February FUN

Our True Aggies before leaving Logan😂

Sarah's half way there with our cute girlie💗

Playing with Koop, eating lasagna, Kato's kennel and blown over in wind, outdoor library

Koop and the expanding ball

TobyMac Concert with Trusty's ~ SO GOOD!

Other bands their too - Crowder, CAIN, Ryan Stevenson & Terrian

LeAnn's fastest 5k in a long time, Jeff flew with Connie, Dan's headshots for our podcast episode, Fred & Loretta at the end of his cancer treatment, a little windstorm, great RS experiment

Koop's so glad when Daddy comes home!

Kurt's the best Koop Dad ever💙

one of my most tender gifts, cute Dad & son gaming, love working at the temple, delicious Newks lunch from the Ks, B&S enjoying Tandori with J

LeAnn birthday fun with Kooper and a beautiful 3 mile Koop Loop walk in the 70 degree sunshine🌞

Can't wait for Raelynn to come ~ love these beautiful flowers and card from Sarah & Brandon!

Brandon & Sarah Baby Shower

Paulette & Galen gave Sarah & Brandon such a fun baby shower!  It was LeAnn's fastest trip to Utah ever, more time traveling than there, but way worth it!  Fenway welcomed me when I arrived:). So fun to spend the evening with Hayden, Steph, Mom and see more family at the shower~

Brandon & Sarah are the powerhouse parents in the making💙 Grandma made them this beautiful afghan.

Fun to be with MIL, Mom & Sarah's Mom too.  Great advice from everyone.  We now know cute girlies name ~ beautiful Raelynn!

Michelle, Lena, Paulette, Galen, Jana, Jayda & Emerly ~ they created the funnest games for everyone to do and brought yummy food too.  So grateful for the awesome Austin family! (sure missed the ones who couldn't come)

How we love and appreciate Brandon & Sarah and can't wait to meet our cute girlie Rae💗

January Joys & Sorrows

So excited for our first grand-daughter!

Here's some Brandon & cute girlies pictures...

LeAnn's cute new Sunday School class.

Jeff gets to teach the adults.

Best callings ever!

Nick took the car out to Utah along with the teddybear😂

Jeff & Nick were able to tour Jeff's training center🛫

Utah Family Fun🎉

January 10th: such a sad day ~ our crazy cute Nutty went to doggy heaven this morning. Ironic that we got her in 2017, the last time it snowed in GA where we live. Today there was a few inches of snow, and she would have loved to play in it. 

We’ve been blessed to have Nutmeg in our lives for almost 8 years. She has run and walked with LeAnn for countless hours. She has made me feel safe. She has taught me a lot about anxiety and destruction – we’ll forever have tender reminders when we look around our house and yard of what she has destroyed. She’s always been so excited when we come home, even if we were gone for 2 minutes. 

We can’t thank our dear neighbors that have helped us through these last few weeks. Thrish works at the vet office and has gotten Nutty the best doctor and care, and was with me this morning as we put her to sleep. And Terry came over and helped me load Nutty in the car since she couldn’t move anymore. They always loved Nutmeg, even when she chased their cats frequently. They were so good to her and gave her lots of lovin every time we were talking. I could call them anytime to ask animal questions. We certainly hit the jackpot on neighbors! 

I hated to have to tell the boys this morning that she was gone. They wanted a dog all their growing up years and it took me a long time before I was ready to add more craziness to the mix. The boys were so good to her and had lots of fun experiences together. When they brought our daughters-in-law home to meet us, they were so cute with her too. 

 Nutmeg was really Jeff's baby. She knew he was the one that would give her the most treats and the most petting. She followed him around everywhere and loved to cook meat with him because she got lots of tastes. She loved to lay on the bed right by him and when he was on trips, she’d nap where he sleeps. Jeff says he had 3 girls ~ me, Nutty and Sally (his mustang). What a tender mercy that we have a granddaughter coming this summer, so he’ll have another girl in his life soon. 

Nutmeg has added endless adventure and unconditional love to our lives. We’re going to miss her so much! She was our one and done dog ~ and was perfect for our family.  We love you Nutty ~ keep singing and chasing squirrels with all the beautiful animals in heaven that are excited to see you💙

Koops first snow, N&J's friend serving lunch, beautiful flowers from our cute Ks

The kids were sending tender pics on our family text today, here are a few...

January 16th LeAnn was set apart to work at the Atlanta Temple ~ so blessed!

