In-Laws Visit and Alex's Farewell

I'm a month behind on posting but I'm going to attempt to do some catching up today. Jack had a jazz band concert a month ago. I always love watching him play and to know that he loves doing it. This concert was performed in preparation for the jazz band festival competition that would happen later that week. I still don't know how they did in that competition.

Jazz band concert at his school.

He's in the middle back and plays the trumpet.

After the show.

This was at the jazz band festival.

Curtis's parents finally made a trip up to see us and our new house the same weekend that Jack had festival, which was the 17th-19th. They were delayed about 4 hours because there was a crash westbound on I-84. They sat on the road for 1 hour close to Ontario before they decided to take another route around through John Day, Oregon. It was slower but they finally made it safe and sound! Again, like we did with my parents, we drove them around to see the lighthouse and the temple and Curtis's office building. Saturday morning I took Jack to his festival by myself because he performed at 8:30 and that's too early for everyone else. Curtis made the kids and his parents a big breakfast while we were gone. Afterwards, I went with my mother-in-law to the bazaar at the school put on by the music department. She bought a few things and I bought two ornaments to give to the sisters I minister to. We did go out to eat with them on Saturday night as well. 

Charlotte had learned how to make some origami Christmas stars in activity days and taught my mother-in-law how to make them. They even went to the store together to pick up shiny wrapping paper to make them with. Gaya loved the stars and wanted to learn how to make them for her ward Christmas party decorations.

This is the star she made at activity days.

They would have stayed another day and gone to church with us, but we had already planned on driving over to Lewiston Sunday morning to be there to hear our nephew, Alex, speak before leaving for his 2 year mission to Ventura, CA. After we were all dressed and had dropped Milo off to be watched for the day, we got a group picture using my tripod. It was short but it was great to have my in-laws here. Curtis even got to smoke some food with his dad while here. I tell you, he's addicted to it!

After saying goodbye to the in-laws, we took off for Lewiston. I was surprised that Garrett decided he wanted to drive. He hasn't driven in at least 2 months! He drove the first hour before Curtis had to switch with him because we were running behind and he wanted to make up some time. Fortunately, he did, and we went from being 2 minutes late, to be being 15 minutes early by the time we pulled up to the church building. It's nice to have Google maps on our phones that can help us know how much time we have. 

Alex gave a great talk and even had several of his nonmember friends there to hear him and all of them were crying. He's going to do great things in California!

After Sacrament meeting, we went over to Stillman's house to hang out and help Michelle get food ready for the open house. It was fun to visit and the girls absolutely loved Donna's new little puppy, Maple.

Maple is just the right size for Alice.

Later Alex needed to be set apart as a missionary officially, so our younger kids stayed at their house while we went to the church with Garrett. The stake president had many good things to say and the spirit was so strong. I was glad that Garrett came to be there also and so was he. Garrett is still saying he wants to go on a mission. He said the Sunday after he graduates high school he's going to meet with the bishop about getting ready to go. He's got 1 1/2 years for that. It was great to be there and it was also great that Garrett wanted to drive the whole way home afterwards, even in the dark. He did a good job. 

The group that was there for Alex's setting apart.

Fun Stuff Last Week

Last Tuesday Jack had a band concert. It was the first indoors concert of the year. The marching band was instructed to wear their uniforms for this concert. They played their "Thor's Hammer" songs. Since we were in the auditorium, the band just circled around everyone, standing in the aisles and in front of the stage. The color guard performed on stage. It was fun to listen to them again. They did so well this year!

It almost looks like this lady is pointing at Jack for my picture, lol.

Thursday night was our holiday Relief Society dinner party. I am on the activity committee and so I got to help. One thing I did was to make one of the desserts, which was a white chocolate-strawberry tiramisu. It was basically a fancier strawberry short cake but it was delish! I wish I would have gotten a picture of it. I did however get pictures at the party. It was held in a special room at the Life Tribute Center. It is owned by one of the families in our ward because they own a funeral home. It was a really nice room and that's why they have it here instead of the church. We ate a really nice dinner of chicken parmesan, ziti pasta, green beans, salad, and baguette bread dipped in olive oil and seasonings. The youth came a helped serve, including my two boys. I thought we would have a hard time getting them to come, especially Garrett, but he seemed to be in a good mood the day of the party and had no problems coming. Both of the boys enjoyed being waiters. Then of course, we had the dessert. Dinner was followed by 3 speakers. It was a nice evening and I'm glad I got to be a part of it. 

 

The youth were getting instructions.

My boys started the trend of folding over their aprons so it was a waist only apron. 

This is about half of the women that showed up. I sat at the table closest to the camera on the left.

At the end of the night, some of the youth got permission to climb into the atrium behind the glass. They had so much fun posing for pictures.

The boys had a great time and we ended up bring home the entire dessert I had made because it wasn't needed (4 others had been brought) and a bunch of rolls. All of my kids liked the dessert, except Jack didn't try it since it has a lot of dairy in it.

Curtis started a Biggest Loser contest with some of our family members a week ago Sunday. The people that are joining this weight loss challenge are Stillman, Michelle, Ricky, Jenna, Shauna, Mom Butterfield, Curtis and myself. Most of us have reached our first week weight loss goal. Mine was 1 lb. I ended up losing about 1.5 lbs. I've been doing better at eating smaller portions and healthier foods. I also wait longer before breaking my fast in the morning. Usually, it's around lunch time when I finally eat. Having our dog Milo, helps me get my exercise because I either go out and play with him or take him on a walk. It really helps being in this group because we have more motivation to stick with our good eating habits. Going into the 2nd week, it's been a little tougher. 

