April Happenings

 If I don't get this post done now I'm really going to be behind!  April was definitely busier than the past months.  We were slowly ramping up to May, which is warp speed.  We started the month off right by going to our favorite mexican food place.  So so good.  Most of the time Sage doesn't eat much.  But sometimes she eats more than the rest of us.  She pretty much downed one of those huge drinks on her own.  Which of course meant she didn't eat anything.  

We went Jeeping after Sage's dance competition in Tooele.  Zack to his Jeep on a trail for the first time, and loved every second of it.  We were having a great time until Chester decided to roll in a dead body or something.  Suddenly there was a horrible smell, and it was coming from him.  Like dead body horrible.  Luckily for Jake and I, we were able to send him with Zack and Kate.  He smelled so bad that they drove with windows down and masks on.  Earlier that morning Jake finally reached his limit with the piano being played loudly at horrible times.  I've tried to talk him into getting a keyboard for a while, but finally he couldn't take it anymore.  He told Kate to find one on KSL.  Which she did.  So they arranged to go look at it in Holladay on their way home.  Well, the keyboard was located at a serious mansion.  Like it took them a second to find the road it was hidden so well.  They pulled up to a huge house with a yard that included ponds, fountains, and swans.  Zack and Kate were in Jeeping clothes (not nice in case you were wondering) and also smelled horrible because Chester's smell had seeped into their clothing.  I'm sure the keyboard person wondered at the rednecks from Heber.  I'm so grateful he'll never know who I am!  When we got Chester home we had to go through the process of cleaning Chester.  Let's just say there was some yelling.  It took multiple washes to finally get the smell out.  I've never been so glad to go to work in my life.  Pretty sure I should have paid IHC that night!

In other news, the trailer is done!!  Well, done enough to use.  The first time we took it out on a drive someone stopped us at a light and asked Jake if he built it and told him how awesome it was.  Made his year.  Jake and Zack took it on the maiden voyage to a bike race in Hurricane.  They had a great time with it and called it a success!  I'm sure Jake will eventually do a post all about the trailer.  Let's just say he's already figuring out how he can start a company building trailers.  Heaven help us all.  

I made Zack put his arms up on this little climbing rock.  He loves me.

On Easter Sage brought out a ton of gifts for each of us.  They were so well thought out.  Of course each gift included one of her amazing cards.  It was the best!

First time out with the trailer.

Sage and Georgia at their dance competition

Both of the Jeeps out together!

The trailer in Hurricane!

Hilton Head

 Jake and I finally got to go to Hilton Head, South Carolina, for his Builder 20 group.  We were supposed to go last year, but then Covid happened.  I have to say, this was a much needed break.  It's been so long since we went anywhere.  I love these trips because I get time to myself when Jake's in meetings, but then I also love getting away with Jake.  And it's always fun to explore new places.  Especially when the new places involve sunshine and beaches.

Hilton Head was beautiful.  Lots of pretty beaches.  Our hotel was right on the beach.  Tons of golf courses.  Apparently Hilton Head is where you go to golf.   It's a pretty low-key place.  No big city to play in, just a little town and beaches.  They had tons of awesome bike trails so we had fun renting bikes for a few hours one day.  I loved biking on the beach.  I spent a lot of time in a hammock by a beautiful pond and sitting by the pool.  I went running a few times and was quickly reminded that my body doesn't tolerate running in heat.  At all.  I wanted to love running in a beautiful place, but it was painful.

Anyway, we biked, walked, kayaked, ate yummy food, saw some beautiful houses, and visited with friends we hadn't seen for a while.  We swam in the ocean and enjoyed the warm water of the Atlantic.  Whilte we were in the water some dolphins swam up pretty close to us.  It was really cool.  Now I can tell people I swam with dolphins.

It was a great, and much needed, trip.  We flew through Atlanta and had major delays going home because there was a huge thunderstorm and tornados in Atlanta.  We were supposed to get home at 7, but didn't end up flying in until almost midnight.  It was a long day.  However, we were upgraded to first class coming from Atlanta.  I still don't know why other than that it had something to do with a dog.  Flying first class is a whole different world.  If I flew first class every time I think I would actually enjoy flying.  It will be painful to go back with the regular people.  I enjoyed every second of my time in first class though.  The perfect ending to a great trip!

Jake living it up in first class.  I think it's funny they have shoulder harnesses for seatbelts in first class.  Apparently your life is worth more if you have money.

