Thankful Hearts

This is such a cheesy title.  Haha.  But its appropriate.  And I'm cheesy.

So my cute Valentine's Hearts wall has been making me cry all week.  I can't help but read them and feel so thankful that I had such a sweet Dad who told me how proud he was of me and expressed his love for us continually.  But I miss him a lot.  I'm going to miss his Superman onesie at Christmas this year.  I've looked at a few of our past Christmas photos and it is just not quite the same without Dad.

I remember my mom doing my hair each morning and telling me how much she loved me each morning.

I've talked so much about my sisters, but I really do feel like the luckiest person for having 4 best friends that I love so much.  And a brother who was also my best buddy growing up and who I absolutely love.

We have the BEST families.

I've loved my Valentine's wall.  I even have one from 1985.  Cute Grandma Regen put the date on it.

We saw Coco yesterday.  Dad would have loved that show.  It was kinda appropriate for my mood too.

Anyway, the Chalkboard is fun, but it got me thinking.  What if we could fill up as much of that wall as we can?  I'd love that.  These little hearts are my favorite tradition.

Thanksgiving 2017

We spent Thanksgiving at Angela's new house.  It is BEAUTIFUL.  She hosted Thanksgiving.  I love going to her house and seeing what else has been completed, which furniture has arrived, etc.  It is such a classic home.  It is in the most beautiful wooded lot as well.  So yeah.  I've always loved looking at houses, and it is even more fun when it belongs to my sister.

The kids helped me make the raspberry pretzel jello.  Its full of the very worst kinds of foods.  But it is really yummy.  And we make a chocolate silk pie every year that is my favorite.  This year we used the Kerrygold butter for the pie crust and it was so delish.  Miles was reluctant to help.  But I assured him that if he learned to bake a chocolate silk pie, someday that would impress the ladies.

It was so fun to see Courtney again! I love all the Shaeffers.  What a nice family Dan has.   The kids all absolutely love playing with Kershaw.  Soren spent hours playing air hockey and Ms. Pac Man and the secret room with climbing wall was super duper cool.

Why didn't I get more pictures with people in them?

Love the Sunsets lately!  

We came home and somehow started pulling out the old scrapbook boxes.  It felt like a really great way to celebrate Thanksgiving.  We all laughed a lot and loved looking at the old photos, artwork, letters to Santa, etc.

While we were at it, I got some inspiration.  I have this little collection of Dad's old Valentine's, and ones I've written to my family.  All these old letters and valentines have a perfect home on my Chalkboard.

Weekly Wrapup

Weekly Wrap-up.  So much happens each week!

Elise got her ACT scores back.  29!  She was a 34 in the reading.  So good.  The math was hard though.  She is really sick of tests and school in general, so she doesn't want to take it again and try to get better in the math.  She is going to apply to most of the schools around here.

We had a Girls Night Out in Park City with Jared's side.  It was so fun!

We all went to Draper temple to do baptisms.  Look how much taller Miles is even when the girls have heels on.  It was so fun to see Miles, Elise and Monet doing baptisms.  Jared got to baptize them,  and I did initiatories and it was super cool.  Its been awhile and it felt really good to do that.  I've had better prayers this week.  Really praying hard for some emotional comfort for some people we know.  Sometimes watching other people you love struggle is really the worst.  Lots of names went on that prayer roll.

Jared and I discussed how much more mature Miles is getting!  He used to get riled up pretty easily.  While he still likes to show-off for new people and especially acts up when he is trying to be funny around Elise and Monet's friends, he is so much more calm.  And so cute with Soren.  Its like 80% super cute brother and 20% big tease with Soren.

Monet got answered for Preference.  It was cute!  I had to hurry and clean her room.  Lol.

Jared and I went to TopGolf for the first time on a date night with some doTERRA friends from Seattle.  It was soooo fun!  He ran into his old friend and neighbor T who was there with a BYU recruit. I stink at golfing.  But I want to go back!  We did a food tour date.  Our friends came up with that idea and I think it is SO fun!  We went to a few places to eat: Sushi, Nielsens and TopGolf.  Fun night.

