Looking Back on 2020

There's not much going on today at our home for New Years Eve, but we spent a little time reading memories of parties from years past - 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013. We're still going skiing tomorrow, and that's a tradition that will be fun to keep. Hopefully next year things will be back to normal? Come on 2021, be good to us. Actually, I've spent some time looking back at 2020, and there has been so much to be grateful for! We were able to get Family Pictures taken in April with all of us! 

When Joseph left for his mission in 2018, we were pretty sure Ethan would be gone before Joseph returned, so we didn't think an opportunity like this would happen for years - but since Joseph came home from his mission early, we were gifted an entire month at home together, and that was a month of life that was basically school and extracurricular activity free, with all of our children. We loved it! 

All our little ducks lined up in a row. 

Here are some of the highlights of the past year for our family -

January - Joseph turns 20, Peter turns 1, Daniel potty trained, Ethan scored 243 in bowling, Lily advances in the school science fair.

February - We've been married 21 years, Owen stitches, Mozart Group with Mel, Peter can walk, Ethan accepted to BYU!

March - There's a run on TP, Abi goes to Texas. Ethan receives his mission call, Corey to Texas, earthquake, Joseph comes home from his mission early, 

April - A month at home together! Ethan creates a mocumentary of our family in quarantine: "The House", My birthday, Family pictures before Joseph and Ethan leave

May - Melodie's mission call to Brazil, Joseph and Ethan to California, Ethan graduates high school, we have a new kitchen table and three triple bunk beds

June - Daniel gets staples in his head, camping at Pineview, Corey's birthday, Lily turns 11, Wesley is 15, 

July - Ethan gets his wisdom teeth out, Natalie is 7, Owen is 5, Uintahs, Ethan begins his mission, Park City Wride reunion, all together agaiin for a few days in Park City

August - Bear Lake, Hyrum is 17, Melodie and Ethan go to the temple, Ethan leaves for Missouri, Owen starts kindergarten, 

September - Abi turns 13, Sophi turns 9, Daniel is 4, We visit the Salt Flats and the Great Salt Lake for the first time!

October - Melodie leaves for Indiana, mountain biking, Trick or treating

November - Getting everyone tested for covid, Sophi miraculously is able to get another test, Drive to Las Vegas, Flight to Hawaii, wonderful family vacation in Hawaii: Pearl Harbor, surfing, Bishop Museum. 

December - Joseph tested positive for covid, we're in family isolaion, Melodie turns 20, Christmas Eve Skiing, Merry Christmas, Peter is done nursing, we're not expecting, and Hyrum gets wisdom teeth out.

Family time at the beginning of quarantine in April above, and still having fun together at the end of April

Our first day in Hawaii in November -

It was a hard year that tested us in some ways, but also great year. Personal trials have been real for everyone, but if we let them, these experiences can humble us, refine us, teach us, and bless us. Those thoughts come from President Howard W. Hunter in one of my all time favorite talks "An Anchor To The Souls Of Men": 

"I hope you won’t believe all the world’s difficulties have been wedged into your decade, or that things have never been worse than they are for you personally, or that they will never get better. I reassure you that things have been worse and they will always get better. They always do—especially when we live and love the gospel of Jesus Christ and give it a chance to flourish in our lives.

"Contrary to what some might say, you have every reason in this world to be happy and to be optimistic and to be confident. Every generation since time began has had some things to overcome and some problems to work out. Furthermore, every individual person has a particular set of challenges which sometimes seem to be earmarked for us individually. We understood that in our premortal existence.

"When these experiences humble us and refine us and teach us and bless us, they can be powerful instruments in the hands of God to make us better people, to make us more grateful, more loving, and more considerate of other people in their own times of difficulty.

Yes, we all have difficult moments, individually and collectively, but even in the most severe of times, anciently or in modern times, those problems and prophecies were never intended to do anything but bless the righteous and help those who are less righteous move toward repentance." 

