Family, friends, traditions, and growth ...

JANUARY

(1/3/2022) A hike with grandma, grandpa, and "our" dogs Poppy and Penny (we wish Penny were ours!)

A little meditating!

(1/7/2022) Beautiful and sunny winter day at the park

(1/9/2022) Teaching the "Thankful Song" in primary

My handsome priesthood holder! (Wore some Demon Slayer earrings to celebrate his special day!)

(1/12/2022) Finally met Hannah's good friend, Rose!

(1/21/2022) Got the girls a triple bunk bed! It's scary tall!

(1/26/2022) A playdate with Rose!

Twins!

FEBRUARY

(2/1/2022) So many missing teeth!

(2/2/2022) Lovely snow lashes!

(2/3/2022) Hitting the sledding hill before it all melts!

Snow day!

(2/8/2022) Valentine's Day playgroup! K for kisses and L for love!

Heart berries and sandwiches!

(2/14/2022) Our annual Valentine's breakfast!

Tried to make heart-shaped bacon ... looks more like meaty wads!

My sweetie pies!

 My five Valentines!

Park date with my love bug

Heart hair!

(2/16/2022) Hudson made this pie for Young Men's

(2/16/2022) Harry Hopper, the newest member of our family!

Allergic bunny hugs! We didn't realize Beau was super allergic to rabbits!

(2/21/2022) No school! Park playdate with friends!

Hudson's buddies, Gavin and Garret

We had fast food, played badminton, and played on the playground

(2/19/2022) Beau's birthday party! We played LOTS of games at the park!

MARCH

(3/3/2022) Pam and Jessica fun days lives on! Making dinner together!

Mom helped create this sweet room arrangement to fit the bunny cage and a new bed for Beau

(3/14/2022) Zoo date!

We had ice cream and did the carousel! What a treat!

Can you spot Sofia's favorite stuffy, Cotton Candy?

(3/17/2022) That darn leprechaun was at it again!

A favorite tradition ,,,

Rainbow pancakes!

Helping mama in the kitchen

I liked the stacked look!

(3/21/2021) We decided to paint a spring break mural!

(3/24/2021) Fun in the sun! 

(3/24) A white wash hike

Beau and Alex

Charlie Belle came along, too!

It was a big group of little hikers!

(3/26/2021) Daddy was out of town for Aila's blessing, so we had to stay entertained to pass the time!

(3/27/2022) Keeping me company when Seb's gone ... I miss him!

(3/28/2022) Birthday girl wanted to do a Christmas craft and watch Rudolph for her birthday!

She also painted a new rock box

Then Grandpa and Grandma treated Sofia out to lunch!

And we opened presents when Daddy got home! She also had a little party a few days later.

APRIL

(4/1/2022) Dinner?

Or not?

Meatloaf and mashed potatoes (the "cupcake"), rice krispy treat (the "meatloaf), and fries ("apples")

(4/4/2022) These two like to sneak in bed together

(4/8/2022) School carnival with Auntie Shauna and family

These kids just love getting their faces painted!

(4/14/2022) Hudson's first backpacking trip with the young men!

(4/15/2022) Kiley and kids in town for spring break

(4/16/2022) Always surrounded by buddies

(4/17/2022) Easter!

(4/18/2022) Cousin park and Dion's date!

(4/20/2022) Alex's dogs had puppies!

The Activity Day boys came to our house to see our turtles, bunny, and dog ... and another ward member brought their sugar gliders!

I've never see Sofia look so happy surrounded by a bunch of older men! Ha ha!

(4/21/2022) Mary Poppins field trip with Hannah's class

And lunch at the park

(4/22/2022) The Little Mermaid play at Rio Rancho High School

So excited to meet her favorite princess!

(4/26/2022) Park play date with bestie Evelyn

(4/27/2022) Hannah and Acelynn both said our house was their favorite place in the world! Must be all those Barbie dolls!

(4/27/2022) "Beach Day" at school

MAY

(5/4/2022) "Forts" Day (part of the last day of school ABC countdown)

Enjoying a cafeteria lunch after helping wrap baskets for a school fundraiser

(5/7/2022) The girls did clogging class once a week this semester

Hannah did a cute country western one and "Dancing in the Street"

One of Sofia's dances was a partner dance

I loved practicing with Hannah - it was fun learning all the moves together!

Cute dancers!

(5/8/2022) Hudson's starting a tradition of making me breakfast in bed on Mother's Day! He is great at eggs!

A fun gift from my aunt Tammy

A duck hunt for the kids!

Playing get to know you games and spoons

(5/9/2022) I LOVED having my aunt and uncle over!

Some of my favorite people!

These two bonded

(5/10/2022) Beau's lunch crew!

Indoor Hungry, Hungry Hippos at 3rd Grade Play Day

(5/12/2022) Treats and vegging with Seb after a long day

Hannah wanted a kitty cat party for her 7th birthday

Sofia picked out these cards as decorations

We did kitty crafts, watched a movie, had a sleepover in the living room, and had kitty pie for breakfast!

I made each of the girls sock kittens

Hudson gave Hannah the best gift! Books from his collection and a homemade pillow!

