Goodbye 2017
Wow! 2017 flew in and out of our lives so fast, I can't believe all that happened. Our life is in transition mode as our family dynamics change and grow. Even though it has only been a year, I feel like 2016 was five years ago and our family is so different.
Brent continues his work at the labs, but the company was sold and bought by a large international lab called Sterigenics. They have taken the name of Nelson's and applied it to their other microlabs, so now Nelson's is worldwide, but under Sterigenics. Along with the sale of the company has come some anxiety about what this means for us. Changes in the company have been gradual and we are excited about the future.
Katie took a new turn and began working at the Junior High in March. It is a part time position that she enjoys in the morning. With this our family schedule changed drastically. Brent stays home with our little guy in the mornings and then Katie and Brent have a shift change around 10:30 where Brent then goes to work. It is a little crazy, but it works out. Katie gets all the school holidays off with the kiddos and Brent gets some one on one time with Kanyon. This has also given him the opportunity to focus on his exercise and he is currently training for a half marathon. Katie still keeps busy with the primary kiddos, community volunteer stuff, and with added activities of work.
Ayslind recently turned 14 and attended her very first multi stake dance. She came to Katie over the summer and said she wanted to complete her young woman personal progress requirements by her birthday in November. The Monday before her birthday she gave her last family home evening that was a requirement. She received her medallion at her evening in excellence meeting and has been a light and blessing in our family. Her testimony of service and the Book of Mormon has grown leaps and bounds. She is excited to continue to work on personal progress by moving on to her honor bee. Ayslind also participated in marching band this summer and a school play "Peter Pan" as part of the tech crew. These new found hobbies have replaced outdoor soccer as there just wasn't time to do it all. She is now in 8th grade and is taking German one, which she loves as she prepares to travel to Germany in the summer of 2018. She is also taking symphonic band, math science, computer lit, stage drama and the regular classes. She is a good student and is quickly approaching the time to register for High School. She is looking forward to the excitement that attends all that is involved. Ayslind also began her first "real" job as a trade personnel at the Legacy Center. She helps set up gymnastic equipment 3 times a week and loves that it gives her money. She is saving hard for Germany. She also was a volunteer for Time Out for Girls and got to mentor and attend with Cyana.
Cyana finished her 5th grade year strong and now is a grown up 6th grader! She continues with her Irish dance and got to travel to Wyoming and Las Vegas for competitions. She did amazing and is now leveled as Prize Winner in all of her dances, but one. She is a beautiful, graceful dancer and
it is so exciting to see her develop! She has spent lots of times with her best friend cousin this past year as she got to attend Time Out for Girls with Ayslind and Talyssa. She loved this experience and it will surely help her as she prepares for Young Women in 2018. Cyana is learning and growing in school. She is participating in the N.O.V.A. program and loves being the oldest at the school. She has been a big help around the house as Ayslind has gotten busier and we are grateful for a second babysitter. She served as a tutor over the summer at the literacy program and has a real love for little kiddos. She also has continued to develop her talent and love for sewing. Over Christmas break she complete her very own beautiful soft mittens. She is so talented and it is exciting as we start to prepare for Junior High.
Bowyn was baptized this year. It is always amazing the change that happens when they reach that milestone. Bowyn had fun this year participating in soccer, baseball, and he is now in basketball. he also began his cub scouting and Brent and Katie got to be his leaders for the second part of the year. He just completed his Wolf requirements and is in love with the scouting program. He is doing well in his school and is now in 3rd grade. He loves playing "midgies" with his classmates and always has some new story to tell about school. He gets to bring his best friend, William, home with him everyday and Kanyon absolutely adores him. He is a good brother and friend. He has found a new hobby with pokemon and wii games (occasionally). Mostly he really likes to be outside exploring and playing.
