Monday, September 30

Tuesday, October 1

Wednesday, October 2

Thursday, October 3 - Happy #15 Adam!

Friday, October 4

Saturday, October 5

Sunday, October 6

Jon sent out a text to the deacons inviting them to ride the bus to school! He sent out the stops he would make. We picked up several boys and they loved it!

cool dad, happy boys

Mark got to go on a field trip to a farm in Lehi. (I didn’t go, but love getting pics!)

I enjoyed initiatory in the temple. Temple workers are so nice, I love it! (I went a day earlier than normal since I’d be busier on Adam’s birthday.) Tyler tried out the STEM club after school and loved it. Mark was supposed to go too, but he forgot.

I made my first homemade baked beans today! They were a little too tangy for my preferences, but the boys loved them. I added beef hot dogs to them because I grew up eating those with canned pork n’ beans. The boys also loved that!

Jon made sure all the deacons knew about his last offer of a ride to school on Friday. (Andrew was describing his ultimate frisbee gloves he was hoping I could find before his game that afternoon.) Many of the boys came (Trey’s first time making it in the morning), and they all had a blast riding to school together in the party bus!

Tyler and Mark waited outside the girls’ door like it was Christmas morning, waiting for Natalie to wake up. She said she heard them chanting in whispers, “Wake up, Natalie! Wake up, Natalie!”

Sunday morning Tyler and Mark helped me make breakfast pizza, which was so yummy and was quickly gobbled up!

By Andrew’s request they cranked the music up and got dropped off at the font entrance of the school. Jon felt a brotherhood with the school bus drivers we passed on the way, ha ha.

Amy tried out driving the bus that night and it was a little harder than she anticipated. Adam had been begging her to drive it to school (to which I said no way, so I was glad that she decided that one on her own!)

The Barkers invited us over for some Family Night fun: Kubb, S’mores and hot chocolate/cider. We had so much fun! We creamed the kids on the first round (they chose adults vs kids) and then they beat us the second round.

We didn’t do anything in the bus but show it to them, but it’s the only picture we have of everyone. (Amy is taking the picture and Tyler is under the bench.)

Tyler and Mark requested a ride to school in the bus. Jon was home from racquetball in time to take those lucky boys!

Jon decided to drop the boys off at the corner and let them walk the rest of the way instead of messing with navigating the elementary school in the bus. They loved it!

I tried a yummy new beef stew in the Instant Pot. I only took a “before” picture, but everyone loved it.

Andrew’s team got rides home from the game in the “party bus!”

Tyler was super excited to wear his new Webelos gear for the first time! I found our Webelos hat in the closet, sewed on his bear patch and added all the other sporting pins, etc. He looks sharp!

Andrew

I enjoyed watching Andrew play Ultimate Frisbee in a game! (Adam got a ride to mountain biking with Meg again so I could go for the first time.) I helped keep track of subs with Jen McGill. These are great boys! They lost the game, but had a great time.

Crazy Adam riding on the hood of Amy’s car on our street.

I was very happy to see this missionary-looking boy of mine riding his bike home after the temple! I had to snap a picture from my car as I drove Tyler to soccer practice!

Adam prefers for me to drop him off and pick him up. It feels silly when we are so close.... Normally I’d make him get there on his own, but wanting it to all be super positive, and having experienced push-back about going in the past, I’m willing to drive him.

I typically spend a bit of time each day working on family history. I’ve been re-doing a few large family lines. With some new tricks I’ve learned this past year I have found so many more people who need their temple work done. (All the yellow marks indicate temple work needed - much of it in the future.) I tend to write really small and try to keep my lines straight and neat! Each generation is color-coded. I really love my system for keeping track of the family lines.

For mutual, Amy and the Laurels roasted marshmallows in the canyon (and had an adventure getting a fire going). The teachers had mission prep and brought mission dishes from their parents. Adam made “red macaroni” because that was one of Jon’s mission survival foods which he loved and the boys love.

The Mia Maids had an aesthetician (Jasmine Romo’s cousin) give us tips on skin care. She also did a little “makeover” on Zion Deccio who loved it.

Jon took all the deacons up to a viewpoint in the bus.

They got to play some games on the TV.

Adam has been in sore need of a haircut. Jon was nice enough to give him a pre-birthday haircut while they watched a Barcelona soccer game. Adam recently asked if we’d show him all the Barcelona games. It’s fun that he is getting into soccer because Jon and I both love it!

I was so happy that Adam wanted pancakes instead of cinnamon rolls for his birthday breakfast! I did have to make another pot of maple syrup for him, but it was easier than cinnamon rolls.

I finished Adam’s birthday face banner! He was clever enough to put his 15-year old face up there for me, ha ha!

