It's hard to believe that December has come and gone. It was a month full of all sorts of Christmas celebrating, visiting with friends and family, Evelyn home, potty training the puppy, musical performances and beautiful San Diego outings. Also lots of time with the kids at home since we did not plan any trips over the break with a new puppy to care for. So on the flip side... there were also moments of me losing my mind and begging the kids to help with their chores, take care of the puppy and get off of their screens! Haha. It was the best of times for all of us. Poor Blake is so incredibly busy with being a full time orthodontist, running a business, taking care of our family AND being Bishop of the ward. I feel for him so deeply and it is a lot but I'm proud of his willingness to serve others and the blessing it is to our family.
Highlights from the month included our Lake Poway Ward Christmas party at the beginning of the month, our super fun white elephant, bunco Christmas dinner with friends at the Judds, lots of Christmas-ing with the young women- gingerbread house contests, Panda Express Christmas dinner! I am definitely enjoying being in the young women's program and it's about a million times more fun now that Anna is in the program too! I love it!
It was such an incredible experience to have the kids sing in the JOY stake musical fireside. Both Anna and Grant were a part of the production and I tried my hand at conducting the children's chorus rather than accompanying which is my usual task. I loved it and truly it was such a gift each Sunday in December to work with the kids and put together two beautiful pieces to perform.
Loved going to the Nutcracker with all of my friends and all of Anna's friends and ..... GRANT. Haha. We had all planned to go see Addie (Grant's crush) perform in the Nutcracker but when the day arrived, Anna was too sick to be there! So Grant happily took her place. I thought that was pretty cool of him to go and support Addie- even being the only boy. Ha!
Blake and I celebrated our 25th year wedding anniversary!!!!!!! I adore Blake and love him more now then I could ever have imagined at the beginning of our relationship. I respect and admire the person that he is and I'm so grateful to have him for my life partner. We had fun at the beach and out to lunch at Cheesecake Factory for our big day.
And speaking of the beach... we went a lot this month. Introducing Coco to the beach was a highlight of the Christmas season. She loved it and of course, I'll take any excuse I can get to go stroll near the waves and watch the sunset. Having Coco always gives us a fun excuse to get out and walk and I love that. We visited Fiesta Island, Mission Beach, Encinitas and Belmont with Coco in tow this season. SO much fun.
Let's see... Christmas, of course was a very special day. We enjoyed the delicious Swiss pie that Grandma had made for us along with the Konolds' yummy cinnamon rolls. The kids opened Minky robes so that they have no excuses for going out in the cold mornings with Coco. They mostly asked for clothes and shoes. They opened two trips - one over spring break to NYC! So excited to take them back! Blake hasn't been back since we lived there! What a treat that will be. And then this summer we are headed on a cruise to the western Caribbean. And Coco was our big gift this Christmas!
Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa's was so much fun. We met up at Dana Point Harbor firsthand so that we could donate to the Giving Machine. Loved that each child was able to pick something incredible to give to a community in need. Chickens, pigs, vaccines, books, games. It was really very special and such a good idea Grandma had! Love her for always coming up with ways to make the holidays special. Then off to enjoy the most delicious prime rib we've ever had! Along with cheesy potatoes and rolls and salad. We were spoiled as we always are by Grandma and Grandpa who gave the girls beautiful earrings and me a necklace! And the boys gift cards to their favorite stores. We are all so excited to visit Disneyland this upcoming year as a big part of our gift. Love every moment we get to spend together as a family.
New Years was also a pretty incredible couple of days. We had the Bachman's in town and Ev and I had the best time ever at the Zach Bryan concert with Cathy, Michael and Addie. Then the next day we enjoyed a yummy dinner together and partied till 1 am at the Miners for New Year's Eve! Grant and Anna and Ev were off at times doing their own things- New Year's church dance, 6th grade party, Stampede for Ev with her friends. But it was truly a very fun few days with lots of games, food, music and friends.
Loved getting our family photos taken at the Iron Mountain trailhead by Jess. They really turned out cute and it was a fun day. Ev put together the color motif.