Lyvian finished kindergarten and is now in first grade. She has gotten so tall and lost so many teeth. in 24 hours, she lost 5 teeth. She is our sensitive little one and loves to follow along with whoever is around. Kanyon sure misses having her at home to pal around with. Lyvi's skills are growing so fast. She is becoming a good little reader and loves to do art at school. She loves to be Chester's friend and she is often found outside playing with him. Lyvi loves her bike and this summer it was hard to get her off of it. She also had the chance to play baseball and basketball. She also has been doing gymnastic, but has decided that she really wants to do soccer in the spring. She is a fun little girl who loves to be in the kitchen. She loves to do dishes and help with dinner. She will often be found experimenting or making her famous fruit salad. We love her and she is growing fast.
Kanyon the caboose is the last one at home. He survived the springtime and absolutely loves the extra daddy time he get just the two of them in the morning. He loves the mountains and snow. He loves to do learning time and play with his playdough. He is learning so fast and his speech is improving everyday. He is our climb and jump kiddo. He loves to climb up so many things and then jump off of them. He recently learned to zip up his own coat, put on his own seatbelt and one of his past times is to push the button to close the van door and leap out of the car before the door closes on him. He also loves Chester and our cat Cloudy. He loved being in Nursery and we are not sure how the transition into Primary will go. He loves to go fishing and any chance he gets to touch one he does. He is in love with "Wild Kratts" and "Dinosaur Train." Growing too fast, we just want all of the kids to pause.
Our family adventures took us to some of our favorites this year. We were able to all go with Cyana to her Vegas competition and we stayed in St. George. Brent and Katie traveled to Cabo, Mexico with Brent's brother Brian and Gina, to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. We also made our yearly trip up to Bear lake and camped over. We also had the responsibility of making our ward float at the beginning of the summer. The highlight of family activities was our trip to Cedar City. All of the kids except Kanyon were old enough to attend the plays, so we took each of the kiddos to a play and had so much fun. Romeo and Juliet, Mid Summers night dream, guys and dolls, treasure island, and as you like it. It was such a fun summer get away. We concluded the trip with a quick run through Bryce canyon, Katie's favorite.
Schedules get a little crazy at times, but it is our crazy. We are living the dream and loving it all. Here's to a new year full of adventures!
Brent continues his work at the labs, but the company was sold and bought by a large international lab called Sterigenics. They have taken the name of Nelson's and applied it to their other microlabs, so now Nelson's is worldwide, but under Sterigenics. Along with the sale of the company has come some anxiety about what this means for us. Changes in the company have been gradual and we are excited about the future.
Katie took a new turn and began working at the Junior High in March. It is a part time position that she enjoys in the morning. With this our family schedule changed drastically. Brent stays home with our little guy in the mornings and then Katie and Brent have a shift change around 10:30 where Brent then goes to work. It is a little crazy, but it works out. Katie gets all the school holidays off with the kiddos and Brent gets some one on one time with Kanyon. This has also given him the opportunity to focus on his exercise and he is currently training for a half marathon. Katie still keeps busy with the primary kiddos, community volunteer stuff, and with added activities of work.
Ayslind recently turned 14 and attended her very first multi stake dance. She came to Katie over the summer and said she wanted to complete her young woman personal progress requirements by her birthday in November. The Monday before her birthday she gave her last family home evening that was a requirement. She received her medallion at her evening in excellence meeting and has been a light and blessing in our family. Her testimony of service and the Book of Mormon has grown leaps and bounds. She is excited to continue to work on personal progress by moving on to her honor bee. Ayslind also participated in marching band this summer and a school play "Peter Pan" as part of the tech crew. These new found hobbies have replaced outdoor soccer as there just wasn't time to do it all. She is now in 8th grade and is taking German one, which she loves as she prepares to travel to Germany in the summer of 2018. She is also taking symphonic band, math science, computer lit, stage drama and the regular classes. She is a good student and is quickly approaching the time to register for High School. She is looking forward to the excitement that attends all that is involved. Ayslind also began her first "real" job as a trade personnel at the Legacy Center. She helps set up gymnastic equipment 3 times a week and loves that it gives her money. She is saving hard for Germany. She also was a volunteer for Time Out for Girls and got to mentor and attend with Cyana.
