I have not finished editing them all, but here are what I do have! After the first round of Covid victims were feeling a little better, we took a drive up the canyon and found a spot to take some family pictures. For last minute, a tripod, it being freezing, and having Covid, I think they turned out pretty good! I have been meaning to do updates on the kiddos so here it goes!!!
Levi-12 years old
Where to start? Levi right now. He is growing up way too fast! He started Junior High this year. It has been a bumpy ride with the COVID restrictions at school (no locker, half the number of kids there, masks at all times, cancelled events), but he has shown a huge amount of resiliency. Even when we went through a round of it at our house! He has handled the transitions better than I could have. He decided to do the Robotics team this year and to play percussion in the band. He has had his classes start with half the students going to school half the time, return to full classes, to be taken back a week later to be shut down for 2 weeks of online learning, to return back after. With the roller coaster of schedules he has shown how crazy responsible he is and has gotten perfect grades. He does not like to miss school at all, that sometimes it is a struggle to get him to relax a bit! He currently is loving his computer game design class, math, band, and Spanish. He just participated in his first Robotics tournament and their robot landed in the middle of the pack. They have some ideas for improvements since it was their first one and are excited to get back to it! His best friend is Oakley Bott. They have been friends since about 3rd grade. They spent their hybrid learning “home learning” days together and kept each other sane during those few months. They do robotics together as well. Right now with COVID numbers up so high, there has not been much friend time outside of school stuff. Levi spends his time either at soccer, piano, robotics, playing with his siblings, or reading. He loves, loves, loves to read. He spends more down time doing just that, that we have to force him out of his books sometimes! His piano has taken off this year and he is starting to play some pretty fun songs. He is constantly banging beats of the table, with his mouth, fingers, and anything he can find really. I think percussion was the right fit for that kid! His sibling love when he jumps in and plays with them. His relationship with Graham is just the cutest. This year we put Levi through another change and moved him over to a new soccer team. It was a hard decision since he loved those boys and coach he played with for the last 4 years. He transitioned well to his new team and luckily had a friend on his new Striker’s team and has been happy. Levi is such a sweet and smart kid. Like smarter than me smart. He was recommended by his teachers for accelerated math so we took him at the end of the year to get tested in and he scored 97% of all 6th graders in math in the state. He has a heart of gold and is always the one to step in when he sees that I need it. He is a hard worker and one I never worry about getting his stuff done. He gets up super early to make sure he is ready for school. He likes to be on time! In that way he is his mom’s son! He still loves to play his games. He currently likes playing Among Us on his Kindle with his friends and cousins. He loves to eat sweets, stay up late with mom and dad, and he loves to ride his lipstick. He makes mom pick out his clothes every morning for school because he has only had uniforms! He currently is the first counselor in his Deacon’s quorum president and loves to be working with his dad a little. He will still snuggle up and watch a show with me. He is stepping into a little bit of the moody teenager realm, so I am holding onto those moments as long as I can!
