Our Day out with Ike 2025

On Thursday, April 25, we (finally) caught up with our seven-year-old nephew Ike for his annual birthday outing with Favorite Aunt and Uncle. Ike chose to go to Target, where he picked out a couple of LEGO sets.

After picking up treats at Fiiz, we next went to Ike's house, where games of Mario Kart were next on the list. The evening concluded with dinner together with the Woodsens, featuring delicious homemade enchiladas. (Thanks, Biz!)

Seven Years ... and No Itch

Friday, April 18, marked seven wonderful years together for the Plowbuckles. Just how has she put up with me for that long? I may never find out.

We began our day with a sealing session at the beautiful Layton LDS temple (pictured above). That was followed by lunch at Red Robin. Then we (finally) watched Wicked—the motion picture—which neither of us had previously seen (though JB has seen the stage musical three times). It was a perfect day together with my favorite person.

Conference Breakfast/April 2025

As we are wont to do around general conference time, we gathered as a family for breakfast on Sunday morning, April 6, prior to that day's morning session.

The food was good and plentiful. The spiritual insights shared from the pulpit were even better and plentiful-er.

Arbuckle Family Dinner/April 2025

We hosted family dinner for JB's side of the family here at our hobbit hole in North Salt Lake on Sunday, April 13. The menu featured Hawaiian haystacks, rolls, cookies, and other delicious fixings.

No one was happier to have visitors than our two pups:

We had so much fun that we asked the same gang to come over again the next week, on Easter Sunday, April 20. Baked ham was the featured dish, and of course you can't do Easter without Cadbury's Mini Eggs, jelly beans, and the like.

William's First Birthday Party

On Friday, April 4th, we celebrated our nephew William's first birthday at his home in Grantsville. We had cake and all of the goodies. Here is the birthday boy, with his birthday cupcake (which he later tore to shreds, as a one-year-old must do):

One of William's favorite people is his cousin Spencer:

And then people began inhaling the helium, and, well, see for yourself:

Our Day Out with Tatum 2025

On Saturday, March 29, we trekked up to Roy High School to see our niece Kieralee perform with her Grantsville school's color guard at a multi-school competition. (Had you never heard of color guard before? Neither had I.) They did a great job, and in the process I learned a lot about what color guards are and what they do.

We were joined by the rest of the Moodbuckles: Kieralee's parents, Danielle and Tyson, and her brother, Tatum.

Afterward, we congregated at the nearby Burger Bar in Roy for lunch. Because when you're in or near Roy, it is required (for us) to stop there to enjoy a good meal.

Since we had 11-year-old Tatum with us, and we had previously postponed his birthday outing from last fall, we then took him over to Cherry Hill for some mini-golf. His parents came with us, too. It turns out that Tatum is a pretty good little golfer!

Plowman Family Dinner/March 2025

We got to celebrate JB's birthday a second time in March, this time at monthly family dinner on the Plowman side. Steve and Summer hosted everyone at their home, which is now conveniently just a short walk away—one block west of us in North Salt Lake.

The other March birthdays included Jake's 13th and Katy's 10th. (These kids are growing up too fast!) Here is Katy, blowing out the candles:

As "cake," we used Kirkland cheesecake—one of Mom's favorites.

Meanwhile, sleepy Sam took a nap on Uncle Mike's chest: