Early Christmas Eve and Christmas!!

We had a fun Christmas with the family! We rented an Airbnb in Orem. It was a spacious house with seven bedrooms and so we had a room for every couple and a room for Jaiden and Jenna to share and one where Evan and Eli could sleep. The other grandkids slept in the same room as their parents. The master bedroom and bathroom were huge with a gigatic shower with shower heads on the walls and ceiling. Some of the other rooms were pretty small, but that's okay, as it allowed everyone to have their own sleeping space. 

There was a big backyard with a trampoline, basketball area, and playground for the kids. I booked the place clear last August and at the time I didn't know if it would be much too cold for the playground in December, but the weather was unseasonably warm for this time of year. It felt like St. George weather! So the kids were able to play outside for hours! The adults also had a great time playing speed on the basketball court! 

I liked the Airbnb, but they it wasn't stocked very well and so that was frustrating. Things they didn't have that I wished they had was: cooking spray, kitchen scissors, shampoo and conditioner, hair dryer, scrubbers to wash the dishes wish etc. But I liked the house and neighborhood and I think I would return. I would just make sure to bring a bunch of extra stuff from home. From staying in past Airbnb homes I have learned that I need to bring tinfoil, plastic wrap, ziploc bags, more wash cloths and dish towels (they NEVER have enough) and specific cooking thing if needed. Now I need to add shampoo and conditioner and bars of soap to the list. 

We checked in right at 4:00. The host's name was Forrest and he was very responsive. In fact he was there bringing some new pans and hot pads because apparently people walk off with stuff like that. Maybe that is why they keep supplies at the bare minimum! We fixed dinner, which always takes longer than we anticipate. The cheesy potatoes always take way longer than I think they will. I need to up the temperature and cook them without the foil because it seems to cook faster that way. 

We had everyone bring things for the dinner this year and that really helped things go more quickly and smoothly. We had a delicious dinner of ham (Brandon cooked on his smoker at home and then brought), cheesy potatoes (Janika made), salad, veggies (Ellen made), rolls, martinellis with "Better Than Sex Cake" for dessert -- one regular and one gluten free (made by Janelle and Bryton). Although apparently they didn't think it was really better than sex and so they changed the name to "Love Cake," ha ha! Jared kind of got in trouble with the family for booking a DJ gig tonight and promised not to do that next year! So he and Hallie didn't arrived until 7:45 missing the dinner, lesson, and part of the sibling gifts. 

After dinner we cleaned up and then Rick gave a little lesson upstairs in the theater room. He always does a great job with that. This one included an object lesson using some clay face masks, relating it to the healing and cleansing power of atonement of Jesus Christ. He gave everyone face masks that they would put on later. Then we did the siblings gifts. The only rule for the sibling gift is that they have to make the gift. The gifts have gotten better and more creative through the years. 

Jenna's gift to Jaiden was a hair kit. She designed a box and put together a tutorial -- both written and video that included instructions on how to improve your hair. Then she had a bunch of hair products. She really spent a lot of time on it and it turned out really cute. Jared and Bryton made Jenna a bunch of homemade scrunchies, which turned out really cute! 

Jaiden made a funny video for Jared and Hallie about Jared's life as a Jedi. She spent 5 or 6 hours making it. It was super cute and creative! We all watched it up in the theater room and everyone got a big laugh out of it. 

Jared gave Janika and Brandon a card saying that they would babysit their kids for a night out and included a gift card to Costa Vida. Jase and Ellen made Janelle and Bryton a darling coloring book. They had taken several pictures of Janelle and Bryton and changed the pictures to drawing that they could color. It was super cute! Janika and Brandon made darling crayons in the shape of letters for Evan, Eli, and Elsie. That was super fun too. We were so impressed with everyone's gifts! 

After sibling gifts the kids went to bed and the adults stayed up and played games. We played a game called ..... which we enjoyed. Then Rick put out gifts and went to bed and the girls and I put out the stockings. 

The next morning the kids were up early, but their parents kept them entertained with a movie in the theater room. We all joined them around 8:30 and went down for stockings and presents! Christmas is always more fun when there are young children and it was fun watching the grandkids open their gifts! 

