12/28/22 Hello Ducky Katie

Dj climbed his way through the tube

 Hello Ducky Katie!!! 

Dj-- sneaking an ornament

I love that we somehow got you associated with ducks because I see and hear them all the time now and every time triggers thoughts of you!  

Kayla and Dallas

It's been a busy week -- as you know -- since we got to talk to you 3X since my last letter! 

On Monday last week I got off work a little early and went and got my hair colored and cut by Sister Blaser. She does a nice job and is helping not look quite so old...cause my hair is really graying up these days!

Tuesday we had a presidency meeting at our house trying to get next year all figured out. YW is SO stinking busy!  Almost seems a little too much so.  But that's the structure these days. We put together an online calendar and got it all updated with this years stuff and hopefully we can do all that needs to be done. Cause it's a lot. Seriously!

Holly and Erik

Wednesday I had planned a Christmas party final party with my 14 years olds and it just fell through. I only have 5 active girls and 2 of them were working. Another was going to Tuacahn to the live nativity with her family. They invited us to tag along. So instead of having a party with just me and two girls (which is NOT ok!) we joined the Steven's family and went to Tuacahn. It was a really nice evening. And pretty quick as the actual "play" was only 20 minutes.   

Aj and Ellie

Thursday we started switching gears into Christmas mode.  Hit the store for the last thing or two and just getting into vacation mode since neither of us worked Friday or Monday or Tuesday (dad has off more and more until January 4th...) but I'm back to work Dec 28th. 

Bryce and Ellie

Bryce and Marlee came down Friday and we arranged to have lunch with them and Thatcher's and Gpa Griffin. After eating we went to the Red Hills Desert Garden and walked around. I really like that place. So peaceful and fun to see all the decorations.

Eldon and Diane

Saturday morning we got to play a game of pickleball with the Casey's cause everyone was busy. 

For Christmas eve I made soup bowls and ham and potato soup. We had A&B, B&M, H&E, GPA and us. Becca and AJ went back up to Santaquin for a couple of days and then returned just in time for dinner on Christmas Eve. 

We spent the weekend playing games and chilling. Lots of cooking and getting ready for the holiday. 

We drove around and looked at lights -- and found what I believe was the most decorated house ever -  it was rediculous. AND because it was on some website there were literally hundeds of cars lined up to see it. AJ was super smart and figured out a way for us to see it w/o waiting in line.  I have seriously never seen anything like it...the decorations or the line. 

Christmas morning only us and AJ and Becca were around...so before church we opened some gifts and after church everyone else started arriving.

As you know, Christmas evening we had a nice meal at Gpa's house with E&D, B&L, W&M, Aaron, and us and all our kids 'cept you...only including you too...!!! Cause you came in by video!  yah!!!! It was so good to see you!

Gpa G

D&K arrived a little late for the party but really at a perfect time. 

Monday we had Christmas Breakfast, part 2...and had muffins, smokies and eggs. The kids did their brother/sister exchange and then gave dad and I a minky blanky for Christmas. 

Gpa was going to come over...but W&M slept over at his house...so he made them breakfast...but they didn't wake up. Even after he slammed some doors and vacuumed and made whatever other noise a lil 87 year old man can make. . They finally got up around 11 a.m. And around 2 p.m. he came over and opened his gifts and hung out for a bit. 

We made pizza/calzones on Monday night and enjoyed some games after the kids were in bed. 

Tuesday everyone hung out for a little bit...we did some cleaning and packing...and then B&M and D&K headed up the road. 

Whew! What a week. 

Bryce and Marlee 

Becca preparing some food

Our Real Estate Mogel wins Washington-Opoly

I'm back at work today...came in to find out they are redoing my office again (I knew this was coming so not totally a surprise!) So I had to pack up my office and now I'm a wandering nomad for the next 2-3 weeks. They said to expect to get into my office by January 13.  I don't really think it will take that long but I guess it's good to overestimate and then get me in earlier. 

Thatchers and Griffin's go see the lights 
at the Water Conservancy District

So there ya have it. It may or may not be accurate dates/times etc as I waited just long enough that it's all a blur!  haha

I hope you are having a great week and that you enjoy your New Year's Celebration. 

We are going to be heading to California on Sunday morning and traveling until Tuesday night late...so I am unsure if connecting will work out -- or letters -- or whatever...but we'll try and see how it goes!

I have really enjoyed Marlee's memes this week. I didn't realize she sent those to you all the time. She is so funny!  And Bryce getting involved too!!! What a crack up those two are! I'm glad they can brighten your day regularly! 

YW - Tuacahn live nativity activity

I like that you are doing things for your mental health...like not starting until it's actually time. It's good that you keep your head in a good place. And remember it's ok to slow down once in a while if you've got too much -- like driving all night w/o sleep.  You are amazing and you are giving so much...but if you aren't well rested and have your head in a good place then you will be much less effective even if you are trying really hard!