Monet had her Nike Cross Regionals meet in Arizona.  This is a big meet with all the top teams in 5 states.  The Southwest regionals is the most competitive in the nation.  They came in fourth overall.  They beat all the other teams from Utah.  Monet had a fantastic race!  We got her a little water bottle and some snacks like sport beans, electrolytes and it helped her she said.  She drank a ton before the race.  Which was good because about 25% of the girls were falling over at the finish line.  Some girls were crawling across.  It was hot and looked pretty tough.  She got a PR by a TON!  She stopped her watch at the 3 mile mark and was at 17:49.  Thats so great for her!  She averaged 5:57 per mile for 3.1 miles.  So her total time was 18:30.  Her goal this year was to get a sub 20 5K.  So she smashed that.  I'm super proud of her.  Like unbelievably.  She was very pleased.  There is a slight chance they could still go to Nationals.

Elise had a great time doing a slot canyon next to Goblin Valley.  It looked like such a fun adventure! She went with a big group of friends and some parents accompanied them.  I'm super happy she is doing such fun things.  Awesome pics!  It was freezing though and our new sleeping bag wasn't warm enough for 20 degree camping.

I learned how to use Spotify!  Yay.  Lifechanger.  I love music and am so sick of Pandora commercials.

Miles told me that I should try out for the Voice.  Lol!  I'm so flattered.  When Elise was little she said I should try out for American Idol.  I think thats so cute.

Family Adventuring

Growing up, my parents loved to go new places.  Despite a limited income on two teachers salaries, we had some pretty epic vacations.  I've talked about Mexico in this post from about 9 years ago.  Travel was just something we did.  I had friends whose parents would say they couldn't afford trips.  And I kinda laughed about that because we may not have been able to afford a lot of things, but travel was like air.  We just did it.  My parents were extremely proactive and would figure out a way because it was important to them.  My dad would have books "Mexico on $20 per day" and things like that.  We knew how to go cheap.  And I never actually took a plane ride until my senior year of high school when my mom brought me to California after THE car accident. So we figured out ways on our budget to see Cancun, tour the entire United States and Mexico.  All without stepping onto a plane.

When we were newlyweds, travel wasn't something that we did much of.  One year my cute dad flew Jared and I to New York so we could stay with Angela and see her little guy Marty.  It was so fun!  We were married a lot of years before ever really planning a trip and paying for a hotel.  Our first anniversary trip was like 8 years into our marriage and the next wasn't for at least another 8.  I think part of it was because it felt indulgent.  Like we needed to be spending our money on other things first.   And we had opportunities to see cool things and stay with family, etc.  I don't regret that.  I know that we were trying our best and trying to be responsible.  We had lots of fun when our kids were little with family reunions, camping trips, etc.  Our thinking was different back then.  

I have wanted to travel the world my whole life.  I kinda felt like that kid looking through the shop window at that shiny new bike.  It was something I knew we'd do at some point, but the timing wasn't right.  Lots of pregnancies, nursing babies, saving for important things.  So the past year has been like a dream come true for me.  I'm crying just thinking about it.   Taking my kids to Europe is more than I ever hoped for.  I've had a few somewhat negative comments here and there about trips from people.  I worry about coming off as braggy or indulgent  I shouldn't worry about that stuff, but I do sometimes.  But at the end of the day, I'm not apologetic.  I only wish I could explain my heart.  We ARE very intentionally LIVING IT UP.  

And here is why.  Years ago, I used to follow a blog called the "Six in the World" family.   They were living my dream and traveling the world with their four children.  I loved their posts and their cute family.  A few years ago, the mom died.  It was actually really sad for me to hear about that.  But I was really glad that they had the adventures they did while they could.  How many people can say that?  

Then this year, my dad passed away.  I definitely think it made me more aware of the fact that we need to make the most of the time we have.

Everytime I look at the pictures of our trips this year, I am just filled with such good nostalgia.  It was worth everything.  All the planning, preparation, money, etc.  It was just really good for us.  Travel has helped us create our family identity and to bond.  When we are home, life is BUSY.  Our kids are off in every direction with their friends, sports, etc.  We are also pulled in every direction.  Being away from that helps me to be a different kind of mom.  Instead of the taskmaster, I can be more me.  

