August 2017

Dear friend,

Elias had a conference in Bolder so we took a vacation day to head up to Tober for a long-weekend before the conference.   

The weather was perfect and we enjoyed lots of outdoor time.  

And go-kart time.  

We sure do love that place.  

Elias even invented a new game on the spiderweb swing called  

"snatch the peach".  It was a hit.  

From there, it was off to Boulder where Elias worked hard and we played hard.   

The kids and I had a blast exploring the town and spending time with my high school friends and their kids.  

I had the most wonderful birthday in the world!  It started out with breakfast, gifts and book-reading.  When we put Joy down for her morning nap, Elias told me that he was going to take the big kids to pick up one last surprise for me.  I told him to hurry back because I had booked a babysitter from noon to midnight.  

When the babysitter arrived, Elias and I headed out for the best day in Santa Fe.  We went out to lunch and then went to the Parade of Homes.  Having looked at homes in this city for four years now, going to the Parade of Homes brought a lot of laughs and still seemed to surprise us.  

 

We then drove an hour north to the natural hot springs and mud spa of Ojo Caliente.  

Elias is my best friend in every way.  We had the most enjoyable conversations about who we are becoming and how we have changed over the last four years since moving here.  I'm sure all of you who read this already know that we have had some growing pains living in Santa Fe.  We feel that living here has had some negative affects on us personally, but this day's conversation led us to recognize that Santa Fe has changed us in three ways for the better.  First, Elias' job could not have been a better training ground for his future career.  I'm so grateful for the team and experiences he has had professionally the last four years.  Second, without a close support network here, Elias and I have grown even closer together.  We have had to depend on each other for most everything and I think it has improved our communication and companionship.  Lastly, because we have lived here in the first few years of starting our family, and because of the unique spiritual terrain here, we have developed a fierce and unwavering commitment to the little things of raising our family in the gospel of Jesus Christ; scripture study, prayer, and not just holding FHE, but teaching gospel truths at FHE each week.  So...wherever life may take us (or keep us) in the following years, it's nice to hold on to these points.  

From the spa, it was off to a delicious dinner and then the Santa Fe Opera.  It truly was the perfect day with my perfect match.  I love you E.  

We had to live up our last few days of summer before school started, so we enjoyed days of dress-up, 

making astronaut helmets (this was something Smith really wanted to do), 

lots of dance parties, 

adventures with Daddy, 

hanging out,

and a back-to-school painting party.  

The kids enjoyed the first fruits of their labors in the garden.  

(Or vegetables, rather.)

Unfortunately the kids started school the very week that Elias had his annual conference in Park City.  We love joining him for that conference each year and making a family trip out of it to see friends.  

The kids and I hung back this year, but luckily Elias was able to still see some family. 

Summer started kindergarten this year and has taken it very seriously.  She wanted to make a morning routine chart and even though 8-3 is a long day, she is loving it.  We ended up sending her to the local Catholic school that is right down the street from our house and it has been a great fit.  They are strict and have high standards, but she is thriving and couldn't be happier.  

The boys headed back to NYE for a year of Pre-K.  

They are gone from noon to three M-Th.  

We have gotten into a good routine of doing some school work, 

and then going to the park before school.  

It's interesting watching them learn about things we didn't tell them about...Zozobra for example.  

Summer and Smith got pretty jazzed about Zozobra to we went to the mall to see the real thing.  

Each year the residents of Santa Fe drop off their "glooms" at an official gloom box.  People supposedly drop off letters, tax documents, divorce papers, etc.  The city then shreds them and fills the 40-foot effigy Zozobra, or "Old Man Gloom".

They then throw a party and burn Zozobra with the glooms of the city, and as Smith says, "when his head burns, it explodes into fireworks"!

My sister Corie called once afternoon and the boys picked up my phone.  When she asked them if they were excited to go to Catholic school next year I overheard Smith say yes and Boyd say, "humm...Catholic school makes me a wittle nerwvous."  

 

Boyd thrives on competition and often gets it into his head that he is the fastest in the family, so he loves to challenge Elias to a race across the house.  Boyd loves it, but every once in a while Elias feels the need to remind him of reality and it ends in tears.  

The morning after the first day of Pre-K, Boyd announced he would never be going back and after throwing a fit the next two days at drop-off, I was afraid we would be in for another year of bad drop-offs.  (Last year he threw a fit every day, but his teachers said he would be totally fine by the time I shut the door and then he was delightful all day.)  So as I was driving him to school on the fourth day, I threw out the proposal, "Hey Boyd...how about not throwing a fit when I drop you off today?"  He thought about it for a moment and then responded, "hummm...can I have a treat?"  What a negotiator!  "You bet!"  No counter-offer from me.  So we have been fit-free and enjoyed a tic tac at pick-up ever since.  The other day while walking him to his class, I asked "so is today a no-fit, treat day?"  "I can't say," he responded, "it's a mystery."  (Luckily it was, the little tease.)

Boyd has also been really concerned about the afterlife lately.  We have had a few tearful discussions about death and resurrection.  He's a thoughtful little kid.  

Joy and I have enjoyed our little one-on-one time. 

She continues to enjoy the park, 

good food, and being with her daddy.  

I hope everyone else had an incredible eclipse experience!  I was so jazzed about it but Santa Fe was covered in clouds the entire day.  I was so disappointed.  

One Saturday we took the kids to the Native American Festival downtown.  

Summer absolutely fell in love with everything Native and volunteered to dance on stage.  She takes great pride in knowing how to dance like a Native now.  

We came across some pictures of me and Elias when were the same age as the kids.

It's pretty wild to see how we all look alike.  

After three days of school, I took the kids out for three days to travel to Utah for Hannah's wedding.  

Elias had to work and fly out later to join us, but the kids were awesome travel companions and the 11-hour journey couldn't have gone better.  

We made it just in time for Hannah's bridal shower.  

It was such a blast to catch up with some of my cousins.  

I had to keep Elias updated on the kiddos.  

I wish we had more time to meet up with all our friends there,

but we had a few extra hours in Provo so we had a last minute meet-up with the Mortensens, and Lundeens, 

and Kate and Alex.  

Elias joined us on Thursday night and we met my family at Grandpa's empty condo.  

We all brought tents and sleeping bags to sleep in inside and the kids had a blast going wild in the empty place.    

All the girl cousins love dancing, 

so it was one long dance party.  

We even talked the dads into doing a revival number with them.  

We loved meeting Tanner's family the night before the wedding.  What a great family!

And Joy thought the chocolate cake they served was top-notch!

Hannah and Tanner's wedding couldn't have been more beautiful!  

Welcome to the family Tanner!

The nieces and nephews were pretty darling, so I'll go ahead with a photo dump.  

It's wild that both Elias' and my baby sisters were married this summer.  We are so grateful that all of our siblings were married in the temple and that we could be there to support them. 

How grateful we are to be an eternal family!

Much love,
Brittany et al.