Adam’s cute friend forked our yard with balloons and his printed face for his birthday along with this cute banner and sign. She left it the night before (and the bottom of the sign says “(tomorrow).” Adam has thoughtful friends! He saw this the night before while getting his haircut, but it’s easier to see with the morning lighting.

Adam had a new request for lunch: pizza delivered to him at school. Okay! I’ve been burned once by using the Little Caesar’s ordering app during a rush time, so I figured that going 35 minutes earlier than I needed to leave would be sufficient, but I learned this time after waiting that full time and watching 18 pizzas get handed to people who had called in, that I should call in when ordering 6 pizzas with a deadline. Thankfully, I made it to the school in the nick of time!

Extra unique for Adam’s birthday lunch was getting to eat in the bus with his friends! Adam eats with a group of seniors every other day, so that group came in the bus. Amy also wanted to bring friends for lunch on the bus once, so they got the other 3 pizzas in the back of the bus.

Jon drove us to an awesome park in the canyon where each group hung out some more and ate the pizza, grapes and carrots.

Jon and I threw a (terrible) Frisbee around while they ate. Adam joined us for a few throws.

Jon was such a fun bus driver and definitely got the coolest dad award... again!

The kids were a little late getting back to class (mainly because they were so slow to get back on the bus), but no one seemed to mind.

Adam requested a lasagna dinner and strawberry cheesecake. I love, again, that he has different requests from his younger brothers who usually request the same things just a week apart from each other.

P.S. I love my birthday banners!

Adam got some hiking boots, sandals, a skeleton knife, a breath-busters pack (gum, breath mints and breath spray), and Brandon Mull’s newest Dragon Watch book.

Talk about crazy: Jon set up Adam with his tuxedo for the orchestra concert that night! It was a little big on him, but it pretty much fit!

Adam also played on Jon’s cello.

Amy

Adam

This was Adam’s first concert with the high school orchestra. This is the first year they added a new orchestra: Chamber (the highest), which both Amy and Adam are in. After they performed a few numbers, the Philharmonic orchestra joined them for a few more pieces.

Unfortunately, Amy misjudged the timing and they arrived when this orchestra was already on stage and had already tuned! They sat in their chairs right before Mr. Bowman took the stage. Yikes! (In the past we’ve always been able to wait at home during all the beginning orchestras and haven’t had a problem, but the program must’ve been much shorter this year!) She called us in a panic right before going on stage so we rushed over and made it during their first piece.

It’s so fun that these two are in orchestra together!
This is Amy’s “I don’t feel like taking a picture” face.

The McGills offered a ride to all the Ultimate Frisbee boys, but needed help driving 4 more than they had room for, so Shay asked me to drive. The game was in Orem and it was super windy!

Besides the wind, the kids played a team that was almost all 9th graders. (Our team is all 7th graders with one injured 8th grader.) Look at the size difference - height and weight - between Andrew and #99! And Andrew is one of our biggest players. We have a few real pip squeaks! There’s such a big difference that the game was almost a complete joke. Our kids didn’t have a prayer of defending these kids who are so much taller and so much more skilled. Half time starts at either 30 minutes or 7 points. We hit 7 points first. The game ends at 13 points, which we hit well before the time constraint. The other team said they only had 12 points, so “kicked off” again by throwing their Frisbee... which caught air and landed back into their own end zone. Our players ran up and made one pass in the end zone, so the game actually ended 13-2.

Adam loved cello group class! Besides playing cello together, all the kids got to talk a bunch. I love this social interaction!

(You can barely see him through the right window. This is the house next door to Rosalie’s old house that she rented in Provo once upon a time.)

After dropping off Adam at home I picked up Natalie for Conference weekend! It was so good to see her. She tried to get homework done, and her super excited little brothers just wanted to tell her everything so she was interrupted a lot!

Earlier, while Tyler was playing a game with Mark he slid into a stick that left a pretty gruesome cut in his leg. I worried about him needing stitches so texted a picture to Dave Garry who told me to wash it, watch it, and see him the next day. (After Saturday afternoon Conference Dave looked at it and it was healing well.

I always imagined having a “blond Jon”... I think I do!

The scenery was beautiful!

Jon, Weston and Caden Allred took the scouts hiking up Little Rock Canyon Friday night. They’re trying to go on extra campouts to help out boys needing camping nights for their camping merit badge. Interestingly, at least 4 of the boys who need nights chose not to go.

Andrew

Normally they don’t make a fire, but it was super cold! The boys loved the campfire!

Jon said the boys never sleep on level ground and end up bunched together in the morning, which probably helped with heat!

They had committed to be home at 8am so boys could get ready for General Conference. It was super cold.

They rode to and from the trailhead in the bus, which was super fun, of course.

