Flake Fun

Well, our holiday season went by quickly.  I had a hard time feeling the Christmas spirit this year which was not a pleasant thing for me. I think that it was in part due to very warm (relatively speaking) temperatures and being distracted with the house preparations.  Hopefully it will be better next year.

We enjoyed spending the Christmas week up north.  The kids especially enjoyed the snow so thanks to Idaho for that. 

Roasting marshmallows for FHE

Putting drainage pipes in the field

Much nicer than digging by hand

Moving the cattle guards

Using the new wheelbarrow to mulch in the orchard

Favorite cousins

Playing "Don't Break the Ice" with Stetson 

Our nativity

A fine little Joseph

Still haven't figured this one out but they love to wear their coats backwards 

This pipe will hopefully turn into a big slide

Our neighbor was kind enough to load it for us

Astronauts 

Applying sidewalk chalk "makeup"

Hope that you all have a good new year and that we see you again soon. 

Smithfield Scoop

 Happy New Year, One and All!

It was nice to visit with most everyone during the holidays! We were very glad to have the Flakes here to celebrate Christmas with us. They got a little taste of a real live snowstorm after leaving Cache Valley and we were glad they got to spend time with the Belliston siblings. We were sad to miss out on all the fun up in Idaho, but rejoiced that most of our children were together! What a great way to end the year!

                                                                        Dad's favorite gift this year!

We had a lot of fun this year putting together and advent puzzle for Christmas. Usually, a 1000 piece puzzle is a bit intimidating. But this one was very doable and fun! We also enjoyed hunting for a tree this year. For some reason I thought that after all the children left home, Dad wouldn't be interested any more in going up in the mountains to cut a Christmas tree. But, he purchased a permit again this year and we finally found a day we could take an afternoon to run up and find a tree. It's still almost as fun as it's always been! We had a good time looking for and finding a suitable tree. While in pursuit of the perfect tree, we unexpectedly found a friend! A pleasant looking snowman. He helped mark where we had been to help us keep track of where our favorite trees were. There was a fish and wildlife guy up there doing surveys, so we helped him out and took a a half hour survey about our tree hunting adventures.

We have thoroughly enjoyed having Emma and Stetson with us for the past week or so since Cam left to take all of the Hyde belongings to Kentucky. Emma has been so kind to cook for us and it's been delightful to spend time with little Stetson. He is so pleasant most of the time. We are not sure we will be able to let them go once it's time. We are quite sad any time we think of them not being here in the valley - and once again not having any relations nearby. It's a rather lonely contemplation - so we choose not to think about it much and just enjoy the time we do get to be with them! 

Thanks to everyone for being willing to continue having our family matters gathering each Sunday. It is a highlight of our week to gather, even remotely, and talk and laugh together. Obviously, not everyone will be able to attend every time, but we love to see anyone who can come whenever you can. We look forward to continuing our "gatherings" for as long as we can.  

Hyde Happinesses

 Hello All :) it was fun to be able to see some of you this Thanksgiving. Always love the laughs and delicious food with my favorite people. 

We got to go Christmas tree hunting which was quite the adventure 😅 I really wanted there to be snow, so we went after we got some snow here and boooooyyyy was there snow. It came up to our knees and was rather difficult to walk in. So Stetson said absolutely NO to walking in it, and though Oakley tried her very best, she lasted approximately 30 seconds before becoming completely coated in snow and I carried her the rest of the way. Needless to say I got very tired and Cam was the hero and eventually dropped Stetson, Oakley, and I off at some trees so we could take a break and he went searching for the tree. We played Marco Polo and Stetson hasn’t stopped since 😂 anyway, Stetson started to cry and Oakley was shivering up the wazoo, so we started heading back and found a pretty good one on the way! Cam was a champ and cut it down and carried it and Stetson most of the way back! We had to finish the walk without the tree and Cam went back to get it. Stetson promptly passed out cold and we had a quiet drive home. It was awesome! 

Some fun Stetson-isms of late: Cam taught him how to say mayday and in what context. So he was playing with a remote control car the other day and it crashed into the wall and got stuck. He was sitting, slouched on the couch with the remote in his hand, and he just began shouting “maylay!!!” At the top of his lungs. It was pretty funny. Another funny thing happened today at lunch. We made some chicken, and it was ready to eat. Cam called Stetson to come have some chicken, and Stetson just yelled “no bkock!!!” He doesn’t know how to say chicken, so he just makes the sounds and it’s hilarious to me. Last one. In the car, Stetson likes to take off his socks, or as he calls them, “yocks.” Cam asked him to say “sssssssssssocks.” To which Stetson quickly responded “ssssssss-yock.” He’s hilarious. 

Thanksgiving was so fun. We got to have two and both were quite delicious. 

