I have been so excited to share some of my beautiful experiences from this past year! I looked back at my original post about my “beautify” theme and I had said I wanted to focus my beautifying efforts in three areas:

• Myself
• My home
• My yard

And it seems like that was definitely the correct order to list them in, because that is the order of priority I gave them.

What I continue to notice as I select these yearly themes is how much Heavenly Father takes my minuscule efforts and miraculously turns them into the things I was hoping for. And I certainly saw this in all the areas I made attempts to beautify.

For the yard, I made a small effort to provide a little bit more seating outside. But Heavenly Father gave us lots of snow and rain which gave us a green lawn that our whole family was able to go out and enjoy! And the fact that the lawn wasn’t constantly on the brink of death made it more encouraging to keep trying to get the sprinklers right. (And, of course, I didn’t work on sprinklers at all. That beauty all came from Josh! <3 )

For the house, my dream was to get rid of lots of stuff, NOT acquire new stuff, and organize everything so that the house is always clean and orderly. Obviously, with that being much too lofty a goal, we didn’t get to that point. But two major things this year did make a noticeable difference in the beauty of our home. The first is that we replaced our old couch. It was a wonderful couch for many years; but it looked like it had been around for many years. Our new couches are so beautiful and have transformed the whole family room for the better! I’m grateful for our new furniture. The other huge thing that has beautified our home came in the form of an amazing deal from DI. A carpet-cleaner-wet-vacuum for $12! I am amazed at how much cleaner and well maintained the house looks when I clean the carpets. And I love that I can use it whenever I simply can’t stand the dirt in a specific room, and that I don’t have to commit to getting the whole house cleaned at the same time. And I love that I don’t have to commit to many hundreds of dollars to get things looking truly clean! I genuinely feel like finding that vacuum for so cheap was a miracle. And I am so grateful for the beauty we have experienced in our home because of it!

But now, let’s talk about what really happened this beautiful year. The changes that I have seen in my own heart and mind this year are far more beautiful than anything I could ever do in my house or yard. And they are far more miraculous than anything I ever could have done on my own–the greatest evidence of the aforementioned Divine intervention. So much of the beauty I discovered this year was thanks to the fact that I miraculously (it’s own little saga) began therapy for OCD and anxiety at the end of January 2023. I worked very hard on my exposures and found lots of relief from things that have caused me lots of fear, and have gained countless tools for nipping potential OCD triggers in the bud. But therapy was also immensely beautiful because my therapist helped me to dig deep into my own heart and ask myself why I was doing things and if those things were serving me.

A beautiful principle I have learned is that my pride–any kind of pride, no matter how insignificant it seems–adds to my mental load and makes me more prone to lousy mental health. I started typing a big long paragraph explaining what I mean by that; but ultimately decided to leave it at the original statement.

But that discovery, about the relationship between pride and my mental health, led me to the most beautiful discovery of all! I have begun to recognize and utilize the beautiful, healing, transforming power of the gift of repentance. It’s not that I have never had experiences with repentance before; I’ve been trying to repent for my whole life. But the Savior was able to show me things in a new light this year as I addressed my sins and pride in connection with my efforts to invite peace into my mind. Repentance and its subsequent spiritual healing is how I have been able to lighten my mental load in order to make space for the Savior to heal me physically and mentally.

I’m grateful for this opportunity to reflect on the changes I have seen; because they remind me that the gift of repentance is still available to me, and I can be sure that I will continue to be blessed. It makes me want to really sit down and figure out which things I can remove from my life. I know I still have a lot of pride, resentment, judgemental thoughts, and every other vice one can imagine that I still hang on to. But I know that even letting one of them go will bring the Savior’s blessings into my life. And I want that!

I had a beautiful experience about that in the temple a month or two ago. I was pondering on how willing the Savior is to forgive sins, even my vilest of all sins. And I was feeling grateful for His loving willingness. But I also felt like a mere pardon wasn’t really what I was seeking. In my mind, I told the Savior, “Thanks for the forgiveness, really. But what I really want is to be different! To never make that mistake again! To not be proud in this way anymore ever. To never go back to the kind of mindset that leads to that sort of behavior. I want You to change me. I want you to make me like You.” I know that such longings of my heart are exactly what the Savior promises. In Ezekiel 36:26, He says ^“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.” But I’m also learning (again) that His timetable is absolutely GINORMOUS compared with mine. I sometimes tire of “line upon line” learning and just want Him to lay His hands on my head and make me a completely new creature today. But He knows that becoming is a process not an event, and that these baby steps forward and the frustrating failures and shortcomings are actually what create anyone. Even Jesus Christ Himself did it that way. In D&C 93:12-13 it says “And I, John, saw that he received not of the fulness at first, but received grace for grace; And he received not of the fulness at first, but continued from grace to grace until he received a fulness.”