Being in Hawaii a few years back was perfect with a 2 year old.  That was the best month and such perfect timing.  I think about that trip ALL of the time and realize that at the ages my kids are now it would be a lot harder to go anywhere for that long.   All my life I've been dying to see Europe.  France and Italy have been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember.  And it was perfect with the ages we had.  I loved our trips.  

Travel isn't always bliss.  I was really difficult in London this year.  I was super, super jet lagged and tired and I'm sure that was part of it.  But there are also lots of details to remember and it can also be stressful.  Its good for me to have that kind of a day so I can see how NOT to do it next time.

Anyway, I'm super thankful that we've been able to do these trips this year.  It is our last year of all of us living under the same roof.  I hope we'll have lots of opportunities to do more of these kinds of things in the future.  But for now, I'm really just happy reflecting on the times we've had.  I've been printing photos and combining all our different photos from different devices and I am so happy seeing all the fun memories we've made.  If you are on the fence about doing an epic trip, JUST DO IT.  You don't get that time back.  Buy more experiences and fewer things.  That couch or furniture you want, its just going out of style at some point anyway.  If you REALLY can't swing it (I understand that too) go somewhere together.  So many ways to adventure on a budget.  Just make it happen one way or another.

Paris and Rome Itinerary and Tips for Families

We were so excited to get our direct flights from SLC for only $600.  That is a pretty great price for Delta's direct flight.  Total flight time was 9 hours and it was EASY.  We were given so much food we couldn't eat it all.  We left at 5pm and arrived in Paris the next morning.  We found this on Google Flights.  We set a search so we would get alerts on good deals.  When this popped up we were so excited.  I've been following flightsfromhome.slc on instagram for good deals.  That's how we found our Amsterdam flights for $450.

When we travel each kid gets a backpack and a carry on roller bag.  I bought some cheap ones at TJ Maxx and the zippers didn't hold up, which was inconvenient.  I'm really loving our TUMI bags we were given by doTERRA. They are guaranteed and I have stuffed them so tight and they are still doing great.  If you travel a lot they are probably worth the cost.

We stayed right next to the Eiffel Tower in this Airbnb.  While we LOVED the incredible views.  Every night when it would sparkle it was pretty magical and it was special because it was Monet's birthday when we arrived.  We wouldn't choose to stay in that area again though.  It was far from the action and a long Uber ride home each night.  Plus it was really expensive compared with other places that also looked really nice.  We found other nice places for about a third of what this one was.   So it was a special one-time splurge.  We really loved the St. Germain area when we were walking around.  We stayed at another hotel the last night in Le Marais.  Our street we were on was full of shops and restaurants but pretty noisy.  I think there are nicer parts of Le Marais and I've heard good things about that area.  I love the Airbnbs!  I love having a washer/dryer when traveling with kids.  Plus I don't really care about the service aspect that you get in hotels.  When I am with the kids its all about comfort and value.  I like having an apartment type place.  The Airbnb's were from $100-250 in Italy.  Here is our Airbnb in Rome:.  The one we stayed at in Sorrento was just okay but if we go back to Amalfi coast, this one looked cute in Positano and a great value.  Its hard to find hotels to fit a family of 7.  If it was just Jared and I we would go that route.  But for the fam, we need a washer/dryer and more space.  There were good deals in Paris and London too in the $200 range.  Amsterdam was more expensive.  We couldn't find much under $500 a night there that would sleep all 7 of us.

With Soren, we tried not to do too many things in a day.  So we generally did 3 sights per day.  We tried to balance out the museums with some parks, rides, etc for the little kids.  We used the app "The Fork" to make most of our restaurant reservations since we don't speak French or Italian and it was super convenient.  Many of the restaurants are small and it can be hard to accommodate a family like ours.  Our very favorite restaurant that might have been the BEST meal of my life was lunch at Le Vente D'Armor across from the Notre Dame.  We found it on The Fork and were worried when it looked a little fancy for our crew.  But it was FABULOUS.  We were all so happy with our food.  The server was soooooo nice.  They all just doted on Soren and were so friendly and wonderful.  We usually eat a lot of street food because it is easy and cheaper.  There were good baguette sandwiches at lots of places.  But Paris doesn't have a whole lot of "fast" food.  The meals there take a long, long time.  So you have to be prepared.  Grab some stuff at a grocery store if you don't want to spend 1.5-2 hours eating dinner.

