Hogle Zoo

 We had Tuesday off school for a teacher work day, and the Loosli's had the day off too. It was $2 Day at Hogle Zoo, so we braved the cold and went. 

It was seriously cold!! The indoor exhibits were really nice. :) The kids didn't seem to mind the weather too bad, they were just happy to be hanging out with their cousins at the zoo.

Damon got a front-row spot for the polar bear's little show he was putting on. He swam back and forth over and over. It was fun to watch.

Tessa was very disappointed there wasn't a cougar! We found a statue of one, and so we thought there would be one somewhere. She is very into big cats right now.

She loved all the little cats too though!

It was a fun way to spend our day off school! Thanks for letting us join you Loosli Fam!!

Life Lately

 Damon has been cracking me up lately. He came home from playing at Jacob's house and said that he had eaten Captain's Butt while he was there. I had no clue what he was talking about, but luckily Al was over and figured out that he meant Pirate's Booty. Ha!! 

We were watching the Super Bowl and Damon said, "I do not want to play football! I don't want to be attackled!!" :)

Tessa and Rockwell made their Valentine's boxes at home this year. Rockwell wanted a pinata, and I thought that was a great idea since we could use it for his birthday party that week too! Tessa decorated hers with JoJo Siwa stickers.

I was able to help in all three of their classes on Valentine's Day. I did my usual volunteering in the morning in Damon's class, and then helped in Rockwell's & Tessa's parties that afternoon. I'm glad the timing worked out that I could be in both!

Damon had so much fun at Jacob's birthday party. I love that they've stayed good friends even though they aren't in the same class this year. And I also love when moms send me pictures. :)

Hallee invited Tessa over for a late-over last weekend. They had so much fun! 

Al took a picture of their reaction when she told them that Tess could stay later than we had originally planned. :)

I cut my finger pretty bad during one of the first steps of draining the hot tub on Saturday. It was really painful, especially when I would get my finger wet. Paul stepped right in and took care of the cleaning and anything that required having hands in water. I was so grateful that he did that!! Thanks Paul!

Tessa won a coloring contest at her school for Internet Safety Week. She was thrilled with her award of slime and Powerade!

Rockwell had his last basketball game of the season. He enjoyed playing, especially with his friends on the team.

Paul and I went to dinner and the Nate Bargatze comedy show with Katie & Ben, Audrey & Jason, and Al & Keith. It was such a fun night! Bargatze is hilarious and we continued laughing about all his jokes the whole drive home. There's not much better than a night with friends laughing until you cry!

Rockwell Turns 12!!!

 Rockwell turned 12 years old last week!!

Rockwell is such a good kid! He is nice to the people in his life, he always expresses gratitude, and he looks for ways to help people. He comes out of school late sometimes because he stays to help Mrs Graff put chairs away or clean up the room if they've done an activity that she would have to rearrange or clean up on her own. 

Rockwell loves to read, especially the Wings of Fire series and all the Minecraft books. He loves to hang out with his friends, "The Amigos." They love to play video games together, go to Classic, play sports, and really do anything together. They're a great group of boys. I'm glad he has such good and nice friends.

(He had no interest in a birthday photo shoot, so I'm using some old favorites.)

Rockwell still loves penguins and popcorn. He loves watching YouTube on his laptop. He works very hard in school and makes sure he does his very best on the projects he's extra interested in. He really enjoys what he's learning in Social Studies and Science this year.

Rockwell always asks Paul and me how our day was, and follows up later to see how things are going that we tell him about. He cares a lot about the relationships he has with family. Goodbyes are very hard on him whenever family comes to stay with us, or we visit them. We are so proud of who Rockwell chooses to be and absolutely love love love that he's in our family!!!

Rockwell requested crepes for his birthday breakfast, and so Paul went into work late after making them for him. He decided to spend his class tickets on the couch that day. Logan's birthday is the day after Rockwell's but he wasn't going to be at school that day, so they both used their tickets to sit on the couch all day on Wednesday. He said he had a great day at school! When everyone was home that afternoon, Rockwell opened his presents.

He didn't have many ideas of things he wanted this year besides a couple books, so he was surprised with everything he opened. 

He was excited for his new Wings of Fire activity books, stickers, and notebook, his dragon Legos and stuffed animal, pajama pants, book, slinky, and Milky Ways.

