outside to play. He still loves to play Lacrosse, tolerates piano, and enjoys video games. We love our Steven so much and are grateful he is a lively part of our family. Happy Birthday Dudeious Maximus!

Here is Steven's annual Birthday interview. I love that 2:45 is his favorite part of the day, because that's when school gets out. 

Science Fair "Fun"

Sarah and Steven both took honors science this year meaning they both had the opportunity to participate in the science fair.

Sarah decided what she wanted to do, and hers was fairly straight forward and simple. She did hers on the Stroop Effect and was easy peasy. It was even a little fun to put it together since she started the process before it was due.

Then there was Steven's project. He and Mike were going to launch rockets and see how much payload a particular rocket and engine could take. They had been planning it for a while, but never seemed to find the time to launch. We then found out that it was already late. Mike was leaving, so they did all of it in one day. Lots of writing. Lots of launching. Lots of work. Very little sleep. ;) For all of their effort, the effect was good and you would not have know how troublesome it was. Mike earned some serious dad points.

Steven cracks his head open...again

Remember how we once said that Steven was our easiest kid injury wise? Never swallowed money, hadn't broken a bone, and rarely gets sick. That all changed after he got staples in his head. His latest injury came while ice skating. Steven is a good ice skater. He went with our neighbors and Holts and fell on the first turn he made after getting on the ice. He hit his eye and thankfully didn't crack the bone. We went to Instacare and Steven got 7 stitches. I'm glad we live in an area where medical care is accessible and good.

Gardner Village petting zoo

Audrey has started to like animals, so we decided to take her to Gardner Village so she could see them up close. It was a COLD day, so she took a more passive role. The kids tried to introduce her to a bunny, but she preferred to be an observer this time. The animals were all very insistent they be given the most, so we went through three buckets of feed. Audrey's favorite animals continue to be the Beanie Boos her siblings buy for her. ;)

Kitchen Makeover

We decided to paint our house "Agreeable Grey" a couple months ago and after doing so realized that our counter tops really clashed with the wall color. We had my friend Lisa Clayson come and give us design ideas. Our first change we decided to make was replacing our nice granite counters with Alpine Mist quartz counters. It was hard to make the decision to switch out perfectly nice counters for ones we didn't technically need, but it turned out nice.

Our next improvement was a back splash. This is the first back splash we've had in our almost 16 years of marriage, so we're feeling quite grown up. (old) I need a better after picture, but it looks nice.

I need to take one when it's cleaner, but this gives an idea. It turned out nice. 

Happy New Year!

On New Years day I woke up early to do a "race" I'd never done before. It's called the Revolution Run and held at the Olympic Oval in Kearns. Racers have five or six hours to run as many laps as they can/want to. My friend Emily joined me for the first ten miles. I felt good so I decided to add on a few more and ended up with around 21 miles. They were slow, and my calves were cramping at the end, but it was the longest I'd ever ran. A marathon doesn't look quite as scary as it once did. 

After the race I went to ARUP to donate blood. It had been a while and I always like to. I had a hard time recovering and took some iron pills because I was still a bit fatigued a couple weeks after. Basically, I'm not 20 anymore. (soon to be not 30 anymore.)

For posterity purposes I'll post Mike's favorite outfit to wear around the house. The two plaids are so nice and complimentary. ;)