We had a very fun family year and our busiest year yet. Our family highlights were the four girls going on their first cruise while the boys stayed in Oklahoma with Kadee's parents, our ward's family prom, OKC iFly, two family trips up to Lincoln, Nebraska, some runDisney virtual 5Ks, two trips to OKC's indoor water park Okana, and a few OU soccer and volleyball games. Here is a video of many of our year's highlights!
Cora (14) had a big year of performances! In 2025 she was in several community youth theater productions: Beauty and the Beast, Mary Poppins, Mean Girls, and will perform in White Christmas in January. She was a finalist in the community spelling bee and received many awards at the end of her 8th grade year. After a fun summer of FSY and girls camp, she began high school and plays the flute in the marching band and the high school wind ensemble. She participated in band day at OU and her first marching experience was on the field of an SEC football game. She is serving in the presidency in her young women class, taking voice lessons, and is continuing to do great in her classes at school. She loves to read and is always listening and dancing to her music when she's at home.
Avery (12) has had a busy year with school, music and sports. She tried out track in the spring and had a good first season, competing in some relays and races, as well as trying out long jump and discus a few times. She ended her 6th grade year with several academic awards and had a fun time performing with Cora in Mean Girls over the summer. She was able to go to girls camp and participate in her favorite summer camp up in Nebraska as a leader-in-training, both for the first time. Her 7th grade year started off very busy with a successful cross country season, where she competed in the Oklahoma middle school all star race and took 1st team all star in the 6A division. She also played her first season of volleyball on the 7th grade varsity team. She continues to play the flute in band, and she can still be found reading a book when she has even a few seconds of spare time.
Ella (10) also caught the theater bug and joined Cora in a few of the community theater productions. She performed in Mary Poppins, Les Miserables, had a fun time playing Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, and will perform in Elf the Musical in January. She is very involved in the music programs offered at her elementary school, and is currently singing in the honor choir, playing the violin in the orchestra, and taking electric guitar lessons from her music teacher. She advanced multiple rounds in her school geography bee and her school spelling bee.
Bree (8) has developed a love of animals and wants to go to the house of everyone in our neighborhood that has a dog. She is the ring leader with her little brothers and often plays with them outside, in the playroom, or sometimes pretends to be their teacher and makes up assignments for them to complete. She performed in the summer in a kids theater production of Princess and the Pea and started second grade this year. She can be found doing splits and cartwheels all day every day, we're still working on finding an extracurricular activity that is the best fit for her. She chose to be baptized this year and it was fun to celebrate her choice with family coming to town. She loves to make and give gifts to people.
Jaren (6) is a busy boy that is very sweet and helpful. He had two great soccer seasons this year and loves to play outside, especially with friends. He finished up a great year of preschool, he performed in Princess and the Pea with Bree in the summer, and is doing well in kindergarten. He has lost two teeth so far this year, and is very excited to try out basketball for the first time this winter season.
Carson (4) is living his best life as the only one at home during school days. He helps out Mom and Dad during the day, and also plays independently when he feels like it, but his favorite part of the day is when he can watch for the kids to come home on the bus. He's very snuggly and gets a lot of attention from everyone as the forever baby of the family. He played soccer for the first time in the spring, but his more aggressive side didn't come out until his second season in the fall. He learned how to ride a bike without training wheels and had quite the entourage on his first successful ride down the street.
Kadee and Troy went on a summer trip to Europe before Troy's professional conference in Denmark while all the kids stayed in Norman with Troy's parents. They traveled first to Rome, cruised to Santorini, Ephesus, Mykonos, and Pompeii, spent a few more days in Rome, then a few days in Copenhagen.
Kadee joined a community choir called Canterbury Voices in August and is having fun singing in a group again. The first concert was in October and they will perform Handel's Messiah with the OKC Philharmonic this Christmas season. She is having fun as the music leader in the Primary of our ward.
Troy is still enjoying his opportunities for teaching executive education in addition to his undergrad classes. He received an award for being an outstanding reviewer and had four publications accepted this calendar year. He serves with the youth as an advisor to the older boys in our ward.
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