Our Early Thanksgiving with Nikki

Last weekend I spent all of Friday cleaning the house. I vacuumed every hard floor AND mopped. We hadn't done mopping in quite a while, so it was time. I finally got my motivation to do it because Nikki decided to come visit us early since she is starting a second job with Amazon (different location than the first time she worked there) this week and won't be able to come for Thanksgiving. Her other job is at Michael's craft store, and she works the day before and after Thanksgiving. I also finally decided that our towels and extra sheets could share the shelves that the games are on so that I could get them out of the baskets and off the floor of the laundry room. The sheets and pillowcases still smelled from being packed for so long that I decided to wash all of them before putting them on the shelves.

That's where the towels and sheets were before.

Saturday morning Jack had his jazz band festival at Chiawana High School in Pasco, where they performed the same songs they did the previous week, and he did his solo again. In the afternoon we took the cats to get yearly vaccinations at Petco. By the time we were heading back home, Nikki had beat us there. She worked that morning and then drove over afterwards. She brought her friend/roommate Cyrus again. After about 2 hours of visiting, they decided they needed a nap. Nikki told me to wake her up in a little while if I wanted to hang out. I was pretty tired too and sat on the couch for a bit to watch the BSU football game with the boys, but finally made myself get up and make frog eye salad and an apple pie that we were having the next day for our early Thanksgiving dinner. When I finished those, I went to see if Nikki wanted to hang out and she was still too tired. So, I went and did dishes and watched the BYU football game (with Curtis and Garrett). I went in one more time, but she still didn't want to get up, so I just let her sleep.  We didn't see either of them until after we got back from church the next morning. I'm glad Jack decided to go to the youth dance since Nikki wasn't even around to hang out. BSU won their game but sadly BYU lost their first game of the season. I was cheering for both teams but when it comes down to it, I am always a BSU fan first and very glad they won.

Jazz festival performance.

Jack out in front for his solo.

Sunday morning our family got up and went to church like usual while Nikki and Cyrus kept on sleeping. They finally woke up while we were gone. When we got back, she was ready to help where needed on food prep, so I told her to make the deviled eggs (since that's one food item she had suggested for our meal). I made rolls and Curtis cooked up mashed potatoes and smoked chicken. Yes, we decided to cook chicken instead of turkey for this meal. It was the first time Curtis tried smoking a whole chicken and we did two of them. It was delicious! We love using our smoker. I would also add that he did soak the chickens overnight in a brine as well. The brine had apple cider in it.

Making the eggs.

The eggs are ready!

Green salad, Frog Eye Salad, deviled eggs and apple pie. We also bought a pumpkin pie from Costco but left that in the fridge while we ate dinner.

Mashed potatoes, stuffing, rolls and smoked chicken. I also bought sparkling cider for drinks.

I finally remembered to use my tripod to get a picture of all of us.

She was the only one ready for dessert right after dinner. Ice cream and pie.

Costco pumpkin and homemade apple pie.

After we all stuffed ourselves, we sat down to watch the movie "Wonka" since Nikki hadn't seen it yet and I've been wanting to show it to her ever since we bought it. She had heard things about the movie that made her question if she would like it, but she thought it was good also. Nikki had a hard time just sitting still to watch the movie, so she got up after a little bit and started wheeling around on her Heely shoes (shoes with wheels). After the movie was over halfway finished, I remembered that she was going to help me make 3D snowflakes. I volunteered to make some for our upcoming ward Christmas party. They are really easy to make and fun. She was still very fidgety even while making the snowflake, but we were able to get one whole one made. By then the movie was over and we were ready to play a board game with her and Cyrus called Settlers of Catan. It was a 4-player game so the only ones that played were Nikki, Cyrus, Curtis and me. The other kids did their own things. Our game lasted a couple of hours and Cyrus won. When we finished, it was time for them to head home. Originally, they were going to stay until Monday morning and drive back before classes start but changed their minds since they had homework to work on. It turned out it was good they went back when they did because they drove through about an hour of snow, which was the beginning of a winter storm on the Cascade mountains over on the West side of the state.

Cuddling with Coco during the movie.

This was the first snowflake I made the Sunday before. I didn't get a picture of the one we made together, but this is what they look like. I enjoyed making them.

All of our kids.

Our family

Our family and Cyrus

It was a short visit, but we're very glad that Nikki and Cyrus were able to make the trip over and that we could celebrate an early Thanksgiving with them. With two jobs now, it's not likely we'll see her for Christmas either. I guess we'll see.

Kids Keep Me Busy

Charlotte had her wellness exam recently and the doctor said to go ahead and start putting Bio Oil on her scars from her dog bites to help them fade. They are healing slowly and so I hope this oil helps. Here's what they look like at this point.

