Tanner turned 7!

Tanner had the day off of school for his birthday. It was nice to not feel rushed in the celebrations. His birthday party was the Saturday before. We went to a local park and had some fun playing soccer and beach volleyball. I kept it pretty low-key. But I did make him a football field goal out of PVC pipe and swim noodles. He loves it. I also made some sports-themed cupcakes for the kids.

His favorite gifts include a little calculator from Ashton and his kicking tee for football. One toy from us didn't work out so we gave him the gift money to spend at a sporting goods store instead. He picked a water bottle that the pros use. And maybe some new soccer cleats before the season starts next month. I think he had more fun walking around the store than actually choosing what to buy.

Tanner, at 7, is such a great kid to spend time with. He is still very competitive, which is tricky to deal with at home. Thankfully, it doesn't mess him up at school. Although, the school librarian recently started a reading competition across the school so now he tries to read as much as he can every day to win some prize. The last few days, he has read 120 minutes or more. He is motivated by setting goals and meeting them. When he got his calculator, he went outside and shot baskets until he successfully made 300 shots.

Tanner bonds well with Ashton and Lydia. Gemma and him butt heads all the time. He is trying to train Lydia to be a goalie for him. He desperately wants a sibling to play sports with him. Lydia is probably his best chance. Tanner is almost always successful on getting the neighbor kids to come play sports with him. They're between 12 and 15 years old and yet they still come out and play with him. We gave him a set of walkie talkies so he can walk down to a bigger park in our neighborhood and play sports with other kids. That way, if there is a problem, he can let me know. It's about a ten minute walk away. He likes the freedom of going to a park with more space to kick and throw. Our backyard is too small for him.

Tanner's favorite part of his day was having his best friends from down the street come over for cake and ice cream. They couldn't make it to his party, which he was sad about. He spent the whole time talking to them.

His dinner request was pizza but at a restaurant. I was quickly reminded why we don't go to restaurants.

Tanner's Birthday Interview

How old are you?  7 years old
What is your favorite color? Blue
What is your favorite animal? Island Fox
What is your favorite book? Lucky Enough by Fred Bowen
What is your favorite show? Matthew Loves Ball (a YouTube channel with sports highlights)
What do you like to eat? Chicken nuggets
What is your favorite game? Football
What is your favorite thing to do? Read
Who is your best friend? Joseph, Emery, and Oliver

What do you like to do with Dad? Watch sports games
What do you like to do with Mom? Give hugs to her

What is your favorite restaurant? Buffalo Wild Wings
Where do you want to go for vacation? Australia- because it's an island
What do you want to be when you grow up? Author and professional sports player

What is your favorite song? Rise and Shout (BYU fight song)
What is the best time of day? School
What makes you happy? When I win and my team wins

2023 Goals

Here are our goals for the new year!

Physical:

Joseph: Maintain healthy habits- eating, sleeping, and exercising right

Casie: Go outside for at least 30 minutes a day (easier some days than others; aside from the normal walking to and from school, etc.)

Ashton: Qualify for the reserve/champ meet in swim again. Her age bracket moves up to 50 yard races this year so she is nervous about flip turns.

Tanner: Earn a medal in a race. His goal is to place in the school's fun run and 5k held in April. But if he doesn't place there, he can try another race. He got first place last year in the fun run so we'll see how he does.

Gemma: Swim across the pool (and qualify to join swim team for the summer)

Lydia- Learn to use the toilet. We just started underwear this week so we'll see how this goes.

Intellectual:

Joseph: To be determined

Casie: Track spending better and limit expenses if possible. We have a budget and I'd like to keep better track of our day to day spending.

Ashton: Order food in Spanish and speak Spanish at a authentic Spanish restaurant

Tanner: Write a book

Gemma: Learn to speak Spanish (this will come when she starts kindergarten)
Lydia: Learn to put the caps on the markers

Social:

Joseph: Play games with kids more

Casie: Limit phone/social media. I have a challenge to lessen my phone usage each day based on the day before. I'd love to hit an all time low record for this.

Ashton: Invite a friend to swim team

Tanner: Be a friend to a specific boy in his class.

