Christmas 2021

 It was an empty nester Christmas this year.  Luckily we got to visit Michigan before Christmas but we were pretty much on our own for actual Christmas day. Carter and Harley were scheduled to spend Christmas day with her family but came by in the afternoon (we spent Christmas eve night together but didn't do much that was "special"...we played games mostly and watched Spider Man to prepare Frank for our actual Christmas Day plans).  We had fondue for Christmas Eve dinner.

Since we knew we'd be on our own, we decided to go to a movie in the morning. Seemed like a good use of our time. We saw "Spider Man: No way Home" and I made frank watch the two previous movies so he was prepared with some knowledge. He actually liked them!  He's not generally a super hero movie guy. Our movie time was 9:20 am.  We've never actually done a Christmas Day movie I don't think. We were the only people there not in Christmas pajamas I think. Haha.

I made a breakfast casserole that was super yummy.

After the movie, Carter and Harley came by for present opening and a few games.  

This year we made the transition to one or two gifts plus money over lots of gifts for the kids. Made it a little weird during present opening since Frank and I had way more gifts than them. Frank and I bought each other a lot of random stuff that we've each been wanting. He gave me cushions for the dining chairs (he's been complaining of them being uncomfortable) and an electric blanket (he wanted one for emergency prep I think?). I gave him dryers for our camelbacks (just what he always wanted...haha) and miniature folding chairs to take to pickle ball. 

Frank also got some pickle ball attire, as one would expect. Sadly the shirt I got him shrunk and I think if anyone gets to wear it, it'll be me.

Frank got Carter a "da da" shirt to celebrate the upcoming youngin'

I took almost no pictures and have no proof that Harley and I were even there!

We had a nice video chat with Austin on Christmas Eve and Branden and Amber sent us Marco Polos of them opening their gifts on Christmas morning.

Other than that the day was low key and enjoyable.  We ate fondue again because it was so yummy the day before. haha. So much cheese.

Michigan December 2021

 Branden and Amber bought their first house this year, which is super exciting for them!

The house is bigger than the one they were renting, plus it has a full unfinished basement. It also has a 2 car garage and a huge barn that Branden plans to use for his car repair hobby.  

They have a few things they want to fix up in their house so Frank and I made plans to come out in December and help them tackle the first one: a mud room.  

The master bedroom was an addition to the house and they had it arranged that the only entrance to the house from the garage was through the master bedroom. Subpar.

The new plan is to carve off some of the bedroom space to create a small hallway and mudroom area from the garage into the living room.  Frank went out for about 10 days and I joined him for the last 4 days to do the painting and such.

The girls weren't super thrilled that we were not "fun grandma and grandpa" as we usually are but instead we were "working grandma and grandpa".  We did manage a couple of fun things like going out to eat and watching movies together. We made gingerbread houses (but sadly Isabelle was starting to feel sick that day..she ended up with a 102 degree fever by the next morning). Plus we read them a Christmas book each night.  But overall we spent the time working.

It was a pretty big job for Frank to finish in the timeframe but he managed it! 

 When I arrived I painted the new mudroom, the master bedroom, and the kitchen including the backsplash which was sponge painted two different colors of blue. oy.

One day when Isabelle came home from school to discover the kitchen white instead of blue, she was pretty disappointed and said that she had liked the blue.  Amber tried to reassure her that it would look good in the end and that she was painting one wall green. The look on Isabelle's face was of utter disappointment. It was hilarious.  (I think she ended up liking the finished product though)

Other projects that were completed were: new lights in living room, hall, mud room and kitchen. New door knob and lock on front door.

We enjoyed the time we had there visiting and I did end up wishing I had stayed a bit longer. But they had non-stop guests for December so we had to get out of there so Ryan and Kristal could come for Christmas!

Branden had a great idea to take a power tool to his gingerbread.  That worked out about how you'd expect.

Granpa's house had a theme (as usual) of the book we were reading: "The Christmas Pig" 

We didn't finish it while we were there and I'm still wondering how it ends...

One last pic before leaving...you can see the new light fixture and green wall behind us!

Luminaria

 I've had a nasty cold. Nasty.  I feel like I've been sicker this fall than ever before. I missed Thanksgiving and luckily had Friday off so I had some time to recover. By Monday I was feeling somewhat better and I did go to work but I was full of advil and cough medicine and wore a mask all day.

