Our Family Memories in January 2026!

 Doesn't it feel crazy that it is already 2026? We had a wonderful month in January, getting through the winter together and making new memories. It was a much warmer month than we normally get in Vernal and we thoroughly enjoyed it. 

One thing I did in January was a month-long social media fast. It was an amazing experience for me. I normally have a really hard time with mental health in the winter, especially January, and it's been worse since having kids. This year, I only had a couple of days that were harder, and even those days weren't very hard. The warmer weather was probably a contributor, but last year was also warmer and I still struggled. I was especially worried about this year since I have a baby and my hormones are still all over the place, so I was really grateful for how it has gone. 

A highlight of the month was when the kids got to meet Andymation. Melissa was doing concessions with Vernal Live Theater one night when he showed up at the show! She was very excited and got a picture with him to show her kids and all of us. He planned a time with Melissa to stop by and meet the kids and we surprised the kids with it. 

They were very surprised! It was so much fun.

He was so nice and we were so grateful to him for taking the time out of his day to come do that for us. This will be something our kids never forget.

Another highlight was Ashtyn's first trip to the temple for baptisms! 

She went with the ward and brought some names from my mom. 

She loved it. I love watching her grow up, even as it is bittersweet.

The kids set some New Year's goals. Oliver kept talking about how he wanted to go to "old MacDonald" and I kept trying to figure out what he meant, if he wanted to go to a farm or something. Finally we realized he meant he wanted to go to McDonald's the fast food restaurant 😂

Some of Oliver's snowmen 🩷

Another thing I did in January was take the kids thrifting. In October, the kids had wanted to try a sticker chart to help them finish their list. I'm not a big fan of using sticker charts (not because I think they don't work but because I hate the hassle of them) but I agreed they could try it. They got to pick the reward for when they finished and what they wanted to do was go thrifting. They finished their list at the end of November, but I wanted to wait until after Christmas to go.

They each got to pick out one or two things and we went to two different thrift stores here--one was a store they had been wanting to go to that we hadn't had the chance to visit yet. Their cousins met us their, which was fun for all the kids. Ashtyn picked out pink high heels, a pink dress, and pink knitting needles. Oliver got a couple of car toys (one was a garbage truck that transforms into a robot, so he thinks that is the coolest thing ever). Parker got a watch and a Pokemon t-shirt (she saw this shield from Narnia and wanted a picture, but didn't want to get it). And Rylee got a tiny toy horse that she can push around and two porcelain dolls. 

Now that we were past getting sick every week like we did in December, we were also able to get together with Ben's cousin and his family. They have a baby who is about six months younger than Leah and we love to hang out with them!

We spent a lot of January helping Melissa work on her house. Often, Ben would go over there and I would have Melissa bring the kids to my house to watch them. One day, we all went over and I paid Ashtyn and Lizzy to watch Leah so I could help paint as well. This was the picture we got 😂

Ashtyn and Lizzy spent a lot of time on their ariels in January and had a whole setup in our living room to help them practice. This is one of many, many videos they took.

Leah loves cousin Thomas 🩷

Once when cousins were over, we came over to find these boys making these creations with blocks and then drawing the creations. 🩷

We also got to attend the baby shower for my sister-in-law! We are so excited for them and their newest addition coming in April!

The baby shower was super cute and the girls had a ton of fun. We were playing bingo and Rylee won the first round. A cousin was getting frustrated during the next round when she wasn't getting a lot of squares. Rylee told her, "It doesn't matter if you win. It only matters if you are having fun." Then Parker said, "Easy for you to say." It was so funny, everyone laughed. Ashtyn won the game where if someone says "baby", you get to steal their clothespin. They all had a lot of fun. 

Our ward did a mother-daughter activity where we made dresses out of disposable materials such as wrapping paper, tablecloths, crepe, etc. Ashtyn did hers pink and won the "tightest fit" award. 

Parker didn't want to wear a dress, but she put herself in charge of helping Rylee make hers. They chose a mermaid theme and Rylee won the award. 

Parker's sign 🩷

A neighbor gave us a big box of books they were getting rid of. This was Ashtyn's immediate pile 😂

I really enjoyed the warmer weather on my walk each day!

I also learned to make yogurt in January and I've made it every weekend since. It's really easy and satisfying to make, and I think it tastes better. The kids love it and it's cheaper. 

Parker's bubble was big enough she wanted a picture haha

(they got the bubbles from Navy's birthday party)

Oliver coloring yellow circles.

Making stuff out of their clay that they got last year (I think the bottom picture was Ashtyn).

Such a comfy pillow 😂

Parker loves to draw and every night while we're reading aloud, she draws a little note to give to Ben and I when we kiss her good night 🩷

And some notes from Rylee 🩷

I love to do fake snow with the kids in December, but we didn't have time last year and so I saved it for January. It ended up being good, since we haven't gotten any snow at all. The kids had fun with it, especially Oliver and Rylee. 

Once science activity we did this month was melting marshmallows in the microwave for different amounts of time. The kids loved it, though this was the only picture I got. They ask all the time if we can do it again 😂

For Ben's birthday, Oliver really wanted me to make donuts, so I did. I love that I have our donut recipe perfected, they always turn out so yummy. I also made some puffed red wheat cereal, something I've done on his birthday for a few years now (though he is starting to not want it as much, so we'll see in future years). Ben worked on his game in the morning and then in the evening, we went and played pickleball with a couple friend of ours. It was a fun day.

On the morning of his birthday, we went to the library. The kids used a kit there to make Ben some extra "presents", which they took videos of to show him once we got home. The kids also had made him some pickleball bookmarks I found on Pinterest for his birthday, and Parker made him a heart present. I gave him a sweater he'd been wanting along with some of his favorite candy. He had a good birthday.

In January, Leah got her first bath in the bathtub and loved it! 

She loves playing in the tubbie and she's adorable in there.

She also continues to love food. She is so cute eating in her high chair!

I love nursing Leah 🩷 She had a couple times of getting sick in January as well and I was able to nurse her extra then. Rylee also got sick and ended up having an asthma attack. We didn't know before this that Rylee had asthma, so that was a long night and scary, but I'm grateful for modern medicine to help with situations like this. 

Anytime Leah was grumpy, I'd just put her in the tub!

Leah has discovered the stairs! She doesn't climb all the way up them yet, but she is starting to attempt climbing. 

Leah also loves Signing Time and is learning to sign--she currently knows the sign for "milk" and she just learned the sign for "more" (both signs she knows are about getting food 😂)

One of our favorite things is how she points at things. If you point your finger at her, she'll point right back at it, and it's the cutest thing.

She loves her food!

When Mom is gone and you have to settle for a bottle 🩷

I'm grateful she'll take a bottle. Parker wouldn't and while I don't leave during a nursing often, it was really limiting for the first year or so. 

Leah has also started pulling herself up. She started with her knees like this, though now she knows how to push up onto her feet and she loves it.

She also likes to climb into the bottom of her exercauser 😂

When Mom has to wake you up 🩷

Ben loves to play a game with the babies called "diaper face" where you put the clean diaper over the baby, as a form of peekaboo. The thing that cracks me up about Leah is that she just leaves it there until you move it 😂😂

Leah loves to explore!

For some reason, it is the cutest thing to me when she leaves a room we're in. I also love her crawling, because it is still so deliberate, even as she's gotten a little faster. 

Found a tag!

And Leah has learned how to clap, which is everyone's favorite thing. 
She is such a cutie!

We had a wonderful month in January. We got to spend time with family and friends, celebrate milestones, not freeze quite as much as we normally do, and watch Leah learn and grow so much. I am so grateful for my family and the time I have with them 🩷