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!