Zackary- 10 Years Old
Time for a Zack update! Zack is 10 years old and in 5th grade. It has been a weird year having the last month of 4th grade being online, and not knowing what this school year would be like! He ended up getting Mrs. Sullenger, who he also had in 1st grade and loved! He has a few friends in his class and he has had a good year so far, despite the masks and different social distancing practices they put in place. He surprised us at the beginning of the year and tried out to be a lead part in a class pirate play/musical they put on. He got the part and even had to sing multiple times solo. He has a pretty on key voice and did great! I was so mad the week before when they cancelled all parents attending due to COVID cases being too high. I had to watch it from my computer and I bawled for the first few minutes from being so proud of him and not being there. Zack is one smart cookie with a crazy memory. He memorized all 50 states and capitals and seriously looked over it for 10 minutes before going to school (after they had 5 smaller broken down tests previous weeks), and he got 100%. He has an ear for music and loves it. I forced him back into piano a couple months ago. He was literally on the ground crying when I told him. But, he was skipping to the car excited after his first lesson. She gave him some fun songs and he seemed determined to learn them. He will really love it someday I believe. And he would be soooooo good at it!!! Zack jumped soccer teams this year since his coach of 3 years was not going to be around much again. We decided to get a team closer to our new house and ended up at the Titans with a kid he already new from school. His old team ended up falling apart quite a bit since a few more found out about Zack’s new team (not from us) and ended up with Zack. He was thrilled to have old and new buddies on his team. They have done really well and were undefeated during their first season and should move up to D1. Zack makes one heck of a defender. Such a good read on the field and plays so smart and calm. Zack got lucky and had a kid his age move in last year and they have become little best buds (well besides Levi of course). It has been so good for him to have Corbin. Corbin and his brother Tyson come over and Levi and Zack and them are just so fun together. They make me laugh and get along so well. Zack has had good school friends move away almost every year and he has another one this year, so I am super glad for Corbin. Zack still loves to play his video games. He is our competitive soul. He puts his heart on the table, which is good and sometimes not so much. Ha! Lately they have had fun playing Among Us with cousins and friends on their Kindles. Zack is my one who still loves to play make believe games at times, and others he sits and talks to you like a teenager. I love hanging out with that kid. He has so much fun with Levi and they just giggle and giggle at the weirdest things. They can make me laugh and say “ew” all day long. We like to tease Zack for his knack for leaving stuff everywhere. When his coach ask, “Whose left this?” It is usually Zack. I have found his stuff by the fence at school where they meet, outside, and just about everywhere. He is starting to just laugh at himself. Zack still likes to take his sweet time getting places. Ever since he was a tiny guy he has. His brain just must be so entertaining because he gets so caught up that he is happy and content. I get jealous that I can’t have a little of that!!! Zack seems to gather quite the crushes at school. Last year he shoved some unread love notes in his backpack I discovered later. He laughed and told me he had never read them. He gets so embarrassed from the attention it is funny! One girl shoved a bear and chocolates in his locker at the end of last year for Valentines day. He said he was so embarrassed he slammed his locker closed before anybody could see him. It was too funny! Zack is also our fashionista. He has to match his socks with his shirts. He loves to get new clothes and shoes, and he told me once he hates when people touch his hair. Zack has gotten into reading more this year. He has always been a great reader, he just doesn’t really LOVE to read. He dove in during quarantine in April and by October he had read all the Harry Potter’s and seems to have picked up reading a little more for fun. Not quite like Levi’s fun, but he likes it more than before. Zack loves to do tricks and flips on the tramp. His friend Corbin teaches him all sorts of flips from his tumbling class. He is getting pretty good! We even had him doing back flips on the ground at one point. Zack is just such an easy going kid, super bright mind, funny funny sense of humor, and just a great kid. We love him to pieces and all that he adds to our family.
Makayla- 7 Years Old
