Back to School

It was a quick turnaround, with just a couple of days to get into school mode after our end-of-summer trip to Florida, but everything was fine. Luke and Liza started at new schools, but at least we already know how things work at Luke's school (having had a member of the family there since 2018)!

The start of the school year should have been traumatic for Liza, since she transferred to our local high school after 3 years at our charter school, but she was just really excited for a fresh start, new friends, and a more exciting volleyball season. Jack, on the other hand, had a little freak-out before school started, worrying that he's not ready to be a Senior, or really, he's not ready to finish high school and be a responsible adult. I told him he doesn't have to have everything figured out yet, and that there would be time to transition after high school.

Liza was kind enough to get up and take this picture with the boys
on their first day, even though her first day was two days later.

The kids have now finished their first term. It took a few weeks to get into a groove, but we knew we were there when Liza and Jack are both dreading school each day. Luke, however, is still enthusiastic about school. One night, a few weeks into the school year, I asked everyone what their favorite part of the day was. Luke said, "School and volleyball."

Jack, studiously doing homework after school on his first day of Senior Year.

Liza's first volleyball game at her new school was the day before school started.

And she had her own little cheering section!

Liza's first day!

Several weeks into the school year I asked the kids what their favorite classes are. These were their responses:

Jack: I like seminary but I also like Socratic.

Me: What's your least favorite class?
Jack: Math.

Liza: Coed Volleyball.

Me: What about an academic class?
Liza: ASL

Luke: Not Latin

Me: So what? Math?

Luke: Close. But English is my favorite.

        Luke has since joined Match Club, which he attends during lunch every Tuesday, and which will have several competitions over the course of the year.

Luke, before school on day 3, following in his oldest sister's footsteps
by bringing a stash of Oreos for the snack locker he and his friends put together.

(earlier that morning, doing homework)

Both high school kids went to Homecoming in September.

This was the ask Liza's date left at our front door.
She had a lot of fun at the dance, even though it was outside and it rained.

Liza's group came to our house to take pictures and they turned out really well!
Dog was walking around outside so she snatched him up and they posed together for me.
Obviously, he was honored.

Jack had a lot of fun too, especially with the theme of the dance being
Men in Black. All the boys were in black suits and the girls were in black dresses.
He and his date were the only couple wth sunglasses though!

Lamily Reunkein

Back in February, I was at Garrett's mission homecoming lunch in Pleasant View, talking and laughing and having a great time with my aunts and uncles and cousins. We started lamenting the fact that we don't have family reunions any more and everyone was saying that they'd like to get together again. I offered up my house as a venue for a weekend reunion and all that was left was to decide on a date.

After some deliberation, I decided the best time would be Labor Day weekend. I asked my buddy ChatGPT to help me create a nifty save-the-date graphic I could send everyone, and this is what it came up with:

It was so bad, I decided not to change anything, and started calling our upcoming gathering a Lamily Reunkein.

But when I asked for RSVPs, it turned out that almost nobody would be coming from out of town. And as the weekend drew closer, people started backing out from a portion of the weekend or the entire weekend. I was already burned out from all the traveling and entertaining we'd been doing over the summer, so instead of trying to host a tiny family reunion for a weekend, I decided to switch to an afternoon cookout on Labor Day in the hopes that more people could come if it was just for a few hours. A few people came. And we had a great time with them.

But Ben and Suz had been planning on coming for the whole weekend all along and they kept their plans! So most of the weekend was a bit of a reunion for the Utah siblings, and that was really fun too!

Suz was prepared with many pounds of yummy saltwater taffy!

On Saturday we divided into two boats to raft the Provo River. It was a beautiful day,

warm and sunny and not too hot! (And everyone felt much safer and had more fun than the

last time we were on the River in July.)

After rafting we had dinner at Malawi's Pizza in Riverwoods

and the kids played in the splash pad.

On Sunday morning, Whit helped with the farm chores.

We went to church, then had dinner together in the evening.

And no reunion would be complete without games!

We had three additional visitors join us for our cookout on Labor Day,

which also fell on Sydney's 6th birthday: Jeanne, Garrett, and Alysa.