Our first night there

On our way!  We got to experience the new airport.  Not super impressed.

Eating lunch at a yummy place after biking there along the beach.  

The view from one of the houses we toured.

Yep, that's a real live alligator.  They're all over up there.

Cool turtles at our hotel.

We went miniature golfing one night.  I haven't done that for a long time!  While there I caught this awesome frog.  He was making a lot of noise.

Together Again!

 After a long year of not getting together because of Covid, there are finally enough of us vaccinated that we were able to gather.  It was so great!  The Balls were even here.  They came for their spring break and it just so happened that Marcus's lacrosse team was playing here at Wasatch.  We took advantage of everyone coming for the game and invited them to dinner.  For a brief moment all of the Spjute family was together.  We even had Season and her family.  It made me so happy to have our house full again!  

It was fun to see everyone spread out through the house.  Sage's hangout room was a big hit.  There were people outside around the fire, on the trampoline, and chasing chickens.  Jake even got the tractor out and gave everyone a ride.  It was great fun, especially because no one got hurt.

I got to watch my first lacrosse game.  It was fun!  Marcus did a great job and it was a close game.  In true Heber Valley fashion it was freezing by the end.  I was jealous of the people who brought a heater.  It was so fun to sit with the family and cheer for Marcus.  I still cheered for Wasatch.  And Marcus.  I learned lacrosse is pretty fun.  I guess I can see why all of my nephews are playing it.  I wish Marcus had more games up here because it was so great to see everyone.  

Thank heavens we can start getting together again!!

Hooray for the hangout room!

A full house!  Finally!

Sofia thought her dad was going to die on the tracor

We're going to send this picture to Greg's boss.  What not to do on a tractor.

Marcus's cheering section.  Sunny yet freezing

Beautiful valley

Still Here

 I keep thinking I should post on here.  But then I can't think of anything to write about.  These last few months have been uneventful, to say the least.  Well, the daily grind has kept us plenty busy, but who wants to read about that?  I guess it's good to document for posterity's sake though, so here's a brief update of what we've all been up to.  Jake's more busy than he wants to be with work.  He goes crazy because of all of the babysitting he has to do every day.  In the spare time he doesn't have, he works on the trailer.  I would like to say that some day he'll slow down, but I doubt that will happen.  I do hope that some day he'll be busy with things he actually enjoys.  Zack just found out that he got a 32 on the ACT!  He's smart without even trying.  Too bad his grades don't show it.  He learned the hard way that it's hard to balance work and school.  He's also gotten too good at carpentry, so Jake always wants his help.  This is both a good thing and a bad thing for him.  Kate is killing it in high school.  She's made some cute friends.  She's the peacemaker in our house.  Zack and Sage are mortal enemies right now, and somehow Kate is friends with them both.  Thank heavens.  My sweet, sassy Sage has hit puberty and isn't quite so sweet.  How I hate puberty!  I'm hopeful she'll return to her sweet self one day.  In the mean time she's keeping us all on our toes.  We've taken to calling her Betty when she loses her cool.  She loves it.  I'm just trying to keep things together around here.  Somehow I manage to not have enough time for everything.  I'm currently YW president in our ward, so that's added a whole new level of business.  But I'm so glad I get to be in YW when both of my girls are there.  We're having a great time together!  And Jake gets to hang by himself every Wednesday when all of us leave.  Lucky guy.

I'll let the pictures tell the rest of what we've been up to.  Mountain biking is about to start, the trailer is almost done, so soon we'll have all kinds of stuff to report.

Where Jake spends his evenings.  And weekends.

Zack's awesome mask line from work

We got sugar cookies and frosting from Suss Cookies for V-Day.  It was awesome.

We spent an entire day deep cleaning Zack's room.  He loved it.  It was disgusting.

Our beautiful valley

Sage had a dance competition

Dance friends Caitlin and Kami

The purple in the walls is insulation

I made lots of jam after working all night.  My family makes fun of me for the things I do after working.  Whatever.

One of Sage's many selfies on my phone

The trailer has walls!  And yes, that's a water tank in the floor.

We went to a new burger place in Provo called 7 Brothers.  This picture does not do justice to the size of the burgers.  They were delicious.  

Bridal Veil Falls

Now we have walls and a floor

Sage had to climb in a small space to help outline a board for Jake to cut