Family Pictures 2022

 

We recently had family pictures done.  If you cared at all (which I don't expect anyone to), you might think, "Wait?  More family pictures?  Didn't you just recently get family pictures?  This seems excessive!"  And you'd be right.  We did get them last April, but the family has changed and the old ones aren't what we want up on the wall.  Also, we wanted updated ones before Bethany left on her mission.  That was a long introduction just to say, I am so pleased with how they turned out.  It was COLD and there were tears from nearly half the family by the time it was all done, but I am grateful to our magical photographer who always captures just what we hope she will.  

On the one hand, I think we're a pretty easy family to photograph.  The children have been trained by Abe to cooperate with lots of picture taking.  They know how to stand still and cheese for the camera.  On the other, the children (all ages) get very silly and there is much teasing and joking and laughter.  Well, laughter before the tears that inevitably come.  Okay, it sounds like the balance has tilted in favor of us being not an easy family to photograph.  Oh well. 

We all love Greta's wild hair.  We feel it perfectly represents her free-spirited nature.  

Greta, age 5

The whole family is in agreement, Peter is a sweetheart!  He has a good soul.

Peter, age 7

We all voted George "Most Photogenic".  

George, age 11

Cannon has had a big growth spurt the last few months.  He's about Bethany's height.

Cannon, age 13

This girl will turn 16 in less than one week.  She has already done her driver's test and is all set with an appointment to walk into the DMV and get her license at 8:30 am on her birthday.  Faith doesn't mess around!

Faith, age15 (almost 16)

Elinor has such enthusiasm for life and wants to experience it all.

Elinor, age 19

As of writing this post, she is in the MTC preparing to serve a mission in Fort Worth, Texas.  Lucky her and lucky them!

Bethany, age 20 (almost 21)

Clark sporting the mustache.  

Clark, age 22

Very grateful for the (almost) 25 years of marriage.

Yours truly, age 44

Abraham, age 47

The Brothers Fox-- my heart!

The menfolk.  So glad they have each other and so glad we have them.

Foxy Sisters

The Foxy Ladies-- they are my joys!

Elinor and Greta in this picture.

I adore them.

This was the kids' idea.  

Awww... what lovely children.

All I can say is that photographer has ways to capture natural-looking, interactive moments.  Except they don't work very well for us, because our high-drama kids overact it (*cough Cannon *cough) and they all just start cackling/laughing loud and they are quite amused by themselves. See the above--Exhibit A

And then they start touching each other...

...and it just devolves into chaos from there.

We almost pull it off...

Poor Peter was really struggling by this point. His feet were so cold and Greta was sort of turning blue.

It's too bad the littles were so miserable because I really like this one.  Maybe this calls for a little photoshopping:)

Set Apart and Home MTC

On Sunday, March 6th at 2:00 in the afternoon, Bethany was set apart as a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  Although there were many tears, she was thrilled and we were thrilled for her. 

Early Morning she began her week of Home MTC (Missionary Training Center).  It consisted of hours and hours of classes and study time.  She will be an English-speaking missionary, so no language training.  We got her set up in our bedroom, complete with a PVC pipe construction Cannon made for the background of her zoom calls.  

She enjoyed a visit from Aimee Shaw, one her most favorite young women's leaders who has always been so supportive of Bethany.

A sweet reunion between Bethany and Lilly Snow, the 1st Attendant when Bethany was Miss Riverton.  Lilly returned that same week from a mission to Brazil.  

They have become close friends and a support to one another.

Clark and his good friend Jakob when to see the Redwoods and San Francisco for their spring break.

I'm glad they could go have a fun adventure.

We enjoyed a lot of family time in our final week with Bethany at home and we spent a lot of time getting ready for her farewell on Sunday and the final send-off.  Mostly we just really loved hearing what she was learning about and discussing the good word and the goodness of God.  

Never Bored

Cannon recently had a ballet performance.  He was wonderful.  The other dancers were wonderful.  We love the studio and the teachers and feel very grateful for the opportunities Cannon, George, Peter, and Greta have at Central Utah Ballet. 

Greta really feels the music when she dances and I adore watching her.

Peter was so proud of himself for learning to use chopsticks to eat Ritz crackers while simultaneously working on his math.  Homeschool at its finest:)

In case you can't read her sign--- "Fashion". 

And in case you don't know what she means by that--- THIS.  

I just can't imagine where she gets this stuff from.

This is Faith in her beloved reflective warm-up suit and Pit Vipers.

Fashion.