They turned out so cute!

Grandma treated Hannah out for lunch and shopping and games!

And then we watched their clogging recital! What a power-packed birthday weekend!

That night we went to a friend's wedding (Christan Hatch)! I ran into some good friends!

(5/16/2022) Zoo trip with best buddy forever!

(5/17/2022) Poor girl got a tummy bug

(5/19/2022) Love nap time with Sofia

(5/21/2022) A Princess Escape Room birthday party for friend Rose

And another birthday party for Sofia to attend at Selah's house!

Ramen shop adventure with Hannah and Mia

(5/24/2022) Not too sure about these slimy pits!

Enjoyed getting all these cherries with Spencer and Naomi Tracey

Now time for pitting!

And pie filling making!

And pocket pies!

(5/25/2022) Hannah's First Grade Family Picnic

Hannah got an award for being artistic!

More cherry picking ... but this time with Mia and Domenico

We dipped these ones in chocolate!

(5/25/2022) Forgot the theme of this day ... maybe "Wacky Day?"

(5/26/2022) Working on her reading and writing

(5/27/2022) Last day of school for these middle schoolers!

Roller skating fun with Andrea!

(5/30/2022) Muddy Memorial Day river trip

Forests were all closed for camping (darn those forest fires!, so this was our consolation prize

I think the kids had a little fun

Don't you?

I made this out of clay from the river

I'm exhausted looking at all of these pictures, aren't you? Ha ha!

In creating this blog, I go through all of the pictures on my phone and try to select my favorites along with the ones that tell the story of our lives. It's hard to narrow them down because there are so many wonderful moments. When I look at the ones I selected as a whole, I begin to see some common threads that are creating the colorful tapestry of our family life. In this most recent grouping of pictures there is a theme of family, friends, traditions, and growth. 

• Sebastian: My dear sweetheart keeps this ship afloat! We all wish we had more time with Daddio, but work keeps him pretty busy and preoccupied. Seb and I are trying to keep in touch better with more texts and phone calls. I also moved a little desk into his office so we can work together in the evenings - Seb on his mountain of work, and me on my hill of Statistics homework. Seb was especially excited to see the new Top Gun this month and it didn't disappoint! We're hoping that the future brings less stress and more fun for this wonderful man! We're leaving for London and Germany in about a week, so that should totally do the trick!
• Jessica: I'm beginning to think that ward primary music leader is the best kept secret in the church - it's become one of my all-time favorite callings despite my misgivings in the beginning. I love learning the songs, coming up with engaging ways to teach them, and getting to know all of the wonderful children. I love that I get the chance to teach Beau, Hannah, and Sofia each week and listen to them sing the songs at home! I finished my Microbiology Lecture and Lab with A+ in both classes and am now on to Statistics! 
• Hudson: Hudson started the year off getting the Aaronic Priesthood. He's loved passing the sacrament each week (a lot more than he loves showering and putting on a tie!), and he's enjoyed all of the deacons quorum activities. I've missed seeing him in primary, though, and I sometimes can't believe I have a son in Young Men's! He especially enjoyed the river rafting trip he just got back from this month. "It was the best experience I've ever had on the water!" he said when he came home. Hudson loved his first year of sixth grade (what a relief!) and earned really good grades to boot! He really enjoyed learning how to cook some simple dishes in his Family and Consumer Sciences Class. Some of Hudson's buddies this year included Brenden, Gavin, Garret, Paxton, and Tommy. He and some of his friends walked home each day, sometimes stopping for Dairy Queen on the way. 
• Beau: After a few rounds of testing, Beau finally got into the gifted program! He enjoyed the fun projects he got to work on each week when he and a few other classmates were pulled out for gifted class. Some of Beau's friends include Alex, Rory, Bennet, Caiden, and Jack. They would play football during lunch each day. We've been having Beau's friend Alex over a lot lately. Those two share a love of football and Takis. They had their first sleepover this week out on the trampoline. Beau and his friend Bennet are already planning on rooming together at BYU. So cute! And speaking of cute, Beau got a little bunny a.k.a. "poop machine" for his 9th birthday. It was supposed to be a parakeet, but we got suckered in when he say Harry's sweet little face! 
• Hannah: Hannah made a class full of friends her first year of in-person school including Rose, Acelynn, Mia, Ebah, and Sophia. Hannah's newest best friend, Acelynn, lives next door to Hudson's friend Brenden. Such a small world! Mia (and her brother Domenico) are refugees from Venezuela. We've been having them over at least once a week to give their auntie a little break, and we've fallen in love with their cute personalities despite our difficulties in communicating. It has been fun trying to remember all of my college Spanish! 
• Sofia: Sofia finished up her very last year of playgroup. We loved our time with Mandy and Evelyn, Emily and Selah (and baby Kaden). I hope we can find time to see them next school year. I signed Sofia up for preschool and she'll be going three half days starting this fall! 

A few highlights this year include seeing a high school production of "The Little Mermaid" with my parents and Jacob and Shauna's family, watching the girls' first dance recital, my Uncle Dan and Aunt Tammy's visit, and Hannah's big birthday sleepover! Now on to summer!