January 2021 Thus Far

 Well we are a little over two weeks into 2021. It's been . . . pretty much like 2020! But with a few good events.

Ben is just about the same . . . working, etc. He is still working on the finalizing of his transfer to his correct Army unit (got to love government processes), but is super close to having it all done. He is maybe looking at doing some training in Oklahoma come March - for 3 weeks! Crazy. Oh he did buy himself a new snowboard, boots, and bindings. His old board and boots broke. So he's excited to go try them out - once we get some snow!

I am just working a bit and making dinners, etc. We are doing youth activities twice a month and doing a YW lesson once a month. We did a Waffle Bar activity the previous Saturday to welcome our new YW. It was a fun activity with a lot of the girls. I did go on a snowshoe adventure a couple weeks ago and that was a great get-away. My friend Heather invited a few women, but I was the only one who could go. Her son, Tanner, was about to start Home MTC and so his girlfriend came out and Heather wanted to take them on a snowy adventure in the mountains. I was more than happy to tag along. It was gorgeous. We overheated the hut once we got there, but I loved it, ha. I'm just always a little cool in our home so it was nice and sauna-like to just be warm. :)

Heather and I and the beautiful snowy landscape.

Home Sweet Home for the night. The huts are nothing much, yet provide perfectly what is needed. A nice stove that heats up the place like crazy, cooking pots, padded bunks, lights, etc.

The peak in the background is Mt. Sneffles - a 14er. So pretty!

There I am with the "kids," Tanner and Mallory, trekking in the snow.

Heather and I ready to head back out the next morning. We slept well and were happy to have more of that beautiful sunshine!

Miles is working hard on his junior year classes. He continues to work once a week (Mondays) at Crash Burger. Climbing has started at the the high school and so when it's his week in-person (he's taking an english class at the HS this semester), he gets to climb. Jonas, too. They both love it. When they aren't climbing at the HS, they will go a day or two to the rec center. 

Jonas was beyond thrilled to get his driver's permit last week. Happily, his birth certificate came on Monday and we scheduled an appointment at the DMV for Tuesday. Ben was able to take him as I had to work. Which worked out so that Jonas could drive his car afterwards. (Just a note: the birth certificate is literally a copy of the original one we had, just stamped from the state and not the city. So stupid.) Jonas is amazing at driving a standard and really has no problems at all with it. He really wanted to drive it to seminary one morning and so he, Miles, myself, and Brigham all rode in Jonas' car to seminary. Then I went and ran with Brigham while they had class. Then Jonas drove us home. He's been doing a lot of short drives - to the church, taking the girls to gym, driving us to tennis lessons, etc. He racked up over 2-hours last week. He's loving it.

So happy!

Emmy is liking her new classes, but sad that many of her friends are not in any of them. That's always a bummer. We just got a notice from her school that she is to quarantine as a classmate tested positive. The ridiculous thing is that Emmy hasn't been at school for over a week, so it's been over a week since she was possibly exposed from this individual. At this point, she's already 9-days post-exposure. Most people exhibit symptoms within 4-6 days of exposure. She has none. She'll just have to do remote school Monday (this week is her in-person week), but can go back on Tuesday. So no biggie, thankfully. She got a new skill at gym: a round-off, back handspring, back pike. A back pike is a back flip in the pike position. We saw a video of it and it looked beautiful. She had a friend over the previous weekend and we (Emmy, Reese - her best friend, Lucy, Ben and myself) all watched the BYU Gymnastics meet. It was awesome. This past Friday night the girls had friends over here and then they headed to Crash Burger for a shake. Aiden, the boys' best friend, also came and they all went with the girls. The the kids all went to an open gymnastics night and had a good time there. The older kids (minus Lucy and Lila - Lucy went over to Lila's house) came back here and had a fun time playing SCUM. 