Giving beef stew is a kind of a funny family tradition that has occurred on and off through the years. The kids always loved beef stew and always begged their dad to buy it. But he said it was too expensive and only would get it if it was on a good sale. So he would add it to their stockings and easter baskets (if he found a good sale) and they were always so excited to get their very own beef stew! So apparently there was a sale recently and so he got some for the kids. We were happy that the airbnb had a Christmas tree! 

I loved the gifts that the kids got us. They had a really funny group text where they exchanged ideas back and forth. Janika showed me their chat and I got a good laugh out of it! Jenna told them all of the things that were broken in our kitchen and so they decided to get replacements for all of those things, which was a great idea and perfect gift! We have two spatulas at home -- one of which is melted and the other which sheds plastic. So they got us a new set of spatulas. 

We keep using broken wire whisks with no handles and missing wires, and so they got us new wire whisks. It is funny, because it would have been easy enough for us to replace all of these things, but I just don't think about it or get around to it! Our rice cooker has a missing foot and so we have to balance something under it on one side. So they got us a rice cooker. We have this big tupperware bowl and lid, which I got at a garage sale probably over 25 years ago. I love that bowl and lid and use them all of the time. Well, the lid finally cracked on one side a year or so ago, and so I added some duct tape to it to hold it together. Well, Janika did some digging and found the exact bowl and lid set (now vintage) on ebay and bought it for us. I was pretty excited about that!

Jase had mentioned in the text list that we only have like three spoons and that he was pretty sure his boys took two of the three spoons to the sandbox! We do have more than three, of course, but can never seem to find them. So they got us two boxes of new utensils and a utensil holder and organizers for our drawers. Our electric knife recently gave out and so we had no electric knife to carve the turkey last Thanksgiving. So an electric knife was also included in the package!! Janika also got a rug to replace our old, worn out rug by our front door. I am a very practical person and so I was thrilled that every gift was something that we needed! 

After gifts we hung out with the kids outside and Rick and I went for a nice walk. The kids enjoyed the tramp and playground and the adults enjoyed playing basketball. Kind of a funny story... after everyone had been playing outside for a while Janika said she could smell gas. Several other people said that they could smell it too. It was sort of on and off. She was really nervous about it and wanted us to contact the host and also the non-emergency number for the city. 

So I contacted the host and he said he would come over and check it out. Janelle called the city and they sent the fire department over. So the host comes over and then a fire truck with two firemen all decked out in their fire fighter clothes. A few neighbors came out wonderining what was going on. They brought their sensors all around the backyard and neighbor's yard but couldn't find any indications of any problems. The poor host was probably wondering what he had gotten himself into by renting his property to us. It was a little embarrassing. But the fire fighters gave fire hats to the grandkids and they were in heaven and wore them the rest of the day! 

Well, a couple of hours later Janika starts cooking the potatoes and apparently the oven was dirty and smoke starts pouring out from the oven, setting off a very loud fire alarm! No, we didn't call the fire department, but apparently the fire alarm notifies the home owner who texted me to say that he disabled the fire alarm and wanted to know if everything was okay! 

After dinner and dessert we played games and then just stayed up and talked. It was just so fun to be together. Little Elsie didn't want to miss out on any of the fun and stayed up with all of the adults. She didn't seem to be the least bit tired! 

Rick got the grandkids a really fun racetrack, similar to the one our kids had growing up. They absolutely loved it and it kep them entertained for hours!! 

Thursday morning I went for a nice walk and then we just packed and cleaned up and headed out! Then Rick, Jenna, Jaiden, and I went to Janika nad Brandon's and tended Everett and Callan so that Janika and Brandon could go out to lunch at Tucanos. They chose Tucanos since Hallie was working there all day. Then we all headed to the Westras for the Westra Christmas Eve party!! 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Tuesday 26: Janika and Brandon came from Pleasant Grove, arriving around 1:00. I didn’t realize that they were coming so early and told them that no one would be home since Rick and I both had interpreting jobs. They said it was fine; they planned to put the boys to bed as soon as they got there. I got home around 3:00 and then played race tracks with Everett. He loved it! He is so dang cute! Janika had said that Everett had seen the Marco Polo of me and Evan putting marbles and cards down our long orange race tracks and told him mom that he wanted to play race tracks with Grandma too.

