Believe it or not, I just recently heard the term Maycember for the first time. It was true for us this year for sure. There’s probably enough here for three blog posts, but we’ll try splitting May into two. Maycember and Graduation.

At the beginning of May Reagan made a huge decision to move home and prepare for a mission. The kicker was, he wanted to keep it a secret from Levi so he could surprise Levi with his call. This of course added to the crazy of May-it was not easy to keep this very big thing a secret from everyone. We did manage to, though, and I will blog about that later.

Prom

Also at the beginning of May was Prom. Levi asked his girlfriend with an epic poem. HIs friends helped him with it. Here’s the poem and the video: Levi is out by the car in the Royal robe and crown.

She answered in much the same way:

Liberty got to help plan prom this year because she’s on Student Council. She got to go and be an MC.

Mother’s Day

This year for Mother’s day Rock made some delicious Bruschetta and pasta for dinner and he and Libby made a fancy mousse.

Reagan won the day with his gift. A few weeks before Mother’s Day Rock made some fun AI mini movie posters of himself. I jokingly said I would love to have a full size one to put up in my office and so that’s what Reagan gave me for Mother’s day! I LOVE my poster.

Rock bought season tickets to the first ever (minor league) professional soccer team, AC Boise. He has loved going to games and takes one of us every time and all of us when he can. In May we took my Dad to a game. When I was little, he would take me to Tacoma Stars soccer games in the Tacoma Dome and I loved them.

Lasts

Levi had several lasts in May. In his last choir concert he got to sing in a small group with Liberty.

He ran his very last track race. I’m so grateful for his coaches and teammates who pushed him and cheered for him and helped him learn so much through running.

Possibly the most impactful was his unofficial private coach. Rock spent hours talking with Levi, rehashing runs, planning strategy, mourning losses and celebrating wins.

Last day of High School

Liberty had a first in May-her first dance solo. She was Miss Marianne Prue, a kangaroo, in her ballet recital. I accidentally stopped the video in the middle of her dance, so it’s in two parts.

It was her last recital with her good friend Susie, who is going to BYUI in the fall.

Floods

At the end of March, my parents had a flood in the house they were renting and it turned their lives and ours upside down. When their TERRIBLE landlord kicked them out we had only a month to help them find a new place to live. A few weeks after their flood, we had our own flood. (you can’t make this stuff up) A pipe in our water heater burst and flooded the basement hallway, the whole wall of the utility closet and Levi’s room. Needless to say, Rock and I became very familiar with renters AND homeowners insurance that month. Life doesn’t stop for stuff like that, though, so we still had some other exciting blogworthy events happen.

Fame

At the beginning of April Cade got to fulfill his goal of singing in General Conference. He sang in the Saturday afternoon session and you can still see video of him singing if you go look on the church website. They got to sit in the MoTab seats and have a small private devotional with Elder Bednar. He had a really awesome experience and even got a date out of the experience! It was really fun to have my phone explode during that session over and over whenever someone we know saw him and texted me-“I see Cade!!!!” So for a few hours in April, Cade enjoyed a little bit of fame.

Libby enjoyed a little bit of fame as well in her first ever school talent show. She and 3 other girls from ballet decided to perform this dance from the nutcracker for their school talent show. It’s a very hard dance even though it looks simple.

Levi’s main goal for his last track season was beating Rock’s time of 4:38 which he ran his senior year in high school. Rock has been a good dad encouraging him to be better than he was and Levi finally beat his time in April. 4:37!! Here’s the moment his foot touched the finish line-if you look at the score board you can see his time. He went on to get 4:36 in a later race, but this was the big one.

Philippines

And the last big thing that happened in April was Levi’s mission call. He is going to the Cebu Philippines Mission speaking Cebuano on August 28th!!!