Luckily, Dion and his family still plan fun, festive holiday activities and he invited us.  Luckily, my cold was somewhat better to the point that I felt ok going to an outdoor activity.

I had received free tickets to Luminaria at Thanksgiving Point from Angela so when Dion mentioned that they were going to go, we decided to go with!

The weather has been unusually warm (enjoyable but a bit freaky). I haven't ever been to this particular light show even though I knew it existed because walking around in the freezing cold winter weather just didn't sound enjoyable.  This time, it was warm enough that I was actually excited to go!  It is cool enough to have a jacket/coat but not freeze to death.

It was a really fun time with Dion's family, Lauren and Frank and I.

Thanksgiving 2021

Thanksgiving was a bit of a bust for me this year as I came down with a bad cold on Wednesday. I even left work early to go get a covid test, thinking that if I felt ok, I could still go to the family get together as long as I was covid free. But I felt like crap and decided it was best to keep my germy self home.  

We had a big gathering that I was quite looking forward to: Diane's family, Daren's family, Jared, Doneen's family including Chelsie, Jaime and Greg and their kids, Kari and Josh; Dion's family, and Lauren Davidson who is currently living with Dion's family while she goes to nursing school. Ryan/Kristal and Carter/Harley also went.

Frank took the opportunity of my illness to not go since family activities aren't his favorite anyway. Lame.

I had made stuffing, mashed potatoes and two pies (well Frank made the pies, obviously) that we sent with Carter.

It sounds like they all had a great time!

The one redeeming quality to the day was that we had a nice long video meeting with all the boys!  I love hearing them chat and talk with each other. That was really nice.

I watched a couple of Christmas movies and managed to unpack the fake Christmas tree, though I didn't decorate it or anything. But mostly I napped and sat on the couch feeling sorry for myself. 

My throat actually continued to get more and more sore as the day went on. It's now the next day and I'm wondering if I should see a doctor since the pain isn't improving and I'm taking too much advil.

But, even with a cold and sore throat, I have a lot to be thankful for! My family, my warm home, my job, Frank's job, Frank's health, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ that gives it all meaning.

Arizona!

It's a bit of a long story but New Mexico Jennifer and I decided it would be fun to visit Arizona Jennifer for the showing of the new Top Gun since we had seen the original together as high school friends. We made all the necessary arrangements: hotel and flights, only to discover that the movie release had been moved to May 2022!  Gah.

But we figured it was past time for a girl's trip anyway and did not reschedule.

The night before the trip, New Mexico Jennifer (I will call her NMJ from now on) started to feel ill. Not covid ill but still...not good.  By the morning it was clear she could not travel but by that time I was on my extremely early flight to AZ.  I arrived and got the rental car and headed toward the hotel, even though it was only 8 am and check in was 3 PM.

We were super sad to be missing NMJ for this trip we had thought about for so long!  But apparently she was sick enough to not even have time to feel sad about it for the first couple of days...so she made the right choice.  Still, we are going to have to do this again in May when the movie actually comes out and she will just have to quarantine herself beforehand if necessary!

I was miraculously able to check into the hotel at 9 am!  Felt like a Thanksgiving miracle!  I took a much needed nap while AZJ got her child off to school and such.

The next two and a half days were just wonderful!  We walked around Scottsdale and had a nice lunch on that first day. 

And then, when AZJ had school obligations with the youngin, I went to dinner with my Dad and Lottie. We went to a nice Mexican restaurant and I ate about 1/4 of my gigantic Chimichanga and was still too full. 

Day two included a lovely hike and dinner at a super nice place where we watched the sun set and ate yummy food. AZJ seemed to be worried that I was too out of shape to hike very far and kept asking me if I wanted to keep going. Luckily Frank and I hike some and also go on walks together so the hike was no problem. I surprised her!  I may be chubby but I can hike. ha! 

The dinner was overlooking a golf course and we even got to watch a wedding rehearsal take place. Food was good and we had a fun time just talking for a couple of hours. AZJ may or may not have scoped out the place for attractive single men. 

Day three we both slept in and then I went over to AZJ's house and we just hung out a bit. I got to (re)meet her son who of course didn't remember me (It's been a while).

