February is cozy and sweet

 

Here we are at an Airbnb at Bear Lake. This is our President's Day Weekend getaway this year. All the kids brought friends and it was super fun. The weekend was skiing at Beaver Mountain, tons of snow, hot tub, board games and general hang out fun.

Here is a skiing crew of us on Saturday. Carrie and Mason (ski patrol at Beaver), Chad, Ivy, Audrey, Sherry, Georgia and Kate. We went together as much as Carrie and Mason could, but it was a pretty busy day on the mountain for them.

Here are Kate and Audrey among the amazing deep snow at Beaver that weekend.

Getting ready to ski down. Graham joined us for a bit at the top on this run, but we seldom saw him and Payne. They were loving the snow.

Here is a group of us at lunch in the little nook above the ski patrol building. Perfect for us all to catch some lunch!

The next weekend was Maria Murillo's wedding! It was fun to be there with her. She married her friend Fernando is a very romantic and quick engagement. How very sweet. Nancy Castaldo is in this picture with us.

It is Graham's birthday month, and here we are at a family dinner celebrating him. He is 15 years old!

Happy Birthday, Graham!

January we are hibernating

The girls and I did a hike up to Heughs Canyon. Since the weather has been so great, it was pretty easy going, no snow on the trail. It was fun to get out and move. Mostly, we have just been skiing. It got really cold in January, now we are ready to start the warm-up.

We repainted Graham's bed and dresser and closet doors. He got this new bedspread for Christmas, and his "Ski Chalet" is on its way.

Audrey made these skis and poles as a present for Graham.

Graham and Jr Jazz team went to the Jr Jazz game in January.

 Einstein with his hair long, the day before his grooming.

The transformed Einstein.

December makes the house full again

 

Our house is bursting with our kids again! After being so empty the last few months, we are celebrating Christmas with everyone home! is has been a marvelous 2 weeks and we still have a couple days to go. What a blessing to be with such great people. Kathy and Gary came to visit us for a bit on Christmas day.

Audrey and Kate give each other matching hats - they had a really fun time giving the SAME thing to each other.

Opening stockings together.

Making gingerbread houses together.

November comes in a rush

 Here are some of the things we were up to:

Graham, Audrey (and Kate and Rachel) Learned from Uncle Brad about being a paramedic and driving the Payson City ambulance.

A fun cousin game day - Love these Iverson cousins!

Sherry and Kathy!

Chad and Sherry in Sedona, AZ

More Sedona

On a natural bridge in the golden hour

Chad getting ready to enjoy a U2 concert at the sphere

Andrew and his family came to visit! Here are Holly, Josie, Jared, Katie, Cora and Andrew

Here are the kids playing in snow!

Fabulous October!

 

Graham and friend, Jake, hiked Mt Timpanogos this October! It was a beautiful day, and we started right after early out Friday. We got to see a fabulous sunset from the top. Pretty amazing!

It was a quick hike out, these boys didn't stop until we got to the bottom. They did amazing.

I got to see the Treasurer of the US Treasury (Marilyn Malerba) at the Salt Lake Public Library. She is on the right in this picture. They were celebrating the launch of the new quarter, featuring Zitkala Sa. The program of the night was celebrating Zitkala Sa. We heard a song from her opera, had a reading from one of her descendants, were introduced to about 20 other descendants, watched a movie about her, and mostly, just celebrated the role of a strong woman Native American in our country. She was an activist that brought dual citizenship to the Native American people. They could be members of their tribe AND a citizen of our country.

Ok - here are the cutest puppies all dressed up for Halloween! Bagel the candy corn and Einstein the cow.

Fall is here

We celebrated Audrey's birthday this month! She is 23 years old!

It has been a fun BYU Football year so far - 5-0 when they were expected to be a poor team. It is fun to see them win a couple they were not supposed to!

Now, we only have Graham at home. Here are Graham, Bagel and Einstein all hanging out in Kate's room, missing her. At least she has had to come home to visit a couple times!

 

August - The End and New Beginnings

 August, wow! What a crazy life. 

It was another Bair Gutsman! Here is the family crowd that did the race. I ran the race this year, and finished! So did Graham, Kate, Audrey and Chad. We had so many finishers from the family. It is always neat to be part of this race, because of the great people who help and make it great. Big shout out to Marianne and Brett who ran the finish line this year so I could race. You guys are lifesavers!

We took a trip to Logan Canyon and stayed in a little shed with no running water or electricity. What a strange little place, but, it was so peaceful, all by itself in the beautiful canyon.

The next day was surfing day.

We are all excited to get going.

Audrey surfing

Kate is pro surfer.

Graham gives everyone good tips Here he is showing his stuff.

Later - when winds picked up, we switched to tubing. 

Kate and Graham get tipped.

Then we started a new phase of our life - College kid move ins. It was a series of three move ins. 

We found Rachel a house so close to campus and the TRAX line. very amazing. Her room is the one under the front gable. We had to get her a bed, desk, dresser, end table, etc. It was quite a move - and took three loads to get everything there. She is off to a good start this semester. We are very grateful.

Kate is a freshman at USU! We moved her in as a family and then had dinner with her at the dorm meal restaurant. That was an experience for us. Then she attended freshman orientation classes last week and started classes yesterday. She is making tons of friends and enjoying the college life. She even had to handle a car break down, and got it all back on track. She will do great!

Next move in was Audrey. She moved into a spacious apartment with her "old" roommates. I helped drive everything there, and helped her moved in. Then, she was off to the Grand Canyon for the weekend. BYU doesn't start for another week, and she is enjoying her vacation still.

Graham started school this week, and off to a decent start. We love him! He also started a new job, so life is coming at him fast. Way to go, Graham!