Rease's symphonic band concert

Rease's symphonic band has had the chance to perform and compete in the state tournament.  It has been so fun to watch and hear them and their songs are really amazing this year!  I am so proud of this girl and all she's done with her musical talents.  We love seeing her do her thing!

 

The rest of February

Just a few lingering things from February at the Beutler house...

Rhen got a trim

Liev ran into Khulan at the middle school and had to snag a pic with her

Tilly hates haircuts and pouts the rest of the day

Desh loves cooking eggs

Knife to the box?  Why?

An amazing gift from an even more amazing friend (dear Christine Swensen)

And a full moon over the snowy mountains - so beautiful!

 

Quick Trip to PR

Josh and I took a quick trip down to La Brisa to get a few things done with the paperwork on our property and getting it registered.  It has been such a long process but there is a faint light at the end of this long tunnel.  Just a few days before we were headed down, we got a call from one of the renters and told us that a large mango tree had fallen into our yard!  What?!  We watched the playback from the cameras and it was so crazy watching it fall just out of the blue.  We weren't sure what kind of damage it caused to the back yard but were grateful that we were already going to be there to get it cleaned up.  It turned out to be a really big job and that mango tree was HUGE!  It came from the property behind our house which is basically just a jungle, but luckily it wasn't close enough to hit the house at all.  The fence and gate were pretty smashed up and tons of debris in our yard.  Josh and I got to work and spent one morning just working together to get the limbs trimmed, hauled up to the jungle and making space to get to the main trunk of the tree.  It was really hard work and we soon realized we probably couldn't get it done on our own.  Missionaries to the rescue!  We called the sisters in our ward and they brought along the elders in their district the next day to help us out.  It's amazing how much help it is just to have a handful more hands working with us!  We got the main trunk and limbs trimmed and hauled away, fixed the fence and the gate and cleaned up the damage done in our yard.  It was a fun and super productive day and we're so grateful to those missionaries for being willing to spend the day with us.  One of our favorite elders from when we lived there happened to be one of the missionaries there - Elder Ashton.  It was so fun to see and catch up with him again after not seeing him for almost a year!  

The rest of the time we spent doing a few more projects around the house, visiting the judge about our property (Josh had to sit on the witness stand, be sworn in and testify and all! Success.  We got the paperwork for the property done.  On to the next step...), hung out with Carlos and Laura, went to church, and bought some new rocking chairs for the porch.  It was a whirlwind trip but so glad we got to be there and get so much done!

 

In the Rearview

Why is this so funny?  Josh and I got a kick out of the boys as we were trying to back out of the garage today...

 

Valentines Day dinner

Tonight the Priests invited the older Young Women to a Valentines Day dinner.  They decorated, cooked and served the girls and it was such a treat to be with these amazing youth tonight.  It was so fun to see them all hanging out and just being friends together - which is just what a ward full of youth ought to be!  Happy Valentines Day everyone!

 

Rease and her license!

It has been a long time coming for this girl, but she made it and today Rease got her license!  Because we lived in Puerto Rico last year, we were behind on getting her permit which she had to have for 6 months before she could get her license.  Today marks 6 months exactly from when she got her permit and she's thrilled that she's finally legal to drive!  So weird (but also so nice and helpful) that we will have another driver in the house!  Love this girl.

 

Warriors Game

One of my favorite nights ever! We got the chance to go see Steph Curry and the Warriors when they came to town to play the Jazz - and not just that, we had 2nd row seats!  Jordan and Melissa treated us to a night out with tickets they got from his clinic.  They have a bundle of season tickets in the Toyota Club and saved the Warriors/Jazz game for us - what a treat!  We had unlimited food and drinks, but mostly we had courtside seats to see my man Steph play.  It was AMAZING.  So so fun for us to be there with our friends and get to enjoy the night.  I told Josh when we left that this was my dream game! What a blast!

 

Ski Week Day 5

Our last day on the mountain and we woke up with sore feet and tired legs. Putting on our gear, we were reminded of all the sore spots but we knew we couldn’t waste the day inside the cabin. The snow was falling heavily outside and we got out right as the lifts opened and got to work. Today we went over to Milly first and wanted to try Milly Bowl while it was soft. It was fun but with so much new snow it was hard work for all of us - mostly me! In this 5th day in a row of skiing, my legs got tired quick and I was definitely feeling it after a couple of runs. But, of course we push on and just keep skiing more! That’s always the answer right?! 

