Monday, January 2, 2017

December 2016

At the very beginning of November, my sisters and I had the brilliance and foresight to gather our chickens together and take a "Grandchild Photo" of my parents 12+1 grandkids to give to them for Christmas.  Garrett was about to leave on his mission and his mission will overlap with Grant's.  AND....  some of the kids are married or about to get married and may move away.  Nevertheless, this may be the last time all 12 of these kids will be together for a very long time.

It wasn't easy to get them all together.  Even harder to get them to look good at the same time.  The below photo was the best we could do.  But the bottom line is my mom is going to bawl her eyes out....  because 2 days after Garrett left, she started crying to Kori about how she had a couple of opportunities to take a grandkid photo, but didn't and "she is so sad."  Kori just sat there listening.  I don't know how she did it.  I would have caved.  But, Kori stood strong and kept our secret and we can't wait for Christmas to give them the photo.



The Little Women
Raleigh and Me
Garrett
Morgan
Grant 
Quincey
Kaleigh
Allison
Me with my four big kids
Who are so big now.  And are so much fun.

They're not our best photos, but the memory of taking them is so great and also giving a gift that will make someone's day is so exciting and thrilling.

We were able to go to Allie's Basketball Tournament.  They are finally coming together as a team and figuring things out.  It was really fun to watch her.  She has never played basketball before.  She played in 2 games in 6th grade.  But we don't count that.  She had HORRIBLE coaches and equally HORRIBLE parents of players watching the games and so I made her quit.

This year she is doing really well and learning the game.  She is improving every time she plays and she is getting more confident.  I just love "jock chicks".  I think they are so cute.
She got to start one of the games.  And she scored on a fast break, stole the ball and turned around and shot a 3 pointer and made it.  It was very awesome.
The Ellsworths came to show their support
On Gavin's 17th birthday

Kaleigh asked if we could go see Santa.
And I, of course said yes.
Apparently, I wasn't supposed to do that.
Because Raleigh said "why did you do that?"
"Now YOU have to take them."

I had visions of taking them to the Dicken's Festival to see that cute Santa.
But with this new revelation of unsupportive husbandry,
 I decided we'd just take them to the lame St. George mall to see the lousy
Santa who hates children and is so bothered that he has chosen this profession for himself and doesn't even so much as give them a crappy candy cane at the end.
They offered to sell us a picture package for $30.00.
Naturally, I couldn't say yes.  (because at the last minute, Scrooge decided to join us)...
So I opted instead to line them up against the store window of The Foot Locker.
It turned out cute..... and it was free.   But....  no Santa.
Sorry, Kids.  Hopefully you will retain the memory of that one year, your MOTHER tried to
keep the magic of Santa a part of your childhood.
Then the WHOLE family went over to Morgan's work and hung out with her for two hours
because she was scheduled to close all by herself and I didn't like the sound of that. 
We ate smoothies for dinner and snuggled on the world's most uncomfortable couch.
Morgan broke all the rules by letting Peyton help her make smoothies behind the counter.

Christmas Celebrations began with my work party.
We played party games which is my favorite thing to do at parties.
We also walked away with little cash which is always nice.

While we were at the party, Peyton lost her first tooth (the real way) and Allie 
sent me this picture in the middle of dinner.  I felt so bad that we had missed it.
We feel so sorry for her because she looks like she is straight out of the Ozarks.
Raleigh told her he would pay her $10 if she pulled the other front tooth out.
"It's not even loose"
That is irrelevant....  get it out.  So we can let you go back to school.
 Peyton is in the SOAR program at school.
She gets to go on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
She loves it and she has made some cute friends.
This is her Secret Santa Friend, Skylar.
They wrote cute letters to each other.
Just in case anyone was wondering what we look like on Sunday
afternoons, this is it.  All of us.  Huddled by the fireplace.
Not talking.  Everyone on a different device.  But, being productive in their own way.
On Sundays, we write to missionaries.  Play games.   Check out Amazon.
 We have also been trying to Light the World here and there.
 The girls took cookies to our cute neighbor.
His wife passed away and he is alone a lot.

