The Year

My Top 9

2025 has been a great year! I probably say that every year, but I have loved all the experiences we've been able to share so much.

-We visited 9 states this year; Florida, Georgia, Nevada for Grammy's birthday, boys trip to Idaho, girls trip to Oregon, visited Josh in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Delaware. Delaware was the only new one I'd never been to before.

-Plus another girls trip to Logan, a sibs trip to Park City and an overnight trip to Salt Lake City with Kyle.

-I went on 14 hikes; Sand Caves 1.2miles, Kanab Dinosaur Tracks 1.2miles, Red Hollow Slot Canyon 1mile, Bridal Veil Falls, Paul Bunyan's Woodpile 1.5miles, Buffalo Peak 1mile, Donut Falls 1.5miles, Stewart Falls 3.1miles, Gloria Falls 2.3miles, Moonshine Arch 1.5miles, Bald Mountain Trail 2.7miles, Munson Falls .5miles, to see the Tillamook Lighthouse from Indian Beach and the Eagle Mountain Prayer Flags.

-We went on  8 temple dates, including the Syracuse Temple open house.

-We went on 6 camping trips; Kanab, Scofield, Flaming Gorge, Uintas, Joe's Valley and Kyle and Kasen went on the deer hunt. Kanab and Joe's Valley were both new places this year.

-I ran 5 races this year, 2 with Kasen AND the sisters 5K that I made a goal to make happen!

-I read 53 books this year, 6 were audio books (not including to the entire series of A Series of Unfortunate Events and Summer of the Monkeys that I've listened to in the car with the kids).

-We saw 6 movies in theaters; Dogman, Minecraft, How to Train Your Dragon, Freakier Friday, Wicked and Zootopia 2. Plus the 2 shows Kyle and I went to; The Prince of Egypt and Michael Jackson One and the John Williams laser light show I took Kasen to see. Tai got to see Cinderella with me and Frozen with Kyle too.

-Kasen, Tai and Kohen all got to play basketball this year, Kohen graduated preschool and started kindergarten and Kolt is pretty much potty trained!

-Kohen got to go to Monster Truck Jam and loved it, Kasen went on the deer hunt for the first time and Tai got to go to General Conference for the first time. The last one President Nelson spoke at before he passed away.

-Kasen did great in the Lion King and he and Tai will both be in Seussical next March. They are both still doing piano, LEGO League, both entered the Reflections art contest and both received awards of excellence for their submissions. Tai moved on to level 2 in her tumbling class.

-Kyle passed his Sergeant's exam and will most likely be promoted next year!

-I gave away 15 loaves of sourdough bread. I always make 2 at a time and most of the time I give the second one away.

-We got family pictures WITH Kolt in them up on the wall. First ones with our whole family together and it makes me so happy to see them.

-We finished reading the Book of Mormon together! Tai also chose to fast every fast Sunday this year and I'm so proud of her.

- I reached the 2025 goals I made to visit Josh, run a 5K with my sisters, camp in a new county, and get family pictures taken. Yay!

And I always learn a lot each year too:

1. Do not set heating lamps on plastic things or fleece blankets.
2. If a toe nail turns purple then it takes about 5 months after that for it to fall off completely.
3. How to make sourdough bread and that inclusions are hard to distribute evenly.
4. Throwing up in the car is not just a sign of mere motion sickness. It is also a sign of the most contagious flu to ever hit Ponderosa Grove Campground. 
5. Unfortunately, it is not illegal to deface man made rock formations.
6. Avocados will ripen in a day if they're put inside a brown paper bag with a banana.
7. It IS possible for my phone screen to crack, but really it's just the screen protector and they are only $10 to replace.
8. We still don't know which sunflower seeds to plant for medium sized sunflowers.
9. Always assemble a Costco shed on a level surface as suggested.
10. Do not continue a water fight in newly tie dyed shirts.
11. A Relief Society Presidency cannot effectively be the service coordinator and activities committee also.
12. How to use Canva.
13. How to manually open and close a garage door, that it costs $456.66 to replace a garage door spring and that both springs have to be replaced at the same time.
14. The joy of having a back deck that doesn't give kids splinters.
15. How to smoke burgers on the Traeger all by myself. 
16. Tai LOVES roller coasters and has yet to find a ride she will not ride twice.
17. What it is like to ride an E-bike.
18. My hiking boots are not water proof.
19. It takes a couple days, but Kasen can get up on water skis!
20. How to tow both a 5th wheel trailer and a boat.
21. A toddler's head is strong enough to dent the metal beading on the corner of a wall, if hit enough times.
22. What it's like to have a kid in full day kindergarten instead of half day.
23. I can find sand dollars at Rockaway Beach, OR!
24. Where you actually have to go in order to be able to see the Tillamook Lighthouse.
25. When Bellatrix gets out of her cage, luckily she doesn't go very far.
26. The wolf dog that lives at 3572 Flower bites.
27. Always start boys haircuts on the side vs. right down the middle, in case you are using the wrong clipper length.
28. Do not try the soften/melt butter in glass measuring cups. It will explode.
29. Crock pots can last almost 14 years before they start cracking and leaking.
30. It takes our family almost 3 years to read the Book of Mormon together.
31. According to Mountain America Credit Union, it is impossible to add a business account to a living trust...
32. Philly Cheese Steaks are not in fact made with Philadelphia Cream Cheese.
33. Riding the Staten Island Ferry is free and going to the top of the Empire State Building makes your ears pop.
34. How to actually be able to see my year in books on Goodreads.