So, if even the Savior of all mankind had to learn and “become” one step at a time, I suppose I’ll do my best to tolerate it. 🙂

In 2023, I saw the Savior magnify my efforts so many times in so many ways! He taught me so many things and gave me so many miracles that it would take approximately forever to put them all in writing. But if you ever feel like having a very spirited discussion on beautiful lessons from the Savior, please hit me up, and we’ll have tons of fun and probably do quite a bit of joyful crying!

And now, we have a new beautiful year! I have my theme verb all picked out and begun, even, but in the spirit of blogging more than once every three months and keeping you in infuriating suspense, I’m going to make you wait for another post to hear all about it. (mwah ha ha!!) But I can already tell you that I am SUPER excited to see how the Savior takes this (of all words) and teaches me more about Himself and His love for me in 2024!

Up until October had already begun, I had no idea if Josh was going to put anything together for Halloween or not. In years past, he has commenced dreaming/scheming/planning in about July or August; but this year, he just couldn’t come up with an idea that really felt like a winner. And work was busy, and we went on a big expensive trip, and we still have five kids, etc. etc. etc.

But things at work slowed down and people started asking Josh about his plans (peer pressure power!) at the optimal time to facilitate the quickest turn-around for Halloween we’ve ever had! He built this custom animatronic, interactive Halloween game from start to finish in 11 days!

If you were lucky enough to come and play it, you already know how impressive that 11 day effort was! An exciting new thing that helped things go so quickly was that Josh got AI to do the grunt work (like coming up with a base script that Josh improved upon, coming up with random examples for the categories game, creating a poster image, etc). I don’t, personally, care very much for AI; but I can’t deny that Josh was really able to profit from it this year. I told him that it is now officially his responsibility to teach our children to use AI in appropriate and upstanding ways. 🙂 If that part of education was left to me, we would all probably swear off any and all technology developed post 2010. (Only half-joking.)

But we had lots of Halloween fun this year even outside Josh’s legendary yard attraction!

We had our family Halloween party where we let all the siblings and niblings play the attraction.

Early in October, I was able to convince 3 of the girls to come up the canyon with me to enjoy the autumn leaves. Last year, I only convinced one, and another was brought along forceably.

And with the advent of cooler weather comes the compulsive need to “yarn.” So I have crocheted approximately a thousand pumpkins (okay, only 10), and I knitted this sweater for Portia. I am newer to knitting, and I made this sweater 3 different times before it got to be something that Portia would even consider wearing. But I am very pleased with the end result, and even MORE pleased that it is, indeed, the END result.

And then came the magical day, itself! The three bigger kids went out trick-or-treating by themselves this year (BIG DEAL!) and I took the two youngest with me. Everybody got lots of yummy candy, and we even got over 100 trick-or-treaters at our house! I forgot to take a picture of the post trick-or-treating spoils, and I’m genuinely bummed. That is one of my favorite parts of the day.

Josh has some analytics attached to his attraction and it looks like the game was played about 400 times over the course of the month! So famous!

And now that the spooky magic of Halloween has past, we are enjoying being thankful! I love celebrating the Thanksgiving Season with “thankful minutes” during the day, and keeping our growing list of gratitude on the kitchen door. I am truly thankful for this life of mine, and for this season of the year!

There is so much I could say about this trip that Josh and I took, just the two of us! But I fear that if I try to go into much detail I’ll get discouraged by the grandeur of the task and never record anything. So this will mostly be pictures. But just know that Josh and I had a positively heavenly vacation together on Oahu, and we would recommend such a trip to anyone who can manage it. 🙂

The best part of the trip was that we just did whatever we felt like whenever we felt like doing it. If we didn’t see everything there was in Oahu, it didn’t matter! The point of going was to just be together in a fun, lovely place without kids. And we did, and it was wonderful!

