November 2022

All 3 of the kids entered the Reflections contest again this year.  Jaron did an original piano piece.  Siena did a drawing and Aria did a drawing and photography.  All 3 got trophies this year.  Jaron and Siena got runner up and Aria got runner up in Photography and 1st place for her drawing.  I'll show you her drawing here cuz I thought it was really good and she did it all free hand.  Proud of them for doing this every year because it's always a busy time of year to get this done and I love seeing what they come up with.

We had our yearly Primary program.  It was the girls last program since they'll be in Young Womens starting in January.  They both had parts this year.  Unfortunately both Siena and Jaron got sick and weren't able to go to church that day.  I was sad but those 2 of course were so happy to miss it and not have to sing or Siena give her part. Aria did a great job and gave her part great and I can't believe they won't be in primary in a couple months!  It feels like they were just Sunbeams!

We had our first snow of the year and Aria and Jaron took full advantage by going outside and playing in it in our backyard.  Those 2 love to play in the snow.  Siena is not a big fan, will go out for a short time and then usually come back in way before the other 2 do.

We went and read to the cats again.  The girls loved it.

At a family dinner we took and updated cousin picture.  We always have a good time when we're with cousins and family.

We spent Thanksgiving at my parents house with Jennifer and her kids.  We of course played left, right, center and Shane won this year.  It was a fun day even if most the rest of the family were with other family members.

The day after Thanksgiving we put the Christmas tree up.  I love putting the tree up and so do the kids but it's kind of a pain but always so happy when it's done.

We gave the kids an early Christmas present - ski boots and skis.  We had to get them fitted so we went over Thanksgiving weekend.  They are so excited to be able to ski lots this winter.  Shane is getting a pass and I am not getting a pass.  The kids are a little sad but they will have fun with Shane and I am excited to have some alone/quiet time on the days they kids go skiing with Shane.

Aria's orchestra got invited to play for the Alpine school district school board meeting.  They played We Wish you a Merry Christmas while the choir performed.

We are ready for full Christmas mode at our house and love this time of year.

October 2022

 The kids love General Conference weekend.  We do a few things each time we have General Conference.  We have a General Conference store that they can buy treats, crafts and/or 'coupons' for extra screen time, late nights, etc.  We also do a guessing game of who is going to speak, where temples are being announced, what color the choir is wearing, etc.  This time the kids built a big fort to watch conference.  It keeps things interesting for what is a long weekend of watching and they are pretty good about listening to most sessions.

Jaron had crazy hair day at school and although I didn't think he would do it this year at the last minute he decided to do it.  The girls missed their day when we left for California but they didn't mind missing it this year.

Our niece Ella got married this month to Holden Ward.  They were sealed in the Provo City Center temple and it was such a great day.  It was supposed to rain all day but they lucked out that the rain held off until they were done taking pictures outside.  That night was the reception in Sandy and it was such a fun night celebrating them and we're excited to have Holden part of our family.

Fall Soccer season for all 3 kids finished up this month.  They had a great season and both won lots of games and lost a few.  Jaron will continue on practicing and doing indoor but the girls will be done until spring.

Aria added 2 parakeets to our family this month, Coral and Luna.  She couldn't just have one this time and ended up finding a big cage and 2 birds on KSL Classifieds and we picked them up one night.  They haven't been held much so it's taking quite a bit of time to get them used to being held.  Most the time as soon as they see anyone they climb to the top corner of the cage and try their hardest to stay inside their cage.  I just know Aria will get them trained in no time.

We took our annual trip to Gardner Village to see the witches.  As much as I don't think they kids care that much as they get older as soon as I mention we might not go this year they get all mad and tell me it's a tradition and they want to go.  So we go and had a good time.

Halloween was a little different this year then previous years.  We had a ward trunk or treat party which was fun to see all the kids dressed up.  We carved pumpkins like we always do.  Shane helps carve while I roast pumpkin seeds.  We had a do it a year earlier because Shane was heading out of town for work.  Which also was kind of strange having Shane out of town especially on Halloween.  The other different thing was I had kinds in Halloween parades at 2 different schools at the exact same time.  With Shane out of town that made it a little tricky.  Luckily Jaron's was broadcast online and he said he didn't care if I was there.  I cared so I sent my mom to go watch while I went to Ridgeline to see the girls and watched Jaron's online.  It all worked out.  That night we had our pumpkin pizza and the kids went trick or treating with friends in 2 different groups.  Both had a good time and I stayed home and passed out candy.  Aria was a bird (very appropriate for what her interests are right now.)  Siena was a vampire bat (she always wants something that won't stand out or make a big scene.) And Jaron insisted on being a soccer ball.  I couldn't find one his size so I ended up making it.  It was kind of a pain but I loved that it turned out and that he was so excited about it.  Hope he wears it every year! :) 

Fall Break Northern California

 For Fall Break this year we decided to go visit Grandma Glover and see some more sights in Northern California.

We drove to Quincy on Wednesday and was able to get there in time to do a short hike to what we thought would be a waterfall only to be disappointed that the drought is so bad that there was no water.  It was still a fun and very pretty hike though.  That night we had pizza with Grandma and Grandpa Jim and had a fun night talking and catching up.

The next day we hung out with Grandma and Grandpa in the morning and then headed over to watch Quincy High School boys soccer game (just happened to be a weekday, middle of the day game)  We only stayed for 1/2 of it because they were killing the other team.  We then stopped by a park and then decided to hike the big Q that is right above the High School.  That night we had dinner and hung out.  The kids loved stacking cards across the living room and were very entertained for a long time with that activity.

The next day we woke up early and headed towards San Francisco.  We stopped at the Jelly Belly Factory and took a tour.  It was fun for the kids to see an actual factory and how things go through all the different stages to get made, packaged and shipped.  We of course bought some jelly bellies and enjoyed a little train ride around the parking lot.

After that we headed into San Francisco.  The kids were super excited to see the Golden Gate Bridge but like it is so often, it was covered in fog that day.  So we drove across the bridge but unfortunately didn't get to see how big and amazing it is.  We then drove down Lombard street and then walked around Pier 39 watching the Sea Lions, eating Donuts and seeing Alcatraz from afar.

The next day we spent the day at The Great America amusement park.  We got some really cheap tickets but apparently so did everyone else and it was so super crowded.  But we rode some fun roller coasters and had a good time.  After we left we drove to a hotel just outside of Yosemite.

The next day was a long day but we had a great day in Yosemite.  We entered on the south end and exited that night on the East end.  We started with a walk around the Giant Sequoia's although the kids loved looking for chipmunks more I'm pretty sure. Then we drove into Yosemite Valley and saw El Capitan.  The kids loved watching the rock climbers and we had just shown them the movie Free Solo right before we left on our trip.  We ate lunch and then we hiked to Vernal Falls.  Siena didn't want to go to the top as it gets very steep with lots of steps so we stopped at the footbridge but the others kept going and made it to the top.

The last day we drove home but stopped at Great Basin National Park.  It's known for their cave tours but since we had just done the ones at Mt. Timpanogos last month we didn't do that.  We ate lunch, took a drive and a short hike to a very low lake but had fun splitting our drive home up a little.

We had a great trip.  It's always fun to see Grandma as she isn't able to come visit us since Grandpa Jim doesn't travel well and shouldn't be left alone.  So we love being able to see her.  The trip was a lot of driving and the kids did great.  We were happy to see some new sites as well.