2020 Happenings!

(9 minute end-of-year slideshow)

2020! What a year! COVID has really taken over!  It took over all the news headlines - international and domestic, caused the cancellations of concerts, and even moving school and church to home! It also made it very difficult to buy toilet paper - And we ended up grinding our hard winter wheat for flour. Wow - what experiences we've had this year!  We learned and grew a lot. This was also the year of racial protests and a crazy presidential election year. I think I speak for Earth in general when I say that we are thankful 2020 is finished and we fervently pray that 2021 will have brighter headlines. We pray for those affected by this pandemic - so much more than we have been. We hope that you will find peace and hope through the Christmas baby himself - Jesus Christ. We testify that His peace passeth all understanding! 
Even with all the COVID craziness, we did manage to do a few things this year.

* For our Spring Break, we kept close to home and went to a cabin in Brian Head. It was muddy and slushy, but we had fun doing puzzles, watching movies, going sledding, and just in general having new scenery from our quarantine home.
*In July, Jason, Heidi, and McKinley went on the first of our family's 14-year-old trips. We spent 10 days exploring, oohing, and ahhing over the majesty of Denali and Alaska in general. See McKinley's section for more details. We all agree mask-wearing was worth that trip :)
*In August we had a combined Potts/Tew retreat at Bear Lake (courtesty of GG Tew) where we spent a week in our swim suits :) We had so much fun wakeboarding, paddle boarding, kayaking, skiing, tubing, catching frogs, roasting s'mores, playing games & visiting with cousins. It was awesome last-minute getaway before school started.

*In October, we had a super-fun trip to Lagoon! 

A few more highlights for our year:
 -Jason started a new job with APHIS (still under USDA)
-After lots of time (plus blood, sweat, and tears) and a zillion trips to Home Depot, we finished our basement rooms, changing Ireland's old room downstairs into a kitchenette/living room. And changing the large unfinished room downstairs into a bedroom for the renters, another bathroom for the girls to use downstairs, and a real bedroom for Ireland (she's been in a makeshift bedroom for 3 years now). We are SO THANKFUL for all the help on this one! It's SO nice to have the apartment all set up down there. There is a cute couple renting from us now :)
-We added another furry member to our family in November! Ember is Ireland's long wished-for puppy and she is fluffly and tiny and adorable :) 

JASON: As mentioned above Jason started a new job with APHIS. He still works in Cedar City and now is a part of the APHIS, Wildlife Services, Aviation Training Operations Center. They are under the USDA and they are the Federal group that takes care of the feral animal issues (feral swine, coyotes, etc.) from the air. He does budget and finance for the group and is enjoying the change as well as the new folks he works with. The group he works with trains Pilots and Gunners all over the nation at the Cedar City Training Operations Center.

 
Jason has also been quite handy around the house this year as well! He helped his brother frame, a friend plumb and a neighbor do the electrical in the un-finished rooms space we had. The end product was the finishing of 2 bedrooms and a bathroom as well as changing one room into a kitchenette/living room in the mother-in-law. He was also super sexy working in the back yard on a tractor this summer digging a hole for an in ground trampoline. He also replaced plenty of sprinkling pipe and drip house. He also fixed or replaced the following in our house: kitchen faucet and garbage disposal; fixed toilets including snaking multiple times; installed new window in front door; fixed 2 door hinges that were pulled out on 2 doors; replaced stackable washer/dryer inlet valve; fixed main washer/dryer door latch, struts, drain pump and re-attached balance weights; replaced computer graphics card and manipulated the BIOS to make it work; etc. – the things you do to save a penny!

 
He has also enjoyed seeing his wife 😉 and girls more while working from home more during COVID and counts his blessings to be living in Cedar City and to have the job he has. He is still in the Elder’s Quorum Presidency and enjoys his calling.