And a HUGE thank-you to Josh’s mom for making the “without-kids” aspect of the trip a reality! She is our hero! <3 <3 <3

We decided to make our vacation the grand finale to our summer break, going to Lake Tahoe the week before school started. The last time we went to Lake Tahoe was in 2018. It was beautiful and so much fun, that time, but it was also so. much. work. Helen was a 5 month old baby, and Fay was only 6; so it was a lot of effort to keep 4 little kids alive in the water. Plus, it is just a lot of work to keep 4 little kids entertained, occupied, happy, etc. anywhere, but especially when they are so far away from their comfort zone.

But I’m glad we did it, even with all the effort it was. And I didn’t realize until this past trip how many family traditions we unwittingly established on that trip.

The first tradition we established was that of stopping at the Salt Flats and the obligatory “model poses” thereat. This tradition began because of this picture I happened to take of Portia back in 2018.

We joked, as we reviewed our pictures after that trip, that Portia looked like some kind of magazine model with her head-tilt and ultra blonde hair standing out in the winter-white salt flats.

And now we always need to take “model pictures” when we are there.

Except that Carter really didn’t want one. So I got what I could from him.

Another tradition we happened to start back in 2018 was that of turning all the girls into sand mermaids (see above). I think I probably made 8ish mermaid tails this past trip, and that was with me saying “no” multiple times. 😂 But I’ll spare you every iteration, and just show you one picture.

Carter didn’t care to be turned into a merman; but he did make himself a sand thrown that was pretty impressive!

Another tradition we kept was the beaches we went to. We got some tips for some pretty picturesque beaches; but we found that we really preferred to just go back to Pope Beach. It was close to our airbnb, had good sand and convenient bathrooms, and was just our favorite. I’m not opposed to trying new beaches in the future; but I’m also not opposed to going back to Pope.

One thing that we did that was not a tradition, but definitely shall be is take a paddle-board with us! I have learned that I LOVE being on the water (more so than in the water)! We would take turns rowing out with different assortments of kids in tow, and every time I went it was just delightfully relaxing and exhilarating! It was so good!

Anyway, our days at Lake Tahoe kind of went like this

• Wake up, get dressed, and have breakfast leisurely
• Leave to go on some kind of hike or nature walk (because the mornings are rather chilly for swimming)
• Return to the house to change into swimming stuff
• Head to the beach and have lunch casually between trips to the water and breaks to become a mermaid
• Return to the house because we got rained out of the beach
• Watch a movie
• Play outside (if the rain stopped) or around the house
• Have dinner
• Play card games, read books, have a dance party, etc.
• A long, extra-arduous bedtime routine

Obviously there was some variation between the days; but it really did kind of follow that pattern. It was funny that it rained most of the days we were there. But I wouldn’t even call it unfortunate. I loved having the relaxing movie-watching late afternoons. And I loved that it never got hot. And I loved smelling the rain. And I loved even being out in the rain when it was more along the lines of drizzle status than torrential downpour. 😊

Here are some more pictures of the trip starting with

The kids room in the house!

And here are some views from our time in the mountains!

One of my, personal, favorite things to be found around Lake Tahoe is the assortment of tiny to ENORMOUS pine cones! I keep meaning to bring some of the really big ones home to use in Christmas decor somehow and always forget. (But the kids all got home; so I consider that a success!) Here is Portia demonstrating the array we were able to round up mostly from the trees in “our” back yard!

I told Josh, as we got back on the road to come home, that this family vacation was the most fun, relaxing vacation I have had since 2013 (when we only had one child). Josh said he felt like it was a lot of work. So, I want to make sure I acknowledge how much Josh personally took care of. Josh loves to plan trips, and he REALLY planned this one! He found the house, he packed the car, he planned and prepared ALL the meals, he found fun things to bring in the car to entertain the kids, and he kept the diabetic girls alive when they went low in the night. He was truly so So SO good to us all! I’m so grateful for him!!! But I also hope that next time we can be a little more of a team with all the things so that he feels as good at the end of the trip as the rest of us do.

Thanks Josh. I love you more than everything! ❤️‍🔥 😍😘 🫶 🥰 😚 ♥️

The title to this post was just too fun to pass up!