Teddy was with us the whole week and ended up
spending most of the time in the house, since the
mosquitos were bad outside. The cats didn't appreciate
having him around, but he seemed as happy as usual.

Liza's Farewell Piano Recital

(published October 3rd, 2025)

Liza has had a hard time making time for piano practice for a while now, with school and volleyball and her nail business and everything else. The rule in our family has been that you need to take piano lessons until you're 16, but Liza has argued for years that the rule shouldn't apply to her because she started taking piano lessons younger than her siblings - one year earlier than Cat, two years earlier than Jack, and three years earlier than Luke. So, considering her busy schedule and the fact that she'd been taking piano lessons for 10 years already, I decided it was okay to let her stop taking lessons at age 15.

But not before she performed a farewell recital.

Sarah, our piano teacher, agreed. So the last few months of Liza's piano lessons were spent preparing for a final recital, to be held at our home, and which friends and family would attend. Liza wasn't excited about the recital or any attempts at making it a big deal (except for the Nothing Bundt Cakes cupcakes we had with our refreshments afterward). She didn't really want me to make an invitation but when she saw what I came up with, she didn't mind too much:

This was Liza's program:

    1. Prelude No. 1 in C Major (Ave Maria) by J.S. Bach

    2. Minuet in F Major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    3. "Raindrop" Prelude in D-flat major by Frederic Chopin

    4. Rush E by Andrew Wrangell (duet with Sarah)

    5. Maiden’s Prayer by Badarzewska

    6. Fur Elise by Ludwig van Beethoven

This was a tricky time for Liza to have a piano recital, being just a few days after we'd been in Florida for a week and a half, but it also made sense to take care of it before school started, since volleyball really does keep her very busy. That being said, she did a great job of learning (or re-learning, as some of these pieces are ones she has played in the past) and performing under less than ideal circumstances. (Scroll down to the end of the post to see the full video.)

Sarah has been very patient with Liza's long nails, so as an ironic but thoughtful gift, Liza gave Sarah a coupon for a free nail job, along with some hand care products she can use at home. In the note she wrote to Sarah, she said, "I really can't describe the joy piano has brought to my life." I loved reading that, especially since I usually hear about the other side of it - how piano is a stressor or an unwelcome time commitment.

Ben helped me put together an assortment of fresh fruit, cupcakes, nuts, punch, and water. We enjoyed mingling with everyone and seeing the support Liza received from her family and friends.

Great job Liza! We're so proud of you!

Thailand, Part 2

(published November 9th, 2024)

Day 6, continued: Kung (our driver, who is LDS and served a mission in St. George) hooked us up with great seats at a cool dinner show showcasing Thai music and dancing

Day 7: Mae Tang River are in Chiang Mai for an elephant reserve and river rafting (actually, just floating and letting locals on the riverbanks spray us with water), Thai hot pot restaurant with Kung and his wife for dinner, and walking street (night market)

Day 8 (Sunday): Walking around Chiang Mai to see the old city wall and local temples and eat, afternoon church, more walking street, then driving back to P-lo to drop Cat off at her school. It was a quick goodbye, and it helped knowing that she would be home 5 weeks later.

Day 9: Ben and I flew from Phitsanulok to Bangkok and spent the day touring some of the major tempels there: Wat Traimit, Wat Pho (home of the enormous reclining Buddha), and the Grand Palace (home of the Emerald Buddha); shopping for a gong; then an amazing dinner on a river cruise and a quick stop at an incredible mall with everything from Hermes and Dior to its own night market before going to the airport.

(the iconic Angkor Wat is blurred out in the background)

Day 10: Travel home by way of a long layover in Seoul, during which we stopped at Bukchon Hanok Village, Gyeongbokgung Palace, and a cool shopping district with yummy street food.

Day 11: Home! Andy and Amy took care of the kids at their house for the first few days we were gone, then Reed and Jen came to our house to take care of them for the rest of the trip. They were awesome and the kids had a great time while we were gone (but were ready for us to come home, which was nice).