Pinewood Derby!

It's time to get down and Derby!  The Young Women in our ward put on a Pinewood Derby competition this week and it was so exciting to go and watch all of the girls race.  Emily worked hard on her car.  She and Colby studied the Pinewood Derby book we have and designed the best car with the best features to make it go fast including a quick release trick to give it a head start on the others.  All of these tricks must have worked because Emily was winning every race. 

During each of the races, Colby was calculating each winners' times to see if Emily was still beating them with her times.  He was really getting into it while the rest of us were just cheering for everyone.  After all of the girls and leaders had raced their cars four times, the championship race came down to the top four cars.  The race was between Emily, Sister Checketts, Sister Booth, and Baylee Hansen.  As the lever was pulled, Emily and April were neck and neck to the very end when April's car nosed just ahead hitting the laser finish line just milliseconds before Emily's.  Emily won second place!!  

Our whole family cheered for Emily as if she had won the whole thing.  It looks like winning the Pinewood Derby runs in the family!  Way to go!!

Another fun thing the kids participated in this month is the Library's Got Talent activity.  This was a talent show teens could participate in for a chance at some prizes.

Colby has been loving the Imagine Dragons piano book he got for Christmas and has learned basically every song in the book already.  He performed "Believer" by Imagine Dragons and did amazing.  Emily also played the piano performing "I Ain't Worried" from Top Gun: Maverick.  She also did great!  I really thought they had a great chance at winning the show.  Then we found out the winners were based on votes and, well, everyone voted for the person they were there to see.  If we would have know that, we would have invited more people...  In the end, the performers that won were the ones that brought the most people...  Talent wise Colby and Emily should have totally won second and third place.  The first place winner definitely deserved first place so we were okay with that but the second and third place winners were not that great.  Oh well it was still fun to watch and participate in but we were bummed about the winners.  Good job anyway Emily and Colby; you got robbed!

Happy 90th Birthday, Grandma Maxwell

 Our trip to St. George was to attend Grandma Maxwell's 90th birthday celebration.  The one thing Grandma really wanted to do for her birthday was attend the temple with her family.  We were able to do this and it was really special to be there will everyone.  

We attended the Red Cliffs Temple and did an endowment session with the family.  This was my first time being in the Red Cliffs Temple since the open house.  We were able to take Logan and the kids to do baptisms in this temple earlier that day but doing a session, we got to see more of this beautiful temple.  I loved attending with the family because that is what the temple is all about.  You could tell that this was a special experience for Grandma as well.

The next day we all got together for the birthday celebration and family pictures.  Emily and I had just ran our half marathon so we were a little late but we made it for the important parts.  

During the party we enjoyed chatting with cousins we hadn't seen for a while.  We ate yummy Costa Vida and cake.  The kids loved bouncing in Kristy and Mike's bounce house and playing with the fun toys.  Each of the families got to take a photo with Grandma and then we all got together for one big family picture.  I think there were only 5 people missing from the picture.  Afterward we played get to know Grandma games and described all of the places we took "Flat Grandma" during our adventures over the last month.  The best part was when we got to spent a few minutes alone with Grandma.  You could tell she was so grateful for her family and she loves all of us.

The weekend was a good time to spent with family.  While at the Farnsworth's, Brooklyn got to spent time with the two cousins her age, Mavis and Olivia.  These three have never been together at the same time.  The last time Brooklyn and Olivia were together they were tiny babies.  

It was great to see these three play together and become instant friends.  There is just something about a cousin bond that makes you best friends.

Emily also had a special moment with Grandma Maxwell.  While going through her things, Grandma found her wedding dress.  She wanted to give it to one of her granddaughters and decided Emily would be the best one to take care of it and fit it.

This was such a sweet moment between a Grandma and a Great-Granddaughter.  When Emily tried on the dress and it fit perfectly, Grandma was tearing up.  I think it is so awesome!  I don't know if Emily will wear it to anything yet, maybe a prom or something or just keep it as a special memento but it is a blessing to receive it.

Happy 90th birthday, Grandma Maxwell!

Dogtown Half Marathon

Emily and I have been training for a half marathon for the last few months. It has been really fun to run with her and spend that time together. We really pushed each other during training because some days she would beat me and other days I would be pushing her.

While we were in St. George, we ran the Dogtown Half Marathon. The course ran through Washington City.  We both did really well.