Makayla at 7. This girl has a lot of personality. Where to start….Makayla turned 7 in April right when COVID shut down school and activities. It was a nice distraction and something to look forward to during those changes. Makayla is such a sweet thing. She has a sweet heart and does not like when people are hurt or not feeling well. She started piano this year and is loving it. She is progressing right along and seems to enjoy sitting down and playing on her own with very little pushing from mom. She has continued doing gymnastics and has been doing it for a year and a half almost. She has gone from barely doing cartwheels to passing off her back handspring last week and is now doing roundoff back handsprings. She is super flexible and getting strong and seems to like it so we will see! We took a break from soccer and signed her up for basketball this year too. She looked like a deer in the headlights at the beginning) She is such a people watcher and gets so distracted trying to soak all the action in that she seems to forget a game in going on. It is too funny. That little competitive spirit busts out occasionally and she is actually pretty coordinated and feisty when she kicks it into gear. She may just flip a switch and enjoy it a little more someday. For now, she looks cute doing her cartwheels on the court and playing with her ponytails! She gets the biggest grins when she shoots a basket it is super cute. Towards the tail end of her season she really stepped it into gear and its like the game clicked a little bit. She was super determined and her celebrations after baskets was so cute. She was so little and determined to block the big girls and her tiny body would just jump and jump in front of them trying to block them. It was the cutest! It was fun to see her grow so much towards the end! Makayla started second grade this year and has the best teachers. She is. absolutely loving Mrs. Goddard and Mrs. Bybee. She has become cute little friends with a girl name Kenzie at school this year. She has also become an amazing little reader, in the top spelling group in her class, and has surprised me with how well and fast she picks up her math. Makayla has the most creative little brain and seems to be playing all sorts of things in her heard. She seems to be in her own little world sometimes and I wish I could just see what she does. She is one we still have to check on because she tends to get a little mischievous at times. Don’t mess with that is constantly coming out of our mouths. She is such an observant and curious little thing! Makayla stuck gold when we moved to this neighborhood as several girls have moved in since. She LOVES to play with her friends. She is such a social bug. She loves to dance and sing with her friends. They play dolls a lot. She also loves to do crafts with them. Makayla loves to dress up, turn on music, and pretend she is on stage. I am thinking she may enjoy dance or something in performing, like the school play. She can be a little shy sometimes so we will see! Makayla has lost 5 teeth in the last few months and will be toothless for Christmas. She will literally say, “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!” Makayla is an animal lover! She is always toting around stuffed animals. We picked up a bunny around June and she was so excited. It gets a tad cranky, but she is determined to still love on the guy. Makayla brings out the girlie in me. I am such a tom boy and she is quite the opposite. She loves to paint her nails, wear bows in her hair, put on dresses, and makeup. I love to do her long cute hair and she looks just like a little princess. Her and I have our weekly dates to 7-11 to get a treat after gymnastics. She can sure drive her mamma bonkers at times, since she tends to get distracted easily when she is asked to do things. I love our little dates and those opportunities to see her outside of the house and just us. I also love to help her with her gymnastics. She is not always a willing participant and can be quite hard on herself. However, when she learns to do a new trick, her face is priceless. She gets SOOO excited and all the frustrating moments are worth it. We love her little spunky self and the smiles she brings. Her excitement and love for the little things are needed in this house. She get so excited over the tooth fairy and speechless when she talks to Santa. She does not like scary movies and gets nightmares easily. She loves to cook macaroni and cheese by herself and feels so proud of herself when she does. I just love her to pieces and we are so glad we have her to add a dash of sugar and spice to our family!
Nathan-5 Years Old
We just love our happy Nato. Nathan has the biggest smile, cutest squeal, and has a love of life that is infectious. He is such a tender kid with a tender heart. Nathan turned 5 in March. He has had quite the year of firsts! He got to start Kindergarten in the Fall after his Preschool ended abruptly in March due to COVID, he was excited to start at the big school. Mom was a little nervous that his first experience of school was going to be with a mask on and some social distancing guidelines in place. He made it a few months enjoying himself and then had a week or so of tears on drop off. At that point, we got COVID and he was home for a month. After that break he was excited to return again! He was our longest on quarantine since he was the last to get it. Nathan also has had his first real year of playing AYSO soccer. He loved every second of it. He was a super defender, a lefty, and seemed to really enjoy it. He is constantly practicing in the house. He plays from front door to backdoor and dribbles and shoots several times a day for the last several months. He loves it! He also got to try his hand at basketball. He is super cute trying to dribble that basketball. He is actually a pretty good shooter for being so little! He seems to like that too, so maybe he is taking after his big brothers! Nathan loves to play video games, he loves Dude Perfect shows, and he loves loves loves music. He is constantly turning on songs to listen to. He is what we call our “lyric kid.” Randomly throughout the day he hears things and immediately busts into a song that it reminds him of. He loves to hum to himself. He also enjoys doing crafts and coloring. We have gotten perler beads out several times in the last 6 months as a form of entertainment and he will sit down for hours making