Goodbye 2021

 2021 seemed to have gone by so fast. We had some good adventures as well as some setbacks just like any other year. The best thing that happened this year was welcoming Brooklyn into our family. She has definitely kept us on our toes and changed our lives for the better.  This year has been a lot of fun as always. Everyone has accomplished so much this year and we have grown from all the fun times we have had together. 

The year did not start out that great with all of us getting COVID-19 in the first week.  We were all quarantined for 2 weeks and could not go anywhere.  Thankfully though, the sickness did not turn out to be that bad for us.  It was mostly like a bad cold.  It did take a toll on us mentally though because we were cooped up in the house.  House-a-tosis is real!  We all got better just in time for Logan's birthday and baptism in February.

Logan turned 8 years old and made the wonderful choice to be baptized.  His baptism was a little different than what we were used to.  We were the only ones that attended the baptism.  Due to Covid restrictions, everyone else got to watch and participate virtually through Zoom.  This was good but also a little sad because it didn't seem like we had any family support.  I guess the important thing is that the ordinance was performed though.  Colby and Emily also got to participate by being the witnesses.  That was a cool experience for them.  Logan is a great kid.  He tries so hard at everything he does.  He is such a happy kid and so friendly.  He loves meeting new people and making friends.

In March, Colby turned 10.  I can't believe we have another kid in the double digits!  Colby had an amazing year as well with lots of accomplishments.  He shot his first pheasant with Russell in February and thought he was so cool. He is our sports kid.  He loves baseball, football, and basketball and is improving in all of these sports each year.  He is also doing well in school.  Every parent teacher conference his teachers rave on how well he is doing.  That is good because he never brings home homework so I never know what he should be doing.

Also in March I was able to cross an item off my bucket list and donated my hair to charity.  Charlotte and Emily also donated their hair to charity and we all came home with short hair cuts!

In April, Brooklyn joined our family.  This little girl has been a delight in our home.  She is the miracle baby we didn't know we needed.  She has definitely filled a void in my life and I love her so much.  Brooklyn is growing up too fast though.  She is already almost 9 months old!  She is just learning to army crawl and gets around as much as she likes.    

Brooklyn was blessed in May on Mother's Day.  This was a perfect day for it.  Due to Covid most of the family decided to watch virtually again but it was nice to have grandparents and Russell's family attend in person. 

June and July was full of fun new adventures.  Our family took two big trips this year.  Our first trip was to Texas.  This was the first time any of the kids had flown in an airplane.  They loved the new experience and want to go on an airplane again soon.  While we were in Texas we visited with Traci, and met our new niece, Olivia.  We also did a little sight seeing by going to Tyler State Park, Gators & Friends zoo, The Dallas Aquarium, and The Stockyards in Fort Worth.  This was a really fun trip.  There were so many things to see and do though that we definitely need to go back again.  

Our next trip was to the Sawtooth Mountains in Stanley, Idaho.  This trip was definitely an adventure.  First we lost our dog, then we finally found Truly and we were so happy.  In between losing and finding our dog, we did a lot of kayaking, hiking, and sight seeing.  This is a beautiful area.  It is always nice to find new areas to go camping.  The Sawtooths are full of great camping areas, mountain bike and hiking trails, and there are multiple lakes to fish or kayak in.  There is something for everyone to enjoy.  We just might go back here as well.

Russell and I also celebrated our 15 year anniversary.  It seems like yesterday we got married!

In August school started again for the kids.  This year all of the Covid restrictions of the last two years were lifted.  School has gone back to normal.  While cleaning and sanitizing measures are still made (which is good), the kids are no longer required to wear masks and they do not have to sit far apart anymore.  It is so nice to get back to normal.  We are even back to normal church and most of the temples have reopened (with some restrictions).  This year Emily has started her first year in 7th grade at South Cache.  She loves her classes and is enjoy band class. She is meeting new friends and learning so much. She has had two band concerts already and has done amazing.  Colby started 5th grade and his favorite part of school is recess.  He plays football or soccer every day and comes home with grass stains on all of his knees.  I tell him to knock it off but he tells me that if he didn't slide and dodge, he would not be playing to the best of his ability.  Logan is in 3rd grade this year and is learning a lot.  He is working hard on memorizing all of his multiplication facts and getting better at writing.  He also loves playing with his friends at recess.  Charlotte started her first year of Preschool.  She LOVES school!