Lucy is happy to be back at school. She loves it and is always happy to go and always happy when I pick her up. The only thing she complains about it having to wear a mask all day. Of course. She got her round-off, back handspring, back tuck at gym and is excited about that. The girls are planning on a competition season - which should start at the end of next month. Exciting, but scary! The are working on, and loving, their routines. Right as Winter Break was ending, I told Ben we should just give the ice rink a try. No roof, though - that's where are the stress and expense come from. So one day we put up the rink and flooded it. About 9 days later it was ready - except for a small corner that wasn't quite frozen solid, but oh well. The girls skated on it the first few days this week. And that might be all we get out of it! Next year we will definitely just put it up before the break . . . But it was easy enough to do and fun for even just a few days. (Temps this week will be mid-40s for the high and mid-20s for the low - not good for a rink at all.)

This was this past Monday - their first day on the ice. Lucy, Reese, and Emmy. They had a wonderful time!

The next day they had a "performance," hence the dresses for 3/4 of them. We had Genevieve, Lucy, Emmy, and Reese. So fun.

Life is pretty darn good for us, really. We are lucky and blessed to have all that we have. Here's hoping this week goes well (speaking in a national sense) and that 2021 will just get better and better. We all need that so much!

End of 2020 Interviews

 

Here is a link the video of the kids reading their answers: https://youtu.be/lC7fJn3RLjw

Last Week of 2020

 On December 30th we went skiing at Kendall Mountain, in Silverton. It had gotten some good, new snow and so we thought it would be a fun outing - and it was. Kendall, ever so small, is ever so fun. Always. 

The two girls had a blast and loved it.

Ben has quite the form and height on his jumps! Impressive . . . especially for an old guy. :)

Soooooo, I gave snowboarding a try. Ben's boots broke and so he tried borrowing a neighbor's board and boots. Unfortunately, they were too small - but he brought them so I could try it out. I was quite typical and was on my bottom more than not those first couple of runs. The girls skied past us about 4 times, ha. But by the third and fourth (my last) runs, I was picking up on it a little bit. It was definitely fun to try and I might try some more this season. Snowboard boots are waaaaaay better and kinder to my calves than ski boots. My entire body felt my snowboarding experience for the next days, ha.

The kids had fun on the jumps (as well as Ben) - there goes Lucy!

There I am with my snowboard instructor.

Jonas catching some good air on his board.

Miles would get some pretty good air, too!

Another shot of me on the board.

Ben is cool.

So cool.

And there goes Emmy! You can't tell she's in the air, but she is.

So that was a pretty great day. 

New Year's Eve we didn't go too much . . . Ben worked and the boys did some schooling. That evening, though, we went bowling with a bunch of friends. One friend, Twyla, had organized a "birthday party" and invited a bunch of families. The kids had a great time with other kids and we adults had a great time with other adults. We finished up bowling around 7:30 and then came home. The boys had tried to get some friends together to come over, but most were out of town. So we just got Aiden, but he's great and so it was fun to have him join our family that evening.

We played Scum, which is an awesome card game. In addition to the "regular" rules, we have a food item for each place you're in. President, 2nd, 3rd, all the way down to the last palce - the Scum. The food gets worse and worse as it goes along. President's position was a mint brownie, next were fruit snacks, then peanut butter, then apple/granola baby food, then sweet potato baby food, followed by mayo, and finally wasabi peas (disgusting and I had to eat them three times - waaaahhhh). But it was still fun. Apparently the fruit snacks were the hot item and so all the kids wanted second position (they had eaten some brownies already at the bowling alley). We then drank a lot of Martinelli's while we played Left, Center, Right. We had a $25 pot and so it was exciting. Miles had the most quarters up until the end when Emmy shockingly won - even though she was down to zero quarters on multiple occasions. It was fun.

We were so full from dinner and other snacks that we didn't break down our gingerbread houses that day. Oh well. After card games, the kids watched a few clips of something and then it was midnight! Byebye 2020!!!!!!!

Christmastime

 I took the kids to Ouray's rope-tow hill on Christmas Eve. It was a beautiful and sunny day and the snow was actually decent for this early on in the season. The kids had a great time:

Almost an exact match with boy and board. So cool.

When we got home, Ben had dinner almost ready - the traditional Christmas Eve Swedish meatballs. It's so delicious. Our kids usually aren't the biggest fans, but Jonas figured out how good they were this year and had about 3 servings. After dinner we watched The Christ Child and that was wonderful. The kids got their Christmas PJs (too bad Miles' didn't fit and he had to wear old ones . . . ha) and then opened their sibling gifts.

