BYU Indoor Track Meet

 Rockwell had his first indoor track meet for this pre-season. His team doesn't take this BYU meet seriously at all. They all signed up with the same time for the mile so they could be in the same heat, and they all wore jorts. Ben had camo shorts on, but he cut the outsides all the way up to his hips so they were flapping in the wind while he ran. Haha! Some of them wore the Cholula shirts they got in California, and Tate cut his into a belly shirt. They were quite the sight!!

They were so excited when they saw that John Hedengren had made an AI song that he put on the film of their mile run on his YouTube channel. (John's daughter, Jane, is a Freshman at BYU and has already broken basically every NCAA record. She's absolutely incredible and Rockwell thought it was awesome to be at some of the races with her last year where she broke all the high school records. John has a YouTube channel all about cross country and track, and he had this whole meet recorded. But only made a song for this heat of the mile. Haha!)

It was a country song with a lot of twang. Some of the lines were, "But the strangest sight you ever did see..... it was a line of boys, 'bout seventeen.... it's a high school mile, but with southern flare."

"They're running in jorts 'round the painted turns, ignoring the friction and the denim burns."

"Friends don't let friends wear denim alone, so they laced 'em up tight in the danger zone."

"So laugh if you want, at the inseam lap, but a team that looks foolish shows a special strength. When the lungs are burnin' and the legs are dead, you need your brothers to keep you ahead. Whether in uniform sleek or a thrift store buy, we lift each other when the stakes are high. Just smile for the camera, let the history stand, the best dressed runners in the Promised Land. Your digital footprint is forever, so is the good that you have done. And the chafing.... the chafing is also forever. Run on boys!! Run on!!!"

I'm sure it hurt their finish times running in jeans, but they didn't care one bit. They had a blast! It was so funny!

Rock also ran the 800m.

And he ran the 4x320m Relay with Joel, Er, and Luke. They took 3rd place in the relay.

Life Lately

 Ron and Diane came to town for a wedding, so the Hawkins family met at Chuck-a-Rama for dinner. I can't believe how many Hawkins live in Utah now. It was fun to visit with them!

Grandpa and Mark..... and Mel :)

I always love to spend time with Ron.

Rockwell was ordained a Priest. He blessed the Sacrament last week and he did a great job! I was at a ward conference, but I had told Paul that I would be so sad if I missed Rockwell's first time blessing the Sacrament. When Rockwell was asked to bless it, Paul texted and called me to let me know. I left the 2nd ward and hurried over to our ward so I could be there for his first time. I'm so glad I didn't miss it! It was cool to be there for this new privilege and responsibility Rockwell has to use the Priesthood to bless other people.

We took Tessa, Morgan and Damon to the BYU gymnastics meet. Paul had some real estate come up, so he met us there later.

The girls loved it!

Rockwell has been growing out his hair for a perm again. It was finally long enough!

The perm looks great on him!!

Parents were invited to Damon's Activity Days activity this week, so I went to that with him. Damon also  wanted to go to the STEM night at his school, so the two of us had a fun time spending the afternoon and evening together. He got to make slime, a rocket, a paper football game where he could calculate percentages, and a lava lamp-type tube.

The Purple Turtle was having a deal where you could bring your own container up to 44 oz and fill it up with ice cream for 99 cents. 

Paul took Tessa and Hallee there and they filled up their Stanley mugs. They ate the ice cream while they watched Punky Brewster. We think it's so fun that Tessa loves some of the shows from when Paul and I were kids. She's watched all of Saved by the Bell already. :)

I'm trying out some flavors in my sourdough bread now. This cheddar jalapeno was so good!!

Christmas Break

Mel and her daughters do a cookie contest at Christmas time, and they asked us to be the judges this year. 

It was hard to choose a favorite because they were all delicious. Paul counted up the votes and announced the winner.

Ataiya won it!! She was so excited, it was really cute! Mel made a trophy to pass around each year. What a fun tradition!

We all loved spending the afternoon there and getting to visit with the girls and play with all the kids.

We were all in baby heaven!

Al and Mel took Hallee, Tessa, and Damon over to Grandpa's house for dinner and a movie. They watched While You Were Sleeping and had a great time!

Paul and I went up to Ogden for Grandma Clark's choir concert. Gramps surprised Grandma by getting almost all of her kids there, even flying Chad in! Emilie wasn't able to make it sadly. We went to Applebee's for dinner/dessert after the concert. It was a fun day!

Damon has enjoyed this Christmas gift. He can practice serving and hitting, and the ball returns right to him.

I took Rockwell, Vincent, Tessa and Brynn to do baptisms at the Mount Timpanogos Temple.

Grandpa came down and watched the BYU football game with us. It was the Pop Tarts Bowl, and BYU won!!! It was a good game, and we loved having Grandpa spend the day with us.

Damon and I enjoyed the hot tub.

Tessa was so excited for her birthday Grandma Date!! Aren't they both just beautiful?!

They got Boba's and pretzel bites for lunch.

They shopped at H&M, Sephora, Tilly's, Bath & Body Works, and Walmart.

Tessa loved her day with Grandma!!!

We played Poetry for Neanderthals. It's such a fun game. 

Damon had volleyball camp for a few days. He loved that! He also loved spending his Swig gift card he got in his Christmas stocking. :)

The girls XC team tied Rockwell to a tree......

We had a lot of time to play games and we loved it!

Rockwell hiked to Fifth Water Hot Springs with his friends.

They took their swimsuits and got in the water. Rockwell said it felt great on a cold day!

We spent New Year's Eve with the Rosequists. We all love playing games, so that's how we spent the night.

There were some great laughs and good competition!

Lindsay brought the cutest little cups for us to toast at midnight. Tessa was so excited about the little cups, and Lindsay loved that. She said she never gets reactions like that in a house full of boys. Haha!

Rockwell and Tessa still wanted to party after everyone left. Paul, Damon and I went to bed, and I loved falling asleep to the sounds of Rockwell and Tessa laughing and having a great time together.

I came home from a run one morning and Rockwell said I missed the funniest thing, but he had taken a picture for me. He heard Tessa yelling, "Help" from the laundry room and found her like this. So funny!!

Tessa had her Inner Squad Meet. She's been having bad heel pain, and so she only competed bars and beam. She did her floor routine, but didn't do any tumbling. She got some good feedback from the judges. Hopefully her heel will feel better soon so she can get back to normal!

I took Damon and Sawyer to Classic. They had a blast skating, jumping, and playing arcade games. A girl spilled her root beer all over me, so I sat there for hours with my pants and underwear soaking in sticky, cold drink. At least the boys had a good time..... Haha.