23 March 2025
VOLUME 13 – NUMBER 600
Troy wins Top Dog Award
Veidi and I have been trying to see who can get the Top Dog award first. I was starting to pull ahead and then Veidi got sick, so I pushed ahead and finally won the Top Dog award earlier this month, on my birthday!
Not only did I get paid for the 25 days of dog duties, but I also go a $20 bonus, a t-shirt, and a little Top Dog trophy! I felt accomplished after winning Top Dog. Now we start over again to see who can win it next time.
This week has been really good. I have been able to get a lot of school done. I was behind but now I am 90% and above in all of my classes. It feels really good to be ahead and not have that added to my pile of to to do lists.
Troy with visiting dog, Sammy
I have also been able to play basketball with Kai. We just shoot around, since Kai is way too good to play against. Every day I try to make 17 shots in different places to get better. I do one set when I start playing and one when I am done playing.
I haven't been doing a very good job this week on Top Dogs because I keep getting sidetracked like playing Nerf wars with Quinn, or too much basketball, and I lose track of time. I am going to make it my duty to get seven Top Dog days—a perfect week.
Troy and Kai with gel blaster gear
This week was not super busy with the dogs which was really nice. Me and Gloria did our nails, then I did Mom’s nails, and they turned out really good. I am definitely getting better and better at the designs.
On Saturday I went to the region dance with Isabelle. It was an okay dance. They did not play a lot of slow dance songs, so I only danced with two people, but other than that it was pretty good. There were a lot of beach balls that hit our heads, and I had a lot of fun being with my friends.
Ellie’s birthday celebration
This week Ellie turned five! Wow, I can’t believe Brooke and I have a five-year-old. The night before her birthday was kind of an emotional one for Brooke and me.
We sat together and cried a little as we looked at pictures of Ellie as a baby and toddler. She is such a great big girl, and while we are excited to see her grow, we miss our little baby.
The next day was such a great day, thanks to Brooke’s planning. She is so good at making birthdays special days, and Ellie’s 5th birthday was no different. Brooke decorated with pink and green since Ellie loves Wicked, and Brooke’s mom, Cherry, made her some pink and green cupcakes.
Braden with Ellie and her new BYU shirt
Brooke made bracelets with the girls, and she helped make the day all about Ellie. As I finished work, Ellie had asked for pizza for dinner, so I picked some up and we opened presents.
One of the presents was a BYU shirt, and Ellie was so excited to be able to match with me. A few other gifts were Connect Four and Sorry board games. After dinner we played Sorry for a bit before our movie night with treats.
We watched Night at the Museum before putting Ellie to bed. As I gave her good-night kisses and tucked her in, Ellie just had a look in her eyes that she was completely content and happy.
Such a sweet little girl who had the best day. I love Ellie and I’m so thankful I get to be her dad.
Movie night for Ellie’s birthday
It was Ellie's burthday this week. We went to a bounce house, and played on the slides and a ball machine. and then we went to Chic-fil-A.
We got ice cream and went back to Braden and Brooke's. Ellie, Charlie, and I played for a while, and then Mom came and picked me up to go home.
Playing board games for Ellie’s birthday
I’m about two months out from the start of my mission. This has brought a flurry of different emotions, most of them being bad. I’ve had several panic attacks over the last few days, and really needed to do something to help ease my anxiety. Mom has been an amazing help to me.
I also scheduled a time to just get out of the house and hang out with Hazel. It was a much needed break. Hazel and I went to Swig, and just chatted.
That was supposed to be the extent of our “hang out,” but then Hazel asked me if I wanted to do anything else. I took this opportunity to expand my time with Hazel.
Monte and Hazel
We went to Walmart to grab some snacks that Kai requested I get for when we watch March Madness. Hazel and I then went to Maverick just for fun, and while we were there we just talked about our early childhoods.
In the car Hazel showed me some videos of her younger self, and I did the same. After that I took her to work. She also asked me if I’d be able to pick her up and take her to stake sports, so I did.
After stake sports, I took her home. On the way we had a pretty deep conversation about my fears on leaving on a mission. She said some things that I really needed to hear. After a few hugs and some tears, I drove on home.