I'm glad they let you get your party in...that's important!  Keep smiling!!! (I love your birthday pix!!!!)

Take care and I'll try to write again before we leave town...although it might be super short since I just sent you a novel!  

xoxo mom

12/19/22 Happy Birthday Week! (Katie will be 21 on Wednesday!!!)

 Another busy week in the books!  

Monday night we celebrated Holly...which was a nice surprise! (or did she trick me?! haha!)

She said her final got pushed back a couple of days so she and Erik came down and we had ice cream cake and stuffed crust pizza (her request on both!) with E&D and GPA and us. B&L tried to come but they were too late. H&E had to go back home to finish out the week before B&L could get here. 

Tuesday was busy at work for me and Dad got to go to BIG SHOTS golf with his co-workers. They had a buffet and games and he had a nice time. I had a LONG meeting about water...or LACK of water...and what should be happening because of the lack.  Oh, you know...build more houses...lots and lots and lots of them. What?!?!?  Yah. I dunno. Seems short sighted but that's what going on. 

Wednesday we had a potluck at work and enjoyed yummy food with all the girls. Then for dinner we went to Carl's Jr with B&L and GPA.   We went there (nobody really happy about it!!) was beca

use I had early YW -- we did a light show parade. It was really cool and fun. 

Thursday I had my last chiropractic appointment (I had a pinched nerve and it was making my left arm numb sometimes)  -- after several visits it seems to have worked itself out and it is now good. I also started with another Health Coach - Erica.  She is going to work with me to help me be more healthy. 

Friday morning we had a breakfast with three state legislators...so I got to put together a breakfast and meet with some of the big wigs. One of them knew dad and says he really enjoys him. 

We had some free movie tickets to AVATAR -- an event with popcorn and soda for Eric Scott Financial.  That was pretty fun. We were accidently an hour late. But since the movie was 2 H 40 minutes we didn't even mind missing some. 

Dad had basketball games Friday night and then three in a row on Saturday. 

AJ and Becca surprised us and came down for the weekend. AJ and his friend went and did dirt biking all day. Dad was working. So me and Becca had a fun day just the two of us. We went to 7 stores and got her christmas shopping done. We got some of mine done too. Seemed we couldn't just get done...every store we went to had 1-2 things we needed but not everything. So that's why we kept going to store and store after store. (TJ Maxx, Ross, 5 and below, Boomers, Costco, walmart). We got home and I had told her there is going to be something we forgot. Sure enough...got home and there were no pellets for dad's dinner cooking today...so we went to Lowes. Whew! 

We made a fancy dinner (street tacos); tons of popcorn for neighbor/coworker gifts; did a couple hours of yardwork. AJ and Becca had Luke and Sadie come over and stayed up late playing games and eating treats. 

Needless to say...everyone was tired out!  

My Sunday lesson for you...

Do you know what the most purchased item is at the online church store????

Red pencils!  

What are they used for? 

In church - you highlight things that you would like to emphasize or improve on in our lives. 

In school - correction.  You are WRONG!  You messed up!  But once you get over that...it is also things you need to work on and focus on and learn.

Use the red pencil to determine what you should be workin on.

I hope I said that so it made sense. Brother Abraham gave a talk and that's what I gleaned from it.  He's a good speaker!

The next speaker, brother Ord - (I don't know him) was also really good.  He said If you know, show it!  I think that's self explanatory. 

AND He gave us a little history lesson. The song "I heard the Bells" - was written by an author whose wife had died in a fire and his son was killed in the civil war. The war was ongoing and the world was in turmoil.  And yet he knows God and Peace are available.  (I highlighted verse 4 for you). 

Super inspiring.  The finks were sick today so I focused on the meeting and it was really good!!! 

I can't wait to hear about your week tomorrow! Love you!!!

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play
And mild and sweet their songs repeat
Of peace on Earth, good will to men

And the bells are ringing (peace on Earth)
Like a choir they're singing (peace on Earth)
In my heart I hear them (peace on Earth)
Peace on Earth, good will to men

And in despair I bowed my head
"There is no peace on Earth, " I said
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on Earth, good will to men

But the bells are ringing (peace on Earth)
Like a choir singing (peace on Earth)
Does anybody hear them? (Peace on Earth)
Peace on Earth, good will to men

Then rang the bells more loud and deep
God is not dead, nor doth He sleep
(Peace on Earth)
(Peace on Earth)
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on Earth, good will to men

Then ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on Earth, good will to men

And the bells, they're ringing (peace on Earth)
Like a choir they're singing (peace on Earth)
And with our hearts, we'll hear them (peace on Earth)
Peace on Earth, good will to men

Do you hear the bells, they're ringing? (Peace on Earth)
The light, the angels singing (peace on Earth)
Open up your heart and hear them (peace on Earth)
Peace on Earth, good will to men

Peace on Earth
Peace on Earth
Peace on Earth, good will to men

Cameron Chatwin and Sam Bytheway
Delivering a Christmas ornament
from Utah Tech

Dallas, Aj and Bryce, Ellie and DJ
My babies on the screen saver!

