2016! Week 47

 For Ethan's family life merit badge we had to have a family meeting and discuss several different topics.  Ethan had to take notes.  As you can see this is one topic our kids hate to talk about. 

 Ashtyn and I went to the school musical.  She didn't try out this year because sophomores rarely make it.  It was such a cute play and wow the kids were awesome. I miss being in plays and helping with plays. It was fun to get to hang out with Ashtyn.

 Jeff and the kids like to play Risk so they decided to start a game over the holiday weekend.  I'm not a fan of games that take more than an hour to complete so I worked on Thanksgiving prep instead.

  We are off schedule from my brothers family for Thanksgiving and this year my mom really wanted us all to be together so we moved our Thanksgiving dinner to Sunday and went to a movie on Thanksgiving instead. We saw Fantastic Beasts. It was really good. My kids love all things Harry Potter and mythical. It was very well done. On our way home we saw that Village Inn was open so we stopped for dinner. Ashtyn and I ordered turkey of course.  It came with stuffing and mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce and a biscuit and was so good. We all got a piece of pie at the end. I picked pumpkin because no one in my family likes it and we weren't going to have it on Sunday. It was really nice to not have to cook and I am tempted to make that my new tradition.

 We drove by Target on the way and saw a huge line of people waiting for it to open for Black Friday.  Ashtyn is obsessed with going to Black Friday and has always wanted to so I told her we could stop on our way home and check it out. They had the store completely blocked off so you could only go one way. This picture didn't capture how packed it really was.  The line to check out spanned the whole length of the store. No one was running or shoving but there were too many people for my liking so we only stayed for ten minutes. I hate crowds! Ashtyn was upset that we couldn't stay and look for deals. Lucky for her when we got home her friend called and asked if she wanted to go out with them shopping at 11 PM. I told her to go for it and I went to bed instead.

 I have been wanting to see this movie for a long time but it was $6 to rent and I didn't want to pay that. Then Brooke White- who I totally adore and who it so stinking cute on Instagram was talking about how much she loved and I have found that Brooke and I have the same taste so we rented it and Whitney and I watched it. It was so so good!! I loved it! It's very Napoleon Dynamiteesque. Super funny and quirky. But it was also heartwarming and sad in parts too. There are some swear words and a few parts that would be too intense for little kids but I think Ashtyn and Whitney liked it too. It's also a movie that gets funnier every time you watch it and I know because we ended up watching it three times so we could get our moneys worth. Now I want to go and rent every other movie by this director because it was so good. 

I totally am going to buy it. Definitely a new favorite for me!

Ethan got to go with Jeff, Miles and Porter to the last BYU game of the season. They had a blast!

I taught sharing time on Sunday and used my friend Terry the Turkey who gave away all of his feathers to help other people. It was pretty darn cute. Then we tried to play reverence Jeopardy in Sr. but the kids ironically were totally crazy and not reverent. The rumor is that we will be splitting soon and it can not come soon enough. We have almost 100 kids in Jr. alone. It will be super sad to lose some kids but nice to have it be more managable.

I kind of liked having Thanksgiving on Sunday because it gave me the whole weekend to prep things. I made the mashed potatoes the night before using the Pioneer Woman's recipe and I am always going to do that from now on because it saved so much time the next day and they tasted amazing- even reheated.  Best potato recipe I have ever tried. Here is all the food ready to go.  We also had corn, turkey, and green bean casserole. I make two of certain dishes because some of our family is vegan and vegetarian. Just look at those yams all golden and brown and gooey! 

 I used Chef Johns turkey recipe and it also turned out really good and nice and golden.

 I had planned to take all kinds of pictures but forgot amidst the preparations so these are my pictures taking every thing down. These candle sticks were a wedding present.  They are crystal and I love pulling them out for holidays.

 I used my china again this year. I also set up a small kids table like last year too 

for Brody and Brooklyn.

We went with crescent rolls this time and they were great. We served apple, lemon meringue and strawberry cheesecake for dessert.  Then we played Frisbee dog on the Wii and sat around and chatted the rest of the night. It was such a fun weekend. I am so glad the holidays are here so we have time to spend with family and friends.

2016! Week 46

 For his FHE activity Ethan chose to make dominos formations.  

 

Jeff and I went and saw the movie Arrival this week.  It got amazing reviews so we wanted to check it out.  The plot is strange.  It's about aliens and learning to communicate with them.  I left a little confused but at the same time completely enthralled.  I love a movie that makes you wonder and think and feel and this one definitely does. I really liked it. We came home and researched it a little more and there are so many good things to think about.  It is a deep movie with a lot of underlying themes.  I for sure need to see it again because I know I missed a lot that was over my head. Amy Adams was awesome in it.  Overall we liked it a lot.  The only thing I didn't like was the gentleman sitting next to me who burped up his dinner the entire two hours.  Loud, gurggly, gross burps that smelled like tacos.  It was killing me that he was being so rude.  Then during the last ten minutes of the movie at a very climactic point his phone started ringing.  I thought he would reach down and silence it, but no- he answered it and had a three minute conversation. It was the worst. You gotta love $5 Tuesdays though so I can't complain too much.

