March 2013

March went by in a flash around here – can’t believe it’s over already! Here’s a look at some of what happened at our house…

I’m sure you have all heard by now, but just to make it official record, Megan has been called to serve in the Texas Houston mission!!  She has been doing some research on the area of her mission, was thrilled to discover that the Houston temple is in her mission district which means she can attend the temple while she is on her mission, and is really excited to be heading to Texas.  She reports to the MTC on July 3, so she will get to experience the hot, humid climate right off the bat. :)  She will be an amazing missionary and can’t wait to share the light of the gospel with all the people in her mission.

Autumn had 2 more dance competitions and did great at both of them.  Her trio took first place in both competitions, which has been fun for her to see all of her hard work paying off.  She still loves to dance and especially to perform. I’m including the video of her trio in case you want to watch.

Autumn’s Jazz Trio

Devin had another fencing tournament and continues to improve in his sport.  It’s fun to watch the strategy and sword play.

We took the kids to the play “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”, which was a lot of fun, especially seeing the amazing sets and the flying car.

Megan had her spring break from Utah State and spent the week recovering from wisdom teeth removal surgery.  She was pretty miserable for 3-4 days, but it has been smooth sailing since then and she is glad to have that behind her.

Seth had his first track meets, competing in the 800m and 1600m races, along with running a leg of the 4 X 400 relay.  He loves running the longer distances in track and has been doing really well so far. 

Bryce and I traveled to Las Vegas for a long weekend, where we met my brother Bill and ran in the Six Tunnels to Hoover Dam half marathon.  The course ran from Boulder City out to Hoover Dam and back and was billed as a flat course, which it definitely was NOT.:)   It was record heat that day, and we are used to running in 30 degree weather here in Utah, so it was pretty miserable.  The scenery was beautiful, though, and it was fun to spend time with my brother once the race was over. :)

We had quite a few injuries here this month – Seth flipped over his scooter on the way to school one day and bruised his knee pretty good…

Devin suffered several stab bruises to the chest from fencing…

and Autumn got hit at close range in the head while playing airsoft gun wars with her brother. (For the record, she came in the house laughing when this happened and asked me if I thought it was going to leave a mark – that girl is pretty tough. :))

We drove to Logan the Saturday of Easter weekend and enjoyed an Easter Egg hunt orchestrated by Megan and her roommate Crystal and then had fun playing around Logan for the day. We also watched Megan’s friend Johnny perform in Utah State’s production of the play “Emma”, which was really good.

That’s it for our March.  Looking forward to a busy and fun-filled April!

February 2013

February was another cold, wintery month for us, but at least it was warmer than January.  Here’s a look at what we did:

Seth played basketball and started the spring track season.  He has really enjoyed his basketball season – wish I had pictures to share, but the one time I remembered to take my camera, the battery was dead. :)  He starts his basketball tournament this Saturday, and has decided to run distance races in track.  He enjoys running with the team each day after school.

Megan is still doing great at USU and is loving her life as a college freshman.  We had her home for a couple of weekends in February – one to be there when Bryce was set apart in the Bishopric, and another weekend when she came home to finish her missionary papers.  They were submitted this past Sunday, and we expect her call will come the first week in March – you will have to stay tuned to see where she will be serving!  She is so excited and we are excited for her!!  This is the picture she submitted with her papers – any guesses where she will go? :)

We all drove to Pocatello, Idaho to visit with my niece Amanda and her family and be there for her daughter, Ellie’s, blessing.  Eliie is darling and it was a fun weekend for us with our family!

Devin went to another fencing tournament where he won one of his preliminary bouts, but lost in the first full round.  His coaches are pushing him to be more assertive as a fencer, so he is working on that moving forward. 

We were lucky enough to score tickets to a live taping of BYU’s comedy sketch show, “Studio C”.  If you haven’t seen the show on BYUtv, you should check it out on their website or youtube – it’s pretty hilarious.  We had so much fun at the live taping and Devin, Seth and Autumn really enjoyed seeing how a TV show is filmed – it was tons of fun!!

Autumn kicked off her dance competition season with a combined dance convention/competition this past weekend in SLC.  She was able to take tons of classes from some of the best dance teachers in the nation and was also able to compete with her team in their jazz number and with Halle and Nyah in her jazz trio.  Her trio brought down the house and they won overall best duo/trio in their age division, which was super exciting, especially for their first competition!  They won a trophy, a scholarship to the national dance competition and $75 cash – she was pretty excited!

