Happy New Year: 2025

Can we have one more week off? Please? That went by way too quickly. Last Sunday we had a cranky Justin and Evelyn at the same time. Evelyn was acting extra, extra and Justin was not taking any of her drama. It came down to some naughty words and anger swinging around the house. I felt frustrated because everyone was cleaning except his majesty, he got to lounge on the couch with “his precious” bossing the rest of us around and critiquing our work. I requested he go calm down in his room, he started cussing us out and refusing to back down. So we left. We drove around town looking at Christmas lights with music blaring. The Nampa city tree was especially cool because it looked like it was breathing as the wind rippled the light nets used around the tree. Justin went to bed after 40 minutes, we stayed out until 9:30 driving the roads. Sometimes life is hard. I do feel frustrated when a grown man acts the same way as our 11 year old. Evelyn of course took the entire incident to heart and blamed herself entirely. We all played a part and should’ve done better. We had a big apology fest the next day and moved on. 

Santa magically snuck his gift right under Josie’s pillow sometime during the night. Josie was confused about her lumpy pillow until she discovered the wrapped lump! She tore into her Santa gift, opened up a fancy pair of opera glasses with inlaid mother-of-pearl decorations. She was very excited! 

Amelia spent most of Monday with Ambree, Jocelyn, and Kiana out shopping at the mall. She had a lovely day doing what teens love to do like Boba, Chik-fil-a, and the mall. Evelyn had Lyla and Izzy over to play for a few hours. Josie got to play with Melody for a while. I caught Melody dragging Oliver by the arm with Josie draped over Oliver. That was a strange sight. Everett went over to Kyran’s home several times or Kyran over at our home. Phillip was the only loner because his friends were busy. Amelia took Evelyn out to dinner at Noodles and Co to celebrate 5 weeks of no-fighting on Sunday for clean up. That was a really hard goal for Evelyn, I appreciate Amelia stepping up like that. Amelia’s influence over Evelyn is strong! 

Happy 20th anniversary to Justin and I! We celebrated by driving up to Idaho City for a night at the Pine Top Inn. I crocheted a Hufflepuff scarf for Josie during the drive up the canyon. We ate at the only restaurant open, a bar and grill. The food was decent but cold. Justin made reservations for an hour soak at a hot mineral springs near our hotel. We had a private tub all to ourselves with fancy Italian sodas. Those first few moments were achingly hot as cold toes met 100 degree water. Soon we were plopping our wet bums on the cold rocks just to cool off. The stars were crystal clear and bright overhead. Sigh, that was magical. Justin gave me some cute bird earrings. Evelyn snitched that he ordered the earrings during church a couple weeks ago! Ha ha. Next morning we had breakfast at the other only open spot in Idaho City. We ran a couple errands to Fred Meyer and then the Asian Store (for bonito flakes), then home again by 1 pm. Happy 20 years to us! It’s been an adventure for sure. We have lots to laugh about, some things to cry about, and lots to improve. I got to say farewell to Jacob before he went into the MTC 

At home I got another bee in my bonnet. I dove right in wanting to switch the boys bunk bed with the little girl’s beds. The boys recently separated their beds. Josie really wanted to sleep on a top bunk so I went with the request and changed up beds again. I think we did the same thing last Christmas break! The bed switcheroo took a couple hours and made a horrific mess. We quit around 5 pm for New Year’s Eve plans. The Ostlers had enough leftover meat to do a second fondue meal. I roasted up some potatoes and peppers to supplement the meat. Yum. Amelia heard there was a Stake Dance at the Smith building hosted by another stake. She convinced her brothers and friends to join in the fun. Everett and Kyran went to their first Stake Dance as newly minted 13 to 14 year olds. Amelia is thrilled her friend Jocelyn is back from Military School after 4 months away. She picked up Jocelyn on the way over. Evelyn and Josie went over to hang out with Oliver so our house was empty except for two dogs and a Justin. I settled in for a long wait until midnight…that is until 9:30 when all the teens arrived back home. The dance was a complete flop. The DJ turned out to be a teenagers phone hooked up to the PA system. The music paused whenever a text came through…guess that person was popular. Everett was out tearing up the dance floor, he was content with the lame dance. Somehow we made it until midnight where we popped outside to bang pan lids together and yell “Happy New Year!” That was climatic. 