Wisdom Teeth Guy

Last night, Wesley helped me start to set up my new iPhone that Corey surprised me with for Christmas. I don’t know why, but I find iPhones a little intimidating because there’s like no buttons to push hardly. But I deleted some stuff off of my old android so that I had space to download the move to iOS app and then Wes helped me finally get all of that got transferred over last night. So this morning it was kind of ready to go, I put on the screen protector which is really nice, and then I told Abi I would let her go to Ross while I went to the store and get my blood drawn. She got ready and came with me. We went by Walmart first and I bought a pop socket which is just like a pink and peach and white marble kind which look nice with the pastel green color of my phone. Abi thought I should get the avocado but it was a little too playful for me. And then I took her to Ross and I went by to get my blood drawn. We should find out tomorrow what the numbers are to verify if the pregnancy has or has not miscarried. I'm certain it has. And I think I am leaning towards just waiting for my body to miscarry on its own. Unlike when I’m pregnant, I’m not in a rush right now to get this over with, I’m OK to let it take a week or two. I guess if it takes three then I’ll have to reconsider.

So this morning I went to get my blood drawn again, and then after that I went to Costco got lotta stuff then went to pick up Abi went shopping at Ross I got home at 1:30 and Hyrum helped me unload the car and then he got in and we headed down to Orem for his wisdom teeth extraction from the wisdom teeth guys. 

We just decided to do this on Monday - backstory: Corey resigned from his job at Rivet two weeks ago and is consulting again. Even though he stopped working there on the 15th, our insurance with them is going to go through the end of the month, so that was nice of them. I've gotten our private insurance all set up - thanks to Mike Russell for his help, he's awesome. If you ever need private health insurance, give him a call. He didn't send me a bill last time, and didn't say anything about payment this time, so I'm hoping he gets some kind of commission from Select Health. Anyway, with Rivet, we also have dental insurance though Thursday, and since we have that, we thought it might be good to take care of Hyrum's wisdom teeth. We're doing this last minute, aka the last week with our dental insurance, but I figured I'd called to check out our options. On Monday I called JBR Clinical Research, where Joseph and Melodie both went, but Hyrum didn't qualify for their current study, and who knows if he'd qualify for the study next month or the month after that. We tried a few times with Ethan and he didn't end up qualifying twice, and then covid happened, but we had to get it done, so we were lucky that we happened to have dental insurance for him when we did get it done before his mission. So, we have a few months before we need to stress about Hyrum getting it done, but instead of waiting around to see if if JBR works and risking having to pay for it without insurance, which could be $800 - $1200 bucks, we decided to just go with the Wisdom Teeth Guys again and do it now, to play it safe. They quoted me $200-$250. That sounded reasonable, so I booked it. They didn't have any openings in Sandy, but did have Tuesday in Layton, or Wednesday in Orem. We opted for Orem, and so I took him today. His appointment was at 3. We left at 1:45. It was good that we gave ourselves 70+ minutes for the drive, because google maps took us to the wrong location on University Avenue. We arrived around 2:40. Peter was asleep in the car, so I sent Hyrum in to try to find their office with no luck. Then I called them and they said they had moved, gave us the correct address, and then we have 10 more minutes to drive over there. We just made it on time for 3 o’clock appointment at the "Utah Valley Dental Assisting with Dr. Ben Hilton" at the Cherry Tree "Professional" Plaza, which didn’t look that professional. 

I was able to sit in the car for a bit and Peter kept napping. Then Hyrum said I needed to sign something, so I woke up P and we went in.

Peter still waking up. He was perfectly behaved. A little grouchy, but didn't let it show.

I signed some stuff, she told me about his recovery, I was worried I had to remember it all but then she gave me a few papers, yay. They handed me Hyrum's glasses, and the IV is in. You ready for this, H?

Peter and I practiced our ABC's out in the lobby. 