We got a mobile hotspot before coming so we would have wifi for navigation, restaurant infos and reviews, wikipedia, etc.  I like to be able to read about where I am while I am there.  It was really nice to have all of those things.  We switched to T-Mobile and our international service now is really good and we wouldn't have needed anything else.

When in Europe, we slept in and went to bed late.  That really helped to come home and not have to adjust so much to the time changes.  We didn't plan to leave the apartment in the mornings until 11am.  Also just an easy way to do it with young kids.  Plus it was kinda fun to all be awake late at night.  Rome was especially fun at night.  One of my favorite memories is all of us hanging out in the square around the Pantheon flinging the glowy helicopter things into the air.

What we did in Paris:
Day 1: Eiffel Tower (buy tickets as far in advance as possible), crepes at stand across the road, Merry Go Round for Soren, Rue Cler, and a little Champs Elise shopping for Elise and Monet.

Day 2: Musee D'Orsay (free for the kids), Fed pigeons outside for at least an hour, Jardin Des Tuileries, Montmarte and Sacre Coeur Cathedral (great views of the city), and Traditional French Restaurant.  Montmarte was super fun and there are lots of little novelty shops.  There are also lots of crude things so you have to watch out for that. The restaurant was interesting but the food weird and not very good.

Day 3: Notre Dame Cathedral, Lunch a Le Vente D'Armor, Pantheon, Playing at the park Jardin Du Luxembourg, Exploring St. Germain

Day 4: Farmers market before, Versailles, Creperie lunch afterward.   If I were to do this again  I would make sure to not go on a Sunday.  Also, go on a bike tour first of the grounds, hit the palace last when it isn't so crowded and tour buses are gone.  It is PACKED in the mid morning.  But by 3 it was pretty empty.  The Palace wasn't that great.  I could have breezed through it if I'd known how fun riding bikes would be.

Day 5: flight to Rome.  I try to schedule flights for mid-day so we can sleep in and check-in to the next place upon arrival.  We used Air France.  But I'm finding that the low price airlines (Easy Jet) really was easy!  Air France was a pain.  They wanted to charge us for our carryon bags because the weight.  I've not had that on any other airline in Europe.  I thought I was paying more so I didn't have to deal with that stuff.

This was such a fun trip!  Our kids had a blast exploring the city.  I only wish we'd been able to do the Catacombs tour!  I've heard such good things about it and we didn't get to do it.

Rome:
Day 1:  Rick Steves Rome Walk at Night.  This was super cool at night!  We hit the Campo De Fiori, Piazza Navona, Pantheon, Parliament Bldg, Piazza Colonna.  We got gelato and pizza along the way.  There were so many people out doing the same walk.  It felt safe and fun.

Day 2: Pantheon, Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps.  Late that night we all hung out at the Pantheon square next to our place.  The kids loved doing the glowy helicopters.

Day 3: Shopping near the Spanish Steps.  They had a ZARA, Brandi Melville and this cute sneaker store that Monet and Elise loved.  Everything was so cheap at ZARA!  About 30% less than in the US.

Day 4:  High speed train Rome to Naples.  Circumvesuviana (cheap unreliable train but we thought it sounded fun) from Naples to Sorrento.  We stopped in Pompeii, stored our luggage at the train station there, had lunch at a quaint outdoor pizza place.  Explored Pompeii, then back to our train and onto Sorrento.  We walked from the train station to our Airbnb there.  Our place in Sorrento was fine but not that great of a location.

Day 5:  Hired van to drive us down Amalfi Coast.  Explored Positano and Amalfi.  Wish we had spent more time in Positano.  A little better to stay in Positano than rush to Amalfi that is really similar but bigger.  We liked the beach in Positano best.  I think I would stay in this Airbnb if we ever went back.

