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.
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.
A few pictures from yesterday: Sweet Peter in the morning. He's so cute. I don't even mind (that much) that he has woken me up almost every night for the past almost 2 years. I'm guessing I will like being able to sleep through the night someday, but I sure love snuggling with him.
Don't love it as much when I'm stuck and can't get away from him in the morning to take carpool, but it's ok, and he's a sweetie. Taking a nap yesterday my arms.
Little rosy cheeks, so cute. Lily made this little lego set yesterday. She is qutie creative.
Today I was on the phone a bit with Mike Russell, getting our insurance set up. Also the repair guy from Valley Wide Heating and Air was here for a few hours putting in a new furnace. It stopped working on Saturday, we kept the house warm with the oven on Sunday, they did a quick fix yesterday but said that it needed to be replaced. I texted our landlord and neighbor to let her know. We were planning on doing it ourselves, cause they've given us a crazy good deal renting here for the past 10 years. Zillow estimates that to rent our home it would be $2931. We are paying over $1000 less than that. Zillow also says a mortgage payment would be $3763. She and Corey texted about it, and she said there will be an increase starting 2021 and every year after that, which is more than fair, they've been so kind to us. We are so lucky to be here. It is still a miracle that I remember often, that we were able to come back here to this neighborhood after 9 months living internationally, and that it worked out perfectly with the previous people who were renting here, they just finished their home at the end of April 2011, and we were back the beginning of May. AND they also held the house for us, without making us pay rent, when we went to Brazil in 2015 for a few months. They are just the nicest. So, yeah, we owe them big time.
I'm feeling sick and blah, I don't exercise really anymore other than some handstands. I feel like my desire to exercise has just dropped off a cliff, it's kinda weird. Like if the me from 10 years ago saw me now, I think she'd be like "No no, oh no you don't, you will exercise!" I saw a facebook video by a Laura Dixon on being naturally thin vs. dieting and losing weight, she talked about our body being a vase, and we overflow it with too much water (food) so we exercise and do all this stuff to try and clean up the spilled water. "Why not just get a smaller vase, and don't let it overflow!" Yes. I need to change my thinking. Need to stay busy. Need a total health makeover. So I'm feeling a bit sick and am struggling. I'm glads the kids usually help out when I'm in a bad spot. They cleaned the main floor for me yesterday. 💓
A few more pictures - Abi made cupcakes tonight and I let them have frosting to decorate. Photo courtesy or some kid, I don't know who.
And I've been having the girls do violin recitals for my dad's cousin Dennis, and we send him the unlisted video over youtube.
It is a kinda good way to get them to practice when they don't have any Christmas recitals or anything to look forward to or to compel them to practice.
Yesterday morning when I went downstairs to make my daily pot of steel cut oatmeal for the family, and it was noticeably much colder than upstairs. I went to check the thermostat. It was set at 68, but the temp was 63. When I got it tuned in October, he told me that something was almost worn out, and asked if I wanted them to fix it or just run it till it broke. I said we'd run it till it broke, and today was the day. I guess I hoped it'd last a little longer, whatever it was that he said it was. Oh well. They're coming to fix it Monday. We are now all wearing jackets cause it's cold, and especially shoes, cause the floor is so cold! I think the air ducts warming up the floor from underneath is just as important to house warming as the air that comes through the vents.
Let's see - most of the kids didn't practice yesterday, Sophi and Natalie didn't practice at all this week. :( that's sad. I need to learn how to help them manage themselves. We've started to get treats from the neighbors and I ate more than my fair share of the ferrero balls that Gonzales gave us last night (...and Pepperidge cookies from Chandlers.) I need to fix my mindset. I read this quote from an Oprah article article, not sure how I stumbled up on it, but it was good:
"The way we eat reflects the way we think, and the way [we] think keeps making [us] fat. The same is true for other failed dieters. Every time we drop weight without changing our psychology, we may be changing our brains so that we become more prone to overeating. The only way to beat the relapse syndrome is to both eat and think differently."