those things. He loves to play with Graham. Those two are like little twins. They wrestle and giggle all day long. They also have their fair share of arguments, but their relationship is so precious. I am so glad they have each other. I put Nate in afternoon Kindergarten and I am so glad I did. It gives Graham someone to play with in the morning and Nate is only gone while he naps. Nathan is kind of a go getter. When he wants to learn to do something he works hard on it. He wants to learn a front flip, he practices it. He is working on doing handstands right now and does so well! He is an excellent reader. He had his sight words for the year (probably over 50 of them) passed off by month 3 of Kindergarten. He has picked up math super quick and I am so lucky to have such bright kids. It makes my life a little easier:) He did so well for having zoom Kindergarten for almost a month. He did near 3 hour calls everyday and he was able to sit and focus and do his assignments. He listened and not once did I have to get after him. He is a good little guy who just wants to make good choices. How did I get so lucky? Nate has his special seat on the couch he ALWAYS sits in. He doesn’t know how to blow his nose yet. Ha! He loves that he is big enough to sleep on the top bunk. He was happy to upgrade his bike in the spring to a 16 inch. He was sooooo nervous (he is our nervous kid), but once he tries things he masters them quickly. He also learned to swim this year. He HATED the feeling of no floaties. Last year he jumped in without one and it took a second for me to notice and we pulled him out. He was just fine, as it was about 3 seconds, but I think it terrified him just enough. He would scream and scream when we practiced. All of a sudden a switch went off and he took off! He loved it! He was swimming across our community pool in no time and going of the diving board at aunt Grace’s. It’ll be fun to see where that little 5 year old gets next summer! Nato love card games. Like LOVES them. He is always pulling 5 crowns, Cover your Assests, Cover your Kingdom, Uno, War, you name it. He is so good at them too! He knows more about the rules in some of those games than I do. He loves them! Nathan has the biggest grin and has this excited personality that we just need in this house. He is chill and calm and all things happy. You know when he is tired, because then he is not!!! We are so lucky to have that little man in our family. 5 is a fun age and it is fun to see his little personality blossoming!
Graham- 3 Years Old
Graham turned 3 this year. He is totally 3 going on 13! He is such smart little dude. Quick to pick up on things and as independent as they come. Sometimes frustratingly so! Graham makes such a fun caboose. He has such a spunky little personality and it is written all over his face. He loves to try to keep up with the big kids. He even was allowed to play in one of Nate’s games because the rain kept a lot of kids home. He was too funny and determined. The tiny guy did really well actually! It doesn’t surprise me though because he can wrestle with the big boys and a tad of a crazy pants. He is my determined one who tries to do everything by himself. He gets himself dressed, helps himself in the bathroom, gets his own snacks, and until he started hating naps, he even put himself down for a nap sometimes. He tries to buckle his own seatbelt and my favorite thing about that is when he looks at you with his determined little eyes and says, “Mom, teach me to do this.” That right there is said several times a day. He is one determined little guy and I am excited to see what he does! He loves to play cars and Rescue Bots and many other things. He loves to make believe and will sit alone and play for a significant amount of time. He loves when Makayla play make believe with him. He also plays with Nathan all day long. It was a good plan sending Nathan to PM Kinder so they could still play all morning. They wrestle, play soccer, cars, and all sorts of games. He still takes naps with me and I love it! Graham has the cutest little relationship with Levi. He will give Graham horsey rides to bed, piggie back rides on hikes, and buddies up with him when mom has her hands full. The little boys love when the big boys wrestle with them. He has the cutest little voice. He gets a little intense and dramatic when he is mad. He doesn’t always say the nicest things either…and we try hard not to laugh. He also has a knack for potty words right now too. The older boys find him hilarious. Graham always has to sit on a lap while watching tv. He loves to try to play video games with his brothers. He flips like the best of them on the tramp, rides his balance bike like mad man. He loves loves loves his milk. He asks several times a day for a sippie. He is such a snuggler and always gives me hugs when I want them, snuggles me in the morning, and loves to give me kisses. I don’t mind one bit. He loves having daddy working from home during COVID. He wakes up from his nap and goes and plays in his office. He makes Dan play soccer in the house while I walk Nathan over to the school. He loves to play boardgames, even if he rarely plays them the right way, he just loves to play! He knows how to count till almost 15, knows all his colors, and is starting to recognize letters and numbers. Even though he throws out the funniest numbers. Like today, “I did that like 5 years ago!” He has the funniest mischievous little grin. We just love that little man! He gives us so many laughs, eye rolls, and shocking moments. What would we do without our Graham!
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