Utah Valley Dental Assisting - UVDA

Peter got the A right, but that was it. He called the D a B, and the V "W", and didn't care about U. Still pretty good for a one year old. All of a sudden, I hear some laughing, and I could tell it was Hyrum. I could see him in his chair from the lobby window, and I thought I started recording then, but it's a new phone and I was on video but wasn't recording. I didn't realize it until we were 5 minutes into Hyrum being high and I fear I missed a lot of the best parts, but oh well, nothing I could do about it - 

Hyrum was laughing so hard - and that made Peter laugh and it was so funny to see the two of them laughing at each other, the dental assistants were all laughing too cause of Peter. That was the main part that I was sad to have missed, and of course Hyrum talking. I realized I wasn't recording when I tried to take a still photo of the video and noticed it wasn't in video. Then I started recording. So here's a long 9 minute raw footage video of Hyrum on drugs, cause I don't have time to edit. Hyrum hasn't given me permission to post the video, so it's unlisted, but I still want to share it. Hyrum hasn't seen it yet, but Hyrum don't be embarrassed! You did great for a post-op wisdom tooth patient, there is nothing to be ashamed of. But maybe I'll remove the link if you insist. 

Feeling a little bit like he can think - talking to a friend, some of the thoughts he shared with Aidan: 

"I got new ski boots and I have a new ski technique down but I’m not going to encourage you guys to go skiing because when we went to the youth activities and you guys were going down the bumpy hills and I was like wow you’re like so darn good and I was like that’s crazy! I can’t die... so I went down the easier way.  Ha guys I wish I could just be like this all the time I just feel (laugh) so happy and wouldn’t matter people are mean to me, I’ll just say "it doesn’t matter, I’m happy!" ...yeah it doesn’t matter, did you finish your college applications? Where did you apply? Did you get accepted to BYU Idaho, YES!! We should go there and we can be roommates, I heard that BYU Idaho guy to girl ratio is amaaaazing, I don't have a girlfriend ha ha I’m a bachelor no you should get on discord I’ll do that right now. I see very well. Did you send a message on the Guys chat? Tell the boys to get on discord, I'm as high as a kite and YES! All right... will do"

So back at home, I was attending to Hyrum and catching up on being gone for most of the day and to help me, I brought out the tv to babysit Peter. I had Joseph put it away on Christmas, cause this little guy was freaking out about watching Disney Cars 3, which is seriously the dumbest movie, and we're all sick of it, but Peter loves it. But the tv has been in my closet for 5 days, so Peter really enjoyed me finally letting him veg out...

So relaxed... enjoying watching Mater and McQueen with two cars in his hands.

I've been trying to remember how the recovery went for his siblings. Joseph and Mel were both swollen, and Joseph had some discoloration, Ethan did not swell at all, maybe cause he iced it so well? So Hyrum is keeping the ice on and hopefully he won't get swollen, we'll see!

One finally funny note - tonight Corey worked late because he had a lot of interruptions during the day. One of them calls was from our friend Shelina who is feeling a little too pressured by the missionaries in Mexico to get baptized, so Corey talked with her, and then Corey also got a text from Father David tonight and Corey called him back. Father D said that he's so impressed with the LDS church and LDS families and how he thinks a lot of the Catholics are becoming anti- family and aren't even having kids! So, I don't know if he just wants to have this info on hand, but Father D asked Corey, since Corey has more connections here in Utah, if he could recommend a nice Mormon urologist to him that does vasectomy reversals. So Corey gave all of us some of that backstory and taught the kids some new vocabulary and Joseph was on a phone call with someone in Guatemala and didn't hear the 20 minutes of context lead up, but Joseph walked in as Corey said "I don't want to go to a Catholic Urologist..." and then Corey turned and looked at Joseph and they started laughing. The interruptions are probably a little hard, when they lead to him having to catch up on work hours, but I think Corey enjoys having such interesting friends and interesting stories to tell us.

