Just before we left on our Washington trip, Levi had to say goodbye to one of his closest friends as he left on a mission. I’m not sure how Levi will manage without his good friend to have crazy deep talks with, but I hope he can still have a fabulous Senior year.

Speaking of Senior status, one of the perks of being a senior at Centennial is that you can get a senior parking spot that is all yours to paint however you like. We told the kids they had to buy their own if they wanted one and Cade didn’t care about it enough to do one but Levi did. I don’t think they did them when Reagan was a senior. Levi designed his based on the amazing mountain goat that wouldn’t leave his territory when the YM were camping in it this summer. Here’s the picture by way of reminder:

It was an awesome design and Libby and a friend of hers helped him paint it. It took several days and was quite the undertaking, but they finished just before we left for WA and it is Awesome!

If you don’t know what on earth “Goated” means, don’t worry, neither did I. It comes from the acronym G.O.A.T-Greatest of All Time.

And speaking of school, here’s the first day of school pictures. They were done a little differently this year because on the first day of school our house was shrouded in plastic because it was being painted. I grabbed a picture of Levi as he left for school out the back that day but Libby had left really early for a student council event and I didn’t even get one of her that day! I finally got one on the front porch of the two kids about a week later.

I spent all of July picking paint colors for the house and when they finally finished I couldn’t even look I was so nervous I would hate it. But I love the finished product! We still have to put the shutters back up, but I’m really happy with it.

Speaking of colors, Libby and I bought identical Wesel pink shirts and wore them to church one day as twins. Which is which?

And one last fun picture from August. Brad Wilcox came to speak in our area and Levi and his friends stuck around afterward to talk to him.

We took Levi and Liberty on a trip in August that was Levi’s 16 year old trip a year late and Liberty’s, a year early. We knew these two would enjoy that more than a one on one trip with Mom and Dad. Since it was “their” trip, they planned it. They locked themselves away one Sunday afternoon and decided where they wanted to go and with the help of chatgpt found all the coolest places to go plus pictures and time lines to go with. They made a whole slide show presentation. Which I will link to here. Then they presented their plan to go visit the Olympic Peninsula (not Forks). Ironically enough almost all our kids think Washington is the greatest place on the planet so they always want to go on vacation there. After a few tweaks, we approved their plan. We flew to Seattle and then drove to Port Angeles where we stayed in a tiny home on a little lake called Lake Sutherland. It was a beautiful deep blue lake surrounded by mountains and forest. Our tiny home was indeed very tiny, but very comfortable.

On our first day we ate breakfast at a little place called Granny’s Cafe that opened in 1956 and was an enchanting little old fashioned cafe with delicious food. We liked it so much we ate there multiple times!

Then we hiked the 6 mile round trip Alava Trail which leads out to the Western most tip of the US, Cape Alava.

On our second day we went to the Hoh Rainforest and walked through the Hall of Mosses. It was very much like many places I grew up near, and I’m glad the kids got to experience it. You can’t get to the Hoh Rainforest without driving through Forks, which the kids stubbornly refused to be excited about. They didn’t want anyone to accuse them of going to the Olympic Peninsula with the purpose of seeing Forks. Rock was the only one willing to pose for me in front of the sign.

Our last stop that day was probably the highlight of our trip. We went to Rialto Beach, where my parents got engaged up on top of a sea stack. Levi was determined to climb the same one, but when they got out to the beach, they turned left and we never had time to go North towards the sea stacks they climbed. I was not too sad about this as I didn’t want Levi getting stuck on top of a sea stack when the tide came in. They had a fabulous time exploring the best tidepools they’d ever seen and climbing around on the rocks the low tide had exposed.

We watched the sunset before heading back to our tiny house.

On our last day on the Peninsula, we planned to canoe/kayak on the beautiful Lake Crescent but unfortunately, the winds were too strong that day and they wouldn’t let us rent boats. They were really sad, but the kids and Rock jumped in for a cold swim instead.

We headed to Seattle instead to play in the city till our flight left. We went to Pike Place Market to show Libby the gum wall. She didn’t love it. lol

We watched the fishmarket guys through around some fish.

Levi found his twin.

We finished off the day with dinner on the wharf at Iver’s.

