December 2023

From the sideline to the competition mat, cheer continues. This team has started off with a bang winning first place! They already look incredible, I can't wait to see what the rest of the season brings for them. 

Dallin had his first band concert and they sounded great. I am so grateful to music teachers who help these kids learn skills like reading and playing music. I'm sure it's not an easy job but I think being able to read music is a nice skill to have. 

David got the honors this time of driving cross country to bring Carmen home from Idaho. She is on the Fall/Spring track, which means she doesn't have school from Jan-Apr. So she'll come home and work for a few months. But before coming home they went to the infamous Bean White Elephant party. David has always wanted to go and finally was close enough to be there. 

We all couldn't wait for Carmen to get home, but we were most curious how Koda would react. It was no surprise he was thrilled to see her! And she was thrilled to see him too. 

A snapped a quick family picture on Christmas Sunday after church. It feels so good to be all together again. 

The siblings gifts are possibly everyone's favorite part of Christmas. And tradition has it that they give their gifts on Christmas Eve. 

After Dallin jumped up on Charlottes hip, everyone else tried to do it too. They were being so silly. 

And on Christmas Day we went to see the long anticipated The Boys in the Boat movie. Ever since Carmen did rowing and was required to read this book, which I read as well, we've been mesmerized by this story. When we heard it was being made into a movie, we knew we had to see it. But it took years to make and the wait was long, but here it finally is. And it turned out to be a good flick!

For New Years Eve Dallin made these spicy chicken sandwiches which left us all drooling and wanting more. 

And bright and early on New Years day, the first thing Dallin wanted to do was be ordained to the Priesthood. And so we made it happen. 

And that's a wrap on 2023.

November 2023

Our sweet Aliza Kate turned 17 a few weeks ago. I just can't believe she's this old. For the longest time it felt like she was never going to turn 8 and now here she turned 17. She is wise and mature for her age. She works hard academically and is really good about advocating for her needs or when she feels she has been wronged. I'm so proud to call her ours!

Over the Thanksgiving break we took a quick getaway to Chicago. David and I loved it last year and decided to bring the kids this time. Our hotel room was on the 27th floor of this building and we all though it was so wild to be so high up. The kids thought it was hilarious to think of using the toilet so high in the sky. 

We took them to the German Christmas village which they weren't nearly as entertained by it as we were. 

I've always wanted a family picture in front of "The Bean" and this was going to be our opportunity finally. We walked a few blocks to get there and this is what we found.... totally fenced off. This was as close as we could get. I was so disappointed. 

But we went to a nice dinner and all felt fine again. It was so bizarre to be on vacation without Carmen. The entire time I felt like someone was missing. And I felt the need to tell everyone that we have one more, she's just not with us. 

We spent an entire day at the Chicago Science and Industry Museum which was spectacular. We loved it. 

We came home to host Thanksgiving dinner at our house again. I never ever take pictures because I'm also so busy. But we had a big house fill again this year. And then the very next day we were putting up Christmas decorations. 

Oh and Charlotte and I scored some free tickets to see the Nutcracker. It was totally last minute, but we loved the show. 

October 2023

October slowed down just a lot for us.  Aliza was award for her positive mental attitude on sideline cheer.

Everyone always comments on Dallin's hair and this shows he's always had great hair. 

Charlotte's guitar teacher taught her how to restring her guitar. This feels like a really important skill to know if she is going to continue with guitar. 

Next on Dallin's bucket list was making these buffalo chicken egg rolls. These were a labor of love, but also a big hit!

And then he made home made french fries.

Dallin is doing so awesome with cross country he got moved up to the Middle School Varsity team. He was so nervous about running with the older boys, mostly 8th graders. He was the only 6th grader on the team.  But, he ended up with a PR running his fastest race yet. I told him he just needed that extra push to go a little faster. Running with the fast kids makes you run faster. 

Here he is with the Varsity Team.

We got to escort Aliza on parent night. It was a cold drizzly game, but still fun to be there watching our girl.

Million Dollar Bacon has been our most favorite thing Dallin has learned to cook. We've had it several times since he first made it. 

Another season of soccer is in the books! He really loves soccer and is pretty good at it too. But he also is loving cross country. Unfortunately, at Mattawan XC and soccer are both Fall sports and he can't continue to do both. He's going to have to pick one or the other soon. And it's not going to be an easy choice for him.

Our ward is small so the Trunk or Treat is always kind of a bust, but we still do it even with only 4 or 5 cars. This year Dallin chose to be a Leprechaun and I was the Costco Sample Lady.