Christmas Break

Last year we went sledding at Steamboat, it was fun, icy and bumpy but we had a great time. Once my phone reconnected we learned Grandpa Lynn had passed away during our adventure. It seemed fitting to be sledding once again a year later, a celebration of life for a wonderful grandpa. I know he is busy pushing the work forward, he was never one to loiter. I can't wait to see him in action without all the encumbrances this life pressed upon him. We decided to go sledding on Sunday since a nice, thick layer of snow was coming down. In fact we got about 3-4 inches of fluffy snow in less than an hour! That is a good snow fall right there. We drove up after packing a lunch and collecting a large pile of sleds and snow gear. The amount of clothing needed to stay warm for 7 people is quite phenomenal, I even brought along the glove/mitten crate for those with cold hands and wet gloves. We listened to Jake and the Gingerbread Wars, a fun read right in between the Gryphon Chronicles we are reading. I love that the little girls are really into listening now! The gulch was a bit crowded, at least 30 vehicles and lots of people enjoying the hills. The prices are going up each year, still not bad for an afternoon of fun for only $15. I bought 4 new soft sleds and a large inner tube this year. The inner tube was so fast it was thrillingly dangerous. Phillip hurt his bum within the first 20 minutes, he rammed into a tree with his bum. Ouch. He was mostly out of action the rest of the time. He did venture out of the van when the snow started coming down to build an igloo. I tried to capture Amelia coming down the slope on the inner tube, I missed her because she was going so fast all we captured was a whoosh and blur of snow! I wanted to try it out so climbed up the hill to the halfway point, following Amelia's advice to start lower down. Whelp, my weight and stature created a perfect storm! My beanie flew off after the first second, I tried steering the tube but it was no use. Thanks to some observant adults they cleared the way for my speeding tube. I ended up bum up, head in the ice and snow on top of the snow barrier. I feel lucky that my tube did not race up the barrier to land me on top of the van. I was unhurt, laughing to the point of tears. That was epic, a one-time sort of epic. A thick snow squall settled over the area. Most of the sledders packed up and left. The rest of our time was very calm and enjoyable. The snow was falling so thickly it was hard to hear, the silence was a miracle of nature. Sitting in the snow with silence sliding all around is an experience I will savor for years. Justin camped out in the van with the kids who were cold, tired, and sore. He braved a few runs down the slopes once the snow slowed. Our friends the Potters arrived shortly after the snow stopped! Christine introduced us to the area our first winter. We lasted a little longer with friends to play with. My laundry room is now a snow clothing repository. It's hard to wiggle through the mess. 

Tuesday we watched Baylor, Aunt Fawn's dog while they worked their temple shift. He is quite the scaredy dog, He only trusted Amelia, after she played fetch with him for 3 hours. Justin and I took the 4 youngers to swim at the rec center because the slide, diving board, and rope swing were open. I spent 90 minutes working out, Justin swam with the kids. Evelyn and I worked on her doll area whenever I had a spare moment. Sara and I went to a RS progressive dinner. Amelia was kind enough to babysit for Jenny Leavitt last moment so she could go with the ladies. We enjoyed appetizers at the Hills, then soup at the Minors, lastly dessert at Sonya Kennedy's home. Sister Kennedy is a Nativity collector, I think most wards or stakes in USA have someone like this. Over the span of 40 years she's collected between 75-85 sets. My favorites were a Jim Shore and a James Christenson set.  

Wednesday we used Joseph and Kat's awesome Christmas gift to an adventure at an Escape Room. It was a very snowy day, one that needed an activity to remove our brains from the constant barrage of the TV. Justin loves to binge watch Disney+ whenever he gets the chance. The kids then have an excuse to play minecraft. We chose a wizard's final exam as our escape room theme. The goal was to get out in 60 minutes using teamwork to find and decipher clues. Everett was very excited! He was almost shaking with anticipation. The little girls took turns opening locks when we found a key. My favorite key used two magnetized wands placed on a glass etching, it popped open a trunk. Evelyn opened and closed the trunk using the trick many, many times. We needed a couple hints towards the end because we had to split into two groups. The escape room mentor gave us another minute because we were so close to solving the puzzle. We finished with just a couple seconds on the clock. Phew, it was close but we earned our wizard capes, wands, and retrieved the wizard key. Joe and Kat gifted our family two sessions...we can't wait to have another go, next time in the jungle room?! 

Thursday Justin and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary! We kicked off the day with a visit to the Asian Grocery for Japanese Mayo. Just our luck, no mayo in stock. BUT we did get fancy ramens, sushi toppings, and fun candy kits. As we checked out the owner commented that he was coming over for sushi...oh wait, no Japanese mayo, he gave his excuses! We all laughed. I did learn that the main difference is that the Japanese mayo is creamier, so add heavy cream for a close substitute. Yay. Amelia convinced me that she could handle the kids overnight with Sara as back up. She did a great job, the kids were all alive and fed the next day. Somehow she even had the kids in bed before 9 pm for a full night of sleep. Justin and I were craving some MEAT, red meat...we found a joint boasting Prime Rib. The restaurant had a 40 minutes wait, unless we wanted to sit on the "heated" patio. Eating outside in 25 degree temperatures with a space heater was a new experience for us both. We even tried ginger "beer," a very strong ginger elixir, cleared out the sinuses better than wasabi.  Justin reserved the Sultan's palace at the Anniversary Inn. We walked in to find two large elephants in the room, it was hard to skirt the subject (wink). Let's just say that large spa tub did the trick to warm up our frozen legs and toes. 

