Happy New Year's Eve!
I have not written a family email since November 7th...that is my longest stretch ever not sending a family email. Every time I think about sitting down to write it, I am just overwhelmed because obviously life has been going a million miles a minute and the thought of trying to capture it all, even the highlights makes me want to run away with my tail between my legs! Ah! But, I do want to try and record some highlights, and I have come up with a plan in my mind for writing in 2024 because I do not want to let these emails go-I am beyond grateful for the books and books on our family room shelf that contain the history of our lives since 2007! So, onward and upward!
Before I jump into individual people, I do want to say we have had a really wonderful Christmas break, and I am glad we still get a few more days of it. Richard had last Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday off, and he has another three day weekend right now-yay! I have perfected the art of living in chaos with Christmas presents still out and incredibly late bedtimes and late mornings, which if you know me, is a huge accomplishment. :) Our "normal" lives are so busy, that I really am just enjoying everyone being able to do pretty much whatever they want, whenever they want! Below are some family highlights from the last several days.
*I took Rachel and Gretchen to see Frozen at the symphony. This was the first visit to Abravanel Hall for both of them and it was so great! They loved how fancy the building is and just took it all in. It has honestly probably been nine years since I have sat and watched Frozen in its entirety and there were so many parts I had forgotten and I loved it just as much as the girls. Gretchen still adores Elsa, Anna and Olaf. She sat on my lap for the entire first half and I loved experiencing it with her right next to me. Such a fun, fun evening.
*We drove up to Layton on the evening of the 23rd and had dinner with Danny and Stacie and then went to see the Layton lights with them. The cousins had a ball with each other as they always do, it was fun to catch up with Danny and Stacie, and of course, so festive walking around to see all the lights-they really do such a great job up there!
*We loved church on Christmas Eve. With the exception of the bishop speaking for the last five minutes, the rest of the service was all music, and it was wonderful. Bridget and I sang in a women's choir and all four kids sang with the primary/youth. We spent the rest of our day making sugar cookies, relaxing, watching a Christmas movie, having grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner (win!), and ending the night with a variety of nativity movies and opening Christmas pajamas. All the kids were VERY excited and Gretchen had a very hard time going to bed that night. She finally fell asleep sometime after 11:00 pm, in our bed. :) Not an ideal situation!
*Our Christmas was lovely! We have a rule that you can't come into our room, or in the case of Marshall and Bridget in the basement, tell us that you are awake before 7:00 am. Bridget was the first one to wake up at 7:15, and at 7:30 all the kids were still asleep so I went down to her room to hang out. Marshall woke up soon after, and Rachel and Gretchen were awake just a few minutes later too. We probably started in on Santa gifts right around 8:00. All four kids got new blankets, which they are loving. Gretchen screamed when she saw Santa had brought President Barbie. After Santa gifts, we had a lovely and most delicious breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls, baked eggs, and bacon. It was divine. After breakfast, we opened family gifts under the tree. For the second year in a row, the kids drew names for each other, and kept it a secret who bought for who. When all four of them had opened their gifts, they all guessed, and only one of them guessed right! This has become such a fun tradition that they genuinely love and Richard and I love observing it all on Christmas morning. Marshall bought Gretchen a make-up kit, hello sparkles everywhere, but she is in heaven! Bridget bought Rachel velvet Converse, Rachel about died when she saw them! Rachel bought Bridget a massive hoody-robe thing that Bridget has given to all her friends for birthdays this year and is SO happy to have her own-she has pretty much lived in it since Christmas. And Gretchen bought Marshall a shoulder Christmas Groot and Big 12 pennants-both of which he is loving. Also, for the second year in a row, we kept physical gifts to a minimum, and surprised the kids with a trip to London during Spring Break. Wow. I honestly cannot even believe we are doing this, but Richard and I are both very excited and very nervous! Ha! Aside from the cruise, neither of us have left the country before, so we are venturing into international travel with all the kids and we hope to survive a big time change, get along, be happy, and make wonderful memories to last a lifetime! The rest of our Christmas Day was so chill. We watched White Christmas, relaxed, napped, played, Facetimed with Bob and Becky, and got ready for Christmas dinner. My parents, Jordan and Meredith came over around 6:00 pm. Richard smoked prime rib and my word, it was delicious. We had a wonderful dinner, showed off Christmas gifts, exchanged gifts, and ended the night with a new game that had us all crying tears of extreme laughter by the end. Just picture my Mom reading a card full of potty words. We were dying. I think every single one of us, kids and adults, laughed for a solid two minutes. A great Christmas day!