In September, Charlotte and Emily had their birthdays.  Charlotte turned 5 and now can do everything.  She has learned to write her name, tie her shoes, and even read.  She doesn't quite love reading yet but she can do it. She is our sassy child and thinks everything should be her way or the highway.  

Emily turned 13 and became an official teenager!  Where has the time gone? She is becoming an amazing young lady. She is so pretty and beautiful.  For her birthday she got a new mountain bike. She has already broken it in on the trails up here and in St. George. She has even officially had her first wreck on the Bear Poppy trail. Her little dog Truly has grown quite attached to all the family. I have to say that she is part of the family and goes everywhere with us.

Russell also accomplished one of his goals this year.  In September he participated in the Lotoja bike race.  He participated as part of a team with his friends from the fire department.  He was able to ride 50 of the 204 mile trek. Nice job!

October started the fun fall season in Cache Valley.  The boys participated in flag football, we planned our Halloween costumes, and even got our first snow fall of the year.  Russell and I also planned an epic Red Ribbon week for the elementary.  

November and December were full of holiday activities.  We traveled to St. George twice and came home with sicknesses both times.  We rode a train to the North Pole to see Santa and spent a lot of time at the basketball court.  Christmas was good and we loved seeing Brooklyn's reaction to her first Christmas.  It also finally turned winter!  Over the last two weeks we have had multiple snow storms and finally got our snow.  The kids have loved sledding and trying out their new snowboards.

Unfortunately, we ended the year just as we started it by being sick...  This time though it was the pukes instead of a cold.  We are finally (fingers crossed) over it and are hoping to start the new year on a good note.

Goodbye 2021, it's been nice knowing ya.

One Last "Adventure"

What a crazy fun end of the year story I have to tell. I went back to work for the 25th of December and came home to go to St. George to spend time with all of the Farnsworth side and have fun with cousins and my family. As we were about to pull into Grandma and Grandpa Farnsworth's driveway, Jen texted us and said her two kids just threw up. Oh boy. I should have listened to Tiff and not stayed, but I thought it would be okay if we stayed.  I thought we would be okay. Oh I was wrong. This stomach bug had it out for everyone in that house. It went through everyone before we finally left Tuesday morning. 

The whole reason we went down was to get a big family picture and update a way outdated picture. We all tried to hold out for it but come Monday night Grandpa got it and then Ezra. I told them we really need to reconsider taking pictures with a house full of sick people. We all came to the agreement that it was not going to happen. We were bummed but thank goodness we called it because Grandpa was still sick the day of the picture and Logan threw up on the way home right at 4 which was when we were supposed to do pictures. I am calling this the Crazy Farnsworth Christmas of 2021. Okay it wasn't all puking and sickness all the time, we did have a some good times.

While we were there we played games and the happy healthy cousins played around. We played card games and busted out the candy bar game for the younger kids. On Monday we went to the House of Jump trampoline park and got some energy out of everyone. 

It was fun to see everyone having a good time. Charlotte was happy to be here and be able to run free and do what she wanted to do.  Logan was amazing while we were here. We really need to put him in gymnastics. He jumps and flips like he is a professional. One guy even asked if he was in gymnastics when he did a perfect flip off the jump.

All of the kids had a great time jumping on all of the trampolines.  They each tried different tricks and flips off the beams.  Colby was able to do aerials.  Logan wanted to try a back-flip but kept getting too scared.

Emily and Alex stuck together and jumped around in each of the rooms.  Then they tried out the tight rope.  Paul was the only one to make it all the way across.  Poor Logan kept attempting to go across the tight rope and one time he fell, racked himself, and flopped his head on the strap. We all heard him hit and we all cringed as he rolled off the strap onto the ground. He got up like a champ and shook it off and went back at it. 

Despite the sicknesses, staying up all night listening to everyone puke, and mentally making ourselves sick in the process, it was a great time to catch up with the family and see everyone. It was a crazy time for everyone being sick and trying to not blow up at each other.  Logan puked twice on the way home.  Since being home, Brooklyn (real) puked a few times, Colby has been sick, and I have not felt good for a week.  We may never go back to St. George again.  We are tired of being sick.  What a great end to the year...

