January

 January is always a hard month. It is hard to go back to work after Christmas break. It's hard because it is still dark in the mornings and evenings when I am driving to and from work. It is hard because it is FREEZING! It is hard because basketball season is still happening and I am tired. All the things make it hard. I do look forward for the opportunity to get outside on the weekends. Amber and I have hiked up Rock Canyon every weekend so far. It has been great. Anthony even joined us last Saturday.

Covid cases are really high again and so school shut down Friday and Tuesday to give everyone five days off in a row, school was already closed Monday for Martin Luther King Day. It was nice to catch up on rest and housework. I was even able to schedule a temple trip which was awesome. Friday during the day I hiked up Slate Canyon with Moki. I saw a crazy paw print on the trail.

The canyon has bears and cougars. This one looks cougarish. YIKES!

Anthony is good about making sure we always take a picture. Here we are at the Rock Canyon lookout. Amber and I hike every week and never take pictures, we should be better about it:)

We hiked 6 miles. They aren't super steep but we hike fast and so it is always a great workout.

After I was taking a nap and then Erica texted and wanted to hike. We met up and hiked the G with Moki and her new dog Archie. It was awesome. I was super tired after two hikes. It makes me feel my age when I do things like that. We hiked as the sun was setting. It was beautiful. There was a huge herd of deer grazing up by the G so that was fun to see, although it did make it so I had to keep Moki on a leash. The dogs did great and it was good to see Erica.

Tomorrow I am back at school as normal. Hopefully we will have less absences and start to get into a rhythm with this new semester. 

That's a Wrap on 2021

2021 . . . . the year we all hoped everything would start to resemble "normal" again. I feel like hope is like going on a very long trek. There are so many ups and downs. You have to have hope along the entire journey. I wanted to be hopeful in 2021. Lots of good things happened but it was also a very hard year. Professionally the start of the 2021-2022 school year has been my hardest year teaching. There have been so many things to figure out, respect for teachers is at an all time low, students don't seem to care about school, parents are less involved. COVID is still very REAL! It has been really hard. I am not sure what to do or how to change anything I just know my job has seemed so HARD and I am exhausted.

I did get to travel some this year. Trips to Ecuador and Africa. Ecuador was absolutely amazing and made for such a fun spring break. To finally cross Kilimanjaro off my bucket list was a dream come true. It already feels like a dream that I was standing on top of one of the 7 summits. It was a trip that was physically challenging, especially getting to the summit.

I enjoyed a lot of time with family. I had multiple trips to California and was able to visit with so many loved ones. Aaron and Jacklyn gave birth to the sweetest little baby girl, Tyla. She has been such a joy to spend time with and to watch grow. My other nieces and nephews are getting so big. They are all so smart and I love them so much. They make the wold a better place and I am so happy to have them all in my life. 

Moki and I got to hike so many miles this year. We hiked pretty much weekly with Amber on Saturdays, and then with Eric and Jacquie Carter on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. We also snuck in hikes with Jana, Erica, Aaron and Jacklyn and even Anthony. I love being able to enjoy the beautiful outdoors with people I love. 

Marco Polo. . . . my high school friends have a group and it has been the best. It has been so fun to stay in touch with the girls who I grew up with. We cry, we laugh and we celebrate one another through videos. I always listen to the daily Polos on my way home from work and it makes my day! It is also a way that I stay in touch with my Aunt Virginia which has been fun too.

I am hopeful that 2022 will be better than 2021. I know I need to rely on the Savior to find peace and happiness in this life. I really want to work at turning more towards him as I attempt to navigate this crazy world.

Lambeau

 Jana and family headed to California the day after Christmas. They have a pretty new puppy that couldn't be home alone so I volunteered to watch him. His name is Lambeau and he is the cutest. Moki and Lambeau get along great. Lambeau did really well at my house and it was so fun to have him. Moki was so tired when the week was over. I think it was hard on her to have so much energy in the house all the time:) Lambeau joined us on multiple hikes and it was fun to introduce him to hiking in the beautiful Utah winter.