We ended the month celebrating the premiere of “Psych”, which is one of our family faves.  Seth even created his Psych pineapple shirt to wear the day of the premiere. :)

See you all next month!!

January 2013

January was a cold, snowy, bad air quality, long month that we are glad to have behind us.  We did have a few fun events – here’s a look:

Autumn continued with dance.  She is now in the final countdown to dance competition season, which for Autumn, is the biggest reason she does dance.  She loves to compete and be on stage.  This year, she will compete in 3 dances with her team and also compete with 2 of her best dance friends, Nyah and Halle, in a jazz trio. This picture is of Nyah, Halle and Autumn after one of their trio practices.

We visited the BYU Art Museum and had a good time taking in the exhibits there.

The Holloways came from San Diego for a visit for my mom’s birthday, and while they were here, my mom and Bernie invited us over for a stir-fry night.  The kids all had so much fun cooking with Bernie and we all enjoyed the delicious fruits of their labors.  We loved having the Holloways stay with us for a few days and happily celebrated my mom’s birthday as well as her completion of radiation treatments for a brain tumor.

Devin competed in his first and second fencing tournaments and is learning a ton as he competes against kids who have been fencing for years.  He won his first tournament bout at his second tournament and looks forward to improving as he continues to go to classes and tournaments.  He is wearing the orange socks in the pictures.

Seth acted in the Jr. High play, “The Death and Life of Sneaky Fitch”, a western comedy.  He was cast as a school boy and did a good job playing his part.  Although he really enjoyed being in the play, he is excited to have his after school time free again, at least until track season starts at the end of this month.

As you can see from the last picture, we were also privileged to enjoy a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Ririe for a few days who came to town so that Grandpa could ordain Bryce to be a High Priest since he was called to serve as the 2nd counselor in our Bishopric.  We loved having them visit, and were glad they could take in Seth’s play, one of Devin’s fencing tournaments, Seth’s basketball game, and for Grandma, “Phantom of the Opera” at BYU, for which we were lucky enough to score tickets.  It was a really great production – I was glad that Megan was in town for the weekend so she and her roommate, Crystal, could tag along as well.

Well, February has begun warmer than January, and way less polluted, so we can endure the snow for a few more weeks.  Here’s hoping for warmer days ahead! :)

December 2012

We had a great month in December! Of course our favorite part was having a long break from school, but before that, we enjoyed a few fun things.

Devin and Seth both had Christmas choir concerts and they were both really good.  Autumn had a short in studio Christmas dance recital and it was fun to see what she has been working on for the past few months.  Devin, Seth and Autumn all performed in a Christmas piano recital – it’s been great listening to them all practice Christmas songs throughout the holidays.

On December 1, my mom and her husband, Bernie, moved from Oregon into their new home in Daybreak in South Jordan.  We are glad to have them close by, especially since my mom is having some pretty major health issues and now 4 of her daughters are close by to help out. 

Megan came home for Christmas break after earning a 4.0 her first semester at Utah State. Autumn, Megan and I went to see Autumn’s friends dance in “The Nutcracker”.

We had plenty of snow throughout December, especially the last week when it snowed every day and we are left with lots of snow on the ground and very cold temps.  The kids enjoyed playing in the snow and Sasha is in heaven – she never gets enough of chasing snowballs.

My family all braved a huge snowstorm to come to our house for Christmas Eve and we enjoyed an evening of food, gift exchanges and of course, acting out the nativity.  It was great fun and we were grateful to have everyone get here and home safely through the storm.

We had an awesome Christmas day – relaxing and enjoying new presents and time with our family.  We went to Jeff’s house in the afternoon and enjoyed a yummy Christmas dinner with his family.

We braved the freezing cold temperatures and went tubing at Soldier Hollow, where despite the cold (6 degrees), we had a great time playing together.

We all stayed up to ring in the New Year.  Devin went to a party at one of his friend’s (but not before enjoying our traditional fondue), and the rest of us watched movies and then rang in the New Year.  Seth spent most of New Year’s Eve creating this awesome New Year’s banner!  Here’s to a great 2013!!