Brazos Bend State Park

 To start off the new year, we visited Brazos Bend State Park. They hosted a fun, interactive hike around one of their lakes that day. The kids enjoyed the little stops along the trail with the park rangers. Ashton found a broad-headed water snake in a big tree trunk. The park ranger was impressed she could spot it. I was grateful for two things: 1) The snake was deep down in the trunk and 2) It wasn't poisonous.

This park is notorious for alligators everywhere. We typically see a ton in the water and along the trail. This time, we didn't see any adults. Instead, we found a huge "nest" of baby alligators about two feet from the trail. The kids could get pretty close, but we couldn't see the mother. There had to be a dozen baby alligators all piled together. It was cool to see.

I love that Lydia is slowly getting old enough to do fun trips like this again. She sat in the hiking backpack for some of the trip. Otherwise, she walked a bunch.

The little girls climbed to the top of the observation tower. I fed them gummy bears to keep them from climbing over the top.

Where the snake was found.

Gemma was pretty scared to climb herself. Thankfully, Joseph was brave. I didn't want to go anywhere near the snake.

Tanner is Six!

 Tanner turned six and was so excited. He had a huge countdown every day and would update his teachers, his speech therapist, our neighbors, everyone knew when his birthday was. He ran into our room so excited that morning. His birthday fell on a Sunday so we got ready for church and enjoyed our morning there.

After church, my parents came over. Part of Tanner's gift from us was a Cameo from Alex Barcello (a starter for BYU basketball). You can pay a small fee and have a famous person send a personalized video to the individual. We had Alex Barcello do one for Tanner and Tanner loved it. He immediately went outside to practice shooting with the tips that Alex gave him.

 The rest of the day was spent opening gifts, eating waffles for dinner, and playing with the family. He picked movie night that night and chose Togo. We like that one. It's a cute story. 

Tanner is most excited to be six because that is the age to play basketball at. He knows the leagues around here don't allow kids to play until first grade. But to him, that just means he has to be six. I foresee Tanner playing a sport every season. In his perfect world, he'd play soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter, soccer in the spring, and swim team every summer. Tanner also accomplished the monkey bars right after turning six.

Tanner also planned his own birthday party by telling a bunch of friends that we were having a party at a certain time on a certain day. This was all, of course, untold to me. So at the last minute, we planned a small get together at our local park. I guess I just didn't think of having a party for him. Whoops. We had some pizza and cake at a park. Then played soccer and basketball. The kids had fun.

His cake request was not just the BYU field but the entire stadium.

Tanner got some playboards to draw his own plays for football, basketball, and soccer.

Playing soccer with friends.

One gift was a dino fossil kit. He liked it a lot.

Parents Visit

 Since my parents retired last year, they plan to come to Texas once a year for a few weeks. They came shortly after the new year and stayed through Tanner's birthday. It was fun having them close enough to visit often. They will bring their RV and stay at a park somewhere in Houston.

We had a fun visit with them. The kids spent all their time playing games and showing my parents all their cool tricks. Tanner loved throwing the football with Papa. Ashton loved to teach Nana some new games. Gemma soaked up her time playing Candyland and drawing with them. Lydia liked reading books with them, but really just enjoyed having their dog visit too.

We're already looking forward to their visit next winter.

BYU Bowl Game

 Joseph, Ashton, and Tanner went up to Shreveport for the BYU Bowl game. They had a good time despite the loss. Tanner held it together a little better than the Baylor game. It rained pretty good for the first half so the kids were chilly. Thankfully, they brought blankets and ponchos to stay decently dry.

Friday was an early release before winter break so the kids left after school for the 4 hour drive. Once at the hotel, they went swimming.

Saturday morning, they found an indoor climbing gym. There isn't much sight-seeing in Shreveport. The kids enjoyed it.

They arrived at the game early to catch the players practicing. Tanner braved the weather to stand out and watch the team practice. He even had a player throw the ball to him in the stands and Tanner got to pass it back to him. I can only imagine his smile!

He is the little blue dot at the top of the walkway. Out in his poncho watching his team warm up.

Sunday, they went to church in Louisiana and headed back home. Now we have to wait until 2023 for a Texas football game, assuming they play a team in Texas when they enter the Big 12 conference.

2022 Goals

 Here are our goals for the new year!