We have been some busy people this summer; but I feel like that fits us in with the rest of the world rather than setting us apart. 😊

June is the month of birthdays for Josh’s family—including Josh himself. We celebrated one family member with burgers and pickle-ball, one with painting mini game figures, one with Sonic and cake, and one with a grandkid bike race. It was possibly the cutest race in world history. Josh’s birthday was sandwiched right in the midst of helping family move house, and my sister Mary getting married followed by a Muhlestein family reunion, so his very birthday was quite lackluster.😢 But he did get to do his hoped-for activities later on! One thing he really wanted to do was a hike up Bell Canyon. We did it a couple weeks after his birthday and it was fun! The kids were a pack of wild cards; but we all made it out alive. We even visited with some water fowl at Bell Reservoir.

As previously mentioned, Mary got married in June. We had a lot of fun talking about “getting Mary-ed” and reminding that “when you marry in June, you’re a bride all your life.” I feel like I was more involved in this wedding than I was in my own. (Thank you to everybody who made our wedding happen when I decided to leave the country for the whole summer!!!) But Josh was the real hero from our family, because he made the ice-cream cart that was used at Mary’s open house! We tried to find one to rent for the evening, but we couldn’t find one around that was cute (at least nowhere near as cute as the one Josh made) or one that would let you serve your own ice-cream (as the bride wanted BYU creamery ice-cream and the only carts I could find were very specific to the brand of ice-cream that had to be served therefrom). So I talked to Josh about making one, and even (ultra-supportively) looked up some tutorials on youtube on how to make a basic cart. Josh looked at my research findings, scoffed, and said “I can make one better than that.”

Well, he was totally right. The cart he made turned out BEAUTIFULLY!

And now we have this super cute ice-cream cart just hanging around! We are thinking of renting it out for other people’s events. I thought it would be nice to just make back the money we spent on it. But when I told this to Daddy he said “No, you should rent it out as a public service. If this type of thing isn’t available anywhere else, you should make it available.” 😅 So, if you’re one of those people who is searching for a beautiful, insulated ice-cream cart that you can fill with the ice-cream of your choice for your shindig, hit us up!

I also wanted to mention that Mary and Cameron were married in the Bountiful Temple, and it was so beautiful and joyful to be there with them as they became a brand-new eternal family. And I’m just feeling so grateful for the fact that MY own eternal family began in the temple (even the same temple!) nearly 12 years ago. It is a constant comfort to me knowing that God is just as much a part of our marriage as Josh is or I am. Living happily ever after (even with all the “reality” that consumes most of our energy) is the best!

The other big thing Josh wanted to do for his birthday that got postponed an entire month was to go camping. We learned the hard way that if you want your pick of campgrounds during the summer you have to pick them about 6 months in advance. So our camping trip was just a fun little overnighter at Jordanelle Reservoir this past week. Josh was, again, the hero of everything. He arranged everything, packed everything, and endured a positively horrific night of managing 5 kids in the same tent, two of whom had wacky blood sugar. Josh is the best! But next time, I think we’re going to bring our other tent, and make sure we don’t forget extra diabetes supplies.

We had lots of fun at the beach, though! We played in the sand, did some paddle-boarding, and thoroughly enjoyed watching a dog fetching every stick he could get anybody to throw for him out of the lake! And sunburns were only minor! I call it a success! (Again, all thanks to Josh!)

Some other fun things we’ve been up to this summer include

Fay’s next horse show–she crushed it!

Splash-padding with friends

Trips to the aquarium

Making things out of veggie straws

And just hanging out

We’ve also been working our way through our traditional Harry Potter book of the summer. This year we’re on book 5! We’re getting excited about finishing it and having our movie party!

And, one of my favorite parts of summer has been how many fewer socks come through the laundry thanks to everybody wearing sandals so much more often. Ahhh. Life is good!

The title has a double meaning. The first is that Fay starts planning her birthday when Portia starts planning hers (in February), and it is quite a trial for her to have to wait two whole months longer than Portia for it to actually arrive. The other meaning of the title is that Fay’s birthday actually happened two whole months ago–May 7–and I’m only just now getting around to posting about it. I’m grateful that Fay is a patient girl.