Day 6:  Capri Boat Tour.  Our favorite day of the entire trip.  We wore swimsuits under our clothes.  It was a small boat with only a few other people on it.  Little bit chilly when we went.  We definitely needed jackets while on the water.  It took us to the smaller side of Capri to Marina Piccola away from the bigger town.  We loved it!  It was so charming!  We had sandwiches (included with the boat tour) and enjoyed the pebbly beach.  The kids liked climbing on the rocks and searching for beach glass.  We bought some towels at the local shops and brought them home as souvenirs.  This would be such a dreamy place to honeymoon.  I loved Capri, but mostly the smaller less ritzy part.

Day 7: back home on the Circumvesuviana to the Naples high speed train, to the Hotel near the airport.  The high speed trains are cheaper if you book in advance.  We wish we'd known that.

Where we stayed:
Paris: (check out other links, the view here was amazing but you pay for it and it isn't central to other sights.  I'd stay here again for a night or two.)
Eiffel Tower View Airbnb

Rome: (Creative and fun use of space!  Great for families.  Central.  Building from the 1500's so there are some downsides to that, wifi was unreliable.  Bathrooms a little weird)
Cute, CHEAP Rome Airbnb next to Pantheon

Sorrento/Amalfi coast:  This turned out to be a bait and switch situation, but for $100/night we were happy.
Airbnb Sorrento
Rome Airport Hotel:
Hotel Tiber

Amsterdam: (I would plan my whole trip around staying here again.  It was THAT incredible)
HomeAway Amsterdam

London: (liked this place but it wasn't a charming building.  Block concrete, not my fav)
Family Friendly Flat London

Other great options:
Paris:
Cute Paris Airbnb
Le Marais Airbnb
St Germain Airbnb Paris

Positano

Rome

Dating: Girls read this in a few years

This super blurry picture will always be my favorite from our dating.  

A month or so ago Elise's church leader was doing a lesson on dating I think and contacted each of the girls moms to ask them to share the qualities they looked for in a spouse.

So since I wrote it all up, I may as well blog it here too!  Here's the summary:  Testimony, attractive, happy, smart, healthy, ambitious, and funny, commitment.  All marriage pre-requisites.

I often think about college dating and what it was like.  I watched friends date people where it was kinda robotic.  Like they checked off requirements like it was a job application.  And there are probably lots of people that could "fill" those certain requirements.  But in the end the way you are together as a couple is what makes a guy the man of your dreams.  :)

What struck me most about Jared is how we felt together.  I'd never felt more comfortable with a guy.  It wasn't right off.  I was super awkward and reserved at times and especially when we were driving to California and he jumped in my car for an hour or so.  I didn't really know what to say.  But it just took a week and I felt like we'd known each other forever.  He was so charming and SO funny, so being around him was so fun.  He was so easy to talk to.  He wasn't formal at all.  But he was respectful.  I never felt like he was putting the moves on me.  I just felt loved and adored all the time.   I always felt like I was what he wanted.  He never made me feel less than or that I was lacking in anyway.  Funny is really important to me.  It really is nice to be with someone who has a sense of humor.  He had a sweetness about him.  He was kind of a softy.  I loved that.

Jared was super direct.  There were never any mind games or manipulation.  It was just, "I like you, you like me, lets have fun."  Very uncomplicated.  So refreshing.  We talked daily and he wanted to do something everyday.  Even if it was just washing the car.

He was confident and liked to show off a little bit.  But it wasn't arrogant.  He wanted to impress me though!  One day he showed me all his basketball scrapbooks and letters from colleges.  Probably because it was such a big part of his life before I met him.

Jared has always been ambitious.  He has a very proactive nature and is positive.  He sometimes is TOO positive.  That has gotten us into trouble before.  But I love that he wants to provide for us and felt motivated to make our dreams come true.  There has been a lot of sacrifice along the way to get to where we are.

Babies, dogs and elderly people everywhere seemed to love him.  It was very cute.  My Grandma Adair really loved him.  Maybe because she was friends with his grandma.  He is very good with people.  He is genuinely interested in them.  I'm always amazed at how much he remembers of all the people we meet.  He was really cute with his family and had a good temper.  My favorite picture of him from his mission is the one with this lady at a rest home where he did service.  It is seriously so cute!