If you are wondering why Levi and many of his friends are wearing goggles, its because they were in a game of Senior Assassin at school. It was an intense game where seniors are put on teams and have to kill each other with water guns and if kids were wearing goggles, they were safe. School hours are off limits, churches and homes are too, but as soon as kids walk out of those areas, they are fair game. Levi’s team was among the few left at this point. Yes, it was super annoying, but fun for the kids. His team ended up winning $2000.00!!!!! So, in the end, worth it. So excited for this kid to share the gospel in the Philippines!!!

In February Liberty went to her first Sweethearts Dance and Levi went to his last.

Below is the first picture of it’s kind to ever show up in my blog. Boys don’t get ready for dances together, so I’ve never posted one of them getting ready. But as all girls know, it’s more fun to get ready in a group.

Levi went with his girlfriend to sweethearts and I didn’t really get any pictures from their date. Sigh. But I got some when she came to pick him up at the door.

Those who follow my blog will maybe have noticed that I have not blogged anything so far in 2026. In January I was called as Relief Society President and between that and floods at both my parents house and my own, not one, but TWO boys doing their mission papers, and various other craziness, the last 6 months have been a complete blur. I am going to attempt to blog them all now. Wish me luck, watch for a new one hopefully every week or so till I get caught up and pray I’m not interrupted by a 4th flood.

In January Cade started at BYUI, got into the audition choir he wanted, started making friends, dating and figuring out college. Reagan headed back to Utah to do more job hunting and apartment searching. Levi started filling out mission papers and started his very last semester of high school. Liberty went to her first formal dance and crammed in all the ballet practice she had missed because of her foot problems to get ready for her recital. Here are the picture high lights.

The Sweethearts Dance Asks

Liberty’s Ballet Recital

I don’t know why, but I didn’t get any videos this time of her dances. She’s mostly ok with that since this was a rough recital for her. Luckily she was able to dance all of her recital dances except one en pointe.

I did have a birthday in January. No, I’m not 50 yet. In honor of my dying youth, here’s a blast from the past my dad sent me around my birthday. I remember that wallpaper very well.

Really, these kids are getting too big and too old for all our traditions. There’s not room for them on the fireplace and there’s just barely enough room in front of the tree. Nevertheless, here we are again-Christmas Eve gift opening. I failed to get a picture of them in their new duds because we did something different this year and gave them a choice of two things in the box. It was pretty much chaos after that and I neglected to take a picture of the final choices. Note to self-never give a choice.

Rock tried REALLY hard to get the kids to sleep in on Christmas morning. And they did actually sleep in-sort of, some of them. Either way we started later than we ever have. Alli and Cam who were staying at our house could not believe how long everyone slept. It was a Christmas miracle.

I got a fancy new vacuum that will let me clean my stairs easily. Yeah, I’m pretty boring.

I even got to build legos this year. That was a first! Cade got me this for Christmas this year!

Reagan has kept the kids stocked in Legos for the past few years and this year was no different. He is too generous for his own good.

Cam’s Ham and Cam’s Yams

We love having Cam in the family because he makes our holiday meals amazing. There are other reasons, too, but that one is in the top 5. 😉 This year for Christmas dinner he smoked ham and put the most delicious glaze on it. He was very excited about his glaze. He opened the lid, breathed in deeply and said, “Mmmm smells like Christmas!” After glazing the ham he then took a blow torch to it! It was very exciting. The kids stopped building legos or playing minecraft I can’t remember which, to come up and watch.

I don’t know who asked Santa for more of Cam’s yams but he brought those too! Thanks for all the yummy food this Christmas, Cam and Allie!

This year my parents made the kids work hard for their gifts. They put some money inside these crazy maze boxes and to get it to open they had to solve the maze. The boys especially loved the challenge.

It was great to see Rock’s parents after Christmas and to have them here for Cade’s homecoming. They got each of the boys (the ones over 40, too) these awesome headlamps. All you have to do is wave your hand past it to turn it on or off so taking this picture took a really loooong time. lol

They also got us each a really cool pair of socks.

