2025: A Year in Review

 2025 has come to an end and it has been a pretty good year in general.  We have been able to accomplish many things this year and have worked toward all of our goals for the year.  

Emily was able to accomplish her goal of maintaining a 4.0 GPA. She was able to run her first half marathon and even placed 2nd in her age group.  She was also able to make the Varsity team for cross country and qualify for state in mountain biking.  One unforgettable experience she had was backpacking for a week hiking 50 miles through the Teton Wilderness.

Colby also accomplished his goal of qualifying for State in mountain biking.  He has really improved in this sport this year and loves anything mountain biking and bikes.  Making the podium a few times this season was very exciting. He has also learned a lot about bikes and can pretty much fix anything on a bike.  

Logan accomplished his goal of improving his mountain bike skills as well.  He is getting better and better at riding each day.  He was excited to make the podium on his first mountain bike race and did well all season.  His main goal was to get his own room so during Spring Break, he helped us rearrange all of the rooms to that he and Colby now have their own rooms.  It has been good to see him take better care of his things and his room now that it is all his own.

Charlotte has also learned a lot this year.  Her goal was to improve her piano skills and score well on her AIM tests.  She was able to do just this and enjoys learning new songs.  For only taking lessons for a year, she can play pretty well.  

Brooklyn has loved starting preschool this year.  She looks forward to school everyday and is sad when it is the weekend and cannot go to school.  She has learned the alphabet, numbers, and can even write her name very well.  One thing she does need to work on is tying her shoes.  She just does not seem to want to do that.  

Russell has been working really hard as the mountain bike head coach.  He loves spending time with the kids on his team and cares a lot about all of them and wants them to succeed.  Now he is working on setting up the team to be able to run on its own.  This has been a big job and one that entails a lot of details.

I have enjoyed attending the temple more often this year and go once a week.  I have also loved teaching primary.  The kids in my class are great and I have liked getting to know them.  I am glad I get to teach the same class again next year.  I have enjoyed hiking more this year too.  This year I was able to go with Emily on the 50 miler hike through the Tetons and it was one of the best experiences I have had.  I am glad I was able to go.  

The year just seemed to fly by now that I think of it.  The saying is true that the days go slow but the years go fast.  We started the year off strong with the boys being ordained to the priesthood and Logan attending the temple for the first time.  Since then, we have tried to take the kids at least once a month to do temple baptisms.  They love going.  We also took a trip to St. George to celebrate Grandma Maxwell's 90th birthday and Emily and I ran our half marathon.

In February, Logan celebrated his 12th birthday.  We also played in the snow a lot, saw dinosaurs and princesses, and Charlotte had an alien removed from her ear.  Thankfully the alien was nothing to be afraid of just a weird growth and she is totally fine now.  

March brought Colby's 14th birthday, lots of track meets, and the much anticipated room switch-a-roo.  It has been nice to have the boys in their own rooms.  They seem to get a long a little better and the rooms are much cleaner.  Having Brooklyn and Charlotte share a room has been fun for them too.  The only problem with that though is this shared room is now the messiest in the house!  We have too many toys!

April brought beautiful spring weather and we were glad for the warmth.  Brooklyn celebrated her 4th birthday and loved her Bluey cake.  The boys were excited to get their bikes back out and start riding.  Emily had the opportunity to go on her first date and go to Junior Prom.

May was a whirlwind of activities as the school year came to an end. With the weather getting warmer, we took a few mountain bike trips and hiking trips to St. George and Antelope Island.  We liked exploring different places this year.

June was the beginning of summer and what an eventful summer it was.  Logan and Charlotte loved playing baseball this summer and want to continue playing this sport.  Emily and I started training for our 50-miler by hiking a few times a week with our heavy packs.  Colby had a great time at FSY with his friend Jace.  He said he learned a lot during this week.  Emily was also attended Young Women Camp and loved every minute since she was one of the ones that planned the camp.

July was packed with trips and fun.  I think we were only home for a few days during this month.  The highlights were a week trip to Glacier National Park with Traci and Jen.  This week was so fun and we were literally in the most beautiful place on Earth.  We ended that week with a couple days in Coeur D'alene, Idaho riding the Hiawatha Bike Trail.  This was such a fun ride and one we want to do again.  Finally, Emily and I ended the month with a week in the Teton Wilderness.  This week backpacking through the mountains was so memorable.  It was probably one of the hardest things we have done but also one of the most exciting.  This trip really stretched us and challenged us but we are so glad we were able to achieve this goal.

