A Few Malihinis

Happy birthday to Cory!

Outdoor orchestra concert: so fun in theory but impossible to hear unless you are a front-row patron. My mom was kind enough to attend with Anna.

Such pretty scenery, and our guess is that the music sounded good, too!

6 months in on cello player!

Another soccer support squad photo. So fun cheering on Zac and his team!

This photo makes me laugh and laugh. Mini Owen. I love those giant windows and I hope they are not impossible to clean.

Track meet! About midway through the season, Kate decided she was the one to beat. I loved watching her mentally take on the challenge and pick off girls one by one.

Stacey and Eliza came to support!

Kate and Walker's support squad.

Walker plans for his results and gets them. He is methodical and determined. I could not be a more proud aunty cheering on Walker and Elise.

Walker, "I'm coming for you."

The season culminated with Alpine Days, a two day event with teams and their top performers. We took off work and cheered and cheered. Unfortunately, Kate got sick and was feeling crumby for the event but still ran her heart out. She was the top distance girl for her school and ran with fire.

Brady kept notes for Kate, so we have a rundown of her race times. So proud of this girl for doing something so challenging. She loved track and the competition. She also ran the 4x400 meter but we do not have reliable split times for that race. She was always leg 1 of the relay and we clocked her at about 70 seconds each time.

3/20/25 v Lakeridge

800 meter: 2:55, 1600 meter: 6:27

3/25/25

800 meter: 2:46, 1600 meter 6:11

4/10/25 v Mountain Ridge

800 meter: 2:45, 1600 meter: 6:05

4/24/25 at American Heritage

800 meter: 2:41, 1600 meter: 5:57

5/5/25 Alpine Days

800 meter: 2:34, 1600 meter: 5:45 (with a fever!)

Her relay team took 2nd overall at Alpine Days!

Mother's Day was lovely. My favorite part was the week before when I was teaching Mother's Day songs to the primary kids at church. My mom was there watching and I got to incorporate her into the songs/lesson. What a gift to see her so much more now that we live here.

A highlight of the day was delivering Erin's gift. She sketched this while pregnant with Zachary, and we asked her permission to frame it for her.

Owen's final game with his Surf team from Orem.

We will miss Coach Spencer! He is taking time for his business and stepping away from coaching. He almost always maintained a cool composure and made practice and games fun for the boys.

Next up: north county tryouts! I have never seen so many kids Owen's age trying out for soccer. Thankfully, there were 3 teams and Owen made one of them.

Roxy still pretends to hate swimming but her tail wags the whole time, so I feel like we get mixed messages.

Our cute little rat dog.

Aloe Treatment: less effective than sunscreen.

Cory and Owen planted a garden. Owen was so excited to help and Cory is the most patient, enthusiastic uncle.

Finishing off a weekend in the mountains. I am overwhelmed by the number of people in AF canyon but when you get by a stream or on a hike, the crowds disappear. I'm also trying to appreciate the number of people here who love the outdoors. Outdoors and family were the big draws for Utah, and I am glad there are so many like-minded people here who love mountains, too. (But it is definitely crowded and I have a long way to go to stop feeling bugged when I see hundreds of cars parked in the canyon.)

So grateful for Cory and Kristen and their family. Living close to family is everything I hoped it would be and more.

Brady organized a birthday in the park. He asked me what I wanted and I begged for time in the mountains. With my foot injury (too much skiing/running/walking) and my butt injury (too much biking), I had been feeling pretty sorry for myself going into summer. The highlight of my day's activities was the elliptical...groan. I decided to start being grateful and a little less bitter.

I was surprised to see so much family show up to celebrate. So grateful!

Anna's boyfriend, Ian, is a master origami craftsman.

Earlier in the month, we were at a family dinner at Emily's and Aurora fell in love with him.

Windows in!

Birthday party with Kate's besties.

Kate and Millie attend FSY at BYU. I am so happy they had each other, and Kate said it was the best week of her life. She came home lit up and enthusiastic. I was so proud of her for staying the whole week in the dorms--a new environment with all new people and places and away from us.

Meanwhile, Owen toured showroom after showroom with me and Brady. It was not his favorite, but he handled it like a champ. This quartzite was the winner for kitchen.

Juliana decided she wanted her ears pierced after all, and I was so excited to be part of that process. She was anxious but it turned out perfectly!

Look closely at this picture? Do you seen a 9-year-boy who absolutely REFUSES to step foot in Claire's?

Owen did a week of mini-camp activities with his buddies in Cedar Hills. One night was with special needs kids and he was so tuned in to their needs.

We get asked every day, "What is your move in date?" Not exactly sure but there's significant daily progress. Brady works on the house every single day.

These girls never run out of things to talk about. They have also instituted cell phone rules for their time together. So smart!

Electricity

Fireplace

Owen regularly asks to eat peppers and sometimes even onions straight from the fridge.

Brady and some of his high school buddies planned a boys day with 5 of everything: five miles running, five miles mountain biking, five rides behind the boat, and I think a five course meal at the end of it all. Their Heber Creeper mountain bike shirts were my favorite.

This was also the day that I realized I need to find my people. I am so happy Brady has his high school friends but we still need to develop more connections here. I am not sure how with the schedules we are keeping and without the little kid playgroup situations that were so conducive to long conversations. That's just an excuse, though, and it's time to actively work on friend relationships.

Owen's end-of-year performance at school:

We met up with Brett and Shireen in Park City when Brett was here for a work conference. They did a hike while I babied my foot by the pool and studied. May was all about Trigonometry, and I easily put in 2-3 hours a day over summer attempting to make progress in the first class required for my Utah math credential.