January 2025

We started off the New Year in St. George with some friends- good food, games, a ninja park, and checking out some red rock was on the agenda. When we got to the crack, just the boys and Mary made it through. We found a real ghost town, played pickle ball with a sunset, and finally tried Sweet Rolled Tacos. It was our first "long" road trip in our new car and everyone was quite comfortable- enjoying music and trivia games. So successful, we might end up doing more road trips in the future. During another one of Jefferson's bday parties, Carter chose a mama date to get froyo- mostly candy with a little ice cream (every child's dream). In St. George the boys were introduced to the show The Floor is Lava, and so they had to make multiple courses in our basement. They also played many rounds of laser tag and nerf wars with their guns- so grateful for the basement. Mary and Mom Jefferson had an opera date, this time Hansel & Gretel which was just so beautiful. We had lots of jammy wrestling couch potato days, and Bella established a new morning routine of finding the sunshine on the couch and moving with it. On MLK weekend we played pickleball and more games, and bowling- a pivotal moment in Dennis family history because Mary finally beat Brad. We checked out the Stars game and Carter made us laugh when we left and he said "it's just so sad, so sad the Stars lost." And we ended January with celebrating the Lunar New Year at Shanghai discussing the highlights of 2024 and our goals for the new year. Brad- balance on a handstand, Mary- put together a set list of duets with Brad, Jefferson- kick an air ball consistently in soccer, Carter- play basket ball with Brad and Jefferson. 

December 2024

We had a Merry and Bright December. Starting off seeing the giant gingerbread house at Grand America and meeting up with our Jefferson family at the giving machine. On the escalator at the mall the kids wanted an "Elf" escalator pic and Jefferson crowned himself king of Candyland. After choosing gifts to give, happy grandkids ate happy meals with happy grandparents and then we checked out the candy windows, temple square lights and found the biggest Christmas tree in the city- the best way to start the season. Becca and I met up for our annual dinner catch-up and checked out Chriskindlmarkt- always a magical experience. We made it for the lighting ceremony and Santa parade at Light the Night, and then while Jefferson had his basketball practice, Carter and I had a mama date exploring all the activities, our favorite being the gingerbread contest/displays. Our leaves finally started falling so we did our first raking of the season- in December! Bella loved playing in the leaves. We were Santa's elves this year, and shopped for a family at the boys school and we bundled up and visited Santa at our neighborhood's night of giving. Bella stayed home but she had her own Christmas pic when she discovered her favorite new lounging spot. After asking all of us to help him and none of us having time, Carter decided to teach himself how to tie his shoe- he said he just watched Jefferson lots of times and was insistent on learning so he could have bragging rights with his kinder crew. Carter keeps us entertained with his many costume creations and imaginative play. Jefferson finished his basketball season with an amazing toilet shot. So proud of how much growth he has had with bball. Our busiest festive weekend we went to 3 parties - our favorite Hebdon party where the kids saw Santa and we sang in tables- The 12 Days of Christmas, and dawned our festive sweaters. Our Ward fiesta was a blast with so much amazing food and dancing. Our Jefferson family dinner and gift exchange was so fun with Guatemalan food and games. Grandma and Pop Pop hit the gold with their gift to everyone to go to Disneyland. We saw John Schmidt at the holiday sing along but this year didn't make the jumbotron. And the kids performed their holiday songs with their classes- Carter boisterously sang Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and Jefferson (literally) faked shooting himself when he was forced to sing Suzie Snowflake. We visited Grandma Great and did our Christmas duets, 94 years old and still playing the piano like a pro! This year I wondered if the train under the Christmas tree would get played with at all, so it made me smile to see Carter playing and setting up the nativity so sweetly. Grandparents came over for our gingerbread party, ending up with grandma's decorating the house and grandpa's relaxing, and we broke out the Christmas bells- Carter did amazing this year. We made cookies and cards for our friends and neighbors and had our annual family Christmas concert- Jefferson and I did duets, Carter sang Rudolph, Brad entertained us all with his Christmas arrangements, and Carter was the little drummer boy. Music makes our home so merry. Christmas Eve was fun times with our Jefferson family- this year the teddy bear game, the nativity (Carter had to be Joseph because Inez was going to be Mary), a delicious dinner, and grandma's favorite happy bday Jesus song. At home we ended the night with reading Christmas books, finishing our Nativity, and setting out reindeer food (Carter brought home from kindergarten) and cookies for Santa. Christmas morning was filled with so much love and laughter and barks of excitement. Our Dennis family came for brunch and games. The kids loved their pogo sticks and grandparents were so excited to hear Jefferson's story he spontaneously wrote about a lost villain. I finished the South Jordan Puzzle and we had a family art night and the boys made comic books with stamps they got for Christmas. We finished another puzzle, had some lazy winter break days, and rang in the new year with lots of karaoke and dancing- Carter surprised us with his break dancing moves. Carter and Jefferson made us laugh this month when Carter asked Brad to teach him how to dance with a girl and at the ward fiesta we taught him but Jefferson refused to dance so to try to encourage him we said, "no girl will ever go out with you if you can't dance with her", and Carter chimed in, "I already have a girl picked out to go out with and marry, so we can dance at parties." We asked him who and he said Lea- his kindergarten girlfriend, and he said "mama we haven't kissed that much yet"- that much! Brad laughed and said "Carter's got moves." And sadly Jefferson continued to refuse to dance.  And when we were talking about what the boys want to be when they grow up, Carter said "well Lea is going to be a princess and I'm going to be a basketball player"- he is already factoring her in. Such funny boys.