In August, school started again.  The kids were not excited about this.  August also brought on the start of the Mountain Bike and Cross Country seasons.  We would start running around crazy attending practices and meets and races about every weekend.

September was full of these meets and races.  Along with this we celebrated Charlotte's 9th birthday with a fun camping party with her friends.  Emily also celebrated her 17th birthday.  The kids are getting so old!  

October brought the end to the Cross Country and Mountain Bike seasons.  The kids were excited to achieve their goal of competing in the State Mountain Bike race.  They really worked hard to accomplish this goal.  Emily was also happy and nervous to run in the State Cross Country meet.  Her team did really well in this hard race.  

November slowed down a little bit and we were able to enjoy the beautiful fall in Cache Valley.  Logan loved acting in the middle school musical, Little Mermaid.  He was a great fluke fish.

Finally, we made it to December and were able to celebrate Christmas as a family.  We have had a great year full of so many fun events.  We are looking forward to the new year and hope it will also be a great year.  Thank you 2025 for all you have taught us and all we were able to accomplish.

Utah Jazz

For Christmas we got tickets to a Utah Jazz basketball game so on December 30, we headed down to Salt Lake to go to the game.  The Jazz were playing the Boston Celtics.

The game started at 7:00 pm.  When we got to Salt Lake, we decided to go to Crown Burger for dinner.  The food was really good but very expensive.  Luckily we got there before the big game rush because by the time we left, the lines were out the door.  Everyone was dressed in Jazz paraphernalia and there were even a few people dress in the Celtics green.

After dinner, we walked to the Delta Center where the game would be played.  The Delta Center is huge and we were pretty much on the top row.  As we found our seats, we had to climb a lot of stairs.  When we turned around to sit down in our seats, we almost got vertigo because of how high up we were!  I had to sit down and then I felt safer.

We soon got used to the height and the seats were actually pretty good for viewing the whole court.  Just above our seats was the Fan Club room.  Here there were some fun fake rocks to climb on and a few hoop shoot arcade games to play.  The kids had a good time playing up here until the game started.

The game was really good and the Jazz were really doing well for the first 3 quarters.  It was awesome to watch professional athletes do their thing.  There was so much talent on the court and we liked watching the players pass, dribble, shoot, and especially dunk.  The Jazz were ahead most of the game and then something happened in the 4th quarter and they just fell behind and could not catch back up.  It was almost like they gave up. Sadly the ending score was 129-119 Celtics win.  We were sad for the loss at home but we still had a good time just being at the game and enjoying the atmosphere.  I would go to another game if we get the chance sometime.  Go Jazz!

After the game, we headed to St. George to spend New Year with family down there.  It was a fun couple of days.

Merry Christmas 2025

Merry Christmas from the Farnsworths!  We had a great Christmas together this year.  For the first time, Russell had Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off from work.  It was nice to be together.

On Christmas Eve we all opened our presents of matching pajamas.  We love this tradition.  It's not a surprise to anyone but something they look forward to.  

For Christmas dinner we made delicious soup and bread bowls, another tradition.  After dinner, the kids wrote their letters to Santa for their stockings.

Once the cookies and eggnog were set out, it was time for bed.  Everyone slept downstairs.  The boys decided to sleep on the hide-a-bed in the living room while the girls slept in Emily's room.  The excitement was almost too much for Logan as he had a hard time falling asleep.  Occasionally he has those nights where he cannot slow his mind enough to go to sleep.  This was one of those nights.  Finally, Russell went down and laid by him and it was better.  

The next morning we all slept in until about 8 or 9.  The kids were used to waiting until after 8 o'clock because that is usually when Russell gets home from work.  I was thankful for sleeping in.  Eventually, they could not wait anymore and it was time to come upstairs.

Brooklyn was first and was so excited to see her new American Girl doll.  Then Charlotte came up and was so surprised to see a new bike!  Finally the rest of the kids bombarded their way up and the party started.

