Back in January we decided to sign up for a “Fun For Less” tour to Israel and Egypt with my brothers, Mark and Matt, and their wives. So 10 months later, on October 25th, we headed on our way. We were gone 17 days and enjoyed visiting so many wonderful sites. It was fun to travel with family and we were lucky to have Michael Wilcox as our educator during the week in Israel. If you have ever considered taking this trip, do it!
Labor day weekend we took Clark and traveled up to WA to celebrate baby Asher and participate in his baby blessing. Loren gave Asher a very nice blessing and it was fun to spend time with many of Anne’s family who came to support them as well. We had a fun weekend playing with Kenyon, Emmy and Asher! Their cute family took us to a flower farm where we could pick a bucket full of flowers to take home and enjoy. It was hard to get in the car and drive away from all of them. Christmas can’t come soon enough!
This year everyone came home to Utah for a fun week together. It’s getting kind of rowdy with 16 of us now – including 4 grandkids! We had lots of fun playing, swimming, picnicking, hiking, going on field trips and celebrating birthdays! It was great to have Aunti Di here visiting from NY.
Loren and Anne welcomed their 3rd child Asher William into their family on Tuesday May 22. He weighed in at 9lbs 2oz – a big baby, but not a problem because he was air lifted out (planned C-section)! Kenyon and Emmy are thrilled with their new sibling and shower great amounts of love, pats, hugs and kisses all over him.
Birthday season is upon us! Clark started things off by turning 21 on February 4th, then I turned ?? on February 20th and then Elliot turned 24 on March 12th. Three down, a bunch more to go!
Yes, our friends Marla and Steve Lundgren, who were supposed to come back last year are still in working and living in Laie Hawaii. So yep, we had to go visit them again! We had a great time walking on the beach, eating yummy seafood and playing games. We’ll see if they come home next year like they are promising! Otherwise, another trip?
The last Sunday in February we all gathered in sunny Arizona to bless sweet little Aubrey. She looked so darling in the beautiful dress made by Trevor’s mom, Bev. I crocheted the blanket, so she was blessed by both Grandmas besides being literally blessed by her father, both grandfathers and one great grandfather. We worried that she would cry through the blessing, but as Trevor began the blessing she spit out her pacifier, smiled and looked at her Daddy during the whole blessing. What a sweetie!
January is always a boring cold month, so why not plan a weekend get-a-way to sunny CA with the cute girl that lives in San Diego?! We managed to fit in a day at Disneyland, time on the beach, a session at the San Diego Temple, and of course some tacos!
This year we had two Christmases – one with the Grandkids Thanksgiving weekend and then of course one in December. I always love the cozy feeling of Christmas and the gifts are fun to plan and give, but my favorite part is being surrounded by and having fun with our family. I hope our children and grandchildren will always want to come home and continue making wonderful memories with each other.
November 30th 2017, Aubrey Jane Sudweeks came into the world and into our family! She was born just before 7:00 pm, weighing in at 7 lbs. 14 oz. Tess had a difficult time and Aubrey ended up being born by Cesarean Section, but everyone is doing great now and basically the challenge seems to be getting Aubrey to sleep at night instead of during the day! Tess and Trevor are thrilled to begin their family with this sweet baby girl. As the lucky Grandma, I got to spend 10 days in sunny warm AZ helping the kids and of course cuddling with Aubrey!