It was so awesome to have everyone home at Christmas. I love that Reagan is so generous and wants to keep the magic alive. I love that Cade still counts every present under the tree even if he pretends not to. I love that Levi is patient with both those things. And I love that Libby still can’t sleep the night before Christmas. Can’t wait to see what 2026 has in store for each of them and for Rock and I.

Captured this amazing sunset in early December. It looks more like a fire than a sunset! We have had the most mild winter I think I’ve ever experienced outside of Washington. Most days we haven’t even needed a coat outside!

Libby had her Christmas piano recital. This may be her last. 😦 She has become too busy with school and ballet. She played the Piano Guys-We Saw Three Ships. It was very hard and she did awesome!

Levi and Liberty had their Christmas concert on the 18th. After the concert the choir sang happy birthday to Levi.

This song is well worth the listen!

Levi got a big brother home from his mission for his birthday so we had to celebrate a few days later.

Rather than wrap Levi’s birthday present, we had Liberty walk into the room modeling it. He laughed so hard!!! I’m so sad I didn’t get a video of HIS reaction!!

Here’s the suit on Levi with his new birthday tie from G & G Hymas.

Levi and Liberty were asked to be a part of the shadow nativity for our ward Christmas party. It was really really cool. See if you can figure out where they are.

Just before Christmas Reagan took us to the antique store he’s been working at during the holidays. It was very cool.

My goofy kids. Depending on when Levi goes on a mission, this might be the last Christmas picture of all four of them for a while. They are all big enough now I should probably have them stand. They’re almost too big for the fireplace!

December 18th was a big day this year for several reasons. First, it was Levi’s Golden birthday, second, Levi and Liberty’s Christmas choir concert and third, Cade came home from his mission. I’ll cover Levi’s birthday and the concert in my next post, but this post will just be Cade’s homecoming.

After serving for 2 years as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, he said a tearful goodbye to his mission presidents and the Fort Collins Mission and flew home. Well, not without a 3 hour layover in Salt Lake. At 10:00 that night, he finally arrived in Boise. I was SO excited to see him and give him a huge hug! I was a teary mess all day long. It was wonderful to be reunited. Here’s the hug video. 🙂

The ride home from the airport was unreal. The kids were SOOO excited with everyone talking at once. For that one night no one was annoyed or angry and they just reveled in being in one another’s company again. There are a few of those magical moments of pure joy in life and this was one of those.

Cade’s homecoming talk was a few days after Christmas and he did a wonderful job. It has been so fun to see how much he’s grown and to watch him put the lessons he learned into practice in our home. It’s been really cool to see his maturity and the ways in which he leads out in our family and with his siblings now. And speaking of changes, this picture was taken the day of Cade’s farewell. These are two of his closest friends.

But this was taken the day of Cade’s homecoming. Big changes!

It has been wonderful to have Caderade home. But he’s off to college again and leaves on January 5th to BYUI where he’ll room with 5 other missionaries from his mission. He’s super excited and we are excited for him!

On November 1st on our way to Levi’s state meet in Lewiston, we visited Monica at the monastery she was staying at for a month. She took us on a tour of the beautiful and peaceful grounds before we headed to the race. It was awesome of her to come support Levi and great to see her.

Levi went to a dance with a girl from Rocky and the pictures turned out so cute!

Liberty got to be a mother for a weekend. Her Parent/Child Development class assigns each student a robot baby that cries until you figure out whether it needs food, a diaper change, or to be held. It tracks all the care you give it and you get a grade based on how well you do. It even woke up in the middle of the night!

Levi got his wisdom teeth out just before Thanksgiving break. He was totally loopy afterward and we got lots of great video of him.

Also this this month, Levi grew a mustache for No Shave November. He was quite proud of it, but Libby was not a fan and kept bugging him to shave it. He made it all the way to the end of the month though and was proud of his work. He even got it immortalized in his Senior Yearbook picture. I had already paid a fortune for professional pictures, so I was not too concerned about the immortalizing of the stache.