We have a really old set, that we have had for many years, and most of the connectors are lost. I pretty much had to tape everything together with duct tape when I did it with Evan, and so I decided to order a couple of new sets for the boys. So, me and Everett put them together and build a long track. He had fun and was being silly and kept laughing and laughing.

Janika had offered to make dinner so that I could keep playing with Everett. So, we had a nice spaghetti dinner later that night. Janelle and Bryton arrived later that night and so it was good to see them too.

Wednesday 27: Today we did a bunch of cooking for Thanksgiving. Jenna made the pretzel jello and four step pudding. We also made gluten free stuffing. I had a hair appointment this afternoon and Rick worked with Janelle on the Daddy-Daughter dance for the wedding. Jared and Hallie also arrived today. I stayed up until midnight finishing up the yams so that I wouldn't have to worry about it the next day!   

Thursday 28: We had a really nice Thanksgiving! I started a little earlier this year, so that the turkey would be finished by noon or so. Jared and Hallie went running in the morning. Janelle and Janika went outside to peel the potatoes in the sunshine. We ate around 1:00. Everything was delicious! We went around the table so that everyone could say something they were grateful for and we gave a toast to each one! 

We enjoyed our meal and then Jared and Hallie started washing all of the dishes. Then they went outside to play croquet. Josh was able to call and so we talked to him for a while. They didn't do anything for Thanksgiving, which was too bad. Jaiden tried to hop on the call too, but was on her way to Zone Conference and didn't have a good enough internet connection. We all played JackBox and some of us took naps. 

Rick worked with Janelle on her dance for the Daddy-Daughter dance and it looks so cute (a little cheesy, but also precious!) I was in the kitchen and Christmas music was wafting through the air. I looked out the window to see Janika spinning a smiling Callan around. Behind them Rick and Janelle were dancing. I suddenly felt overcome with gratitude and became emotional as I just soaked it all in! It was just like something from a movie, ha ha! We truly have been blessed! 

Janelle and Bryton left around 5:00 to go spend the rest of the evening with Bryton's family where they were having another Thanksgiving meal. They had fun over there also, playing games and being together. The rest of us ate pie and four step pudding and watched "Family Man," which is one of my favorite movies. I was working on writing out the chalkboard labels for the ice cream and hot chocolate toppings for the wedding while watching it, so I was only halfway paying attention, but I have seen it several times. Then everyone headed to bed so that we would be ready for the reception the next day!! Janelle was pretty late getting home, so I waited for her to come home before heading to bed too. 

These two brothers look so much alike! Here they are two years apart, wearing the same little shirt. So cute! 

The cute newlyweds in their adorable matching pajamas! 

Phone Number on a Costa Vida Cup

After we dropped off Josh to the MTC on Wednesday, I headed back home and Rick rented a car and stayed up north since he had meetings in SLC on Friday. I brought my car to the Toyota dealership for an oil change Friday morning. I figured it would take about 45 minutes at most. Well, THREE hours later my car was finally finished!! I was glad that I brought my laptop with me so that I could get some work done! Still, I was stressing because I was planning to leave up north with Jenna as soon as she got home from school at 12:30 and I still had lots to do! 

When Jenna got home from school (early out on Fridays) we quickly packed and ate lunch and left around 1:30. We were meeting Hallie's parents for dinner that night in Spanish Fork so that we could get acquainted before the upcoming wedding in two weeks! They decided that Costa Vida would be a good choice since almost everything is gluten free. Rick was meeting us there (coming from Shane and Alicia's house with his rental car) and arrived about a half hour late because traffic was so awful! 

We ate and visited and then one of the Costa Vida workers brought an empty cup to Jenna with the cashier's phone number on it. The girl said that the cashier thought Jenna was cute and so he wanted to give his phone number to her. Anyway, we all thought it was pretty funny! Jenna got a free drink out of it and even texted the guy after we left. He was 17 years old. He asked if Jared was her boyfriend, haha. She said no, but she had to break the news that she wasn't actually from Spanish Fork, but was from St. George! (Here is a picture, but I smudged out the phone number in order to maintain his anonymity, ha ha!)