There was a super moon this week and my friend told me that due to the moons gravitational pull your broom would stand up by itself this week.  I tried it and it actually did work- not for as long as hers because the bottom is angled too much- but it was crazy to see it standing by itself.

 The first snow of the year is here.  It was mild and melted a few days later.  I have been dreading this day- ugh.  I have a very hard time functioning at a normal level in the cold.  I have to just keep thinking of all the positive things the snow brings like..water, snowmen, Christmas, sledding, eating snow with syrup, beautiful pictures, cozy fires, winter sweaters, etc.

 Our ward held the pinewood derby on Thursday.  I helped decorate and set up after my presidency meeting. I could only watch for a few minutes though because I had a stake training to go to.  

I love to see how excited the boys get to make their cars.

The theme for the stake training was "Primary: A Honey of a Place to Bee".  They shared this quote that I fell in love with.

I have been the primary president for a year now and this year was hard.  I never felt like we could get ahead.  We were always having to spend our time changing callings, orienting new people, and finding places every week for all the new kids we got this year.  I had grand ideas of all the things we were going to do to make the kids feel special and we never got to do them because something always took our time elswhwere.  It was frustrating to me but this quote helped me to remember all of the tender mercies the Lord has given me this year and all of the sweet moments each week.  I adore the primary.  It is my all time favorite calling.  Our ward looks like it will be spliting soon and it makes me sad to think we will lose half of these beautiful children.

 Melinda and Kevin went hunting for her birthday so we got to have Brody and Brooklyn sleep over.  The first thing they always want to do it make a perler bead creation.  Brooklyn wanted this rainbow unicorn and Brody wanted a Kick the Buddy.  They slept great this time and were so good until Sunday.  I had been so busy during the week that I completely forgot to plan my sharing time so I had to do it Saturday night and then print everything and get it ready Sunday morning.  I had hoped I could turn on a bible video for them and that they would sit peacefully and watch being filled with the spirit.  They were filled with a spirit of another kind however and were crazy.  Why is it that I forget this about little kids.  Any time your attention is elsewhere they want it and will get it any way they can.  I barely got the sharing time done in time to drop my kids off at church and take them home.  Sundays the world fights against us so hard.  I was extra grateful for a short nap after church.  We invited Kristy and Miles to come to dinner and that was a great way to end the day.  I am so glad they live close and our kids can grow up together.  I made spaghetti pie, french bread and salad.  

After dinner we played crazy bridge.  

I also love that all the kids can play that now because it is such a fun game.

 This is Baby Alive that Whitney got for Christmas when she was little.  It talks and eats and poops like a real baby but over the years she has started to look a little worn out.  Her skin on her face is very realistic and very hard to clean so it was looking the worse.  Some of the little kids that come over don't like this doll and call her creepy so Brody and Ethan decided to take it upon themselves to destroy the "little evil doll" as they call her.  Brody asked me if they could and I told him no- but Ethan didn't ask and told him yes.  They took a baseball bat and smashed her face to smithereens.  Now she does look like a "little evil doll".  SO SAD!  This was a very expensive doll and I had hoped to keep it for a long time.  I was mad, but Jeff thought it was cool and that we can now save her to use for Halloween.  Um- I don't think so.  I told Ethan I was going to put her in 

bed with him one night to get even- ha ha.

 The girls needed new coats this year.  I got the best deal ever at Old Navy on these two coats.  The top one is normally $50 and this one is normally $60.  I got them both for $15.  It totally pays to have Jeff's Banana Republic card because we get rewards non-stop and with the 

Black Friday deals we got a great deal!

2016! Week 45

 Brigit, her mom Elfie, Helen and I went down to take lunch to Lela.  She wasn't feeling well.  We had such a great visit.  I love these ladies so much!

Tuesday I took my friend Joidee to lunch for her birthday.  We went to Cubbys and both got the grilled cheese.  It is so dang good.  It has three kinds of cheese with bacon, tomatoes and avacado.

Ethan got to do the flag ceremony at the jr. high veterens day celebration which was a huge honor.

 Our Ute fan neighbors gave us this cutout of Cosmo the Cougar.  On Wednesday the youth had a food drive competition- BYU vs. UTAH.  BYU won- which is crazy because 3/4 of our ward are Ute fans. I put Cosmo out with our bag of food to welcome the youth.

 We decided it was time to cut down our two dead trees.  They only get leaves on the bottom half.  Our very kind neighbor Paul Maddock came over and helped us.  Paul is a super classy guy.  He was wearing chino's and a collared long sleeve polo shirt to work in.  They only got one tree down before the chainsaw seized up.  