It’s been a long time that I’ve been wanting to throw a Harry Potter themed 11th birthday for somebody. But Fay was the absolutely ideal candidate–as she loves reading the Harry Potter books, dressing up as the characters, playing Harry Potter games, and writing down spells she learns from any Harry Potter source available–so her birthday was super fun! She got a snowy owl who delivered her acceptance letter from Hogwarts, complete with list of required school supplies. She got a sorting hat that FINALLY sorted her officially into Gryffindor! (Good thing we already had the right color robes.) And she made her own “Forbidden Forest” cake that had Aragog 😖 and spider webs. She was delighted with all the Harry Potter festivities and decorations, and her reactions to everything made the day everything I ever dreamed of! Thanks, Fay!

But, Fay loves so much more than just Harry Potter! One thing she started doing since she turned 10 is riding horses. I didn’t even know horse riding was a thing a child could request to do as her extra curricular activity when I was a kid. But starting in about April of 2022, that was the only thing Fay wanted to do. Thanks to an internet search, we found a place nearby that offers riding lessons to kids, and she has been riding ever since last July. She LOVES being with the horses and learning new tricks and techniques. I must confess, I think it’s pretty rad that she does it. Also, to answer the most frequently asked question I receive when discussing Fay’s riding: she rides western, not English.

Fay also just loves animals in general. It is still her fondest wish to become a wildlife rehabilitation veterinarian when she grows up. (Also way cool!) This picture is Fay with a white “red fox” from a wildlife rescue facility we visited in April, and that trip definitely deserves its own post; but with me, who knows if it will ever get it. Anyway, Fay was in absolute heaven while we were at the rescue place and loved that she got to go in and actually play with the foxes as well as visiting with many other kinds of animals.

Fay has also become quite the little musician. She practiced the piano so hard all through the school year, and this is her crushing it at her recital in May. Her teacher, Miss Rose (also pictured), was AMAZING and we are so sad (for us, not her) to lose her to grad school. But we know she’ll do great! Anyway, Fay thinks she might like to switch instruments for the coming school year. She has expressed particular interest in learning the violin. If you know a good, reasonably priced, teacher for a beginning violinist near Riverton, let me know! 😉

Fay also LOVES to read! As in, she’s probably read more books in her life, already, than I have in mine. Like Carter, she competed in the Battle of the Books competition at school. She had so much fun reading the books and getting ready for the competition. Her team took 4th place for the 5th and 6th grade division (just like Carter’s team took 4th place for the 3rd and 4th grade division). It was a blast to watch her compete! And we’re so proud of her!

Another thing I am absolutely overjoyed to report is that Fay loves her family!! as well as her friends. She is a big, cool 5th/6th grader; but she still begged me to come chaperone on her class field-trip. This picture is one I took of her group at the Natural History Museum. She even preferred to sit by me on the bus ride back to school than her best friend.😊 It basically made my mommy life!

Fay is also just a fun little hoot of a girl to hang out with! This picture is of what I found when Fay concernedly called out “Mom, I have a big rash on my arm.” She is prone to eczema, so I went to investigate. I laughed out loud when I saw her “RASH.” She makes fun little jokes like that all the time, and it is so fun!

I could probably go on for hours about how much we love having Fay in our family. But then this blog would never get posted and Fay would have to wait another month for me to get around to it again. So we’ll leave it here. Thanks again for your patience, Fay!

Better late than never to share our celebrations of our favorite boy’s birthday! Carter turned 9 on April 21. He celebrated with crepes, tacos, and (non taco) Costa Vida, along with finally seeing the Mario movie (did NOT disappoint, btw) and his very favorite activity: a soccer game!

Carter really does love soccer! He loves to kick his soccer balls around the yard and house. He is always excited to go to practice, and bummed if he has to miss it for some reason. And he REALLY likes that his team is really good. They were completely undefeated in the fall! Carter is getting better too! He usually plays defense and makes some pretty good kicks and blocks. We’re always proud of him!

Another of Carter’s current loves is Pokemon and amassing/trading Pokemon cards. He has them organized in fancy binders and boxes, as well as stashed basically everywhere he might go. Thanks to the fact that the third graders 25 years ago were loving the same exact thing, I am pleased to report that I am not completely lost as to what he’s up to. He comes home with some pretty impressive cards, and apparently has some pretty impressive cards to offer, because he has, on occasion, come home with some money. He also loves getting almanac type books from the library and book fair that tell him all about the different Pokemon. He loves finding the Pokemon on his cards in his books and learning about how strong and powerful they are. It is a classic-Carter moment to be surrounded by Pokemon cards all over the floor poring intently over each one.