Then we all went over to the golf course where the reception was going to be held. It is very pretty and will be a perfect location! There is a big indoor room with tables and chairs and then a big outdoor space too, and so they get the best of both worlds! We all visited there for a while and then Rick, Jenna, and I headed to  Shane and Alicia's house where we were spending the night. Ani, Layla, and Noe were there since they were going to have a cousin's sleepover. But Ani was feeling really sick and had to go home, so that's too bad! 

The next morning I went for a walk and took a bunch of pictures of the house and backyard and the street that leads to the gate to their backyard (all in preparation for the wedding luncheon in a couple of weeks). Rick went to Janika's house so that Brandon could bring him to the car rental place to return his car. 

When it was nearing time to leave for the shower I headed to Janika's house to carpool with the Janika and Ellen. Janika and Brandon had a primary party this morning and so Jase and Ellen and boys joined them for that. Then the men all stayed at Janika's house to watch the boys while us girls drove to the shower. I was stressing because Rick and Jase and Ellen and their boys had gone to Ben Lord's (Jase's friend) house and weren't back yet and I didn't want to be late for the shower. It all worked out though, and we were only about 15 minutes late. 

It was an open house, and so people could arrive whenever. The other car with my mom, Aunt Nelva, Alicia, Rella, and Jenna arrived a few minutes after we did. I drove me, Janika, and Ellen. Right when I drove up Josh called from the MTC for his first p-day video call. So that was tricky timing. I talked with him for a bit and let him talk to both Grandmas and a few other people. It was really loud at the shower though, so I had to go outside so that I could hear him. Then I added Rick to the call. We all talked for a few minutes and then I let Rick continue on with the call. 

Josh wasn't very talkative and sounded pretty negative on the video call and so then we worried if we was doing okay. He sent his letter out a couple of hours later and the tone of the letter was much more upbeat and positive than his video call was! We enjoyed the shower (see previous post) and then Rick, Jenna, and I headed back home to St. George! 

Lots Going On!!

There was a lot going on with our family this week! Janelle and Bryton were at Lake Powell for the week with his family, and got engaged while they were there! Jase was competing at the National Laser Tag Tournament in Colorado, and we were busy preparing for Josh's missionary farewell. Rick was working and Monday and Tuesday I had interpreting jobs. 

Wednesday morning Rick and I got Josh and Jenna up at 7:00 am in order to pull weeds for a few hours before it got too hot! I stayed out longer than everyone else and went out the next morning for another couple of hours. We filled both big outside garbage cans with weeds, grass, and branches that had been pruned. 

Thursday night Ellen and the Boys came for the weekend so that they would be here for Josh's missionary farewell on Sunday. Since Jase was at the laser tag tournament, she was on her own! It was sure nice of here to com all the way here with the boys without Jase to help. I am sure it wasn't easy! I was glad that they got a few nice swims in! 

I had actually come down with a cold this week and wasn't feeling very well. I was glad that it only lasted a week though, and thankfully no one else got it! Thursday Rick and Josh went to the temple.

Friday morning I drove with Ellen to the car shop to get her van checked out because it started shaking really bad just before she arrived on Thursday night. They were able to get it fixed and it didn't cost too much thankfully! I guess the screw on one of the tires was not screwed in all the way. That would have been really dangerous if the tire had come off, so I am glad that they were able to figure out the problem and get it fixed! 

Friday Janelle and Bryton came after their Lake Powell trip and showed off her new ring! It is beautiful! Friday and Saturday Jenna and I were cooking all day in preparation for Josh's luncheon on Sunday. I put the two big pork roasts in the crock pot Friday night so that they could cook all night and be ready on Saturday to shred and prepare for Sunday. Saturday afternoon Jared and Hallie arrived! 

Saturday we also decided to have Bryton's family over for dinner. We thought it would be a good time since Janelle and Bryton just got engaged and we wanted to do it before they start back up at BYU. It was really nice to meet their family -- they are awesome! We think that Janelle and Bryton are such a great match!! We just had hamburgers and hotdogs and a bunch of salads. Bryton's mom brought a potato salad and fruit plate tonight too.