He is generally a happy person.  We've both experienced anxiety, depression, and lots of stress in our 20 years of marriage.  That's just life and sometimes life is rough.  But I think we both default to pretty happy and satisfied.

He was really affectionate.   Its really easy to make him happy.  Hold his hand, give him a kiss.  Not hard to please.

He has a solid testimony.  He's not one to fake being spiritual or to be super overt about it.  He's not one to talk a lot about church.  But he's solid.  And his actions show the kind of person he is.

I felt like I'd won the lottery when he loved ME.  I still do.

Learning the HOT way

So Miles is obsessed with Ghost Peppers.  Ghost Peppers are one of the hottest peppers in the world.  Here is a little info about Ghost peppers from Wikipedia:

"In 2007, Guinness World Records certified that the Ghost pepper was the world's hottest chili pepper, 400 times hotter than Tabasco sauce. The Ghost chili is rated at more than 1 million Scoville heat units (SHUs). However, the ghost chili was shortly superseded by the Infinity chili in 2011, followed by the Naga Viper, the Trinidad moruga scorpion in 2012 and the Carolina Reaper"

Clearly, this is a hot pepper.

One day I got a little packet of ghost pepper seeds in the mail.  Apparently Miles wanted to grow them in his garden this year so he ordered some on Amazon.  I'm always impressed with his: 1. research on weird things 2. his resourcefulness.   Only problem was it was too late in the season for them to really have time to produce anything.

So instead, he and Jared got the aero garden out of storage and set it up in Miles's room so he could have a ghost pepper grow operation.

They are doing pretty well!  Getting bigger for sure.  But it will still probably be awhile before they are ready to eat.

So at Harmon's the other day Jared buys Miles some Ghost Peppers with the intent of making hot sauce.  This is not something I would have done.  But dads have some hairbrained ideas sometimes.

Yesterday while we were at Monet's XC banquet, we get a text from a Deb saying that Miles is on Live Instagram eating ghost peppers.  I called him right away, but it was too late.  Both he and Simone had already eaten them.

In fact, Miles ate 3 and Simone had 2.   They were quite proud of themselves for being able to swallow these peppers and made quite a show of it (to their two or three live insta viewers lol).  But they really had no idea that the the worst was yet to come.  They were going to pay for this naive move.

All.  Night.  Long.

Poor Jared was up all night with the kids trying to find something that would counteract the incredibly upset tummies.  We are googling whether or not Ghost Peppers could actually kill someone.  And finally both kids threw them up.  Which BURNS the throat, nose, etc.  Yikes.  It wasn't just throw up either.  It was basically coming out both ends.

I'm laughing that the Ghost pepper is officially known as the Bhut Jolokia.  (Butt Joke anyone?)  Because that is quite coincidentally what happens when you eat a ghost pepper.  Jokes on you and your butt.

I'm not sure why my son did this, but I'm laughing now.  He stayed home from school all day today.  He said he was going to do a follow-up on the Insta and let everyone know NOT to eat Ghost peppers because they pretty much "melt your insides."

Ghostpeppers anyone?

This Week

I like these kinds of posts!  I don't know why.  They aren't that exciting.  But here is what happened this week:

I worked out at Orange Theory MWF.  Got a new record, 49 splat points on Friday.  Went hiking to Stewart Falls with the Hiking Mamas.  It was so fun.  I really love hiking and being outside and social at the same time.  I read my scriptures each morning.  I started in Mosiah and remembered why I really love Mosiah.

Jared and I started the day after Halloween on a new eating plan.  yeah yeah, I don't really want to blog about diets.  But we are liking it and its been easy.  I'm down three pounds and he's down 7.  I LOVE watching him on a diet.  It might be my favorite thing ever.  He's so funny.

Jared and I had fun at the school Halloween Parade.  The kids were all so cute.  There were some funny costumes.  We dressed up like Wayne and Garth from Wayne's World and only really parents knew who we were.  Ha!

