2024 -- A Year in Brief

This has been a really good year.  Here are some of the highlights:

• Water main broke at the Sunset house. Luckily, we caught it early
• D_____ and I went to Personal Finances for Self-Reliance with the Stake
• Went to Lava Hot Springs
• We continued to teach the Valiant 9/10 Primary class. They can be a handful, but we enjoyed it!
• Attended Brigham City caucus for the first time. Hopefully I understand it well enough to teach others what to expect for the next time around
• We also accepted the assignment to be Trek Ma and Pa, so we started walking/hiking a lot more
• D_____ and I went dancing several times
• We went camping in Quail Creek, and went to the Cedar City and Red Cliffs Temples
• Hiked to Babylon Arch
• We went to San Antonio and visited D_____'s sister
• Attended the San Antonio Temple.  D_____ had been there before, but it was a first for me
• Visited the old Spanish missions
• Swam in the Gulf of Mexico for the first time
• Climbed Enchanted Rock
• While we were there, we tried to see the eclipse, but we saw a bunch of clouds instead
• But not long after, we saw the Northern Lights for the first time, so that was pretty awesome
• Saw my niece in her elementary school play, Into the Woods
• Attended baptisms for seven nieces and nephews
• Attended the Manti Temple twice after it had opened up.  I had been there before, but not D_____
• Other temples we went to as part of D_____'s 40 different temples by 40 goal:
• Saratoga Springs
• Orem
• Payson
• Taylorsville
• Layton
• Hiked Maple Canyon near Manti
• Watched a niece run a marathon and a triathlon. She qualified for the Boston marathon next year
• A nephew came home from his mission, and a niece left on hers.  (Another nephew is still out on his mission.)
• Celebrated my mother-in-law's 75th birthday
• Went to SaltCon three times, once we brought my cousin's son with us
• Went camping with my side of the family to Willow Flat
• Went camping with D_____'s side of the family on the sheep trail (and a couple other times in the Uintas with the sheep)
• My 5-year-old niece slept over at our house
• Hiked Jardine Juniper Trail in Logan Canyon
• Went on Trek at Church history sites:
• 6th crossing of the Sweetwater
• Rocky Ridge
• Martin's Cove
•  Rode horses to an abandoned sulfur mine
• Crossed 15-year mark working for the Federal Government
• D_____ completed her educational coaching endorsement
• We had the bathroom in the Sunset house remodeled
• We got a real estate agent, and prepared the Sunset house to sell
• We discovered a leak in the roof, so fixed that up, repaired some drywall, then got the house listed
• We Hiked Causey Reservoir (but did not get to see any salmon swimming upstream)
• Stayed in Blanding and attended the Montecello temple, completing D_____'s 40 temples by 40 goal
• Hiked in Natural Bridges National Monument
• Walked through Hovenweep National Monument
• Went on a hike in Canyon of the Ancients National Monument
• Saw Four Corners for the first time
• Drove through Monument Valley
• As a bonus, we went to Deseret Peak temple, for D_____'s 41st temple.
• Saw Escape from Germany in the newly re-opened Capitol Theatre in Brigham City
• Saw The Scarlet Pimpernel on Off-Broadway Theater and Scrooge: A Christmas Carol at the Terrace Plaza Playhouse
• Besides the Book of Mormon, I read Saints, Volume 3 and I read Mistborn
• Did a couple escape rooms with friends
• Went to a light parade for the first time
• Went to Luminaria for the second time, but this time they had the Tree of Life exhibit
• New games D_____ and I got include: Wingspan, Hues and Cues, Pictures, Harmonies, Dixit: Revelations, and Mad Gab Pictures
• I played 187 times of 120 games games this year with 119 people in 13 different location.  This is fewer than last year, except for the greater variety of games
• D_____ and I started preparing for a new baby boy to arrive.  His due date is the 31st of May next year, and we are really excited!

D_____ and I had a lot of adventures this year, and I think we both enjoyed the time we had developing our relationship.  Next year we are looking forward to becoming parents, and we are  hoping things go well.

We did well with our spiritual goals of going to the temple regularly and doing Come Follow Me.  This year, we will be studying the Doctrine and Covenants.  I would like to do better with my goal of reading the Liahona each month.

Other goals I would like to do, I haven't posted pictures of our adventures, and I'd like to do that.  I would also like to begin writing in my journal regularly.

Usually when I think of a new year, I think of new beginnings.  And that's still true.  But I find myself thinking, it was a good year, and I want to continue the good things I began this year, or years previous.

I hope you have had a good year.  Things have gotten busy for me, but I hope to spend time with you in the future!