Our good friends Brad and Sharon Baldauf met up with us today and it’s always a treat to ski with those two! Liev sported his reindeer onesie and keen put on his Chiefs jersey once again. We were skiing in style today! 

We went about doing our favorite routes and runs and jumping everything we could. Of course we hit the terrain parks, the slide, the chute, Hawkeye trees, and everything else we could think of. All the while, we were having the snowiest day of the whole week and had so much new snow every run. We loved it! 

We knew that we had to pack up and leave today so we took a long lunch break and started gathering our things. But even knowing that, we still knew we wanted to get in a few more runs before we packed up completely. The snow was just too good to say goodbye quite yet! We finished off the evening with one last run together on crest and Josh and the kids jumping off Camel Hump while I took pictures of them doing it :)

When we finally got back to the car to pack up it was amazing how much snow had accumulated during the week. Just a reminder of how blessed we had been with the weather and the amazing powder we had all week! 

As we said good bye to this beloved cabin once again, we can’t help but feel so grateful for the time we’ve had, the memories we’ve made together and the beauty that surrounds us. What an amazing place to be able to escape to for a short time! 

Ski week awards:

Rease - 3-peater (Brighton Derby champ 3 years running)

Rhen - FOMO (doesn’t want to miss a single run)

Liev - Harry Styles (best style on the slopes in his wife beater, reindeer suit and fish flops and my nightgown around the cabin)

Keen - Park Rat (no poles, in the jersey, smooth as a cat)

Beck - Instructor (always helping and challenging all of us to do more)

Desh - Energizer Bunny (never wants to stop and never gets tired)

Ski Week Day 4

We started the day off with another 5 inches of overnight snow. We feel like we’ve been given a gift from the snow gods and had the best snow of the whole year in just these few days we’ve been at the cabin. It’s so soft and amazing to ski in and we can’t get enough of it! 

Today was just the 8 of us together and we started off with Great Western and taking True Grit down. Great Western was closed yesterday due to wind so the past 48 hours has provided for lots of new powder up there. We took advantage of it and had a great first run! Beck has been right by my side all week, helping me out and challenging me to do harder things than I’m used to. When we talked about taking True Grit he turned to me and said “you can do it mom.” Desh was a little less certain, “you know that’s a double black right mom?” It was my first double black run but with all the new snow I just took it slow and wasn’t too scared to fall because I new it would be a soft landing :) It ended up being awesome and so fun to see all the kids charge down the mountain like it’s no big deal. They’re all so amazing to watch and ski with! 

After a couple runs on Great Western we headed back to Powder Hollow and Wren Hollow pro to test out the powder there. I’m telling you, every where we went it felt like it had been untouched for days. We had such a fun morning finding all the powder runs and taking advantage of the great conditions. It snowed pretty continually all morning and I think we’re in for even more snow for the next few days. Wohoo!

Last night one of the snow cats broke down just below Crest. It was stuck there all day and a detour was made around it while they tried to get it fixed. It was so crazy to see it just sitting there all day!

After dinner tonight the snow really picked up and we headed back out for the rest of the night. I LOVE skiing when there’s so much new snow falling. It’s like a new run every time and we didn’t want to stop! We charged on until the very end and at 8:46 we got on Crest for one last run. When we got to the top the kids all thought we might be able to make it back down before 9:00 and squeeze in another one before it closed. I’m pretty sure I’ve never skied so fast in my life and my legs were on fire by the time we got down. But sure enough, we made it at 8:58 and got on the chair for the last run of the night. And guess what? We got on chair #1! It’s like it was meant to be the last and best run of the day! 

Love this family of mine that loves to be together as much as I do! 

Ski Week Day 3

Day 3 and we get to celebrate Liev’s birthday today! Our boy is 13 and we couldn’t love this silly, crazy, adventurous boy more than we already do! He’s been asking for “fish flops” for his birthday so that’s what he got. He’s so funny! All of his clothes were in the dryer last night so after his shower he threw on my nightgown. Together with the fish flops this morning he had quite the fit! 

