A Touch Of Tyrell

 I didn't mean to abandon the family/life chronicles!... especially for this long!! Life just went fast and I haven't been able to stop for even a few minutes to catch up and document our life.  Roxy turned 5, had a mermaid party. Everett turned 11, had a trampoline park party. I went on a girls 'trip' to scottsdale.  We bought a 'Summer/Vacation" house in Utah to satisfy my need/deep desire for seasons.  Persuaded the family to stay in Utah permanently.  Everyone agreed.  We went back to AZ to sell our house. Sold it, moved everything to Utah and spent the rest of the summer hiking, enjoying our new neighborhood, unpacking. It was a summer for the books. It was emotionally-charged and very high stress. We celebrated our 15 year anniversary. The kids started school here in August.  I worked endlessly on our new house: all new landscaping, painted the house, put in a mantle, painted the ceiling, put in a backsplash, organized and organized and organized...

The middle of June was when I got to drive the PACKED minivan from AZ to UT! Just me and the minivan! Jake and the kids stayed back in AZ because they all had something going on there until the end of the week... and then they were going to drive up in the truck with the things we'd use for the Summer.  Plus, I was going to clean the house and get it ready for the family! Buy food, mattresses, towels, soaps, shampoos... etc.  It was one of my favorite times! I think everyone dreams of moving into an empty house and decorating it from scratch and I totally got to do it! Once the kids were here, we got to play and explore and be outside without melting all the way. It was still really hot but not nearly as bad as AZ.  Breckie and I went for a bike ride and saw the house we were originally planning on building.  Jake and I came to Utah last October to check out a specific area and we ended up signing a contract to build a house right on the water.  It was one of th...

Breckie got to go to a dance camp with Faith the first week of Summer.  She really loved it and it was fun to see her perform the dances she learned.   

A few months ago Jake and I were invited to go to Lake Powell by our friends, the Olsons.  Jake met Janelle Olson when they were 14 at a youth conference in Washington and have stayed friends ever since. When she got married Jake became good friends with her husband Sean and has gone on dunes trips with him for years.  They are partial owners of a house boat and a boat and invited us on their trip.  We met a lot of new friends! We hired a friend for the 5 days to take care of this kids and left for a vacation at the Lake.  We stopped and did some shopping along the way and talked the whole drive there. When we got there, it was dark already. We used the wagons at the dock to transport all of our things and spent the night on the house boat.  It was fun to see what the slip looks like in the morning! The first day was quite adventurous! The Lake was super low and so it took some creativity to find the right spot to park the houseboat. It was so hot and sunny (wit...

So there is this group of women that I just LOVE. We've been getting together for months. 3 of us live on the same street and the other 3 live within a few minutes' walk. We usually get together on Thursday evenings a couple times a month and play games. And eat. And laugh until we just can't anymore,  Honestly, they are some of my very favorite nights.  Some of the best stories have been told and I often laugh so hard that I go home with a headache and sometimes I may have peed a little 😅 Maghen suggested we plan a girls trip. We thought about going to Mexico but some of the husbands weren't big fan of that idea. So we decided to have a "stay-cation" and try out Scottsdale.  We ate at lots of delicious places I'd only ever heard of, stayed up into the wee hours of the morning, played games and laughed, shopped, and even went to the pool! Plus, we had matching shirts with our own hashtags we gave each other.  By the time we made it home to our families we...

Everett, his friend Lincoln, and Lincoln's cousin Braylon, all played on the same soccer team this season.  They won their first game and then lost all the rest. They had several players that also played baseball at the same time so they were often playing down a player or two! Everett played in a defensive position and by the end of the season had some great moves I was so proud of! He's not aggressive by nature and so he really has to work hard.  The three of them had some fun times together. They swam several times together in Lincolns pool (I got a good kick out the times they hung out in the hot tub and chatted for hours!) and even had a sleepover.  It was fun to see the three of them play soccer and hang out together.   

For Everett's birthday we went to the Lego store. Everett has been picking out Lego's for his birthday since my grandma sent his $20 for is 4th birthday and he picked out two police cars. He was so adorable with his big toothy smile and focus as he followed the instructions and put them together.  I've always loved Lego's so I don't mind "investing" in them. I feel like they are memory-keepers in a way and a gift that keeps on giving.  He was debating between the Ford Mustang, the Ghost Busters car, or the buccaneers pirate ship.  He decided on the mustang!  He started building it right away... you know it's good when he chooses a toy over screens!!! He told me I didn't need to do all the decorations and stuff but I told him I had to! He needs to know he's special and worth decorating for (no matter how old he is or if he thinks it will embarrass him infront of his friends.  He decided on a party at Elevate (trampoline park) and an ice cream ca...