One thing I have been stressing about since having gotten a puppy is what to do with him when we go out of town. He's too young and doesn't have all of his vaccines to be able to go to a doggy daycare. We're going to Nampa for Thanksgiving because Garrett has an orthodontist appointment the day before. We'll be staying with Curtis's sister Jeanie. She said we could bring Milo if we needed to but we really didn't want to try packing him up. There isn't much room in our van. Fortunately, I put out a plea for help on our ward Facebook page and a couple of families said they could help. One of the families happens to have two golden retrievers. The girls didn't have school on Friday and so we took Milo over to meet them. They were very excited to meet Milo. He was a little nervous but finally after awhile he got comfortable and started running with them.

They are both females. The white one is called Charlie and the other is Leia.

This family has a boy with autism and so they have this cool room set up for him with sensory things. My girls loved playing here and thought it was the coolest room. Of course, Charlotte wants an indoor swing now.

This family will be watching Milo for the day this coming Sunday while we drive to Lewiston for Alex's fairwell talk. Then when we go to Nampa, they'll have him for most of the days. Another family will take him for part of the time.

Last Saturday we finally built shelves in our pantry! Curtis and I went to Home Depot together to get the supplies and then he built them while I worked on a dinner menu and grocery list. After he finished the shelves, we went grocery shopping together. It was fun filling up the pantry. I even emptied some more boxes from the garage. 

We have so much space in there I wasn't sure what to do with it all. It's great!

Fun With Milo

 Halloween was good this year. Jack went to hang out with friends. Garrett and Curtis stayed at home to watch movies and hand out candy. We didn't get very many trick or treaters since we're the older neighborhood. Charlotte, Alice, Milo and I walked our neighborhood and the newer one next to ours to do some trick or treating. Fortunately, the weather was decent. No wind or rain. It was a little cold but not bad. The girls and I walked a lot further than we thought we would be able to and when we went over to one part of the newer neighborhood, we ran into Milo's parents and the people we bought him from! Milo knew right away that it was his parents. He tried to do some nursing on his mom and she was not happy about that! She was getting a little upset so we kept the meeting short but it was fun to see them. Milo was whimpering a little after that. I think he missed his parents. We definitely wore him out that night. There were times I had to carry him because he just wanted to sit and not move.

Alice trying her new costume on after it came in the mail the day before Halloween.

Milo trying on his costume after we bought it from Wal-mart. He's a hotdog.

Milo loves laying on the rug by the door.

All dressed and ready on Halloween. Jack had already left to his friends' house.

The trick or treating group this year from our house. (Jack went with his friends.)

There was a house that was decked out front and back with decorations because their backyard faces a small park by the road and there's a walking path in between them and another house. The front side of this house is where we met Milo's parents. (This is the back)

Well, the last couple of weeks have been up and down with my emotions because of Milo. I have cried a few times in frustration from the puppy biting and a few nights of waking us up in the middle of the night. I was so close to giving up and wanting to get rid of him. BUT I'm glad I didn't because things are getting better. We have started training him to sit, come and stay and he does pretty well. Another frustration is that we're trying to teach him to stay out of the kitchen. Sometimes he listens and sometimes he doesn't. I just have to remember that he's still a puppy and learning. He'll get it eventually. He's been really good at sleeping through the night without accidents. I try to put him to bed between 10 and 11pm. Then the boys wake up at 5am and Curtis takes him outside. On the weekend, we sleep until 6am because his feeding time is 6:30am. Then it's my job to exercise him during the day and get him outside as much as possible and do some training with him. It's quite a job but like I said, it's getting easier and better. He's a good puppy and I'm getting attached to him already. I have even had some success with him going into his crate on his own to lay down on his bed. The crate is basically his den and we want him to like it in there.

I woke him up and put his leash on and then he went back in and laid down. He didn't want to get up yet.

Last Saturday I took Milo, Sage and Cocoa to Petco to get some vaccinations with the help of the girls and Garrett. I couldn't get Milo in to see a vet early enough for his next set of shots, so we did Petco. 

They distracted them with a treat and were able to keep them in their carriers because the tops open up.

Milo went first and I didn't get a picture during the shots but he did really well.

Sunday morning it was time for Milo to get his first bath. I finally picked up some puppy shampoo on Saturday. He was scared and wanted to jump out, just like the cats. He'll have to get used to it because he's going to get a lot of baths, unlike the cats. The shampoo bottle said to brush his hair first before the bath, so we did. When he was dry, his fur was so soft.

"What are they doing to me?"

After the bath, he was ready to rest. The girls joined him in his crate.

Sunday night I played a game with Jack and Curtis called Exploding Kittens. Curtis got to wear the cone of shame because he asked who's turn it was. That's the rule for the game and he has to make sure the arrow is pointing in whatever direction we are playing.

We have finally finished the shower and have now moved our stuff into our bathroom. We still have some work to do in there, but at least we can use it now. It looks pretty good!

That is our temporary mirror until we pick out some new ones. It's the mirror that was hanging in the hallway before we tore that wall down. The counter is nice and tall. I like it.

We decided not to wait and did the shower door instead of a curtain.

I used it for the first time today.

I will have to hem that curtain up later. It's a little long but they don't have the right length at Walmart.