Summer is Here!

The youth love serving at the food and care coalition. 

Ivy had a little mishap on the ice one morning. She fell and got a concussion and it's customary to call an ambulance when that happens. She rested very well the rest of the day.

Kids who were told not to get too close to the pond got too close to the pond. First Ginger lost her sandals in the deep mud and Violet lost hers while trying to help Ginger retrieve them. Travis finally helped us find them DEEP in the mud.

It was all at the Ward picnic. Always a fun tradition. 

And then we've just been embracing the every day.

Getting lots of sun at a splash pad in Lehi while Violet is at her ASL class nearby.

Summer means cousin days at Mamie's!

Sometimes I take kids to work with me and they like to have fun there.

 

Dance Festival 2026

Ivy was first of the 3 girls to perform. Such a cute Chinese Pony dance to commemorate year of the horse.

 Ginger's grade did their traditional Philippino dance and were dodging the sticks pretty amazingly!

And Violet had her traditional Maypole dance.

She's the one in pink, ha ha.

And another chance for pictures with teachers and friends.

School Farewells

It's the end of another era. No more preschoolers!

Talmage made some great friends in his class. His best friend Moroni from his primary class was in the same class!

Sigh...we've had some end of school year get togethers where we could say some final goodbyes before we move. We invited all the girls' school friends for pizza at the park.

And of course, all the school events to close out the year. Ginger played the part of Snow White in their Chinese class play.

It even had some wicked choreography.

Violet had her 6th grade graduation. She felt pretty bittersweet about it.

I'm so grateful they all found such great friends here. I know more wonderful friends await them at their new schools.

Let's go see the house!

 We love our frequent trips to the lot- or, I guess now we can say house.

What Winter?

We essentially skipped winter. This was the biggest snowman we could make. So sad.

But we still filled our time with lots of fun. 

Making chocolate covered strawberries at Mamie's (such a fun February tradition!).

And we had lots of school distractions. Violet went to district, and then region.

Jaxon has really enjoyed being in orchestra. 

We've also been to band concerts this year!

Travis still hikes with ward friends every couple months. This time he took Violet and Ginger.

And of course, we can't forget our favorite tradition this time of year-

Chinese New Year! The kids always have a big presentation for parents with Chinese songs and dances they've learned. A big thanks to Mamie and Papa who subbed for me as I unfortunately had to work that morning!

In the evening, we have a fun tradition of decorating the kitchen for the Chinese New Year, eating (probably Americanized) Chinese food, and only speaking Chinese at the table. And it's always a treat to have Zyanya over. We could always use another Chinese speaker. :)

I'm always impressed how much their Chinese progresses each year. So grateful we can take advantage of the DLI programs here.