*We drove up to Heber the next night to ride the Heber Creeper as the North Pole Express. We got up there early and grabbed dinner at Dairy Keen. Gretchen was not thrilled with this choice, but as soon as we walked in was immediately enamored with the train going around the restaurant and then was completely happy! After dinner, we drove a few short minutes to the Heber Creeper. We got there very early, so we killed time by downloading a charades type game on my phone and we all played that together which was very fun. We were able to get on the train at 7:10, and pulled out of the station at 7:30 sharp. This was a brand new experience for us and it did not disappoint! It blew my expectations out of the water and we all LOVED it. Our family had three benches, two facing each other, and the other bench across the aisle. For the first half, the girls and I sat on the benches facing each other and Richard and Marshall were across the aisle. Our car had three elves, one baker, and one host-all of which live in the North Pole and were there to give us the best night, which is definitely what they did. Within minutes they had a dance party going to Christmas songs, and had passed out delicious chocolate chip cookies. They were also so great to come by and have one on one interactions and made it so special for the kids. After cookies were done, they gave everyone hot chocolate as we kept singing and watching the elves dance. Before we knew it, we were driving by a darling North Pole, complete with Santa waving at us! Shortly after, we stopped so Santa could get on the train. He made his way through the entire train one car at a time. Our car was near the front, so we had to wait awhile, but all our elves and host kept us entertained. Santa showed up wearing a Hawaiian shirt over his red suit, because with Christmas behind him, he was getting ready to leave on vacation! He was so delightful. He spent time with each family, gave all of us jingle bells, talked to the kids and took pictures with each family. As we made our way back to the station, Marshall moved over with the girls and Gretchen and I sat with Richard. Our host led us in a very fun version of 12 Days of Christmas and he also brought around mistletoe. Our ride back was full of music, laughing, dancing, and just so much fun. At the end, the elves gave all of us mugs and then we were back after 90 minutes of the best fun. It was honestly so, so great-all of us loved it!
*The next night, we dropped Rachel and Gretchen off at my parents' house and picked up Jordan and Meredith. We met Ben in Draper and we all had dinner at Chick-Fil-A and then drove down to Provo to see the Johnson Files. Ben, Jordan, Meredith, Marshall and Bridget had never seen them before, and Richard had only seen half a show of theirs, so this was a real treat. We laughed for two hours straight and had a great, great evening.
*I took my girls on a very quick girls' trip as one of the bribes/rewards we used for Rachel with her leg. :) We stayed at the Little America on Thursday night and had such a fun time! We got to our room about 4:00 and within minutes realized we had forgotten a swimming floaty for Gretchen. She was beside herself, and since we were less than 25 minutes away from home, I left the girls at the hotel and drove back home to get it! Ha! I listened to a great podcast though, and actually loved the time by myself! When I got back, we decided to go eat dinner at City Creek (Cafe Rio for Rachel and me) and Chick-Fil-A (Bridget and Gretchen)-hooray for food courts where everyone can find something they like! When we got back to the hotel we went swimming and even though the pool was chaotic, the girls still had so much fun. The pool at the Little America is half inside, half outside, and plenty warm. When the girls were done swimming, we went back to the room for quick showers and then we watched The Family Switch before going to bed. It was actually pretty funny and we were all entertained. We all slept in on Friday, but still made it out the door for breakfast at 9:00 at The Coffee Shop. It was delicious as always, and the girls did so well! It was fun to share a favorite breakfast restaurant with them. After breakfast, we headed back to our room, packed up, checked out, and then walked over to the Grand America to see their Christmas windows and massive gingerbread house. It has been a handful of years since we have seen the windows at the Grand, but the girls loved it. There was a cat, Snowflake, who was in every window, and Gretchen loved looking for Snowflake in each window. The gingerbread house was beyond impressive. So, so huge. After that fun, we headed home and were happily reunited with Marshall and Ziggy, I will let you guess who was most excited to see us return. :)
So those are the highlights of the break. In between all of that fun has been way too much screen time, lego building, playing games, time with friends, and just generally being lazy- and it has been wonderful!
