Wrapping up Pre-Christmas Activities . . .

December really is a fun and wonderful month. I'm going to miss it for sure. 

The birthday boy on his 17th birthday. Dang he's getting old.

Miles came home! He was originally to drive to my parents' home on Thursday and then take the train to Junction on Friday, where I would pick him up. However, Miles finished up earlier than expected, so he arrived at the train station in Junction on Thursday morning. We kept it a secret from everyone and so it was fun when they came home to find him here a day early. :)

Miles rocked his first semester of college. He got a 4.0 and on many occasions had the high-score on a test - be it in biology, physics or even statistics. Proud of this boy!!!

Jonas and his "new-to-him" Jeep. Sigh. This kid. He sold his truck (Ben's truck that he sold to Jonas . . . and which Jonas like literally drove into the ground. Jonas was afraid the truck would croak at any moment and so he wanted to sell it before it did . . . ). The paint job is pretty bad on the Jeep (Jonas agrees), but overall it seems like a decent car for a kid. If he doesn't drive it into the ground . . . which at the moment doesn't seem too likely . . . 

Gingerbread Sunday!!

Miles' fun home.

Ben struggled this year . . . and at one point started all over, haha. His home turned out lovely and festive.

I branched out this year and made mine pink. Plus I saw some cute idea to use rosemary and we had some in our garden and so. Done.

Emmy's snowy Christmasy home.

Jonas' . . . cabin? Not sure. The porch overhang was a cool idea. But by the time he finished with it, he was mentally done working on his house. Haha. It's still cool, though!

Lucy's adorable Elf house/Candy cane forest.

It's hard to see how cute these reindeer are, but take my word: they are too cute. Ben made them for me on his birthday. (He had the day off!) Ben made a total of four reindeer and ended up giving two of them to his co-worker. I think he showed her what I wanted and she said something like, "Oh make me some, too!" Kind of joking . . . but also not, right? :) So Emmy and Miles dropped them off at her home in Ridgway the following day. The co-worker (Stephanie) loves them so much - her dogs, not so much (they just bark and bark at them, haha). In fact, Stephanie posted on Facebook that besides from her family, this was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her. Nice job Ben.

Ben asked/paid Emmy to make donuts for his work. Emmy and I had experimented with a different donut recipe and it was a thousand times better! Sooooo good (which says a lot coming from me, a non-donut lover). We also added peppermint extract and crushed candy canes to the glaze. Seriously, amazing.

Cutest donut maker ever.

Lucy's best friend Lila, who moved to Utah last August, was spending the week in Montrose with her dad. So Lila and Holly came with my girls and we spent the afternoon in Ouray. I want to retire to Ouray (in fact, I would move there now if I could!). But only if Ben and I become millionaires . . . I do have an idea to develop and patent so ya never know . . . 

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year . . . (except for those moments where it sucks, but those moments still exist even in December).

How are you 17 Jonas?!

 

Dear Jonas,

Well . . . it turned out that your mullet could be bought - who knew? Actually, it was just the right timing, I think. You just needing/wanting money bad enough to cut that mullet. You brought up the idea - and your dad jumped on it and offered a bunch of moolah. I still wasn't sure you would actually do it, but you did. It's nice to see you again. :) Emmy was probably the saddest to see it go. Not because she liked it, but because she had arranged for you to get a perm (something you've been talking about for ages) for her Christmas present to you. It's okay, she came up with a plan B.

Well, once again, it's been a tough year with you kid. It's hard to see someone with such smarts and such good potential just not doing anything with such gifts. You have your moments of brilliance (remember that A on a college algebra test?) and goodness . . . I just wish we had more of those moments and less of the other moments.

So rather than harp on the challenges we've faced/encountered this year, let me try to pick out some of the good things . . . 

• The A on your algebra test, let's bring that up again. 
• The first day of school for Emmy - she was teased on Snapchat and you totally stood up for her and you made her feel so, so, so good and loved and protected.
• You let Emmy hang out with you and your friends sometimes.
• You getting your old lifeguard job back. That was pretty cool.
• The fact that you are pretty solid in being home on-time - if you're running late, you are really good about calling us and letting us know. (Unlike your older brother . . . )
• The day at school where Mr. Dyke fell in love with you . . . Background: Mr. Dyke (die-key) is like the assistant principal. He didn't like you for the first quarter, but I can't really remember why? Maybe because freshmen would hop in your truck at lunch and you would take them . . . which he didn't like because freshmen are not allowed to leave campus. Then he didn't like Emmy because she left campus for lunch and he caught her . . . and then she lied about it. So I don't think he was really impressed with the Maxwell kids. Until that day. That day when you walked into the auto-shop class and a kid was passing around a spiked can of tea (huh, I didn't know that was a thing). You thumped the kid hard on his head and then walked out. And it was all caught on tape (which lead to about a dozen kids getting suspended for drinking . . .). Per Mr. Dyke, "I could watch that video of you doing that all day, Jonas." Nice job.