Top of her arm

Underneath her arm

Alice was star of the week last week in her class at school. She said she was the first one this year to have this opportunity. She got to bring home a poster and fill out information about herself and we got some pictures printed for her to take in and share. There was also one day where she brought a couple of items from home for show and tell. I'm not actually sure what she took to show.

Jack had two concerts in one week, the first one was the marching band and wind ensemble. Those were the ones he was in. They also had concert band and orchestra perform the same night as well. Then two days later they had a jazz night with the jazz band and jazz choir. Jack even had a solo. He did great and I love that he volunteers to do solos when he can. 

Wind Ensemble

Jazz band

Jack playing his solo for jazz band.

Saturday the 9th was a busy day. The music department for the high school was having a Christmas bazaar. Jack signed up to help the entire day. I went a did a little shopping in the morning. I found a couple of cute decorations and some yummy peanut brittle. After I got back, Alice was all ready to go do some pictures for her upcoming baptism. I told her we'd better get pictures done sooner rather than later because it's only going to get colder. The weather turned out just about right for us. It was a little cold, but no wind and it was cloudy, so I didn't have to wait until the end of the day to do it. Photographers say the best time of day to do outside pictures is the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset. But cloudy weather also helps because it covers the sun and keeps from getting shadows. Anyway, the girls and I drove over to the temple to do the pictures. Charlotte was my little helper and giving me ideas for different places to take pictures and different poses. It was fun and we got some good pictures. Here are a few samples:

Wearing the same dress that Nikki and Charlotte wore. She can't wait for me to let her wear it to church, which will probably be next Sunday since it's Thanksgiving week and then December is her birthday month.

We're actually on the side of the building where the baptismal font is. I was surprised to still see water in the fountain. Lucky us!

After we were done with pictures the girls really wanted me to take them to the big playground by the river, called the Playground of Dreams. I took them home to change but also made a deal that after the park they had to help me with a little bit of raking leaves. And they did! We had just enough time before it got dark. It gets dark quick these days!

They were happy to help so they could jump in the leaves, even though it was a small pile.

Here's Jack with his group of helpers who helped at the Christmas bazaar. I'm not sure how well they did for the fundraiser but I heard there were over 90 vendors! I just know there were tons of things to look at when I went to check it out. I'm proud of Jack for signing up to help, and ALL day. He didn't do it at all last year. He's sure growing up into a great young man!

The pictures of Alice at the temple reminds me that I also got some senior pictures of Garrett. We needed one for the yearbook and so the Tuesday before Halloween, I took him over to the park by the library. The weather was perfect. I had originally hoped to take him that Sunday, but it was very windy that day. There wasn't any wind on Tuesday and the weather was nice. Here are a few from his photo shoot.

This is the shot we sent in. We had to send it to my sister-in-law Michelle to fix the lighting and it turned out great. Unfortunately, when sending in the picture for the yearbook, it made us crop it off the top and/or bottom. That's something I'll have to remember next time.

I have to admit I was a little nervous to take his pictures because I don't do this all of the time and I don't know the good poses to do, so I looked up some ideas on the internet. We got some good ones. I plan to take more next Spring since his braces WILL be off by then and he can show some teeth!

On Monday for Veteran's Day, the kids were out of school and so Sister Gale and I decided to have activity days earlier and extend it to 2.5 hours so we would have plenty of time to do a project for our veterans in our ward. They glued some patriotic fabric onto a jar, then filled it with yummy goodies and a note, then decorated it a little more when covered. Then each girl got to deliver one to a veteran. Here are the one's my girls did. We are thankful for our veterans!

While the girls and I were at Activity Days, Jack went over to his friend, Eli's house with a bunch of other kids and played games. He was kind enough to send me a picture of their group afterwards. It's not the best quality since it's coming from his phone. They hang out in the garage but they have so much fun.

Alice filled her reward jar recently and a couple of things she wanted for her reward were some lazy readers glasses and a balance bird. She was having fun with them after they arrived in the mail last week.

The bird came with a stand to balance on, but Charlotte tried it out on multiple things, including her nose!

Then Alice tried it also.

Wearing her lazy readers. It has mirrors that reflect so you can see things at 90 degrees. She was laying down and watching TV while eating her snack.

She can also lay in bed and read a book while resting it on her lap. That would come in handy actually!

I know this post is getting long but one more thing I wanted to share on this post is about my girls having Western day last Friday at their school. Thursday night I had asked if either of them wanted to wear my hat for western day and of course both of them wanted to. I told Alice that we should let Charlotte have my hat because she's older and it's her last year in elementary school. I went and found Curtis's Australian hat, which is kind of a western look. Neither of them wanted to wear that one at first. Alice was hoping that Charlotte would change her mind by the next morning, but no she did not. I finally convinced Alice that Dad's hat matched her boots in color, and it was cool because Dad got it from Australia when he and I went back in 2012, and she can tell everyone the hat is from Australia. She finally decided that it would be okay to wear it.

