2024- Week 52 (Dec 23-Dec 29)

Monday was the annual Christmas Adam party at Scott and Malia's. They served yummy greek food this year including chicken, beef, lemon rice and potato's, flat bread with hummus and tazziki sauce. We played white elephant and Ashtyn got a pair of slippers made out of maxi pads that were the hit of the night. Sharon got a rotisserie chicken that you could tell she did not like ha ha ha. I came home with a game that I know will be so fun. We also played the money game and Jeff won. 

This is his second time winning.

For Christmas Eve I made roast and Costco mashed potatoes. We read the story in the bible and then gave the kids pajamas. Ashtyn's did not fit her so the ones she is wearing in this picture are not them. Then we went to Christmas in Color. They expanded it and made it longer and

 it was wonderful as always.

Christmas morning we had to wake the kids up at nine so we had time to open presents before going to Tom and Sharon's. We got some wonderful things. Ashtyn gave me tickets to Beauty and the Beast with her which I am excited about. Ethan loved his weight bar set. Ashtyn got new airpods and Whitney will be getting a pair of Dr Marten's when they come back in stock. We went to Tom and Sharon's and enjoyed opening gifts with everyone there. Jeff had Kellie and gave her a sweater and sunglasses, I had Miles and gave him a wallet, Ashtyn had Porter and gave him a Patriarachal Blessing guide book, Whitney had Kenzie and gave her some sweats she wanted and Ethan had Jenacee and gave her some scrap book items. Malia had me and surprised me with a Flower Letters Subscription. I was so excited! I get 24 letters during the year and it tells a regency romance story. We had ham and potatoes and jello and just relaxed. Afterwards we went home and got ready for my family to come to dinner. We did pizza this year since I just hosted Thanksgiving. We also exchanged a few gifts and then played some games and hung out. I was excited to give my sisters the Ingalls House magnet to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Little House on the Prairie. We also talked to my dad and Yvonne earlier that morning. It was a good day. I made everyone take a photo in front of the tree and when it was Melinda's turn Bronson didn't want to do it because he was upset about having to go home. We did get him to smile and then to everyone's surprise when it was our families turn Bronson ran over and jumped in our family picture too. It was so cute.

I took Ashtyn to the airport on Friday morning. Westin paid for her to fly to California to spend time with his family. She was very excited and a little nervous. They live in Castaic near LA. 

For date night we went to see Wicked. I love this story but I actually fell asleep for part of it because I was so tired. They did an amazing job and  I can't wait to see part two. 

One of the gifts I got for Christmas was a Woobles crochet kit. I wanted to try to learn to crochet again and this kit has step by step video instructions and slick yarn and at the end you create a cute little animal. I thought that would be the perfect fit for me. I have tried to learn to crochet in the past and have never really loved it. Well I still don't love it. I would even say I hate it ha ha. I think it is a matter of the repetitive nature of it. It makes my hands hurt. I hate having to keep track of my stitches or use a marker. I did not have fun at all. It stressed me out and I ended up more annoyed than when I started. I did finish the project and then chucked it at the wall. This is not a hobby for me but the little lion is pretty cute ha ha ha.

Jeff and I went to Kierra and Ryan Heimdals sealing on Saturday morning. We were so happy to learn they are expecting a baby girl next year. It was so good to see her family. We miss having them in the ward. Saturday night Jeff's family came over to watch the BYU game. It was the Alamo Bowl. BYU won. 

I took down Christmas on Sunday. Whitney called me the Grinch ha ha but I just can't stand the clutter for too long. I like to start the new year fresh. 

2024- Week 51 (Dec 16- Dec 22)

Monday was DUP. It was our Christmas party. The lesson was given by Jana on Christmas Songs so we also sang many of them. I gave everyone a swedish dishcloth with birds on them. We had the most delicious cinnamon rolls from Mom's Shepherd's Bread Co. brought by Linda and Sondra. 

It was a nice time. 

Jeff and I finished reading The Best Christmas Pageant for the second year in a row. Just in time to go see the movie that was just released. I had very high expectations for this movie and it did not disappoint. It is such a beautiful story about the true meaning of Christmas. We invited my family to join us but only Melinda and her family and Emily were able to make it. We also invited Westin. It was a fun night.

Wednesday we went to the Forgotten Carols. We invited mom and Westin too. It was so good to be back. It is one of my favorite things. They had made a few changes to the dialogue and order of some songs. Some changes I liked and some I missed from the past but the overall spirit remained. I loved being there with my family. During intermission mom wanted to go walk around and we grabbed some snacks for everyone to share. It was also fun to be back at Cottonwood High School again.

Jeff gave the ward council glass water bottles this year with the scripture from John 4:14 about drinking of the water that Christ will give.

I found wax bulbs at Trader Joes and it made me so very very happy!

I babysat Jones Mundy this week and he rearranged my nativity so that everyone could see the baby. It was cute. We also had a funny conversation about the color pink. He was making a pearler bead heart and I was helping him choose colors. I asked if he wanted pink and he hesitated. I said boys can like pink and he replied "Not this kind of boy. Pink is the color that butterflies are made of and beautiful things and I am the kind of boy that likes to dip my pancakes in ketchup and that is gross so I don't like beautiful colors." That is not verbatim but you get the idea. It was so funny and cute. He is adorable.

I love the new Christmas pillows we added this year.

Jeff and I went to see Mufasa with his work. A law firm invited them. It was a cute show and fun to see another live action version. They always do a drawing and Jeff always wins something and he did again this year when his number was drawn for a portable blue tooth speaker. It's the running joke with Leif that Jeff always wins. After the movie we went to Ross. They are open late for Christmas. I got an amazing long Canada Weather gear coat that retails for $300 for only $50 and a ceramic casserole dish with a lid. I used the money Tom and Sharon gave us. Jeff also got a few things.