Not Viable

Yesterday I had a doctor appointment with my OBGYN, Dr. Smith, who has delivered 10 of our children. I went in because we were expecting, but it most likely looks like we're not anymore. My younger sister Patrice told us how my mom miscarried at 20 weeks, a baby that would have been between Patrice and Beka, and that my mom was glad to have baby Patrice to hold for comfort. I've been feeling that way, and loved holding Peter last night. He actually woke up and 4:00 am and wanted cereal and so we went down and I gave him cereal and made oatmeal for the other kids. We went back to bed around 6 am. I am glad I have a baby to hold. Yeah, he's almost 2, but he's still my baby, and babies are magic.

So this was to be my first dr. appointment. I usually don't go in this early, but I started feeling sick at 6 weeks, and morning sickness usually doesn't hit me until week 7 1/2. That's been pretty consistent with each pregnancy. Also, I didn't think I should be feeling ill because I already started taking my trace minerals (morning sickness miracle!), so I thought I had a step up on it. I honestly thought and was praying that it would be twins (cause I'm crazy and think we are supposed to have 2 more children #lucky14, end of this post) but there weren't twins. There was a sack, but there wasn't a baby or a heartbeat. There was a little growth of something small in the ultrasound, but it looked too small, so Dr. Smith had me go over for another ultrasound in a different office and then a vaginal ultrasound and both of those verified it was only 5 or 6 week size when it should have been 8 weeks, and the vag ultrasound showed no blood flow, so yeah, looks like this little one has miscarried. So that is sad and I let myself cry a few times to my sisters, and I'm sure I'll cry again and more later, but today I'm doing ok and I sought some more help and support from family and friends. I texted a few neighborhood friends, called Corey's mom and talked to sister who has had a d&c. I also posted on facebook as I try to decide whether to miscarry naturally or go in for a D&C. Here are some helpful thoughts from my friends via facebook that I'll ponder as we decide how to go forward:

________________________________

"So personal question - we were expecting, 8 weeks along yesterday, but at my first appointment the baby was only 6 week size and there was no heartbeat, they did 3 ultrasounds and it looks like it's miscarried. I'm going in for another blood draw tomorrow to verify the miscarriage, but I was hoping if any of you could share with me your experience, if you've had one, of waiting to miscarry naturally or going in for a d&c surgery as I'm trying to decide what to do. Private message me if you prefer that. Thank you thank you

Comments: 

SheaLynn: I am so sorry for your loss. I lost one at that time and did it all naturally. It was unpleasant but I’ve heard that the D&C is often worse. I’m glad I just did it myself

Débora - Hi. I'm really sorry for your loss.. It happend to me too.. In my case, I had to go to d&c.. the doctor told me at the time that I could not wait.. the truth is that it was a very traumatic experience.. If the doctor says that you can wait, I believe that is best option

Gabriela - I’m so sorry for your lost. There’re no words that will make the pain go away, only time will help heal the wound. I also had a miscarriage with my second baby. Baby stopped developing with 6w, I found out when I was 9w and only started bleeding when I… See More

 · Reply · Thank you Gabriela! ❤ I've had one other miscarriage and yours sounds like my first experience in that I didn't know it had miscarried until I started bleeding at 10 weeks. Thank you for sharing

Cyndi - I'm so sorry Tiffany. Even when they are tiny, the hope, love, and joy of a new baby are already there. I lost a baby at 5 weeks and it seemed like a heavy period, definitely a lot more cramping and pain. It was more emotionally taxing since it was after my stillborn son. My next loss was at 13 weeks. We had seen the baby a couple of times and the heartbeat was strong and growth was on track. Then I started spotting. The baby's heart had stopped in just the last day or so. It was the day before my birthday and my doctor didn't want me to have a D & C on my birthday (a Friday) so he scheduled it for the next Monday. I ended up cramping and having contractions and going into labor myself on Sunday. I delivered my baby at home. It took me a few days to finally get through the whole process. It was very traumatic but one thing that was a blessing was seeing how perfect my little boy was...a tiny perfectly formed, already feet loved miracle. I don't know if the D & C would have been less traumatic, but I was grateful for how it happened. My heart and prayers will be with you. Please feel free to message me with any questions. ❤️

