Mountain Bike Team

Rhen joined the junior high mountain biking team this year and has been working so hard.  She has been a little nervous about it, but has grown so much with her confidence and I'm so proud of how far she has come!  They had their first race today up at Powder Mountain.  It was a gorgeous day on the mountain and it was so fun to watch all these mountain bikers working so hard.  Rhen did awesome and was really happy with how she did.  Love this girl and her grit!

 

Marching Band Season

Marching band season is here and they got to play at the first football game tonight.  They've been practicing for weeks now and Rease is so excited that it's all starting!

 

Mow-Lawning

Desh loves to help Josh in the yard and his favorite thing is to "mow-lawn" the back yard.  He's so cute pushing that big mower around mowing in super crooked lines.  And the red face at the end of the day is just the cherry on top!

 

1st day of school

The 1st day of school is here and I can't hardly believe summer is already over.  It was gone in a flash.  But these cute kids are so excited to be back in the classroom (with no masks!) and to see their friends!  It was rough one for Beck as he was standing in line to go into school.  But after a quick hug, a few tears and promise that I'll be thinking of him all day, he went and made a day out of his first day of 2nd grade.  He's going to be fine.  They are all going to have a great year!  We're split between Fort Herriman Middle (Rease and Rhen) and Butterfield Canyon Elementary (Liev, Keen, Beck and Desh).  It's a crazy day that all 6 of my kids are gone during the day, although kindergarten isn't quite a day yet since Desh just goes in the afternoon.  Regardless, its a crazy moment to get to when all the kids are gone!  

 

Keen's Birthday

Keen turned 9 today! What the world?!  All he wanted in the world was to play nintendo with his brothers and eat cake and ice cream.  We rolled it all in to one and made a nintendo cake and then play Smash Bros all night.  What a fun boy he is!

9 year old stats from Dr. Erikson:

Height: 4'9" - 94%

Weight: 76 lbs. 8 oz. - 84%

My favorite things about 9 year old Keen:

1) Keen has been working really hard on having a good attitude lately and I will say he has come so far in his progress!  He is pleasant and kind and so easy to be around.  I love this boy who is trying so hard to be good!

2) Keen doesn't like surprises and prefers to have a plan in his mind about how things will go.  If he thinks that he's going for a bike ride and then at the last minute we decide to go out on the boat for the day, he doesn't like that.  Not that he doesn't like being on the boat, it's just that he hadn't planned on that so it's hard for him to adjust his mindset.  I appreciate this about him because he's a planner and really organized in his thoughts and actions.  It's going to do good for him as he gets older!

3) Keen is tender hearted and sweet.  He likes to snuggle up when we're watching a movie or will tell me that he likes the outfit I'm wearing out of nowhere.  He is charming and the girls all love him, including his Mama!

Happy Birthday my cute boy!

 

Temple

Because of covid the temples have been closed for more than a year.  They've started opening up for small groups and Rhen was able to do her first baptisms this week with her young women's group!  Josh was there as well and helped baptize and it was a really cool moment for her to be there.  I'm so proud of this girl and the choices that she's making!

 

Baby Boat Week

We took a few days and headed to the lake one more time before the season ends.  Baby Boat Week is what the kids lovingly started to call this last few days before school starts and we all head back to normal schedules and routines.  We can't seem to get enough of our time at this place and on this beautiful lake!  We did all the things we love: Slalom ski, kneeboard, family swims, wakeboard, jump off the front of the boat, cherry pit spitting contest, topped off with smores and games at the cabin each evening.  Just the perfect few days together.  I also spent some time looking back at all the years we've had the boat and been on the lake together.  I found pictures of us for the past decade together sitting in the same spot on the boat.  It's amazing how our kids have literally grown up on this lake.  This was a treat to see!

 

Happy birthday friends!

Two of my favorite people on the planet have birthdays in August and today we spent the whole day celebrating them!  Melissa and Stephanie I absolutely adore you and hope you have the happiest birthday!

 

Sleepy

Desh was my date tonight to Hale Center Theater.  I think he liked the show, but not as much as he wanted to sleep...

 

Lagoon

Genesis Dental hosted a Lagoon day for all employees and their families today.  My kids were so excited to go - most of them have never been!  We spent the whole day and had a great time despite the crowds.  The kids gained more courage as the day went on and by the end of the day they were all doing the big rides along with the easy rides.  It was a great day!