Physical:

Joseph: Run 2,000 miles

Casie: Run a half marathon in March

Ashton: Improve the butterfly stroke on swim team

Tanner: Play soccer and join swim team

Gemma: Learn to ride a bike (two wheeler with no training wheels)

Intellectual:

Joseph: Learn to officiate a sport

Casie: Play the viola for a special musical number at church

Ashton: Read her Spanish books every day

Tanner: Learn to read (in either language)

Gemma: Learn the letters

Social:

Joseph: Go hiking with friends

Casie: Continue involvement in the community via swim team board and PTA

Ashton: Invite friends to play with her

Tanner: Be a good sport, not cry and scream when his team loses or when he loses

Gemma: Speak kindly to her siblings

Spiritual:

Joseph: Continue interactive family scripture study

Casie: Prepare for the Sabbath day

Ashton: Read the Old Testament Scripture Stories

Tanner: Sit reverently during the sacrament

Gemma: Learn the 1st Article of Faith

2021 Goal Updates

 Joseph

Physical: Run 2,000 miles over the year  (Ran about 1,600 miles)

Intellectual: Practice more soup recipes (Found a soup recipe that he enjoys making for lunch. He makes a big batch once a week and has it)

Social: Play tag games with kids (Definitely plays tag when we visit the parks)

Spiritual: Lead interactive scripture study with family (We did scripture study really well this year. I think we've found what works best for our kids. That doesn't mean some nights are difficult and we only read a verse, but consistency is key!)

 

Casie

Physical: Physical therapy work (I finished physical therapy during the summer and have not experienced the pain and injury again so I'll take that as a win!)

Intellectual: Improve family pizza night. (I found a good sauce recipe and dough recipe. I often forget to start the dough on time so I don't always make it the same way)

Social: Continue to foster non-church playdates and relationships. (Definitely had lots of playdates with people not from church. We know several families in our neighborhood and get together often. I also joined the swim team board and the PTA again so that is helping.

Spiritual: Patience! (I did okay in some areas. Definitely room for improvement)

 

Ashton

Physical: practice piano for 15 minutes/daily (Did decent at. Some weeks were better than others)

Intellectual: Write a long sentence every day (School helped with this. She writes a lot.)

Social: Ask her siblings nicely the first time (Work in progress)

Spiritual: Share a scripture about baptism at Family Home Evening (She did well at this and was baptized last year!)

 

Tanner

Physical: Play coach pitch (the next step up from tee ball)  This goal changed to soccer once he had the choice. Tanner LOVED soccer and is counting down the days until his next season starts.

Intellectual: Learn the rules of football or other sports (This kid accomplished this and then some. He knows more about sports and the rules than I do.)

Social: Get better at cops and robbers! The neighborhood kids get together at least once a week to play cops and robbers. Tanner really wants to get good to beat the 10-12 year olds. (He got better at playing with the neighbor kids overall. Before, Tanner struggled with getting along and playing what they wanted. He enjoys playing soccer with them now.)

Spiritual: Say better prayers (This one is cute because every time he finishes a prayer, he now asks, "Did I improve my prayer?")  Tanner improved his prayers a lot. It is more meaningful and not a memorized prayer of saying the same things over and over again.

Pre-Christmas Festivities

For a few years now, we have made it a point to visit a church that holds a "Night in Bethlehem" activity. It is really well done. The church sets up an entire outdoor city with little stations to learn about living during the time of Christ's birth. It reminds me a lot of Nauvoo. There are blacksmithers, a tannery, rope making, bread braiding, etc. The kids love it. There is also a camel every year plus cookies and hot chocolate. Schools come and sing too. the kids loved it this year and we will definitely be back.

Decorating cookies one night. Lydia just cared about her bowl of sprinkles.

Then, a repeat when we tried decorating gingerbread houses. Lydia just ate the sprinkles and candy.

Tanner got into the decorating more this year. It was fun to see his designs.

For the first time in two years, Ashton's piano teacher actually held an in-person recital. But, it was the weekend of the BYU bowl game so Ashton couldn't attend. She hosted her own virtual recital again and loved that. I don't mind as it allows both families to hear her play too. Plus, she gets to play a couple more songs than normal and she learns how to announce what she is playing and who composed it.

One day over Christmas break, I took the three oldest to the Space Center. It was fun except they got rid of a bunch of exhibits. My guess is due to Covid numbers increasing. The exhibits were just put out over the summer and were really hands-on. It was an okay trip and it got us out of the house for a little bit.

Otherwise, most of Christmas break was spent playing at parks, meeting up with friends, visiting the dentist (no cavities in ANY of the kids!), and driving their siblings crazy.