 Jeff and I took the tramp down for the year.  It felt strange to be taking it down on such a nice, sunny day but Winter will be here before you know it.

 Of all the vegetable plants I planted the pepper plant was the only one that thrived.  It is still producing great big peppers.

 Jeff and I took the tree branches to the dump.

 There was this speed limit sign at the dump- ha ha.

Whitney got invited to the BYU game with Kristy and her girls.  This was so nice because now we still have one set of tickets left so all of our kids can have a chance to go to a BYU game. 

Ashtyn was home sick Wednesday to Sunday. She started out with a sore throat and a fever which turned into a horrible cough, congestion and pink eye.  We had to go to the doctor twice this week.  I hate this time of year and all the sickness it brings with it.  She missed the big ACT practice test as well- which really sucked because it's so helpful for the real exam next year.

I had the Wagaman boys again and this time the two year old was- two.  He wanted to go outside and play but when it was time to come in he was obsessed with finding a ghost and threw a little fit.  I finally just put him down for a nap because he was wearing me out.  The baby was still just as smiley though and I had fun kissing his adorable cheeks.

Whitney had a great week and of course I didn't get a single picture.  She went to her first stake dance- didn't dance with any boys though because on every slow song her friend made her go hide out in the hall with her.  She also got to go to the state high school football semi final game up at Rice Eccles stadium.  Bingham has a great team.  They have been in the semi finals or finals every year but one the last ten years and have won five of those years.  The final game is this week. 

2016! Week 44

Monday was Halloween.  It was such a low key day.  No parties, no parades and really no trick or treaters besides Ethan.  We did have our annual soup party in the Barney's garage.  During that we put out a bowl of candy on our porch and when we got home we just left it there and didn't answer the door all night.  We barely got any trick or treaters this year because the candy was still there the next day when I remembered to bring it in.  Ethan went trick or treating with some friends.  They made up a cute little song to sing at each door and people liked it so much they got extra candy.  Ashtyn went to a friend's to watch a movie and 

Whitney just wanted to stay home in her pj's so it was a really quiet night.  

I went to the dentist this week and learned a great lesson.  The hygienist was the same one I have seen time after time and each time she always asks about my life and remembers things that I had told her from previous visits.  She asked how our trip to Nauvoo was this time.  How did she even remember?  We got to chatting and I realized that I have never even once asked about her life. So I started to ask questions and found out she had had a baby a few months before.  I hadn't even noticed she was pregnant at my last appointment.  It made me think about all the other great people I am missing out on knowing because I stay stuck in my own little world all the time.  The people that help me every day are real people and I over look them.  I often see the same people at the places I frequent and it made me want to do a better job of getting to know them.

Ethan had to dress up each day for PTSA- Did I mention that he tried out for that and made it?  I didn't get a picture of every day but here was "dress from another decade day".  

He picked the 90's.  I love it!

Jeff's boss is the head of an organization called TMA and they were holding a member appreciation event at the Clark Planetarium.  The girls couldn't go so it was just Jeff and Ethan and I.  We got to see all of the exhibits and then have dinner and watch the coolest 3D movie about the national parks.  It was awesome and made me want to see every single national park.  This year is the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service.  I've been following a girl on Instagram that took her family on a trip around the grand scenic loop.  The same one that was followed in 1920 as the dedication loop of the parks.  It looks so awesome.  I would love to do it some day.

My friend recently asked me if I would babysit her kids on a permanent basis.  She has two of the cutest boys ever.  I thought about it and it would have been nice to have extra money but I ultimately decided that it wouldn't work with all the other things I have to do. A few weeks later she needed a babysitter for three Fridays in a row while her normal babysitter was out of town so she asked me if I would do it.  I agreed and this Friday was my first time.  Her boys are so cute. Brody is 2.  He says please for everything- which I have never seen a kid do unprompted.  Definitely not a typical toddler.  The baby, Ausin is 3 months old and so happy and smiley.  He took perfect naps.  I hope they continue this amazing behavior for the next two weeks as well.  It almost made me want to reconsider taking them up on the babysitting offer- but then I had to change a few poopy diapers and I knew I had made the right decision- ha ha.

Saturday was Phoebe's baptism.  She is so darn cute.  It was a special day.  They asked Ashtyn to play the piano.  It was a little stressful when they switched one of the songs last minute but Ashtyn practiced like crazy and pulled it off.  We had a yummy fettuccine lunch at their house after.

Sunday we visited Gramps and Grandma. Gramps was so funny.  He kept picking up this box of chocolate cookies and trying to eat one.  When Grandma would tell he'd already had two he would say he didn't even remember having one.  At one point he started waving his arm and when I asked him what he was doing he said "Go".  I said go where and he said "leave- It's time for you to leave. You've been here long enough."  Then two seconds later he said told us how beautiful we are.  

We love getting to see them.