Carter was also on the school math team again this year. He loved going to meetings on Fridays and doing fun and tricky math problems. He was also on a Battle of the Books team that took 4th place in the school for the 3rd and 4th grade division!

Other things Carter loves doing include: video games–Animal Crossing is a new favorite; Rubik’s Cubes, though not quite as much as last year; riding scooters, bikes, and skateboards; and playing with friends. He likes playing the piano (sometimes more than others) and played a BEAUTIFUL piece in church a couple of months ago! He’s also working on learning Hedwig’s Theme, and it is sounding really good!

Carter is just about the greatest boy you’ll ever meet! He is kind, sincere, enthusiastic, fun, hard-working, good-looking, and every other good thing you can imagine! We love him more than everything!

Happy Birthday to our delightful little ball of cuteness, Bianca!

Today, someone was talking to me about Bianca’s birthday asking if she had just turned 4. I told her that Bianca was just 3, to which she responded “She’s got a big personality for just 3.” I feel like that is a great way to describe her. She is has all the energy, all the opinions, all the enthusiasm!

When Bianca plays, she loves pretending that she is all grown up big, and a mommy. She likes to dress up fancy and wear make-up and a purse. She loves to take care of her babies, and give them naps and meals. She loves to go shopping at the grocery store and make dinner. She also loves helping me in the kitchen. She is such a wonderful little reminder to me about the magic and joy to be found in daily life.

Bianca is also just sweetness through and through. She, obviously, has her moments of epic all-out rage, or refusal to comply with parental instructions; but the vast majority of time spent with Bianca is passed with smiles and giggles. Even a good amount of her mischief is turned funny by how sweetly without guile she is. You might notice her stuffing something into her mouth and ask “Bianca, did you steal Fay’s candy?” And then she responds with “No! … yeah!” followed by an eruption of giggles.

This video is evidence of just how naughty Bianca (and Helen) can be while simultaneously being too cute for words. While I was in the shower, these two little sneaks managed to get into the large box of fruit-snacks we keep for low blood-sugar emergencies.

And, speaking of blood sugar, Bianca is still a champ about diabetes. She doesn’t like getting poked, of course, but she seems to understand the necessity of the program and goes along without too much push-back. She also still cracks us up by insisting that she’s low when she just wants a treat, or singing about needing a new pump site.

Another notable thing for Bianca right now is that she has decided that she is done taking naps. That works out for her most days until around 4:30 or 5:00, when she frequently just stops at some random place in the house and falls asleep. It is a stage all children must go through, I understand; but it still makes for a lot of cranky evenings.

Bianca really is such a delight in our lives! We can’t imagine our family without her!

Last Sunday, on March 12, Helen turned 5 years old! I guess we keep telling her that she’ll go to kindergarten when she’s 5, because she was convinced that she would be going to kindergarten the very next day. She loves the idea of growing up and being big enough to do all the things her older siblings do. We just love that she is ours!

As you learned in Portia’s post, we had a double birthday party for the girls on March 11. Helen got so excited about all the planning for the party, and loved having so many friends come to celebrate her. I think her favorite part of the mermaid party was the mermaid skirt I made for her (Portia got one too). The instant it was sewn, she wanted to wear it every day. I, myself, am. quite pleased with how well both skirts turned out.

Now, some fun facts about Helen right now in her life.

• She definitely still loves raccoons! Thank goodness! I hope it lasts her entire life.
• Helen is pretty chill about most things, but when she finds something she loves she gives her entire heart to it! For example, a couple of weeks ago we watched The Lego Movie for the first time, and now we don’t go a day without Helen ultra-enthusiastically singing “Everything is Awesome!” at the top of her lungs.
• She got a coloring page of Charmander once, and now that is her favorite pokemon.
• She loves just about everything she brings home from preschool and is always so proud of her hard work. We’re so proud of her, too!
• She adores macaroni and cheese. We probably make a box of mac n’ cheese 3 days a week for the little girls’ lunch.
• She is a riot in primary! Today they sang to her and Portia for March birthdays. Helen nearly jumped out of her seat when they mentioned birthdays, and then hopped all around the front of the room while everyone was singing to her. I’m glad she had the scripture today (also quite amusing) so I got to witness all the hilarity.
• Helen and Bianca are a fun little duo as the last two at home. They get along quite well most of the time, and they have lots of fun and absurd adventures.