Gemma: Play nicely with siblings

Lydia: Say please and thank you. She can be quite demanding.

Spiritual:

Joseph: Read the New Testament

Casie: Fast with greater intent

Ashton: Start fasting each month

Tanner: Read the New Testament

Gemma: Go to primary class without crying (Gemma struggles to go to class without me. Since I am primary president, she thinks she can stay with me the whole time. It is very exhausting.)
Lydia: Sit quietly during the sacrament

Review of 2022 Goals

Here were our goals for the last year. We definitely crossed off some.

Physical:

Joseph: Run 2,000 miles- He estimates about that. He says he switched running apps mid-year but based on his calculation, he accomplished it.

Casie: Run a half marathon in March- DONE. My sister came down to run it with me, which made it even more fun.

Ashton: Improve the butterfly stroke on swim team- She rocked at this goal. Not only did she improve, she qualified for the Champ meet (the fastest swimmers in the league).

Tanner: Play soccer and join swim team- He definitely played soccer last year and swam on the swim team.

Gemma: Learn to ride a bike (two wheeler with no training wheels)- Yep, checked that goal off completely.

Intellectual:

Joseph: Learn to officiate a sport- This didn't happen as he wanted. He thought about getting "qualified" to referee local high school games. Instead, he became Tanner's soccer and basketball coach.

Casie: Play the viola for a special musical number at church- Failed at this one. I just don't get the viola out much with little kids around.

Ashton: Read her Spanish books every day- Mostly accomplished this one. Her Spanish reading is above grade level so she has definitely progressed in Spanish.

Tanner: Learn to read (in either language)- I think this goal is one that was met the most this year. Tanner is a phenomenal reader in both languages. For 1st grade, the state recommends students be at a level H/I at the end of the school year. Tanner was at a level J before Christmas break. And that is in Spanish. His English is well beyond that but the dual language class doesn't test for English reading. That kid loves to read and doesn't get hung up by much. His school goal for this year is to reach level N in Spanish. This would put him at 3rd grade reading. His teacher is optimistic he'll reach that.

Gemma: Learn the letters- Mostly accomplished this. It finally clicked over Christmas break so hopefully we keep the momentum going.

Social:

Joseph: Go hiking with friends- He went on a brother's trip to Utah for hiking/canyoneering

Casie: Continue involvement in the community via swim team board and PTA- Yep, did that. And I will probably back off PTA a little bit this year. Not my favorite thing to be more involved in.

Ashton: Invite friends to play with her- Did that.

Tanner: Be a good sport, not cry and scream when his team loses or when he loses- He definitely improved in this. Although, it took a long time. Last spring, his soccer team lost the championship game in penalty kicks (poor kids!). He lost it. Was inconsolable during the team pictures and everything. When he played fall soccer, he handled his one loss decently. And he doesn't lose it at home if he loses in a board game.

Gemma: Speak kindly to her siblings- Still a work in progress

Spiritual:

Joseph: Continue interactive family scripture study- we have consistent scripture study every night. Depending on the behaviors of the kids, we are more successful at this goal than other nights

Casie: Prepare for the Sabbath day- I sure tried my hardest

Ashton: Read the Old Testament Scripture Stories- Yep, read the stories

Tanner: Sit reverently during the sacrament- He has improved at this. Tanner pays attention to most of church now, which is nice.

Gemma: Learn the 1st Article of Faith- nope, didn't even get around to this. Another year.

December Life

 Our December was busy of Christmas activities. We had a fun month.

We tried out geocaching for the first time. Unfortunately, both caches were gone when we found the spot for them. But we found a friendly cat along the trail. And the kids didn't complain too much on the 2+ mile hike.

I put on my brave face and took the kids to the zoo. It was packed! I should have known better. But we still had a fun time. The elephants came near the fence right as we were walking by so the kids loved seeing the baby elephants.

We spent a day making gingerbread houses, albeit post Christmas. I found a sports stadium one for Tanner, which he loved.

Lydia's favorite gift from Christmas is a look-alike Molly dog from my parents. She cuddled it the rest of the day and now demands to sleep with it.

Christmas eve brought new pajamas, a Christmas book, and some hot chocolate bombs. The kids had fun watching the bombs melt in milk. I didn't love the taste of the ones we got so maybe we'll try something else next year. It was a cool experience.

