January

We kicked off January by celebrating Chase's 14th birthday! This kid is everything good in the world. He loves people and is so kind and thoughtful. He works hard at school worked diligently all year of 8th grade to get perfect grades. He practices his piano without even being asked. He looks out for his siblings. We all just love him so much! 

For his birthday party we got a group of his friends together and did an escape room. Apparently it was a big hit and the boys had the best time! They got out with literally 1 second to spare and many great stories to tell!

In January Hudson got ordained a deacon and Chase was ordained a teacher by Ben. It was a super sweet and special little meeting with all their grandparents there. 

All three boys just heading off to school- I love how much Davis loves being part of this trio. He is so much smaller and younger than them and they never make him feel like it- he's one of the boys!

No one loves losing a tooth quite as much as Davis!

We started experimenting with heart hair to get ready for Valentines day and it was honestly a real highlight during drab winter months for both of us. 

The big boys had a winter campout (no pics, but they had a blast!) so Ben and I took the younger two out to breakfast at a crepe place for a sweet little morning. 

Sunday quiet time- Davis and Lila have "thrones".

On Inauguration Day we had to do something to get Davis's mind out of his despair of the election results, so we headed to the Natural History Museum for some family fun. I don't think Lila even really knew dinosaurs were real until she was looking at the gigantic bones! Also- it worked, Davis's mood improved greatly. 

This darling vintage piece made it's appearance on the snowiest days of winter! My mom made this for Heidi back in like 1995.

Baking with Nana- this is one of Lila's favorite activities.

Hudson turned 12! We had a fun night with his friends at our house. Teenage boys are so easy to please! Pizza, a movie, hanging out, and Hudson's favorite brownies- I didn't even have paper plates so my plan was to just have them use paper towels but my dad ran to the store for me at the last minute :)

Hudson is such a gem. He's creative and inquisitive. Whatever he is interested he dives in deep. He's been learning all about building and architecture and frequently comments on buildings and houses we pass using all kinds of jargon I don't fully understand. He is inclusive and kind and makes us all laugh. He's so uniquely himself and isn't afraid to explore "uncool" stuff. He spent most of that 12th year really trying all kinds of hair stuff and loving his long locks. 12 year old Hudson is just a delight!

The next day he had a robotics competition and they really cleaned up! They took 1st place in the teamwork challenge which gave them an invite to the State meet! They also got the design award- which was really for Hudson. He designed a very unique robot and spent hours and hours perfecting it- it paid off! His was one of the only bots with a unique design and it really stood out. He was so excited!