Corey went shopping at Costco and Scheels yesterday. He got lots of goodies and gifts, most of which were for our dinner guest tonight, Father David. He was up in SL and asked if he could come by for a visit. It was very nice and Corey and I are a good team. He cooked while I chatted with my aunt Judy who I said I'd call today. Then I came down and finished the salmon while Corey helped the kids play musical pieces for Father David. Then we ate, it was a good feast - salmon, potatoes, salad, and a big ol' pot of barley soup. At 6:15 a neighbor knocked on the door - a package Corey ordered had been delivered to their house across the street. I could tell is was the large print Corey ordered of the Tree of Life for Iveth and Diego. Corey continued to entertain Father D while I went up stairs to wrap the print and 3 other gifts Corey had gotten for their kids. Corey also got a Christus statue for Father D and a book of Saints. I think they're not opening it until Christmas, but they don't read this blog (pretty sure) so I'm not letting the cat out of the bag by sharing that here. Corey told Father David that he will send a text with an explanation for his gifts. He's been looking for that particular photo for Iveth and Diego for over a year, but since their Catholic, and the painting is from a Book of Mormon vision, it might not make a lot of since, so yeah, hopefully Corey will get that text to them to explain his thinking. He also said he needs to find an article or video that he listened to that was talking about how hard it is to start a new religion, and that is going to provide some context for the Saints book.
Here are some sweet pictures of Peter this morning.
So big news about this little man - He is no longer nursing. Corey has taken over putting him to bed at night and Peter has not nursed for 4 days. Corey suggested on Monday that it's time Peter learn to go to sleep on his own. So now, when it's time for bed, I top Peter off with a bowl of cereal or a banana, change his diaper, help him and Daniel brush their teeth, and then Corey goes with them into their room and stays in there until they accept the inevitable and go to sleep. Corey reads until they are in bed, and I am able to blog or read in our room. So it's working out really well. Corey put him to bed for the first time on Tuesday the 15th, and Peter slept through the night that time. I nursed him the last time on the morning of the 16th. So I nursed this little guy for 23 MONTHS! That is the longest I've nursed any of my babies, crazy. Peter kinda got his own bed in September, but he was also kind of a floater and he and I slept on our floor most nights. Starting in October, it became the boys room, and then I slept in there with Peter on his bed. Owen was with us for a few days but opted to go back with Hyrum and Wes. Joseph sleeps on the middle bunk in there now when he's home, with Daniel on top, and Peter on bottom. I've probably slept in there with Peter more than I've slept in my own bed, so yeah, it was time to bring and end to the madness. Of course, Peter now wakes up and then comes into our room. I am not nursing him though, I just hug him and he lays on my chest and he goes back to sleep. Sometimes I'm able to sneak away, other times I'm stuck, like I was this morning - as he was asleep on my legs.
One leg out... maybe I can get free!
And here's a video that I took of him yesterday as he contemplated this new nurse-less life. His main take away seems to be "No."
He doesn't like it maybe, but he's doing great. Today was our Christmas program at church. It wasn't he usual choirs, and the congregation is still not allowed to sing, but there was a singing musical number which was nice, and then two other piano and organ pieces. Abi spoke at church and did a good job, and Corey called as a Sunday School counselor. At home, to further Corey's attempt to pique Abi's interest in Jane Austen, we watched Pride and Prejudice. Kinda good for history and culture lesson I guess, which is one of the things we try to do on Sundays - Spiritual, History, and Culture lessons. It's still cold on the main floor, furnace should be fixed tomorrow. We kept the oven on for a bit today to try to heat up the room. We talked on zoom to Shelina and her two cute kids Alan and Naira. Have I mentioned her, she is someone that Ethan is teaching in Leon Mexico. Corey met her through reaching out over WhatsApp to her when she started texting us, after we tried to text Iveth. Iveth cancelled her Leon phone number and we were trying to text her, but instead were testing Shelina, we all started talking/texting, and she and her kids are planning on being baptized soon! Her daughter Naira and Lily are seriously twins. I'll have to get a photo of them side by side on the zoom screen, it's really fun and crazy! Natalie playing with Peter tonight, making a nest around him, ha.