We had a secret gift giver for the 12 days of Christmas. They revealed themselves on the final day. So each day we got various things from cookie decorating kits, craft kits, movie night box, etc. It kept us busy each day with whatever they brought us. Our babysitters also brought a little painting bag for the kids for Christmas.

Ashton went on her field trip earlier in December to the Museum of Fine Arts. She wanted to go back and see more of the museum. They do free admission on Thursdays so I took her one day over break. After the museum, we visited the ice skating at Discovery Green and found some hot chocolate. This was the day the cold front was arriving in Houston so it was actually cooler, around 40 degrees.

I found out that TopGolf does half off on Tuesdays. And you only pay to rent the "bay," rather than per person. So for $14, you get a bay for up to 6 people. I took the kids twice over break and they had a great time. No one fell off the edge or got hit by a golf club.

Ashton wrapped up year 4 of playing piano with her recital. She loves performing and enjoyed playing for her friends and family.

One event we try to go to every year is at a local Baptist church. They put on a "Night in Bethlehem," which reminds me a lot of Nauvoo. They have lots of little booths set up with activities such as blacksmithing, tannery, rope making, etc. They also bring in a camel to visit and have yummy cookies and hot chocolate for refreshments. Joseph was sick so he wasn't able to come this year.

Joseph ran a 50 mile race in Brazos Bend State Park. The kids and I went out there for the day. We got to see him a couple times throughout the day. We had to leave before he finished to make it back for our ward Christmas party. The kids were excited to see him later that night.

Utah Trip: Thanksgiving

 We finished our trip in Utah with Thanksgiving at Joseph's parents home. The Friday after was supposed to be a big family dinner but some illness disrupted those plans. Instead, we got to spend some more time with one of Joseph's sisters and have a delicious meal of Thanksgiving leftovers. By Friday night, we were all ready to head back to the warmth of Texas.

Tanner made a pumpkin pie for dinner, which he loved. Gemma was mesmerized by the Macy's Day Parade and the cats. She tried desperately to become friends with one of them. Lydia was still pretty sleepy so spent most of Thanksgiving with me and taking naps off and on. Ashton soaked up her time with Hank the dog at Sam's house.

Utah Trip: Moab

After a long weekend in the Lehi/Provo area, we ventured down to Moab for a few days. I've been wanting to visit more national parks. It worked out to squeeze in this little trip during our stay in Utah. We drove down Sunday after church and found a cool park in Price for a picnic.

Monday, we got up and hiked Delicate Arch. Lydia was adamant she climb the whole thing, which she did almost entirely herself. She hated the backpack carrier. Gemma, on the other hand, refused to hike much and ended up in the backpack carrier most of the way up. Finally, on the way down, she walked more. My back needed it. Lydia fell asleep on the way down on Joseph so that was nice too.

After Delicate Arch, we stopped at a bunch of the smaller hikes/views that I had in mind. I actually didn't plan to hike Delicate Arch. But the family who joined us on the trip wanted to. So it was alright. I think I preferred the smaller, less difficult hikes. Gemma and Lydia were happier, which made me happier too.

Tuesday, Joseph, the big kids, and I did the Fiery Furnace hike. This is one you need a special permit for and are limited by age and group size. It was a lot of fun. It took us about 3 hours to hike through it all. I hope to go back when Gemma and Lydia are older.

After Fiery Furnace, we met up with the little kids again and drove to Canyonlands. We did a few small and short hikes with some cool views. I wanted to stay to see the stars but it was getting cold and the kids were tired.

Wednesday morning, we got up and drove to Goblin Valley State Park. I've gone a few times while at BYU and couldn't wait to take the kids. Lydia came down with some bug that day so she slept the whole time we were there (minus climbing one or two hoodoos). The big kids went off and hiked a slot canyon while the littles played in the goblins.

After a decent amount of time at Goblin Valley, we drove up to Nephi to Joseph's parents house.

It was an exhausting but fun trip. I kept looking at all the creations and being amazed by them. I hope this leads to more hiking trips in our future. I remembered how much I really enjoy hiking.