New Year's Eve. Already. Justin and I stopped at the mall before heading home to find a cute sweatshirt for Mia as a thank you for watching the kids. I found a Totoro sweatshirt she was eyeing a couple weeks ago, they had the item in my size so I also got one. Totoro will always remind me of Grandma Jean, wearing it felt like she was close by. I made some bread dough the day before that needed to slowly rise overnight. I was anxious to try out my new enamel dutch oven with some crusty "artisan" bread. It baked up perfectly crisp and crunchy on the outside and soft inside. Sigh. I planned to have sushi at our home and fondue at the Ostlers. Clare came over early to work on her doll makeover with Amelia. The girls removed factory make up and the OG hair. Amelia started work on new boots for her first doll. As the time got closer I decided having sushi and fondue was WAY too much food so I focused more on making chocolate fondue with dipping items and a cheese fondue with stuff to dip. Once again my cheese fondue flopped magnificently. It separated and nothing would fix it, even a stir with my boat motor tool thing. At least the flavor was epic. The chocolate also started to overcook as some child turned up the crock pot to high. Sara had a lovely set up with lots of steak and fondue pots and sticks at her home. Everett earned the award for eating the most, he was still at the table eating 20 minutes after everyone else finished, Dusty was impressed. Everyone headed to my home to chat and play games. I worked on making a minty dessert that was not realized on Christmas day. I was the chauffeur for the NYE Youth Stake Dance. Amelia and Clare went to the Finches for help with makeup and costumes around 7 pm. My van was stuffed with smelly, excited teens. We listened to Encanto songs in French, Portuguese, and Japanese. I noticed Walmart was still open, stopped on my way home to get some pudding needed for my dessert. I was very sad to miss a roaring game of Scrabble. We stayed up until midnight by a miracle and prayer. Phillip was please to do his weird high-pitched squeals and screams outside without inhibition. Everett banged pan lids like a maniac. We froze our tushies off in the zero degree temps as fireworks went off from the Young's house. I think this was the first year we really celebrated New Year's awake in a very long time. 

Saturday everyone slept in past 9 am! I decided it was time to get my van inside the garage. It was numbing cold outside even in the garage. I cleaned for a good hour, Justin and the boys finally joined to help clean up. We had the garage in shape before lunch. The boys set up a temporary wood-working area using the table I will refinish in the spring as a work bench. We covered it with a layer or two of cardboard and plastic tarps. Everett made a couple nail and string art creations. Phillip is working on learning how to use the carving tools. I cleaned out the van at the carwash. It was quite disgusting inside and out. The dried spaghetti was getting to me, Josie dropped it on the van carpet the last week of November. 

Sunday...oh blessed year. We attend 10:30 am church this year. Everett stole our hearts with his sincere testimony. He had a very special experience the same week we studied the Proclamation on the Family. After one devotional he went to pray in his room, asked if he was a son of God. He said the spirit was very strong, he heard an answer that he IS a son of God. Everett was at the pulpit weeping as he related his testimony. How did we get such a tender soul? It is from his heart, nothing we do could shape that. I pray he retains those feelings and impressions during the next few years as he goes through puberty. His testimony segued right into singing time, we learned about the song I am a Child of God. Some kiddos volunteered to read scriptures related to the song. We learned 4 verses in English then attempted to learn the first verse in French, Italian, Spanish, and/or Portuguese. For dinner we had the Palmers over again for sushi making lessons. I had a large vat of hot and sour soup, huge pot of rice, and potstickers because I also invited the Ostlers. Sara and I crossed communication wires yet again, they stayed home. Boo. My vat of soup ended up in the trash because there was no way to finish eating it all. We learned fancy tricks to making homemade sushi. I even found colored soy papers, adding fun splashes of orange or pink to the rolls. 

The next three days were mostly boring. I made the kids go with me to the gym on Monday. They swam while I worked out and lifted weights. The boys make very fun playmates! After cleaning up the kids got to do some bouldering in the climbing room. I went grocery shopping. Next day we watched Baylor again. This time he was much friendlier and open to us, he even let me play fetch using my wooly ball. Sara, Carson, Logan, and Oliver met us at the ice skating ribbon at 3:30. I was ready with snow pants this time, course it was much warmer but still snowing outside. The skates were even worse, the kids barely made it 30 minutes before whining. I dangled the bribe of hot chocolate as incentive to finish off the hour. They did. Goodness, the hot chocolate was the best I've had. Amelia got a strawberry Boba (another thank you for babysitting) instead of chocolate, oh my gracious...it was divine. We all want to try making boba pearls again. It is a trial and error process getting the correct texture, more waste than enjoyment. Wednesday I photographer another sweet baby boy named Eli. He was very sleepy but not so curly. I think his shoulders were sore because he refused to keep his hands near his face, twitched everytime after 10-20 minutes of careful positioning. His mom is a school counselor at an alternative school in Meridian. I asked her what the fascination is with Anime, apparently it is a guise for pornography. It's not true porn if the characters are cartoon in nature, passes notice but still cultivates addiction in the teenage crowd. Sneaky Satan. The kids are back in school today. I feel about three weeks behind in everything. I'm not sure it's worth trying to catch up. Ha ha, just pick up the pieces and keep going. Christmas might bring us joy for the next month...until I garner enough energy to rearrange after Christmas.