Each of the kids received one big gift.  Logan got a long awaited Garmin watch and was happy to join the Garmin family.  Colby has needed new clip-less shoes for his bike for a year now so he was happy to get some new shoes.  Now his feet won't hurt when he rides his bike.  Emily received a fancy Letterman's Jacket.  The jacket turned out so awesome.  The patches include cross country, track, mountain biking, and drumsticks for band.  She was excited to wear it all day.

Along with their big gifts, everyone received a Diamond Art project.

We all took a few minutes to work on our diamond projects before breakfast.  These projects have been fun to work on over the Christmas Break.  We will see how long they take us to finish.

After breakfast, it was time to open the presents under the tree.  This year the kids decided to get presents for everyone rather than drawing names.  This made for a lot of presents under the tree but it was fun to take everyone shopping and see what things they decided to get for each other.

Emily said the only thing she needed was some running clothes and a new brush.  Well she got some of those things as well as some more.  Colby decided Emily and Logan needed Air-soft guns so that they could play with him so that is what he got them.

Colby really needed new snow boots so he got some of those but really there is no use for them this year because there is no snow.  Colby also loves his flannel shirts and Emily surprised him with a piano book of Queen songs.  He has been practicing and learning them ever since.  The best/worse gift the boys got was a mini potato gun.  They have been shooting little potato pellets all over the house.  I did tell them they had to clean up the potatoes and they have been pretty good at doing that.

Logan also needed new snow boots for the snow-less winter.  He was excited about the Air-soft gun, Lego base plate, weightlifting gloves, and other gifts.

Charlotte was happy to get a new bike so that she can ride with the big kids when they go mountain biking.  Her favorite gift though was her giant Squishmallow, Jelly.  This is the one thing she wanted.  Another fun gift was a hoverboard from Logan.  Logan found this hoverboard that someone was throwing away and cleaned it up and got it working again.  Charlotte also got some new snowshoes because she had gotten too big for hers.  Sadly we cannot try them out yet.

Brooklyn really cleaned out.  She got a lot of fun gifts from her siblings.  First Dad made her a doll bed for her new doll. Then she received a little Squishmallow and a remote control car like she wanted.  Her favorite gift, I think, is the little Ruff Ruff Puppy to go along with her little Pal Palm stuffy collection.  Her reactions this year were priceless!

Russell and I also received some good gifts from the kids.  Russell also got some new bike shoes so his feet won't die every time he rides either.  He also received a water bottle cage, shirts, weightlifting gloves, and, of course, peanut butter M&Ms.  I received new running shoes because my old ones were very much worn out.  My legs will be so happy because it will be like running on clouds.  I also received a new hairdryer, earrings, shoes, and a new phone case.

We were all very spoiled but I feel like it is all stuff we needed to do the things we enjoy.  One nice gift the kids received was a Lego set of the Logan Temple.  This will be a nice project to work on together and then display the temple in our home.

After opening the presents, we decided to take advantage of the great weather and spend the day outside.  For the first time, it was not cold or snowy on Christmas.  Charlotte was able to go out and ride her new bike which usually does not happen on Christmas.  

While the older kids tried out their new air-soft guns in the field, Charlotte, Brooklyn and I rode up to the park to try out the pump track with Charlotte's bike.  She was so amazed at how much faster and easier to ride this bike is compared to her old bike.  She was able to try out the gearing while going up and down the hills and she said she was getting the hang of it.  It was fun to get outside and enjoy the day.

Another exciting family gift we received was tickets to a Utah Jazz basketball game.  I have always wanted to go to a professional basketball game.  Colby was pretty excited about going as well.  Each of us received a Utah Jazz shirt to wear during the game. We are excited to go in a few days.

We have had a great Christmas and we have loved spending time together as a family.  I know Christmas is not about the gifts and things like that but it is about celebrating the birth and life of our Savior Jesus Christ.  I am grateful for Him and the blessings He has given me in my life.

December

December has come and just flown by.  We have had a lot of fun preparing for Christmas and enjoying the Christmas celebrations throughout the month.  

We started the month by decorating the house.

Brooklyn liked putting the star on the top of the tree this year because she got to be on top of Dad's shoulders.  She said it was scary but fun.  

On December 6 we attended the Hyrum City Christmas Celebration. We liked looking at all of the decorated trees and gingerbread houses.  This year they also included Christmas quilts.  They were all very good.

The best part though was being able to meet Santa for the first time this season.  This Santa and Mrs Claus are the best and most friendly.  They have to be the real ones!