12/12/22 Hey Girlie!!

 

Dad did a live remote at Balance of Nature

Another week has flown by (I hope they are flying for you as well!!!)  

Dad's been feeling better so we were able to play pickleball on Monday before dinner. YAH!!!! It feels good to run around and play. The Casey's are so fun! 

We went to Pizza Limone...the restaurant that we enjoy the food...but it has the one lil red headed grouchy checker.  Ugh. I hate that. But I just go sit down and let dad order and don't worry about her! 

There is a new Crumble Cookie place, called Dirty Dough that is next door. (Crumble sued them because they said the owner of Dirty Dough worked for Crumble and stole their recipes...I'm not sure how that law suit is going for anyone!)  Dirty Dough is big cookies like Crumble but they stuff them with filling. SO it's not REALLY the same...whatever! haha.  They are super expensive just like Crumble though!  We had buy one get one so we got a couple cookies and then took a couple days to eat them! 

Tuesday was a BUSY day-- for work we did Big Shots Golf (just like Top Golf in SLC that we did this summer) - you play "games" hitting golf balls out into their big area. The games make it so terrible golfers can beat great golfers (you can change the level from beginner to intermediate to advanced OR just the games are random and don't make sense!) Along with that we had lunch. It was so much better than sitting awkwardly at a table trying to make small talk while you wait for a meal...which may or may not describe past Christmas meals with coworkers! Everyone LOVED it and they want to do it again next year. It was a little pricey but not much more than any other meal. Basically our food was cheaper then say Outback steakhouse. We got sandwiches instead of steaks. And spent the extra money on golf. 

At the exact same time...Dad received an award at the Southwest Utah Public Health Department - for "Friends of health"...so Grandpa went with him. They served lunch and then called him up in front of 80-100 people and talked about how great he is on his radio show and how it benefits our community.  Super cool. And now he has a wood plaque for his wall. Very cool. And Linda was there and recorded the event so I got to watch the award and his acceptance speech! Grandpa took some photos as well. 

Dad had a meeting for our Rose Parade trip (that I was supposed to attend, but I had a meeting I needed to attend and take minutes for) SO he went without me...again. Double fail in the wife department!!!!   He arranged for us to get a ride to the bus with Lora Madison (who is the daughter of Roland and Rinda Hunter from our ward...who are also going on the trip with us!...they won the cruise off dad's show a couple of years ago...right before covid hit...before we knew them! haha)  I think they really like Dad and so they are super excited to spend the trip with him/us. 

Wednesday we had dinner with B&L and GPA at PorkBelly's over by B&Ls house. It was yummy.  

Seriously...all this "socializing" and making sure GPA has someone to eat with is KILLING me!!! We eat out/eat too much...all.the.time!  Agh!  I am really struggling with menopause and this doesn't help at all!  

For YW we went to several widow's homes in our ward and visited.  We split up into several groups and each group had 4 sisters. We ended up spending 15 minutes with each sister and leaving them with a dinner and treats.  It was fun and very well received. And actually -- a pretty good idea for you to do in your area if that's something you are allowed to do...I guess they don't really need you working with members...so maybe not...but it was really fun!

Thursday and Friday evening dad picked up a "Gig" -- he did a remote from Balance of Nature. They have a tree festival (9 fancy trees throughout their building) and they had fancy desserts and gave out a bag of oranges to all who attended. They had a terrific turnout.  Thursday night we didn't see too many people we knew and I mostly just hung out by myself while he was outside doing his job. (I didn't bring a big enough coat to be out there!!!)

Friday night I got smart and invited tons of people and surprisingly most of them came!!! haha.  

So I got to see B&L, GPA, Finks, Thatchers (they actually came Thursday hearing dad on the radio), Wykofs (from our ward), Hendricksons (coworker and family), Stevens (from our ward) and Alecia --- an old coworker.  So it was really fun and I walked through the office over and over and over again. 

Whoville tree...love it!

Friday I went to a new dentist...my dentist quit!  What the heck! They called me in November and cancelled my appointment. Several weeks later I called back and they said, sorry we don't have a dentist. I think they are trying to get one but I decided not to wait and instead switched to the office across from my work on Telegraph. They seemed really nice. I have to go in for some work because he says my bottom tooth (which is filled) cracked. In addition I have a gap that I don't like that he says he can fix. So in January I get to go back and drop a couple hundred dollars and get a little work done. He said my teeth look really good (for my age?! -- he didn't say that but I felt like he implied that!) and that these problems were not my fault. He also recommended I get a retainer because my teeth are shifting...I don't want that...so I told him I didn't want to talk about that right now!   I'm so too old for braces and retainers. Come on! haha. 