Well that's it for now. Just know that your parents and your family love you a lot. We want you to be happy and successful in life. And have a Happy Birthday today - you're getting crazy old.

Love you,

mom

Our 2022 Christmas Tree Hunt

As Decembers go, they get quite busy! So last Sunday, even though Ben was up in Utah for the army, the rest of us went a caught us a couple of wild trees. 

This was originally going to be the kids' tree. (The kids put a tree up upstairs and that's where they put their sibling gifts.) It was small enough for Lucy to chop down.

And somewhere in the midst of this group of trees, was to be our main tree. . . 

Well, as we brought them home we realized that the main tree was a bit sparser than the kid-tree . . . Apparently it looked bushier because it was grouped up together! So we swapped the trees and Tada!

Our lovely tree. We still can't get over looking at the top picture and seeing how tiny the tree appears when in the wild. But it's just right and, though small, is actually quite beautifully and well-shaped (for a Charlie Brown tree)!

It's the most wonderful time of the year . . . 

Thanksgiving in Midway

The last time we did Thanksgiving in Midway was way back in 2011 - 11 years ago! Seeing as Miles is up in Rexburg this year, we thought it would be perfect to meet about half-way at my parents' place. It was great! It was so great to see Miles and be with my parents and just enjoy the beautiful area that Midway is in.

All of us (including Miles) were able to leave on Tuesday afternoon. Miles beat us by a couple of hours, but we all arrived safely.

My parents had made reservations for us on Wednesday morning for a fun breakfast at the Blue Boar. It's this really amazing Inn close to my parents' place. It was a really delightful and delicious place to eat. We also enjoyed walking around looking at all their stuff and getting a peek at one of the rooms. 

Emmy had fun driving Grandpa's "toy" around later that day. :) The kids, minus Jonas, went thrift-shopping with Grandma and scored a few items. We spent the rest of the day getting a few things ready for the next day's feast.

Earlier, I had signed six of us up for Midway's Turkey Trot. The six people excluded Jonas (who couldn't be talked into it), but included Grandma. Go Grandma! She and Lucy walked it together. Ben took out in the front and had a great run - coming in 23 minutes and some. I eventually caught up with Emmy and motivated her to keep pushing it. We came in close to 24:30 - Emmy ahead of me by just a couple of seconds. She wasn't too happy about that. I was. Haha. Miles, who hadn't run 3 miles in like years, finished around 30 minutes. He was just glad that he had run the whole time. :) Lucy and my mom enjoyed themselves and weren't as cold as my mom was fearing.

A pre-race selfie!

An after-race pic!

Run, Miles, run!

Yay Lucy and Grandma!

Unfortunately we missed out on the food (ran out, I guess) and not a one of us won a raffle prize. Oh well, it was still a great and beautiful way to start out the day. We then spent the rest of the day watching the parade and getting things ready for the feast. I am pretty sure the kids went on a ride on Grandpa's toy and had a lot of fun. 

I didn't get a picture of us sitting down for our Thanksgiving dinner. But it was perfect, truly. All the best of Thanksgiving foods and it all tasted perfect. I (or rather my mom who actually made it) introduced my kids to shrimp cocktail. I think the opinion was evenly split: the boys liked it, the girls didn't. I don't know why, but Ben had brought it up as we were driving up on Tuesday. So I mentioned it to my mom. Who incredibly had like everything on hand. So she whipped it up and it tasted just as I remembered. I don't know where the drink came from - my Grandma Phyllis? As I told my kids, it's a drink you chew. Ha, doesn't that sound appetizing!? Well it was. :)

That evening we went to the movie theater in Heber and watched Spirited. It was a fun and cute show. We came back home and enjoyed some delicious pie and that was our lovely Thanksgiving.

We had fun playing the games in the basement - foosball (mainly just Ben and whomever he could talk into playing against him), shuffleboard, and lots of air hockey. I think my parents won a few games even! Let's also make sure to mention that not only did I win every air hockey game I played (which, honestly wasn't a ton), I creamed my opponents. Apparently grandma was quite tough to beat . . . I think we need a match. :) We also played corn-hole, which turned out to be super fun and everyone enjoyed:

I don't know why Miles played with a wig on the whole time. But I enjoyed that he did, ha. 