Additionally,  speaking of Lighting the World,
Morgan picked KK up from school and took her to Target.
They saw a lady and a little girl, KKs age, standing on the side of the road
holding a sign that said "We need food."
KK said
"oh my gosh Morgan I think that little girl is so cold."
Morgan bought bread, peanut butter, jelly, fruit snacks, granola bars
and bottled water for them.
They also put a Book of Mormon in the bag.
They were nervous to give them the bag and didn't know what to say to them.
So they said a quick prayer in her car that they would say the right thing.
They walked up to the mom and said
"Here is some food for you also there is a book in the bag that you can read to your kids
and there is a phone number inside the book and if you call it, the missionaries will
help you with what ever you need."
Morgan felt so good.
And KK will never forget that.


 Raleigh's work party had a theme.
"Vintage Hollywood"
I don't know why we have dress up parties at Christmastime.
I don't even like to dress up for Halloween.
I was concerned that we wouldn't be in the right attire.
As there were some people who were confusing
Vintage Hollywood with
Great Gatsby.
I was concerned that we would be the only couple dressed up.
I wasn't thrilled about any of it.
Nevertheless, I used it as an excuse to buy
the darling ankle strap sandals I have been wanting.
 Only 30% of the employees dressed up.
But, those that did, looked great.
The food was good.
The benefits package was better.

And we had fun.  That is all that matters

Our missionaries are doing so well.
They are both loving their missions and we LOVE the
letters that they send.
Garrett: Lima Peru West
Parker: Durban South Africa
 Santa came to our office.
He brought us gifts.
For me, he brought a Diet Coke.
I totally believe.



 The last day of school before break was a pajama day.
We "blew it" last month with the pajamas according to KK.
She loves dresses and so naturally she would love nightgowns too.
We were ready this time.
She was so happy that she has been wearing her nightgown every day
of her vacation so far.  She takes it off right when I get home from work,
I wash it on the turbo cycle and she puts it back on after her bath.


I had to include a picture of Kaleigh and Lincoln
so that when we are gathering photos for their wedding video,
we will have some from when they were little and in love. 



C H R I S T M A S  E V E
Raleigh and I woke up at 6:00 am on Christmas Eve
and we literally didn't stop running until it was time to 
go to dinner.
We went to every store in St. George.
We bought gifts
We returned gifts
We spent every last dollar in our wallets
We wrapped 400 presents.

We met the family for our traditional Christmas Eve Dinner
at Outback.
We were missing The Hydes
and Kami and Brent's Kids


Kami and Brent
Then.... 
We went back to our house to open
our exchange gifts.
Gavin hooked KK up

 Ryker hooked Morgan up
with "the world's best gift"
 I FINALLY got a picture with Raleigh
in his cardigan.  He loves this sweater SO much.
He tried to wear it to my work party...
But, I said "my co-workers don't know you that well,
they won't know that typically you dress like a cool guy.
They will think that you are being serious and that
you always dress like a Grandpa."
I think he was a little hurt that I didn't let him wear it.
I think that because while he was getting his salad,  he told
Mitch that he was going to wear his awesome cardigan,
but I wouldn't let him.
Mitch scolded me the next day and said
that there was genuine sadness in his voice.
Peyton got a winter hat from Gracie
 Morgan is all ready to face time Parker
in her USA/SA t-shirt that she is going to wear
every night for the next 20 months.
He will call bright and early Christmas Morning
 Papa and Nana
Quincey and Vince


C H R I S T M A S   D A Y 
Next to the cookies and milk that we put out for Santa,
we found this note left by Peyton sometime in the night

Dear Santa
My family is blessed for you.
Thanks for never giving me and my family coal
Love, Peyton

Peyton is a very logical thinker.
And she is VERY smart.
Way too smart for us.  And we know we are in trouble.
She put a hoverboard on her Santa's list.
I said "oh, Honey.....  hoverboards are very expensive"
She said  "I know that mom, that is why I asked Santa for it,
he is rich, duh."
Well, this created quite the conundrum.
There is a magical story behind finding the world's
greatest deal on the most awesome hoverboard.
Keeping the magic of Santa alive in our house.
Yet.... now we may have wakened a sleeping giant.
Who knows what will show up on the list next year.