 

He has been enjoying spending time with his older girls too recently – watching Star Wars, Marvel, Mandalorian and some other fun movies with them. He loves to see the accomplishments and fun crafts his younger girls bring home and show him at dinner. He loves to see them succeed and is enjoying that Noelle is learning Spanish this year. He frequently speaks Spanish with 1 of his 3 girls learning Spanish throughout the week (Noelle, Kezia & McKinley).

 

-Jason turned in to quite the hippie this year, growing his hair almost past his shoulders before cutting it really short before he started his new job. 

HEIDI:
-Heidi learned a lot this year about resiliency and creativity with stores not having what she needed.
She bought personal bidets :), she stopped going to the gym when it was closed and didn't go back - she's been running and working out to youtube videos at home, she even has dyed her own hair! (we'll see how long that one lasts) :)
-More real life education for Heidi this year has been learning how to make a colored cement pathway with a stamp, install LVP flooring and using a paint gun! 

-Heidi is now the offical Secretary on the Share Board. It's been a hard year for Share with cancelling our May walk because of COVID and restrictions in the hospital, but she is thankful to still be involved and hopefully make a difference. 

-Heidi got to be interviewed for a podcast this year called A Light in the Darkness. She got to share Link's story and it was a stretching, but wonderful experience. 

FAVORITE 2020 Memories: Mom LOVED the trip to Alaska - she's never been in the summer & it was Ahhhmazing! She also really enjoyed the family's time at Bear Lake. 
GOALS/ANTICIPATION: Mostly, Heidi is just hoping COVID will be gone by this time next year! But, in addition, hopefully doing a race next year & maybe taking a community class! More hiking & trail running. Also, praying we can finish our backyard trampoline & garden area! It would also be great to paint the cabinets and do the flooring upstairs. We'll see!

McKINLEY (15):

-McKinley continues to excel in cello and made the CHS Symphonic Orchestra! Her CMS Orchestra also made State & got the highest marks possible! She continues to take lessons with Jessie and we love to hear her play! :) She also continues with piano and plays in seminary and accompanied Kezia singing Gethsemane in the primary program. She also got a ukelele for her birthday and plays it and the guitar :)

-McKinley played Ms. Teavee in Willy Wonka and had fun meeting new friends and singing fun songs!
-This was the year we've looked forward to for so long! McKinley got to go to Alaska! We were very unsure about everything right up until the end if we were going to go or not with all the COVID restrictions. We had an Airbnb host cancel our booking because of COVID, and we had to take a COVID test before we went and wear masks for much of our trip, but we REALLY enjoyed it! We did a flightseeing and bus tour of Denali, which were both awesome & we saw grizzlies among other awesome animals. Jason & McKinley did a deep sea fishing halibut trip in Homer, and we did a Kenai Fjords cruise in Seward which was amazing & we saw orcas, whales, sea otters, puffins and so much more. Overall, we just loved being together in a beautiful place. What an adventure!

-McKinley's adventures continued after she got home with starting high school! She really loves taking seminary, and she enjoys most of her other classes too. She gets overwhelmed sometimes, but so far has done really well!

-Some of McKinley's friends this year: Ella, Karmiyah (who moved to Paragonah this year :( ), Emily (new girl who moved into Karmiyah's home), Emma (Beacham and Manley), Lizzy Arnel, the Ruperts, and Blythe. 
-McKinley still wants to be a teacher when she grows up!  

FAVORITE 2020 Memories: Alaska! State Orchestra, finally going back to school, late nights hanging out with friends - playing guitar and ukulele. 
GOALS/ANTICIPATION: Dating, driving, and maybe a job! 

IRELAND (13):

-Ireland continues to do well with flute and is taking private lessons now. She made 8th grade Symphonic Band!

-Sadly, COVID really cut out Ireland's gymnastics goals and dreams. They closed the gym in March and it doesn't look like they'll be opening it till at least next fall :( It's so sad because Ireland made the rec team & would have had a team leo and everything. She's been trying to stay in shape with strength traning and flexibility at home. 
-Ireland still wants to be a lawyer when she grows up - and make lots of money. 