Grammie and Papa came up to stay with us for the night and her and I had our matching “Grammie Jammies” on. We are always glad to have them when they come visit us during ski week! 

After a couple warm up runs first thing this morning, it was time for the annual Brighton Derby! Rease has been the winner the last two years and the rest of the kids were determined to dethrone her this year. They have been planning and scouting and replanning their routes for the ideal one and everyone was so nervous getting up this morning. The weather was so different than yesterday. Gone was the blue sky and instead we had snow, wind and flat light to deal with. But everyone was ready! 

This year Beck was ready to race on his own while Desh got to join the race together with Josh. It was a first for both of them! 

And then off they were! Right off the bat, they each ran into different obstacles. Some of them got stuck on the magic carpet while it stalled for a couple of minutes. Some of them got over to great western to find that it was closed and had to traverse back over to another lift. And some had to change routes mid race because of closures and other things. All in all, it certainly wasn’t the race that anyone planned on this morning! But everyone got in a groove and checked in to all their stops while I manned the walkie talkie back at home base. Even though there were different routes being taken I knew that the race was going to be a close one. As Liev checked in for his last lift Snake Creek I thought he might have the edge to win it. But just a minute later Rease checked in for her last lift Crest and I knew it was going to be photo finish. And sure enough, just minutes later as we waited outside to see the winner come in, Rease came barreling down the mountain to take first place and then not 10 seconds later Liev came in for second! Less than 30 seconds after that Rhen came in and claimed third place. It was the closest race I’d ever seen them in! To say everyone that didn’t win was disappointed would be an understatement. There was weeping, wailing and gnashing before congratulations were given. But the best reaction to the whole thing was Beck as he came in 5th place just 5 minutes after the winner. As we all stood outside the cabin, here he came, with arms in the air and a big grin on his face. “Hey guys! I did it! I finished all by myself!” I was as proud of him for finishing and being so happy about it as I was for anyone else that won. What a guy and what an example of joy from one of our youngest. Desh and Josh joined soon after and the race was complete! Another Brighton Derby in the books and Rease as the winner for the 3rd year in a row!

We took a long lunch break after the derby and said goodbye to Grammie and Papa and rested before we got back out to ski. It snowed all day on us and we were so excited with the free refills we were getting each run. We went up to powder hollow and down to rhen hollow pro to finish off the afternoon before it got too dark. All with TONS of new snow every run. 

Night skiing is pretty magical for us. Especially while it’s snowing. And tonight was one of those really fun ones. None of us wanted to stop and just kept taking run after run. It was pretty great being out there together. It had its fair share of issues including a “mild concussion” as Keen described his injury after a fall he had, a wet toilet glove to mom’s face during a potty stop at the cabin, and Beck collapsing on the couch after he rolled in from 12 hours of skiing, but doesn’t that just perfectly describe a successful day? I’d say toilet glove to the face is the exact way I’d describe a good day on the mountain.  And that’s what we had today! 

Liev’s 13th Birthday

We have a teenage boy in the house!  Liev turned 13 today and what better way to celebrate than with a Mr. Beast birthday cake?  We're so excited to jump into life with another teenager.  Can't wait to see what life brings for this boy!

13 year old stats from Dr. Erickson:

Height: 5'10" - 98%

Weight: 131 lbs - 82%

My favorite things about Liev at this age:

1 - Liev is SOOO funny! He has adopted this new voice when he's trying to make fun of me or might light of a situation and it gets me every time.  I can't help but laugh when I hear it.  He's constantly making all of us laugh and, although admittedly he sometimes goes too far with his brothers, loves to joke and tease.  

2 - Liev has loved playing the euphonium in band at school and I love seeing him learn to love new things.  He's not afraid to try or give something a chance and I'm grateful for him putting himself out there when it's not always easy.

3 - Liev is a great oldest boy in our family and helps me out so much.  I rely on him a lot and he's always ready and willing to do what he's asked, with fairly little whining before he says yes! I am so grateful for his kind and willing heart and for being my boy.  

Happy Birthday Mr. Liev!  May 13 treat you well this year!