Christmas

Merry Christmas 2021. It came and went so fast, but it was a great time. Getting ready for Christmas is always fun and a little stressful. Russell and I had fun getting together on our little quick trips into town shopping for the kids without them there. It was our little quick dates together. My favorite part is taking all the kids to the store and splitting up and shopping for each other. We have to use our coats to hide all the presents from each other. We also have a great time doing the 12 Days of Christmas to a family we decided on. The kids love running up, dropping off the presents, ringing the door bell, and running away. It has been a great family tradition for years. 

This Christmas came early on Christmas Eve because Russell had to work on Christmas Day. We got a hold of Santa to tell him that we needed him to come on the 23rd instead.  He said that would not be a problem. We opened up the traditional Christmas Pajamas on the 23rd and Brooklyn's and Charlotte’s were the best. 

This was Brooklyn's first Christmas and first time opening up presents so she wasn't quite sure what to do with the wrapping paper.  She would rip one piece off and then try to eat it.  Unfortunately Charlotte had been sick for the past few days so she was worried that she would be sick on Christmas.  Thankfully though, she started feeling much better by the time Santa came.

 For Christmas Eve dinner I planned on making broccoli cheese soup.  That morning I thought "What would make the soup even better would be if we had bread bowls."  So I searched Pinterest to see how hard they would be to make and the recipe I found seemed really easy especially because I was already making rolls and cinnamon rolls.  The bread bowls turned out perfectly and they were perfect for the soup.  I will definitely be making these again.  Russell was jealous he didn’t get any because he was at work. The kids loved it.  

After writing their letters, everyone headed to bed.  The big kids were all downstairs in Emily's room and Charlotte and Brooklyn were in their own room.  Everyone was too excited to sleep.

 The next morning Russell came home from work and he got to see all the presents before anyone else. All the older kids were downstairs fighting to get upstairs and he had to keep telling them stay down there and wait for the little kids. It was brutal but funny to watch. It was Brooklyn’s first Christmas so she got to come out first and see what she got. Then it was Charlotte and then it was a battle to keep the others downstairs. Up they ran to see what they got. It is so fun to see their faces. The kids loved their presents from Santa and their gifts to each other.

Emily got a gift from Santa that surprised us. He gave her her own phone! Russell told her he was going to have words with Santa because she was not supposed to have a phone until she was at least 16. She laughed at him and said go ahead and talk to him. 

She also got some riding clothes for mountain biking and a new water bottle and cage for her bike. Her other favorite present was the apricot popcorn tree shirt. Look at this cute happy young lady holding her phone up. Love you Emily.

Colby has been our Lego lover ever since he was around two years old. His Lego collection has become really big over the years. This year Santa and his sister added to it. He got a really cool Corvette Lego set that has an old 1967 Corvette and a new 2021 one.  

Each of the kids got a cool wooden snowboards for sledding and Colby was way excited to try it out. He also got a really cool Ferris wheel Lego set. 

Colby liked all of his other gifts as well.  He received a mini drone from Logan, a muscle car calendar from Emily, and a basketball net from Charlotte. It is time for the boys to start packing their own clothes for trips so they each received their own duffel bags so they can. The boys have also wanted baseball helmets for a while so Russell got them each one. Colby also was excited to see that Santa gave the family a punching bag to hang in the garage. He wants to start learning how to punch and box. 

Logan was the most excited to get up the stairs. Emily had to keep grabbing him by his pants to keep him from going upstairs. He was excited to see that he also got a snowboard and his go kart hover board attachment. He was jumping up and down full of excitement. 

There has always been an issue with sharing basketballs in this house because Logan did not have one. Now he finally has his own and he can play anytime he wants. Once he got his ball, he put his name on it and tried to remember my phone number but he kept messing up and scribbling it out. By the time he was done he had quite a lot of black scribble on his ball. He has always wanted to look at the stars and see what they look like so his sister got him a cool telescope.  Charlotte also knew how much Logan loves his dragon animal, Cinder, so she got him another one so Cinder would have a friend to play with.

Charlotte was upstairs asleep when Russell got home. She heard him come home and woke right up ready to run into the front room.  She could not wait! When it was her turn to run into the room she saw what she really wanted. It was a Barbie RV. She jumped up and down with excitement. 

Colby had a great time making his present for her. Charlotte has always wanted her own pop it game, so Colby found a cool design and made one for her. She was way excited. She also got her own basketball to play with that was just her size.  She also got some more Barbie clothes and a Barbie bike. Emily and Dad got her some cute girl hair ties, sticky earrings, a necklace and bracelet. She felt like she was being pampered.