-Ireland has had quite a year! Big changes! First, her real room got finished and it's awesome! She chose her paint, her chandelier, and she helped choose her flooing and lay out her closet. Her room is super-stylish and lovely! 

-Second, after some struggles in 8th grade, and some answers to prayers, we decided to homeschool Ireland for most of the day. She still goes to Chinese and band, but comes home and does LA, Math, Science and History at home. It's been nice to get more mommy & Ireland time and her stress levels have gone way down. We are playing it by prayer as far as when she'll go back, but she'll stay at home for the rest of 8th grade. 
-Third, Ireland is SO happy to FINALLY get her furry best friend Ember! Daddy and Ireland drove all the way to Wyoming to get her! Ireland really loves coming home from school & having her to give her hugs and kisses. It hasn't been easy for her being a puppy parent, getting up at night with her and cleaning up messes, but she says it's all worth it :) 
-Ireland's favorite friends are Mahina and Sam and Annie. 
FAVORITE 2020 Memories: Starting flute lessons with Twila, Lagoon, Ember, and her room :)
GOALS/ANTICIPATION: Gymnastics and Seminary :) 

KEZIA (11):
-Kezia performed in A Midsummer Night's Dream for Cedar City Junior Ballet in March. It was right at the start of all the COVID craziness and we are SO thankful she still got to perform after 6 months of hard work! She did a wonderful job! 

-Kezi was Violet Beauregarde in CCCMT's Willy Wonka this year and got really good at chewing gum! 
-Kezia is queen of her elementary this year in 5th grade Dual Immersion. It was kind of a crazy start with getting a new Spanish teacher only 2 weeks before the year began (her friend Sophie's mom) and her english teacher needing to take time off for military duties, but now things are going well and she is enjoying her year, even with having to wear a mask to school. 

-Kezia has REALLY gotten into Harry Potter this year - reading, and re-reading the books up to book 4 and watching the movies. She was Ginny Weasley for Halloween this year, complete with a red wig, Ginny's specific wand, and a broom. 
-Kezi continues to be an outstanding student, her teachers always rave about her. She has worked hard on her math skills this year and is down to 1.5 seconds per fact.
-Kezia's friends are: Addy Price,  Macie Mitchell, Sarah Simmons, Ivy Hawks, Lori Bailey, The Ruperts, and Sophie Burgess.
- Sadly, Kezia's chinchilla Fox died this year, but she still has her chinchilla named Coyote and he's getting more friendly and willing to come to you. We're still working on teaching him the Macarena :)
-Kezia still takes piano from Jessie, working to do percussion in middle school next year

-Kezia sang a solo for the primary program this year. She sang Gethsemane in Spanish and English and it was beautiful!
-Kezia still says her dream is becoming an author. She wrote a story called Jessie this year about a girl with plant powers - it's great!

-Kezia is still our silly and kind girl. She loves funny things and is always doing nice things for others 

FAVORITE 2020 Memories: Summertime fun, including doing lip syncs with Addie on the fence, the Willy Wonka play, camping, Bear Lake - hanging out with her cousin Love, going to Lagoon. 

GOALS/ANTICIPATION: Start Young Women's & going to the temple, do percussion, do another CCCMT play, have a Harry Potter 12th birthday party. 

LINK:
-Link would have turned 8 this year and gotten baptized on his birthday. The week before his birthday, we saw 2 rainbows & had multiple people text us rainbow pictures. Then, on the day of his birth, he sent us snow to remind us he's already pure and white and waiting patiently for us. We love him SO much and are so thankful for his love notes and watching over us. It was so neat to share his story on the podcast and re-live the tender moments. 

NOELLE (6):
-Noelle did the Midsummer Night's Dream Ballet with Kezia this year. She wasn't fond of the rehearsals, but she really loved being on stage! 
-Noelle finished up Kindergarten online and started 1st grade! She is in dual immersion and really loves learning spanish words! It's fun for her to be in the same school as her big sister, Kezia, even if it's just for one year. She is one of the very top readers in her class and she reads scriptures with us in the mornings. This year we read The Secret Garden, The Indian in the Cupboard, and mom is currently reading Heidi with her. The transition to the long 1st grade days was pretty rough for Noelle. She really struggled the first month or so, but has gotten a lot better. 

