It snowed a little today and perhaps it will keep snowing tonight. Rand loves the snow and is really excited to see it. There are currently 3 large snowballs in the freezer.
We spent a few days this week with Robin being under the weather but thankfully no one else got sick. When we don't leave the house, ther isn't much to report!
Hello hello! I am so looking forward to seeing more of you guys! Our family really is pretty awesome.
Time has been flying by. We got back from our cruise on the 22, had a lovely Christmas, packed everything away, flew to Utah the 28th, hung out with mom and dad, then moved into our new little house on the 4th! It’s been a bit of a wild ride, but fun nonetheless. I am actually loving our new (rather old) place. I was telling a friend I felt that I was living outside of my time of life in Kentucky in a big, strange house and big grown up jobs. Now I feel a little more comfortable in a tiny, somewhat cramped, falling apart, totally charming little house. I love its quirks and uniqueness. And I feel like we’re living more in our stage of life 😅 totally broke, in school, and trying to make ends meet. What a blast.
Although a lot has happened, I really don’t have too much to say. It was very fun to see part of the Hart household this weekend! I’m definitely looking forward to seeing more of everyone else as well. Cam starts school on Tuesday, so you might have to come to us for the first little bit ;) Stetson has been toddling all over the place and it’s so fun to watch. He can totally walk, he just doesn’t yet. But this evening, we had dad over for dinner and we were just chatting in our living room afterward. Stetson was in the middle of the floor on his knees when all of a sudden he stuck one foot under him and stood up, no help from his hands or anything. He kinda swayed back and forth but stayed on his feet and tottered over to me!! It was totally awesome. He’s walked before, but never stood on his own yet and it was incredible. So fun to watch him grow and stuff.
I'm with you, Jenn - such a great family! Thanks for always responding to texts about family concerns. The prayers are felt, acknowledged and very appreciated! And they are answered. Thank you to all of you for your concern and prayers for little Jane. She is improving a little each day. Gus is still miserable, but will hopefully feel well before long. Lauren seems to be hanging in there, but we all know how exhausting it is to a mom, physically and emotionally, when the little ones are sick. Lots of prayers for the Mannings!
I'm with you, too, Emma - sure love to read about the goings-on in your lives! Thanks for posting on the blog - especially the photos! They truly are worth a thousand words. Those Stetson faces are SO funny! And the pictures of daily activities are very fun to see! Thanks for putting such family history classics on the blog.
Dad and I enjoyed our Christmas celebrations. We celebrated all weekend: Saturday we went to Barnes and Noble with the Belliston grandchildren to select some books. It is always fun to see them find corners to read books in before making a final choice. We also went to the Mannings to check on things there. We took supplies to make a Santa face charcuterie board. Gus, Chet and Wesley enjoyed helping and we had enough stuff left to make another Santa to take back to the Bellistons.
On our way home on Christmas Eve, we saw something unusual in the eastern sky in Cache Valley, specifically in Smithfield. It looked like some UFOs!! Dad thought they were drones, but when we stopped the car and got out, there was no sound whatsoever. There were many stars visible, but then there were a few bright orange spots, then there were a few more! They slowly faded, but didn't fall, then they just disappeared! We are still wondering what they were and who was behind it!
Christmas day was spent reading the books we received from Jenn and Lauren about their children! We laughed until the tears flowed at the hilarious deeds and sayings of such funny, precocious and delightful grandchildren!
Another year has passed so quickly. It's hard to believe we are already celebrating a new year. It makes me dizzy to think how fast 2023 has come and gone. I hope to record things better this year and live a bit more intentionally - you know, make some plans and help them happen! We pulled off the Nauvoo trip, and will hopefully find more wonderful things to do this year! We have some ideas....
Here are the few Predictions that were made today during Family Matters, as well as some things that are already in the works - or at least planned. If you think of things to add to either list, send it to me and we'll keep a running list!
Hopes and Plans for 2024:
Well, the month of December flew by! We had fun driving around to see Christmas lights, going to the town lighting, attending some fun Christmas Camps (kid craft days) and making the house look festive.
We had a nice, quiet Christmas morning with the kids and then headed over to be with Scott's family and it got chaotic with 3 barking dogs, one anxious 8 year old and 5 yelling adults. We made gingerbread houses and went to the Giving Machine. Then the party started to break up and everyone went home.
The newest, fun thing is that the kids took great interest in playing Jingle Bells on the piano and singing at the top of their lungs. It was really fun to listen to.
The other day I had a friend ask me if my family got along and still spoke to each other. She is one of 9 kids and she has 2 siblings that talk to her. One of her siblings even put forth the effort to return the Christmas card my friend sent! That started me thinking about how great you all are. Thanks for putting forth the effort to stay connected. Thanks for being willing to be open so that we can pray for, cheer for, cry with and support each other. I didn't realize how rare that is.
I hope that you all have a wonderful new year and that it is the best year yet.
Merry Christmas yall!! We love you so much!! Thanks for sending your cute Christmas cards to us. We loved reading them and seeing the beautiful pictures :) love you guys so much and can’t wait to hang out soon!!
And here are some highlights from the cruise and other shenanigans.
Hello hello! Not too much occurred this week. It was a doozy as far as Stetsons sleep went… this kiddo really doesn’t like sleeping and it’s wearing on his parents let me tell ya. The newest development is this screaming crying choking thing that he does when he wakes up and doesn’t immediately get nursing. So now we’re working on trying to get him to fall asleep without nursing. It’s long and painful but I’m hopeful it will allow Cam to be able to put him down sometimes.
Other news is that we booked a cruise on Tuesday 😅 it embarks this Thursday and we’ll be gone until the 22nd. It will be a blast! We’re going to the Dominican, Haiti, and the Bahamas. Very exciting!! I’m a bit nervous just because I’d rather die than get nauseous, but I have lots of Dramamine so hopefully that helps 😂
Annnnnd we’re moving to Utah. Cam booked the moving truck for the 28th! He and his brother will drive it and Stetson and I will fly. Cam decided to go back to school at USU and they granted him In State tuition again, so that’s nice! He’s going to be studying nutrition I think, with the thought of medical school in the end.
There ya have it! Hope you have a great week!
