Memorial Day 2021

We decided to find a place for a hike and a family bike ride, all in the same place, and we ended up in Glen Helen Nature Preserve in Yellow Springs.

We ended up a a cool little colorful waterfall

 

We just had a fun time singing and talking all along the trail.

One stream crossing was kind of like the Abbey Road crossing!

After the hike, we decided to scale the big rock at the entrance of the trail.

We went on a bake ride and went under (and then onto) a covered bridge. Such a pretty area!

Claire finished her day blowing bubbles - one of her happy places!

 

May Days

We have had a great May! Early in the month, we took an afternoon trip to Kings Island.

Caitlin and Andrew came and visited and we had a fun game of backyard baseball.

Jared's Dutch Babies "special breakfast" were a hit!

GROUP HUG!

One of Jared's favorite parts of working from home has been the time that he has been able to spend with Torin at the bus stop every day. Because Torin is going to afternoon kindergarten, he is the only one getting on the bus, so we have the whole bus stop to ourselves. We almost always bring a soccer ball and kick it back and forth. We have had times where we played games against each other, passed it back and forth, and booted it using the curb as a ramp. It has been a special bonding time together.

It is music season, and we were so happy to return to listening to our kids perform!

The Viking shirt is one of Torin's favorites.

Jared and Dani, twinning on a Saturday run.

Liam the Red - he went to school this way. Sometimes, you just can't stop it!

Scripture reading in May is the best! The sunshine and green is perfect!

Torin got creative in his fort building - building himself a jail in his bed!

Fathers and Sons Campout

The stake hosted a father's and sons campout at Camp Bear Creek in Indiana. After the kids got to run around as it got darker, we had hot dog dinners and s'mores and a nice message from the stake presidency.

It was fun (and funny) to share a tent with these fun kids

We found selfies with flashlights to be quite fun!

It was the very start of the cicada season!

In the morning, we did some service preparing the camp for the summer. The kids worked on the beach and Jared and Jacob worked on a muddy trench!

 

Liam's first cello recital

Liam's goal in 2020 was to start playing cello (partly driven by the Piano Guys "Me and My Cello"). In order to "earn" the right, he had to prove that he would practice the piano nicely. He mostly did, so he got started late in 2020 with Kat Aguilar, a recommendation from his piano teacher Nora. Unsurprisingly, Kat reported to Nora after their first lesson that Liam was charming and super enthusiastic!

Liam has a good ear for music. When he started, he could correct if a note was sharp or flat and has progressed well. He still memorizes music very, very quickly and rarely practices with music after a few days of practicing it, which drives Dani nuts.

His first concert was held in a ballroom in the Marriott by Mason Montgomery Road. He looked and sounded confident and was happy the way he played.

It was nice to have a live concert after the past year that so many live events were cancelled!

Our friend Sarah

One day, I got a message through LinkedIn from Justin Aida. He said they had made a friend in Los Angeles named Sarah who had been introduced to the church, met Aidas, and they instantly became her "Mormon" family. And she was coming to Cincinnati, where she grew up (the Winds) for a few months. So, she joined our family! She sat with us at church, joined us after church for Come Follow Me study, dinner, and other days. We didn't get many pictures together, but Sarah brought a sweet spirit and a strong testimony into our home whenever we were together. We love having her over.

When she comes back, sometimes Dani ran into her on runs! She will be putting in her missionary papers in a few months!

 

Friends and Fire pit

A beautiful May weekend, and we had the Browns over to make s'mores and hang out for the night. It is so much fun having them over!

Jared was thrilled with his s'more(s) and raised the bar for everyone's marshmallow roasting.

The highlight of the night was Jacob breaking out his fiery Bean-Boozled Jelly Beans. He handed them to everyone, and Sarah started FREAKING out, fanning her mouth, and calling out like Kevin, the bird from Up!

In school the entire year

COVID has been a unique experience for us. While our friends in Oregon are just barely getting back to school, our kids have been in school this entire school year - other than Jacob in quarantine for 1 week in the fall.

It hasn't been a normal year by any means. A normal sign of the times is the array of drying masks in the laundry room. The kids wear masks all day, and we have been very proud of our kids willingness to wear masks without complaining (while many adults do complain).

They got to participate in the costume days. Kate was Bob Ross and Liam was Dan Reynolds, from Imagine Dragons.

Liam got to dress as a French artist and as Aragog (of course).

and spirit days

and got to be in class every day with their classmates

and their teacher (Mrs. Rosa - at least, until she had a baby right before the end of the year).

We felt really blessed to have our kids in school (and in seminary) for the entire year.