 

Ski Week Day 2

We woke up to 6 inches of new snow and a beautiful blue bird day ahead of us!  The sun shined through the trees and on the mountains to make the most amazing setting for us to get out. The new snow was soft and powdery and is what I picture when people say Utah has the best ski on earth. It was one of my favorite mornings I’ve ever skied! We hit my-oh-my and candy land like usual and then headed over to what Beck has named “powder kingdom.”  It lived up to its name today with powder up past our ankles and the funnest runs down in fresh snow. We felt like we were living in a small piece of heaven! 

We hadn’t been over to great western yet so we hit that mid-day. The views from the top is one of my favorites especially on a sunny day like today. The kids love to jump off any spot they can and we got lots of jumps on camera today. 

We roamed all over the mountain today and made it to powder hollow, wren hollow, wren hollow pro and back and forth between everything else. One of my favorite things of all is to see all my kids skiing out in front of me and knowing that they’re all mine. I’m so proud to be mama to this group of crazies! 

Of course there’s always cabin time mixed in the middle of all this. Stops for hot chocolate, lunch, bathroom breaks, etc. And in the downtime we get to see what’s underneath all that ski gear! Liev sports a tank top just under his ski pants and keen doesn’t leave home without his chain. And Desh just sits on the couch in full gear waiting to get back out. Energizer bunny that one and never wants to miss out on a single run that anyone goes on! 

Love this amazing week that we get to be a part of! 

Ski Week Day 1

One of the things we missed last year while being away was skiing. As we’ve gotten back to Utah and winter, we have been looking forward to our week we get to spend at the Brighton Cabin. It’s one of our favorite things of all time! Well this week is our week and we couldn’t have been more excited to get up to the mountain for a few days! 

Our first order of business is to announce our walkie talkie call signs. We had a reveal ceremony first thing and after a couple of last minute changes, these are the call signs that we’ll all have for the week:

Desh - Dingleberry

Beck - Ghostrider

Keen - Patty Holmes

Liev - Warlock

Rhen - Tumbleweed

Rease - Derby Destroyer (DD)

Mom - Mama-ski-ta

Dad - Black Jackel

We are so lucky that our first day here fell on a snowy one. A snowy powdery day is my ideal and we loved skiing hard, hiking a little bit and getting between the trees to find as much powder as possible. One of the places the kids love to go is one right off crest they named “powder hollow”. Beck steered me in the right direction and showed me how to skirt along the edge of the hill to get up there. After a little side stepping and hiking to get there, we found the spot that powder hollow was named after. It was a sweet powdery run that left some of us in heaps because of how deep it was. Oh so fun to be up there with all that new snow! 

Of course the boys always love the “triple terrain park” run where we hit them all on the way down. The year off for our kids did not slow them down any and every one of them hits the hills and jumps hard and fast and with no fear. I love watching them do all they can do! 

We had Uncle Guy and Aunt Robin with us for part of the day and had fun showing them all our favorite spots! The kids are just a blast to follow around cause they’re cutting between trees and in and out of differ t spots and at times I lose track of them. Then all of a sudden there they all are again materializing out of nowhere back at the bottom of the hill together. It’s so fun! 

The best part is that we can have some downtime in the cabin when we need it. We have lots of food, hot chocolate and a nice fire waiting for us and it’s the best to recoup before getting back out there. And of course we get to sit and laugh about all the funny things that went on during the day. Highlights of today:

Keen and his girl Shareese. Just ask him about it. 

Our chair stopping right on the rollers. A rarity that only few get to experience. 

Liev earned the double ejector award twice in one day!  Once in the slide and another time on one of the jumps off my-oh-my. Both times he was ok so now it’s fine for us to laugh at him :)

Uncle Guy breathing heavy from a long absence from skiing. He did great but claimed that he was going to be sore after today!

And Desh made it to the top of camel hump along with the rest of the kids!

We ended the day with one last trip to powder hollow where we had a good but long and exhausted run. Our legs were tired and getting stuck in the powder was not as easy to get out of as it was earlier in the day. Desh lost his skis twice on that run and we had fun getting them back on in 10 inches of powder! 

