This is the year we got dogs, Briggy and Bella. Only temporarily, though. So far it's been nine months. Their owner needed someone to care for them until she could get back on her feet. The kids love them, Sarah is learning to love them, and Bret tolerates them.
We just wrapped up captureing some family photos followed by Halloween.
Joyce often struggles with having just one costume for the season and this year was no different. An hour before going out to Trick-or-Treat she threw together random pieces and decided she looked like Princess Leia. John is "Fred" from the math book series, Life of Fred.
It was fun going out with our friends (the Lenharts) from the old neighborhood. That morning Bret and I were excited to drop off our ballots.
We still spend a lot of time at the library, even though it's rare to catch an activity that the kids find interesting. Here they are learning how to give stitches.
John and Sarah are still doing scouts. Sarah got to organize her first camp out and everyone happily enjoyed a beautiful weekend up Payson Canyon.
October began with General Conference weekend. The kids rediscovered some toys that kept them happy both days.
When we go to the library, we don't just get books. Sometimes we play on the playground! This was one of our last for the season.
Every fall we like to take a family picnic up Millcreek Canyon. This year we were a bit too early to catch the changing leaves, but it still felt magical.
The kids started attending a new school, Salt Lake Arts Academy. One of their values is teaching the kids how to get around the city and take advantage of all the cool things to do. Each child is required to have a bus pass, so the kids now take the city bus to and from school each day. This was our first "orientation" day.
The dogs enjoy walking the kids to school each morning. When they're lucky Sarah takes them out to meet the kids at the bus stop in the afternoon.
Sarah celebrated her birthday in August. Joyce surprised her with a piece of cake (leftover from dinner at Grandma's). She put pipe cleaners on toothpicks to simulate candles since she couldn't find the lighter to light real candles.
The Robinsons had a reunion in Afton, Wyoming. We got to go on a scavenger hunt around the city, learning some history and having fun with cousins. We learned they make air and sea planes right in downtown Afton. We also got to stop at the library!
The highlight of the trip may have been white water rafting on the Snake River. John and Sarah were in a different raft and he wouldn't stop talking about how exciting each wave was. The other cousins were surprised to hear he spoke so much.
Cousin Cassie's husband, Cody, was a kid magnet. He was always up for fun with them.
Joyce even got to ride between Cody and Cassie on the four wheeler.
We attended the Lincoln County fair and watched a rodeo, but I didn't get any photos other than this one where the kids were making their own balloon creations with cousin Natasha.
On our last day we tried fishing. It seemed everyone in town had the same idea.
John preferred rock climbing over fishing
Before the reunion, Joyce designed a sticker I made as a souvenir for everyone at the reunion.
Besides being able to see and play with everyone, we were grateful to be able to get a new family photo with all the current members.
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In July, both kids learned how to skateboard and had the chance to build their own to keep. Luckily, one of our favorite lunch-in-the-park sites has a skate park, so the kids got lots of practice.
I signed John up for rock climbing at the rec center during the summer, but he hated it, so Joyce took his spot. I never figured out what he hated, though, since he's an avid rock climber. I think it was something about the wall being "too easy." Or maybe he just didn't like the teachers. Joyce also kept busy over summer doing dance and attending a summer camp held at her elementary school. That allowed Sarah to keep up with her dyslexia therapy clients. John was happy to just play at the park with his friend Quincy.
There were a lot of play dates with friends, both at the park, and at the library, and even just at home. Joyce and her friend learned some valuable baking lessons about not excluding an ingredient just because you don't like it.
We spent a lot of time with the Jensens this summer - both at the park and library, but also celebrating the Fourth of July and doing scouting activities, like hikes.
Joyce turned 11 this year. She chose to celebrate with dinner at the Olive Garden. She's a sucker for their salad and breadsticks.
She hosted a party for the first time herself. A few friends were unable to come, but they were kind and made an effort to visit and bring her a present on a different day. Her party involved face painting and slip and slide. She thought it would be fun to let everyone paint a part of her face at the same time. No one else chose to follow suit.
She decided to practice on her parents first.
Her favorite present was finally getting her parents to agree to putting up a trampoline in the backyard. Our friends kindly passed theirs along to us and the kids have used it nearly every day since!
Joyce made a poster to celebrate Bret for Father's Day.
At the start of summer, John and Sarah attended Camp Fife with other scouts.
School ended and the scouts took a beautiful hike along the Miller Bird Refuge!
Joyce performed with Rise Up School of Dance, featuring the emotions from Inside Out. She was by far the most animated on stage with her group.
For spring break we took a trip to Capitol Reef National Park. We had good memories from going there for spring break a few years ago. We combined it with taking a tour of the Manti Temple and a side trip of Ephraim Canyon to do some bouldering.
Before our trip we celebrated Easter
John celebrated his number 10 in March by having his classmates over for games and food. It was the first time I didn't really need to help plan anything other than buying food for the party. They entertained themselves.
The first bit of the year was filled with the usual - school, snow, and teeth falling out. The kids still get a treasure hunt from Bret when they lose a tooth and this time he upped his game adding a QR code that linked to a song. (Joyce got student of the month for exhibiting the quality of being a good communicator.)
As scouts, the kids got to help sell wreaths outside the grocery store to raise money for their program. Joyce was an exceptionally good sales. She even got the store to donate cupcakes and balloons to make it more festive.
Joyce got to perform in her dance studio's annual Clara's Storybook Nutcracker (a more kid friendly version of the traditional Nutcracker). Ballet isn't her favorite style of dance, but she loves to perform. Some friends came to support her.
December wrapped up with our usual Nativity at Sarah's Mom's home with lots of cousins. Joyce especially looks forward to dressing up and this year couldn't decide between being Mary and the angel.
And of course, there was our own Christmas morning. Sarah gifted Bret a giant wildebeest head she found being given away for free. Wrapping it was a challenge! We happily regifted it at a friend's white elephant party.
We ended the year with the traditional pots and pans noise around 10. It's great living on a busy street where no one notices the extra racket. With cousins visiting we also set off some fireworks at Sarah's mom's house.
And on that note - to all a good night!