The weather was just so fantastic the whole time. Low 80's with a breeze. Perfect.  

So many potatoes

Turns out 50 lbs of potatoes is a lot of potatoes.  I've mostly been using them for home canned stew but I've also put a bunch of chopped potatoes in the freeze dryer. Every time I chop potatoes for canning, I over estimate and end up with some that have to be freeze dried.  I'm very bad at estimating for stew apparently. 

I have 35 cans of stew so far and the huge bag of potatoes is almost gone. I may make some baked potatoes tomorrow with some of the few we have left.

We had eaten almost all of the previous stew I canned a few years ago. I think we have 3 bottles left.  My goal is to get 52 jars, one per week for a year, by the time I'm done. I can't believe it but I'll actually have to buy more potatoes to do that. ha!

I get tired off all the chopping to be honest but I borrowed a special chopping contraption from Doneen that made the potatoes SO much easier. Carrots are still a pain and my hands are stained orange now after a weekend of canning. It's a good look.

I suffered my first ever broken bottle while canning my first load. Luckily all of the other jars sealed just fine.  I knew something was up when my garage smelled like delicious stew..sure enough.

I am feeling like it's getting easier and I'm doing better at managing the pressure of the canner. I'm almost feeling like I know what I'm doing!

So many forgotten things

We had a little flood in the basement apartment a month or so ago. Rain came in the door due to a plugged drain at the bottom of the stairs. The Taylor's were out of town at the time so no one realized until things had been wet for several days. Bummer.

We pulled out carpet, baseboards and set up fans. We ended up needing to replace their flooring but while we were at it we decided we might as well paint, replace some old light fixtures and do a little more sprucing up.  

They had to move out for a few days but we managed it. I failed to take after pictures but the Taylor's got a few.

Here's before (living room)-it's actually more of a "during" when we were pulling out carpet and had already painted the ceiling

After:

Bedroom (low lighting but walls are white)

Living Room (from the other direction)

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We purchased the 50 lb bag of potatoes that the local high school sells as a fundraiser. We did it a few years back and I just haven't had the guts to do it again for awhile. It's a lot of work to make use of that many potatoes!  But we did it again this year.  My plans for them include: canning more stew (I have used up almost all of my canned stew), freeze dry some for future use, can some if I can find enough lids, save a few in the cold storage room.  I worked on freeze drying some today and, as expected, it's exhausting. I used about 1/10th of the bag  (If I'm lucky).  Oy.

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It's gotten suddenly cold in the last week and I'm super not ready for winter already. I'm hoping we get another shot at fall. I think it's supposed to snow tomorrow. I'm grateful for the moisture but I'm ok if it just stays up in the mountains at least in October!

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Branden and Amber bought their first house!  We are so excited for them!  We're hoping to go out and help do some fixing up that they want to do. Amber is already painting and making it their own and it's looking so good!  It has a big barn that Branden is excited for also as he can set up a super awesome car repair place in there.

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Back in the day, when I used to blog on the regular, I had my blog as my home page when I opened the internet. I remember one day Frank noticed this and thought it was a little weird. He felt it was a bit self centered to go to my own blog first thing every day. I decided he had a point and I changed it to be something random like google after that.  But now with how things have changed in my life and I find myself not even thinking of blogging or writing my thoughts, I'm thinking I might go back to making my blog my home page. I think I need to remember it exists and maybe I will think of things to say that I want to remember.  

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I probably could have made my home page something good like the Church's website for example...that would have been a good choice.  Instead of just google, which I always immediately click away from.  Food for thought.

I'm doing a scripture study called "Inklings" through instagram (a good use for social media!) and it's really wonderful and I recommend it to anyone!  It's helping me keep spiritual thoughts front and center and helping me to reach for my scriptures daily.  I want to be an elect woman and someone who stays true to God no matter what happens in the world.

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Another crazy thing that happened this week is that I started giving away all of my scrapbooking stuff. Oh man, it's been hard. I'm still very attached to all that stuff. But I don't use it so I need to give it a new life and I need to move on.  I do feel like I'm lacking in the hobby department right now so I need to work on that but I'm (mostly) ready to let this particular thing go.  Wish me luck.