She at least got a picture wearing my hat.

Then wearing Curtis's hat.

Charlotte wearing mine and ready to go. She was one of two 5th graders that actually dressed up all the way. Usually, my girls don't feel like dressing up when they have these dress up day opportunities, so I'm glad they both did it this time because it's fun!

Crossing Our Fingers

Right after Halloween was over Garrett and I made another trip to Nampa for another orthodontist appointment. We had to take him out of school for this one, so the rest of the family stayed home. We drove down Friday evening of the 1st and stayed with Grandma Norton again. The BSU game was playing while we drove and by the time we got to grandma's there was 2 minutes left in the game. It was a big win for them and since it was being recorded, we were going to watch it the next day with Dad, Laverne, Joyce and Grandma. 

The first thing I did Saturday morning was get my hair trimmed by Melissa. It was getting really long and needed freshening up, especially since I hadn't had a haircut since July 2023. I am notorious for waiting a long time in between haircuts, no matter who is doing it. She cut a few inches off the length and redid my layers. She also wanted to try a roller brush style on my hair because she wants to get good at it. I honestly wasn't sure if I liked it at first, but by the time I got back to grandma's and looked in the mirror some more, I was happy with it and kept the style all day. Many times, after I get my hair cut, I feel like I need to take a shower when I get home and start over with styling with what I'm used to, but I didn't do that this time. Yay! It was great to spend some time with my sister because I don't get to see my siblings very often anymore.

I wanted to do some D.I. shopping while in town because they don't have one in Tri-Cities, so I went shopping to try to find some new jeans/pants and Sunday clothes. I have been getting tired of wearing skinny jeans because they're so tight on my knees, so I decided to go back to wearing boot cut jeans that are stretchy. I scored because I found 2 pairs of jeans that I really like. They're the right color, the right length, stretchy and only paid $8 for one and $4 for the other. There were two skirts that I bought as well but I did not find a top I liked. When I was done shopping there, I headed back to grandma's house to pick up Garrett and get some food and head to my in-laws to visit them. My father-in-law just had surgery the day before to remove some cancer on his kidney. Fortunately, they were able to freeze all of it after removing a sample for testing and it's a type that doesn't spread, I guess. So, he wasn't worried about it. They sent me home with some heirlooms from Curtis's Aunt Carol who had passed away recently. There were four lighthouse decorations and a nutcracker. She collected a lot of lighthouses because she used to live in New York. I didn't even think to take a picture of them yet. I did terrible for picture taking on this trip. 

Anyway, after visiting for a couple of hours, Garrett and I stopped at Walmart to do some shopping. He bought a BSU license plate cover for the car. We actually drove the car to Nampa this time instead of the van. I bought some orange Halloween lights that were 50% off. Then we went back to grandma's house to watch the BSU football game. It was a good game and much more relaxing knowing we were going to win. After the game, I played some Golf with Dad, Laverne, Grandma and Joyce. Garrett went to his room to read a book. I was thankful that he didn't bring the video games this time. He just brought our Roku for movie or show watching.

Sunday morning, we went to church in 4th ward. We were fortunate enough to see my in-laws in the hall afterwards and found out they were there to stand in for my nephew Wyatt's being ordained to an Elder. He's working on getting his mission papers done. It was great that Garrett and I could be a part of that since Garrett is excited to get started on filling out his mission papers also. Later, we went to Aunt Joyce's to eat lunch. Then we walked across the street to Dad's house to see all of the shells they collected in Florida on their trip and then watch some shows, Come Follow Up and a speech by Dallas Jenkins (creator of The Chosen) given at a BYU devotional. Mom and Dad had people coming over for some meetings, so we went back to grandma's house with grandma where Garrett read his book again and Grandma and I started a puzzle. 

I couldn't believe how many beautiful shells they brought home!!

These ones were soaking in bleach water to get rid of the smell. I did not know to do that when we brought shells home from the Oregon coast two years ago. Good to know now!

These are the big ones.

Grandma and I worked on our puzzle for a couple of hours and then my sister Tamara came over with her kids. We worked on the puzzle a little bit but then decided to play some games. We played Uno a couple of times and then switched to Mexican Train. When we got tired of playing games, we went back to the puzzle and watched Moana at the same time. After Tamara, Dad and Mom left, Grandma and I stayed up to finish the puzzle. I didn't want to leave it unfinished, and we were leaving right after Garrett's appointment the next morning. It was a 500-piece Dowdle puzzle of Salt Lake City.