I taught 12 or so girls how to bake bread at Activity Days.  I forgot all about it since it was Halloween the day before.  Thankfully I remembered at about noon on Wednesday and it all worked out just fine.  The girls were all excited about their mini-loaves.

I brought a bingo game to Soren's Halloween class party.  A cute little Ninja boy in the class took one look at me and told me he was going to punch my face.  Lol.  I thought he was just trying to get into character.  When I told Soren about it, he was super offended for me.  He said, "That's rude!  I don't like him very much now."  haha.  He's been playing with neighbor friends all week and is so excited about that.  Its good to see him have more playdates.

I also did mom art at Simone's class.  That was super fun actually.  When they asked whose mom I was, they all told me how nice Simone is.  That made me proud.  Simone and Brooke were zombie lacrosse players for Halloween.  So gross!  Brooke's mom is really good at gory makeup and it looked really good.  I had to practically kick Simone out the door on Halloween because she was so into her puzzle Jared brought home from Wal-Mart.  Simone has been doing dog training all week with Annie and Lewis.  She is teaching them so many commands.

Jared took the kids to a BYU basketball game.  He's excited about season tickets.  The older kids are always happy to go, the little kids think it sounds like torture.

Miles and Simone started rock climbing.  They are super excited about it and soooo sore from their first session.  Afterwards I went with a friend to a Christmas sale and bought some Christmas decorations.  I'm excited to paint the built ins sometime in the next few days.

We went to Thor on Friday with the kids.  It was funny!  Soren ate so much popcorn, I don't know where he put it all.

Miles and Nick had a sleepover and rode the bike and pulled the longboard with the bike all the way to Kneaders, which is over 2 miles away.  So it was probably a 5 mile trek to get French Toast.  I love that they did that!  I wish I had a picture.  Last night I took Miles to Home Depot at 9:30pm and dropped him off while I grabbed some things at Target.  He bought all the stuff for a potato cannon and brought it all home and built it.  I love how all the men at Home Depot were so excited to help him get his stuff.  Super cute.  He seemed to like doing it all by himself.

He wanted to shoot it off at like midnight but I wasn't okay with that.  It sounds kinda scary and might freak someone out that late.

Elise and Monet had fun this week too.  Elise and I went to lunch yesterday and she was saying that its pretty sad to think of all their friends going on missions and off to college this next year.  I remember feeling that way too.  Good thing college life is so fun!  She has a lot to look forward to.  Lots of her lacrosse teammates are getting mission calls right now.  She took the ACT this past week and is super burned out on studying.  So glad she's done at least with that part.

Both girls are registering for basketball.  Their teams are basically their TMS teams and they are excited to play with those girls again.  Elise is also playing indoor coed soccer which is funny since she is not a soccer player at all.  She's currently upstairs reading a good book.

Monet informed me she has 8 things to get done today.  Just hearing her say that gave me a little shot of anxiety.  But its clear that she is looking forward to crossing them all off her list.  She seemed eager.  I guess we are all different.  She was on the phone with a friend yesterday planning the weekend.  I love how she likes to make plans for the group and enjoys having a big group to do stuff with.

We cleaned the church yesterday.  I was stressed about it on Friday night because I realized that somehow Jared and I were supposed to text everyone in our group a reminder for Saturday Morning.  Ugh.  I spent our date night at the dinner table texting and trying to figure out what I was supposed to do.  I think better communication is needed because that made me frustrated to not know that this was up to me until then.  You know what stresses me out?  Feeling like I've dropped the ball.  There are so many little details to remember.  Church, school, kids, sign-ups etc.  Its hard to remember everything and I don't.  Even with a good system I feel like I've got too many balls in the air most of the time.  But oh well.  Such is life.  I'm trying.

Speaking of, I've got a fairly messy house currently.  All these busy things=no one is cleaning up anything. So thats what we are going to do this week is dejunk one area at a time this week and really deep clean.

Today I went to ward choir for the first time.  I don't really do choir type of singing.  But I love to sing so why not?  So many great voices there.  We taught Sunday School to our class.  It was probably a boring lesson I was at choir instead of prepping.  Shoot.  We'll do better next time.