End of the Year in Holidays

Halloween

    As usual, the trunk-or-treat was outside our house in the circular drive.  Regan dressed as Wednesday to go to her school costume day and I was so impressed by it, I copied her lead (though she was the only one who couldn't guess who I was dressed up as).  She had a hard time making an indifferent pout when we took the picture together:

Shaggy, Scooby Doo, and Daphne

 Ninja warrior and Spiderman shooting a web

    In early November we had an usually beautiful day.  That day I tended Katie's boys so she could go get a cyst? bump? taken off her eyelid and we played outside all afternoon.  It was the last day the golf course was open, so we played on the putting green and mostly in the sand trap across the street.  From there, we could watch grandpa fixing the shingles on the roof of our house.  

Thanksgiving

   

     After MUCH debate, Quinn and I could not agree on plans for Thanksgiving dinner.  Quinn's plan was to cancel it altogether; mine was to continue as normal.  Our compromise was for me to go to St. George and spend the holiday with Chad & Peachy while he had dinner with his mom.  Even better for me--Matt & Katie and boys came too.   Wednesday Chad and I went grocery shopping--he did 90% of the finding and I strolled around and checked things off the list.  That night Matt and Katie and boys joined us for dinner.  Chad played Jenga with the boys and Dax is VERY competitive and hates to lose.  Thursday we had a full turkey dinner outside on the patio.  Chad cooked a huge turkey and it was delicious.  The boys played corn hole and we walked down to the playground at the school to play on their equipment.  The adults played Taboo and Five Crowns.  

    Friday we hiked to Johnson's Canyon near Snow Canyon State Park.  Dax was determined to be in the lead with Chad & Peachy the whole way while the rest of us brought up the rear.  If we got close to him, Dax would tell C&P to get moving.  There were lots of hikers on the path and when we got to the end of the trail, there was lots of sand for the boys to play in and find "dinosaur bones". 

Rhett melting because he did NOT want to take this picture.

Matt takes the prize for best at jump shots.

This one he did a full revolution.

Peachy struggled with her timing.  She kept taking off on 3 instead of "jump".  Hence, she was done when Chad took off:

Wes was a trooper for the whole hike:

Hard to see that this is an archway.

Another hike in the books.

        We returned to Chad's to eat leftovers and then Peachy and Katie and I did some Black Friday shopping that night.  Saturday I met the Murdocks at the Tonaquint Park where the boys played and then we went to see the ducks.  That night after Katie and I did some toy shopping at TJ Maxx, Chad built a fire in the outside pit and Dax came up with an elaborate plan to trap a T-Rex which involved disguising Wes as a goat and using him to draw the T-Rex into the trap.  At one point, we were all to chant "We are meat eaters!" in unison and on cue.  His play by play of the entire plan was hilarious and he was so excited and animated--I wish I had recorded it.  Overall, a great time. 

Christmas

**Leading up to Christmas, I substituted four days in December for Jill Furniss at Riverside.  We were able to convince Dax to ride the bus from Moreland to Riverside and from there I drove him home.  We got in the habit of stopping at Kittie's Kitchen and getting goodies and a drink.  

**I took the oldest four grandkids to Grape Van Gogh to paint a Snoopy holiday picture with tiny lights embedded.  Afterwards, we went and had lunch together at Dairy Queen. 

**We got some very sad news this month when we learned Blake Dance passed away.  He caught COVID and was admitted into the hospital where Ron was keeping us updated on his status.  Things kept going up and down; however, after a difficult night, he asked to be put on a ventilator, but doing so brought on a major heart attack.  It was so unexpected and we mourn for Linda and their family's loss.

**Made a fast trip to the cabin to be with the Murdock family.  Audrey and Gus came for a night too.  Enjoyed some outdoor time in the snow.  There was a contest to see who could ride a sled the furthest and I think the winners were the Audrey and Dax team.

**Quinn allowed me to decide how we would celebrate Christmas and my choice was to proceed as usual.  We had the Murdocks, the Stoddarts minus Kash and the three girls, and Sandra.   We served the traditional menu of Swedish meatballs, shrimp dip, large shrimp, cheese and crackers, and lefsa.  Opened presents and played Nerts with the girls.  Christmas Day we had everyone back for dinner of prime rib, crab Louise salad, pomegranate salad, baked potatoes, bread sticks, and apple and lemon pies.  Played Rummicube and got Quinn to play Mormon Bridge too.   The day after, I went over to the Stoddarts to watch the kids open presents and learn they were leaving for Disney World THAT night.  Gus took the news and starting gathering odds and ends into his backpack even though his mother had already packed his bags. All the kids were very excited and based on the pictures Audrey posted, they had a great time.  Quinn and I had a very uneventful New Year's Eve--in fact we didn't do anything.  

Our Christmas selfie.

Murdock's Christmas.  Dax's hat NEVER comes off!

Ready for lift off!

The Stoddarts in Florida with the Ornelas family.

Enjoying Disney World.

**We were asked to speak in church the Sunday after Christmas and that was somewhat inconvenient especially since I had no time to devote preparing it until all the Christmas festivities were over.  We were to report our mission, talk about blessings of the last year, goals, and "cheer people up".  Quite the tall order.  Our church is still done virtually only, so we spoke to an empty chapel.  Only the people asked to participate in the meeting were present.  My talk can be accessed with this link (I thought once published it would be a hot link, but you will have to copy and paste into browser): 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rdAfu0dIRT4sVPgWkUqyLXL0tONj1h5jYT7bBIoP_HI/edit?usp=sharing

Projects

I completed my 100 miles challenge.  I signed up for this on the internet and began October 4.  I had to go 100 miles before the end of the year--in my case I walked it.  I liked the online counter they had and now I want to keep using it.  They sent me this medal:

My 150 Challenge (by way of the YW anniversary) had to be completed by November 15.  For that, my goal was to reach out 150 times in various ways.  The majority was by mail or email, but I also did some treat deliveries too.

Completed the bear for Amanda that I started over a year ago!!  Made from dad's Navy uniforms, it was coming together nicely until it came time to sew the front to the back and the arms were different sizes.  That's when I got disgusted and threw it all in a bag and ignored it.  Finishing it and sending it to Amanda was part of My 150 and I am SOOO glad it is done.

    I also sewed some miniature ornaments based on the table toppers I have made in the past.  Made enough for each of the grandkids to give one to their teachers and then the others went to Cases, Keslers, and Sue along with a bottle of home canned cherries.  Sewed some new masks (with adjustable ear pieces) for Quinn, myself, and Jacob & Amber.  Lastly, I made some gnome wall hangings based on a pillow I saw on Pinterest.  

Made one for my new friend in the ward, Sunday Turner (#LighttheWorld), one for my ministering sister Shalee Butler, and one for me.

Almost forgot--made pj's for the little boys (Gus too).  Am I right about the hat!?

Odds & Ends

My Christmas cactus is blooming and has been for over a month:

The perfect metaphor for this bizarre year we've had (taken inside my car):

How I've felt on a regular basis this year:

Sorry this is blurry, but am sure the message is clear.

We are seeing flocks of swans EVERYWHERE!  I didn't know so many swans existed and have no idea why this year they can be found all over the place.  (Not a great picture😞 )

Still seeing some beautiful sunsets: