January

2022 started out with a bang with lots more snow and then the first 3 days of school were declared snow days! The kids were SO excited. They had fun one day playing with cousins, pulling each other on sleds around our block with the truck:

That is until the cheap plastic sleds fell apart. :)

Eve's rash slowly started to fade and she loved trying on Joe's Grandpa's golf hat one day:

I put Eve's snowsuit on and took it off over and over so she could play in the snow for short stints. I loved this series of pictures:

That little stinker got into the flour one day while I was distracted cooking and made a huge mess:

It was all over the couch, floor, carpet and George. An impressive mess for sure.

She does have her sweet moments too:

Hugging George:

We enjoyed many trips to Chick Fil-A to eat and play at their playplace in the cold winter months:

I love being able to relax a bit and watch her play.

I love her little curls as her hair gets longer:

Not to mention those cheeks. :)

I'm not sure who took this picture of Joe but I loved this smile:

His ankle slowly healed and he was eventually able to start putting some weight on it. He was in pain at first but has gotten stronger and stronger and then even the boot came off. His x-ray looked good.

We got so much snow this winter and I loved the idyllic views in the morning like this one:

Nate got to go do baptisms at the temple and I was sent this picture:

He's got some good kids in his quorum and Sunday school class and is making friends there.

December

It was a busy but fun December. I already talked about the kids' birthdays but here were some of the other happenings during the month. Definitely need to start with more cute Eve pictures. Sometimes I have to wake her up from her nap and can't help but take a picture:

Regina gave us this old Atkinder onesie they had and I thought it looked so cute:

She loves sitting inside things:

We got Nate's football pictures back and I thought it turned out really good:

Lizzie and I joined a choir that performed some songs for a nativity at a community Christmas festival. It was a cool experience. Eli also performed a song called Baby in a Manger with a group of kids. Here's our choir:

Eli's grade put on a Christmas ukulele concert. I was impressed with his music teacher managing 4 different classes and they did a great job. See if you can spot Eli:

I often find crazy pictures on my phone from these two:

Eve was so excited about the snow that she wanted to go out in it one morning:

I took this when it started to snow on Eli's birthday and she was saying, "Snow!" We were both so excited:

I mentioned in Eli's birthday post that the boys went with family down to Provo to tour the practice facilities and meet some players. They loved it!

He loves Elijah Bryant (for obvious reasons :):

We had a really good storm another day and Eli had to go run through it as we were getting into the car for school:

I just loved this sunrise one morning:

The girls spent months getting ready for their Guys and Dolls performance and they finally performed in December. Natalie sent me this picture from rehearsals one day:

She was a hot box girl and a waitress. Lizzie was a gambler and also a member of the Havana band. James got the role of the policeman:

Great Grandpa Hall's hats coming in handy again. I loved that they could do it together. I went to a showing by myself and Joe and the boys went to another night. I loved it and thought they did a great job. I especially loved watching them dance and get into their roles.

George living his best life on a makeshift bed:

Finally, the kids were off of school and we had some time to get ready for Christmas. I worked hard making treats to take around on our Christmas plates:

We ended up having our nice Christmas meal on the 23rd and Marsha came to join us. Here was the spread:

We watched It's a Wonderful Life that night. The next night we met cousins and aunts and uncles at the cemetery for another little service. It was so beautiful with the snow falling lightly and we sang songs, lit candles, and talked about family memories. Joe loved it too even if it was an ordeal getting out there in his boot:

I always want to remember driving back to Jerome afterward and singing Christmas songs together. It was wonderful. We spent some time at Chris and Regina's after that for finger food and to hang out with everyone. I loved all being together (even with Toni and the kids who were there too--Richard came later). We didn't want to leave but we needed to get Eve home for bed. The kids opened their Christmas jammies and posed for the obligatory pics:

We woke up to all this snow in the morning and it kept snowing all day. It was so peaceful and wonderful!

I loved just walking out in it later in the day. The kids loved opening their presents. One highlight was the little Pablo doll Eve got from Eli. She loved it so much and was so excited to see it! Unfortunately, our plans to go to CA the day after Christmas fell through when Donner got tons of snow. That was depressing for me but we tried to have some fun at home instead. We got to play games with Richard & Toni and kids before they drove back. We also watched a lot of movies and ate a lot of junk :).

I took the boys to get their 2nd covid shots one day (and the promised Chick Fil A as a reward). We all went to see Sing 2 one day. Eve didn't sit very well but it was a good attempt. :) Joe and I got out for our anniversary to our favorite restaurant here (Elevation 486) and then we wanted to see West Side Story but it wasn't showing until 9:30. We ended up seeing American Underdog instead, got some ice cream in between and then saw West Side Story too! I hadn't done that since my Varsity Theater days in Provo and it was fun to feel like kids again. We even stayed awake for both of them.

Sadly, Eve finished out the year with a bad rash:

Luckily it wasn't anything bad, it just looked bad. We had family over Christmas Eve night to sing karaoke and play games while the teens went to a dance. The younger ones played with some poppers at midnight. It was a fun way to ring in the new year. Goodbye 2021!

Eli is 9!

Eli had a pretty magical birthday this year. His biggest wish was that it would snow on his birthday and he was watching the weather eagerly. He did end up getting his wish and it was so exciting!

Maddy came over after school and they built a snowman together:

Eli got donuts for breakfast and took some treats along to share with his class. Unfortunately, the girls were in the middle of long play rehearsals and couldn't make it for his birthday celebration after school. Luckily we had Maddy there to make it a little less quiet. We had steak for dinner and then opened presents after that. He was so excited to get the Magic 8 Ball Lizzie got him and some other things he wanted as well. 

After that it was time for cake and ice cream:

Eli had a great year full of some pretty big changes. He started 3rd grade at a brand new school where he didn't know anyone (except Aunt Regina who teaches there--it was so helpful to have her there with him). He was so sad to leave Clovis, maybe the most of anyone. He loved his 2nd grade teacher, even though zoom school was hard in a lot of ways. She did a great job of making it work. He loved his karate dojo and was so sad to leave when he was making good progress. We tried to find one around here but the couple that we visited weren't too appealing to him (or me). Still, despite all that he's done a great job settling in here. It helps to have cousins he loves nearby. Another big change was he started to wear glasses. He loves his glasses and I was so happy about that. They have definitely helped his vision a ton--he needed them.

Eli is still doing great in school. He still loves math the most. He also loves going to Regina's STEM class once a week. When he's at home, he loves playing video games on his switch. He loves Marvel movies, watching youtube, and making things. He is known to eat a whole sleeve of oreos if he gets the chance. :) He also loves beef of all kinds, Chick Fil A, and is starting to like fries now. We found him a cello teacher here and he is improving all the time. He loves music and wanted to make his own playlist on spotify. He started playing soccer at recess here and it makes me so happy to see him learning to love that. He's also getting more into watching BYU sports with Joe, Nate and I.  A bunch of the family got invited to tour some of the facilities with Grandpa Tom who knows a player there and he was so excited to get some football gloves signed by a player:

Eli brings so much life and energy into our family. I love still catching him in pretending-mode sometimes acting out something, or play fighting in the backyard. He is imaginative and bright. He's a wonderful big brother to Eve and plays with her so well.  We're so thankful for Eli!