Priestly Duties

(published 2/6/24)

Jack will turn 16 this year, so he was eligible to be ordained to the office of a Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood. After his worthiness interview, we scheduled his ordination to take place after Church in mid-January so that we could have two uncles and a cousin participate in his ordination circle. It was really beautiful, and as you can tell, Jack was very happy.





The two most well-known services a Priest may provide are that of baptizing, and of blessing the Sacrament. For a couple of years now, workers and patrons at the temple have assumed that Jack was a Priest because he's so tall. We are all excited that he's officially a Priest, and can baptize other patrons when needed.

Ben and Jack talked through the ordinance and practiced together, then the Saturday after Jack's ordination they got up early to go to the temple together. Ben helped Jack through baptisms for the first time and I was told it went really well. Then, on Friday, Liza and I went to the temple with Jack and he baptized both of us. He did a great job, and wasn't phased by names in 3 other languages. I felt the Spirit strongly as I watched Jack baptize Liza for those who have gone before.



Jack had the opportunity to bless the Sacrament later in January and he did a great job. I'm so proud of him.

It's snow fun!

(published 2/5/24)

After our very dry December (during which we had reunion activities and New Year's activities which required snow), Mother Nature made up for it with back-to-back-to-back snow storms in the first half of January.

Liza and Luke taught Sawyer and Sydney all about making 
snow cream after we saw Migration together. (1/5)


Late Church means time to play in fresh snow in the morning. (1/14)

They did add a head and some funny eyes to make the snowman look
like "Bugsy" from the movie Bedtime Stories.


We had a little cousin sleepover after Sunday family dinner
and took an hour for sledding on MLK Day. (1/15)
PS> Note the in-progress Lindon Temple in the background.

The kids had a blast! Liza and Sydney were together most of the time.

There were a few hills to choose from at this school, and the kids tried out
this path someone created which reminded me of the cat tracks at Sundance.

She's off to Thailand!

(published 2/1/24)

Cat has been planning this trip to Thailand for months. Years? And she prepared very well. We wrapped up our Family Reunion, rang in the New Year, then Cat had a few to make sense of the clothes and supplies she'd been collecting, and grab a few last-minute items. Then she met up with her group at the SLC airport on Thursday afternoon and she was off!

We were sad to see her go, but we also recognize that 3 months really isn't a very long time. And we'll enjoy having her around that much more when she gets home (before she heads out again on her mission).

Cat had a few friends over for a beef stroganoff dinner and
Austenland screening the night before she left.

A quick pic of all the kids at the house, since Jack had a
basketball game and couldn't go to the airport with us.





Cat had a very long travel day but everything went smoothly. We started receiving fun pictures almost right away!
"Chocolate shake given to me in a bag at the 711 where I saw
2 monks and paid $4 for 4 treats" (from somewhere in
Thailand en route to the town where she's teaching)
Cat and her friends stumbled upon some beautiful sites while
exploring the town they live in. Let the picture-taking begin!

So what is Cat doing exactly? She's teaching two 2.5-hour classes a day to Kindergarteners. She makes her own lesson plans and finds way to keep the kids engaged while only using English. She and her fellow teachers got some training right after they arrived, then jumped in to teaching!

Cat will also be doing a lot of traveling. Her travel will mostly be on weekends, but she'll get a few days off for travel as well. She's with about 20 other young women, and happens to be rooming with a friend from her club soccer days, which is awesome.

Looking Back at 2023

 (published after midnight on 1/31/24)


Our Favorite Things from 2023:
Ben
- Disney Cruise
- buying a house
- smoker
- Florida trips

Brett
- family reunion
- Park City
- Spring Break trip
- Mexico City with Tabernacle Choir
- LA & NYC with Cat
- Cat's senior recital
- Fields moving to Utah
- Freedom Run & Top Golf
- Tallahassee for Thanksgiving
- temple trips with kids
- service projects

Cat
- new job at Covington
- boys soccer
- Italy
- Jazz game with Robert
- graduation
- HXP
- college
- both trips to St. George
- Park City
- New York
- friends getting mission calls

Jack
- family reunion
- Halloween
- Disney Cruise
- swimming with JM over the summer
- working at Megaplex
- summer trip to Florida
- track & XC
- Dead Reckoning 
- Patriarchal Blessing

Liza
- Disney Cruise
- summer trip to Florida
- Park City weekend 
- buying a house
- family reunion
- doing dance nails
- club & school volleyball
- Top Golf

Luke 
-Park City weekend 
-fencing
-ice skating
-Naruto for Halloween
-Dad's Halloween work party
-Florida
-fields reunion
-Disney Cruise


One thing I haven't mentioned on the blog is that I set a goalin 2023 to take the kids (at least Liza and Jack) to a different temple to do baptisms for the dead each month. We didn't make it every month, but we did increase the amount of temple work we did over 2022, so that's still a win.


Between doing baptism sessions, walking through temple open houses, and just visiting temples on the outside, we saw 18 different temples, mostly in Utah, but a few in other states and one was in a different country. I'm so thankful that the temple can be such a prominent part of our lives and for the peace and Spirit we feel there. I'm so glad that the kids are developing a love of the temple as well.