Peter turned his remote control car into a goldfish snack delivery system.

George fashioned himself a chair in his room.

It was weight-bearing.

It even folded up with a magnet to hold it up to the metal bunk bed.  What a clever little lad he is.

Oh, Cannon.  This house gets pretty loud and it can be hard to find quiet time and space.  But I'll say this much-- We're never bored:)

Enjoying Life

One morning last week Faith convinced Greta to get dressed and get her hair done by declaring it Twin Day.  What a good big sister.  When I had them pose for a picture Greta said, "WAIT!  I have to do a gap in my toes!"

We like to tease Faith about her wide platypus feet and the gap between her toes.  Don't worry, she loves her feet.  I love how Greta couldn't be twins unless she matched her feet:)

Do you know what's better than Twins Day?  Triplets Day!  They are so good to include their mama.

Every Tuesday Cannon and I drop Faith off to swim team and then we have about an hour before he is dropped off to dance quite nearby.  So he and I have our weekly Costco date.  Here he is moon-walking through the Costco.  He entertains me:)

Geroge made what was intended to be a kitty mask/helmet for Greta.  It didn't turn out quite how he'd envisioned it.  We just call it the Silver Pig.  No matter.  Greta loved it and wore it gratefully.

Way to stay focused on your spelling, Pete.

Last week Abe and I took Bethany and Elinor and their dates to see Bright Star at the Hale Center Theater in Orem.  I love, love, love this play.  Go see it, you will not regret it and you will thank me for the recommendation.  In fact, we loved it so much that later in the run we are taking Cannon and Faith to see the alternate cast.  

A little over two years ago, Abe and I saw Bright Star shortly before the pandemic hit.  Bethany and I have been wanting to go see it together ever since.  We were SO HAPPY it opened at HTC Orem in time for us to go before she leaves on her mission.

For Abe and I, a date to the theater is the best kind of date.

We've been spoiled this week with going to plays.  On Monday night we went with Andrea and James and friends to see a new musical-- Something's Rotten.  It was quite entertaining. 

Peter has enjoyed playing Texas-Opoly lately.  Clark sent this game home to us for Christmas when he was on his mission.  The kids have played this game A LOT-- and now with Bethany about to head to Texas for her mission, it's experiencing a resurgence. 

I'll do a lot of things with my kids, but I confess I cannot stomach playing Monopoly with them.  I love that Abe can and will.

Bethany wanted to host a murder mystery for her birthday with a few of her YPM friends.  Of course, this is a group that understood the assignment:)

It was my pleasure to prepare and serve them dinner.  Partly because I got to be nearby and listen to them play the game.  They're a lot of fun.

In this mystery their was a character from each decade of the 1900s

The story involved a time machine, so of course, Geroge stepped up and made them a time machine.  He's pretty awesome that way. 

Seven Brothers and Billy Joel

 

For a good number of years, the seven Fox brothers have met up for the annual Brothers' Retreat in February.  The last several gatherings have been in Las Vegas.  Besides the obvious reasons-- being that they thoroughly enjoy one another's company and want to maintain relationships-- the stated purpose is to geek out, uninterrupted by family and work responsibilities, on Dungeons &Dragons for 4 days.  

They did get out of the condo to go out to eat, play a little Top Golf, and go for a hike.

What made this year especially exciting was all seven of them getting to go to the Billy Joel concert.  You may or may not be aware that Abe has been the world's biggest Billy Joel fan since he discovered him at the tender age of 11 (maybe 12).  He knows every album, every lyric, what was happening in Billy's life when each album came out.  He listens to Billy Joel on the regular.  He has taught all our children to appreciate Billy as well.  So you can imagine Abe's glee when he found out Billy would be performing in Las Vegas when the brothers had their trip planned for.

Phil (brother #6) and his wife Katie made them matching shirts for the occasion.  

And now for my favorite picture ever of the boys.  I especially like Jesse's hip bump.

They did say Billy was getting up there in years and they preferred for him to just stay seated at the piano rather than getting up and trying to move around the stage.  

I think I've shared this before but it cracks me up--Abe is a perfect mix of William Riker (Star Trek) and Billy Joel.  You see it, right?

Abe with each of his brothers.  Stories have been passed down about how their mother handled the stresses of 7 boys and 2 girls.  I'm sure there were a lot of days that it didn't look very good.  Perhaps I speak from some experience of my own.  But look what a blessing they are to each other as they've grown up and have families of their own.  I don't know of much that would make my heart happier than to have my children love and support each other the way the Fox siblings do.