He chose steak tacos for dinner, and wanted to watch Mr Popper's Penguins with popcorn and brownies that night. As we were popping the popcorn, Cheree texted and said she knew it was Rockwell's birthday but Aiden and Ashton really wanted her to see if he wanted to come to Classic with them. He said he definitely wanted to go. While Tessa, Damon, Paul and I were watching Mr Popper's Penguins and eating popcorn and brownies without him, it really hit me that we basically have a teenager!! He's to the point where he'll choose to hang out with his friends over the family anytime. :) I really am happy that he has good friends and wants to be out with them. It was just a moment that really emphasized how old Rockwell is now!

He had a blast at Classic. Aiden and Ashton gave the tickets they won to Rockwell since it was his birthday. Isn't that nice?!

 He wanted to at least eat a brownie before bed, so I put all 12 candles in his brownie. It made a huge flame! :)

He thanked us for the best birthday ever. I'm so glad he had such a great day!!

He had his birthday party with The Amigos Friday night. Levi was on a cruise so he couldn't come, but Aiden, Ashton, and Logan came and they had a blast!

They had pizza for dinner, played video games, opened presents, hit a pinata, played hide & go seek in the dark, played Minute To Win It Games, and made up some of their own games. 

It was a really fun night. We loved hearing Rockwell laugh and have a great time with his friends. Paul and I had some good laughs when the boys were playing the Minute To Win It games too. :) They're funny kids!!

Happy birthday Rockwell! We sure love love love you!!!

Top Ten Retreat

 Paul and Theron finished the 2021 year in the top 10% of their brokerage. 

Not too shabby for a couple of part-time realtors, full-time educators!!

Randy (their broker) and Rob Allphin (the preferred lender of Equity) put on a retreat for the the Top Ten agents each year. They put us up in the Daniel's Summit Lodge in Heber for a night. We had dinner and played games Wednesday night. Rob sat with us for dinner, and it was cool to hear him thank Paul and Theron for helping to raise his son Josh. Paul was Josh's teacher and basketball coach, and Theron was his principal. They now work with Josh on every deal they can because he is an excellent lender. I love to see the impact Paul has in our community, and love to hear him receive gratitude for his positive impact. It was a fun night playing games and getting to know the rest of the agents and their spouses.

Thursday morning we had breakfast and the awards ceremony.

Randy and Rob both did a little training, we got to listen to Brad Barton (a motivational speaker,) and the last activity was snowmobiling. 

 It was a beautiful ride. I always love to get in the back country and enjoy the beauty, quiet, and open space. I was a little sore after riding on the back for three hours though. It was a bumpy ride! :) It was so fun to get away for a night though, and celebrate Paul and Theron's hard work. Nice job Paul!!!

The kids were so excited for Grandma Ham to come stay with them while Paul and I were away. They love any time they can get with Grandma! Thank you so much Mom and Dad for making it possible for Paul and I to go to the retreat!!

Everyday Adventures

 Rockwell has loved going to the Young Men's activities every week. They learned about and made an "Armor of God" one week. He thought that was so fun.

We had a day off school for a teacher work day, and it was so good for the kids! We have a pretty busy schedule this school year, and it's often hard to find time where we don't have anywhere we need to be. Tessa and Damon played pretend outside all morning and I could just see that it was so good for them. They each played with their friends that afternoon, and it was just a nice, refreshing day for all of us.

Richmond took Damon to the BYU basketball game for his birthday party. The game started at 8:00, so it was a late night!! They had a blast though.

Damon went to Classic skating for Chloe's birthday party. I took Rockwell, Aiden, and Ashton too since they have passes there. I got to watch the boys all have fun while I listened to one of "my friend Sharon's" book club discussions. :)

Morgan's family took Tessa to a BYU gymnastics meet. They loved it! She and Morgan bought matching Cosmo stuffed animals while they were there. :)

Morgan came over to play after the meet and they had a lot of fun playing with Sadie since Tessa was dog-sitting her.

We had the January/February birthday dinner with the Ham Fam. 

Rockwell loved the money inside the balloons that Grandma & Grandpa gave him!

It was fun to celebrate Rockwell, Grandma, Ataiya, and Paige!