New Years Eve

 We had a good night enjoying yummy food and family games. We all went outside at 8:45pm and banged pans and sang out "Happy New Year" so that the littles could go to bed at a good time. 

Everyone went to bed  at a good hour. Mom and Dad like that! Someday we will host games and fun for those who want to stay up late but for now we enjoy our littles and our sleep. 

One of my friends husbands told me that one year there daughter wanted to stay up until midnight and was pretty determined to do so, so they slipped away and moved the clocks forward, when she wasn't aware and then were able to get her to bed a few hours early. Genius!!!

We took a good break between Christmas and New Year but not much longer than the weeks of. 

The girls were able to get back to their work once the holidays were over. Bristol is still struggling with reading but we are trying. Consistence is a big part of our problem. 

Stetson is as regular as a teenage boy can be. He gets himself up regularly and I think gets to classes at the high school on time but only wants to do what he wants to do when he wants to do it!!!

Christmas

Wade family Christmas party was a blast. In this picture uncle Casey has a special treat for all of the cousins as he handed out envelopes that has 2 dollar bills enclosed for all. A special treat from the usually very quiet uncle. 

There was also the usual amazing collection of foods for everyone's varied pallets, gift giving, pickleball and basketball competition, card or board games and the special nativity play. 

It is always a great experience to get together as a family. 

                             

Christmas morning was so fun. We were opening gifts for a very long time. Grandma Janet made sure that each of the kids had a gift for everyone in the family. I made sure that they had many fun simple gifts from us.  Each of the kids did a good job of getting each other gifts. It was so nice not to have anything to do or anywhere to go. 

Having lots of fun for the holidays did not interrupt our dedication for education and getting school done. In fact we even went to an orchestra concert for Evelyn during the holidays and she preformed amazingly on the violin. These kids are pretty amazing and super smart!!!

A little Russian Ballerina

 Ballet has been a very rewarding activity for Evelyn. She has made lots of friends and loves everything about attending her classes. She has really excelled this year and learned a lot and we are only half way though the year. She says' that ballet is the best experience she has ever has. I think we may have found her sport. 

We all really enjoyed attending her concert and seeing all of her hard work. There will be a little break until the new year begins.  

The kids are all  being diligent about their studies and working hard. Today we actually sat together in the living room in front of the fire and read lots of books about animals and completed a word search about many different of animals. Hailey was hoping that would be all the school we did for the day but more was accomplish. 

 

A Special Birthday Boy!!!

Another year older and wiser too!

We love to be celebrated! 

After Hailey and Bristol went to classes on Wednesday we then, Ezra and Silas to The Jump Zone. They all had a blast and were excited to jump. We had very few other jumpers at the time we went and only one minor injury. School is tapering off with the holidays just around the corner classes ending and lessons ending for a time. The girls are still attending to writing, grammar and math but the excitement of Christmas drawing near is often distracting. Stetson is diligently attending his classes at Mountain Crest and his debate class all other classes are currently a battle! 

 

Kauai Hawaii

Most amazing trip of our lives!!!

Spencer and I went to Kawai for 8 days. Really it was 6 full days and 2 days of traveling.  We went all lots of hikes, saw many amazing beaches, boat ride along the coastline, zipline tour, surfing, boogie boarding, snorkeling, eating, touring, church and many other amazing adventures. 

All of the kids stayed at our house with Chayanne, one of our employees, and survived. They did some school, a lot of movie watching and some got sick. There was eating out at Yedi's a local Mexican restaurant, making treats and eating them, going to dance and classes, some cleaning and other basic life needs were met. Silas out baby had the hardest time!

We were all very grateful for the experience and to be reunited!!!

 

Games

 

We would love for these moments to happen everyday but there is still a lot of Barbie play, dress up and forts that are made by the younger kids, along with countless other creative play. 

Our oldest however rarely partakes of these play outlets. However when his sisters include him and want to play a card game or board game he is eager to be included. 

We have so many games that I think that we could do a game day once a week for an entire year and hopefully truly know how to play them all. 

There are many that we still don't even know how to play well. 

Stetson has finally figured out how to access his BYU Geometry class. 

It took so long mostly because I was needed to figure it out. 

The girls were so excited about a break for Thanksgiving that we got a lot of school attended to on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday was dedicated to baking pies, cleaning house and preparing many yummy thanksgiving dishes. We had a great Thanksgiving with 22 in all being in our home! The remainder of the week will be preparing for the next amazing holiday. 

Loads of Leaves

We have some very large trees and they loose a lot of leaves each year. 

It can be a lot of work to clean them all up but we have discovered that a leaf blower and warm weather are amazing. The kids also love to rake them up for the first few days and then jump in them and get covered. 

We always love the change of the seasons and all the beauty that changing brings. 

It is a little sad to saying goodbye to playing outside as much as we like to in the summer months. Hopefully we have a little more time until winter comes. 

School is still a daily focus and effort. Somedays are more productive than others. It is so wonderful that Evelyn can self govern her learning for the most part and does not need my assistance for all subjects. 

 

True Colors

Stetson really didn't want to get out of his pajamas so he put his cloths on top of them. I also purchased a baby Yoda shirt and he didn't want to wear it so he wrapped it around his head and then posed really oddly so Evelyn said we had to take a picture. 

Stetson is very inclusive and has a very fun personality.  He is capable of defuse tense situations.

School is moving along. 

We are enjoying the journey of striving to improve and learn each and everyday!

 

Pumpkin Walk

 We love the pumpkin walk each year and the creativity of all those who participate. 

This year was there 40th anniversary and so they re-displayed several big hits from the past 40 years.  

The top picture is of a beach seen which is very fun! 