Reagan came home for Thanksgiving and is staying for the whole month of December. He got two seasonal jobs to work while here. He sells meat and cheese platters at Hickory Farms in the mall and he discovered an quaint little antique store in downtown Eagle that he wanted to work at so badly, he convinced the owners to hire him even though they weren’t really in need of anyone new. This boy can talk people into anything.

Our Thanksgiving was a quiet one this year. We just had my parents over for dinner and then the Byam crew came over for dessert. We got to talk to Cade a lot that day. He is now out of his cast and has no pins in his pinky. He’s started playing piano again and has done some PT that has helped a lot.

I did not take one picture on Thanksgiving, apparently. Grateful for another good year. Grateful that Cade will be home soon. And grateful for all our blessings.

Levi just finished up his last season of high school cross country. It has been an emotional rollercoaster of a ride for him and for those who love to watch him run. He learned so much and grew so much through his time in cross country. It’s not an easy sport. It requires mental as well as physical toughness. He had an amazing first year and then a few harder years and then finished up with another great year and a time he was proud of. His competitive spirit often struggled with his “better angels”. But his highs and lows taught him to weather disappointment and bounce back. He learned how to lift and build his teammates even when he had a bad race. The most important lesson he learned is to always look forward to the next goal, not behind at the past. Play to Win, don’t just play to not lose. I’m really proud of this kid and who he has become through this awesome sport.

Levi was the only one on his team who got to go to state ALL 4 YEARS.

Congratulations, Levi! We are so proud of your dedication to this sport, your team and the perseverance you have shown throughout.

In September I flew to San Diego to attend a Jody Moore workshop with my good friend Adrianne. It was so fun to hang out with one of my favorite people and learn from one of my favorite teachers! We learned a ton and had a blast exploring San Diego.

When I got back from San Diego we celebrated Rock’s birthday. He made another beautiful pie! Caramel Apple Sage!

Reagan flew to North Carolina to look at flight schools in September. He’s decided that’s what he wants to do next! He got to fly this airplane-with the help of an instructor. 😉 He ended up choosing a flight school in Utah because it was cheaper and he had more friends and family there. He ran into a bit of a snag with his plans, though, and will have to wait 18 months to really start the process. There are lots of stupid hoops to jump through for the FAA.

He was still in Texas on his birthday so we sent him to Red Lobster for a birthday dinner and then we played Hot Seat over Zoom with he AND Cade, cause it was Cade’s P-day. It was really fun! I can’t wait till all my kids are home at Christmas!

In October Cade broke his right pinky for the SECOND time doing the same thing as last time; playing basketball. It was so bad that he had to have surgery! He was able to have the surgery in Wyoming, rather than coming home, but being in another state when your child has surgery that ends with pins in his hand and the only person taking care of him afterward is a brand new 18 year old missionary, is not an experience I would like to repeat.

He got the pins out this week after 6 weeks in a sling/brace and is already trying to play the piano again. Hopefully that, combined with PT will get him almost back to normal by Christmas. The Dr. seemed to think it wouldn’t take long. But he also told Cade NO BASKETBALL!!

Levi went to Homecoming in October with a friend from his cross country team. He dressed up like a gangster to ask her because they were in Portland and according to Levi there are a lot of gangsters there. Don’t ask me to explain the sign. 😉

I am really glad Levi has such a good group of friends.

Halloween came and went this year with the least amount of attention we’ve ever given it! Levi had the state cross country race 5 hours away the next day so we were driving on Halloween. First time in 25 years that we didn’t get to pass out candy to trick or treaters. 😦 But, we did manage to get some pumpkins carved. Did not, however, get a picture of them lit.

Lastly, I would be remiss if I did not share the amazing lengths to which my awesome brother in law goes to to show loyalty to his team on game day.

But it totally paid off this time cause he got this!

I might frame this one, it makes me smile every time I see that face! At the very least his wife should frame it. 😉