Cyana finished her 5th grade year strong and now is a grown up 6th grader! She continues with her Irish dance and got to travel to Wyoming and Las Vegas for competitions. She did amazing and is now leveled as Prize Winner in all of her dances, but one. She is a beautiful, graceful dancer and
it is so exciting to see her develop! She has spent lots of times with her best friend cousin this past year as she got to attend Time Out for Girls with Ayslind and Talyssa. She loved this experience and it will surely help her as she prepares for Young Women in 2018. Cyana is learning and growing in school. She is participating in the N.O.V.A. program and loves being the oldest at the school. She has been a big help around the house as Ayslind has gotten busier and we are grateful for a second babysitter. She served as a tutor over the summer at the literacy program and has a real love for little kiddos. She also has continued to develop her talent and love for sewing. Over Christmas break she complete her very own beautiful soft mittens. She is so talented and it is exciting as we start to prepare for Junior High.
Bowyn was baptized this year. It is always amazing the change that happens when they reach that milestone. Bowyn had fun this year participating in soccer, baseball, and he is now in basketball. he also began his cub scouting and Brent and Katie got to be his leaders for the second part of the year. He just completed his Wolf requirements and is in love with the scouting program. He is doing well in his school and is now in 3rd grade. He loves playing "midgies" with his classmates and always has some new story to tell about school. He gets to bring his best friend, William, home with him everyday and Kanyon absolutely adores him. He is a good brother and friend. He has found a new hobby with pokemon and wii games (occasionally). Mostly he really likes to be outside exploring and playing.
Lyvian finished kindergarten and is now in first grade. She has gotten so tall and lost so many teeth. in 24 hours, she lost 5 teeth. She is our sensitive little one and loves to follow along with whoever is around. Kanyon sure misses having her at home to pal around with. Lyvi's skills are growing so fast. She is becoming a good little reader and loves to do art at school. She loves to be Chester's friend and she is often found outside playing with him. Lyvi loves her bike and this summer it was hard to get her off of it. She also had the chance to play baseball and basketball. She also has been doing gymnastic, but has decided that she really wants to do soccer in the spring. She is a fun little girl who loves to be in the kitchen. She loves to do dishes and help with dinner. She will often be found experimenting or making her famous fruit salad. We love her and she is growing fast.
Kanyon the caboose is the last one at home. He survived the springtime and absolutely loves the extra daddy time he get just the two of them in the morning. He loves the mountains and snow. He loves to do learning time and play with his playdough. He is learning so fast and his speech is improving everyday. He is our climb and jump kiddo. He loves to climb up so many things and then jump off of them. He recently learned to zip up his own coat, put on his own seatbelt and one of his past times is to push the button to close the van door and leap out of the car before the door closes on him. He also loves Chester and our cat Cloudy. He loved being in Nursery and we are not sure how the transition into Primary will go. He loves to go fishing and any chance he gets to touch one he does. He is in love with "Wild Kratts" and "Dinosaur Train." Growing too fast, we just want all of the kids to pause.
Our family adventures took us to some of our favorites this year. We were able to all go with Cyana to her Vegas competition and we stayed in St. George. Brent and Katie traveled to Cabo, Mexico with Brent's brother Brian and Gina, to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. We also made our yearly trip up to Bear lake and camped over. We also had the responsibility of making our ward float at the beginning of the summer. The highlight of family activities was our trip to Cedar City. All of the kids except Kanyon were old enough to attend the plays, so we took each of the kiddos to a play and had so much fun. Romeo and Juliet, Mid Summers night dream, guys and dolls, treasure island, and as you like it. It was such a fun summer get away. We concluded the trip with a quick run through Bryce canyon, Katie's favorite.
Schedules get a little crazy at times, but it is our crazy. We are living the dream and loving it all. Here's to a new year full of adventures!