Additionally, we are not sure why she is worried that
coal would ever be in the future of any of us.   She must
know something we don't.
  Raleigh and I woke up at 6:00.
Maybe we were excited.
The first stirring was by Morgan at 7:00.
She was FOR SURE excited.
Raleigh made himself a lovely cup of cocoa
and watched The Christmas Story twice while we were
waiting for the festivities to begin.
 The kids woke up at 7:45 and the presents
were all opened by 8:00 with a mountain of wrapping paper
and piles of boxes.
It took us 6 or maybe 8 weeks to purchase and an
entire year to save for....
and took 15 minutes to be over.
Bikes, Hoverboards and clothes all over
I'm all ready to watch the kids ride their
goodies outside.... in the rain.
I have literally been freezing this entire week

ChuRyker


 Parker face timed at 8:13am
Morgan was ready for him on all of her devices
They were able to talk for about 45 minutes
He looked so cute and it was so good to hear his voice.
He face timed her from a member's home in Kwa Mashu
They have the only home in town with wi-fi.
(you always know Morgan is truly happy when the "eye dimples" come out)
We went to Mom and Dad's house for lunch/dinner
We had a lovely meal and opened more presents
and took some awesome pictures... of my mom and dad
 Kami and Brent gave everyone Squatty Potties.
Can't wait to give it a go (haha)
The Hyde's were able to talk to Garrett too and they
said that he is fully engulfed in his mission and doesn't
seem to miss home at all and couldn't be happier.
What a blessing he is to our family.

Raleigh and I took the entire week after Christmas off
together.  It was the best week of the entire year.
We woke up early and went to the gym
and then we went to breakfast every morning.
Then we went shopping.
We hit all of the after Christmas Sales and loved
every moment that we got to spend together.

We watched Bowl Games
I ate my weight in Winger's Wings during Utah's game
I slept through BYUs game
We watched the Ohio St game for Parker
even though it was awful


December 29th is Rykers Birthday.
This year he turned 5.
I remember his birth day like it was yesterday.
He came three weeks early with a broken water in the middle of the night.
My doctor promised me the chance to try a V-bac
to spare me my 4th abdominal surgery in 2 1/2 years.
But, by 6:00 pm, no progress had been made....
 I started feeling really sick, like I had the flu
and they knew that I was getting an infection,
so off to the OR we went.

They whisked my new baby off to the NICU the second he was born and
so I never had the chance to hold him or bond with him until
the next day when my legs were un-numb and I could get down to
where he was.

He was covered in tubes and wires
It was a scary 11 days, but he has never
been sick a day since we brought him home.
And he is a complete joy to our family.

We went to Cedar for Allie's basketball tournament.
They lost in the last 30 seconds of the game by 2 points.



On a side note...  Allie has the thickest hair
in the entire world.  Her braids are three inches in diameter.
And the braider needs legit muscles to pull that hairdo off.
I bet if she shaved her head, she'd lose an easy 10 lbs.

 We then went to Pizza Factory
And I am so glad that this wasn't my last meal.
It was horrible.  I usually LOVE Pizza Factory Salads...
But I took a huge bite and I was about to start chewing
and Raleigh yells...  "don't eat that potato salad, it's rancid"
and I without thinking, spit the entire contents of the bite out all
over the table and then had to throw half my salad away.
And my kids were all  "oh gross, Mom....  why would you do that....
Dad, she put her food by our pizza...."

Sorry Kids, I am usually classy at restaurants, but
I'll be damned if I am going to get food poisoning from a
S A L A D

Next we searched out a Big-O tire
and were fortunate to find the last tube in town. 
 We didn't have to search long for a sledding hill as the
most popular one is literally in the middle of the town
and we took the kids tubing for the first time.
And THEY LOVED IT
Peyton of course fully enjoyed herself.
She is a total daredevil.
By the end, we were all sitting in the car 
drinking hot chocolate and she was still
launching herself down the hill.
She cried when it got dark and we had to leave
(mostly because we wouldn't let her bring her
giant snow ball home.)