Another thing that has been really special for me, as a mom, to watch is Helen’s ability to be a sweet little leader. Being the 4th child, she has become very good at going with the flow of the people she’s with. But recently, we’ve been going to the aquarium with Chelsea and her boys–Cedric (3) and Brixton (1.5)–and Helen is the oldest and tallest one of the bunch. I have been so impressed by Helen’s ability to lead off in the fun and adventuring for the kids in the play-place, and especially by her desire and ability to help them through the hard parts. It makes me even more excited to see just who Helen will choose to become as she grows.

Our Helen is an absolute joy and gives us parenting experiences we’ve never had before! You all should come hang out with her sometime! I guarantee you’ll leave with a smile.

How we love Portia! I’m truly so grateful for the 7 years we have had with her. And I am tremendously impressed by how much she has grown in this past year.

When Portia turned 6, she was in a hard spot in her life. She had been diagnosed with diabetes less than 4 months prior and was still struggling significantly coping with her new reality. When she got on an insulin pump in June of 2022, it was almost like starting the whole experience over again. It was just so so much for such a little girl to carry. She was also really nervous to start first grade–where she would eat lunch at school and have an insulin nurse accompany her to count her carbs. But she has adapted so beautifully to this reality over the past several months. She has made lots of wonderful new friends, one of whom has Celiac disease which has helped her feel like she’s not quite so alone. And I feel like I have finally gotten my pre-terrible-twos Portia back! She is happy, funny, enthusiastic as ever, and an absolute joy!

Anyway, now that I’ve gotten my feels written out, here’s some more about Portia!

• Portia loves make-up! She went on a one-on-one outing with Aunt Christina back in October and came home with her very own make-up kit! She loves putting in on herself, her sisters, friends, and any girl who will let her.
• She has thoroughly enjoyed the process of losing teeth this year! She updates us on each stage of her “wiggly” teeth and has lots of fun with them and the gap that follows. She is also the first member of our family to have realized my childhood dream of getting a tooth-necklace for a tooth lost at school.
• She still loves beavers! She wonders why they aren’t everybody’s favorite animal.
• She comes up with the most clever ideas for games, drawings, and jokes! She is a hoot!
• She is almost counting down the days until she can get baptized next year. <3
• She still loves to cook and help in the kitchen. I love how excited she gets when she gets to make something of her own.
• She also has developed a love for head stands. She initially learned to do them at tumbling, I believe; but now she just does them for fun. She will be in the middle of some conversation, and while she’s talking, just get onto her head. It is quite entertaining for the rest of us!

Also, we don’t do big friend birthday parties every year, but this year I was feeling up to it, and since Portia had never had one, it was her turn! As we began planning the party, Portia suggested that she and Helen have a combined birthday on the day between their birthdays, March 11. I was so impressed that Portia wanted to share her big party with her sister! So, we did it! We had a mermaid birthday bash for both girls along with 9 of their friends! It was actually a lot of fun for me to plan and think about, and only 80% abject chaos during the event, so I consider it a success!

A quick run through of the party is this:

When the girls arrived, they got to figure out their mermaid name (based on the first letter of their name and the month in which they were born) and write it on a name tag.

Then each girl got a turn to put on a mermaid tail and take a picture in the “mermaid lagoon”. We took the pictures with Kathryn’s polaroid camera so they got to take their pictures home with them!

Then we had a treasure hunt through the house. The treasure they found was a little wooden treasure chest for each of them that they then decorated with jewel stickers.

After that we played “pin the tail on the beaver/raccoon.” The guests who came for Portia did the beaver, and the guests who came for Helen did the raccoon.

We had some mermaid treats including cupcakes, popcorn with white chocolate and sprinkles, mermaid floats, and some mermaid-ish trail mix business I made.

The girls got a little goody bag to take their treasure chest, picture, and some other little mermaid-themed toys home in.

Again, we love Love LOVE our Portia-roo! And we’re so excited to see what this coming year will bring for her!