September 2023

I guess we start out September with my birthday.  This year was a big one because I turned 50!  When I told my kids I was a half a century old Siena replied "Mom don't say that it makes you sound old!"  haha...well I guess I'm old.  I don't feel like I'm 50 so I guess that is the good news.  I spent the day working and then going out to dinner and making smores with the fire pit Shane got me for my birthday.  The next night I got tickets to go see Peter Breinholt in concert with Jennifer and Brigitte and Tyler.  It was a fun night since I hadn't seen Peter in quite a while.

Just a cute picture of all the adults in my family since Christy was in town or a family dinner.

Aria and I went to Courage Reigns fundraiser event one Saturday.  It was fun to walk around and see the horses and Aria got to pet one and do a little craft.  She wants to volunteer there so bad but you have to be 14, so a couple more years!

Grandma and Grandpa always supporting the kids at their soccer games.  They always try to come to at least one game per season.

The girls signed up to do a ChalkArt parking lot event at Ridgeline.  I helped get them started but then they did the rest by themselves.  I thought it turned out so cute and it was a fun event they got to do together.

Because we are season passholders this year at Lagoon, we got to go up and ride the new ride on a weekday when they were closed.  They had promised Primordial would open this summer and it took all summer to get it done so when it didn open they offered sign up times for season passholders to come ride it.  It was a long drive for just a quick ride but the kids were so excited to be one of the first ones to ride it.

We took a Sunday drive up the canyon to see the leaves turning and went on a walk around Tibblefork Reservoir.  The leaves were so pretty and it was fun to get out of the house and enjoy nature.

Aria continues to take horse lessons.  We've been going to a college girl named Aimee who is right in Highland so it's been a good change for Aria and she has been taking lessons with our neighbor Lisbon and another girl in our neighborhood June.

Jaron participated in his first Pinewood Derby race at Westfield.  He had fun racing his car with his friend Parker even though he didn't win any awards.

We did a night at Frightmares at Lagoon at the end of the month.  Jaron had a soccer game up past Lagoon so we dropped the girls off on the way to the game and they met up with Michelle and Lilly then after the game we came back with Jaron and his teammate Lincoln and spent the rest of the night there.

Siena and Aria turn 12!

Siena and Aria's last year before they turn into teenagers. They weren't too happy that their birthday fell on a Sunday but we still made a fun weekend out of it.

Saturday we had a friend party.  They wanted to go to an escape room and we had seen this candy themed one when we did another one the year before.  So they invited a few friends and had a fun time doing the escape room.  We did pizza, cake and presents at our house before we left.

On Sunday we had breakfast and opened presents and then went to church.  After church we went over to the healing field in Sandy.  This is for 9/11 memorial they do every year.  They put up flags and attached is a little story about each victim of 9/11.  I've always wanted to do this but never have so it was a good day to do this.  That evening we went to my parents for a family dinner to celebrate more.

Siena and Aria are both growing up so much.  They both enjoy being in the young women's program and although they are still pretty quiet out in public they certainly don't hold back at home.  They are both kind, smart, good students and all around good kids.  Aria is more into horses than ever and enjoys drawing and has even started writing a bit here and there.  Siena will be doing her 2nd year of Lone Peak bantam basketball and enjoys playing as well as crafting, baking and creating things.  Together they fight like sisters but also have a fun time together just like sisters.

August 2023

The first week of August we took another trip to S. California.  It wasn't what we had planned but when Jaron made a premier soccer team the coach wanted to do a tournament down in San Diego for the Surf Tournament down there.  We went down a couple days early and stayed with The Brian's.  We went to the beach and swam.  Then we headed down early one day and had 2 games one day followed by a team evening at the beach and then one more game the next day.  The team did ok but we didn't make it out of group play.  So the next day before we headed home we went to Sea World and had a fun day hanging out there.  It was a fun trip and Jaron had fun getting to hang out with his team more.

Jaron and his good friend from school, JJ, who actually look like they could be brothers to me.  They have such a fun time playing together and recently he showed up at our house wearing his new Miami Messi jersey so they had to take pictures with both their Messi jerseys on.

We took our annual visit to a Rodeo.  This year we went to the Alpine Rodeo.  It was a fun night like Rodeo's always are.  Aria loves them and Siena mostly goes for the treats!  However, this year they joined the race in the arena for the Cash Cow.  It was so funny to watch.  They didn't get any but said they got close.

And the kids still don't think they are too old to enjoy a good hometown parade and gather as much taffy and candy as they can.  So we went to the Alpine Days parade this year.

July/August birthday celebrations always means we get a new JLO picture, so here they are getting older by another year.  Jaron is still the shortest and we keep thinking he'll hit a growth spurt but not quite yet.

First day of school!  Last year of elementary school for the girls and they are ready to be big 6th graders.  They are excited to have Ms. Reinhart and Jaron will be at Westfield again in Mrs. Zito's 5th grade class.  It's always a bittersweet time, we're ready for schedules but have loved having carefree days.

                                       

Took the kids and their friend Annie kayaking up at Tibblefork one last time before the weather cooled off too much up the canyon.  It was evening so it was already a little chilly but we still had a good time.

July 2023

Lilly got to stay a night with us, we went kayaking to get ice cream at Baskin Robbins!

More Lagoon pictures, this time we took Graham with us. 

We spent 4th of July swimming at Whitney's parents house and then went to Riverton City fireworks.  They really put on a great and very long Fireworks show.

Jaron's soccer team took part in the Surf Soccer Tournament.  We lost 1 of our 3 pool play games and ended up playing the team we lost to in the Championship game and we beat them!  It was a fun tournament and fun to see what this new team can do.

We didn't swim in our neighborhood pool as much this summer as we have in the past but we did make it there and have to document when we do.

After Jaron and his friends had so much fun at the space camp, I signed Siena and Aria up for a day as well.  They had a lot of fun too.

We love going up the canyon and roasting hot dogs and smores.  Always a fun night.  We also took our kayaks and the kids spent some time at Tibblefork.  It was evening and ended up being a pretty cool night so we didn't last that long before they were cold and wanted to go home.

Free slurpee day at 7-11 on 7/11!

We went to Hogle Zoo one day.  Always a fun time.  We also went to the Planetarium afterwards and saw a show in the round theatre.

Another fun night at an RSL game!

We bought a basketball hoop to put in our driveway.  The kids will have fun playing and shooting hoops and Siena cane practice her basketball skills some more.

Siena, Aria and Annie put on a 3 day kids camp.  They had a different theme each day.  It was at our house one of the days and they had an animal themed day.  The kids all loved holding Luna and Coral and it was fun to see their faces light up.

Jaron got to participate in a soccer camp put on by his coach Dallin and a player from RSL, Eric Holt.  Always fun when Jaron gets to play soccer.

Candy Corns are now in stores at the end of July!  It's crazy because I used to get excited when I could find them around my birthday and now I find them the end of July!!

Siena, Jaron and I went and saw Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, youth cast at Hale Centre Theatre.  It was soo so good, especially for it being a youth cast.  Unfortunately Aria came down with Covid and wasn't able to go.  This was the first time any of the kids have gotten Covid.  Luckily she wasn't too sick but I was sad she wasn't able to go.

We got to go to Splash Summit for a day.  The kids love water slides now and it was a fun day!

The girls went to their first Girls Camp put on by our stake.  It was up American Fork Canyon and they slept in tents for 3 nights.  They had so much fun and even though it rained one night and they were pretty wet they came home with fun memories and great attitudes.