Monique - I’m sorry for your loss 😞 it’s a hard experience. It could take up to another week to naturally miscarry. My miscarriage was at 11 weeks and the baby was about 8 weeks size. I’m glad that it happened naturally rather than having a procedure done, and that’s what I would prefer, however my bleeding was very heavy when it happened, and I had to go to the ER to get it under control, which was unpleasant, sitting in the ER bleeding heavily onto a chair while I waited to be admitted. If you go in for a D and C, then you’ll already be admitted and bleeding can be controlled. However I didn’t know any herbs to control bleeding at the time and wish I had. Later a friend told me if I had taken cayenne and shepherds purse at home when it happened I wouldn’t have bled heavily. It depends on how comfortable you are with herb treatment. It wasn’t terribly painful, just a very emotional experience and concerning with the bleeding. What is the doctor recommending?

 · Reply - He said it's totally up to us, so yeah I'm trying to feel out what is best. I've had one miscarriage before, I didn't know until I started to bleed and we were living abroad so I never went to a doctor but thankfully everything was ok, it was just like a heavy period with clots. I'll check out taking herbs, thank you!

 · Monique okay - if he thinks it safe to wait for it to happen naturally that would probably be the best choice, especially if you’ve gone through it before...

Sonia - Passei 2 vezes por aborto espontâneo, Acredito ser natural e não fazer a cirurgia, Sinto muito... 💕

Jansi - Lo siento mucho😭. A mi me pasó en la semana 12... me recomendaron esperar para que fuera natural... pasaron como 2 semanas fue natural pero igual tuvieron que hacer una intervención. Ánimo y un fuerte abrazo.💞

Lisa - I'm so sorry for your loss. Sending love and prayers. ❤

Kiera - Msged you. So sorry for your loss.

Malerie - I’m really sorry. This is such a difficult thing to go through. My situation was very similar to yours. No increase in size and no heartbeat at my next appointment at around 9 weeks. I debated about what to do. Several close friends said they went ahead naturally and it was really difficult. Some said they ended up having to go in for surgery anyway because their body hadn’t completely taken care of everything. My body didn’t ever take care of it naturally and I went ahead with the d&c. Everything went smoothly and for me it felt easier to plan, make an appt, etc then waiting and experiencing it on my own. It’s very personal though and it’s a really difficult thing for your mind and body to endure. I’m so sorry. Thinking of you. 😘

 · Reply - Thanks Malerie ❤ How long after the 9 week appointment did you go in? Also, any chance you remember the cost from your dr and the hospital? The earliest it could be for us is next Tuesday, and with a new year comes a new deductible so we'll be paying the bills, which is one reason I'm leaning toward waiting for maybe 2 weeks

Malerie - Tiffanie, mine was in January, too. 😞 it was a week and a half after my appt that I went in for surgery. I remember my doc saying that it was fine to wait a bit. It was a long week.

I looked back and my whole hospital bill was about $3900 without insurance. That included surgery, labs, diagnostic testing, etc....

Therese - Oh Tiffanie I'm so very sorry 

Diana - I'm sorry. Miscarriages are so difficult. I passed mine at home naturally and it was horrific. I ended up at the ER because I was bleeding so heavy with huge clots. They gave me morphine and got some of the tissue out. I followed up with my ob/gyn the next day. I still had tissue inside and he was able to get it out in the office. I would have a d&c if I had to make the choice again.

Alisa - I am so sorry. Miscarriages are so painful. It is a loss that needs to be acknowledged and felt. I'm glad you are doing that. I definitely recommend the procedure. Living, knowing that your child has died inside of you, and is still there, is very hard. It's sad. Heartbreaking. A miscarriage is heartbreaking enough without prolonging the pain.

Laura - I'm so sorry for your lost. I went to that 2 times. One in an earlier stage and another with a full term pregnancy (week before due date). I chose natural way for both of them. Even though it is a hard emotional experience, that gave me more time to understand and mourn it. But that is a personal choice. Not everybody needs the same outcome. Love you.