Sunday August 8th

 It's been super smoky here in Utah due to the huge fire in California and Oregon. Smells like a campfire kind of smoky. We can't even see the mountain right now and usually we see lots of mountains all around.

This was actually after it started to improve

We still went out to play pickle ball at one point but I wondered if we were going to give ourselves lung cancer in the process. Frank's response was basically that we are going to die someday anyway...

I worked for a coworker on Thursday but I had Friday off this last week. My coworkers and I went to lunch on Friday as a farewell to Trent who got a new job.  I'm so glad to have a job where I like my coworkers!  Another coworker is leaving this week (going back to school) and I really don't enjoy the change but when you work with some college aged kids, that happens. sigh.

I spent Saturday mostly working on my various plants that needed repotting and/or splitting. I really enjoy keeping plants alive way more than I would have thought.  I divided my fern because it outgrows its tiny pot very quickly. I left part of it very small and put that one back in the bathroom.  I hope it survives and also stays small enough for the pot for awhile!  

Didn't know what this plant was. I ended up cutting it back a lot. We'll see if it survives.

Before cutting it in half

I made baby succulents!

Gave my giant pathos a haircut

I also rearranged a bit and took the red secretary out of the living room and put it in the dining area. I put the white bookshelf that was in the dining area in the living room.  I'm still struggling with designing the front room so I'm hoping taking the red out helps me a bit. I already have the blue buffet that I don't plan to change.

Sunday we went to Doneen's ward for Jaime and Greg's daughter's blessing. Her name is Elaine and she is like a Maggie clone so far. They make very cute kids!

Afterwards we had lunch and chatted with the relatives. I always enjoy that a lot. Ryan and Kristal came as well as Dion, Randy and Corey. Plus all the folks currently living at Doneen's.

Felt like a pretty relaxing week overall. I enjoy low key weeks.

Sunday August 5th

 This week we built a bookshelf/cubby sort of thing for Ryan and Kristal. The goal is to have a place for Baldr to climb up and look out the window but also be able to get down by himself. He currently jumps on a chair and then up to the table but is afraid of coming back down because the chair moves. This will allow him a built in stair to get to the top and also give a spot for storage in their small apartment. It was pretty easy to build and then we stained it a few days later.

I had Baldr come hang out in the yard while we stained it. I imagined him enjoying all the space and napping under the big tree. Turns out he just wants to be near the humans and also enjoys eating my flowers, digging in my dirt (not the dirt I don't care about, just the dirt right by my porch with my flowers in it), and climbing up on my white cushions after digging. haha oh boy!  It was a very hot day and he is used to being indoors a lot so he was hot and probably confused as to what was going on.  

Anyway, we got it done and he is now enjoying it in his apartment.

We did all the finishing on Thursday, July 29th. I also invited Harley over so the three of us could have lunch together. It was nice! We got Zupas and just chatted for a bit. Frank was able to share some of his fresh blackberries with Harley which was nice because she loves them and I don't. haha

Sunday we had Carter, Harley, Heather and Jansen over for dinner and games.  We had a good time together and Frank made two delicious pies for the occasion. Blackberry and Chocolate (this second one was specifically for me, the blackberry hater).

In the middle of our game we got notified by the Taylors that the basement had flooded with the recent rainstorm. It had rained Thursday night really hard but we slept through it so we didn't even realize. The Taylors were out of town...so they didn't know until they returned on Sunday that their bedroom and bathroom were filled with water. *sad face*

We (meaning Frank and the Taylors and their family) ripped out the carpet and did some vacuuming of the water and got fans going. Turns out our homeowners insurance won't cover anything since it was rain water. Fun!  Our plan is to replace the flooring in most of the house (it needed it anyway) and repaint. We'll save renovation of the bathroom for another time but it's likely the vanity is a bit mushy on the bottom.  We'll see.

Sunday July 25th

 Let's just ignore the amount of time that has gone by ok? Ok.

What's up with me lately?

Frank is super obsessed with Pickleball. This affects me mostly because I am the one he has available to play with. He has actually reached out to people other than me to play, so that is a HUGE thing. I'm always trying to get him to have a friend.  And it is just proof of his obsession.