Brooklyn’s first Christmas was fun for her and us. It is the age where she did not understand but loved pulling on the paper. She got an inflatable ball pit with balls in it and her first Cabbage Patch doll from Santa. 

We also got her a few baby toys that were new. Colby made her a new rattle out of two spoons and an Easter egg.  I think that was her favorite new toy.  All day she rolled around ripping paper, grabbing new toys, and just watching all of us.  I think she had a good time with us.

Christmas was also the first time she tried to crawl!  It is a funny army crawl on her arms and toes, so not quite her hands and knees yet, but she is able to get around to where she wants to go.  There were so many things on the ground all day that I think it gave her more incentive to move around to everything.

As for Russell and I, we got some cool present from Santa and the kids too. 

Colby knew that I need a bigger unbroken umbrella. Logan got me a flour sifter and apple slicer. I also got a matching shirt like Emily so we can be twins. I have always wanted to go see the Blue Man Group in Las Vegas, so Russell got me tickets and a weekend stay in Vegas together.  I'm so excited! 

As for Russell, Emily knew his old bike pump was on its last leg so she got him a really cool bike pump. He also got some new running shoes and some new pants. What a great day!

The thing we love the most is taking time with each of the kids and playing with them. We set up Emily’s new phone, got to play Barbies with Charlotte, put Logan’s go cart together, helped Colby with his Legos, and played with Brooklyn in her ball pit with all her new toys.  The whole day was so much fun to be together as a family. We had a great traditional breakfast of ham and eggs and awesome wreath cinnamon rolls. We played all day with new toys and games. MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!!

Basketball Season

There is always a first for everything on life. I would have never seen myself coaching little league basketball. The kids have loved playing Mustang basketball for a few years and they have a blast every season. This year I was able to coach Logan's team the 76ers. It was a lot of fun helping these boys learn how important it is to be active and work together as a team. 

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They are at that age where some of them knew how to play the game and the other boys were happy to be there on the court running around. Here are some pictures of the amazing 76ers and Logan at the end of the season.

Logan is a happy go lucky kid and is the type of kid that tries hard at everything. He played really hard this year and was able to get the ball a lot and get it down the court. It is fun to see how much he has grown in this sport from a few years ago. Go Logan!!!

Colby is our athletic one and always loves a good game of basketball. Out of all of the kids he is the one that is very competitive and let’s people know.  Colby loves going out on the driveway and spending time practicing his shots. 

 This season his team was the Raptors. They had a really good team this year and had a great season. All of his games were really nail biter games because they were so close.  He is understanding the game better and is able to dribble the ball back and forth between his legs. He was really excited to show me when he was able to do this. Go Colby!!!

Emily has always loved her softball and basketball. She is also doing a lot better and is happy to get out there and be active with all these girls. Her team this year was The Storm.

She was able to shoot a few shots and has always been an amazing defender. At the first of the season she was very shy about getting in there and defending like she always has in the past, but it only took a few games and she was her old self defending and helping her teammates get the ball down the court. She did amazing. Go Emily!!!

We love watching all of the kids play basketball.

Christmas Traditions

It's Christmas time again. It seems like the years just go by so fast but the days go by slow. Christmas is fun though because we have a lot of fun traditions. Our favorite has to be decorating gingerbread houses.

We save all of our Halloween candy just for this reason. The nice thing is the kids are old enough to decorate their own houses and they all turn out so different.  Charlotte loved just gobbing a bunch of frosting on and sticking candy everywhere.

All of the houses turned out great. I did make Brooklyn's house because she couldn't.  However she did like grabbing at all the candy.  She really liked trying to get her house when I put it on her tray to try and get a picture of her. 

We barely fit all of our houses on the shelf. Good thing we didn't have to make any more.

Brooklyn was the lucky one chosen to put the star on the top of the tree! She thought it was pretty fun to be up that high. And yes I am that tall. Just kidding I wish.

The Christmas season would not be complete without Christmas concerts. Our first concert was Emily's band concert. This time she played the timpani in "Santa the Barbarian" as well as the tambourine and bells in the other songs. She really likes being in band and the learning all the different percussion instruments. The timpani seems to be her favorite right now.

Our next concert was the kids' piano recital. These three did a great job on each of their songs. Emily played "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," Colby played "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," and Logan played "Silent Night." Then together they played "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" as a trio. They practiced the trio so much. It sounded really great. They are getting better and better. 