Friday night, Amy, Tyler and Mark made pumpkin muffins for breakfast. They didn’t put the streusel on before baking, so in the morning I had them tear the muffins into pieces in pans. I made streusel topping and baked it in the oven, so we ate it with forks instead. Everyone loved it and gobbled it up!

(Natalie and Amy went on a run together in the morning, so were showering during this picture.)

Jon came to the rescue with Tyler’s leg injury and did a great job taping it to protect it during his game.

We all got ready to drive to Tyler’s soccer game in Highland and started watching general conference in the Souths’ bus. The sound system is really sweet! While driving, the video signal came in and out so we just listened to the radio until we arrived near the soccer field, though the image often blinked on just when they were showing interesting pictures.

We kept our tradition of running laps during songs - this time running laps around the bus!

The couches are super comfy, so the setup was just great!

Tyler had to miss the last 2 talks of conference to warm up with his team. I took him to the field and went back to watch with the family in the bus, but got a text that he had a bloody nose. I was surprised at how bad it was. Two nice moms (one my friend Aimee who is a nurse) were helping him. I felt bad to have left him, but didn’t expect this! In warm-up a teammate kicked the ball up and it hit him square in the nose. It didn’t stop bleeding for 30-40 minutes! He cried that he had to miss the first part of the game. No pressure that this was the first time that his entire family was here to watch him!

Luckily, Tyler got to play the entire second half of the game... And we all got to see him score his first and only goal of the season! He dribbled it, weaving in and out of defenders, shot, the goalie blocked it, and then he followed through and kicked it in for a goal!!! Our sideline cheered super loud for him! This was the toughest team we’ve ever played and they creamed us (and their coach was super mean and loud), but it was super fun for us to see Tyler score and to be there to support him! He’s awesome!

We had a pleasant drive home in the bus and watched the second session from home like normal.

After the afternoon session, Jon, Adam and Andrew worked on the Lexus together. I love this father-son bonding and for our boys to get familiar with cars and fixing things.

Natalie, Amy and I watched the General Women’s session. All of conference was amazing!

About 8pm Jon got an emergency text from the elders quorum that a new family in our ward needed help moving. Tons of people from our ward showed up at their house and unloaded their truck quickly. But then the dad said he needed to go back to their house (40 min south of here) for the next load. He did not expect anyone to come help because it was clearly a big ask, but Jon could tell he was in need. One awesome South African brother in our ward responded by saying, “I’ll ride with you then” to the dad. Jon told him he’d bring his boys and come help as well. They loaded their truck again and when they got back to the house in Provo the dad suggested that they just unload the fridge so these guys could go home. Jon said, “Let’s just take 5 minutes and see what we can finish” (planning to unload all of it). So they unloaded everything. They didn’t get home until 1:00 in the morning. I am so grateful for a husband who truly serves those in need and who is teaching my sons by example to do the same. I know Jon would’ve been one of those brothers who carried the destitute pioneer saints across the freezing river. He’s that kind of guy.

I asked Jon to take a picture of us at the beginning of conference since I’m never in any pictures, ha ha. I really am there!

Tyler distributed the apostles snacks, and during one of the songs we did planks instead of laps. Man, Tyler and Mark can do it forever! I’m super weak right now... need to work on that!

I felt like conference was drinking out of a spiritual fire hose! Every message was amazing and had so much good to take in. I’m grateful we can re-listen and re-read later!

For dinner I tried making stuffed crepes from Dominique’s recipe. “Conference Crepes!” stuffed with chicken. They were super yummy, but not the same as hers. (Her directions weren’t the best.) But I have hopes that I can keep improving on my attempts to recreate hers.

Amy knew that if she and Natalie started playing together that I’d come take pictures of them. Well of course! They know me too well. Natalie misses having such an amazing violinist to play with at any moment - Amy. I loved hearing them play together!

Sunday evening Jon drove the bus to the Salt Lake Airport with all the kids in it. He downloaded the latest Book of Mormon episode so they could watch on the way. I got stuck driving the van there so we could get home. Bummer for me! We left it in the parking lot for the Souths and drove back home.

I love my family so much! I’m so grateful to be married to such a good man and awesome husband. I’m so grateful for amazing kids and for our time together.

I am grateful for living prophets! General Conference was amazing and I hope we can implement what we heard and become better!


After school Adam got a day with no cello practice (his request) and got to watch a nature show with his brothers instead. Mark, on the other hand, got to practice like the other boys.

I love having a spy at the elementary school! Amy loves interning in Tyler’s classroom! They have all sorts of fun interactions often from across the room. It’s an extra bonus that she brings the boys home on Fridays with early out.

Amy raced with varsity today at Kiwanis Park. This is a great group of girls!