Most of New Years days we stayed in our PJs just vegging out. I worked on the girl’s room sorting through piles of clothes, shoes, and toys. The only special occurrence was our fancy dinner. I made homemade Miso soup, spam fried rice, and potstickers. Well, the girls went to Walmart to find a shoe rack, that was exciting. Amelia went to Hailey’s home for a Studio Ghibli night. They watched “When Marnie was There.” Everyone cried so call that a win. 

Thursday was girl hair maintenance day. We all got our hair cut! That felt lovely. The little girls got 3-4 inches trimmed off. Amelia mostly got her hair thinned and trimmed. My lopsided hair was carefully groomed back into submission. Phillip said his legs were crazy itchy for a couple of weeks now. I took him to see Dr Aldous, on the drive there Phillip said his legs were not itchy anymore. Wahhh? Seriously?! Then he actually asked me if maybe his legs were allergic to school because the rash went away during school break. Erm, dunno son! That boy is hilarious. Everett’s friend was at the door, Phillip walked down the hall yelling to Everett: “Kyran is here! He came with a fork and spoon and a bib that says ‘I like to eat Everett’ on it.” Where does he get all those sayings? Josie enjoyed a couple hours with her friend Lucy from school. 

Maisie started peeing blood again, or that’s what we thought. The vet said the bladder stones would pass and cause bloody pee for a bit. That was a negatory in this instance. Maisie was on her doggy period. Justin sent me a concerning text that Maisie…yes Maisie the same dog that spurns Fergus at every turn…was rizzing up Fergus. Oh gosh, that is not fun news. I guess we will know in 4 weeks if some baby puppies are coming into the Call home. Stinky. In the meantime I really just want to slap some diapers on Maisie’s bum, the pee situation is out of hand. Honestly, we are concerned Fergus would chew the diapers off Maisie. 

Friday I found a decent used bookshelf to put in the boy’s room for Phillip’s Lego collection. We picked it up during a cold drizzle that evening in the truck. On the drive back we stopped at Target to pick up a cube shelf for the girl’s room to store their particular treasures. I sewed up some curtains to hang from the top and bottom bunks. The girl’s greatest desire was to have a curtain they could move back and forth. Everett asked me why I did not make him curtains, I did not have a good answer. Sorry dude. Justin and Phillip assembled the cube shelves, I finagled a wire system on the ceiling for Josie’s curtain. Evelyn’s was easy with a tension curtain rod and two zip ties. The girls had fun filling the cube shelves with their precious items. Evelyn was quite particular to make each cube a different theme just like Amelia’s decorative shelves. Josie set up a horse corral surrounded with evil Ewoks. That was hilarious. 

Justin and I got up early to attend ward temple day at 10 am. The holidays limited the attendance to 4 other ward members besides Justin and I. I finished mom cleaning the girl’s room around 3 pm. Amelia convinced me to stop working and enjoy the rest of the afternoon at a park. The Calls went to Ann Morrison park for a couple hours. The dogs loved the dog park. Fergus was running around like a crazy dog snatching sticks from larger dogs and playing like a 3 year old. Maisie watered every stone with a 1/32’s drop of whatever she could eke out. Josie was on the hunt for flat rocks to make her own seeing stone like she read about in Spiderwick. Fun times. Justin stopped at Del Taco instead of making us eat leftovers again. What a guy! 

Sunday was a red banner day for the Call family. We now have a Priest, a Teacher, and the newest member of the YW! Phillip and Everett were set apart after church. Evelyn even got her first temple recommend! Justin and I sat in with Evelyn for her interview just to make sure she understood the questions and felt comfortable. How cool is that? The boys practiced their new priesthood duties after the worldwide devotional. Justin and I interviewed each child to update their goals for the year. We also made some family goals during devotional. 

1. Use less technology during devotional, use actual scriptures. This will reduce the technology distractions
2. Each child will assist with the devotional on the same night s/he has dishes
3. Quarterly family trip to the temple for baptisms
4. Go camping this summer and use the telescope
5. More family walks
6. No electronics afterschool except for educational purposes
7. One family night per month (craft, games, movie, spa, bake, etc)
8. When we have a family clean everyone is involved until the job is done
9. Keep up the Duolingo family learning!
10. Read a book out loud as a family

That’s a pretty good list of goals, at least two for every category spiritual, physical, social, and intellectual).