New Year 2026

Happy New Year! It’s 2026. Last year felt like an eventful year with lots going on. We had lots of choir, Messiah in America, Evelyn starting YW, Amelia graduating, her Senior trip to Disneyland, the boys working over the summer, moving Amelia to Rexburg, Charlie Kirk’s assassination, President Nelson and President Holland passing away, new van, and another MCO season starting. This year starting out we already have Amelia starting her 2nd semester this coming Wednesday, her mission papers nearly ready to submit, and music coming out of our ears. I would not have it any other way. My parents and Jana were also in car accidents only a couple of weeks apart, getting new vehicles and the pains of post accident recovery are nothing short of awful. My mom’s sternum was cracked which is very painful. 

I was very excited to have another week of break to enjoy. We had some relaxing down time to just enjoy as a family. The boys are figuring out how to work the 3-d printer. Our first print was a Rozum unit for Roz, our van. It immediately broke, durn it all. Monday we drove out to Scheels so Amelia could try on some Dansko shoes for her mission. The Doc Martens she really wanted immediately rubbed her ankles raw and did not feel comfortable. Indeed the Dansko shoes were a much better fit. We went to D&B where they carried some Mary Jane style Dansko shoes. We walked out with more schliech figures including a flamingo, sloth, fluffy chickens, hedge hog, and more ponies. Evelyn was once again hangry so we fed the beast before she consumed everyone in the van. 

Justin and I celebrated 21 years of marriage gallivanting around McCall and Cascade. Justin reserved a hotel in Cascade called the NoBo, which stands for North of Boise/Northbound/No Boundaries…take your pick. The local herd of deer welcomed us to the hotel. Those deer were hungrier than Evelyn. We drove North to McCall for dinner at Steamers enjoying some seafood. Justin reserved snowmobiles for a day of fun on the 29th, with the stitches he was unable to grip the handles so we postponed that adventure. Instead we walked around McCall poking into tourist trap shops. Instead of snowmobiling we settled on painting pottery. That was the most fun anniversary of my life so far…well except for Cancun. I selected a little item for each kid and then a cute gnome with a tree hat. I completely underestimated the amount of time each item took to paint. The little figures were actually three times harder to paint because of the size. I am very excited to see how the pottery turns out after firing. We were in the art studio for 3-4 hours painting! It was well past lunch so we opted to drive down to Boise for dinner at a German restaurant. I had a hankering for weinerschnitzel and spaetzel. Too bad the food was underwhelming, it was not seasoned enough and tasted bland. Now I am on a mission to make a the same dish with proper seasoning. We spent a second night out on the town at the Anniversary Inn. Justin reserved the Hawaiian room, that was as close to Hawaii we got this year. Ha ha. Early Wednesday morning found us at the temple. My sweet friend Eliza Beck took out her own endowment at the 8 am session. It’s been way too long since we last attended the temple. The world was right again for that precious time in the temple. I cannot wait for Amelia to get her own endowment in a month or so. While we were gone celebrating Amelia held down the fort at home. She saw Dr Aldous all by herself for her mission papers. Good job! The kids went ice skating on Tuesday for a fun activity. Evelyn managed to crimp her own hair with her new hair tool. I was impressed she managed that alone without any assistance. 

I started cleaning the office out once we got back home. It was needed that yearly management of paper work, sorting office supplies, and trashing the trash. Rachel and Eliza Beck invited Amelia to the Institute dance in Boise. Andrew Beck was going to a regional youth dance at the Vertical View (rock climbing gym) so I invited Everett to join Andrew. The Beck’s came over to our home for mixed drinks with fancy ingredients before the dance. The rest of us went over to the Ostlers for an appetizer dinner and games. Sara quit our game of Carcassone because Dusty stole her city. Dude, Sara! We tried some new games like Chameleon and Colors & Hues. Amelia got a ride home with Hailey Hansen from the ride after watching the potato drop at the Capitol building. Ha ha, only in Idaho. We banged pots and froze our tooshies off at the change of year. The crazy younger kids built a fire and spent time dancing around the fire in order to stay “warm” in the 30 degree temperatures. Just a note about the temperatures, this “winter” is the mildest winter to date since the weather was recorded in Idaho. 

New Year’s day we all got some sleep. Yummy. I decided to “help” Justin clean his part of the office. That included dumping out the contents of several boxes he brought home after leaving Cascadia. His desk was cluttered with boxes and paper, he never really moved in. We got it all managed and unpacked so he can start this New Year with a clean desk above and below. There is a new file cabinet with drawers coming next week where he can put his work papers. That adventure took the rest of the day. The best part? Staying in PJs all day long. Once Justin was at a point he could finish up alone, Phillip wanted help sorting his stuff from the room switcheroo. The girl’s room caught my eye as also needing some help, plus I needed to remove their under-the-bed drawers to put some bins behind the drawers. I amused myself setting up Josie’s new stable and horses. You might find someone riding a flamingo, a sloth hanging from the rafters, horses fighting, and the turkey giving someone a ride. I am reading the girls “The War That Saved My Life” right now. We finished off the day snuggling while reading some chapters.  

Amelia needed two immunization shots before she turned in her medical papers and I needed a blood draw, thus off to the clinic we go! Amelia helped out with grocery shopping at Walmart. I was on a quest to make delicious schnitzel and spaetzel, the restaurant food did not fill my craving. Amelia had a date with Carson in the evening. He’s texting her 10-15 times per day since Christmas break. He is bored and his friends are off on missions. They went out for dinner then bowling, followed by a trip to the Lego store. The rest of the date was at his home watching a movie and putting their Legos together. What a fun date idea. Amelia was running a fever because of the flu or covid shot. 

Evelyn really wanted to take her friend Maleena to chik-fil-a for lunch because she has not been. We made a day out of it! She invited her other friend Lyla to come along with Maleena to the mall then lunch. Amelia was begging for a mall visit, so off to the mall. Justin even came along and walked the mall for some exercise. Maleena thought chik-fil-a was delicious. Justin took everyone else home while Amelia, Ambree, and I went to Hobby Lobby and Barnes & Noble. I was on the hunt for macrame shelves to thin the herd on the office windowsill. I checked at the DI the day before without luck, but I did find a cute wooden stable for my olive wood nativity set. That makes me giddy. School resumes on Tuesday next week. Stupid. That means we have school on Friday. Really, there is no reason to start school on Tuesday except the district is giving teachers a prep day. 

Our new church schedule is at noon for the year. Yuck. I’d rather have 9 am and then a nap. It’s got to be done so, here we go. Tonight we are having a family council on chores and the New Year. We need a chore revision with Amelia gone. The adjusted chore list is not working, dishes are more and more becoming my task again, and I am tired of all the trash my kids leave cluttering the table and counters. This mom is fed up! I am very excited to study the Old Testament this year. With the announcement that other bible versions are acceptable to study makes this year even more fun.