Christmas 2015

We had a good Christmas this year. The kids particularly enjoyed their present... a trampoline. They have wanted one for a long time. Ben actually started digging the whole for the trampoline about a month before Christmas. The kids could not figure out what he was doing. They thought they were getting a pool for Christmas. 

Christmas Lights

The last couple years we have been watching the Great Christmas Light Fight and this year TWO houses in our town won. One of the families that won does an amazing castle house of lights that we have been visiting the last few years. It was great to visit again this year and see his trophy from the show.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from the Rae Family!!

It’s hard to believe that another year has come and gone - our 4th full year since moving to Utah. Life has had its ups and downs (mostly ups) and never seemed to slow down, especially with three growing kids around the house. We have had more opportunities to travel this year and enjoyed our 10-day summer trip to North Dakota as well as trips to Bryce Canyon, Zion, Grand Canyon (x2), Salt Lake museums, and Phoenix Science Center.

Ben has been quite busy this year adding many new things to his plate. In addition to his job as Aquatics Manager at the Community Center, he was named the 1st Head Coach for Dixie State University Women’s Swimming in June. He also went back to school this fall to pursue his Master’s Degree in Public Administration. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family, attending the kids activities, and serving in the Elder’s Quorum.

Jill stays quite busy with the kids between homeschooling and shuttling them back and forth to different events. She is in her second year as the president of their HomeSchool Co-op and has been the Camp Leader for Young Womens this year which also means activities and church lessons in a small ward. She made the tough decision to put Heritage Choir on hold this fall as the number of other responsibilities was increasing as the kids grow up.

Jenna spends most of her time dancing, though she likes to read as well. This past year she played soccer again, but with an increasing number of dance classes this fall (I’m not even sure how many!), she has retired from other sports to focus her time on that. She enjoys going to Activity Days and can’t wait another year to be in Young Womens as many of her friends are older and have already moved on. She also enjoys writing and choreographing dances for herself and Charlotte.

Westley spends all of his time in sports - it’s really all he likes to do. This year he has played soccer, baseball, football, volleyball, and basketball as well as running a triathlon, running club, and his first 1 mile race (6:21). He gets up early almost every day to get in some practice before school or to check on the scores from the previous day. He is a huge BYU fan and dreams of playing football there one day. He also enjoys scouts (especially if sports are involved!!)

Charlotte enjoys dancing and coloring. She is in 1st grade this year and insists on coloring each page after completing the assignment (many times before completing the assignment). She is taking several dance classes like her big sister and loves being on stage. She has a lot of personality and always keeps us on our toes. This year she also played soccer, baseball, and running club (though she does most things for the juice box!)

We are grateful for all of the opportunities, challenges, and blessings the Lord has given us and look forward to the future!

Jenna's 11th Birthday

Jenna had a friend party this year. It was a fun party, even though it got a little crazy for awhile.

Piano Recital

My friend, who has a piano studio, asked my kids to join her recital so they could have practice playing in front of others. They both practiced very hard for weeks to prepare. I picked out one challenging piece for each of them. They both were nervous, but they both did very well. Westley was especially nervous, but he played his song perfectly. It was probably the best he had ever played the piece. I wish I could perform as well as he can under pressure.

Jenna's Favorite Dance

Choir Performance

 The kids participated in homeschool choir this fall. They performed at the Dicken's Festival and did and great job. The pictures are not the best because the lighting there is never good for pictures.

Talent Show Tap

The girls performed a tap dance for our homeschool group. Jenna choreographed it.

Flag Football

Westley had a great flag football season this year. He had the best coaches and teammates. He played mostly center, but also played defense sometimes. He had multiple catches this year and even got a two-point conversion. He LOVES football and wants to be a professional football player when he grows up. He has read pretty much every book the library has on football.

First Mile

Westley ran his first 1-mile length race recently. He was very excited. He loves to race and running is his second favorite sport, after football.  He did a great job. He ran the mile is 6 min and 21 sec. with a couple of hills!  He was the fifth runner to come in of all the kids in the race.

Trip to Salt Lake

Ben had some work to do in the Salt Lake area and some family nearby to visit, so we all joined in on the trip. We recently bought a museum pass to a museum near our home that allows us to get into museums in other areas for free. We took full advantage of this pass while visiting Salt Lake. I am not even sure how many museums we went to!

The kids had a ton of fun with the green screen at the children's museum.

We also visited the zoo with our cousins.

Of course out of all the exhibits in all of the museums we visited, the kids liked the erosion table the best. Sand and water and just so much fun.

Halloween Performance

The kids had a performance at a local farm this month. They all did different Halloween dances. Jenna did a doll tap dance, Westley did a ghost/zombie hip hop dance, and Charlotte did a Halloween tap dance.