Jenna was excited too since she had met their family and had dinner at their house while Rick and I were on our vacation. But the two her age (one 14 and one 16) had to work tonight and couldn't come, so that it too bad. Jenna also had to work tonight, but not until later and so she was still able to eat with us. It was fun to get to know their family and to talk a little bit about the upcoming wedding!! Then Josh brought Jenna to work and the two engaged couples went on their double-date to Tuacahn!! 

Early Christmas at the Airbnb

 this morning...

Party at the Park (Happy Birthday, Rick!)

Janika headed up a little party for Dad to celebrate his birthday. They ordered a bunch of pizzas and then they "kidnapped" dad and blind-folded him and we all met at Vernon Worthen park. It was fun! The weather was being a little bipolar. Usually this time of year is beautiful in St. George, but the weather had turned cold and drizzly and was raining when we left. It stopped while we were at the park, but it was still cold. I was wishing I had brought a coat instead of just a sweatshirt. Boy, we really are wimps! Poor Jaiden is in sub-zero temperatures and we complain about temperatures in the high 40s. But the grandkids had a great time and we all loved playing with them -- and Dad loved the little surprise!! 

A little incident happened near the end of our stay. There was this man a ways off that was shouting all sorts of things, including profanities.  It was really unsettling. We quickly decided to leave since it was time to go anyway, but that sped up our departure. He started walking closer to the park and others there were getting nervous also. Several people called the cops and they came and arrested him. Brandon looked up local arrests later and found that the man had been arrested for drug use, drug paraphernalia and a few other things. Crazy! 

Sarah and Chantry Wedding

We have two interpreters in our area who got married on Thursday. We all wanted to go support them, but they had their reception on a week day in Lindon -- four hours away from St. George! This made it a little more complicated, but many of us decided to go anyway! It was a Renaissance themed wedding and so many of the guests dressed up. I even got a Renaissance styled dress for the occasion -- but one that I could also wear other places. They got married in the Provo City Center Temple and had their reception at Wadley Farms. I had never been there before -- it is a beautiful reception center! 

I was glad that I decided to go. I enjoy long drives if I have a good audio book to listen to! I was in the middle of the book, "Dry," by Neal Shusterman -- highly recommend! I went to Janika and Brandon's for dinner and then to the reception. There were lots of friends there to visit (and dance) with! Rick didn't come because he teaches a class on Thursday nights and had already made two trips to SLC within the past month and didn't want to make another one! The reception was fun and the weather was perfect! 

I slept over at Janika and Brandon's house and then brought baby Everett on a walk. Then I met my mom and dad for dinner at Chuck-A-Rama. We enjoyed a nice meal and conversation for two hours! I then went to Walmart and picked up a bunch of stuff for a care package for Jaiden. Janelle just got hired at the MTC and was working that night and able to bring it to her! I visited with Janelle for a while and lay down for a quick nap before heading back home -- again with a good audiobook! Jase and Ellen had come with the boys Thursday night and so we crossed paths! They were coming for Conference weekend! 

ASL Board Meeting and Prepping for Jaiden's MTC Drop-off!

Rick had a board meeting with the ASL Board and the general board on Tuesday night in SLC and so we decided to go up a day early for Jaiden's MTC drop-off so that he and I could attend the meeting. So Jaiden said goodbye to Josh and Jenna on Tuesday morning before they went to school. Jaiden had been packing for a few days and finished up the last few things Tuesday morning. I had was interpreting at Utah Tech in the morning and then stopped at Smiths to pick up a few last minute items for Jaiden. I hurriedly packed my stuff and then we packed up the car. 

Rick dropped us off a the dentist (Jaiden's six month appointment just happened to fall on this Tuesday and we decided to keep the appointment for a last cleaning before she left). I went to the dentist and Rick went to interpret a class. We normally interpret this class together, but I got a sub so that I could stay with Jaiden at the dentist. Rick then went to the rent a car place to switch to a rental car and then picked us up from the dentist, and then we headed out! We got a rental car since Rick was attending the board meeting and so the church gives him a rental car for transportation when he comes to SLC for various meetings. 