We are looking forward to Christmas and can't wait for the rest of the fun activities.

8 Months Old

This cute girl is 8 months old now and getting ready to celebrate her first Christmas! 

Brooklyn loves playing with the Little People Nativity scene we have under the tree. To tell you the truth, she likes playing with everything under the tree!

 

She can't crawl yet but she gets around to wherever she wants to go by rolling. We can roll and scoot and pivot around but she has yet to get up on her knees. I'm okay with it though because once she starts crawling, she will be into everything!

Like is said before, Brooklyn loves rolling over to the Christmas tree and getting into everything under there. She has tried to rip open presents, she also grabs the lower branches and takes the ornaments off. She is a crazy girl. I think she likes the noise the wrapping paper makes when she kicks the presents. She especially loves ringing the bell ornaments. Bells are her favorite things right now.

Brooklyn has started to talk a little bit. She can say "dada," "mama" (sometimes), "bah" (which we interpret as bottle), and "day-do" (which we interpret as thank you). Her favorite word though is dada. She says that all the time. I keep trying to get her to say mama but it's always dada. Occasionally she will say mama when she is sad or hungry. 

Brooklyn loves sitting and playing with toys. As long as no one is bugging her she will play for a while. It's seldom no one is bugging her though... In that case, she has started throwing legit baby fits. 

 These baby fits are pretty funny to watch but I know we will not be laughing when she gets older. Sometimes these are all out tantrums complete with kicking feet and flailing fists. Poor baby... 

Well, we still love her, baby fits and all. She still loves eating solid foods, being held by Mom, and being entertained by her siblings.

We are looking forward to celebrating her first Christmas. We can't wait to see her reaction to opening presents. 

Happy 8 months, Baby!

North Pole Express

This year we did something fun to kick off the holiday season.  We surprised the kids with a trip on the North Pole Express in Heber.  

We have done this train ride before but it has been a few years.  The train ride is on the Heber Valley Railroad.  The train took us to the North Pole where we got to see Santa!

The kids were really surprised to find out they were riding on the train but they were even more surprised to see their cousins, Cole and Cash on the train too.  

We planned this trip with the Blake's a few months ago and we agreed to surprise the kids with meeting there together.  Cole and Cash were excited to see us too.  We all got on the train and found our seats.  We were kind of squished together but that made it even more fun.  

As the train started to roll, we all sat back and got ready for some fun entertainment.  Brooklyn loved being on the train.  She was bouncing all over the seats, grabbing at all the things and squawking at the top of her lungs.  The other kids were just playing around with Cole and Cash.

As we rode along, the chefs served Hot Chocolate and cookies to all of us just like in the book Polar Express.  They even sang and danced to the Hot Chocolate song from the movie.  Throughout the ride, we were entertained by the singing and dancing elves and chefs, violin quartets, and fun music to dance too.  Charlotte really got into the dancing part and was dancing in the aisles.  

We finally made it to the North Pole and got to wave to Santa from our window while he waved at us from his workshop.  As the train switched directions for the ride back from the North Pole, Santa got on the train so he could ride back with us and give us each a gift.

Santa was so nice to each of the kids.  He took time to talk to them and give them each a bell.  As the story goes, if you can hear the sound of the bell, it means you still believe in Santa Claus.  It was obvious that everyone in the train still believed in Santa because there were a lot of bells ringing all over the place.

Brooklyn seemed to like getting a visit from Santa.  She did not even cry in fact she was smiling at him.  Brooklyn especially loved the bell Santa gave her.  She loved ringing it and playing with it.  She played with it the rest of the trip and would not let go of it.  In fact, she held it all the way home and wouldn't let go of it even to go to sleep.  In the morning when she woke up, we could hear her ringing her bell in her bed.

The train ride back to the station was enjoyable as well. There was more singing and dancing and elf entertainment.  By the time we got back we did not want to get off the train.  We all had a good time.  Charlotte especially loved the train ride.  She has talked about it a lot ever since.  

We got back home pretty late but it was worth the trip.  I am glad we got the opportunity to go on this train ride.

Before we got on the train, we ate at this cool restaurant in Heber called the Dairy Keen: Home of the Train.  The food there was really good but the kids were more interested in watching this train go around the ceiling of the whole restaurant.  

We had a great trip and a great time together as a family.