CHEERS to 2025!

The Family Parties

Jake was here for Thanksgiving and while he was here Grammy took the whole family to see the lights at Luminaria at Thanksgiving Point! The membership she got us last year has been the best gift.

She bought everyone some waffle treats and we watched a fire and ice show.

The kids also got to do a scavenger hunt and walk through the Light of the World and the Tree of Life.

Thank you Grammy!

With Grandma Melanie and Jack we went to see the lights at Temple Square for the first time in 6 years! So it was Kohen's first time going. The temple is still under renovation, but it will finally be done next year. After lights, they took everyone to dinner at Black Bear Diner.

Thank you!

We had a Sibsmas Christmas party at Hayden's that consisted of a gingerbread house making contest, which Kyle did not want to participate in. He ended up making a little house with a milk carton and let Tai decorate it with MnMs. Hayden and Kyley were the real contenders, but after our picture, Lyndsey crashed the firetruck into the barn and then everything was a smash party.

We all had people vote on social media and Hayden won, even though he broke the rules by using cardboard inside his! We also opened sibling family gifts and Hayden and Karissa gave us this puzzle that we did together the next day! And a Dumpster Dice game that we've been playing too.

Kelly took the whole family tubing at Soldier Hollow again this year. Kolt still wasn't quite old enough to go down the hill, but we all had fun! The 60 degree weather was actually kind of nice, even though the hill was shorter because it was all fake snow they had to make.

Dinner at Tucanos afterwards is a favorite too.

Thank you Kelly!

Our last family party of the year was the Forsyth party!

Grandma and Grandpa took us all to the Orem Mall Giving Machines, in our matching pajamas, and gave each family money so we could pick out something to buy for someone else. Our family decided to pool our money together and we bought a wheelchair. I hope my kids will remember how special the giving is.

Grandma and Grandpa then took us all to have lunch at the food court and the kids got to play at the play place for a little while. Kasen and Tai were telling me they had never been to a mall before? I told them they've been to Build-A-Bear though... Maybe I should be proud that my 10 1/2 year old has no memories of walking around a mall. Haha Shopping is not my thing.

We went back to their house after to play a game and have scones. Tai also prepared a couple Christmas songs, O Christmas Tree and Silent Night, that she taught us about and then played on the piano!

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for a fun party!

We have loved all the family time this month.

Christmas Day

Christmas came! 

 We let all the kids sleep downstairs together and even with a diaper on, somehow Kolt woke up at 4:30 crying and had peed in Tai's bed, the only one without a mattress cover. But after that they slept till 8 so I guess that made up for it.

We read the Christmas story together and then did something different. We had a little scavenger hunt with 6 clues for the kids to find, telling them that we're going to DISNEYLAND in March! With the Days! We should have done it after cause they were much too distracted by trying to see what all was on the couch. Kohen has especially been wanting to go though and has already packed his new duffle bag! Their duffle bags all had shirts, ears/hats, autograph books and souvenir money for them to take with us. I am so excited!! We've been planning this will travel rewards credit card points for years.

 

Kohen got another daddy date to go see Supercross in May so he is super excited about that! He'd asked for another date like last year. He also asked for a shark fin and a bow and arrow that he did not get...

Kasen got a 3D printer and Tai got a tackle box to go fishing with Dad and a volleyball and knee pads to start volleyball next month! They all got new shoes too.

Kolt got a rope swing to hang from the ceiling hooks downstairs and Kohen got more Pokemon cards since he gave all his other ones away doing "trades." They aren't in English though, but apparently that's what he and Kasen wanted?

Then we did our sibling gift exchange from drawing each other's names. Kohen got Kolt a monster truck and a Marshall Paw Patrol airplane. Tai got Kohen a dinosaur hot wheels track.

Kasen got Tai a 3D koala puzzle, Carmellos and a Sister sign that made her give him a huge hug! Tai helped Kolt pick out some new pajamas for Kasen.

Then they opened up their presents from Great Grandma and Grandpa Forsyth.

The kids got a new desk plaque for Kyle with each of their pictures from their daddy dates on it.

Kyle is so amazing at always filling my stocking! He got me a Minky blanket, a curling iron and so many gift cards and treats.

My parents and Stephanie came over for Christmas Casserole breakfast with us and gave all the kids some cute Christmas Jammies to tell them we're also going to Disney on Ice in March with them!

Then Grandma Melanie and Jack stopped by with more presents.

Kohen got another hot wheels truck that folds out into a track and Kolt got a camping chair and a sticky balls dart board that he LOVES. He sat in his chair with the balls in his cup holder and threw them over and over again. Kasen got a little game boy and a big RC car and Tai got an art kit and a little sewing kit too. We also all got some Christmas jammies, I got a blanket and Kyle got a dash cam with some gift cards.

We spent the afternoon playing and working on our Hershey's 1000 piece puzzle. Once Kolt woke up from his nap we went to visit Grandpa Kelly. He gave each cousin a stocking with a toy and treats, but our big present was going tubing! He made chili so we all ate dinner together though. Everyone except Kolt. He did not eat anything except candy all day long!

Merry Christmas!