 Everyone was pretty warm
even ME.  Ironically, this was the only
time the entire week that I was warm.
Maybe it was because I had 5 layers on.
 The kids' hands were frozen
because NO ONE could keep their
gloves on for two seconds
Back home for presents and cake




Morgan started her new job.
She is so excited to begin her career as an
Orthodontic Assistant at Dr Simister's office.
She is going to tighten Allie's braces up really tight.
She plans to be in full swing and making really
GOOD money when Parker gets home,
so that she can put him through medical school.
I love a girl with a plan
She really is something else....  she's not even 18 yet.

Kaleigh brings me so much joy.
She is an unbelievable soul.
Yesterday at Allie's basketball game,
she whispers in my ear...  "if the other team
wins, we need to be happy for them, they worked
hard too."
And I'm thinking...  she just doesn't get it.
But the truth is...  I'd LOVE to be inside her head for a day.
She sees the world so differently.  She sees the good everywhere.
She sees the good in every one.
I'd love to see her world

She drew this picture of us.  She said...
"Dad is saying 'yes' because he finally got a girlfriend that he can love"
I love his hair and my eyelashes.
But, I wish I had a better figure.

N E W   Y E A R ' S   E V E
This was our pose for  the Mannequin Challenge
 at our New Year's Eve Party...  three guesses who
thought this one up
 Raleigh found the CUTEST pair of Rock Revival jeans
at Ross for $30.  And every time he wears them,  I am
jealous of him.
 Look at Raleigh and Brent....
They kept checking football scores and they watched the
Mariah Carey Nightmare 40 times before it actually aired.
Happy New Year, Lover
You make me so happy.


N E W   Y E A R ' S   D A Y
We,  and by we,  I really mean I was SO upset last year that we
had 9:00 church.  I seriously didn't think we could do it....  NOT for a whole year.
I said on more than one occasion, that we would most
likely have to be inactive in 2016.
But, something happened to us.
We not only did it,  but we embraced it and LOVED it.
We only missed 4 Sundays last year and 2 of them, we were on vacation and
we went to church there.
I am so proud of that.
I know to most people 9:00 is easy, but for us, it could have been potentially
challenging.  We did it.  And our reward is.....
11:00 Church

N E W   Y E A R ' S   D A Y   O B S E R V E D
 We wrapped up our month of celebrating with
our traditional New Year's Day Celebration
at Sakura

 
 Dad and Raleigh photobombed our "sister picture"

 We celebrated Kami's 41st birthday

Raleigh and I made 2017 goals because he is very goal oriented and he believes that if a goal isn't written down, it's just a dream.  And so I was happy to comply.  And as we set them and wrote them down, we had no choice but to reflect on 2016.  It was a rough year.  We had obstacles.  Big ones too.  And yet... 2016 will go down in the books as our most successful year so far.  We were a TEAM.  Pilot and co-pilot.  On the same page.  Coming together to overcome stuff.  And we grew as a family and a couple and as parents.  Man, we are happy with us this year.  We learned so much about ourselves.  And we accomplished some pretty amazing things.  My 2016 journal is one of my favorites.  I really love reading it.  When I do, I can see so much growth mostly in myself.

I can honestly say that I HATE the first of the year.
I hate starting over.  And I always feel sad.
It seems like it's going to take forever to get to the good stuff.
What's the good stuff?
I don't even know.
But I know it traditionally doesn't happen in January.
But here is the good news...
We have our schedule dialed.
We achieved our weight goals.
We are happy.
And we are in love.
And LOVE is all you need.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

GEEZ!!! December was a very long month but another fabulous post remembering each and every day (almost). I love that you do this every month and I especially love all the pictures!! Of course, my favorite being the grandkids picture!!! It is one of my most prized possessions! Such a thoughtful and perfect gift. I'm glad we got to share in most of those activities during the month. Each one was really fun!! Happy New Year to my Lund Peeps!!!

Ellsworth Party of Four said...

WOW...this must have taken you the whole month to write! So many things happened in December. What a fun month...an exhausting one too. So fun to spend time with you and the whole family. lucky to have so many reasons to get together.
Love you!