We got one last view of the almost bare Mt. Rainier while we waited to board our flight. I sure miss this mountain. Liberty wanted me to make sure I pointed out how cool the big flag in the hanger is too. 🙂

And that was our big trip this summer to the Olympic Peninsula (not Forks).

June and July always seem to fly by in a blur before I can blog them.
In June Liberty started her first real job and she also babysat someone other than a cousin for the first time. I was babysitting every weekend by the time I was 12, but we live in a very different world now and people only trust older sitters. Roll eyes. The official job is with a catering business where she gets to help set up and serve food. She’s only worked a few times, but it was an important moment so I had to document it!

Girl’s Camp and Boys Camp also happened in June though I have virtually no pictures from either.

4th of July

It was an odd 4th of July this year with only 2 kids home. Reagan stayed in Texas to watch fireworks by drones instead. It was a really quiet day actually. Liberty spent all day with friends and Levi did as well. I worked on picking paint colors for the exterior house paint job coming up in August.

Rock spent his day on another AMAZING creation. For Father’s day he got a fancy crust book and he put it to use on the 4th.

This year someone set off the HUGE fireworks in the street behind our house, so I got to sit on my back patio and watch the fireworks show literally right above my head. I even got hit with ash and debris. It was SO cool!! When I had little kids I would have been annoyed that they went until almost midnight, but not anymore!

Hymas Family Reunion

We went to Utah for Rock’s family reunion in July. It was fairly lowkey but really great to see everyone. We picked Reagan up at the airport and headed to Midvale.

We hiked to Silver Lake up at Brighton. It was a hard beautiful hike.

We surprised Rock’s parents with a 50th wedding anniversary celebration since all their kids were together.

In July Cade turned 21 and got a new mission president. He’s been out for 20 months!

When we got home from the reunion, Levi got to go backpacking with the young men. He absolutely loves backpacking and had a blast this time too.

While at their campsite, the boys had a visitor who let them know that THEY were actually the visitors. He hovered around their camp the whole time they were there, staring them down just to make sure they knew who was boss.

After being home for a week, I turned around and went back down to Utah to help Allie decorate her new house. We accomplished a lot but this entry wall was the most fun to put together. It’s not quite finished here but almost.

Rock and I celebrated 24 years in July!!!!! We went to a snazzy restaurant to celebrate and in August we are going to England!!!

Including paychecks! Reagan took a big leap this summer by moving to Texas! He and his coworker quit their jobs and moved to Dallas to sell cars. It may just be for a summer, it may be longer. He’s still trying to decide if he likes it or not. But either way he’s having some new cool experiences.

And my favorite picture so far from Texas:

He loves how patriotic they are in Texas, though really, it’s Texas first, America second. LOL:

His first response when he landed in Texas was, “I can’t breathe.” But that was the last time I’ve heard him complain about the humidity. He’s been trying hard to get us to come visit and I hope we can make that happen, but I’d much rather go when it’s NOT summertime.
Here’s to big adventures in the Lonestar State!

In addition to all the choir craziness, Libby also had her piano and ballet recitals. Her piano recital song was Waterfall by Jon Schmidt/Piano Guy and it is one of my favorites! I’ve been trying to get Cade to play it for years and Liberty took on the challenge-inspiring Cade in the process-he’s now learning it on his mission! Her song was too long for this blogpost but it was amazing. Ask her to play it sometime.

Next was her ballet recital. She had 3 shows and danced 3 different dances in each one. It’s a very long, fun day. She did a beautiful job and it is so fun to watch her dance en pointe. The show this year was Peter Pan and Liberty’s class were the Flamingos, the Braves and the Crocodile.

Libby’s closest friend, Susie was John in the show and so all her friends came to see her. This is of all of them talking to Libby after the show.

Prom was also in May this year, right smack in the middle of all the crazy. They went ice blocking for their day date, how fun is that?!

It wouldn’t be May if we didn’t get the annual pilgrimage of ducklings waddling their way through our yard.

A few weeks before her recital she and I went with a ballet friend and her mom to see the professional company, Ballet Idaho, perform Sleeping Beauty. It was amazing and so fun to watch these two young ballerina’s in awe of the ones on stage, now that they are learning how to do that for real. Something to work towards! Libby and I were twins that night.

