To celebrate our family's birthday in 2022, we went to see the Hale Theater's production of The Little Mermaid. It was stunning!
Soon after our family's birthday, we always celebrate Bret's birthday. We threw him a surprise party and invited his family to come. His brother's family had fun picking out funny gifts for him.
When Sarah's sister was in town, they all went to donate blood. It was Sarah's first time being able to (having had Hepatitis A as a teenager). She's been diligently donating ever since.
To "ring in" the Christmas season, we enjoyed a night in South Jordan checking out the light display.
We celebrated Christmas a week early, as we prepared to go on a trip with cousins to Puerto Rico.
Bret's brother, Dane, his wife, Sara, and their kids flew with us to Puerto Rico where we toured some of Sarah's favorite places she remembered seeing as a three-year-old. El Yunque may have been our favorite. John has long dreamed of seeing a rain forest, so that was a driving force in our decision to go to Puerto Rico.
Joyce loved the swing, but John unfortunately fell in the water and wasn't happy about it.
We all loved playing with the pigeons at Parque de Palomas in Old San Juan.
Per tradition, we decided to reenact the Nativity story, using what we had in the Airbnb.
On our last night in Puerto Rico we drove out to see the San Juan temple. When Sarah lived in Puerto Rico, the church was still so new they didn't have a stake, and she remembered having church in the home where missionaries lived.
As many of you may know, Southwest Airlines was part of the huge debacle that happened on Christmas Eve, stranding us in Orlando, Florida. We were lucky to get a hotel room with our cousins only a few rooms away on the same floor. Bret and his brother were able to get an Uber to Walmart to secure needed medication and some Christmas presents before the store closed. Emotions were high for all of us as we didn't know how long we'd be stuck.
In typical Joyce fashion, she made friends with another hotel guest that just happened to be named Joyce. She joined in on a Christmas evening walk with us. While in Puerto Rico, Joyce also made friends with a flight attendant who she has since stayed in contact with.
One huge bonus about spending time in Florida was that one of Bret's brother's has three daughters who live there. We got to play games and go to dinner with them one night.
Unable to afford Disneyworld, or able to secure tickets anyway, we decided to spend a day at Gatorland where we took turns holding a live gator. We finally made it out of Florida by being flown to Phoenix where we rented what seemed to be one of the very last available cars and drove over night to Utah.
Once home we were finally able to have our "real" Christmas celebration.
We also got home in time to join in with Sarah's extended family Christmas celebration.
We rang in the New Year after a feast and games, by banging our pots on the front porch. Living on a busy street ensures no one is bothered by our noise.
We were blessed with plenty of snow on January 2, so the kids got to hit the "slopes."
In January we were also treated to a visit from Joyce's birth mom and her boyfriend. We went to an arcade and the church's Family Search Center. Joyce got really excited and started her own account. She's been talking a bit to her birth mom's grandma trying to get more information.
In March, Sarah got to attend Time Out for Women with her sisters and mother. While in Oregon they enjoyed visiting the Portland Temple. They also went on a few other adventures, but the best part was all the laughter and memories.
Another highlight in March was celebrating John's 9th birthday. He had a "fruit platter" instead of a "fruit basket" this year. He also had several classmates over to celebrate with him. He planned his party and came up with different activities all based on his memories of Gatorland and his interest in Steve Irwin.
We celebrated Easter a bit early since we would be in Hawaii on Easter Sunday.
Using all the Southwest credit we had accumulated in December, we traveled to Oahu with Sarah's mother. Joyce worked her usual magic and made friends everywhere we went.
John was in love with the greenery and warmth. We loved getting to see a few friends.
We spent time at Hanauma Bay, but the weather made it hard to see much or enjoy the water.
It's possible everyone's favorite part of the trip was visiting the Polynesian Cultural Center.
On our way home from Hawaii, we took a detour to California to play with cousins. We got to visit Dennis the Menace Park where Sarah made memories as a child when she lived there.
Joyce managed to bond with Salt Lake City's mayor, Erin Mendenhall, this year. We saw her at the city's big cleanup the neighborhood day. We ran into her again at a street fair during the summer and then Joyce got to talk to her again while on a field trip for school. When the elections came, both kids were very anxious about her getting reelected.
As a first, we celebrated May the Fourth with friends. We didn't do much, but our friends made some fun treats.
The kids got to perform in a simplified musical based on Moana.
Finally, the kids finished the school year!
We celebrated Memorial Day with a walk up Memorial Park. It was a lovely way to begin summer.
Once summer came, we found ourselves seeing all kinds of cousins, for all kinds of reasons.
We were also happy to have occasion to gather with good friends.
Summer wouldn't be the same without attending lots of activities at the library.
Another fun surprise at the beginning of summer was welcoming Sam to the family when Sarah's mother remarried. He's always up for some fun card games.
The kids and Sarah took a quick trip to California to see cousins and to celebrate Joyce's birthday. The impetus of the trip was so John could go camping with his uncle and cousins.
The Fourth of July was spent with friends at the drone show (no fireworks this year) and a trip to the Colonial Fair with grandparents.
We got to visit the Butterfly Biodome when cousins were in town. Joyce got to play with a praying mantis one day at lunch in the park.
Joyce began exercising her creativity in the kitchen this year.
John dug into science, reading anything he could get his hands on.
In saying goodbye to summer, we welcomed new "big cousins" to Utah and celebrated with dinner at Grandma's. We continue to go to Grandma's for dinner nearly every Sunday.
Joyce began attending public school this year. We spent much of the summer trying to decide where she should go, after deciding that her time at Capitol Hill Academy (small private school we've always attended and that John continues to go to) wasn't right for her. Our backup plan was for her to attend Washington Elementary, and when that became the reality, we were thrilled to find it was exactly what we needed.
After promising John he could finally attend Scouts, it turned out Sarah needed to be his Den Leader since no one else was stepping up. She never once wanted to be Den Leader, but after recruiting some friends to join she's finding it isn't that bad after all. Joyce also joined, but doesn't always get to join her den since I'm required to lead John's den.
Nothing stops Joyce, though, from making the most of her experiences. She happily jumped at the chance to make a car and participate in the Pinewood Derby. She won the award for "only needing Dad's help a little bit."
Fall brought some fun dance classes for Joyce: ballet, jazz, and tap. She also did gymnastics for several months. John keeps busy with his books and friends, but prefers to do his own workouts at home instead of participating in any organized groups. We're discovering he's not much of a crowd person and is a lot happier when he's at home wtih family.
We decided to celebrate our family's birthday a month early. We took a drive up the canyon and rode a chair lift through part of Deer Valley.
We also spent a weekend at the Zermatt in Midway.
The kids chose to reenact a couple poses at the park in Heber where we went when they were around 2 or 3. They certainly have longer legs!
To celebrate Halloween, Sarah gave platelets again (it helps her feel closer to her dad who needed a lot when he was in the hospital). The kids enjoyed trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. Joyce had two costumes over the course of holiday, first as a cheerleader and then as "Barbie." John just pretended to be an ant.
And on that note, here we say goodbye. Until next year! From our house to yours, may you have a beautiful new year!
