December

Eve had fun learning how to play checkers during their games unit at school:

Eve learned to ride her bike without training wheels!

She loves riding around the block.

Eli and Maddy had a free viewing of Moana 2 in the theater through their orthodontist and we all had fun going together with Eve. They even got free popcorn and some swag:

I loved this picture of Lizzie from her album:

She made it to the island of Madeira and loved serving there. She is in a really fun foursome.

We got our tree and decorated for Christmas. Joe bought a bunch of fresh garland from an employee for his son's fundraiser and it actually made our house look really festive, even if it was hard to put up and take down.

Natalie was in a play called "Machinal" and we loved watching it:

I loved watching the boys' Christmas band concert:

Another cute Eve selfie:

I love the lights on our bushes at Christmas time:

We got a good snow one night:

I especially love hiking in it:

Eve got to see Santa at the ward Christmas party:

I loved this picture of Joe hard at work playing with play dough:

A selfie while I did her hair:

Natalie, Eve, and I took a trip to Boise together one day. We got lunch and picked up a Christmas present for Nate that was only available there.

Eve trying out the drum set:

Another cute school pic:

I loved that Eve let me put her hair half up one day with this cute clip that matched her dress:

She looked so dang cute at storytime:

We ended up having our fancy Christmas dinner a few days early on Dec. 19th. I always love that tradition.

I loved this beautiful sunrise:

We went to see The Nutcracker at CSI. Since Natalie couldn't make it, Maddy went with us.

Then we drove to Utah for a few days to visit Tom especially since he wasn't feeling well. We had fun playing games and hanging out with family.

We came back on Christmas Eve. We prepped our food and then had fun at the finger food gathering at Chris and Regina's. We always love that tradition. I especially loved playing Would You Rather? and Never Have I Ever this year:

We went home and then took some fun pictures (Natalie's idea):

I was so impressed with how well Eve could keep a straight face :). Of course there was lots of laughing too:

Then we took the traditional ones:

Then we did our Christmas devotional and watched "It's a Wonderful Life". This little girl conked out:

The tree:

Pictures from Christmas morning:

Eve loved her cleaning set:

Re-creating the scene from "A Christmas Story" with the weights Joe asked for:

Nate got this cool aerophone, basically an electric saxophone:

I loved hearing Nate and Eli playing together later on the aerophone and cello. They were figuring out Disney songs from Eli's new music book.

We went bowling one day:

Eve with the crazy teeth she got from her tickets:

For our 21st anniversary, I made a little picture collage with pictures from each year:

And we had a nice dinner at Elevation:

I loved this message Eve wrote on her doodle board:

We had a super fun New Years Eve night. We played games and then played with sparklers outside:

2024 was a great year!

Eli is 12!

 Eli had a fun birthday this year. He had a party the day before his birthday. 

It was a crazy day since we were also helping Natalie move into her new apartment but I managed to get the graham cracker houses glued together and then his friends came over to decorate them. 

We had about 7 boys come and they had pizza, had fun decorating and then running amok (probably because of all the candy and the Dr. Pepper I gave them :). They played some hide-and-seek in the dark, played outside in the snow for a bit, and then played jackbox games. 

Some of the houses:

The next day was his birthday. We had cinnamon rolls and took it easy in the morning. We ended up doing a birthday lunch since our ward party was that night so we went to Outback and Natalie met us there after work. That was fun. Then we went right over to the high school since Sam was in the finals at his wrestling tournament. From there we hurried home to make the food we needed to bring to the party. I was supposed to bring 75 baked potatoes (with someone else bringing 75 too). I knew that was way too much but I did what I was told. I don't think they even dipped into my box at all. Oh well. We stayed for a bit at the party and then headed back home to finish Eli's celebration. Natalie came over and we opened presents and had dessert. He got to play the new Zelda game he got too. Hopefully it was a good day for him.

I'm so thankful for Eli:

He brings so much fun and happiness to our family. He's a deep feeler and also so creative. He loves cooking and has learned how to cook so many more things. He also makes sure the presentation is good too. He will often make dinner, which I really appreciate. He is getting better and better at his musical abilities. He still plays the cello in Orchestra and is getting better and better at the clarinet in Band. I love listening to him mess around and learn how to play new songs. He is starting to care more about his hair and what he wears and I like seeing his style come through. He got new glasses and I love the new look. He is getting braver, too, and was jumping off the rocks at Dierkes this year. He is also got up wake surfing. I loved recently watching him conquer the obstacle course in the Twin Falls pool that is pretty hard to stay up on. He also got braces this year and was really brave about it and handled the pain pretty well. He's strengthened his friendships and is good about having them over to play or going to their houses to hang out. He went to a birthday party recently of a kid that I didn't really know and when I picked him up everyone loudly said, "Bye Eli!" He is well-liked. I love what a good friend he is. He's getting better and better at baseball and even tried cross country this year. It was rough at times but I was proud of his determination to finish his races even if he was last and he had some good races too. He is still an excellent student and we often get glowing messages from his teachers about him. I love our one-on-one time together since we both love eating out and singing together to songs :). He gives the best tight hugs. He is an awesome brother to all his siblings. We love him and can't imagine life without Eli!

Natalie is 18!

 Natalie had a pretty grown up birthday this year since she had to work a 6 hour shift. We did get to have smoothie bowls in the morning before she left, though. Once she was done, we had her birthday dinner of really delicious fancy grilled cheeses and a blended veggie soup she loves. 

Then she opened her presents and we had homemade ice cream sandwiches and watched "Miss Congeniality". Hopefully she had a fun day.

I made this little collage of pictures for a social media post and I had so much fun looking for some of my favorite pictures of her:

I can't believe that little bald baby, and that little 6 year old reading a thick Harry Potter book is now an adult! Natalie had a big year for sure with graduating high school and starting college at CSI. She's really enjoying her classes so far and loves the plays they are putting on. She's also working hard at Dutch Bros. and is a very valued employee. She is a hard worker wherever she goes and whatever she does. She's also an excellent team player and works hard to include others and to help them be great. She was an excellent speech mentor to all the younger kids and gives great notes in drama. She is kind and a wonderful friend. Everyone gravitates to her because she is so fun to be around and isn't afraid to be silly or enthusiastic, and to just be herself. 

Natalie loves the seasons, especially fall and winter, and cozy foods and experiences. We love watching "Gilmore Girls" together in the fall and baking something or making a delicious soup. She loves a great sitcom--well-written characters and a good plot--and rewatches her favorites. She still loves a good book too and I love that she makes time to read good fiction. She's also getting into reading more plays and loves those too. I love hearing her analyze a story and getting to hear her thoughts about something she's read or watched. She loves playing board/card games and gets us all to play them, which I love. She is a wonderful sister and loves her siblings fiercely. 

We can't imagine life without Natalie and are so thankful that she's in our family!