Baptism Sessions:
Payson
Provo
Provo City Center
Draper
Las Vegas
Cebu (Cat)
Saratoga Springs
Mt. Timpanogos
Bountiful
Jordan River
Oquirrh Mountain

Open Houses:
St. George
Orem
Saratoga Springs

Exterior Visits:
Orlando
Salt Lake
Tallahassee
Lindon (not pictured)

Happy New Year!

 (published 1/30/24)

    We rang in the New Year in our new house! I thought it would be a fun way to celebrate but I was hesitant to push it too much because Cat was working until 10:00 on 12/31 and had to be at work again at 6am on 1/1. But when we talked about it, she was the one who wanted to make sure we went to the new house. She figured it would be nice to have a few memories of the house she won't be living in for a while, or perhaps at all (since she'll be going on her mission over the summer and we will probably move in in May at the earliest). I thought that was a great way to think about it.
    It was after 11:00 when we left our current house with lots of blankets, a few card games, two bottles of sparkling cider, and some decorations/accessories. We had some time to hang out before we watched the midnight ball drop on my phone. We hurried outside with empty bags for "Fill it up! Fill it up! Fill it up!" then cleaned up and left. It was short and sweet, but memorable for sure.



    For our New Year's New Adventure experience, I thought it would be cool to go on a sleigh ride. There were several options in the Park City area but all of them ran in the evenings. I looked and looked and finally found Thurston Farm all the way up in Morgan, UT which started at 4:30. That meant we could enjoy not only the scenery, but also see the beginnings of the sunset.
    We invited Andy's family to join us and they were excited about having a little adventure together too. It worked out great!
    Todd Thurston, the teamster, told us about how his family has been on the same land for generations, and showed us the houes his great-grandfather built and a barn that had been standing for generations until last year's record-breaking snow. He also told us how his father was injured when working on the farm at the age of 8 and how some of his grandfather's customers suggested he use Clydesdales instead of thoroughbreads on his farm because they would be better to work with, and 6 months later 2 pregnant mares were shipped to Morgan via train. That was in 1936 and the family has been breeding Clydesdales ever since. The horses pulling our wagon were descendents of those original horses - brother and sister Jack and Jackie.  
    Our ride fell toward the end of a weeks-long dry spell, so instead of a sleigh ride through beautiful snowy fields, we actually went on a wagon ride along a muddy road, with the remnants of November's snow all around us. It was still beautiful though, and you can't beat the serenity of winter.

Oh, Luke. Even the dog is smiling.





    After our wagon ride, we all went to a barbecue restaurant the Thurstons recommended to us called The Smokin' Boxcar. The best part was The Train Wheel dessert - a hot doughnut topped with a scoop of ice cream, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream. Unfortunately they only had one left. We also got a few orders of The Train Tracks, which was the same idea but instead of a doughnut there were two small churros on the plate.
    The ride home was entertaining because Cat and Liza were having a hilarious conversation in the back seat of the Tesla. I heard topics including breast implants, tattoos, liposuction, social advice from Cat, and more that I wish I could remember but can't. We finished out our night by watching Johnny English when we got home. A fun way to start the new year!

June Miscellany

(published 1/30/24)

Did you know that Luke is obsessed with stuffed animals?
But even he thought the $140 price tag was too much for this crane.

When the promise of screen time isn't enough to motivate Luke to practice piano,
I resort to consequences. For a while, that meant sitting quietly by himself. But when
that wasn't enough, I changed tactics and had him write sentences. He wrote a lot of
sentences over the summer.

Baptisms at the Provo City Center with this handsome fella.


The Battle of the Basement

Lindon Pool with Luke's best buddy

We got a doorbell camera.

Banana Pudding!

Why are thrift stores so much fun??

While I was still in Mexico City, Ben repeated the
Johnson Hole hike with the kids, plus Andy and Sawyer.

Looks like a beautiful day!
I was more than ready for a hike in the mountains when I got home from Mexico.

And it was that much better because Cat joined me!

Sharing surprises from Mexico... I expected the kids' size mask
to fit Luke better than it did. Oops!

It was fun finding candies and cookies with different
flavors and textures to bring home.

I love that she's wearing her Xanadu shirt in this picture.

Unfortunately, I was just guessing at how to tie the knots for this hammock.
And... I was wrong. Not too long after taking this picture, the hammock fell. With Jack in it.

There was a lot of grumbling about having to go to the Saratoga Springs Temple open
house. But once we got over that, it was a really beautiful experience, in a really
beautiful place. I love getting to see the different temples being built around us!




The Broadway Tour of Les Miserables at the Eccles in SLC.
It was wonderful, and I am so glad we all saw it together.

Luke wanted to make paper masks, so I got out the elastic I'd bought
to make fabric masks during Covid. All he had to do was untangle it...

Cat and I went for a jog on the Murdock Canal Trail and passed the
Lindon Temple. So cool! (Cat had more fun than this picture depicts.)

Liza's good friend breeds puppies and had a new litter in June.
Here's Liza with Boone, the runt of the Bernadoodle litter.
It's hard to believe how tiny he is!