Gloria at Crown Burger with residents
This week has been a pretty good week. I didn’t really work much. I worked about 20 hours this week on Wednesday. I helped the activities planner and Memory Care.
We took them to Crown Burger. We took most of the residents to lunch. I really did have an enjoyable time spending time with them outside of the facility.
I’ve also been working on trying to get school done. I got an email from my mentor saying I only have seven more weeks until school’s over, and that also means graduation is coming up fast.
On Tuesday I took Mom and Dad out to lunch. We went to Riley’s.
Gloria, Brooklyn, Avery at temple
Earlier this week, my coworker Brooke invited me to go to the temple with her and her friend Avery on Tuesday around 3:30pm. We went to the Jordan River Temple to do baptisms. After that and got some hot chocolate.
I had an amazing time. I am also so grateful that Brooklyn invited me to go. After she dropped me off, she said that we need to do this again every week.
For my Young women’s activity, we decided to make prayer boards. I really had a fun time making it. It helped me to focus more in prayer and the blessings I find in my life. If I can find an answered blessing or prayer I put it in the envelope.
Ellie’s birthday celebration
This week was really fun. I binged watched the TV show Severance in time so I could go to the watch party at Braden’s house for the Season 2 finale. It was so good!
I’ll leave it at that so I don’t spoil anything. Earlier in the day, I got to go to Rima’s house to hang out, and I had a ton of fun there. It was awesome to spend time with her!
I’m currently signed up for a ballet class with Heidi. She thought it would be fun to try something new, and I wanted to have another opportunity to dance.
While ballet is not my favorite style of dance, it has been really fun to have a set time to dance each week. Our instructor is great, and I really enjoy dancing with the other girls in the class!
Kai making German pancakes
On Saturday, us teenagers gathered a group to play Crazy Ball at the church. We've been wanting to play for awhile, but we haven't had the time, however this Saturday was perfect!
Normally, being the competitive family that we are, we tend to get heated in Crazy Ball, or really any sport in general, but the past few times, I've been proud to say that it's not been the case.
I can tell that we all strive to be kind to each other, to help make the experience better for everyone, and I'm grateful for that. We aren't perfect at times, but us teenagers have really been doing our best to stay calm, and not let the game get ahead of others.
Quinn, Troy, and Joanna
Before we leave to play Crazy Ball, I like to make everyone promise, including myself, (especially myself) that we need to be kind to each other, no matter the circumstances, and put each other first.
I'm grateful that Monte, Isaac, and I have upheld our promises to each other, and have been kind to each other and our teammates as we've played.
One other cool thing happened this week. On Sunday, Isaac and I and Riley and Ethan Danielson were all at the sacrament table during sacrament meeting. Dad took a picture of the Hill and Riley brothers after the meeting.
Hill and Danielson brothers
March Madness is in full swing, and BYU won their first two games! I didn’t pick them to advance beyond the first round, since they have a history of getting out on Day 1.
However, this year I figured if they did get out of the first round, it would be incredible and would overshadow any negative emotion I felt about my bracket. If they weren’t able to make it out of the first round, then at least I got 10 points by picking the other team. So, because they won, my bracket is not great, but my spirits couldn’t be higher!
On Friday night, Braden and Brooke hosted a Severance watch party and it was really fun. This season had a great ending.
Ashton and friends at hockey game
On Saturday, I got to play in three stake basketball games. Our team was eliminated in the morning, which was so frustrating, because we felt like we could beat them pretty easily if we played again. Then after our game, one of the other teams was a no show, so I stayed to play a scrimmage game.
Then, the game I had stayed for came. This was the “Old Timers” team against one of the other wards. The Old Timers were supposed to be comprised of all the old guys in the stake and ward leadership, but only three of them showed up.
Since I am technically in a bishopric, I was qualified to be on the team so I played with them. We had one other young guy, and we almost won! It was wild because we were expecting to get blown out, but it was actually a close competitive game, and one of the most fun games I’ve played in recently.
Mom with baby Benson
I’m guessing I’m the only one that pays attention to the little issue number at the top of each newsletter, but if you didn’t notice it this time, you should scroll back up and take a look…
This is our 600th newsletter! This is 600 weeks of family history over almost 12 years. That’s an average of about 5000 separate articles, and 6000 photos! Congratulations!
Dad working on 600th newsletter