But of course most everyone skied until the final chair headed up. My family is filled with die hards and go u til they can’t go anymore! We’re tired and sore but headed to bed with skiing on the mind. Can’t wait for tomorrow!

January round-up

Wrapping up our month of January:

Marathon training has begun.  Trying to get the miles in and stay warm at the same time

BYU basketball games!

Keen and I both got a haircut.  11 inches for me, trim off the back for him

Rease playing in the pep band is always fun to see!

Young women’s Just Dance night - oh so fun!

Activities days doing lots of creating

Till the Will, Neeb, the Been, Nena - whatever she is called, we love her the same

My beautiful daughter who makes me proud every day!

What a month we’ve had!

 

Rease band concert

We got to see Rease perform in her symphonic band concert tonight!  She loves playing the French horn and it never gets old seeing her do what she loves to do.  This band is headed to State in a few weeks and they have worked hard!  This was a great warm up concert for what they’re about to do.  Good luck!

 

Uncle Greg

Life is always just a little better and brighter when Uncle Greg comes around!  We love the drop in visits and the time we get to spend with one of our favorite people of all time. We got to spend the evening with good food, outdoor football games and a band concert to round it out.  Thanks for taking the time to be with us!

Temple trip for Keen

Being a new Deacon this year, Keen was so excited to be able to attend the temple and do baptisms.  We got up early this morning and took him on his own and it was super special to be there with him.  He has a certain light about him that is contagious and I know he has a lot of good to do in the world!  So proud of this boy and his love for the Lord!

 

Principal's Pride Desh

Desh got the Principal's Pride award today at school and he is very deserving of it!  He works so hard and has loved making new friends at his new school this year - not an easy task for kids.  We were so proud to be there and watch him get this award!

 

Book of Mormon read-a-thon

In preparation for youth conference this summer, our stake young men and young women's presidencies hosted a Book of Mormon read-a-thon this weekend.  The goal was to get the kids together in one spot (the stake center gym) and have them listen to (and read along) the whole Book of Mormon in one day.  It had to be listened to on triple speed to be able to get through it all and at times it seemed like it was a little chaotic...But I was so proud of all the kids that showed up and spent the day reading and listening along!  That was a big sacrifice for them to spend a whole Saturday doing that and I was overwhelmed with their goodness! We made it ALMOST all the way through, but ended about 10:00 pm with just a few chapters left that the kids were asked to read and finish on their own.  What a great day for our youth!

 

Snow Days

Bring it on snow!  We've had a string of storms hit us and still more to come and we can't get enough!  There's nothing better than tons of snow to get us through the long winter.  We might as well ski our way through if its going to be cold anyway!

 

Beutler brothers

Once in a while we get these two together and the similarities between them really show up!  Today as Andy was visiting us, I glanced over to catch the two of them looking at something and laughing together.  It reminded me that brothers need each other and sometimes its just great to get together and laugh!

 

Ski Season 2024

We couldn't be more excited about ski season starting in our house!  The good news is we've had a handful of storms lately (and more on the way) that it's made for an early GOOD start to the season this year which is amazing!  The kids love every second they get to be on the mountain and we snuck up this weekend all together to get a day in before lessons start for the Beck and Desh next week.  Looking forward to lots of snow and many days in the powder!

 

Hopkinson sleepover

This weekend we had a cousin sleepover with the Hopkinson kids and it's always a good time when all these kids are together!  Nothing gets better than snuggling up together on the floor to watch a movie and falling asleep there for the night.  We woke up the next morning and they were all still there sleeping together.  Love this crew!

 

Plinko night

Our Young Women's class hosted a Plinko Trivia night for the young men and young women in our ward.  It was a blast with lots of prizes, challenges and trivia that got super competitive.  Love all the youth in our ward that love to be together!

 

Happy Birthday Josh!

Happy 45th birthday to the one that keeps our family strong! This man is the reason why we can say we're Beutlers and be proud of it.  He teaches all of us to be persistent, think deep thoughts, believe in our dreams and then supports us in all that we do.  Meanwhile, he has dreams of his own that he's not afraid to go after (think future horticulturist!) We are better people because he is the man of our house! Happiest birthday to our best man!