Their gifts to each other have greatly improved. The kids spend their own money and it's pretty great for them to get to experience the giving part of this season. Miles got some DVD sets from Jonas and Emmy (some Japanese anime that he loves), and Shrek socks from Lucy. Jonas got LED lights for their room from Emmy (they were for both the boys) and they are amazing. He also got a FOX shirt from Lucy, which he loves. Plus the 4 Shrek movies from Miles. Emmy got an Ava Mack (I think that's her name) CD from Miles, a stylus pen from Jonas, and some Body Spray from Lucy. Lucy got a squishy toy and Polly Pockets from Miles, more Polly Pockets from Jonas, and a Kaboodle from Emmy.

We ate our rice pudding and I got the almond in it this year - which meant I got to choose our Christmas day movie. Lucky me! We then played Scattergories. And then it was off to work for Ben and I - and off to the boys' room for the kids for a movie and sleep.

The lights were green at the moment. :)

What happens when I tell Miles to smile . . . Oh boy.

Christmas was a good day. I think they kids were all excited about what Santa brought and all the other gifts they received. The kids went to bed late (around midnight?) and so they didn't wake up for the day until 7. Well, I think Lucy woke up and then got everybody else up around 7:15. 

Santa brought the boys AirPods, Emmy a CD/radio bluetooth player, and Lucy a cute Lego Ski set. The boys pretty much had matching gifts, ha. 4-pack ski pass to Powderhorn, gift card to the climbing gym in Junction, some vintage metal car signs for their room, a puzzle to share, a lego set to share that hasn't come yet, shoes for Jonas and Carhartts for Miles, cash, etc. Emmy got a blanket, some make-up, a curling iron, gloves so her hands won't freeze while biking to school, cute shoes/boots, clothes, cash, etc. Lucy got another lego set from us, fancy Sunday shoes, a beanie and gloves, clothes, cash, etc. (I put this because my kids, particularly my girls, have loved reading my blogs and looking at past Christmases and seeing what they got, etc. I hardly took any pictures, so I had to list a lot. :)

Four pictures!? That's all I took. :(

The dogs anxiously and goodly awaiting the treats Santa brought them.

The girls wearing some of their new clothes (and boots) they received. Adorable.

Aunt-E made this beautiful apron for Emmy. She LOVES it.

Miles chilling in his Santa on a OneWheel shirt. Awesome.

The rest of the day was spent putting legos together (Jonas got a model that looks exactly like his Mini), Ben and I taking the dogs on a walk, me teaching the kids how to play Nertz, playing some Family Edition of Cards Against Humanity, zooming grandparents and Aunt-E and her family, etc. 

We are trying to find a tradition for our Christmas dinner. Nothing has quite stuck that we've done before. So we tried fondue this year. It was definitely tasty! It could be improved, but I wouldn't mind doing this every year. Of course we did have the traditional Christmas jello (that I hate, ha). The movie I picked out for us to watch was Knives Out. Jonas actually bought it for us and so that was nice and helped me pick which movie to watch. I really love that movie! I am not sure what the girls thought of it, but I think they liked it for the most part.

The girls slept down in the boys' room again and watch a couple of shows - I guess Lucy fell asleep pretty quickly. :) And that was our 2020 Christmastime.

Gingerbread Houses

We used to always decorate our gingerbread houses on Ben's birthday. But then that became too much - especially because, more than not, Ben's birthday would fall on a weekday and he'd get home late from work and we'd have to rush to get everything done. So we just decided a year or two ago to switch our gingerbread day to the Sunday before Christmas. Well this year that also happened to be Ben's birthday. :)

We had a fun time decorating and I love looking at our finished pieces . . . 

So this was obviously not Ben's best year . . . I say that because he knows it, too. :) Ben usually makes great houses but struggled a bit this year. I still giggle every time I look it. I knew that most people would guess Lucy decorated this house - and, so far, I have been correct every time someone has guessed. It is totally cute in its own fluffy, pastel-y way. :)

Miles' house. He always does a solid job. :) I love the jeep he made.

Lucy's house is cute and fun and everything you'd expect from a 10-year old making it. I love it.