Ben really wanted to go check out some shoes, so we made a trip down to the Provo/Orem area on Friday. We dropped the kids off at Nickle City (used to be Nickcade) and they all had a blast and just loved it! I dropped Ben off at the mall and he 1. didn't find any shoes and 2. hated the mall experience in Utah country on Black Friday. Haha. I could have guessed that . . . I went to a thrift store which turned out to be pretty awesome. I got myself a skirt and sweater and also found a cute dress for Emmy. 

I had purchased (thru a black Friday deal) our family tickets for this place in Lindon called Labyrinth. So down the canyon we went on Saturday. Labyrinth is kind of like escape rooms - but a little different, I guess. There were 16 starting rooms - then if you passed the first room, you'd advance to another room, etc. Each 16 rooms had three more rooms/levels. 

Wow, it was hard. Wow, we felt stupid. Ha. The first rooms we literally had no idea what we were doing. We'd walk in. Stare at the room. Wonder, "What the heck." Then we'd make some sort of move. Finally, we'd hear, "You have been eliminated. Please exit." There were basically no clues on what to do or even what the goal was. It was crazy. But we slowly started figuring things out . . . and even made it passed a room or two. We never completed all four rooms! We were sooooo very close on 2 of the puzzles - but just couldn't figure out the last rooms in each of them. Soooo frustrating. But it was really great and the kids really enjoyed it. It was something totally different, but a perfect activity for teens and adults.

Haha, a random picture from one of the rooms . . . 

Miles just sent me a few videos. They are super short, but it does give you a little idea of what the rooms were like. Some were more mental than physical, others more physical than mental, and others half-and-half.

On Sunday we enjoyed church and then came home, cleaned up (Ben made sure the kids all had cleaning assignments . . . ), and ate a yummy lunch and finished it up with Miles' homemade apple pie. Then it was time for us to go sadly. We left first and then Miles headed out shortly after. It was a nice time and so good to be with Miles and my parents, as always!

November

Ben and I were in a different country when November came around . . . but my awesome sister was here with my kids managing it all. :) Erin was great and agreed to come out for the whole week - it was perfect. My kids, especially girls because Jonas was hardly around, absolutely LOVED having her here! It was such a special treat for them to get that time with Erin. Luckies. I didn't even get a chance to see her as our flights in and out just missed each other! But I was so grateful she came and definitely made me not have to worry about things back at home while we were in Honduras.

Erin helped get them to different activities, took them hiking in Ouray, went to Emmy's cross-country awards night, saved Lucy from the hot school by helping her get home and change into a t-shirt (haha), went to Twisted Sugar a couple of times, ran Brigham and walked Bella, took them out to eat, cooked dinners, watched a weird "scary" Halloween movie with Emmy, and finally, on Friday night (the night before flying out) she took my two girls and two friends to the Ouray hot springs. Thanks, Erin, you're the best sister ever! :)

Their Sunday hike - which took them on sections of the Perimeter trail. So pretty!

Oh I love this picture so much!!

One of several delicious runs to Twisted Sugar. :)

He doesn't look it, ha, but Brigham was thrilled to have Erin run him. Erin? Maybe not as thrilled as having to run him. :) He can be a pain. But he kept her safe on the river trail at least!

The hot springs. Nice Emmy.

The girls were testing how long they could hop out of the hot springs and lay down on the snow. I remember doing a very similar thing in our backyard in Sandy, Utah!

Ouray is so pretty! There's Lucy, Peyton, Ruby, and Emmy.

Thankfully I had requested not to work the Monday we got back from Honduras. The kids were off of school and Lucy had plans with a friend. Emmy actually said, "I really want to go hiking." DONE. She and I did one of my all-time favorite hikes: the Ouray Perimeter trail. It's just a yummy hike. We had a wonderful time.

Bella was so scared to cross the bridge! So was Brigham, but I didn't get a picture of him. Cuties.

Random pics from November:

Emmy's done a few of the hill runs with me . . . beating me, and dying along the way, once. Securing her some mulah. To be honest, she beat me by about 10 seconds and only because she can sprint it in the end. She would never run that fast if I wasn't there, haha. But we PR'd like crazy that day - I cut off almost 2 minutes (it's a 6-mile run) and Emmy cut off about 4 1/2 minutes. Nice job us. :) Even though Emmy hated/hates it. Haha. It's a hard run and she always gets so mad at me for not huffing and puffing as much her, hehe.

I don't get many pictures or updates from Miles' life and adventures in Rexburg. But when I asked about the snow one day, he sent me this pic of he and his friends enjoying the snow!

The Sunday before Thanksgiving, Miles' roommates and FHE sisters (plus a few extras) gathered at one of the girls' parents' home for a Friendsgiving dinner. Yes, that's in someones' home - their indoor basketball court. Miles made a couple of apple pies for it and said it was a really great time.

My sister even got my calendar all ready for November! Loved it. Who know Erin had such cute handwriting?! :)