Chad Week!

We love having family in town but when I realized we would be hosting 2 of my brothers and their families and my parents on the weekend of Chad's birthday I knew I needed to show him some love and make him feel loved so he didn't get overlooked on his birthday. So I invented Chad week! Starting 7 days before his birthday, he got an envelope each day with a treat or a surprise in it. Along with a silly picture for the Chad wall. 

The 1st day I ran to Lehi to pick up his surf board he bought but didn't know how or when we'd get it here

Day 2 he had some drinks in the fridge

Day 3 he got some massages - the kids all helped and we rubbed his feet, back and neck

Day 4 was of course crumble cookies that I surprised him with at work to share with his co-workers

Day 5 we got a night out with 5 friends at TopGolf that I had been planning for a few weeks

Day 6 was 6 scoops of ice cream with the fam at Leatherbys

Day 7 was a big list of reasons why I loved him along with his presents for his birthday

I think he enjoyed it and it was fun making him feel special for once!

We took the Eash's and Mason and his fiance' with us to Top Golf and we really had a good time! It's overpriced, but it was a good fun night! This week the governor did a soft closure and asked us to stay home so I didn't know if we'd get to go, but it was still open, so we went!

He requested steak and alfredo and trifle on his birthday, and even though he had to cook it, we got to eat it for lunch on Sunday! Then we had dessert with my parents when they came later that night. It was fun to have family in town, but busy too! I'm so grateful for Chad. He is gracious even when his special day gets taken over. He is sweet to me and kind always. He is patient with our kids and loves them so easily. He is playful and a hard worker. He brings light to my day every day and makes sure to make me smile often. Love you Chad and I hope you know how special you are to all of us!

 

November

With the fresh coat of snow, and the tough year we had had, I was feeling especially ready for the Christmas season. I set a new record of getting our tree up by Nov 8th! Notice there are still Fall decorations on the shelf. I just wanted my tree and the comforting glow that comes from it! 

Carter is determined to teach Brielle snowboarding so he got her all geared up and took her out back to our hill. 

There was lots of clapping and excitement when she made it down!

We had family pictures coming up so I got my hair done!

And me and Ry made sure to have some tea parties, snuggle time, and reading time. 

 

Oh Jilly Bean!

This dog! As much as I have tried to fight not treating her like a human, she just sort of thinks she is and lets herself on the couches and she roams the house as she pleases, most of the time digging in trash cans and stealing smelly socks. 

She is so darn cute though even though she has destroyed 3 of these monkeys!

She has learned quickly who to go to during meal times, Rylee and Mollie are always very generous!

If we can't find her, she is usually in Mollie's bed!

Everyone loves to snuggle her, including dad. She doesn't always love it but allows it. She will for sure growl at you to let you know when she's done. 

We got a little snow in early November and it was so fun to watch her experience the snow. She loved it and never wanted to come it. Then I had to figure out what to do with a muddy, wet, excited dog!

Our favorite times to cuddle are the day she gets a bath. Her fur is SO soft!!

And I REALLY tried to keep her off the couches, but how can you kick this little bundle of fur off?! For the most part we do keep her down, but every now and then she gets lucky. 

She has grown SO much this month. She is getting so big its crazy! Every now and then she likes to climb up on me while we are watching tv. It doesn't last long but its sure cute!

Another monkey for our monkey!

And she is getting pretty used to the car. I take her sometimes to pick up the kids. It took her a while to want to get into it, but now I find her hopping in every chance she can. 

 She learns so quick and the kids and Chad love to teach her new things all the time. She doesn't bark until someone comes to the door, which we are working on. So far she plays nice with the neighbor dogs. She loves to steal anything she can from them! She hasn't ruined anything important...a few things outside, but no shoes or furniture. So  I'm hoping it will stay that way so she can stay here! JK, kinda. Here's to becoming a dog mom!

Halloween Fun

  The day before halloween we had a few fun things to attend. Carter's team did a trunk or treat and the kids could go around like 10 times since there were so few kids. Then we went off to a party at the Eash home. They did all kinds of games and had soups for dinner. We all dressed up and joined their family fun. Me and Rylee and Mollie all won prizes for our costumes!

I tried a different grease makeup and it was not fun either but it didn't flake off. Just my hair stuck to my face all night. 

On Halloween we made a spooky dinner. Each kid was in charge of some part of dinner to secretly make. Rylee helped with the mummy pizza, Bri did jello brains, Mollie did strawberry ghosts and broom sticks and Carter did a green spooky drink. They  barely could eat it because they could see all the kids trick or treating in our neighborhood!

We quickly ate and then started walking around the neighborhood. Jilly even got a ladybug costume and she came trick or treating with us. The weather was really great and we had fun seeing the creative ways people were passing out candy. Many people were set up outside their homes which made it easy and quick to go from house to house. 

And like every year, the kids all came home with a haul. More so than normal maybe. They all had several full size candybars. We appreciate the people who are trying to help bring some cheer to the kids. And just like that, the season of Halloween is over and the very next day I had decorations down and am ready to get into the holiday spirit! It won't be long before our tree is up!! 

Among other things...

Among other things that have been disrupted, changed or cancelled is church. Back in April they cancelled church all together. I felt so lucky and blessed that we had a prophet council us a year in advance on how to have home church. We didn't miss a beat and it felt fairly normal to be studying and worshiping at home. It really was a special time for many reasons. But the greatest for me was getting to partake of the sacrament in our home. I realized its importance and it became something I looked more forward to every week and that I took more seriously to give me strength for whatever would come our way that week. It was so awesome to see Chad and Carter to use their 

priesthood together to bless and pass the sacrament. 

In June we got the go ahead to meet back together. We met every other week in 2 sessions. The older couples went at 9 and the families and younger people went at 11. I love 11 am church. Its the golden time! By October we were meeting back as a ward and since we are small, only needed 1 session. But an online option was added for those who didn't feel safe. A Youtube link was created and members could watch the service from home. It was no longer called sacrament meeting but a worship meeting. The meeting consisted of a prayer, song, 2 speakers and closed with a song and prayer. Then the online was turned off while we started a sacrament portion and then left. All done within 1 hour. 

It took alot of effort in our old building getting the wifi to work just right to make the broadcast work. But after a few weeks of trial and error, the problem was detected and fixed and now there are no issues. But a scene that looked like this played out every sunday....super distracting but they were all working so hard to make sure it was successful for those staying home. 

It has a been a blessing when any of us have been feeling a little sick we can still join in worshiping with our ward. We all miss primary and I know some day it will come back. But for now we are happy with what we can get and that we can gather with a few. Chad and Carter both have sunday responsibilities so we choose to go to be with them each week while many choose to stay home. We feel blessed with technology and with a caring bishop who does all he can for this ward. We are grateful, but look forward to when this will all be behind us! 

 

Our Jacks

We finally got around to carving our pumpkins we got at Cross E Ranch. Chad will never do the guts so it was all me and the kids. 

Rylee wasn't a huge fan. I told her if she wouldn't do it she could never play with slime again. 

Bri was determined to carve hers herself. 

Mollie spent the longest cleaning out her pumpkin. It was clean!

Ry wanted a kitty cat so I helped her with that. 

Grandma gave Carter a fun pumpkin kit with flashing eyes and teeth so he was excited to use those. 

And Mollie needed a flamingo which took the longest but sure turned out cute!

Good times doing pumpkins with the kids! It always feels kind of magical when we get to see them with the lights out. Happy Halloween!