Jonas thought his house was awful, but I like it! Ben thought it was along the lines of one of the piggy's house - a straw/hay house. Jonas should have made a candy pig!

My house. It was extra-large and fun to decorate. My favorite is Santa on his sleigh on the roof.

Emmy's cute house. Her roof is made of smarties and looks really good - and delicious. Her's is simple but darling.

Ta-da!

It was NOT a Happy Permit Day . . .

 WAAAAAAAAAA. That's what I did all morning long on Jonas' 15th birthday. It was the worst children's birthday ever for me. Not for my child. Jonas handled it much better than me - which was a shocking surprise. I decided he must have decided I was taking care of all the crazy emotions on my own and didn't need to add to it. :)

I think that it was just the last-straw for me in this crappy year. It's been mentally exhausting having four children (three of which, of course, are teenagers) have their lives so challenged this year. I am always having to tell them no, you can't do that; no, that's not opened; nope, it just got canceled; no school for a month; blah, blah, blah. I feel like I take the brunt as I am the one who gets to deliver these restrictions, which occur on a weekly basis. It's been a lot. I mean, my kids have done well and we are extremely blessed with what we do have and what we can do (or just what we do - whether we "can" or not, ha). But I ache for them as I know they aren't fully happy or being satisfied in many areas of their lives.

Anyways, what happened on Jonas' birthday broke me. So what happened? Jonas ended up not being able to get his permit. WAAAAAAA. We had done everything - he had finished his 30-hour online course, I had gotten his appointment scheduled 2 months earlier, I had gathered all necessary documents . . . Unfortunately his birth certificate was "certified" by the city Jonas was born in - and not the county or the state, which apparently the DMV requires. Looking at his certificate I had no idea it was not some official state certificate. The county doesn't even provide them, we found out. So we had to call Vital Records and request a state one - sure, just $70 and 35-40 business days until we'll likely get it. WAAAAAA. We had found out the city-certificates are accepted in rare occasions when a county or state certificate cannot be obtained. So they do allow them in some exceptions. But we don't qualify. But how stupid?! They can accept them . . . GRRRRR. I had Ben call back to see about the Exceptions Processing but that was basically a no since we can get one from the state. I contacted the New York state office and was told they are not able to expedite any certificates. They receive thousands a day and process them in the order they come. WAAAAAAA. I also emailed the state DMV. He wouldn't give in and let me have an exception. It's for a PERMIT for crying out loud. 

That was supposed to be the highlight of Jonas' birthday. Of his year, frankly, given this cruddy year with such a lack of positive and motivating things happening. Jonas has seriously looked so forward to this day all year long. So it's devastating and heartbreaking and crushing. (Sometimes I just wish I weren't a mom and didn't care about my kids . . . It hurts a lot.) Is it a huge deal? Not really. It is going to ruin his life? No. But still it just was awful and such a perfect - albeit shi**y - way to end 2020. WAAAAAAA.

So I was pretty much worthless for the rest of the day. I even forgot my doctor's appointment . . . Sigh. I am doing better today, thank you. :)

Jonas' friend met him for lunch at a local restaurant, Horsefly. Jonas loved it.

We ate his birthday dinner choice: orange chicken. We have a really great recipe and Jonas loves it (he even had leftovers for breakfast). Ben does all the hard part of this meal - getting the meat ready and frying it. So we had dinner and then watched his movie choice: Ford vs. Ferrari. I hadn't seen it and it was good. But such a bummer of an ending. I knew how it ended, but still. We took a half-time break for cake and ice cream. Then we went to bed quite late - but I don't care. The kids are all doing online schooling this week and I've lost motivation to really care about it. Ha.

Anyways, Jonas is pretty great and handled the situation much better than expected and much better than his mother. Perhaps this kid is maturing into something fine and dandy.
Pics:

Eljin, our elf, hid on Jonas' picture. In Jonas' classic pose - I love it!

Jonas knew practically every gift he got - which usually doesn't happen with my kids. But Jonas is definitely more particular with what he wants. So he had bought himself a snowboard a few weeks earlier and then we got him boots and bindings. Those were the boots I picked up while in Utah. They were used - but practically new! He also got a wallet that he picked out. Then his "surprise" gift of a huge box of snack foods - because he's always eating. :)

What a handsome 15 year-old.

