Peter finished up his season on the freshman basketball team. He improved a lot as a player and had good opportunities to contribute to his team. He started some of the time but usually played as the sixth man. (I think he should have played more, and probably had the most potential out of anyone on his team. I’m biased.)

A couple of shots from going to the Butterfly biosphere. Evie and Henry loved touching all the butterflies and bugs.

My kids had a random Friday off of school, and I was looking forward to a day to have fun. Joe also usually has Fridays off. The tentative plan was to go down to a National Park. But then something came up, and we had to shorten it and decided to go to Fillmore. And more came up, and we ended up not going anywhere. I was disappointed.

But then I was talking to my sister and she had independently made plans to go to Fillmore on President’s Day. We decided to go together. It was a wonderful day trip. We started off at the Lava Tubes. This place is cool. It has caves, tunnels, and valleys to explore. We’d been there about four years ago, and I’ve always wanted to go back.

After exploring the Lava Tubes, we went over to Meadow Hot Springs for a soak. I had recommended this trip to my sister and she said it exceeded her expectations. It’s pretty remote, and you drive to what looks like nothing in the middle of nowhere and find really cool places like the lava tunnels and hot springs. My photos are not doing the place justice, at the really cool places I was too engrossed in everything (or in a pool) to take pictures.

We also went snowshoeing after a decent snowstorm. It was long, just long enough to realize I need new snow shoes if I go again. The kids had a hard time going up but enjoyed themselves on the way down.

I live near Utah Lake. If it gets cold, some of the lake can freeze. And then if it warms up again and gets windy, there are ice stacks on the shore. I’ve known about them for some time, but knowing when and where to go out there can be tricky. Luckily, social media exists.

The first time we went out, the lake was frozen over.

And this is a week later. I went on a Friday, and brought more of my family to enjoy it a couple days later.

It’s a good reminder of how quickly things can change, and also how fleeting moments are. The ice stacks are only there for maybe a few weeks a year, and some years they aren’t even there at all.

2024 was a great year. Here are my top 10 photos, followed by what we did:

Family:

• Peter was in 8th/9th grade. He is now the tallest member of our family. He played basketball and made the Lehi Junior High team. He also played soccer, flag football, piano, and percussion, and started a job officiating sports.
• Curtis: His first year of junior high. He played tackle football as a lineman and played basketball. And soccer, but it’ll be his last year. He tried out ceramics and played a lot of video games.
• Henry: He performed in two plays, choir, and garden club with Mom. He’s learning to play piano. He started 4th garden in the A.L.L. gifted class and is doing quite well.
• Zack: Finished preschool at Skyridge, and started kindergarten. He participated in soccer, basketball, and swimming, and loves playing with friends.
• Evelina: Loves adventures, and going about anywhere. We do story time, and she still loves her blankie.
• Joe: He continues to work at Lone Peak Hospital, mentored a student there, and loves to work in his shop wood turning.
• We did a lot of traveling this year! Goblin Valley, Disneyland, St. George including Zions, the Redwoods and Oregon Coast, and Peter & Mom to Six Flags, Universal Studios, and Knotts Berry Farms.
• There were also lots of local adventures, hikes, park visits, and fun times at home.

My Career:

• I finished up my licensing exams, and I’m officially a licensed landscape architect. Big goal complete!
• My design business was rather lackluster: I decided to focus more on developing instructional content, which takes a long time, and my career is not my focus right now.
• I did publish a free online course, available here.

Home:

• We focused a lot on landscaping. We completed our front yard landscaping and got a rebate from that from Utah Water Savers. We also planted a pollinator garden.
• We grew a big vegetable garden and freeze-dried much of the produce. The biggest harvests were 8 huge hubbard squash and sweet potatoes that individually reached 11 lbs. And more tomatoes than I knew what to do with.
• Inside the house, we added a swamp cooler, refinished the banister, changed out some wall art, and moved bedrooms around when my sister moved out.

Ministry:

• The boys were active participants with Young Men’s at church and Joe was one of their leaders.
• I moved from Primary Activities (doing activities with the boys) to Relief Society (the group for women), ending up as a counselor in the presidency.
• I continued a personal goal program with my sisters we dubbed Mountain Club.

Christmas came. It was surrounded by family parties, but Christmas was a day at home. We went on a walk to see Christmas lights and sing a few carols on Christmas Eve. And then we got down to the business of opening presents, which could not come fast enough for Zack. Christmas morning brought more presents. Our biggest present this year was an inflatable hot tub that has been a big hit.

Christmas changes when you have older kids. The younger ones love presents, but with the older ones, it feels more about spending time together. And that is better.

I’ve done a matching game for our family Christmas Cards for the last few years. Here’s this year’s game: https://puzzel.org/memory/play?p=-OEt0GQ9in6XZJyoi6Wb

Some days are filled with fun adventures, like going to the zoo, the park, or the children’s museum.

Other days are filled with laundry, cleaning, and, worst of all, sick children. I’ve done eight loads of laundry the last two days and gotten up four times in the middle of the night to help clean up some type of mess caused by stomach flu. And the family pictures below involve multiple people super upset because no one can smile at the same time, and everyone would rather goof off or do something other than stand and smile for the camera.

I still love my family, even on the hard days!

I’ve had a very full life recently. I’ve had many things that I longed for: lots of travel, time to go hiking, and time to work on projects. And lately, instead of wanting more, I’ve wanted less. Fewer things to do and time to reflect on what I’m doing, why, and how I want to continue.

There seems to always be a push to get things done. But a life of constantly being busy doesn’t often allow for the things that are most meaningful: saying I love you, appreciating the things we already have, just listening to people, laughing and having fun.

I will always be a busy person: it’s part of nature, and I have five children…but maybe I don’t need to worry so much about filling in every single moment with productive things. Instead, I can take a minute to reflect, do something that doesn’t have some great purpose, and spend more time doing nothing with the people I love.

Picture: we went to a Salt Lake Stars Game, hiking at Wasatch Mountain State Park, and pics from normal life.