 · Reply ·Thank you Laura ❤ I especially liked your last comment that we don't all need the same outcome. I appreciate all these thoughts helping me to ponder what will be best for us. Thank you! I don't remember knowing that you miscarried so late, but man, a week before the due date... I can hardly imagine, that would have been so hard! 😭

 · Laura it was. People told me to just get ride of the trauma as soon as possible. But I knew I had to go all way. Not knowing when that would happen. Knowing that I had a dead child inside me. I connected with my body, I embraced the bitterness, and accepted what I was going through. In that very moment I released the child. I was so prepared! That was my way to process it. That moment is unique, like every deliver is. Whatever your instinct, your soul tells you to do, do it. Follow your prompts. Use this experience to connect with yourself and the wisdom there is in you.

 ·  THANK YOU. That is powerful advice. I'll follow that and seek lots of quiet pondering this week. (well... as much as I can with all the kids at home!)

Elizabeth (friend from US that we met in Chile) - I had 5 miscarriages and am sorry you are having this sad experience. 3 of mine warranted a d and c and I would honestly recommend that over letting nature take its course. It’s a relatively minor procedure and better to be in a controlled environment. My last one at home was pretty scary and I ended up in an ambulance.

 · Reply - Thank you Elizabeth ❤ I was thinking of you yesterday, remembering you had been through this many times. Thank you for commenting.

Heidi - Tiffany, I am sorry to hear of this. I experienced this very thing in between my daughter and my son. I went in for a 10 week appointment and there was no heart beat. I actually began miscarrying at the doctrs office. I was sent home to finish naturally, but I began hemorrhaging and passing large blood clots. I ended up having to have a d&c. I welcomed the medical intervention as I had lost a lot of blood and the experience at home was somewhat traumatic. I am so sorry for you. It is so hard on a mothers heart. I felt a great loss with that baby. I had already begun bonding and dreaming of holding that baby in my arms. Hugs to you and Corey 🙏 ❤ 

Stephanie - I’m sorry

Holly - I'm sorry! I've had 2 miscarriages. One at 6 weeks and one at 10. The one at 6 weeks happened in the shower then was like a heavy period. The one at 10 weeks was a little more traumatic for me. I was at church and ran to the bathroom. The blood was everywhere. The emotions and cramps lasted a a lot longer.

Kaylene - I had a very similar experience I’ll DM you. I chose d&c and recovery was not bad.

Rachel - I’m so sorry!!

Rebecca - I am so sorry Tiffanie! Thinking about you and your family today ❤️❤️ You are a strong mama!!

Katie - So sorry! It’s hard at even just a few weeks along. Mine naturally delivered at about the same time along in the pregnancy which went smoothly at home so I can’t speak to a d&c.

______________________________

I'm sure there will be more advice in the coming days, but that was great for now. After reading all of those and other private messages sent to me, and after talking with family and friends, I am just feeling really grateful and supported right now. It is hard, and it's ok to cry and mourn and I will. I will let the tears come if and when they need to. I'm kicking myself that I didn't seem to record my miscarriage in Costa Rica, so now as I'm trying to remember what happened that time, I've only got 10 year old memory to go off of, and that's not very reliable. I can't find if I put it in a journal anywhere. But I remember it was in October 2010, I was 10 weeks. I think that is what this one will probably be. I'm really grateful that it miscarried so early on, I think it would be harder the more time put in to the pregnancy. Did you read Laura's experience above?!? - miscarried at 39 weeks... I seriously would bawl my eyes out for a month. We all face our trials in different ways, but we can face them. There are many people who are here to help us, and God is willing to help and comfort us too.

Christmas Is Here

It's CHRISTMAS!!!

Let's all sing it with President Trump: "Christmas is here! Christmas is here!"

It's CHRISTMAS!!!!!