I do enjoy pickleball overall but mostly just when we play doubles with someone else. When I play singles with Frank, I just lose a lot and don't have much fun. Luckily we often find another couple who is willing to play.  So overall, it's been a fun new hobby.  We play almost every night after work which is a big change from my usual -come home from work, sit on the couch, go to bed.

I am sweating way more than I like everyday though. And doing so much laundry.  I finally went and bought myself a few pair of shorts/skorts for playing because I was having to wash my one pair of workout pants every single day. haha

We even went so far as to take a lesson. I'm sure Frank would like to start doing that regularly but we'll see what the budget says about that.  The lesson was fun and very informative. He basically told us we were doing everything wrong, which we were not surprised to hear. haha

I have started using YNAB for budgeting and I love its guts.  I want everyone I know to use it.  It's so different and makes me feel much more in control of my money. It took me awhile to understand it, because it does require a mindset shift but once you understand how it works, it's magic!

Frank and I went to Bryce Canyon a couple of weeks ago and did some great hikes. I'll have to upload pictures sometime. I promise, I will.  We were there for the 4th of July. Saw the little town's fireworks show, did some stargazing (even went to a night time sky tour sort of thing which was fun but sadly, a bit overcast) and just enjoyed the nice weather. It was still hot there but not nearly as hot as back home where it was in the 110 type range. No thank you.

Last weekend was the Larson Cup. I participated in a team with Diane and Julie and I did the swim. I enjoy swimming generally but am definitely still out of shape. I knew I could finish but perhaps not quickly. We decided last minute to do the "mini" tri which meant I only had to swim 200 meters. Yay!  No problem.  It was a super fun day with my cousins and siblings. I always love the Larson Cup.  This year we spent a little time at my grandparents grave and had each of the living siblings take a bit (all on the phone--it was the first year with no one from that generation attending). It was really awesome, inspiring and made me love my family even more. 

Sunday June 6th

 I have a good excuse for missing last Sunday...I was on vacation! 

May 28th was our 33rd anniversary so we took a 9 day trip to Oregon to celebrate. It was relaxing and beautiful and pretty much perfect!

We spent the first weekend in Hood River and Cascade Locks which are both on the Columbia River.  Our hotel was right on the river and had an amazing view. The mattress was super comfy and wee had blackout curtains too so we found that we slept in every day. It was awesome.

View from our balcony

We drove to Hood River and spent some time watching the wind surfers/kite surfers. It was a lovely sunny day. I kept thinking that I could live in this beautiful place. Then I remembered that it's a place for wind surfers for a reason...it's always windy! I hate wind especially in the winter so probably not the place for me! But it was a lovely day. It made me want to be more physically active, that's for sure. Those people are strong.

We did a bit of hiking also and just enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Then we went to Diana and Rob's house and spent the rest of the time with their family also. We had Sunday at their house and then the rest of the week we spent in a beach house in Yachats, OR.

The house was right on the beach (though up higher) and had amazing windows and views.

The weather was practically perfect too! We had over 60 degrees every day and only one day that was overcast and sprinkled a bit. Overall, perfect!

We walked on the beach, hiked, saw weird plants, ate yummy food, made s'mores, saw a lighthouse, saw a whale playing in the water and played lots of games.  

Generally, it was extremely laid back and relaxing.

Diana and Rob were a good influence on us and we ate out way less than we would have if we were on our own!  (Though we still had quite a few good meals out) Cooking together was actually quite enjoyable too.

I love chicken and waffles and this was a really good one!

These weird looking plants are called Darlingtonia and they eat insects. They are huge...like 2 feet tall!

S'mores by the fire pit!

S'mores over the stovetop when it was rainy.  Worked really well! ha!

Our most exciting (non-whale) moment: had a toilet/water disaster that James was home to find, thank heaven..we were out hiking but he had school.  Water dripping from the light fixtures in the basement and everything. Luckily, not our fault, just a random water line leak. And he caught it pretty quickly. If it had gone on for the hours of our hike, it would have been really bad. 

We spent the last afternoon/evening back at Diana's and we helped remove some wallpaper they've been meaning to remove for, oh, about 11 years!  It's always nice to work on a project with family.

On Saturday, when we returned, I went to a big family dinner at Diane's house to cap off a wonderful week. Daren and Berit's family were in town and so were all of Doneen's kids so it was a really great time with family and good food.

Life's good.