2024- Week 50 (Dec 9- Dec 15)

 I was so excited to see one of the hidden nutcrackers at my work today. Kim was gone and I was in charge of the field trip. It was for a first and second grade group. They were so cute. Some of the adults did not love that we had them carry their lunches in but that was the only problem. I have been coming in to fill invoices for youth groups for Cliff as well.

Jeff and Ethan went to get the new ornaments themselves this year. I was sick and I had already bought a Little House on the Prairie ornament of the Ingalls house in honor of the 50th anniversary of the show. The girls had other things going on so we sent them money and they went themselves later. Jeff got the chicken nugget ornament and Ethan's is the barbell. Whitney got a stick of butter and Ashtyn got a package of hot dogs ha ha. 

The ward party was on Saturday. It was a breakfast. They let people choose Christmas hymns. They had them come up and tell why they liked it and then we all sang it. Kraig Johnson came up and talked about the shepherds and how Christ was born during lambing season. It was so beautiful. Emma Sims(my bestie) saved us a seat with her family and we had invited the Turners and Allie also wanted to sit together so we combined tables. They served breakfast casseroles and fruit and sweet rolls. I brought two of our nativities to display on the tables.

Our dear friend Bert Waite passed away. He has bee battling cancer for the last seven years. If you have been a long time reader you will remember him from Bert Dinners. He was a great cook, a teller of corny jokes, an amazing primary teacher and an all around good guy.

Jeff and I have been doing some of the Christmas traditions alone this year. The kids are just so busy. This week we went on a Christmas lights tour. We only went to a few homes near us. We went to Swig first to get a drink and a treat. I'm glad he's up for anything.

On Sunday the girls and Jeff and I decorated ginger bread houses. 

2024- Week 49 (Dec 2- Dec 8)

Monday was Pat's funeral but it was also jury selection. It was all online. I had called on Friday to see if I could get out of it for the funeral and they told me I would have to ask the judge directly on Monday. It started at 8:30 AM and went to 1 PM. By the time I was able to be questioned by the judge it was too late for me to go to the funeral and I ended up being  chosen to be a juror and to come to the courthouse at 2:30 today. I was there until 4:30 that day and 9-5 every other day this week.

Juror 1- Dallan- airline baggage handler, youngest

Juror 2- Nathan, Pharm manufacturer, engineer- Chosen as jury foremen

Juror 3- Steve, something with cars

Juror 4- Jim- oldest at 73

Juror 5- Me

Juror 6- Megan, teacher at Bennion Jr High

Juror 7- Jake, insurance adjuster, vegan, 38 years old

Juror 8- Rachel, software engineer- young

Juror 9- Gary- Retired has an adopted daughter from Russia, ended up being the alternate

Judge: William K Kendall

Bailiff: Cody Connell

Plaintiff: Kurtis and Melanie Trane

Defendant: Weslley Davis MD. OBGYN

Plaintiff Attorneys: Ashton and 

Defense Attorneys: David C Epperson and Nourin N. Abourahma from Epperson and Owens

The case was a medical malpractice case in which a woman Ms. Trane was burned on her labia by a ligasure gun during a total vaginal hysterectomy. Dr. Davis does not remember the injury occuring and by the time he did see the burn and treat her it was a week later. She now has on going nerve pain from improper and immediate care of the injury. It affects all aspects of her life. It has caused a strain on her marriage. We listened to so much testimony from both sides and the trial lasted the full week. Some witnesses were amazing and some were not. We got a lunch break each day and I would grab lunch and eat at Tom and Sharon's because they live near the courthouse. We ultimately ended up ruling in Ms. Trane's favor. We found that the doctor was negligent. We awarded her $180K in economic damages and $300K in non economic damages. We also awarded her husband $60K in damages. It was a really cool thing to be a part of but I am so glad it is over. I dream about it every night and have not been able to stop thinking about it since. 

This week was Jeff's work party. They had a dinner at the Velvet Room at Thanksgiving Point and then gave everyone tickets to Luminaria. They also had a white elephant exchange. We got a foot of Twinkies and a Las Vegas mug. Luminaria was fun as always. We walked around with Leif & Julie, Matt and Loralee and Alexa & Smith. Alexa is a new employee and we like her a lot. They gave us snack coupons and we got some stroop waffles and cookies and things. It was a great start to our holiday season.

2024- Week 48( Nov 25- Dec 1)

Cherry's good friend Trina was in town from Arizona and she wanted me to meet her so we went took her to visit the park. 

We hosted the Hughes family for Thanksgiving. Everyone was able to come and we also had Danielle and Eric and Archer and Stevie. I made little turkey leg packages for all the kids. We enjoyed a nice meal and then played some games and hung out for a while afterward. It was a wonderful day.

While my kids were all home on Thanksgiving we took an impromptu family photo on Whitney's bed to use for our Christmas card.

I bought some pie jars from Callie and we enjoyed them as part of our dessert for Thanksgiving.

My dear friend Patrick Moyes passed away. He was a member of the Clan- my guy friends group. We hung out all the time in high school. I haven't seen him much since but we had recently gone to dinner to support Lindsey when she was going through her cancer. He also had his own fight with a rare type of skin cancer. His cancer unfortunately came back more agressive and he fought as hard as he could but in the end there was nothing more anyone could do. I am so sad for his beautiful wife Amie and 12 year old twins Kai and Lux as they now navigate their lives without him. I met up with Jenny Christensen and we went to the viewing together. This is a picture of Rob and Jenny. He is Pat's brother. He and Jenny have dated off and on over the years. The Moyes family is one of the very best!

Jeff and I and the girls went to the Mt. Timp temple on Friday night. One of these days our whole family will be able to go together.