Last September Davey had his 8th Birthday! Davey is a big Atlanta Hawks (and NBA, in general) fan.
More importantly, Davey chose to be baptized! He was baptized on October 8th, 2016. It was a great day. Lots of family came to show support for Davey on his big day. Thanks to everyone. My older brother Alan and his Family moved from San Antonio, Texas to live in Blackfoot, Idaho for a year or two. It has been really nice living less than 4 hours away from them and being able to see them more.
Eve has chosen a favorite holiday. It's not Christmas or her birthday; it's Halloween. Unlike every other member of her immediate family, Eve enjoys the thrill of scary things. She also loves candy like all children. When we were at the library this past week, in July, Eve picked out a Halloween book to read. Here are pictures of Davey & Gordon, and Kristi dressed up in their Halloween costumes.
Eve has been growing a lot. She seems so much bigger now than she did back in November. This is Eve telling her favorite joke back in November, 2016.
In December, Alan took me to a Jazz game. He got us some amazing seats. It was a totally different experience being that close to the court. It was a great game that the Jazz won on a buzzer beater. It was a really cool experience to share with Alan.
And this is just Eve being Eve!
For Christmas in 2016, we went up to Idaho and enjoyed Christmas with my Dad. All my brothers and their families were there as well. It was a very nice Christmas, but was a little bitter sweet as it was the first Christmas after Mom passed away. We had a great Christmas Eve Program with extended family. It snowed so much on Christmas Day that church was cancelled, and Mark had to come pick us up in his large pickup truck just so we could get from Alan's house to Dad's to open presents. And as is the case with almost every Christmas, I took no good photos. Sorry.
Just before we moved out of the same apartment we had been living in since 2010, I was able to go on one last hike with the boy scouts in our ward. I served with the young men most of the time I was in that ward. The hike was just before New Years. I got this cool picture. We really loved that ward we had spent 6+ years in. There were so many good people and good friends we had during our time in the ward (Slate Canyon 4th).
In the beginning of January we moved into a new place. It is a townhouse in Springville. It is a three bedroom place with some more square footage, so we are a little less crowded now. We are enjoying having a dishwasher, washing machine, and dryer. There is also a great common ground with a playground for the kids to use. Here is a picture of our new place that I took in spring (it snowed a lot the day we were trying to move in).
With all the snow we got this winter, Eve and I decided to build a snowman. Eve named him "Strong Pink Pops". I have no idea why, but here he is.
Later in January Kristi and I went on a date to see our favorite musical group, Vocal Point. We always love to see their concert. The beatboxer they currently have is amazing. If you ever get the chance to see a Vocal Point concert, I would highly recommend going.
In February, we went up to Idaho again for Sammy's baptism. Congratulations Sammy!
February was actually quite travel packed for our family. Davey and I went to Idaho again over the NBA all star weekend and had a blast just hanging out at Alan's house. A week later Kristi flew out to San Francisco to spend a couple of days sightseeing with her sister Rachael. Kristi really enjoyed San Francisco and wants to visit again sometime.
Even though we are now Springville residents, we still hit up our favorite spot in Provo, the Provo Library, for the Children's Book Festival at the end of April. They always get an author to come to the event, and this year Dan Santat, who won a Caldecott Medal for the book "Beekle," was the guest. Gordon owns that book, and got it signed. Dan Santat was really kind. Gordon had brought some pictures that he had drawn, and Dan Santat took time to look at them and then told Gordon that he is a better drawer that Dan was at Gordon's age. There were lots of other fun activities too, and each child received a free book.
In May, Gordon's class took a field trip to the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. Kristi and I volunteered as chaperones and brought along Eve. It was a fun day at the zoo that concluded with a bird show that was a lot of fun.
Over Mother's Day weekend we took another trip up to Idaho. This time we went to go through the Idaho Falls Temple open house before the re-dedication. As we looked at the sealing rooms, it was cool to tell my kids that's where their Grandpa and Grandma were sealed together. My Dad, David, got to be in the temple for the re-dedication, which happened to fall on the anniversary of his Baptism.
We have two birthdays in June. Eve's is on the 5th. She turned 4 years old and had a Moana themed party. We went swimming at the clubhouse where we live, opened presents, and then watched the movie. On the 14th, Gordon turned 7 years old. He had a Pokemon themed party. We went to an indoor jump house place called the Kangaroo Zoo. The kids had fun there. Gordon also enjoyed his Pokemon cake.
We went up to Idaho again for part of the 4th of July weekend. We enjoyed a fireworks show at Grandma Jensen's house the Friday night we got up there. On Saturday we took in some of the Blackfoot city festivities. We got the experience of watching a Black Hawk helicopter take off really close to us. We didn't even know that was going to be part of the festivities. Then we went over to the park where a plane flew overhead and dropped a lot of ping pong balls that could then be redeemed for small prizes. After we left those events, we headed back to Alan's house for delicious BBQ. There was a lot of family there, along with great food and good conversation. Exactly what you would want out of a BBQ. Blackfoot had their city fireworks that night. We had a nice Sunday with Church in the morning and games in the afternoon. On Monday we headed back to Salt Lake City with Alan's family and Dan to catch another one of our favorite local events: Jazz Summer League. It is a lot of fun because we get to see two games for a great price with seats a lot closer to the action then we would normally be able to get. They have family friendly activities outside the arena that Kristi and Natalie took advantage of with the little kids during the first game. I had Kristi snap a picture of me in this Rudy Gobert cutout. Davey kept dancing during the game and finally go on the jumbotron. Alan's Family and Dan spent the night at our house that night, and then we had a big breakfast and went swimming before they headed back to Idaho. It was a great weekend.
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