Rease Quarter 3

 

Rhen Quarter 3

 

Liev Quarter 3

 

Keen Quarter 3

 

Beck Quarter 3

 

Desh 3rd quarter

 

A wrap up of March

Our month ended on a good note with lots of fun to be had:

A powder day always calls to us and we respond! The skiing has been so good this year!

Alice getting all tangled up while trying her hardest to clean up around us

Desh loves his Activity Days group

And a 20 miler in the books

Bring it on April!

 

Easter Week 2024

 

Manti Temple Open House

The Manti Temple has just opened after a few years of renovations to restore it.  The open house is this week and we took the whole family while we had a few days off school for spring break.  It was BEAUTIFUL and so fun to be able to walk through this amazing building.  Its so awesome for the kids to be able to see it and feel of the spirit in these buildings.  

We overloaded the golf cart carrying us back to our cars and the kids had such a fun time hanging with cousins for the day!  We loved our trip to the temple today!

 

Track for Rease and Rhen

Spring track just got underway (even though it's still pretty chilly!) and Rease and Rhen are both excited to be a part of the team.  Rhen is running the mile and 800m and Rease has started throwing the shotput.  It's so fun being a part of this team and watching the girls learn to do something new!  Here's to a fun long season with lots of success!

 

Mid-March round up

A handful of things happening around here...

Desh got sick and can't seem to stay warm.  No better place to warm up than laying in the shower!

One of our fav girls that we play ball with left on her mission this week - we're going to miss you Izzy

Beck and Desh being troopers at long nights of band concerts for their siblings

Tilly with the Drip

And smack in the middle of marathon training - these are long run weeks!

Lots of snow still falling and we aren't complaining

The boys taking trips to the hot tub while the rest of us are at Young Mens/Young Womens on Wednesday nights.  Not a bad place to be!

Rhen being crazy

Tilly being a begger

And Desh tired and numb after a trip to the dentist

Life keeps plugging along around here without even asking us if its ok...

 

Liev's band concert

We got to hear this boy perform again and I love seeing the improvement this beginning band group has made!  They are sounding so amazing! 

 

Rhen's 15th birthday!

Rhenny girl turned 15 today and I can hardly believe it!  She is THE BEST and we love seeing the person that she's growing up to be.  

15 year old stats from Dr. Erickson:

Height: 5'9" - 98%

Weight: 147 lbs - 87%

My favorite things about 15 year old Rhen:

1- Rhen is sweet as can be, but also has a spicy side to her too!  She is willing to help, quick to say I Love You, and once in a while will spend 3 hours cleaning her room just to surprise her sister with a clean room.  But Rhen is not afraid to speak her mind and does her best to squelch the drama that tends to surround her group friends.  She hates people that are "fake" and wants all the world to see things through clear eyes.  It's her goal in life to have peace and fun surround her!

2 - Rhen is an excellent student and works really hard to get straight A's.  She has taken some hard classes and still seems to be able to keep up with things and keep her mind about it all too.  She loves school and loves learning new things.

3 - If I could attach a video as a picture, I'd let you all see a video of Rhen playing the piano and you'd be blown away.  She is a pretty amazing pianist and has worked so hard to get there.  She practices for a couple hours at a time when she can and her hard work has paid off.  She is in the process of finding a new teacher that can take her to an even higher level and she loves performing and sharing her talent on the piano.  I love hearing her play and hope I get to hear her for years to come!

Happiest birthday my dear Rhen!

 

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!