Monday, April 13, 2026

March 2026

Christian had two weeks off of school for Spring Break and Hannah had one.  During the week that Hannah had off, we went to Universal Studios in Los Angeles and spent a little time on Hollywood Boulevard and the Santa Monica Pier. Hannah invited her friend (or maybe she invited herself), Paityn, to join us.

We stayed in a crappy hotel (although not terrible cheap) near Universal Studios. We drove to LA on Wednesday and went to Universal on Thursday. It was a good day for Universal Studios. We did everything there was to do with plenty of time to spare, We didn't have to wait too terribly long in line for any one attraction.  A lot of the rides were motion simulation, so that got a little old after a while. But overall, we had a good time.  The kids enjoyed the Studio tour much more than they thought they would and we all really liked the rides in Harry Potter World.

On Friday we drove to Hollywood Boulevard to see the Walk of Fame.  But the kids didn't know many of the names on the Walk of Fame and that area has become very run down, so I can't say there were to impressed.  We then drove to the Santa Monica Pier and walked around for a bit.  We were somewhat prepared to spend time at the beach but the water was cold and we didn't have much time before we needed to get home, so no one got in their swim suits.  

We drove home after lunch and it took a very long time! It was a quick trip but a successful one as far as amusements parks and California goes.











I was gifted 3 tickets to a Spring Training game (Angels and Reds) from the tutoring program I am a volunteer in.  Christian invited his friend, Oliver, to join us for a 1pm game with a temperature of ~100 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.  Needless to say, it was not a great day for a Spring training game. If it had not have been so hot (we sat in the grass because the benches were too hot to sit on), it would have been a great game.  There were lots of hits and it was very close.  But it was hard to enjoy when we were so uncomfortable. We stayed until the 7th inning stretch and then called it.

February 2026

February was a very chill month.  Christian started tennis practice and matches but not much was going on other than that.  Christian is playing Varsity 6 and JV Double 1.

 




Monday, March 2, 2026

January 2026

 Christian turned 16!

Christian's birthday was on a Tuesday this year.  Before Cameron and Hannah left for school, we had a family dinner at Mongolian BBQ. He did not ask to stay home from school on his birthday.  He just had too much going on.  I did get up and make him a better breakfast than I usually do

We had another family dinner that included Camera, Jomo, Melody, Emily, Rylee and Raygan on the Sunday after his birthday.  He requested ribs and funeral potatoes.  He didn't make a specific requests for a cake, so I just bought him one from the freezer at Cold Stone.  It was red velvet with cake better ice cream.

Christian didn't want to have a party or any sort of celebration but he did go to DisneyLand with the steel drum band a couple days after his birthday.  Once he was home, he got his driver's license. He passed with flying colors.  He mastered driving the Jeep and now drives it everywhere.  He often refers to it as his car, but I remind him it is my car.

At 15, Christian is 5'9 and weighs 130 lbs.  He has gotten taller and very lean, but he would still like to get even taller and put on some muscle.  Christian is smart, creative, handsome, dedicated, and fun.  He is a good example in his speech, dress and behavior.  Christian loves to be on his phone, play video games and watch TV.  He still loves to buy and play with Legos and every night before bed he practices his Spanish on the Duo Lingo app.  I think it is more about keeping his streak alive because he is not taking Spanish.  He played on the freshman tennis team in the Fall and will be playing on the varsity tennis this Spring as well.  He has joined the Tempe Union Composite mountain bike team even though they aren't in season, he still goes on rides at South Mountain with several of his friends. He has great friends, in part through seminary, and is often invited to birthday parties and hang outs.   He has also started going to the gym with friends.  He can be a bit picky about who he'll work out with though.  He likes to work his total body and not waste time.  Christian still loves to sleep late into the morning and has embraced taking naps.  Naps are in part due to getting up at 5:35am in order to get to steel drum band by 6:20.




There is complaining but no desire to quit the band.  He still works as a lifeguard when they schedule him and it is so nice not having to drive him to and from work or anywhere else.

We love Christian and are so glad he is part of our family! 

Friday, January 30, 2026

December 2025


It was such a fun December with all 3 kids home!


We decided to be surprised at what our Christmas tree looked like and it ended up to be beautiful.






The kids were spoiled as always.  Santa brought Christian a light for his bike, (that might not seem like much, but it was an expensive light), Hannah got a new pair of air pods, and Cameron got a Stanley.