 

The course was a little harder than I thought it would be with a lot of rolling hills and even a couple of big climbs.  Emily did great and I was trailing her the whole time.  She probably could have gotten a much better time but she was waiting for me the whole time.  I was coming off of a bad cold and had not ran for a week because of it.  (Personal reminder: Do not take NyQuil!)  Thankfully I woke up on race day feeling much better than I had all week.  

The starting line was really cold so we were grateful for the warmers.  Once we got running though, we warmed right up.  Even though the course was challenging, it was a nice scenic course.  I would like to go back and run a few of these trails in shorter sections.

By the end of the race I was capped.  Emily on the other hand got a second wind and raced to the finish line.  I told her to leave me in the dust and finish strong.  She did just that and passed a few people on her way to the finish line.  

Our goal was to finish the race in under two hours.  When the 2 hour pacer passed us early on in the race we were kind of discouraged until I looked at my watch and told Emily we were right on pace.  The pacer was running more of a 1:45 pace.  One mile before the end, we caught up to the pacer and he was walking.  As we passed him, he apologized for going too fast for his assigned pace.  I just laughed and said he gave us something to catch.  We finished the race right on our goal in 1:58 and 1:59! (I should be a pacer!)

When we got our time cards, we realized that Emily had placed second in her age group!  We were staying for the award ceremony!  As soon as we stopped running, we started feeling the cold again.  Our sweaty clothes didn't help either and made us even colder.  Emily just wanted to leave but I said no.  She was getting her 2nd place medal!  We only had to wait about 15-20 minutes for the awards so it wasn't too bad.  Way to go Emily!! I think it is so awesome that she was able to medal in her first half marathon!  

While we were training, Emily said she was never doing another long distance race again.  After the race though, she decided it wasn't' too bad and she could probably do another one.  Ha ha she is hooked.  We may be doing some more races in the future.

First Temple Trip

 Over the weekend we were able to travel down to St. George to be with family and celebrate Grandma Maxwell’s birthday. While we were there, we took the opportunity to take Logan to the temple for the first time. 

This was Logan’s first time going to the temple to perform baptisms for the dead. We were able to go to the new Red Cliffs temple and it was absolutely beautiful. 

Each of the kids were able to perform 5 baptisms and confirmations. Russell was able to baptize them and I was able to be a witness. Later Russell and I also got to do some confirmations. 

This was such an amazing experience for us. I was so happy to see my oldest kids together in the temple. Logan was really excited and nervous because he wasn’t sure what to expect. It was nice to have Emily and Colby there to show him the ropes. Afterward, Logan was so happy and glad he was able to go to the temple, he was jumping for joy! He said he could not wait to go back again.

Runnin’ Ute Basketball

This weekend we had the opportunity to go to a University of Utah Men’s Basketball game. The kids earned free tickets to the game as part of a reading program through PBS Kids. 

The game was really exciting and everyone enjoyed being in the arena atmosphere. We are not big Ute fans. We are more Aggie's fans but it was still fun watching the game. If we go again we will have to wear red shirts. 

Before the start of the game, Logan and Charlotte got to go court side and watch the team warm up. They loved receiving high fives from the team members as well as the Ute Mascot, Swoop.  Brooklyn was sad she didn’t go down and get a high five from the Eagle.  She liked watching Swoop through out the game more than she liked watching the basketball game.

When the game got started, we were enthralled in the action. I was secretly cheering for the away team because I thought the Ute fans were a little too cocky. It is was it is though when you are at a home game. Both teams played really well and we were all impressed by their skills. Colby loved the game as asked when we could go back to see another game. 

The Utes won by about 20 points so the whole crowd was over the top with excitement.  I am glad we were able to attend and make some fun memories as a family.

Priesthood Ordinations

Sunday January 5 was an exciting day for our family.  Colby and Logan were able to be ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood. 

Logan received the Aaronic Priesthood and was ordained a Deacon. He was so excited for this ordination and was counting down the days until it could happen. Every few days you would hear him saying, “Only this many days until I get the priesthood!”  I am so glad he made this choice toward the priesthood. I know he will be blessed as he lives up to this responsibility. Next week will be his first time passing the sacrament.  

Logan was also able to be interviewed for a Limited Use Temple Recommend. He was also very excited about this because he wants to go to the temple to do Baptisms for the Dead. I could tell he was a little nervous about the temple interview questions because he didn’t understand some of them but it was a good opportunity to talk to him and help him learn. 

Colby received the Aaronic Priesthood a couple years ago. Today he was able to advance in the Priesthood and be ordained to the office of a Teacher. This was also an important decision for Colby to make. He was looking forward to advancing. As a Teacher, he will have many of the same responsibilities as a Deacon but with some additions as well.