And.. speaking of twins, now for the identity of the mystery girl I posted in May part I. The picture on the left is Liberty! Most people guessed wrong! But the picture on the right is me at the same age. This picture of Liberty was the closest I’ve ever seen of us looking alike. Genes are a CRAZY thing.

At the end of May we had friends over for Memorial day and Levi helped make the smash burgers! They were delicious!

May was SUPER busy this year, more so, it feels like, than most years so I’m splitting it into two posts.

Cade had a busy month in May. He sang a duet with 5 minutes notice for his entire mission at their annual service project at Martin’s Cove.

He was also able to meet up with his grandparents at the Fort Collins temple. They took him and his companion to lunch and then did a temple session. How cool is that!!???

Liberty and Levi had their final concert of the year which is usually all show music. Levi had some solos in a group number he was in. Liberty is actually on stage in this video as well. She’s the second girl on the right, first row. But she wasn’t allowed to watch so you won’t get to see her face. lol

This show was also sad because their choir teacher is retiring so it was her last show as well. I wish I’d gotten a picture of her and the kids. She taught Cade as well.

Levi competed in the state solo and ensemble festival and his group tied for 1st place! Here’s their song:

I went down to Utah for Women’s Conference again this year. It was just as awesome as last time and I think I will make it a yearly thing, now! Allie and Sarin went with me and we ran into my cousin Katelyn and got to go to several classes with her too! We ate way too much creamery ice cream and learned a ton.

For Mother’s Day I got to talk to Cade on the phone, Levi gave me these amazing flowers,

And Libby gave me this very cool box filled with my favorite candy:

Reagan was home for Mother’s day as well! He gave me more lilacs for my yard because you can never have too many lilacs.

And in honor of Mother’s Day I’m putting up a picture I found recently. See if you can guess who it is-Me or Liberty. I had to cut out the other people in the picture so it wouldn’t give it away. 😉

I’ll tell you the answer in Part II of May coming up next!

Liberty ran for Sophomore class president and though she didn’t win, her posters were EPIC! Their mascot is the Patriot.

Levi went on an unforgettable choir trip that involved tires coming off the bus, a wildfire and him saving the day. Ok, not really, but kind of. While they were on their way home two of the tires came off their bus while on the highway! They rolled into traffic and after barely missing a nearby car flew into a field and started a fire. The bus pulled over and the adults got out to see what could be done. The next thing Levi knows one of the chaperones gets on the bus and yells for Levi to come out. She handed him a fire extinguisher and told him to RUN with it to the choir teacher who was at that point trying to put out the fire by throwing dirt on it. Through several miracles no one was hurt, the fire department got there to put out the fire and they were able to get a new bus. It only took 4 hours of sitting beside the road.

Some other pictures from their trip: this one is taken near Snoqualmie Falls in Washington. Glad I wasn’t there. Who knows how far the drop off is.

Levi finished up his track season. Between sickness and a concussion, he wasn’t able to do as well as he’d hoped this season, but he’s looking forward to cross country season.

Levi’s Prom Ask this year:

Levi helped plan a really fun ward party that happened to be close to, but not ON Pi Day. Games included the Eat the Oreo from your face with no hands game:

Eat the fruit by the foot with no hands game:

And other fun minute to win it games. After the activity, the cleaning crew decided it would be a good idea to put Levi in charge of getting the balloons down. 😦

Levi went to his Second Sweethearts dance in a month. Just by way of reminder, here was her Ask:

And here was his answer:

The group of boys going together decided it would be fun to make the corsages.

Spring Break this year was all about skiing and ballet shoes. Liberty needed to get some new pointe shoes and the closest store is in Utah. So on Monday she and I drove down to Bountiful to buy the shoes and Levi stayed here to ski and work. You would have thought it was Christmas morning, Libby was so excited about her new shoes. As soon as we got to Allie’s she started sewing them and spent the rest of the night working on them.

The next day Reagan and I went skiing at Sundance again. It was a great day with new snow and not crowded. It was fun to spend the morning with him on the slopes. Liberty spent the morning helping Allie at her elementary school and then she and I wandered around BYU campus that afternoon. We people watched in the Wilk and walked the halls of the RB where all the dance classes are and she dreamed and drooled over college life. We ate dinner at the Brick Oven with Reagan, hit the Creamery for dessert and then headed home because we were all tired. The next morning we drove home.

