Hyde Happenings

 Wowza I’m the worst and writing in here! Life has been pretty busy for the last few months, so I’ll try to catch you up on the most important parts! 

We bought a house in Kentucky and both got jobs at the StretchZone. Cam is a manager and practitioner and I make phone calls all day :) Cam works full time and does all the consultations for the new clients and he really likes it. I love what I do and I’ve made lots of friends with the clients and practitioners which has been really fun. Oakley really likes her big house and backyard. Because we both work, she has to be in her kennel for about 4-5 hours a day. Before you think we’re abusive, don’t worry. She gets 3-4 walks a day because we feel so bad. She’s also getting fat because we give her way too many treats to make up for our abuse ;) she’s a spoiled puppy to say the very least.

Cam surprised me and took me to see Hamilton the other night which was so fun! Neither of us has gone to a Broadway and it was sooooo well done. Cam is always so thoughtful and does things that I love even when they’re not something he’s familiar with. He’s the best ever. 

Other than that, life is pretty normal. Baby boy loves kicking me all the time, but most particularly when I go to sleep or sit down. Or eat. Or try to relax. Ya know, the usual. It’s very fun to feel him kicking around! In case anyone was wondering, he’s as big as a rutabaga (whatever the heck that is), so that means he’s almost 2 pounds and just over a foot long.

Fall is on its way to Kentucky. It’s cooled off this weekend and looks like we won’t break 80’s again this year which will be nice! It’s been really hot so it’s been nice to have a cold front. We’re excited for the fall colors that are on their way! Kentucky is very lovely in the fall, if anyone wants to come see ;)

Anyway, love you all! Hope you have a great week!

Hart Happenings

 2022 SUMMER HIGHLIGHTS:

This summer has gone by in a blur so we wanted to share just a handful of highlights from our summer.

*  lots of bike rides on our new e-bikes

*  Belliston Family Gathering - scavenger hunt, lots of cousin playing time, visiting among the adults, the Belliston Olympics Water Edition, the Day in the Life videos, hauling hay, the birthday party!

*  Singing in the Rain at Hale Center Theater

*  Anniversary Celebration for Alex's parents.  All of his siblings came into town and they are very silly when they get together.

*  Peter set a record for playing with friends

*  Lots of Spikeball for Jack

*  Good visits with friends from New York

*  First Spikeball high school Nationals hosted by Idaho Spikers League (aka Alex)

*  St. George trip and Tuacahn shows

*  Ian toured Church History archives 

*  Elise's cutting garden provided endless delight

*  Alex and Jack did camp with the Teachers Quorum

*  A few outings with our homeschool group for a hike and a lake day

*  Trip to Montreal

*  Ian and Addy put on another great show with Bright Side Performing Arts

We are ready for things to settle down and to get back into our routines but we really enjoyed the warm weather and less structured days.  We had our homeschool co-op kickoff last week and it got us looking forward to the co-op starting back up on Sept 12.  I am teaching a History Fair class.  Who remembers History Fair?  Woot Woot!

We spent  some time with the Nilssons this weekend going to a local trampoline park and then the next day hitting up great little pool in Shelley.  

Peter has started parkour again, Jack is going full tilt in soccer (they won their first game on Wed. by a landslide), and Ian is doing early morning seminary again and hitting an intense final week of rehearsals in preparation for Tuck Everlasting to open a the end of this week.

The garden is still going strong thanks to the continued 90 degree temps we are having here.  It's been so nice for it to have some extra time to finish growing, especially given how long and cold our spring was.  I've loved seeing all the different bouquets and flowers from everyone's gardens this year.  Thanks for texting me the pics!

We are going to do a separate post about our trip to Montreal and bombard y'all with pictures.

Right now I am being summoned for a game.  Adios!

Flake Fiascos

Life in Snowflake is pretty soggy right now but thankfully the kids are loving all of the rain! We bought them each an umbrella and they love to run around in the rain. 

A week and a half ago we (Scott) helped Randy move their storage container (we watched) from a lot across the highway to their yard.  In the process they disturbed a bee hive and were both stung multiple times.  6 days later, Scott's stings flared up with a vengeance.   No fun, but he is feeling better now. 

