Kid Updates: Katie

Katie is, as always, a ray of sunshine in our family. She is full of life and fun, loves friends and cousins, and has a heart of gold. She loves her stuffies. Her thoughtful home-made gifts and notes are always a hightlight of any special occasion. We sure love our Katie!

10th Birthday

We made a trip to grandma and grandpa's house in Missouri for Katie's birthday, so she got to celebrate with lots of family. Megan made a fun ice cream-cone cake, and grandma gave Katie french bread pans, since french bread is one of her favorite things! She and Hannah and Will spend hours dressing up in grandma's stocked attic!

Fresh french bread in France!

Orchestra

Much to my delight, Katie is enjoying playing the violin in school. It comes easily for her, and it's so fun for me to see her play.

Homemade Gifts

For my birthday, Katie wrote me an "Editing Class" card. It was perfect and made my day! I'd been spending lots of time taking classes and working on setting up a freelance editing business (still in process, but on hold for now), and she wanted to help. :) I LOVE her home-made cards and sweet gifts; she is so thoughtful.

Katie made Megan a Maisie pillow for her birthday:

Plays with Livvy and Broken Finger

Katie and Livvy created and performed a play for the family at our 2021 Three Peaks Reunion. For the next year, they wrote letters back and forth and talked on Zoom to plan the sequel. We had to miss the 2022 since we got COVID, but the girls and I took a trip to UT a couple weeks later and Katie and Livvy performed their play! The night before, Katie broke her finger playing with Livvy, but she didn't let that stop her! She even signed her autograph left-handed for all her fans :)

2021 Play at Three Peaks

Baking

Katie is a master baker. Brownies, banana bread, anything I will let her make. 

Friends and Family

Katie loves her best friend Natalee and her cousins. She loves playing games and doing anything with Megan and Jacob. And she loves our kitties, Maisie and Olive.

Kid Updates: Jacob Edition

Jacob is such a driven boy. He sets high goals and he chases after them relentlessly. He will do great things in his life, I have no doubt! Many Saturdays find him riding his bike all around town for up to 40 miles. He's studies Google Maps to figure out the best routes to stay off the major roads (at my insistence) but still gets where he wants to go. He's probably explored every neighborhood in our town and beyond!

Guy Trip to Alaska

During the summer of 2021, Jon and Jacob joined Mark, Cody, Tanner, and Kevin on a guys trip to Alaska for fishing, hiking, and exploring.

Birthday

I made Jacob an all-natural, no added sugar "cake" for his 14th birthday made out of dates, cashews, carrots, and unsweetened coconut. Katie made him a puzzle.

Jacob chooses not to eat any white flour, sugar (or honey, maple syrup, etc), butter, or red/processed meat. He is absolutely determined to optimize his health, and he sticks to his commitment. This determination will take him far in life! 

Skiing, Biking, Swimming, and Running

Jacob's knees really bother him whenever he tries to run much, but he has kept it up as much as he can. He has also found other ways to stay active and keep his goals alive--Nordic skiing with the Shen team, biking, and most recently swimming at our town pool!

 

Biking in the Azores

Biking in France

Running in Germany

Goodbye Middle School!

Jacob is ready for high school next year. I have no doubt that he's going to do great!

Other Adventures

Jacob is happiest when he is active. He loves exploring outside, creating things, and experimenting. I love watching him  and marvel at his energy and creativity. And I love when he brings Katie along on his adventures.

Hanging out with the boys at grandma and grandpa's house

Solar oven he made--Katie baked brownies inside and they were delicious!

Hiking with Jon

Jacob's box collection