We stopped at Carl's Jr. for lunch on the way there. We dropped Jaiden off at Shane and Alicia's and Rick and I changed to our church clothes and headed to the Board meeting. It was neat to be able to go since I also work with the Deaf and knew several people there. Elder Peter Johnson was presiding and the General RS Presidency was in attendance. I was a little self conscious because I had had an allergic reaction to something I had eaten the day before, which caused swelling around my eyes, and it still hadn't cleared up by Tuesday evening! But hopefully it wasn't too noticable! The swelling FINALLY went away by Wednesday night, thank goodness! 

Meanwhile, Jared and Jase and Ellen and their two boys came over to Shane and Alicia's to visit with Jaiden and say goodbye. Adria also came back from BYU to visit with her and say goodbye. Grandma and Grandpa were there too along with Shane and Alicia's family. So it was nice that Jaiden could visit with family before leaving on her mission. We came back and visited for a few minutes before heading to bed!

 

Busy weekend!

It was a busy weekend preparing for Janelle to return home from her mission. Jase and Ellen arrived on Thursday night and had dinner with us (spaghetti). We visited and played with the boys for a bit and then they went over to Ky's to put the boys to bed. They decided to stay overnight at Ky's during this visit since we would be having a full house with Jaiden and Janelle coming back home and Janika and Brandon coming. 

I didn't have any interpreting appointments Friday since Utah Tech had their last day of classes, before finals week next week. I decided that I wanted to paint the metal stair rails on the front porch because they were getting rusty and looked awful. We thought it might be easiest to just use spray paint and so Rick bought five or six cans of white spray paint and I sanded it the best I could and then painted it. It took a few hours and was more difficult than I thought. Parts of it sanded well, but other parts were pretty much impossible to sand. I had to wear a mask and my hands and arms were so sore from the spraying the cans. It certainly doesn't look professional by any means, but at least the rust is covered up.

I also weeded the lawn for a few hours. I was so exhausted by the end of the day! I had been weeding on and off for the past couple of weeks in the evening whenever I had time. I was even out in the dark trying to pull weeds by the light of the lamppost because I often didn't have time until until dusk -- and because it felt so nice outside. I filled up one of our garbage containers entirely with weeds. Ellen and Jase and had gone to the gym with the boys since they have a childcare package with one of the gyms and then Ellen also came out and pulled weeks for a good hour or two also, getting a sunburn in the process. The temperature had quickly gone up this week and it was so hot outside! It wasn't too bad in the shade though. 

Jaiden finished her first year at SUU and Rick went to Cedar City to pick her up along with all of her belongings. She didn't want to leave that early and said it was difficult for her to say goodbye to everyone. Jaiden did great her first year of college. She earned a 4.0 her first semester and also had straight A's her second semester -- expect for this darn online Kinesiology class that she needed for her major. She said that it was SO hard and that the tests were really confusing and so in spite of all of her many many hours of studying, she only managed a C+ in that class. So that is unfortunate, but it was only a two credit class and didn't lower her overall GPA too much. 

Maddox came over to help Jaiden unpack and put her things away. Then Rick went to Costco to get all of the food for this weekend. We decided to get a few rotisserie chickens and make chicken salad. It is way cheaper to make it ourselves instead of buying it pre-made at Costco, and I think it tastes better also. Then Rick and Maddox and Jaiden de-boned the chicken and made the chicken salad. 

Janika and Brandon arrived Friday night. I woke up Saturday morning in a panic because I had forgotten to get a welcome home sign for the lawn for Janelle. I asked around and Allison dropped off a roll of butcher paper for the kids to hang up a sign above our door. Saturday morning I ran to Star Nursery to buy some flowers to brighten up the yard a little. I sure wish our grass didn't look so bad! I really want to rip it all out and put in brand new sod -- but it will be expensive!! The front yard looks okay, but the side yard is awful! Today the kids made welcome home posters for Janelle and Rick cut Everett's hair. 

We spent the day cleaning up the house and getting the food ready for tonight and tomorrow. I had asked Janelle what she wanted for her first meal home and she said crock-pot chicken. I had prepared the chicken yesterday and threw it all in the crock pot today.