 

Losee Family Reunion

Our family reunion was at Bear Lake this year and we had such a great time all together!  We did all the great things that family reunions are made of: sleepovers with cousins, Bingo, removing slivers, playing games, raspberry shakes, gifts from Grammie, Oreo eating contests, water games at the lake, cramming into the hot tub, overbuying on toys and food, sunsets, relaxing, attempting to get one good family pictures and, as Papa would say, Making Memories.  Accomplished all of that in one weekend!  Successful family reunion in my book!

 

Nerds

Don't you love it when Grammie hands all the kids a box of nerds then closes then walks away...

 

Rain Storm

The kids got caught at the park in a rainstorm tonight and some took shelter and others just embraced the warm summer storm...

 

Girls Camp

We had girls camp this week and could not have had a better week together as sisters and friends!  I loved being there with my 14-15 year old class but also with Rease and Rhen.  It was such a fun, spiritual time together.  We did all sorts of things and had the best camp spot up at Redman Campground in Big Cottonwood Canyon.  Beautiful and secluded and just perfect for our group of girls.  We did hair, made skits, danced, sang, had testimony meeting, put up tents and survived rainstorms in them, hiked and had the most amazing Faith Walk one could ever imagine.  These girls are absolutely incredible and I feel so lucky to have been there with them.  Such a good time together in the mountains enjoying each other!

 

Girls camp 2021 Day 1

Garth Brooks

We got to go see Garth Brooks tonight at Rice Eccles Stadium and it was incredible!  Salt Lake City is the first stop of his stadium tour and we felt so lucky to be able to get tickets to see him while he was in town.  He is an absolutely amazing entertainer and we loved spending the evening listening to all the great country music we grew up listening to.  

 

Bike clinic

Hayden Fonger put on a bike cleaning clinic this morning for the boys in the neighborhood.  He showed them how to clean the chains, take care of the brakes and keep their bikes all in great shape for riding.  It was so cute seeing all these boys with all their attention on him.  

 

Night Games

Night games are in full swing around this house and my kids can't get enough!  Almost every week we try and get a game of Fugitive going and the kids all love it.

 

Swimming

We got the chance to go swimming at the Eagan's pool for our young women activity tonight!  The older girls joined us and we learned all about the different swim strokes and had competitions together.  Rease, Rhen and I master the "triple stack" and we had a blast as a group tonight!

 

Ancestor Fair

Rhen and her young women's class put on an ancestor fair this week for their activity.  They've been working hard learning about a different ancestor and made posters and signs about them.  All of the parents were invited to walk through and hear all about the things these girls have learned.  It was a really fun activity and something Rhen loved learning about!

 

Locked in

These silly boys decided to see if they could fit into Tilly's cage.  Then once the realized they could, spent the rest of the day playing in it!

 

Beck turns 7!

Our Mr. Beck turned 7 this week and we couldn't wait to celebrate his birthday!  He has a favorite little stuffed rooster that he named "Roostery" so that's what this cake is based on.  He was excited to have a Roostery cake and share it with all his cousins!  He's lucky cause most years, uncle Chad and Aunt Brittney are in town for his birthday and he gets to celebrate July birthdays with uncle Chad.  We sure love Beck even though he's growing up on me without asking my permission...no fair!

7 year old stats from Dr. Erikson:

Height: 4'5" - 98%

Weight: 62 lbs. 3 oz. - 86%

My favorite things about 7 year old Beck:

1) Beck is suuuuuper smart.  It is really starting to show as he's getting older and learning things at school.  He is a master at math problems and can do math problems in his head in a snap.  He has caught on to reading and writing so quickly and I can tell that there is just a lot of natural smartness in that big brain of his.  He's going to use that for something good as he grows up I just know it!

2) Beck is funny in a dry humor sort of way.  He always has a quick comeback or witty comment to make and never has a problem making people laugh.  He's charming and funny and that's not a bad combo!

3) Beck has a shy side to him and a side that doesn't like to be embarrassed.  He's very thoughtful about things that he does before he does them, just so he's doing it right and won't have to be corrected in front of others.  He doesn't like to be in the spotlight and gets nervous about new things.  This is one of my favorite qualities about him because it makes him very thoughtful about what he does but also if he needs to turn to anyone for help or questions about something he's shy about, I get to be the one he leans on!  He'll always be my boy no matter how big he gets!

Happiest Birthday to you Mr. Beck!