December 2020

Hashtag Light the World, people

We kicked off the beginning of the month in the best way possible: CAUSWE, Coon's Annual Ugly Sweater/White Elephant Party!  CAUS WE can!  This year was by far the best year--we all took finger food and played just one perfect game (my dad playing Mad Gab is an adventure in phonetic contortions) before we opened each other's hilarious gifts.  There were MANY awful gifts, but Ali brought the ones everyone wanted: these two Christmas dolls:

I ended up with Gretel, and Bonnie got Hansel

It was such a fun night, with ALL OF US!  And no kids except big baby Tripp.  I never laugh so hard as when I am with my family.  The next day, my mom and sisters and I recorded a version of Silent Night for a friend of mine, with Allen on the guitar.  It sounds heavenly, not to brag, and you can listen to it here.  We ended up staying two nights and making it home for the first allowed in-person church in a long time. 

We only took Mollie and Calvin with us, because Brigham had a wrestling tournament in Grace.  He won his team's "Reversals" chain--because he had the most reversals (getting out of an opponent's grasp).  There is also a P for Pins, a T for Take-Downs, and a C for Cauliflower ear (just kidding). Anyway, he gets to keep the chain until the next meet, and I am so glad I got him to model it for our family . . . and for posterity:

For real, though, I don't know any kid who works harder than Brigham.  He is so dedicated and driven.  And it has been so fun to tease and joke around with him this year--he doesn't take himself quite so seriously, and he has a lightning-fast sense of humor.

Sidenote: the REAL way we kicked off December was by going to Lava Hot Springs.  We told the kids we would take them there the first time it snowed, so we all went for FHE on Monday, December 1st.  But guess what?  Just like the ugly sweater party, going to the hot pots is more fun when it's just adults.  The kids can't stand the hot water as long as we can.  Those free passes that Truman and Brigham keep giving us are a precious treasure.

But don't worry, it's not all "adults-only."  We have been doing all the Christmasy things together.  The kids and I got a tree up in the canyon and decorated it while Allen spent the weekend with Kathryn in Salt Lake.  We are so glad he went to be with her and help her, and it was nice to surprise him with a Christmas house when he came home.

Cute kiddos.  And I LOVE this tree!

My kids take traditions seriously.  They never miss the annual tradition of placing breakable ornaments that I have lovingly protected for twenty years in the most precarious places on the tree.  

So precious. 

I have made two batches of ginger-molasses cookies, one batch of chocolate truffle cookies, and of course, an "every day" batch of chocolate chip cookies.  And when I say "batches" . . . that GM cookie recipe makes EIGHT DOZEN.  They are fun to share and fun to eat!

I took these to the CAUSWE party

Calvin helped me make Chocolate Truffle Cookies, which
I took to Christmas Book Club!

Christmas Book Club is my favorite night of the year, and THIS Christmas book club was my favorite night of all my favorite nights.  We stayed till one in the morning at the cozy Thunder Mountain Elk Ranch guest lodge, and it was so much fun!  I love these ladies!

I started babysitting Jackson three days a week, and he has been a joy.  I take a million pictures of him--he is so cute and expressive.  This one is my favorite!  He's a sweetie for sure and I feel like we are both being blessed by this arrangement.

Allen came home from Kathryn's with GIFTS FOR ME.  He found all three of these Schleich horse at Saver's in Ogden, and wrote me a sweet note telling me that these are the first of many gifts he wants to give me this Christmas.  My lurve lurnguage!

The horses came just in time for us to watch Disney's new version of Black Beauty.  "The opposite of Disney Plus is Disney MINUS" ~Calvin

The best part?  Three quarters of these Schleich horses
are from thrift stores.  I may have a slight addiction . . . 

Serving in Young Women has unique challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic.  It's hard to get the girls to plan--especially the older girls.  I am going to host our first ZOOM YW meeting this Sunday, so I had a "fake" meeting with my sisters to make sure I knew how to use ZOOM.  You can change the background behind you.  Katie took this picture of me on her computer.

After two months of no activities and no church, we are trying to get back.  We had a young women lunch at my house this week and it was fun to be with the girls again.

Allen is the ward mission leader, and it's been fun to get to know the elders a little better.  Right now, Elder Collyer from upstate New York and Elder Belliston from Arizona are serving in our ward and they are pretty great.

I am so glad that my friend Sharyl asked a handful of friends to help her paint her house before she moves down the road.  We knocked it out!  It was so rejuvenating to spend time with my favorite girls, giving meaningful service where it was needed!  Sharyl had her baby boy nine days after we painted!  

I love this season, where giving service comes a little more naturally.

Lastly, I have been WORKING like a mad woman to raise money for Christmas.  We had a major car repair, are finishing paying off Truman's housing for the semester, got  surprise letter from the IRS saying we still owe state taxes, bought new tires for Truman's van, and need to pay to ship Allen's dad's restored 1949 Dodge pickup to our house from Arkansas, because they sold their house and they are giving us that truck!  

Heavenly Father has sent us several unexpected tender mercies, along with many opportunities to work . . . my favorite one was substitute "teaching" in the online lab at the high school for two days, where I am basically getting paid to read, while kids work on their laptops.  My dream job.  

December is always busy, but I love it.

Too bad this book was a dud.