While we were gone, Levi did some skiing of his own. He sent this text to Rock that day:

Somewhere on that magical snow day he fell and got a concussion that we didn’t really catch until I got home 3 days later. He was super sleepy and out of it the rest of break, which was a bummer because he was hoping to hand out more of these flyers for the new business he is starting.

Reagan is working on becoming the new face of Orem Mazda. This is SO cool!

My mom turned the big 70 this month so we threw her a party to celebrate her oldness. She was less than thrilled but she was a good sport. We have good genes in our family and she regularly shocks people when they find out how old she is.

Cade visited Rocky Mountain National Park on his P-day last week. Here is just one of the many beautiful shots he took.

At the beginning of February we were finally able to get down to Utah to use our Sundance ski tickets. We were a little worried there wouldn’t be enough snow, but luckily they got snow the night before we skied. It was a great day. Sundance is beautiful!

From the time Liberty was born we have seen the similarities between these two. In February we found another one, thanks to our ability to facetime Cade on P-day. They both make the same crazy facial expressions, from eyebrow waves to these last two pictures.

The first Sweethearts dance that Levi went to was in February. She asked him with this poster:

Between sickness and travel-oh and a blizzard, he took a very loooong time to answer her. But he finally did with this poster. He hid a ways from her house at night with the poster and when she opened the door she had to follow a really loooong string of lights to find him. So cute!!

They had a great time at the dance. It was a western theme and he bought this very nice hat just for the occasion and because who doesn’t want a real cowboy hat. Thanks to Aunt Janie for the cowboy boots! He really wanted to wear my dad’s alligator skin boots, but sadly, they were too big.

No sooner had he gone to the first Sweethearts dance when he was asked to a second one which won’t happen until middle of March. This one was hilarious.

Stay tuned for his answer….

Cade got transferred back to Colorado in February. This time to Wellington, about 20 minutes north of Fort Collins. He’s excited to be back where there are more missionaries close by. In Wheatland he was an hour away from other missionaries and really much civilization. He’s been out almost 15 months now! Time flies.

On the last day of February we went skiing again. This time, I went with Aunt Janie and Penny. And as we were coming down the mountain, Levi and Lincoln were driving up! It was a beautiful day and great to be up there with two of my favorite people!

February was a good month. Now we are just hoping Levi doesn’t get sick a 5th time and that Libby’s mono stays manageable. The weather is getting warmer and coming up in March we will have Spring break and track season.

It always amazes me how fast January flies by. But here’s what we did!

Before Rock’s parents left after New Years, I captured this gem. Like Father Like Son.

Levi has been boomerang sick this month. Off and on since Christmas he’s had some kind of cold/flu bug that seems to go away for a few days and then comes back. No, it isn’t Mono. We checked. 🙂 After his second round he was feeling better so when his childhood buddies decided it would be fun to go camping at Bruno Sand Dunes in 18 degree weather, he went along. Levi cooked them all some yummy steaks for dinner, which he was very proud of, though in the process he cut himself with his knife. It was so cold he didn’t feel it until he tried to write in his journal before bed and got blood all over his paper. But it was so cold he didn’t want to get out of the car to go to the tent to get a bandaid. They figured out how to take long exposure photos and after taking some fun pictures, they went to bed and managed to make it through the night without freezing to death. In the morning after their pancake batter would not stop freezing, they gave up trying to cook breakfast and huddled in one of the trucks until they were bored enough to head home. Levi says he won’t be doing that again.

Rock and I went a to a cooking class for date night and learned how to cook some AMAZING food.

Libby’s Ballet Recital was on the 25th. Now that she’s dancing en pointe she is supposed to dance in all 3 recitals that day; 3 different dances in each recital. She wasn’t well enough yet to dance in all 9 dances but she was able to dance in her pointe class one. It was a long tiring day, but she survived. She was beautiful and it was so fun to finally see her perform en pointe!

For my birthday this year Rock made a very fancy Chocolate Nutella Mirror Glaze cake with edible gold dust. It was beautiful and delicious! And he was very proud of it.

And that was January.