February 2019

Seth continues to tear it up as a missionary in Henderson.  He and his companion were transferred to the wealthy part of Henderson, and Seth said everyone dreads serving in this particular area because "no one every baptizes in Anthem", but Seth and his companion just kept working hard together, specifically working with the members of the Church in their area and have 4 people getting baptized this week and several others who are progressing in their learning of the gospel, and he is so happy about that.  We LOVE the new changes to the communication with missionaries policy and have loved being able to talk to him on the phone each p-day.  We get to know the people he is teaching better and get to hear his fun personality better than through e-mail.  It has been awesome!  PS - He really is as happy as he sounds in his emails.  Missionary work definitely agrees with Seth!









I took a trip to Springdale (small town just outside of Zion National Park) with my good friend, Michelle.  Michelle's family just built a second home in Springdale and she needed to be there for a furniture delivery, so we packed our sewing machines and cots and camped out for 2 days quilting while we waited for delivery guys to come.  It was so much fun and their new house is so so pretty and tucked away in a beautiful cove of red rock - stunning!






Her new backyard

We got back from Springdale in the middle of a huge snowstorm that dumped more than a foot of new snow in less than 24 hours.  The roads weren't even close to being safe the next morning, but our school district still didn't cancel school (our kids have literally never had a snow day here despite several days that definitely should have had school cancelled), so I decided that we were having our own snow day.  Autumn got some homework done in the morning and then walked to her friend's house and they spent the rest of the day playing in the snow together. :) Bryce spent more than 7 hours plowing snow that day and never did make it to work.







Autumn also celebrated her friend Anna's 16th birthday with a trip to dinner and "Fish kiss" - a salon that has you put your feet into a tank of fish that nibble all of the dead skin off of your feet.  Autumn said it was awesome and loved her soft feet.





Bryce took a last minute trip to Oregon to spend a week with Grandma and Grandpa Ririe.  He really enjoyed his time with them and we got a couple of pictures of him while he was gone:


Out for a morning run



Megan and Devin continue to do great at USU and BYU. They both came home for Sunday dinner while Bryce was in Oregon, bringing all of their Bake cousins and a few friends along with them.  Autumn and I were so thrilled to have 13 college students join us for dinner that day - we love having company join us. :)  I neglected to take any pictures, but it happened and it was tons of fun!

I completed a few projects this month.  Two of them are Devin's quilt (he chose the pattern and all of the fabrics - I think it turned out great and love the fact that he inadvertently made a very Southwest looking quilt to keep him warm now that he is away from his beloved Phoenix and back to our winter wonderland :))



I also organized our pantry. I really should have taken a before picture so you can see the amazing difference, but here is the finished product anyway:



That's it for our February. :)

January 2019

Already another new year here in Highland! Here's a look at what we did this month:

Seth is loving serving with Elder Erickson in Henderson, NV.  They get along great and have a ton of people that they are teaching, so Seth is loving his time as a missionary.  It's so great to hear about his experiences and to feel how much he loves the people he is serving.  And from the pictures we get from him, it looks like he is having a ton of fun, too.




Potential cover art for "The Organ Guys" first album





We helped Devin move into his new apartment in Provo at the beginning of January.  He is doing really well at BYU and seems to have adjusted well back to being a full time college student.  He got a part time job, loves his classes and is volunteering with some special needs kids each week.  So far so good!!



Megan continues to be doing great in Logan.  We Skype her and Devin each Sunday and it's fun to hear about what they are doing at USU and BYU.  Megan is busy keeping up with her class loads and working with her clients in speech therapy each day.  She was offered an internship for 2 months of the summer in Washington, DC (which made her very happy since it was the internship she really wanted) and is in the process of finding housing in Virginia for those 2 months.  She sounds happy and busy every time we talk to her.  Mitch almost always joins our Skype calls on Sundays and it's been fun getting to know him better as well.

Frankie had to wear a collar of shame for a few days to keep him from licking a sore on his belly while it healed.  He didn't like it AT ALL and was such a baby about it that he would lie flat on the floor like he couldn't even lift his head with the collar full of air around his neck. :):):)



He eventually got used to it, though and it didn't last for too long.



We got a TON of snow in January with a couple of really big storms.  So Bryce spent much of the month blowing snow off of much of the neighborhood's driveways. :) Good thing we don't mind the white stuff too much and that Utahans have snow removal equipment and know how to get around in the snow.