Our creek is really high because of all of the rain.

Nilsson News

 Life has basically revolved around baby Dane.  We have had family here every week since he was born which has been so helpful.  Garrett went on a work trip to California for several days and mom was able to come and stay during that time.  We enjoyed our first family outing altogether up to Swan Valley for Eliza's fiddle competition.  She played really well and even participated in the tiny fiddle contest where the contestants had to play a song on a fiddle that was almost the size of a tree ornament.  Everyone sounded equally horrible but it was pretty hilarious to watch!

We had Dane's blessing today which was delightful and he barely fit into his blessing outfit.  This boy is putting on the pounds!  We weighed him a week ago and he was 11.3 pounds, having gained 3 pounds since birth.  Today we weighed him and he was 12.15 pounds!  It's no wonder my back feels like it's breaking; it hasn't had a chance to catch up!  He also wore a 3-6 month size outfit yesterday.  He will not look like much of a newborn when you guys get to meet him in a couple of weeks.  We are so excited to see everyone and hang out with the best family ever!

Nilsson News

 As you all know, our big news was the arrival of Dane Biorn Nilsson.  We are so glad he is here!  After a lot of "false starts," things finally kicked in and labor went fast!  Active labor started around 6:30p.m. and he was born at 8:03 p.m.  The kids are totally enamored with their new brother and it has been nice for life to slow down a bit.  We always love having grandma here and it never ceases to amaze me how clean she can make a space.  No matter how hard I scrub, I never can get it quite as clean!  Garrett has been able to be home which has been a huge blessing.  I just hope my list of daily to-do's hasn't been insanely overwhelming for him and the other kids.

He weighed 8 pounds 11 oz. when he was born and at his one week checkup he was 8 pounds 15 oz.  Grandma says that typically they like to see babies back to their birth weight by two weeks old.  He has it figured out!  He is a very mellow baby that gets plenty of attention and snuggles!  We're not sure that he'll ever learn to walk since he is rarely put down.  Hope all is going well for everyone!

Flake Five

 It has been a couple of weeks but there isn't much to report.  The wind is still blowing which is making garden maintenance difficult. Hopefully I'll be able to weed sometime soon.

Robin seems to be recovering from what we think was a bad case of dehydration.  It has taken several days but she is eating and not throwing up which is a blessing.  The boys are benefitting because they are getting loaded with electrolytes and getting lots of water to drink.

He sleeps in some strange positions. 

She popped the sunglass lenses out and loves her new glasses! 

I wanted to thank everyone for the thoughts and prayers.  We are still waiting for the miscarriage to happen after many false alarms. It is nice to have such an amazing support system. 

Nilsson News

 We still are waiting to announce the "big news" but feel like it will be fairly soon.  The fun event we did have this week was the arrival of Nibbles the goat's babies.  On Monday morning we suspected that she was in labor.  After about an hour, the first baby goat arrived and it was a pretty big girl so we thought maybe there would be twins or triplets.  About 20 minutes later, a second was born, another big baby, a boy.  A short time later, a third popped out and she was itsy bitsy.  We were trying to get these babies dried off when Nibbles pushed out a fourth and it was another girl!  Quadruplets!  They are all nursing great and up and bouncing around.  We are grateful that everything went so well and that we were there to help out a little.  In keeping with our Shakespeare naming theme, Addy named them Claudia, Horatio, Titania, and Viola.

Aside from that, we have been working on projects in the yard.  Not yet planting everything in the garden since the weather continues to go up and down.  We are expecting another freeze tonight and then hopefully we will be out of the cold.

Addy had her National clogging competition at Lagoon and she did the best that she has ever done.  Practice surely pays off!  The other kids have enjoyed jumping on the tramoline and being outside more.  Garrett is ready to take a few weeks off of work when our baby gets here.  He was sure the baby would get here early so he lessened his work load and now he is trying to find more to do while he waits- and all of us wait.

Claudia

Horatio

Viola

Titania