Special Events

We got together with some people for Thanksgiving!

We’ve gone every year for the last 3 or 4 years so let’s post it up again! This year the water was pretty low for an early July trip. We celebrated July 4th with burgers and costume night. Everybody lived and had a good time. Trip atendees: DeFords McKains Linnehans (multiple families) Sophia Taite

Grandma and Grandpa Moe have been spending winters in Arizona for the past few years. They like it very much and while Kari and the kids have made a few trips to see them, I’d never been. Not that my previous absence had anything to do with it, we made plans to spend Christmas with […]

Tegan has a little actress inside of her. Some days it’s a little shy but she really likes it. Especially when Seneca and Serisa are also involved.

Grandma Pat and Grandpa Gary came to visit for a week visit. It’s always so nice when they come, we celebrated Grandma’s birthday, the girls got their toenails done, and generally hung out.

End of the year Field Day is something the kids look forward to. I remember looking forward to it myself when I was a kid. Here’s Tegan’s kindergarten Field Day:

Tegan’s Kindergarten play, Mystery of the Missing Jewel Fish… Tory did the same production when he was in Kindergarten, but I don’t think I documented it…

To b dade fum TegAn

Tegan and Serisa spent nearly every Monday of the school year at evening dance class. This year they were at Parley’s Park Elemenatary (closer to Serisa’s house). Thanks again to Melissa Nestor (Dancing Little Stars) for all the time and coordination.

Jarrett graduated from grad school, and we went to celebrate. Congrats Uncle J!

The kids do swimming lessons in the spring, usually two sessions in a row. Here’s a few highlights from the last day. Tory’s class had a mini swim meet, racing each of the 4 strokes. Freestyle Tory gets a third place ribbon, but check the end of the video, he actually comes in second… Breaststroke […]

What started out as a fun afternoon sledding in the back yard turned into absolute horror as Tegan fell off the sled and split her head open. Okay ‘absolute horror’ might be a stretch. She was a big girl about it all and gave her patented “I’m Tough!”:

Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus came to Salt Lake and the kids somehow found out about it. So we went! My folks were in town at the time so they came too. The show was absolutely amazing – for the most part. I wasn’t too keen on the animal stuff – I’m not […]

We were lucky enough to go to a second SLC Bees game this summer, this time with our neighbors the Jacksons (Russ, Julie, and Luke). Luke is a year older than Tory and they ride the bus together. We sat in the outfield so the kids could ride the train. After the game was the […]

At least one SLC Bees game a summer is becoming a tradition. This year we went with the counselors from the bible camp at our church, as well as Pastor Steve. Later in the game we went and sat in the outfield, which is basically a big lawn where the kids can run crazy. Might […]

Every Monday during the school year Tegan went to dance class after school. This dance recital was the culmination of all that hard work. Serisa was in the same class as Tegan. Seneca was in a different class, which is why she has a different dress. There were tons of kids in about 10 classes, […]

Tory was awarded a certificate of excellence along with some of his friends and neighbors. Our neighbors Calvin and Luke were also awarded. Good on you kiddos!

A new addition to the garden was a potato condo… or perhaps high-rise. I built 5 wooden tiers, the theory being that as the plants grow, you continually add a tier and bury the plants. Then potatoes grow up with it. Unfortunately that’s not how it worked out. Grandpa and Grandma H, and Jenny were […]

Grandpa and Grandma Hoffman purchased a Volkswagen RV earlier this summer and headed west to visit us as well as Uncle Loren and Aunt Audrey. They were here for a week and we had a very nice time seeing the sites around Park City, hiking a bit, and playing in our garden.

Fathers Day, 2012 – Salt Lake Bees vs Fresno. Bees lost, but it was really great to get out and see a game with Kari and the kids. Brad Bath and his family were there too.

Here’s a quick video of Tory and Tegan in an early summer swimming lesson. They were in different classes, but in the same area so the video shows them both:

Bowling was all the rage for this years Tory and Tegan Birthday Week™. Tonight we went to Jupiter Bowl in Park City. Josh, Heather, and Serisa showed, as did Sam and Sophia. Jarrett and Mel were there, and Uncle Nate too. Watch as Tory nearly picks up a split:

We’re still holding combo parties for Tory and Tegan’s birthdays. At least until they scream uncle about it. This year we headed down to Heber City’s Holiday Lanes for a little bowling session. Gutterballs and $2 everything ruled the night ($2 shoes, $2 games, $2 food). Lot’s of friends showed up, and I only got […]

Tegan turned three in January, and after a fun night at the Kamas pool came home to find a new penguin in her cache of gifts. She requested pizza for dinner with a cookies and ice cream chaser.

It’s that time of year again, where kids get crazy with the clothes and run around sugar crazed. Too much fun. I missed the Doggy Parade this year, but (thankfully??) Halloween is more of a ‘season’ than a single day.

Here’s a walk along Scarecrow Lane by the White Barn in Park City with Aspen and T’ai, Heather and Serisa, and Tory, Tegan, and Kari. The kids got to make their own scarecrows afterwards.

We spent Tegan’s official birthday-day on the road driving back from Minnesota. We got home in the late afternoon and decided to throw together a quick celebration. Kari picked up a slice of frosted cookie thingie. It was very gross. We’ll celebrate her birthday with a little more enthusiasm this next weekend in a combo […]

We try to make it back to Minnesota at least once a year, and common sense usually dictates that it occurs during the summer months. Since we missed going last year (as a family) all together, we decided that it would be nice to head back for the Holidays. So it was Christmas with the […]

Tory and his preschool pals got to spend an afternoon on a dogsledding adventure. Kari was there too as a chaperone and picture taker. The kids all loaded up into two sleds and went for ride down East Canyon Creek – which is a road, but I’m sure they still had fun and enjoyed it. […]

I’ve had to start titling these posts with a year extension as we come around to doing the same events year after year, but what the hey… I could do some kind of clever title, but that’s not what this site is all about so again – what the hey. That aside, the Kids Fair […]

The weather this spring has been rather crappy – snow and rain and cold – so getting a little sun and warmth for Mother’s Day was a real treat. It was a perfect day to get outside and build our first two raised bed gardens. The soil here isn’t as rich and black as I’m […]

Every year The Canyons holds an Easter egg hunt on the mountain, and every year we miss it by just a few minutes. Luckily the kids are still too small to really care (I hope), so like I said last year: We’ll make it next year! The Epsteins did make it on time, and the […]

Grandma Pat and her sister always had to share their birthday parties, and the advice is – even though there’s less than a week between Tory and Tegan’s birthdays – do separate parties. We’ll definitely take that advice, but for the next few years while they could really care less, we’ll do them together. And […]

Not that there’s a lot of pictures to prove it, but Christamas ’09 was great. Grandpa and Grandma Moe braved a winter storm to travel across country to be with us through the New Year. (They even endured a night in – gasp – Lincoln, Nebraska! Oh, the humanity!) Mel and Jarrett were over at […]

Here’s a quick post about our new house here in Park City. It was a strange process getting it, but in the end it worked out thanks to luck, patience, and a huge help from our family. We owe a big big thanks. As you can see from the pics, this place is a bit […]

It’s been a craaaazy last few months, which is a sad sad sad excuse for me not posting anything on the kids. I’ll be adding lots soon as there’s much to catch up on. For those of you who can’t get enough of Halloween, even after Thanksgiving, here’s how ours went this year.