Sledding with grandma and grandpa. Also, tragically he has learned how to say gamma and gampa :( 

Ft. Stetson riding on the tree. He was not amused. 

The aftermath 

Praying during Come Follow Me

Thanksgiving 1.0

Thanksgiving 2.0

Funny story: we went to Love to Cook on Black Friday. They had a play kitchen in the back that Stetson absolutely fell in love with. When we had to go, he was devastated. It was tragic. So on the way home, of course, we were trying to figure out the pros and cons of getting him a kitchen with moving right around the corner and all that. In the end, we decided it wasn’t worth it. The very next day I was looking through instagram stories, and one of my friends posted that they were giving their play kitchen away for $15! I about choked. Anyway. Now we have a play kitchen and I’m not allowed to go anywhere ever again 😂 

Flake Fun

We had a pretty relaxed month with some progress on the acreage.  ( Honestly any name suggestions?)

We thought that the land was in our name until 3 days ago when I got a letter saying that the legal description is wrong and has to be changed before the deed can be acknowledged by the county assessor.  It is already filed with the recorder. So hopefully we can figure out what that is all about since the description on the deed is the same one that was on the last deed. 

We processed a beef at the beginning of the month which was nice for our freezer but semi chaotic with 12 people and 3 dogs running around the house. 

Anyway, we got a little cooking subscription club for the kids and they are loving it.

My father-in-law had a hip replacement a couple of weeks ago so we have been stopping by more often to check on him and keep the wood box filled.  He is doing well and hopefully will be more mobile this week.

We had a nice Thanksgiving and the kids had fun working out how many people needed to sit at which table. 

We spent the rest of our holiday weekend burning branches, scrap wood, "the pit" (a ravine with the scraps of a mobile home and who knows what else) and whatever else we found laying around.  

Before

5 minutes later

After

Hope that you all had great Thanksgiving celebrations.  Love you all.  Can't wait to see you in a few weeks!

Hyde Happinesses

 Hello all :) I hope you’ve been having a lovely November. I’ve been enjoying some of our snow flurries. I’ve decided I quite like the snow. If it’s going to be cold, let there be snow. 

We decorated for Christmas (minus the tree) which was really fun. Stetson especially likes our candles in the window and sings happy birthday and twists them off to blow them😂 it’s pretty adorable. 

We potty trained Stetson! He’s incredible. He’s so smart and caught on so fast. The first few days were rough, but after about the fifth day he really got the hang of it and really doesn’t have too many accidents. I adore him. I’m really grateful that he now tells me when he has to go so I don’t have to creepily watch him all day 😅 

Cam flew to Kentucky to go hunting and talk business. The hunting didn’t go quite as planned, but he still had fun. Stetson and I hung out for the week. Thanks to everyone who answered my many FaceTime calls to keep me sane. Yall are the best. 

Hope you have a great rest of your week!

Still fishing even when it’s cold outside

Emma officially moved out of the country! 

He face planted into the corner of our couch and split his lip open, but as always, he’s our happy guy. 

Flake Fun

 Things are flying along here in Snowflake. Since I last blogged, James turned 4, much to his delight.  We had a low key birthday but he enjoyed it.

We had a delightful visit to Utah and loved seeing those of you that were able to visit. The Pumpkin Walk was really fun.

Back at home we went to the homeschool day at the pumpkin patch which was really fun.  Then we selected and carved some pumpkins with Scott. 

Our library has been closed for 3 weeks and so they are now providing curbside service! Only in a small town! I can call and tell them specific books or topics or just tell them that we need new books.  Then I park outside the library, give them a call to let them know I'm there, and they bring our books out! It was delightful to have Ms. Charlotte come out and say, "we just got this one in and I thought Robin would enjoy it!"

 The weather decided to get cold on Oct 30th so we had a nippy ward trunk or treat but the kids seemed to really enjoy it. 

Rand dressed up as Iron Man. Robin was a princess and James was a construction worker.  They were so bundled up no one could see any part of their costumes but they had fun anyway.

I had a great birthday and got to rake leaves which I have missed surprisingly.   Scott got me a pitchfork which I am putting to good use. The big news of the day was the surprise that Scott arranged. Imagine my shock when my in-laws came over and handed me the deed to the property! Yep, for my 43rd birthday I got 43 acres of land! Yay!!

Hiking with Stetson 

Learning the joy of tangrams

At the pumpkin patch

At the pumpkin walk

Applesauce with Grandpa

Go karting with Henry

Perc testing OUR property!

At the pumpkin patch

Ready for the primary program

Oh, Robin randomly lost her first tooth yesterday!

Yes, Uncle Bruce and Aunt Karen were invited for James' birthday cake and ice cream!