Levi doesn’t love having birthday parties. I’ve tried for several years to get him to do one and this year I decided I was going to do one anyway. So we threw him a surprise party that totally took him by surprise. It was great! He had already been planning a date with some friends so I got them involved. Their job was to get him back to our house after eating dinner downtown. All his other friends came to our house and waited patiently for an hour because Levi was having too much fun downtown and his poor friends on the date couldn’t get him to leave! A grandpa was given kidney stones to get him home. But it was worth the wait. Wish we could have gotten his face on film, but this video is still fun!!

Rather than real gifts, which Levi didn’t want, we had a white elephant gift exchange with a twist. Levi got to steal the last gift and whoever brought the one he wanted, got a prize. The prize winner was a bottle of sparkling cider and a body pillow. lol.

Happy Birthday to a great kid!

Cade passed his one year mark last week! I cannot believe it’s already been that long! It’s been really cool to see him grow during this last year. He’s had hard times for sure, but he’s had really awesome times too. He is more sure and confident of himself and the Lord. He’s developed his ability to accompany music on the piano and he’s used his singing talent to bless those in his mission. He’s becoming a great leader and a hard worker. I’m so grateful to be able to watch it all happen. Congrats on this milestone, Elder Hymas! We love you!

Those two things aren’t related in any way, but it sounded fun. In November I went down to celebrate Sarin’s big 30th birthday and I hitched a ride on this cute stud’s motorcycle. He just drove me from his house to Allie’s, but still-wild ride!

The last time I was on a motorcycle was 24 years ago with a guy I was dating who was, come to think of it, about Reagan’s age. It was really weird to be on one with my kid! Reagan was a very responsible and safe driver and even bought this awesome pink helmet so girls wouldn’t have to go without when he gives em a ride. Which is good, cause when I was on the motorcycle in college, I didn’t have a helmet! Shhh. Don’t tell my children.

We had a great Thanksgiving. We had Cam and Allie this year, so that means…. Smoked Turkey!!!! Thanks again Cam for the delicious turkey. Here are the highlights from the day.

Our day started with two bald men in a kitchen…

Sarin also made a French silk pie for the first time in her life, (for those who missed it, that life is 30 years long now) and that’s just a little embarrassing, so we’re not going to put a picture in. 😉

For dessert we had almost as much food as we did for dinner! 6 pies plus 3 other delicious desserts! It was ridiculous!

We missed Cade, but got to talk to him on the phone. The people who fed him dinner asked for food they liked from home and he said Jello Fluff. So she made this for dinner:

On Black Friday while the girls went shopping, the boys went shooting. Levi was in heaven. Once again, Cam’s expertise was a blessing. After shooting clay pigeons, they shot up some old computers, because why not?

We had so much to be thankful for this year!

Levi finished up his 2024 Cross Country season at the start of November.

Centennial won at a meet in Idaho Falls:

Districts:

His team came in 7th and made it to State! In addition to the boys team making it to state, ONE girl made it as well! She’s super fast and she’s also the one Levi took to homecoming. 😉 Here are some fun pictures from their State dinner.

Levi is pretty proud of these state sweatshirts. He wears each new one almost every day.

State

Levi struggled to do as well as he would have liked this season, but he continued to be a big cheerleader for his teammates. He could be seen at most races running along side the course cheering them on. And at the end of year banquet he won the award for Most Inspirational and I could not have been more proud.