Student of the Month!

Rand was chosen as student of the month for the 4th grade! He also just had SEPs and had perfect grades in every subject. His teacher was impressed that even though he missed 2 full weeks of school when he was sick, he was able to get caught right back up in math and got 100% on nearly every math quiz this semester. 

But the thing we're most proud of is that his teacher says he is always kind and helps everyone around him. 

Way to go Rander!

 

Winter Adventures

We haven't had a lot of snow this year, but Cole and I did manage to get two days of snow shoeing in. Even though it's cold and nasty and icy a lot of the time, I still love being able to get outside!

Santaquin Canyon

Rock Canyon

The trails above the house

Santaquin Canyon turkey trail

More Santaquin Canyon

Foothills at the mouth of Provo Canyon

Rock Canyon

Mapleton Canyon

My favorite (and most inappropriate) hiking buddy:

Skinwalkers and Other Boy Things

Rand had his friends Cooper and Jesse over to play a couple of weeks ago. It was finally warm enough to go outside, so they were up exploring the trails above the house. About every 10 minutes I'd hear them all screaming and sprinting for the yard. 

One of the times they screamed loudest of all and came bursting through the front door, tracking mud all the way up the sidewalk, front porch, all over all the rugs, and clear back into Rand's bedroom.

Why the giggly panic? Because they were being chased by a skinwalker. You can't blame boys for covering your house in mud when they're escaping the clutches of a skinwalker.

They were also chased by a coyote and a cougar, so really we're just happy they're still alive.

Later, I caught them scrubbing a jawbone clean. In my kitchen sink. With my new sponge.

The sponge is no longer with us. The sink barely survived without being burned with fire.

I freaking love 10 year old boys.

 

February 2025

2025 has not exactly started off with a bang for the Botts. We lost Grandpa Kyle. Right after that Farrel got pneumonia and ended up in the ICU. BUT - he is doing better and getting stronger, and we have had a few fun things. 

Rand has been working on his drawing skills. Soos has been working on being adorable. Tukk won $500 in a Superbowl Squares bracket. Rand wrote me a really cute card for Valentine's Day. 

And Cole and I have been spending a lot of time decompressing in the sauna. Best, weirdest thing we've ever purchased off KSL. 🤣

 

This Is a Tough One

I've been putting this off for a month because every time I try to write it, I just cry. 

Grandpa Kyle fell in early January and couldn't recover from it. He decided he was ready for hospice, and it was a long, long road. 

There were days that felt so awful and heartbreaking and heavy. There were days we were mad. There were days we were sad. There were days we laughed our guts out. But we were so grateful to know the end was near because we were able to spend almost every day with him. 

He told us old hunting, camping, and fishing stories. He talked about some of his favorite memories. He asked why it was taking so long, and when my dad told him "You're just gonna have to be patient," he said, "Well shit. I've never been good at that."

He basically survived on diet Pepsi and a few bites of ice cream or pudding for weeks, so we're all thinking we need more caffeine and sugar in our lives.

And even when he couldn't sit up and was hallucinating from the medication, he was worried about us. At one point he thought an outlaw gang was coming after his family, and he kept trying to get us to bust him out of the care center so he could talk to the sheriff and keep us safe. The Babe finally told him, "Dad, you've fought all the battles you need to. We've got this."

Grandpa had more willpower than anyone I've ever known. He battled through so many physical trials, and every time doctors told him he wouldn't be able to do this anymore or he shouldn't be doing that anymore, he'd just grit his teeth, put his head down, and find a way to do it, anyhow. 

We joked that he'd fought so many times to STAY in this world that he didn't know how to let go even when he was ready to leave it.  

And he made us laugh, right up to the very end. He told my dad he wanted to be buried with his temple recommend in one hand and a fire extinguisher in the other, just in case.

The morning he passed we had the most beautiful sunrise. I'm sure heaven was welcoming him home.

 It feels very much like the end of an era, and we will miss him so much. But how lucky are we to have so many memories and to have been on so many adventures with Grandpa Kyle? And seeing all of our family rally around and help each other and take care of each other, and so many people showing up to express the impact Grandpa had on their lives, made us realize that even though it hurts, we're lucky we got to be loved by that old suck egg mule.