Our Annual Puzzle and Video for Christmas 2025!

Our Annual Video for 2025 is a celebration of 25 years as a couple and a family. To get the password, solve the puzzle in the image below.

Note: You can't directly type on the PDF so either print a copy, or write the words down on a separate piece of paper. Extra points if you can solve it in your head!

Once you have figured out the 6-letter password, click on the cute little mascots above, type the password and you'll be ushered into our Video Vault. Keep an eye out throughout the video as our mascots switch outfits at the beginning of each section.

As always, post a comment below about your favorite part of the video to show you've solved the puzzle, but don't give away the password directly.

P.S. If you need help, here is the answer key with the password. Also, add comments below if you encounter any issues entering the password or playing the video.

Our Annual Puzzle and Video for Christmas 2024!

It's time for our Annual Puzzle and Video. Click the tree below to get a printable PDF of the full puzzle.

Once you have figured out the password, click the video link below to see all the fun we've had in 2024!

As always, post a comment below about your favorite part of the video to show you've solved the puzzle, but don't give away the password directly.

P.S. If you need help, here is the answer key with the password.

Our Annual Puzzle and Video for 2023

Happy New Year! In Our Annual Family Video we star in our own comic book adventure as we travel back to the beginning of 2023. The password can be found by solving our annual puzzle. Click this link or the image below to get a printable PDF of the full puzzle.

Post a comment below about your favorite part of the video to show you've solved the puzzle, but don't give away the password directly.

P.S. If you need help, here is the answer key with the password.

Our Annual Puzzle and Video for 2022

Our Annual Family Video for 2022 is available now. The 7-letter password can be found by solving our annual puzzle. Click this link or the image below to get a PDF of the full puzzle.

We'd love to have a comment below about your favorite part of the video, but please don't give away the password directly.

P.S. If you need help, here is the answer key with the password.

Our Annual Puzzle and Video for Christmas 2021!

Our Family Video for 2021 is available now. The password can be found by solving the puzzle below:

Feel free to add comments about the video to show you solved the puzzle, but don't give away the password to others. If you need help, there is an answer key.

Our Family Video for 2020!

Our Family Video for 2020 is available now. The password can be found by solving the puzzle below:

Feel free to add comments about the video to show you solved the puzzle, but don't give away the password to others. If you are impatient, there is an answer key.

Annual Video and Puzzle for 2019

Our annual video and puzzle is available now. Simply solve the puzzle to get the password. Click on this link to the annual video and type the password to see what we have been up to in 2019.

Feel free to add a comment below to let us know that you successfully figured it out (without giving away the answer to others).

For those that might still be struggling, there is an answer key, but please only click on that as a last resort.

Christmas Puzzle for 2018

Our annual Christmas puzzle is available now. Follow the simple directions, eliminate those words and see what's left...

As in prior years, the reward for solving is a video Christmas card, but you'll need to figure out the password by solving the puzzle.

Feel free to add a comment below to let us know that you successfully figured it out (without giving away the answer to others).

If you need help with the puzzle or if you missed the reference in our Christmas family photo, here is the answer to the puzzle. But try to solve it yourself before looking there.

Christmas Puzzle for 2017

Our annual Christmas puzzle is available now.
As in prior years, the reward for solving is a video Christmas card, but you'll need to figure out the password by solving the puzzle first.

Note: If you need some help, the full answer is posted here, but try solving it without help first... it's more fun that way.

Feel free to add a comment below to let us know that you successfully figured it out (without giving away the answer to others).

Christmas Snowflake Matching Puzzle for 2016

Our annual Christmas puzzle is available now.
As in prior years, the reward for solving is a video Christmas card, but you'll need to figure out the password by solving the puzzle first.

Note: If you need some help, the full answer is posted here, but try solving it without help first... it's more fun that way.

Feel free to add a comment below to let us know that you successfully figured it out (without giving away the answer to others).

Christmas Puzzle for 2013

Our annual Christmas puzzle is available now. Follow the simple directions, eliminate those words and see what's left...

As in prior years, the reward for solving is a video Christmas card, but you'll need to figure out the password by solving the puzzle.

Note: If you need some help, the full answer is posted here, but try solving it without help first... it's more fun that way.

Feel free to add a comment below to let us know that you successfully figured it out (without giving away the answer to others).

Jason's 12th Birthday - Indoor Skydiving

For Jason's 12th Birthday, we went to iFly Indoor Skydiving. It was a blast and we all had fun! Can't wait to try it again.

Check out the video of Jason's 12th Birthday - Indoor Skydiving

Amara's 10th Birthday Party - Olympics Theme

For Amara's 10th Birthday, she chose an Olympics-themed birthday party with various sporting events and party games.  The party began with guests entering the "Olympic Village" and decorating their water bottles with markers and stickers.

The first events were Synchronized Ping Pong (like "Simon Says") and Basketball-bomb (like "Hot Potato").  That was followed by a Parade of Nations Quiz where the teams tried to match pictures of flags to their respective countries.

The rotating events included Candy Matching (like "Memory"), Javelin Throwing and Sailboat Racing.  After each guest had a chance to compete in each event, we had the Gold Medal Piñata ceremony.