The kids are enjoying the change of the season and have been diligent about there studies. 

The girls are enjoying the advancement of their sewing skills and have made several pillowcases recently. 

There is a little sickness in out house but the kids, that have been sick, have still been able to do some school. 

We were able to go to Rigby, Idaho and see a some family this weekend and it was so nice to be with them!!! Thankfully the roads were clear and dry once we left Logan. 

Smithfield Temple

 So we went a little field trip on Sunday. 

We needed to drive the bus so we drove across town to Smithfield and investigated the new temple being built in that area. We were pleasantly surprised at its progress. 

The church website estimates late 2025 or early 2026 but we wouldn't be surprised 

if it is ready earlier than expected. 

As you can see in the first photo the kids all thought that the top of the bus was the 

best vantage point for viewing.  

We have struggled a little with getting Stetson to do math but we are 

hoping to resolve that this week and figure out a good routine. 

He will be competing in his first debate tournament of the year this weekend. 

We are eager to hear how he does. 

Evelyn is found dancing all over the house and is getting really good at all things ballet. 

She is excelling in her music and is being very diligent in studies. 

Hailey too is very good at the piano and has started to be more proactive 

with accomplishing her assignments. 

She is a good reader and is at times helping Bristol with her reading. 

Bristol is not super motivated most days but other days she surprises me. 

She is rather good at math and understanding numbers. 

We are hopeful that she will begin to love reading this year and truly desire to excel at this skill. 

Solar Eclipse

The solar eclipse was awesome!!!

Our amazing neighbors gave us glasses so that all of the kids had their own and were able to look at the sun safely. Unfortunately it was rather cloudy and so we had to wait for the clouds to pass but we were able to see all of the different stages. Some of the kids were not so understanding of what was happening and lots of teaching followed and then some amazement and understanding came. I would say that Hailey was the most keen on what was happening and how cool it really was. 

Spencer and Stetson were able to be right in the middle of the greatness as they went to Capital Reef National Park on a back packing trip and arch hike and were also able to view the eclipse. 

The above pictures were taken by Spencer. 

Our solar system and world are so amazing and wonderful. 

All are participating in there schooling and doing well. 

 

Fall Colors

Stetson went for a five and a half mile bike ride today and then road up a mountain to mountain bike. 

He also joined us Ice skating and went to Speech and Debate. 

Classes at Maintain Crest  continue. WE still need to work on our math class and fine tune a few other things but we are learning everyday.

Evelyn is love, love, loving her ballet class and is so excited that her group has been cast as the Russian soldiers in the upcoming Nutcracker. She cannot wait!!! She is also really enjoying her Chemistry class and Board game class. She is creating in Art Exploration and learning in all of her classes. At home we often have to pull her away from a "Thea Stilton" book and her creative drawing but she is getting really good at guitar and violin and being very diligent in her math, grammar, typing and history. 

So much to learn, so little time. 

Hailey is very playful and helpful with her younger siblings. She loves to play fun games with Silas and is very inclusive with Bristol and Ezra too. She loves to draw, act, sing and dance and is often found doing a little of all of those each day. Her piano skills are really improving and she is at times diligent about her academic classes like math, language arts and history, all are great at free play and physical activity. Too bad these are not our society's main focus for children. 

                               

Bristol is really wanting to master reading. She is such a smart girl and is so good with numbers but something with reading just hasn't clicked yet, I'm sure it will soon!

She is a good little momma always wanting to help out with Silas. She learned how to change his diaper last week and is always eager to get him out of his bed and help him to play outside. 

She is really loving Barbie's lately and any game that she and her sisters think up.

Ezra is following along with all the phonograms and reading that I am doing with Bristol he may catch on fast. He loves to make sure that Silas is safe and will inform me if he is doing something that he thinks is unsafe. He is a very kind brother likes to joke and make others laugh. 

He is a very special little guy. 

Silas favorite response right now is "Wow" and he responds very appropriately.  Stetson and his friend were watching some mountain bike crashes on You Tube and he responds "Wow" as each man crashes. Daddy shows his a new tool and he responds "Wow". 

He is such a cute guy. We all love him oh so much. 

General Conference Weekend

Every 6 months we get to have a two day feast on the words of modern prophets and apostles. It is the best 2 weekend of every year!!! We have pictures of all of the apostles and the kids love to see if one of them is speaking with each new speaker. Not all of the speakers are apostles but all are leaders in the church. I usually have a treat after each of the apostles speak. The kids really look forward to the amount of treats that are shared on this weekend. 

I tried something new this year. I chose a jar and pulled out some beads that we own and asked the kids to place a bead in the jar each time they heard the name of Jesus or any other name that gives reference to him, there are many. They were busy running back and forth. Listening for the name of Jesus and helping each other get beads in the jar for all 10 hours of conference and over the extent of the two days. 

10 hours of listening is a long time. The kids did a great job of playing quietly and trying to be attentive. They played with magnets, Duplo's, colored, eat snacks, cuddled with mom or dad, put Kiwico sets together, made bracelets, and I am sure many other creative things. 

I feel filled and I am so grateful for these amazing kids that I get to nurture and have influence upon. They are amazing people and they are growing up way to fast. 

Some activities that we participated in during the week were to go pick raspberries for the last time of the season. We went to the pumpkin patch to check out what they have and prepare for bringing home a stash. We played at the park. Jumped on the tramp. Went to Ballet. Participated on YLA , CLC and high school classes. Went to scouts, referred some soccer games, YM and YW. Work for dad. Shopping, laundry, cooking sewing, canning, cleaning, driving kids around, and so much more. It is amazing all that goes on in one family in the coarse of 7 days.