Loren had his first solo trial scheduled for the first week of November. The entire month of October was bananas. He put in an incredible amount of time preparing witnesses, cross examinations, opening statements, memorizing facts about the jury members, thinking about voir dire and all the unknowns that could potentially happen at trial. It's truly mind boggling the amount of work that goes into putting on a case in trial.
The trial was scheduled for two days down in Provo. I was so grateful that Shaun and Lindsay were able to be with him the first day. As I FaceTimed Loren that evening, I had a strong feeling that I needed to be at the trial the next day. I wasn't planning on going because of the kids but Kerry called me that evening and offered to take me down with her the next morning. My angel mom told me she could take the kids all day while I went down. So as soon as I got the girls off to school and the boys off to my mom's, we headed down. We got there around 11:30 and Loren had just finished with his last witness. Loren wasn't expecting me to be there so when he turned around and saw me, his eyes welled up. I'll always remember that moment.
The other side committed malpractice and weren't able to call any witnesses. During the trial, she stood up and asked if they could call one of the sons to the stand. The judge said no. She asked if she could call the other son to the stand. The judge told her that she could. We were a little confused as to why she would allow one brother on the stand but not the other. We soon found out!
Ryan, the son, took the stand. Loren started asking him questions and he tried everything he could to get around them. He was incredibly hostile and mean to Loren. He even threatened to "take out" the entire law office. It was incredibly intense and I could hardly stand it. Loren did an amazing job keeping his cool. After Ryan blurted out something he was told not to talk about, the judge kicked him out of the courtroom. Loren had to do a little damage control with the jury but it wasn't hard to get on his side after seeing how hostile and mean Ryan was. Loren did an amazing job with closing arguments and then rested his case. We went to grab a bite while we waited for the jury's verdict. About three hours later we were called and told the jury was ready.
It was an amazing verdict! It was really hard to keep a straight face when every question was answered in Loren's client's favor. The verdict was a bit confusing but there's the potential for $600,000 for Loren's clients and they were completely over the moon. I was so incredibly proud of Loren. It was the hardest thing he's ever done. He lost weight, was sleep deprived and was taxed out mentally, emotionally and physically. I was so glad I was there to drive him home after the verdict was written because he was completely exhausted. I felt so grateful for Loren. He works so hard to provide for our family and make sure we have what we need. I love him for that and for being such a special father to our kids. He was gone a lot the past month and he tried to make up for it by having stay-up nights individually with each of the kids and spending more time here at home. I love this life we've built together and am so grateful to go through all of life's up and downs with him.
Our Jace baby is almost 17 months! He loves to be anywhere his siblings are. Chasing them around the table, playing hide and seek and peekaboo are his favorite games of late. Everything is "mom" and I'm waiting patiently for the day when "dad" becomes a thing. We all love our squish.
Hudson adores preschool. He loves learning and being with his friends. On Wednesdays we stay and have lunch with Liz and Ang and it's so fun to get to visit with my cousins. Hudson loves it because he gets to play in Max's room which is off limits during preschool time.

My dad used to do this all the time. Uncle Nate is so fun.
Lydia's poem she wrote.
We celebrated Tyson's birthday. One year older and wiser too.
Lydia loves doodling.
Thanksgiving was with my family this year and we had a great time. We loved that Grandma was able to be with us. We took a sibling picture with Grandma and then wanted one with her and my parents. After the sibling picture Grandma wouldn't let go of my arm so my parents picture turned out like this. Sorry guys, I guess I'm the favorite. We're still trying to track down the sibling picture...
Cute cousins! Lucy (2.5), Hudson (4) and Adeline (3)
The food was delicious! The dinner I dream all year about.
Mary's a master pie maker. She made all of them except two. Em made the raspberry cheesecake and Lydia the banana cream. I think my favorite was the chocolate cream or key lime. Yum!
I always love when we can all be together.
We celebrated our twelve and thirteen year anniversaries with Chris and Kristen. It's become a tradition and a night I've come to look forward to. We went to Kabuki and had sushi with wonderful hibachi food. It was so good.
Then we browsed around The Booktable and then walked down Main Street. There's a new ice rink and it looks exactly like the ones in all those Hallmark movies. One day we'll have to try it out.
Mom Peck took the kids overnight for us so Loren and I could maximize our time away. We just stayed at a hotel in Logan but it felt like a mini vacation. We're SO grateful for her because I didn't realize just how much we needed some time to ourselves. They had an absolute blast and were pretty sad when we came home. They got McDonalds, donuts from Landon and played in the snow for hours. We're grateful for amazing family and all the fun memories my kids make with them. Lydia and Allie made a snow horse and thought it was pretty neat.
I tried to get a cute photo of the kids reading together. How does anyone get those?
Lydia sang so beautifully at her voice recital. She sang Sing You the Stars and it almost made me cry. It was beautiful and perfect for her. We love Ms. Brittany and how she builds up and challenges Lydia.
Our nativity set is never just sitting perfectly on the side table. Thanks to Jace, there's always some piece missing or the people are flung all over the house. We lost baby Jesus for a few days and I told the kids whoever found Him would get a prize. One day I opened my kitchen drawer and saw this. Good news is that I got the prize.
"Hey mom, take a picture of me!" -Hudson
I say it every year but I can't believe how fast Christmas is coming!
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