Saturday we got to play pickleball with Milt and Beth and it was really fun. We played for 2 hours!  Then I spent 2 hours trimming all the trees in our front yard...which is the easy part. Picking up all the debris. oy!  I did my Saturday mop and clean the kitchen and then we hung out in the hot tub before heading to the ward party. Which was really nice. 

Today Erin Madison Smith and Quinton, her new hubby, spoke. She did a great job. They are trying to purchase a home and move but not having much luck so they are still living in the basement at Madison's house. 

The message today from our lesson was from Haggai 1:6...It basically says you have so much but it is never enough and you are never satisfied.  It's like you take everything you get and put it in a bag with holes. CONSIDER YOUR WAYS!

I feel like it is the facebook mentality...you see what everyone else has and what you have seems insufficient. The way to remedy that...focus on your blessings. Focus on Christ. Spend time looking at the many good things you have and stop comparing yourself. We would all do well to disconnect from social envy! haha. 

And finally...I need your wisdom, oh great one! 

Made Laura's recipe...yummy!

So Sheryl Rubin Strang asked me to shop for her each month. And I've been doing it. And it's been a bit tortuous.  One month she insisted on shopping with me. She walks very slowly and it took HOURS to gather her groceries. She overspent and I had to front her money for a month to cover the overage. The next month she insisted on returning an item...walked all the way to the back of the store. Tried on the item and purchased...you guessed it...the exact same item. The next month she asked me to get an order together. We spent an hour entering everything into the computer. Then she called me repeatedly to alter the order. Then she called me and cancelled the order because she didn't have the money. ANYWAY...all that aside I'm still willing to help. The deal is that she call me on Tuesday and I was supposed to shop on Friday this past week for her. Well...she hadn't called since last month...she said she had a mini stroke -- about the same time GPA did. So I reached out multiple times -- she has no machine or texting -- and she completely ignored me.  For days and days. I was starting to get concerned...like is she DEAD?!  I called the hospital. Nope, she is not a resident. Then I remember that she goes to the utility office like clock work and pays her bill. So after about 5 calls/texts/attempts on Thursday I go ask the Utility office and they say, oh yeah, she called Monday and she came in on Wednesday and paid her bill...in person?! What the heck?!

Big wreck...tanker tip, amazon packages
dumped out of truck, plus some cars
Dallas had to go around this mess.

So I was like...ok. I'm done. This is stupid. And the very next day she calls (I ignore it) and leaves me a message that she's been in the hospital since last month and this was her first opportunity to contact me.  (I call BS (bull stinky!!! )) 

So I haven't called back and I really don't want to. My little angel girl, what should I do?!  I want to be Christlike and I love serving but I don't love being lied to and ignored. 

Ok, that's a wrap. 

Hope you have a great week! Love you lots! mom and dad

12/04/22 Another week in the books

 Pretty good week -- bought a bunch of poinsettias from Star Nursery and arranged to take the police and fire to the nursing homes. We ended up splitting up into four groups (for four different homes) and the people we saw seemed happy to see us and get their pretty flowers. 

Tuesday we went to the RINQ with the stake YM/YW.  It was kind of funny but I think us old leaders were more skilled in skating then the kids! haha. I had a blast...reminded me of my childhood when we used to regularly skate on Friday nights. 

Thursday evening we went to the Sunshiner's Christmas Party (service club of the chamber of commerce). It was an ugly sweater event and there was a white elephant exchange. It was lots of fun. Yummy dinner. Santa came. 

We brought our "sexy" picture of George from Seinfeld and it was a much sought after gift!  haha.  Surprisingly!!!  It is kind of fun to have the coolest gift to share!  People were fighting over it. 

Saturday I went to Cedar City to spend the day with Holly. (Erik left to go to Oklahoma -- long story -- he'll be back late tonight)  and Holly was lonely.  Also her birthday is coming up and she has finals so we had a mommy daughter day. We went to several thrift stores and walmart and then to lunch at the Brick House. We spent about 5 hours wandering around Cedar City. Even got a car wash. It was fun. I think she was sad for me to go!  I did leave her with supplies to make pretzel rods dipped in caramel and chocolate so she had something to do the rest of Saturday and all day today. 

Church was the usual today -- play with the finks, Sunday school. 

The message I got from Sunday School was that church is a good place to go to find your support group. Life is hard and it is good to have your "people" to help you when the going gets tough. I swear I never even heard of the books we studied today in the Old Testament. Where the heck have I been all my life?!  Good to know there is still new things to learn!

Hope you have a wonderful week and can't wait to hear all about your last week!  xoxo

Mom and Dad