January 17 - 23, 2026: Bowling! and Other Moments

January 17-23:

January 17 - Saturday:

We took the kids bowling!  It was such a fun time!  We all had a blast.

Each person had their own way of bowling...

I loved how Kira put her arm around Sofie as they watched the ball roll down the lane.  

We cheered each other on and it was a great time.

Kira and Sofie got so many spares!  I got one strike and after 5 gutter balls in a row...I asked them to put the bumpers on for my turn!!  😂  Kira got the most points - 110.  Then Sofie and I tied at 89.  Then Nels 77, Noah 74 and Isak 70.  Isak didn't have bumpers on until half the game was over.  So he did really well considering no bumpers!  

Yay!  Family time!

We splurged and added on a few more things to do.  We did laser tag and that was so fun!  It was my first time doing it.  And I loved it.  We did boys against girls.  The boys won.  But we all had fun.  

Then bumper cars:

Then we waited for anther game of laser tag.  

Other people were doing it.  So our family competed against their family.  We lost by a lot.  But it was fun.  

Then we went rollerskating!  I was pretty nervous about doing the rollerskating.  But the kids did great.  And Noah definitely surprised me!  

It was a good place to learn because there was a short wall you could maneuver along.  Nels and I took turns helping Noah along.  It was his first time doing it.  When he got comfortable, I suggested we try to go to the other side of the wall without holding on to anything.  It was a short distance, and he did it.  Then he kept trying to skate without holding on to anything.  Soon he was getting the hang of it without any help!! Yay! 

Isak and Kira remembered how to skate, from when they learned in Illinois in first grade.  So that was nice!

And Sofie had learned how last year when she got skates for her birthday.  And she did great too.  

Cute Kira skated around too.  

Then we all played one last game of laser tag.  

And did the virtual rollercoaster and 

laser maze.

So fun!!  Then we got Costco pizza and Sonic slushes for a late lunch.  

January 18 - Sunday:

Isak is responsible for bringing the bread for Sacrament on Sundays.  He did a good job.  Then he forgot his scriptures in the chapel.  We had to wait for the next ward to finish before he could grab them.  While we waited, we read scriptures as a family, and ate bread.  :)

The boys made snacks and we played 5 Crowns again.

Cozy Kira doing her theory at piano lessons.

Sofie made this STEM kit fan with a little (or maybe a lot) of help from Nels.  It turned out cute Sofie!!

I've been drilling with a friend at an indoor pickleball court.  It's been so fun to work on drops and different shots.  

January 20 - Tuesday

Nels's first day at Gibson Guitars!  He did great and they gave him shirts and a jacket.  He was pumped.  Other than the commute, Nels feels like he will really enjoy this job.  Yay!!

Here's his office with four guitars on the wall.  He's encouraged to play in his office often!

He looks good!!

Sweet Sofie with all of her pandas.  

Noah built this with the keva planks.

My new pickleball paddle came!  It's an awesome paddle and I love it.  It's purple.  As the kids say, I'm in my purple era.  :)

The weather was predicting snow and ice.  So I went to Costco and splurged on some yummy food.  I got the chicken alfredo, chocolate chip muffins and chocolate beignets.  Comfort food for during the storm.  

I also bought Sofie this panda sweatshirt and she was thrilled!

Friday treat...beignets.  

Cute Kira holding the beignet.  Everyone loved them and I was glad I splurged!

Sofie and Noah are learning ukulele at school and they practice at home sometimes.  So cute.  

They also like to make presentations on Canva.  Here's one with a bear and panda.  :)

Coming up next:  Snow and Ice Storm and spoiler:  we're out of school for a whole week!

January 1 - 16, 2026: Everyday Moments

January 1 - 16: Moments:

Sofie had quite the social life during winter break.  She went to friends houses and had friends over to our house.  Here she is with one of her sweet friends Sudeeksha.

I caught Kira cozy in her bed reading and it made my heart happy.  

It's dark so the lighting isn't very good.  But Nels makes the best burgers.  I put tater tots in the air fryer and it's a great comfort meal. 

I found this note on my nightstand..."Dear Mommy, Can we play pickleball?  You can wake me up if we are going to.  Thank you, Isak."  So, of course I took him!  Thankfully, the weather was nice, so we were able to play.  :)

He's in red.  Nels got to play too.  He's on the other side in dark blue.  It was a fun pickleball day.  

Sofie and Noah decided Rebecca's Cafe needed official hours that it was open.  Haha.  I guess I kept saying, "I'm available now to make you food, but not later!"  Haha.

We ate at Red Robin, January 3.  

We played some more 5 Crowns.  Sofie rocked it with a low score of 36!!

January 4 - Sunday:

Isak shared his testimony today.  And on January 11, he got set a part as a Teacher.  He's growing up so fast!!

Kira shared her testimony too!!  She spoke about how one of her favorite names of Jesus is the Good Shepherd.  I was so happy and proud of both kids for sharing their testimonies!

See the heart shape on the cube!

Snuggle/movie time.

We ate Chicken pot pie from Costco and played 5 Crowns as a family again.  

Another day, friends over.  Braham and Noah played some Checkers.

Isak has been working on the Titanic.  It's a lot of tiny pieces.  

Noah used Kira's bear bookmark for school.  It's the cutest bookmark!!

I trimmed Kira's hair...it was so long!

At first she did not like her hair.  She thought it was too short.  But then she decided she was ok with it.  Phew!

January 6 - Isak and Kira had the day off of school.  So we bundled up and went on a 4 mile bike ride.  It was so enjoyable, even with the cold.  I took some cute pictures of them:

Our neighbor Mary moved and she gave us several items.  One of them was this cute pink basket.  Sofie wanted it and put all of her bunnies in it.  :)

Foggy morning and a pretty Kira.

Here's my neighbor Mary. 

Our other neighbor Joe and I helped Mary with loading the last pod and finishing up the last few things.  We're going to miss her!  

Pretty Sofie.  She's ready for dance in her new dance skirt that G&G Nyborg gave to her.  

Haha.  Sofie and Kira put lots of bows in Kira's hair.  

Nels had a few days off between his job at Forvia and his new job at Gibson.  So we took advantage of it.  

One day, we played indoor pickleball for three hours.  Then we ate at the new restaurant In-N-Out Burgers.  

Mmmmm.

Another day, we went to the temple and did sealings together.  Loved this day together.  

It was a cold rainy day. 

Afterwards, we ate a lovely meal at The Alley on Main Street.  

I got the lasagna and it was amazing.

Then we checked out the local guitar store.  

It was a wonderful day. 

Then home to the kids.  Sofie and Noah's twin friends came over.  Gia and Dom.

Dance lessons for Sofie and she brought her new ballerina doll with her.  

I braided Sofie's hair one day...she looked so cute.

The other two days Nels had off, he went to the dentist...he found out he has gingivitis!  So then he had to go in the next day to get his teeth worked on some more.  He hadn't been to the dentist in 4 years.  Go to the dentist!  And floss!  :)