Garrett and I were holding our breath and crossing our fingers when we went to his appointment Monday morning. We both want him to be done with braces so badly! Fortunately, he WILL be getting them off on his next appointment in December!!!! Yay! The doctor was great in getting more things done at the last two appointments than they normally would have because we have to travel, so it sped things up as well. Garrett has to wear a rubber band one more time but we're both so glad to be done in December. It was tricky scheduling his next appointment because he's going to have to miss another day of school since the doc is out during all of Christmas break. Jack also wants to come the next time so he can deliver some gifts for friends from FSY. He's been making crocheted beanie hats for them.

And since we had come to Nampa that weekend, we were able to bring home Charlotte's finished puzzle that my dad built a frame for. She's very happy!

It was a good trip again and I am glad to have had these opportunities to see family and friends each time we come BUT we're so glad to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm sure we'll have a couple more retainer checks after he gets them off but then we'll be DONE!

Halloween 2024

After cleaning our pool all day on Saturday, we went to our church trunk or treat. It was a tri-ward activity. There was chili, hot dogs, chips and drinks outside and different games and activities set up inside in the gym and other rooms. Curtis brought his smoked chili again but doubled the recipe this time. Luckily, we set aside some for ourselves at home and ate it before going because it went really fast again and neither of us got any at the church. After the first hour of food and games, the trunk or treat happened in the parking lot. They had all of the participating trunks back up to the sidewalk so it would be easy and safe to walk around. Again, the weather was beautiful that day for the trunk or treat. The only issue we ran into was Alice had some fancy shoes to go with her costume but they hurt her feet. We were able to find some mole skins from our first aid kit in the van to put on her feet, but they were still hard to walk in. Dad was the hero and drove home to get her sandals. They were much easier to walk in!

A ninja, a mermaid, and Dr. Doofenshmirtz from a tv show called "Phineas and Ferb".

A guy in a suit, top hat and cane.

Later Alice got her crown on that went with her costume, so I got another picture.

Jack and Cam

I dressed up as a cowgirl because I didn't really look for a costume this year and I already had these things. I took a selfie after we got home (I hate selfies).

On Monday for activity days, we did a wooden pumpkin painting. I had spotted these pumpkins at Goodwill in the check out line. They were 5 pumpkins for $5. I told Sister Gale about them and she went and bought all they had, which were 15 pumpkins total. It was basically $1 a pumpkin. She later saw the same pumpkins at a different store for $5 for ONE pumpkin. We scored a great deal! The girls loved the activity and we saw some great creativeness. We just wish they gave us more than 1 hour to do these activities because after getting snack done at the beginning we just don't have enough time! We of course ran late anyway.

Tuesday night was the trunk or treat at the girl's school. Curtis took them this year because I needed to take Garrett to go do some senior pictures at the park. His senior picture for the yearbook is due on Sunday. It was good for Curtis to do it this year. I don't think he's ever been to their school before now.

On Wednesday there was a trunk or treat put on at the high school back parking lot, so I drove the girls over for that. Some had activities to do before getting the treat. They also had a police car and two firetrucks. It was a lot colder this day and fortunately it went quick.

Alice wore a different costume that day.

This trunk made me laugh. "Pick or Treat" and they stuck their hand through the nostril to get the candy.

A little cornhole game.

Best for last, the firemen.

Yesterday the boys went to a Halloween stake youth activity where they had lots of carnival type games, etc. Garrett has not been wanting to go to the stake activities because of his anxiety with crowds, but he actually wanted to go this time! I think it's because he got himself a costume and wanted people to see it. He didn't actually play any games but walked around and watched. I'm just happy that he went! Jack surprised us by bringing home a beta fish that a friend won for him in one of the games. He gets to take care of it. I was done with fish a long time ago. I'll be interested to see how long it lives.

And finally, today was Halloween! It had rained yesterday so I was worried it might be cold and wet, but we were safe from the rain today. It was still a little chilly but not too bad. After eating pizza for dinner, Jack went to his friend Eli's house for a party and trick or treating. Curtis, Charlotte, Alice, Milo and I went trick or treating with some friends from our ward in the neighborhood next to ours. Milo was pretty anxious when we first started but also very excited. He got better after a little while. After we finished our trick or treating, Curtis walked Milo home while the girls and I stayed at the Taylor's house to visit and have some treats. Dorothy had made a bunch of homemade donuts. They were delicious! I had a lemon filled and a regular glazed. At about 8:30 I decided it was time to leave, so we drove home and relaxed for a while. This year I had bought full size candy bars from Costco to hand out because we don't get many trick or treaters. I was surprised to see that they were all gone by the time we got home! It was good that I also saved some candy from our bags we bought for the church trunk or treat because we gave out some of that also. Garrett had stayed behind to play video games and hand out the candy. It was another good Halloween!

We started out our next-door neighbor's house.

With four families in our group, we had 10 kids and 3 dogs. It was fun.

It's been a fun filled Halloween week, especially for the girls with so many activities. Happy Halloween!