Now, here are some highlights from the last almost two months, going by individual. :)
*Gretchen: Gretchen had her Christmas dance recital and did so wonderfully. She honestly beams up on stage. Rachel wasn't dancing, so it was very fun to have her in the audience supporting our little Bear Cub. Rachel came backstage with me to get Gretchen when she was done dancing, and I wish I had a video of that greeting. Two dancing sisters, so happy to see each other. Gretchen lost her two top front teeth in December. The first one dragged her through literally five hours of whining, crying, bleeding, and extreme worry. Finally, I decided I had had it, and we pinned her down and I literally just bumped it out. Within minutes she was eating, smiling, happy, and so relieved. The second tooth followed just several days later. And while there was much less of all that stuff, it was still traumatic and once again I reached in and helped that little tooth out. :) Sadly, one of her permanent teeth is already peeking through her gums, but I am soaking up this toothless smile and I just love it. At school, Gretchen was nominated to have lunch with the Farmington mayor. She was very nervous about this, but when she came home from school with the invitation, her older siblings were so good to give her courage and cheer her on. Marshall and Bridget were both able to do this in elementary school, and Gretchen was happy to have the same experience after they talked her through it. When the day finally came, she was nervous again, but ended up having a great time! She was able to ride in a police car and thought that was pretty cool. I took my girls to Ballet West's Nutcracker in early December, and that was beautiful and amazing as always. I also took Rachel and Gretchen to see Santa at the Whitaker Museum closer to Christmas. In her letter to Santa, Gretchen asked for a munchkin cat, a Ziggy, Jigglypuff, a dog, cat, crab and donkey. Ha! On the first day of Christmas break, I hosted a Christmas brunch for Gretchen and her friends. She had honestly been looking forward to this for an entire year. For a variety of reasons, I was not as prepared for the brunch as I wanted to be, but Rachel stepped in and literally saved the morning. I just had to worry about food, and she did everything else. She helped pour drinks, she played with the girls, she came up with games, and even stepped in to stop a couple of disagreements. Bless that girl! Gretchen had the time of her life and was so happy. It was exhausting, but I am so glad I could do that for her. She also was able to go to another friend's Christmas party earlier in the month and had a late night with her teacher's daughters-Afton and Evelyn. A social month for little Gretchen! Just the way she likes it.
*Rachel: The biggest news in Rachel's life is that she is FINALLY done with physical therapy! She got the all clear just three days before Christmas. This is honestly HUGE. She has been going to PT two times a week, for roughly two hours at each appointment. We are so busy during the afternoons/evenings that all of these appointments have had to be during the school day. She had gotten so sick of getting checked out of school twice a week-and I don't blame her! I did a whole social media post about this, so here I will just say I am SO proud of her and SO thankful for the expertise and time of everyone who worked with her at the clinic and every person there who cheered her on. Rachel always had a cheering crowd there, especially when she didn't want to do something, there was always someone willing to step in, motivate her, and be her cheerleader, when she was sick of that person being me. :) At times her progress was painfully slow, but she had huge leaps of improvement here and there and now she is done! As I have watched her the last couple of weeks, I can tell she is feeling more and more confident in her leg. She is dancing more at home, running more, and still getting stronger. She started dancing again after Thanksgiving, and she still has to make up some ground there, but I am confident that with a couple of private lessons and specific exercises to do at home, she will get back to where she needs to be! She had an in-class tumbling recital the week before Christmas. Her tumbling class started after she broke her leg, so she had only been to two classes before the recital and she actually did way better than I thought she would! She was beyond confident in her cartwheels and rounds-offs and backbends. She was working on her backhand springs and I was so proud of her! Both Rachel and Bridget had a Christmas piano recital mid-December and they both did great. Rachel went to a friend Christmas party and that amazing mom helped all of them sew pillowcases! Amazing. Early December I took Rachel and four of her friends to the Orem Temple open house. Weeks ago we made reservations for our family, but then our schedule imploded and Rachel was the only one still free! Bless her, she still wanted to go, so we dished out the tickets to her friends, they were all able to come, and we had the best time. Those girls were a riot on the way down and as we waited in line for the shuttle. I calmed them down before we went into the temple and were so good. That temple is gorgeous! I had heard about the red and green color scheme in there, but I really, really loved it. It was bright and beautiful and bold and so gorgeous. When we left the temple, I was so dismayed to see it was literally a blizzard outside! We had to walk from the temple, to the shuttle line, and wait for a shuttle! We all had coats, but two of us, including myself, did not have hoods. We looked like Elsa by the time we got on that shuttle! It was nuts, and we were freezing. The original plan was to get custard at Culver's in Orem, but we were freezing, so we just opted to drive back to our house and have hot chocolate. The weather was crummy through Utah County, but the freeway was slow, which I was grateful for and by the time we got into Salt Lake County the roads were clear and all was well again! I was relieved to have all of those girls delivered safely to their homes by the end of the night.
*Bridget: This girl has been living it up with friends any chance she can get. A friend had a Taylor Swift themed birthday party, which Bridget loved. She has had two sleepovers, multiple friend hangouts, and of course, the farm is still her happy place. Bridget and her friends also arranged a gift exchange for themselves so they threw themselves a Christmas party last week and had a ball. Bridget had her first band concert of her trumpet career, so that was fun to go to. The semester ended before Christmas break and Bridget rocked it-first semester of junior high in the books! A smaller paragraph about Bridget, but we still love her dearly!