-Noelle is also a great writer and loves to write notes to people & write in her journal. She's also a great artist and we love all her drawings!

-Noelle is also a great builder & makes wonderful Lego creations or just any kind of building out of anything!

-Noelle has a love for cats :) We had some neighborhood cats this summer that would come into our yard and let Noelle love on them. She really enjoyed that time, she just had to make sure that she washed her hands or her eyes would swell up! She says when she grows up, she's going to be a crazy cat lady and a crazy dog lady! 

-Noelle sang I Feel My Savior's Love with 2 other girls for the primary program this year and she did SO good! What a beautiful voice and spirit she has. 

-Noelle has also really gotten into Minecraft this year! She knows lots of strategies and tricks to making awesome Minecraft creations. She was a Minecraft girl for Halloween! 
-Noelle's special friends are Molly, Carolina, Andy, Baylee, Katelyn, Henry, and the Ruperts. 
FAVORITE 2020 Memories:Noelle LOVED Lagoon & didn't stop talking about it for weeks :) She also loved going camping and asks to go a lot. Bear Lake was another favorite memory - she LOVED the frogs and even kayaked all by herself! 
GOALS/ANTICIPATION: Tie her shoes by herself, ride her bike more, and swimming lessons! 

OAKLYN (4): 
-My goodness, this girl has kept us on our toes this year. We don't call them Fearsome Fours for nothing! She has made SO many messes, wasted SO much toothpaste, TP, baking ingredients, you name it. We think she definitely would have done better as an only child as most of her naughtiness comes out when her sisters get home and she has to share mom's attention. Good thing she's also SO sweet and constantly tells us that she loves us and she loves to cuddle and give sweet hugs. 
-Oaklyn and Charlotte Price are like 2 peas in a pod. She lives over the back fence and now that Charlotte & Oaklyn are big enough, they love to come see each other. We have tried repeatedly to get Oaklyn to ASK before she goes over, but sometimes she just can't wait to see Charlotte & jumps over & walks right in! 
-Oaklyn has been putting a backpack on for the past couple years when her sisters go back to school, wishing she coudl go, too. This year she was SO excited to be able to be a big girl and go to school! She started preschool at South Preschool with Mrs. Shirley (same teacher that Noelle had) and she is loving it :) She goes on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and wishes she could go all day every day. Preschool has been wonderful because with no gym daycare or Grifols daycare to go to. 
-Oaklyn's favorite shows right now are Bo on the Go, PJ Masks, and Oomie Zoomie :)

-For mommy & Oaklyn time, Oaklyn still loves playing with blocks and doing tea parties and playing with her "cooker", but she's been more into playing barbies/ponies lately. 

-#4 is the year of the birthday party! Oaklyn invited all her friends and their families to the park for a water slide/jump house event! It was a lot of fun and Oaklyn got lots of fun gifts. 

-Oaklyn has come to an awareness of fear. She fears strangers and monsters and darkness. She would have a lot of nightmares and mom and dad had lots of sleep-deprived nights trying to help her. We decided to add primary songs to our nightly routine of books, scriptures, prayer & good-night songs & it seems to have helped. 

-Oaklyn is still very friendly with anyone and everyone and can start up a conversation in a moment's notice. 

-Oaklyn's special friends are Charlotte Price, Tucker Riddle, and her preschool friends - Lillia, James, Brookelyn. 
-Oaklyn learned how to ride a bike without training wheels before she even turned 4! It's fun to watch her go! 

FAVORITE 2020 Memories: Oaklyn enjoyed Bear Lake and Lagoon this year! 
GOALS/ANTICIPATION: Write her name and letters more clearly, learn some sight words, and take swimming lessons.