His sweet new board.

Board, bindings, boots - and even matching snow pants that Grandma Dixie found and bought. He loves it all.

The happy birthday song and cake! Yay.

We got 3-4 inches of snow last night and so today, the day after his birthday, the three youngest kid went to our itty-bitty snow hill in town so Jonas could have fun on his board. We also took Jonas' best friend, Aiden, and Aiden's younger brother. Interestingly, Mia (Jonas' friend who is a girl) was there with her sister. They live right by the hill and Jonas had invited them. :) They had fun, but there wasn't enough snow and they eventually wore it down quite well and weren't able to go too fast after most of the snow was gone. But it was good for them to get out and for Jonas to get to try his new board and boots.

Blogger doesn't upload my videos anymore . . . :( So here is the YouTube link:  https://youtu.be/3b74xa9WPog

Yep, it was 28 degrees out - but with playing and the sunshine, apparently it was warm enough to be in a t-shirt. :)

Happy Driver's Permit Day Jonas!

 Dear Jonas,

Wow, the day you've been dreaming of is finally here - your 15th birthday, i.e., the day you get your driver's permit (as long as you pass the test . . . ). You have gotten a little more pre-15 driving lessons in than your brother Miles - mainly because you have a stick-shift and so it was helpful to practice in the church parking lot so that now, today, you can try driving the real neighborhood streets. You are quite a natural with a stick - definitely and obviously something you did not inherit from me. :) I think you'll be a good driver - prove me right, please!

It's been quite a year - 2020. For everyone. Not the best of years, but we've all managed. You ended up missing out on your last couple of months of your middle school career. No final Jazz band concert, no participating in track, no final 8th-grade Field-Trip to Delta, no normal beginning of high school, and on and on. It was a little rough on you - you're right at that age where friends and a social life are vitally important to your happiness and well-being. I think it's been a little hard on you. You had a few freak-outs (to put it VERY mildly) during this pandemic, but you've chilled out a bit and hopefully that's a sign that you'll turn out alright. Which I am pretty confident you will - even though you like to act otherwise at times . . . 

Your family still kind of bugs you. Your parents because we don't let you have a dirt bike or whatever else is the flavor of the month; your brother because he doesn't drive much to seminary; Emmy because she is just too similar to yourself; Lucy because . . . she is the baby of the family and will sometimes act the part very well. But you have moments of kindness and thoughtful to all of us and so I am pretty sure you really do love us. :)

You continue to love whatever social happenings are going on. You started off this pandemic practicing a few dance routines for one of your friend's Quinceanera. It was pretty fun watching you perform. You've had to miss out on a lot of happenings since not a ton is happening . . . stupid Covid. But you've managed to hang-out with friends a lot and that always makes you happy. You are especially fond of one friend in particular at the moment - yep, she happens to be a girl. I am just glad you've got some good friends around and encourage you to always surround yourself with people that inspire goodness in you.

Due to a pathetic 9th-grade schedule at the high school (PE, music, study hall, and biology), we (meaning you and your parents) agreed that BYU HS would be the way to go this first semester. You didn't love it, but I don't think you hated it. It wasn't too different than going to the high school as that is 1-week in-person and 1-week remote. You took a creative writing class and a PE class and so you got to spend some time at the high school. Sometimes you were there for what seemed like half a day - you'd go to your PE class, then meet friends for A lunch, and then meet other friends for B lunch. I knew it was important for you to socialize and so I was happy for you. The plan is to start full-time at the high school in January. Hopefully that goes well with Covid and all!

You participated in the mountain biking team and had a good, albeit competition-less, season. Now you are in to climbing and hopefully, if there is a season, you'll be able to participate on that team as well. You always feel good after working out with friends.

When you're being nice, you are quite funny and fun to be around. We're excited to have many more years of those nice moments with you Jonas! Have a happy birthday and know that your whole family loves you a whole lot.

love,

mom

(AHHHHHH, this turned out to be the worst children's birthday ever - FOR ME (You handled it way better than me.) ! I cried all morning. I can only not cry now if I don't think or talk about the stupid DMV and you not being able to get your permit. At least you passed the test. I'll talk more of this in your birthday post . . .)