2nd Annual PTC Half Marathon: started in the rain and wet feet throughout, but got-r-done and ran the whole thing ~ I got this and Jesus' got me💙

Delicious Newks salad the day before, pic with Jeff Stebar who won his age group

Another snow day (much less traumatic than the one 11 days ago when Nutty left), Jesus bracelet from the cute neighbor boys, Nick's turtle lights up our backyard even in the snow🙌

Kristen got really sick & Kurt was working so we got to spend a couple days hanging out with Super Kooper🎉

Beautiful key chain from 2 cute girlies out on path while taking Koop for a walk in our awesome new stroller Jeff found at Clothes Less Traveled for best deal ever, Jeff's hat in the cold, ABC's of life in George's office, Koop found the remote and tried to download a channel that would "nourish his mind, body & soul" Go Koop!

Bray's so generously donated to celebrate Nutmeg.  So many kind things from friends: texts, cards, hugs and much more.  Mom & Dad sent us a cozy blanket, Chris made a cute animal card, Jill gave us some "Golden Nutmeg" handsoap, Kim & Todd made the coolest light that has pics of Nutty on it - we now use it as our downstairs nightlight.  Beyond grateful for dear friends and tender memories.

Koop's Home One Birthday

Koop's Home One Party🥳

Family, nachos and baseball fun!

Koop didn't care for his cupcake, not ready for sugar yet.

Golf club set from Mema & Pop and Kurt's hands when he was one years old💙

So fun going to Newks on Koops one year old day🎉

FUN Christmas Break

So fun having Nick & Justin home for the Christmas Break!

Lots of play time and games💙

Some delicious grilling too!

Koop loves opening boxes, having FUN and Reece's peanut butter cup wrappers from Grandma & Grandpa😋

Cool mugs from Daren & Lesly and more games😎

Koop's First Christmas Adventures

Mini Golfing ~ Nick won again👏

Our 2025 Family Word FUN (Feeling, Understand, Now), church, our cute grand-daughter, Koop enjoying Pop's meat💕

Joyful December

So excited for Brandon & Sarah and their cute girlie coming in June

Love when Koop comes to play ~ especially with Christmas decor🎄

Fun Connection Blueprint, Brent & Colton at his football celebration, Church Christmas Party and new blinds working well - ugh Nutmeg

Fun spending time at the Giving Machine today! Love that our Ks came too, and we were able to donate a teddy bear, chickens and diapers to those in need. 

Excited to start this new Giving Machine family tradition with our first grandson during his first Christmas season🎁

Our Js having fun in Logan

Temple trip, church Christmas tree, and dinner with the amazing Down's kids💙

November ~ So Blessed

 Justin has experienced some amazing classes at Utah State.  Here's just one of his many field trips.

Koop & Kato ready for the election, grand-doggies enjoying the first snow, Koop cruisin on his bike, Jeff & LeAnn enjoying the awesome movie - The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (best childhood book and show!), Nick & Justin playing frisbee golf

We came home from the movie to this…. Our crazy and very anxious dog Nutmeg did all this, ugh! 

Now this is not the first time she’s destroyed things in our home or backyard, but it’s been a little while. I was hoping at age 8 she was finally outgrowing destruction but looks like that’s not the case. Nutmeg tried to escape through all the windows, chewed up the bottom of the door, and was whining and shaking when we got home. We think it was because the battery on the smoke alarm was going out and beeping sporadically, which she obviously didn’t care for. 

I was a little frustrated when I walked in the door to this mess, well maybe a lot frustrated, and I didn’t want to talk to Nutmeg for a little while as I was cleaning up. But as I thought more about the situation, it actually makes sense that when we’re feeling anxious or scared, and want to get out of something, we’ll do just about anything to escape. 

My favorite quote: “You either love someone or you don’t understand them.” There are things I don’t understand about our crazy dog, but I still love her. Even though in the moment I was not liking her actions very much.

Our dear friend Liz turns 60 and she still runs faster than me:)

Justin & Nick enjoying more frisbee golf

Played a duet in church with cute Laura ~ before and after pics (I was shaking the whole time, but did it!)

Jeff surprised me with Mannheim Steamroller at The Fox ~ so good!  Then we had a delicious meal at The Melting Pot, such a fun date💙

We love our weekly hangouts with Koop!

We were spread all over the US for Thanksgiving.  Koop in TN, Jeff in CA (his yummy meal from SWA), LeAnn & Kurt (last minute change of plans at the Korean BBQ), Brandon & Sarah in AZ (table all set), and Nick & Justin in UT with Grandma, Grandpa, Steve, Steph & fam ~ so grateful for everyone!