I got a good Polo from Nicole tonight too. She shared about her clutter, and I can relate. I want to simplify and I want less stuff. We'll work on that after Christmas I guess... At 10pm - Corey and I went over the spread sheet he's made with Christmas gifts. There are just a few more things we need to get tomorrow, and I'm thinking about what our policy might be on what we gift older kids in college. We might go the Helen Wride route and just start to hand out cash. Ok, that's all for tonight, thank you Corey for putting Peter to bed! I get to blog, maybe I can catch up soon and will be able to stay caught up!
I went by Walgreens yesterday to find a few things to send to Mel and Ethan. I had found some unique gifts there when I was sending a package to Joseph on his mission, so I went there again but didn't have much luck. I ended up just getting some chocolates to send to Dennis and Judy (my dad's cousins that I learned about back in Sept) and a Utah-opoly game that I think I'll get for us for Christmas. We have so many games but we don't play them, so I told myself I really shouldn't buy another one until we are regularly using the ones we have, buuuut then I got it anyway. And I'm going to make sure we start to play with our games soon. We did play a game this past Sunday with the 100 metallic dice I bought. I had seen some Tenzi dice at Scheels when Corey and I were out Christmas shopping two weeks ago, but I resisted the impulse. ...and then ordered some less expensive but just as good ones on Amazon. Us playing on Sunday...
And also from Sunday, the girls doing a puppet show with the little weird bunnies that they make out of fuzzy gloves...
Lily was the creator of this game, and all her younger siblings following her lead
Simple fun.
Anyway, yeah, I'm still running errands this week. Then yesterday I went by the post office to mail those small Christmas letters to Dennis and Judy, and the packages to Mel and Ethan, and then I drove to my parent's house to wish my dad a happy birthday. I have good parents. I'm grateful for how they've helped mold me into the person I am and for my siblings and for the life I have. Grateful for this humble home we were all raised in.
My mom and I talked about Mr. Rogers. I think I'm the one who started my parent's family being on a Mr. Rogers kick, but he really was amazing. She had a few things on her fridge and said she's buying Mr. Rogers books for everyone for Christmas. Should be fun!
Festive Christmas lights....
Today was online Friday and the kids didn't have school in person, so it was a good day to have Natalie get an eye exam. I thought I caught her crossing her eyes a few times this past week.
Good news is that she checked out ok and doesn't need glasses, so maybe she was just being weird. So that's good to know that her eyes are good. Life is good, it's all good. It's a busy time of year, but I'm glad that it's not as busy as it usually is. I'm enjoying the slowed paced of life that this holiday season has given us (trying to focus on the positive).
Today for Light the World, the invitation prompt was "Shining Star: Dedicate the star on your tree to an influential friend. Share a photo of it along with a tribute to your friend on social media". The person I thought of immediately is Nicole. She has been the most influential friend in my life (aside from Corey of course). These aren't the best quality pics, cause I took a pictures of pictures from my mission photo album.
Nicole is also called by her nickname hermana, due to her formerly being known as Hermana Spencer. We've probably talked on the phone every week for years. I think we got back in touch in 2005 when we were at BYU and were both looking for a friend who could relate to the stresses of raising children. Of course there were lots of friends in the same boat, but it was theraputic to talk to Nicole, and over the years we've come to know each other so well. Like sometimes I can call her to ask what I want to do and she'll have the right answer. One example: when I ordered glass for our new kitchen table, Corey wanted one big piece, I wanted two. I called Nicole and got her advice, and she helped me see that one would be best. Amazing, right?!?! And I'm glad that she and Corey were right. Corey was kinda like "What, you couldn't take my word for it?" but Nicole has the time to explain the thinking in terms that my brain understands, so yeah, it helps having Nicole tell me what I want to do many times. Sometimes I'll call her, give her the backstory of something, tell her the decision that needs to be made, and then will ask "What do I want to do?" and she knows. It's awesome. I hope everyone has a Nicole in their life. She's my 911 emergency call operator and someone I also call and share spiritual insights with or family struggles with, and it's the best. She is my twin sister from another mother.