Amber, I and the two dogs hiked the south fork loop right after we got fresh snow. It was a super cold day but the dogs didn't seem to mind.

Another afternoon we went up rock canyon. I tried to get both dogs in a picture with this decorated tree but it did not happen.

I  also walked the shoreline trail a few times with the dogs. 

I went outside to take the trash out and I had two dogs keeping a very close eye on me.

Just being such a good little pup!

I let him lay on me when I was on the coach. Not something he is allowed to do at his own house. I loved having a cuddle buddy in the evenings.

Lambeau really was super easy and fun to have around. I always enjoy being able to get some extra time outside during Christmas break.

Second Cousin Fun

 My cousin Sharee and her family were in town for all of Christmas break. Her twin boys are similar in age to Andrew. We decided to meet up a couple of times and have some fun.

One afternoon we went to the Provo Rec Center and spent the afternoon swimming. It was so fun and the kids played hard and for so long. I didn't take any pictures but it was a great way to let them all get their energy out. They all found activities in the water they enjoyed. There were four adults: Katie Ricord, Amanda, my mom and me. We had lots of supervision to keep track of everyone. After swimming we came to my house and had dinner and played a couple games. It was a busy/active fun afternoon and evening.

My mom and I took Sam's kids for two nights. That gave us lots of one on one time with the kids. We spent one evening decorating gingerbread cookies.

Another afternoon we headed up to Loralie's house. Here we met up with Katie, who had Sharee's twins, so we could go sledding. Then Kris Ricord and kids met us at the sledding location. It was a very fun afternoon. The kids lasted for a couple of hours with very little complaining. They played so hard.

Kiera was so good to Audrey. She took her down the hill over and over.

My favorite quote of the day was Audrey yelling, "I want to go fast, faster faster." She was so hilarious and had no fear.

Trying to get a group picture. It didn't work out to well.

The kids were exhausted after this adventure and so was I. We got warmed up and watched a movie to finish off the night!

Chritmas

 My mom flew to Utah on December 18th. She stayed with me the entire time she was in Utah. I loved having her around. We got to visit, visit lots of family and relax some. We actually sis something pretty much every single day she was here. She was here for almost two weeks. Games were played, food was eating, and memories were made. 

We did Christmas Eve at my house. I was more than happy to host. I love gathering everyone together even though it can be so much work. We made yummy food, read the Christmas story and opened all the presents. All the Browns that live in Utah were her along with my mom and Nancy. It was a successful night.

I made everyone take pictures before opening presents. The kids were good sports, especially considering the anticipation:)

I made the adults join in too!

My favorite part of the evening is that we took turns opening all the presents and so we got to see everyones reaction. It was really fun. The kids did amazing at being so patient. We spent a couple hours opening presents because we all took turns. 

This girl and her faces!

It was a great evening. Sam and Amanda stayed way later than normal and everyone was in a pleasant mood.

Christmas Day we spent at Dan's house. It was so nice to sleep in. Amanda made delicious cinnamon rolls. I can't remember the last time I had a cinnamon roll but hers were so yummy. We went to the park, played games and just hung out. We had lots of yummy snacks and ended the evening with a ham dinner. 

Hiking In The Super Cold Weather

 The first Saturday of Christmas Break Jacquie Carter, Eric Carter and I hiked up to the Rock Canyon lookout. It is a moderately steep 5 mile round trip hike. I hike it most Saturdays with Amber. We started early and it was soooo cold. When we finished it was only 18 degrees. Somehow we survived but man I was so so so cold. We took a couple pictures at the lookout and you can feel the cold when you look at them. I could barely get my face to smile!

All the hair that was exposed was frozen. I took another selfie back in the car. Just a reminder of how chilly it was.

I am so grateful for the Carters. I love hiking with them. We hike most Tuesday and Thursday mornings. It is good for my physical body and my soul. We have taken January off because of how chilly it has been and I have definitely missed it.