That night, while Emily was at Senior Ball, the rest of us attended our ward Christmas Party.  It was nice to hang out with the ward, eat yummy food, and just have a relaxing night.

The girls loved meeting Santa while we were there too.  Two Santas in one day!  

The next day on Sunday, the primary kids had the opportunity to sing some Christmas songs at the Blacksmith Assisted Living.

The kids were so cute while they were singing.  They were able to sing about 10 songs and they did a great job.  The best song was "Go Tell it on the Mountain,"  they really sang that one out!  The residents really loved it!

While everyone was at school. Brooklyn and I did some shopping downtown and we found these cool Christmas decorations near Anderson Seed and Garden.

Brooklyn wanted a picture near the cool red truck and in the sleigh.  Yes as you can see, she is not even wearing a coat in December!  It has been really warm this month like in the 60s!  I am not complaining because I think it is great but it is very unusual.  We will not be having a white Christmas this year.  It's almost like we are in St. George again.

One tradition we have kept alive for many years is decorating Gingerbread Houses.  This is one of our favorite nights of the season.  This year, Becca joined us and added her house to our collection. Each year the table is covered in candy and we just go crazy with creativity and decorate our houses.

Everyone's houses turned out great.  Each person built their own house and came up with their own ideas.  Even Brooklyn had a great time caking everything in frosting and candy.  It is always interesting to see what the final products will be but it is always fun.

Later we headed to the American West Heritage Center to participate in their Sleigh Rides on the Farm.  Since there is no snow though, it was just a wagon ride around the farm. We were okay with that though because it wasn't cold.  

While we were there, we got to hear caroling at the farm house, check out Santa's barn and workshop, have hot chocolate and meet Santa.  This Santa was fun to talk to and was very friendly to the kids.  We had a great time at the farm.  

Another tradition we like to do every year is attend the Live Nativity at the Morgan Farm in Nibley.  This Live Nativity program has really grown over the years.  In the beginning, it was just a simple walk through the barn and listening to the Christmas story.  Now it is a bigger event with lights, wagon rides, hot chocolate, a kids craft area, and of course the Live Nativity.

Regardless of the size though, it is still a special experience to witness the actors and animals as they depict the Nativity Story.  Our favorite part of the night though was Moses the Camel.  He was very talkative and friendly to all of the people.  He kept grunting and growling at us.  We thought it was really funny.  He was even nice enough to let us pet him.  Camels are actually quite soft.  We all had a good time.

Another fun tradition we have is attending the Christmas Fantasy at the high school.  This year Emily and Colby were in the show in the band.

Emily was part of the drumline as a toy soldier.  Colby was also a marching toy with his trombone.  He dressed up as a present with a vest made out of wrapping paper.  This was a fun band concert with the help of the theater department acting out a story to go along with the music.  At the end, Santa came out and finished the story.

Logan also had a Christmas band concert with the Middle School.  

This was also a good concert and Logan was able to play the xylophone in a couple of the songs.

Our final concert of the season was the kids' piano recital.  Both Charlotte and Logan played two pieces in the recital.

Logan played "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" as a solo and then he played "Silent Night" as a duet with his teacher, Rowena Bunce.  Charlotte played "Angels We Have Heard on High" as a solo and then she played "I'll Be Home for Christmas" as a duet with me.  It was fun to play with her and practice some piano skills I have not used in a while.  Both kids did really well.  

Now that we are on Christmas Break from school, it has been nice to just relax and spend time together as a family.  We have enjoyed driving around and looking at Christmas lights as well as baking a lot of treats for the season.  We are looking forward to Christmas.

Senior Ball

 The next dance I was able to go to was Senior Ball.  It's fun to know a lot of boys on the cross country team because for dances we just rotate through different dates for dances and we are all in the same group.  For this dance I went with Isaac Morrison.  

Isaac was really fun to go with. I've known him since 7th grade Band.  Isaac asked me with a Tiki torch and said something like, "It would be FIRE to go to Senior Ball with you."  I replied with the same Tiki torch and said, "Yes Senior Ball will be LIT!"  The funny thing is that when we dropped off the reply, Mom and I sat in his yard for at least 5 minutes trying to light the torch.  Finally, we gave up and sadly left it unlit.

