A New Year and a New Post

Gosh, a new year and with that, I'll attempt to hit some quick highlights of last year that I missed due to storage issues. No photos as of now.

We went to Lava Hot Springs for Memorial Day weekend. I've always wanted to go there, and it was a lot of fun. A little chilly for floating the river but we did go to the pool and down the huge waterslide (followed by a quick entry into the hot tub), had a great time soaking in the (very) hot springs, trying good restaurants, visiting the town museum, and playing tennis and pickle ball.

We went to Bear Lake with cousins and did more fun stuff like ride bikes on land and the flite board on water. We swam, enjoyed the hot tub, played mini golf, grabbed shakes, and painted rocks.

We went to St. George with more cousins. We swam in the lazy river and went down the waterslide. We also hiked, played pickle ball, talked and enjoyed the AC.

Elsie learned to ride her bike. Ansel sold Sugar Pop with friends. Oliver went to the Peterson Ranch for camp. Ian adventured during the ward campout and the family campout to northern Utah. 

Elsie and Ian did swim lessons with the best teacher around at their private pool. Oliver did band camp which required a lot of time and missing of a couple of vacations. Ansel played lots of soccer.

We visited Yellowstone with friends, saw Old Faithful along with other awe-inspiring nature and then floated the river and tried a restaurant in town. We took way too many photos to count and I got lost in the park for a bit, but hey, it was a great time!

Jess and I celebrated 20 years of marriage with a trip to Florence, Rome and Cinque Terre, Italy along with Vatican City. Wow! It was amazing. Gosh, you can't see everything in 8 days. We have to go back! But it was a great trip and my favorite part was driving a Fiat 500 through the Tuscan hills. Again, so many photos. I mean, we saw the Coliseum, the David, the Duomo, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon. We swam in the Mediterranean Sea! We ate steak and pizza and gelato. 

We set about remodeling our basement, adding a bathroom and a kitchen. It took 2 weeks less than they scheduled and I was very happy with the result. Our driveway was redone and we added a cement pad to the southwest corner. Lots of projects. I think I'll take a rest for a bit.

School started up, with one child in every version of school: preschool, elementary school, middle school, and high school. I have come to truly appreciate carpools. I spent time turning my tennis lessons into games in tennis league and Jess did another Lotaja (wowza!). Then he was off to South Africa (another wowza!) and then our nephew (a beloved cousin) came home from his mission and before we knew it, Thanksgiving and Christmas happened. 

And now we are here! Here's to 2025!