*Marshall: The beginning of December Marshall went on the cross country trip to California. They raced at Mt. Sac for the Foot Locker west regional. The week before, he came down with a cold, that seemed minor enough. Five days in, he took a turn for the worse, just SO much congestion. It was insane. He missed Monday and Tuesday of school that week, (actually passed out Tuesday morning, but I caught him!) went to some school on Wednesday, and then left Thursday morning with the team. Cold medicine was doing nothing for him, and Wednesday I had the idea to switch him to allergy medication, that at least took the edge off. He desperately wanted to go on the trip, so we sent him with loads of medication, Richard gave him a blessing the night before, and I dropped him off with the team the next morning. Despite feeling SO miserable, he still managed quite a bit of fun. We told him he didn't have to race, that this race was purely just for fun, but he still raced and even though he literally thought he was going to die (heart rate in the 200s), he finished! Mt. Sac is a VERY hilly course and very tough. He told us he stopped on one hill and rested for about 30 seconds because he was worried about his poor racing heart-bless him! Fun fact, Richard actually ran this course in 2001, two months after getting home from his mission. Richard was able to find his time from 2001, and Marshall beat it by 2 seconds. They might be evenly matched...15 year old very sick boy vs. 21 year old out of shape returned missionary! Anyway, Marshall got home that Sunday evening and we were SO excited to have him back. When we picked him up, I realized he was just as sick as when he left! I was able to get an afternoon doctor appointment for him three days later (the kid had missed way too much school to get an earlier appointment) and the doctor put him on antibiotics for a pretty gnarly sinus infection. Gah! I felt SO bad. It still took about five days on antibiotics for him to really turn the corner. So nuts. But, through all of this, he learned that he can absolutely do really, really hard things. While he was gone in California, we did a bedroom makeover for him. He knew that we were going to do this, but he didn't know what we were going to do and he gave us 100% free reign. Oh yeah! I was pumped! I spent Friday getting rid of SO much stuff. I was literally on Cloud 9. That evening Richard and I moved the furniture out that we weren't keeping. Finally said good-bye to the bed that I have had since I was in the 3rd grade that my parents got from my grandparents, so who knows how old that frame and mattress is! Ha! Saturday was spent putting his new bed together, installing a new light fixture, rearranging and organizing. Sunday, all five of us put the finishing touches on his room after church and it was so fun and looks SO good. And the best news is that he has managed to keep it fairly clean almost one month later! Major WIN! In happier running news, earlier in November the cross country team did a 1 mile time trial, just to see how their times had improved from the spring. Marshall's fastest mile time last spring when he ran track with the junior high was 6:06. At the time trial he ran a 5:32-fantastic improvement! The biggest, most recent news is that just as of yesterday, Marshall finally went back to a shorter haircut and we finally convinced him to shave his mustache! The girls have been begging him to shave that mustache for weeks and weeks. He finally gave in! We have reassured him it will take much less than 15 years for his mustache to grow back. :) We are all now trying to decide if he looks older or younger with shorter hair. But, I will say older because as of this fall, he is now officially wearing men's clothing, child XL no longer does the job, and he is 5' 7 1/2"...he is so close to being taller than me...and Richard! I desperately hope he passes us both.
*Richard and Jenny! Gosh, it's been a whirlwind. Clearly! But, we have still managed a lot of fun. We went to the symphony in November to see Audra McDonald. Amazing. She is stellar. We fulfilled a life-long dream of Richard's and we all went to a BYU football game. 10:00 am kick-off on a Saturday morning! Up at 7:00, out the door at 8:00, and we had a really great time, despite some rain and some general unhappiness from Gretchen, but overall, a huge success! We spent five days down in St. George for Thanksgiving with my parents and two of my brothers and their families. So, so fun, despite Richard pulling his hamstring while racing Marshall in a 40 yard dash. :) While down there, we ran into friends from medical school! We had a lovely meet up with them one afternoon at a park. They actually pulled into the parking lot just in time to see Richard hurt his hamstring! Haha! We did have so much fun in St. George though. It was laid back and fun and a perfect mix. We went to "Big Marshall's" surprise 40th birthday party and had the best time. Richard was able to reconnect with high school classmates and it was so fun to celebrate Marshall. When we left I told Richard this just reinforces my idea that all adults need to have birthday parties! Richard and Marshall played in a clarinet quintet for our ward Christmas party and did a fantastic job! By a miracle I won the lottery and got tickets to the Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert. We took the Cullimores in our circle and had such a fun, fun evening with them. We organized and hosted our annual neighborhood service project in early December. I ran it differently this year, by recruiting two other families to join us. We asked for money donations instead and did all the shopping ourselves. Mid-December we gathered at our home, the kids sorted all the food, we packed the bags, and then delivered them to an elementary school in Bountiful. Huge success. Loved it. We are also getting ready for a major remodel of our entire main floor and primary bathroom. This will hopefully start in February, but has entailed many meetings, emails, texts, and zoom calls with the architect, engineer, and builder. I cannot wait for the finished product, but I do hope we can survive it all!
Alright! By golly. There you have it. The last seven weeks in a big nutshell. :)
Love each of you very, very much.
Richard, Jenny, Marshall, Bridget, Rachel, and Gretchen :)