Speaking of Ev... it's been wonderful to have her home this month. She's helped with all sorts of driving, and dog sitting duties. She even gave up a night to do all of Anna's friends' hair for the big middle school dance. Ev has decided to do nursing school and that's a pretty big deal! We are all very excited for her. The first trimester of classes are all on-line so she is getting started with that! It's been a lot of decisions in a very little bit of time but she is feeling good about all that lies ahead for her and we are thrilled.
Dane has had such a great time with Coco and learning how to take care of a dog. It's been a dream to have one so he's soaking it all in. Dane and I had the best time ever in Arizona for a big MLS tournament with Coach Conner's team. Lots of hard games and Dane really played so well. It was fun to watch him be excited about soccer after a rough month of missing out on varsity. And that has definitely been a little rough on him and all of us. Life can be crazy sometimes with the curve balls it throws. Dane did a documentary last month for his digital media class on Blake being the Bishop of a congregation. It was very cute and fun to watch. Proud of Dane's hard work in school and love that he never ever ever needs my help! Ha! This is the opposite of the rest of our kids;)
Grant also has had the best month tending to Coco and just spending lots of time with friends. He invited the entire crew over for a Christmas movie and volleyball night recently and it was pretty cute that he sat next to his crush. They are the talk of the entire school and it's really actually very adorable. And the parents have stepped it up big time in hosting big middle school get togethers every weekend so the kids have a fun, safe place to hang out. I love our community! Grant has been spending a lot of time with his new friend- Tucker. They like to grill steak together. Weird but true. In fact for Christmas, Tucker gave Grant a special salt to season steak. And they spent some of their Christmas money eating together at Outback. They were a little nervous about how to tip and do all the things on their own... but they did it! When I picked them up I said, "well... now you know what to do on a date!" They both smiled real big.
Anna has loved the dog more than anyone else around here- and that's saying a lot. She LIVES for this puppy and Coco feels the same about her. They are best friends and it's really so cute. Anna has had a super busy month with lots of playdates and parties and dances and so forth! Christmas parties, going away parties (Cozy moved to Thailand!), choir concerts to attend, pre-dance parties, New Year's parties. She's been all over the place. And it's a good thing because Anna does not like to stay home much. She likes to be out and about. Anna was pretty sick at the beginning of the month and even had to go to the ER for breathing help! She missed a full week of school and it was a pretty rough go. But thankfully she recovered and had Kate to always help her feel better with boba tea and sweet notes. Those two girls are the best of friends. Anna was able to play with Nora once during winter break and they created a power point presentation on how much they both wanted a phone. Didn't go over on our end! I can't imagine that girl with a phone. Anna is the best at doing all of our nails, massages, facials and everything in between. Sweetest girl on the planet and right smack dab in the middle of a huge neurological assessment for her learning difficulties at school. As much as I miss her in dance class, I know this is the best use of her time- figuring out answers and tools to help her thrive in school. I hate that she feels anxiety every morning over the course work. I pray we get all of this worked out so she can feel confident and at peace with her life!
So in a nutshell, that was our month. It's January 8th, the kids are now back in school- even Evelyn is in her room in an online class! And I'm just now getting caught up on everything I've put on the back burner. Lots of young women tasks, work tasks, cleaning tasks, and catching up on the blog. I've decided to start walking and exercising again because I've felt so tired and I know walking brings me a little more energy and peace of mind when I make the time for it.
This past month I loved meeting with Sharmen who flew out from Utah to discuss a mental health curriculum for the church and I hope to be able to work on this in the new year. Pickleball will still be a part of my life- in fact, we had the best time doing a big Christmas Pickleball event before the break. Love my friends and that time we have together each week. Loved celebrating Sameen's birthday- we surprised her and dressed in 90's clothes for an awkward photo shoot! Ha- she loved it. Celebrated Teneil's birthday by going to the Jenny Oaks Baker concert downtown and had THE BEST time. What a fun night! Babysat Sophie Judd for a few days while Elizabeth was in New Orleans. Love spending time with Sophie:) Got Invisalign AGAIN to make room for my implant in the new year. So grateful that I'm done organizing neighbor gifts, office gifts, making ornaments, secret Santa for the families in our ward! It was all great and wonderful, but I'm officially glad it's come to an end. Loved that the kids helped with a lot of these tasks. The best month of the year has come to a close and I'm looking forward to all the adventures life has in store in 2024.