Autumn had her high school dance team's trip to Southern California this month.  She came home from the 5 day trip with very little sleep and the beginnings of what would turn into a really bad cold, but she said that the trip was probably the best one of her entire life.  They had a great time playing at Disneyland (and performing there, too) and taking classes at some prestigious dance schools in LA as well as playing at the beach and just having fun with her team.







Devin, Bryce and I flew to SoCal the same weekend Autumn was there.  We spent one wild day at Disneyland where we ran back and forth between the parks from 7:30 am-11 pm.  We had soooo much fun!!  My brother Bill and his daughter Logan met us for the morning and we had a great time playing with them.  We were even selected as the first family at California resort which meant (among other fun things) that we got a private tour of "Guardians of the Galaxy" and got to ride it all by ourselves.  So fun!



A few other pics of our fun day:









We also got to watch Autumn and her team perform on a stage in California resort:





After our wild day at Disneyland, we drove to San Diego the next day to attend my sister Kim's son Trevor's wedding.  Devin and Trevor have been close since they were little kids and Devin was one of his groomsmen.  The day couldn't have been more perfect and it was wonderful to see Trevor and his new wife Callie sealed for time and all eternity in the San Diego temple.  Yay for eternal families!







Autumn went to Preference (girls choice formal dance) with her friend Sam and had a blast despite the fact that she was battling a major cold and had a bad sore throat, fever and cough.  She may have pushed the moshing at the dance a little too hard since she threw up in some bushes on the way out of the dance, but Autumn laughed it off (after she took her date home a little early) and Bryce considers it a win since her date didn't try to kiss her goodnight. :)


Ready to go pick up her date


Autumn and Sam


With her cute friends

She was also asked to go to Scottie's (boys choice casual dance) with her good friend, JT and is looking forward to that later this month.



That's it for January - tune in for more snow tales in February. ;)

December 2018

December was pretty much the best month of all time, ever at our house.  Here's a look at why:

I had my Christmas performance with the South Jordan Chorale and had so much fun performing for tons of family who came to support Kristi, Bernie and me and to enjoy some awesome Christmas music by our choir and a full orchestra.  It was a really great experience and got us all in the Christmas spirit!





Autumn worked hard to finish her first semester as a high school sophomore with straight A's, which is quite a feat considering that she is taking difficult classes and still super busy with dance.  She had fun performing in her high school dance company's Christmas concert and loved all of their dances, but especially had fun dancing as a Christmas tree in their Roy G. Biv dance:





Seth was super super happy to get back to Las Vegas and get back to work as a missionary there.  He is currently serving in the Henderson area with Elder Erickson and is loving his time as a missionary. When we talked to him on Christmas (which was the best part of Christmas day!!), he said the only time he ever gets anxious is when he thinks about coming home and that he wishes he could be a missionary forever. :)  When we asked him what most surprised him about being a missionary, he answered, "How much fun it is!"  He's doing great and we love him!!









Devin worked hard up to the end of his mission.  He had bittersweet feelings about leaving Arizona and the people he has grown to love so much behind...





...to return home on December 17th!  (We had no such bittersweet feelings, only sweet ones :))









We have decided that all missionaries should come home at Christmas time.  We had so much time to be together and it couldn't have been more perfect.  Okay, maybe it could have been a teeny bit more perfect if Seth had also been home, but that will come soon enough.


Devin put his missionary tag on the tree when he got released - I think it makes a pretty awesome tree ornament. ;)

We got to do a bunch of fun things once Devin was home.  We went to the luminaria lights display at Thanksgiving Point.  We got there right as the sun was setting and got to watch the sunlight go down and the Christmas lights come up:










The "Light of the World" garden is just stunning and a powerful reminder of why we celebrate Christmas.

We also went to SLC so we could wait in the long lines so Bryce could buy a cow at the giving vending machines, which was probably his favorite part of Christmas besides Devin coming home, and to see the lights at temple square.





We went rock climbing together:



And had a magical Christmas Sunday, Christmas Eve and Christmas day:





After Christmas, we went skiing together on a beautiful and cold winter day:





We ended December with our traditional New Years Eve fondue before the kids all scattered to their various parties and Bryce and I went to bed at 10 pm.  Welcome 2019!!