I let the kids do the photo documentary this morning. The kids got up early around 3:30 am, but since there wasn't much loot in the stockings, they just went back to bed. So since they were nice to us by not being noisy at a crazy early hour, we were nice to them and we got up around 8. We met in the front room to see the presents the kids had gotten for each other and for us. 

Next, we headed over to the side room for opening gifts from "Santa" aka Mom and Dad. Corey had a unique numbering system again. The kids would pick up a present, find the small number on it, tell the number to Corey, Corey would look it up on his spreadsheet, and reveal the name of the gift's recipient on the big screen. 

We soon got to a point where everyone had received a gift except for Daniel, who was having a hard time understanding how this unjust system worked. 

I knew one of the sized of Daniel's gifts, so we grabbed one of the presents that had a remote control car in it for him. He was very happy to open it. Owen saw it, then looked at the board game that he had opened, and gave it back to me as he said "Not this one..." He wanted a car like Daniel. And he knew there was one, since he had been at the store with me when I bought them. Sophi got the biggest gift - a huge Friend's Lego set Amusement Park. 

Mel had sent us a package with letters for everyone and some small gifts. She made three little cars out of clay for Peter - Peter holding his big and his very tiny red cars - 

And she got me three lovely sets of earrings - a tree of life, pretty bronze oak leaves, and some red cardinals to remind me of my promised land of Virginia. The kids continue to find and open their gifts. 

A present for me - Corey got me a new phone! Yay! And it's an iphone! Ethan will be so happy for me, no more poor quality photos!

The girls built their legos at the kitchen table - 

Owen, Daniel, and Peter liked this marble run set I got at Kid to Kid. 

Corey was feeling a little sick today, as were Lily and Peter, so we didn't go over to Corey's parents' house or anything. We stayed home and it was fine. Peter was being super fussy tonight though...

I'm a little worried he might have an ear infection like he did a year ago. I took him for a late drive to calm him down and gave him some Tylenol before Corey put him to bed tonight. He was doing better after that. Don't be sick Peter!  

Playing with the little blue and green cars that Mel made. So it wasn't our normal Christmas with all the usual family traditions, but it was still a good day and I think it was a good Christmas for the kids. 

Skiing at Snowbird

Corey took kids skiing today - I stayed home with Peter and JHWALSNOD all went. 

Here's one video - I'll see if I can get more photos and videos from Corey and Joseph, who were the main historians of this event.

They were at Snowbird for the whole ski day, and Corey said it was magical. I would have gone, but Snowbird doesn't allow babies in back packs, so Peter wouldn't have been able to be in the carrier. We'll try another day at Alta for you, Peter. So he and I stayed home. He had donuts for lunch. And I made a big pot of chili for my skiers to eat after they returned home. 

One fun thing - Joseph drove the van, and in the process discovered that our van might indeed have 4 wheel drive! He discovered a button on the gear selector stick. So that's good to know, we'll give it a try, although we won't get to for New Years this year cause there isn't a new years Party this year cause of covid. So sad. We're finally prepared with Corey's 4 wheel drive and now possibly a van with 4wd, but no need to use them for the cabin. Here are a few photos that Joseph took - Corey and D

Abi made a note to self: wear waterproof mascara next time.

Sophi, Wes, and Joseph, taking the aerial tram to the top of Hidden Peak - 

Quite a view!

They told me that there was this one hill and somehow Sophi fell but kept sliding down backwards, like she was lying down backwards but her skis were down and she just kept going down - Joseph got this photo of her when she finally stopped - Wes on his way to assess the damage.

She had some snow down her hood but other than that, she was in good spirits and excited to tell everyone of her backwards downhill adventure.

When they walked in from skiing, the first thing I noticed was Abi's eyes. Her mascara ran, funny. Joseph teased her that she looked like the matchmaker from Mulan the whole time. "You will never bring your family honor!!!"