Our group was supposed to have 5 couples but 2 of the girls had a wrestling meet so the other 3 couples did the day date, pictures and dinner without them and just met them at the dance.

The day date was lots of fun.  We made gingerbread houses at Isaac's house. While we were waiting for the last couple to get there, we were able to have a tour of Isaac's remodeled house.  We found out that he has a homemade splash pad in his backyard!  (Definitely remembering that for the summer!) Finally, when the last couple arrived, we were able to make the gingerbread houses.  It was definitely an adventure.  Each couple had a gingerbread house kit to decorate and we were competing for the best house with Isaac's family as the judges.  Honestly, the house that Isaac and I made was probably the messiest.  Everyone else's were so nice and neat but we had the most fun making ours.  Our motto by the end of decorating was 'More Frosting!'  

After judging the houses, there was an earthquake.  Okay not really but all of our houses got wrecked because we smashed them all.  After making the houses we played a really fun game that involved a lot of funny actions.  All of us were laughing really hard by the end of the game.

The day of the dance was pretty busy.  That morning I went to get my nails done then straight to a youth council activity.  Then it was time to get ready for the dance.  Mom had too much fun doing my makeup but it surprisingly didn't take a lot of time to get ready. 

 Putting on the boutonniere was a lot easier to do this time.  The corsage was really pretty and Isaac made it himself.  He was disappointed that the flower that matched my dress broke when he was making it so he sadly had to get a different flower. I told him that it was alright and that it was still really pretty.

We took pictures a Merlin Olsen Park and it was cold, but the pictures turned out really good!  The funny thing was that the girls did not plan to wear blue dresses, but we all did so we were matching!

The pictures turned out really pretty!  It was supposed to snow while we were taking pictures but luckily it didn't. However, pictures in the snow would've been really cool.

 Our group consisted of Cameron and Josie, Isaac and me, and Ethan and Lily. This was such a fun group to go with and we had lots of fun together.

After pictures we went to Olive Garden and had some really good food.  When we were done we left with 2 bags of bread sticks....for some reason we couldn't say no.  After dinner we had a lot of time before the dance started so we went to see some Christmas lights in Nibley.  They were really cool.  We drove all around Nibley only got lost a couple times. We had fun hanging out.  Isaac and I had fun in the back of the car playing Jello around all of the turns. We were all teasing Ethan and Lily for holding hands but by the end of the ride Isaac and I may or may not have ended up holding hands as well... Shh! 

After the Christmas lights, we headed to Castle Manor for dance.  The dance was really fun.  We were able to meet up with the other two couples in our group at the dance.  I saw a lot of friends and their groups there as well.  At the dance there was a fun photo booth where we took some funny pictures.  

The crazy thing about the dance though, was how hot and stuffy it was.  It was so humid inside you could see the heat on the windows...  It was really gross.  Outside felt great but then, when we walked back inside, it was like a heat wave.  All in all the dance was a lot of fun despite the hot and humid dance floor.

 I'm really glad I got asked to Senior Ball even though I'm not a Senior.  But really the dance is more like a Winter Ball because everyone goes to it not just Seniors.  Isaac was a really fun date and it was really fun to go with him.

STOMP!

STOMP! is a percussion group that uses the body and ordinary objects to create a performance using rhythms, acrobatics, and pantomiming.  When I was in high school percussion class, we learned and  performed a few of their songs as a class.  This was so much fun to do.  Ever since then, I have wanted to see STOMP live and actually experience their show.  This has been a dream of mine forever.  When I found out STOMP was coming to the Eccles Theater in Logan, I knew I had to see it.  The tickets were kind of expensive though so I wasn't sure if it would all be worth it.  Russell finally said to do it so I got tickets for the three percussionists, Emily, Logan and me. 

The show was totally worth it!  We were enthralled for 2 hours with rhythms, funny facial expressions, and just amazed at the talent before us!  There was one performer that was kind of at the brunt of all the jokes and he became our favorite guy in the show.  He was so funny.  Another favorite performer was the main guy because he could do anything!  He was so talented.  One song he played entirely with his hands on his body.  It was crazy!  I can only imagine how red his chest and hands were afterward.  Emily and Logan liked the show as well.  They both wanted to go back to school and ask Mr. Beach to let them learn some of these songs so they could have this much fun too. I am glad I was able to take them and go myself.  I was totally worth the money and time!