I got a karaoke machine.  Cameron got the most use out of it.  Later that night he said his legs hurt because he stood on the tile for so long.



Christian was the main speaker for the Christmas service at church.


We ate out a lot, of course hitting up Spinatos.


There was a lot of bike riding (as well as some running and hiking).


And of course there was a trip to the Giving Machine.

Monday, January 26, 2026

November 2025

In November, we celebrated Thanksgiving by running the Mesa Turkey Trot.  Chuck, Hannah and I ran the 10K and the boys ran the 5K.  This was the 25th year in a row that Chuck and I have run the Turkey Trot and we are thinking it might be the last.  The price has just gone up too much and it's hard to justify.  

We had dinner with Camera, Jomo, Melody, Emily, Raygan and Rylee.  It was delicious but the star of the show was not the turkey but the coconut cream cheesecake that Hannah made for dessert.

We also went to the temple while everyone was home and went to the Festival of Lights parade with the Hamblins and Hatches.  We used to go to the light parade every year.  We stopped going after Kristin died but Brett asked if we wanted to go for old times sake this year.  The parade left a lot to be desired and we are all probably okay to never go again.  We are missing Carson in the picture.  He is on his mission in Canada.






Saturday, January 24, 2026

October 2025

Mountain Biking, Florida, Homecoming

Christian had a few more bike races during the month of October.







We also had Fall Break in October.  Chuck had to go to Melbourne, FL for work and because we had nothing going on, Christian and I decided to tag along.  
We left on Monday morning and spent the day traveling.  
On Tuesday, Chuck headed to work while Christian and I explored.  We spent time in Melbourne which wasn't as exciting as the advertisements made it out to be.  We attempted to go to the beach but it was cloudy, a little rainy and very windy.  We had dinner with Chuck and did catch a nice sunset.  But not at Sunset beach because Sunset beach actually faced east. 



On Wednesday, we headed toward the Cocoa Beach area for a river boat tour and some beach time.  We had a little time before the tour, so we stopped by a beach for a few minutes.  The Florida beaches have quite a bit of seaweed on them but other than that, they are very nice.  The river boat tour left a little to be desired.  It was a pontoon boat with quite a few elderly people.  We mostly saw the back of houses and birds, but we did see some dolphins and a manatee. After the tour, we grabbed some lunch and went to Cocoa beach.  We got there just in time to rent a boogie board before they closed.  Christian enjoyed about an hour of boogie boarding.  Cocoa beach was one of the highlights of the trip.  If we go back, we will definitely spend more time there.  We stopped for ice cream at a place that was recommended because it had "turtles".  Well, the turtles were actually desert tortoises and there was nothing special about the ice cream.  But ice cream is always good.










On Thursday we drove to Orlando and spent the day at Disney World.  Pyper Hatch was working at Disney World for the school semester and Regan happened to be visiting her, so we met up with them and spent the day at Hollywood Studios. Hollywood Studios was very similar to Disneyland but much smaller.  The crowds were also smaller.  Christian chose that as the park to go to because it had the most thrill rides.  He rode everything and I rode everything expect the Tower of Terror.  We rode some things twice and went to the Indian Jones show and some of the Disney Villains show.  We did not have to wait too long in any one line with the exception of the Slinky Dog rollercoaster.  We did that one last and thankfully the line was covered because it poured while we waited.  I am not the biggest Disney fan but I really can't complain about the day we had.  It was pretty much a perfect day.





Chuck did not have to work on Friday, so we spent the day at the Kennedy Space Center.  There was SO much to see.  It was very cool and I imagine VERY cool if you like rockets.  It poured much of the day and we got soaked moving from one building to the other but other than that, we had a very enjoyable time.  We also had a great lunch.  The price of tickets was extremely high and would have been a much better deal had we been able to stay two days and you can definitely spend two days there.  But one was probably enough for me.




We left early the next morning for home.  It was a great trip and I am so glad we tagged along.  I liked Florida more than I thought I would.  I imagined old people and lots of trailers.  But we didn't see much of either.  The beaches are nice (minus the seaweed) and the parking spaces are wide.  I would definitely go again.  Chuck said it was the best business trip he has ever been one.  


Christian decided at the last minute to go to homecoming.  He went with his friends, 
Paul and Dean.  They did not do anything before or after but they did stay at the dance the whole time.