They all unloaded, Corey put away all the skiing gear, he's been very organized. I washed everyone's long underwear. They ate potatoes and chili. Most Christmas Eve's are my chance to put the kid's "IT'S ALMOST CHRISTMAS!!!!" energy to good use and have them clean the house. I was going to try that today, but they had already put in so much work skiing, so we just lazed. We watched A Christmas Story...

..and then we watched Elf...and it was fun. 

We had a zoom with Corey's family for the Wride Christmas Eve gathering, which wasn't the same for the kids as the usual party, but what ya gonna do. It's Rona's fault. It was still good. The kids played musical numbers, Daniel sang for us which was super funny (Corey got a video, I'll try to upload it later), we played Christmas Bingo, and the kids gathered to sleep under the tree. Corey is tuckered out, so I'm going to go put Peter to bed and will set an alarm for 2:30 to put out the gifts. 

Update: At 3:10 am I finished and we were ready for Christmas morning. As for how the rest of Christmas Eve went, Peter would NOT go to sleep, I don't know when he gave up, but I left his room at 1 am and went to bed in my bed... then my 2:30 alarm woke me up... 

Corey did a great job wrapping this year. We were talking with the kids earlier this week about the Christmas last year, with hardly any presents and ugly wrapping paper, it was funny to relive it. I guess it's good that Corey went over the top this year. He usually goes to wrap at his parents house where the kids won't see, but he wrapped all the gifts here at home in his office this year, cause we bought lots of bins at Costco and sealed them up with little cable ties to keep nosy kids out. The ties were loud when I cut them... I didn't go looking for scissors, I used a kitchen knife. 

They snapped pretty loud, but I didn't really care, I'm not pretending that I'm Santa. They know it's their mom. I finished at 3 - I heard the kids a few times, as they had alarms set for 3, crazy kids... 

Yeah Corey did a good job, this looks alot better than last year

Then it was time for me to go back to bed, trusting it will be a good Christmas tomorrow. 

Christmas Goodies

Peter is doing pretty good with finally being weaned. He wakes up at night and comes in my room and we sleep on the loveseat. He's a sweet little boy. I miss nursing, but I'm also glad it's over and I'm glad I still get to snuggle him. 

Corey went and did one more round of Christmas shopping this morning with Abi, Lily, and Sophi, and after they were home we got Christmas goodies ready to deliver to neighbors. Abi wanted to do it, Corey gave her the treats (wrapped truffles) and they started to get them ready in bags, but they needed help, and Corey had to leave for work, so I stopped what I was doing and helped them finish the project. We made lists of people, who needed big bags and who were couples that only needed a small bag. We made tags that said "from the Wrides".

I feel a little sick (morning sickness) and grumpy, and was not in the Christmas spirit much when we were out driving. With 6 kids in tow it is a lot more complicated to drop off a treat than it needs to be... Daniel dragging his paper bag in the snow...

The kids were burping out any and every thought that popped into their mind (they want a puppy)... Wesley kept Peter at home while we went to deliver the treats. I had ALSNOD all with me. 

Owen delivering to one of his Primary teachers - they have done such a sweet job reaching out to the kids each week during this whole pandemic. OD and A going to deliver to the old bishop.

We made a list, but then thought of more people to give it to as we drove around, so some of the people on our original list didn't get anything cause we were already out by the time we got to their part of the neighborhood. Oh well, it's the thought that counts?

Back at home, Wesley showed me the new game that he and Peter had been playing. It's called "Roar" - They go up to each other and make a tough stance and growl as loud as they can - 

Peter making another attack from across the room - 

Corey resigned from his position at Rivet, and so I reached out to get private insurance again a few days ago. I finally got it all taken care of today, yay, and a big thank you Mike Russell. If you need to get private health insurance, give him a call. I hope he gets a commission from Select Health, cause as far as I know we didn't pay him anything last time and aren't going to this time either. Not sure how that makes a sustainable income for him. He's been very helpful though. 

So yeah, getting things taken care of, and we're all ready for Christmas I think. Corey's been doing all the wrapping in his office. Things are good.