We are two peas in a pod, and two turtles from the same shell! (ha, we'll pretend that that is a saying...)
From when we went to the Phoenix zoo on a p-day (missionary preparation day) back on the mission. I loved all the sisters that I lived and worked with. Me, Nicole, Hermana Justis in front, Hermana Coleman on the right, and I can't remember the names of the two English sisters in the middle there. I'll need to go look up in my old journals or planners. We'd go on a walk in the morning, up A mountain at ASU.
Hermanas Bonilla, Justis, Spencer, and me playing soccer in the church gym on another pday.
I loved all my hermanas. This pic below was taken the day before I flew home. I was a trainer to Hermana Justis and Hermana Bonilla. My first born and second born in the wilderness. (Little Book of Mormon joke there. I wrote them letters to them when I was leaving for home, and called them that, haha. Lehi calls his two children born in the wilderness, Jacob and Joseph, by those descriptions, we thought it was funny... mission humor!)
And while I was looking through my mission photos, I saw this lovely photo of the familia Garcia. The lovely woman in the middle there is Raquel Garcia. Natalie's middle name is after her. I love her so much! I wish facebook had been around then so I could keep in touch with them. I don't know how to find them now. Facebook searches don't work, cause all these latinos have such similar names... there are thousands of Raquel Garcias, so sad. But I loved them.
Hermana Garcia struggled with infertility, and her second son was a little miracle baby that they found out about when she was in the hospital following a car accident. I remember after she told us about her accident and her baby, my heart went out to her and others who struggle so much having children, and I kinda make a vow to myself that if God let's me have children, I'd let them come. I didn't know the Lord would be so generous with us, but her story is part of what has influenced my decision there, and I'm so grateful for that!
Here's another thing from my scrapbook that was fun. I think Hermana Jamison started this, but it was like a fun month by month countdown, with stickers and a few notes of fun things that happened each time.
So there is my "Shining Star" tribute to Nicole and a little walk down mission memory lane. Life is good, I'm so grateful for friends!
I thought I'd share today some of Mel's pictures of her birthday on Saturday, that she shared in her weekly email yesterday. Here's our beautiful missionary and birthday girl!
Corey's mom sent her a Christmas tree, and we were glad to see that she got our package of party accessories!
Her companions take good care of her and it seems like they all get along great -
Sister Steele on the left, Sister Junot on the right. She said that a family in their ward out there, the Stumpff family, stopped by and gave me a present!
We miss Mel of course, but it makes it easier knowing that she is in such good hands. Mel also said that they can't burn candles, so Mel fixed that with some computer graphics. She also said "ignore the fact that there are only 18 candles on there because apparently I don't know how to count".
I keep the weekly emails that she sends posted on her mission blog. Her p-day is usually Mondays, so I that is when she writes and when I try to update it. Two more cute pictures she shared this week - this is how she likes to decorate her scriptures.
Nephi and the broken bow...
I like it! I'll try to doodle a few drawings in mine.
Other updates from around here: Today I finally finished blogging Hawaii, yay. Sunday Songs was the last post I had to finish. I need to go shopping. I picked up Natalie from school, she said stomach hurts. As I've been home with her, I noticed her eyes crossing as she talked to me. I set up an eye exam for her on Friday. We might have another kiddo in glasses. And the side room is not put back together yet from our water mess. Our master bedroom carpet still wet by the bathroom door too. It is a great mystery that I would like to solve - who was it that clogged the toilet. I might have to wait until the next life to learn the truth. "Who was it that clogged the toilet on December 14th?" Wesley laughed as I shared my thoughts with him: "I'm sure that will be the first thing you want to learn about after you die." Ha, I could start to learn answers to the mysteries of the universe and cosmos, but I'll be stuck trying to check off unanswered questions from my mortal life - like the great toilet overflow of 2020.
