Monday, December 20, 2021

November 2021

Zade's nightly scripture study

Every night before bed Zade reads by himself in his scriptures.  It's great to see!  It's a goal he set for himself and he's stuck with it for quite a while. 


Silver Creek Falls
We went on our annual excursion out to Silver Creek Falls.  It was wonderful, as always.

We stumbled upon Gollum lurking in a cave by the waterfalls. :)




Gingerbread House building season


The Krebs moved into our ward recently.  Our kids have really enjoyed hanging out with theirs. Here's Will, Ethan, and Elisabeth with our kids.

A candid cuddle. Everest sure loves his mommy.


Biking buddies.

Covid-19
The day before our younger kids were scheduled to receive their Covid-19 vaccines, Zade woke up with a fever and a headache.  We got a test kit and confirmed he contracted Covid-19.  Fortunately, his symptoms disappeared the next day and he felt fine.  Unfortunately though, he had to quarantine for 10 days, and Ryzen and Nova had to quarantine for 20 days.  It was brutal on Tara. 


Spencer's Butte
It was really cloudy around our house, but we decided to go for a hike anyway.  Once we got to the top of Spencer's Butte, we were above the clouds and had some great views. 



Nova loves playing with her baby bro.

Turkey Trot

Tara and I did our annual race before Thanksgiving.  This year the distance was 5K.  We'd hoped to do the race with Zade, but he was officially still recovering from Covid-19.  We were both happy with our times.  Tara won a medal for her age division.   I finished just outside medal range for mine. I guess I should start training 2 days a week like Tara does. Running once a week just isn't cutting it. :)



Hogwarts Caste
Zade has been working for us for weeks (cleaning, baby sitting, etc.) and saving up his money. He finally cashed in his hard earned cash for this sweet Lego set.  Building it helped him get through is quarantine.


Thanksgiving
We were planning to host my family for Thanksgiving, but due to Covid quarantines, we just did Thanksgiving with our kids.  It was still awesome though.  Lots of our favorite foods.

Christmas Tree

We found a Christmas Tree farm in Coburg that charges a flat fee for any size Christmas tree.  It was too great a deal for us to pass up, so we decided to try out a 14' tree. :)



Skinner's Butte
We realized we'd never hiked Skinner's Butte before.  We gave it a try.  It had some nice views, but Spencer's Butte is still our favorite local hike.








Blanton Ridge Hike

Great Wolf Lodge
The kids had a few days off from school, and had been in quarantine for so long that we decided to test to confirm they didn't have Covid, and then we took off to Great Wolf Lodge.  We invited our friends the Widmer's and they joined us there.







When we got home Everest reminded us of why we've given him the nickname "Curious George".  He gets into everything. 

Sunday, November 14, 2021

Oct 2021

24Seven Dance Competition

Aria's spider dance





Curly Hair
Since Nova started first grade, she's really been into having Tara curl her hair.  Every night before bed Tara puts curlers in her hair. 

Everest's Surgery
A month after Everest was born a dermoid cyst formed on his forehead.  He just went in for surgery to have it removed.  Fortunately it was benign.  
Before
After
The doctor's said the surgery went really well.  We're happy for the little guy. 

Johnson Farm
Pumpkin slingshots for baby pumpkins.  The kids loved it.



The corn maze was good for kids; short and sweet.




Fall Leaves

Reading
Just about every night this past year I've been reading books to the boys.  We've gone through the entire Epic Zero series, as well as the Percy Jackson series.  It's been a lot of fun. 

Haunted Farm
For Halloween, Aria and her friends went to an outdoor haunted farm.  Tara and I went with them.   

Dance Competition
Aria and her friend Meridian did a duet. 

Aria also found a dress she really liked after the competition. 

Ski Swap
We decided to invest in some skis for the kids. 



Thor's Hammer
Zade was bored and decided he wanted to build something... something epic.... something with a lot of duck tape.  Yes, Thor's Hammer.  I made him promise not to use it on his siblings.  He grudging agreed.

Apple Picking
We picked apples at a local farm, including one so large that Zade decided it was worth naming (Steve). Don't ask me where that name comes from. No one knows.
We used the apples to make some pie. 


Carving
Ryzen and Zade and Nova (with a little help from their old man) carved some pumpkins. They turned out pretty good in my opinion. 


We got together with the Widmer family and went trick-or-treating.

I dressed up as Gru, Tara as Lucy, and Everest as a minion from Despicable Me. 


Aria's friends also came along too. 

Young Women's Activity
Horse riding at the Petersen's barn.

Cinderella
Tara and Aria went to the Hult Center and enjoyed a ballet together. 

Fall Soccer
Ryzen and Zade enjoyed another great season of soccer.  Ryzen had several kids from his school on the team. 


Ryzen made a Nome.  The creepy little guy now haunts Ryzen's room.