Back inside, as we were grilling hamburgers, we kept the kids busy with our version of Scattergories followed by several rounds of Olympic Events Bingo.  Finally, Felicia brought out the homemade Gymnastics cake, with a fondant-wrapped cookie dough mat.

Amara's visit to Mission San Juan Bautista

It is that time of year when the 4th graders study the California missions and create a Mission Project of one of the 21 missions.

Amara chose Mission San Juan Bautista since it was within driving distance for a visit and because she wanted to create a video of our visit to Mission San Juan Bautista.

Interesting facts about the Mission:

Largest of the 21 California Missions.

Its church is the largest in the mission chain and is the only with a main aisle and two naves.

Was used as the setting for Alfred Hitchcock's movie "Vertigo" starring Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak.

Christmas Puzzle for 2012 - Snowflake Maze

Our annual Christmas puzzle is available now. It's a fun maze in the shape of a snowflake. As in prior years, the reward for solving is a video Christmas card, but you'll need to figure out the password by solving the puzzle.

Note: If you need some help, the full answer is posted here, but try solving it without help first... it's more fun that way.

Feel free to add a comment below to let us know that you successfully figured it out (without giving away the answer to others).

Halloween 2012 - The Four Seasons

For our 14th year of dressing up for Halloween, we chose a theme that is ideal for a group of 4: The Four Seasons.

This is now our 14th year of dressing in costumes together. Our theme this year was "The Four Seasons" with Amara dressed as "Spring" (a butterfly), Jason dressed as "Summer" (a surfer), Felicia dressed as "Autumn" (a tree) and Blaine dressed as "Winter" (a snowman).

As always, all our costumers are completely homemade. Felicia sewed Amara's black shirt and leggings. Blaine constructed the butterfly wings using wire which Felicia covered in fabric. Notice how there are actually fore and hind wings (top and bottom). We then decorated the front and back with fabric and paint, constructed a harness from a deconstructed backpack and attached the wings. The wings were attached so that they could actually pivot back and forth like real wings.

Jason's shirt was sewn by Felicia using a shark-pattern fabric and matching fish buttons. Blaine constructed the surfboard using a foam core surrounded by cardboard, and added a tail fin to the bottom. The board was primed, then spray-painted yellow and finally the shades of blue and black were added. After all that dried, a final layer of urethane was applied to give it a nice glossy sheen.

Felicia sewed her vintage dress with a yoke and large scooping sleeves which were lined with a satin fabric. The dress was then decorated with strands of fall leaves. Felicia also constructed a headpiece with several additional leaves to complete the look.

Blaine's snowman costume started as embroidery hoops which were linked by curved wire. Additional wires were added to complete the shape. On top of that, he added felt around any wire ends and added two layers of batting with hot glue. Felicia sewed a couple of cylinders made out of fleece fabric with drawstrings on top and bottom. These were cinched up to cover each of the snowballs. The final details were a set of 3 large black buttons, a nose out of orange posterboard, a hat with added ribbon and winter berries and finally mittens and a scarf sewn by Felicia.

We won several individual prizes and as well as a prize for our group theme. Apart from that, it was just a lot of fun parading around and seeing people react. It was always fun when people finally put the puzzle together and figured out our theme.

Ice Skating Fun!

Jason and Amara and a couple friends (Makayla and Samantha) all went to the local outdoor skating rink for some ice skating fun. While they were there, they met up with Amara's classmate, Lucie and her sister Isabelle and her friend Anastasia. Enjoy the video by clicking the play button, or click to view it on YouTube.

Christmas Puzzle for 2011 is available now

Our annual Christmas puzzle is available now. It is called "Write the Right Word" since it involves homophones. As in prior years, the reward for solving is a video Christmas card, but you'll need to figure out the password by solving the puzzle.

Note: If you need some help, the full answer is posted here, but try solving it without help first... it's more fun that way.

Feel free to add a comment below to let us know that you successfully figured it out (without giving away the answer to others).

Camping, Hiking, Tubing at Zion National Park

0:00 Day 1 - Setting up the tent
1:08 Day 1 - Emerald Pools Hike
3:02 Day 2 - Interpretive Tour and Hiking the Narrows
5:14 Day 3 - Our Campsite (South Campground)
6:52 Day 3 - Hike to Angels Landing (Intro)
7:53 Day 3 - Hike to Angels Landing (Going up)
11:35 Day 3 - Hike to Angels Landing (At the top)
13:18 Day 3 - Hike to Angels Landing (Going down)
14:42 Day 4 - Tubing Down the Virgin River
16:31 Day 4 - Becoming Junior Rangers

Tubing Fun at Alpine Meadows (Tubeville)

This is the second year that Alpine Meadows Ski Resort has opened up a tubing area called "Tubeville" just beyond the lodge. The tubing course consists of two steep, long lanes, each with a couple humps and a big half-pipe at the end. There's a moving "magic carpet" escalator to get you to the top of the hill and then a quick, fast ride down to the bottom.

We had fun racing each other, spinning, performing running starts, riding backwards, etc. And when you got up some good speed, you might find yourself getting some air at the bottom of the run then doing a 180°. It was a lot of fun! Don't forget to check out the patent-pending "Dad Cam" views in this video.