I am so proud of each of these boys for being worthy and willing to hold the Priesthood and act as they should. I am proud of both of my sons!  Russell was able to ordain both of the boys and gave them wonderful blessings as part of the ordination.

And we can’t forget this was an important Sunday for Brooklyn as well! This week was her first week in Primary. She has graduated from Nursery and is now a Sunbeam!  It is so exciting and sad at the same time to see her grow up. At first she was scared to be in Primary and almost started crying but then I showed her her friends, Luke and Sam, and she felt much better. So as long as she can sit by those two, she will be fine. After church she told me all about the songs she got to sing in her class. 

This was also my first week teaching my primary class. I thought I was going to be teaching Charlotte’s class but I actually teach the age group above hers. I think it went well and the kids were very well behaved. Hopefully it is always like that! 

What a great Sunday!

Hyrum City Youth Council

Emily was sworn into the Hyrum City Youth Council on January 2. This will be her second year serving on the Youth Council and she is excited to be one of the members of the Youth Leadership Board.

Being part of the Youth Council has been a great way for Emily to get involved in the community as well as make new friends. This year she will be over a committee and help plan a couple of events and service opportunities for the Council. She is in charge of coordinating the Hyrum City Easter Egg Hunt and putting together a group to serve at the Top of Utah Half Marathon Aid Station. She is also the liaison for the Hyrum Library. It will be a busy year.

I have been an advisor for the Youth Council for about 6 months now. I have enjoyed being part of this great group of kids as well as being more involved in the community too. I am looking forward to this new year and new group of young people!

Welcome 2025

 Here we are in 2025!  What will the year bring to our lives?  I hope it is a good year full of new experiences and fun new adventures.  

We spent New Year's Eve and celebrated bringing in the New Year with our friends, the Pini's.  We had a blast playing games chatting and letting the kids hang out.  Our nacho bar and snacks were more than enough to feed an army so we were stuffed.  We have enjoyed getting to know the Pini's over the last year and love having them as friends.

I talked to the kids a little bit about what goals they would like to accomplish this year and they didn't really know.  After thinking for a minute, though, they came up with some good things.  

Emily would like to find a job, maintain her 4.0 GPA in school, run a half marathon, make Varsity in cross country, and work toward receiving her patriarchal blessing.  Those are all great goals!  

Colby wants to qualify for State in Mountain Biking this year.  He hopes to do this by focusing on speed training and riding more often.  I also suggested working out his legs more by doing squats and lunges or even running. Good Luck!

Logan wants to improve his gymnastics skills by learning to do a back handspring.  He also wants to go mountain biking more often so he will be ready to be on the team in the summer. His main goal is to get me to move him into his own room!

Charlotte wants to improve on the piano and score well on her AIM tests.  She also wants to try out gymnastics because she thinks it looks fun.

Brooklyn will start preschool in the Fall so my goals for her are to learn the alphabet and numbers as well as learn to write her name and tie her shoes.  She wants to learn to play music like the big kids so we may start music classes too.

Russell is working toward his Critical Care Paramedic Certificate and hopes to earn that this year.  He has also taken on the position of head coach of the Mountain Bike team so he has been working toward getting that program more established and running well.

The goals I have for myself are similar to years past.  I want to continue to attend the temple once a week.  I would like to learn how to do family history too so that I know a little more about the people I am doing work for.  I think that will make my temple experiences even more meaningful.  I was just called to be a primary teacher so I want to do a good job.  Because of this, one of my goals is to study the scriptures more often and more in depth so that I can better teach the kids in my class. We are studying the Doctrine and Covenants this year.  I don't have any major fitness goals this year but I would like to remain active through running, biking, swimming, and hiking.  I loved exploring and discovering different hiking trails last year and would like to continue to do that this year too. Right now my goal is to stay on task and not be distracted by my phone.  I am going to avoid getting trapped in Internet or Social Media rabbit holes and only use my phone for necessities.  Like always, I would like to get more organized and finish some incomplete or procrastinated projects this year too.  (I will need to make a list!)  

Most of all, the one thing I want to do this year as a family is spend more time in the scriptures and Come, Follow, Me.  Emily also expressed this as something we need to do.  I always get really overwhelmed or anxious about this because I am not great about expressing my feelings about the scriptures or teaching.  I think having the calling as a primary teacher will really help me with this.  Maybe, like the temple appointments, scheduling the family scripture time in the calendar will help.  I will work on this. 

I am looking forward to this new year and hope it will be a good one!