Harry Potter Party and Nikki Comes Home!

On Monday, the 19th, I received word from Nikki that her flight was cancelled for Tuesday morning. Fortunately, she was able to have it rescheduled for late that very night (Monday)! So that means we got to see her sooner!

We were also invited to our friend's yearly Harry Potter party Monday evening. The boys opted to stay home and hang out with a friend while we went with the two girls. It was year 4 so they did the Tri-Wizard Tournament and the Yule Ball. It's because of the Yule Ball part that we had it so close to Christmas. She said the next one, if they do it, will probably be in the summer. Our family didn't dress in costume or dresses but we went anyway as muggles (non-magic folk). It was held at the American Legion Hall in downtown Nampa. Our friends who put this on are Chrystal and Matt Hayes. Her parents are members of the Legion. We started out the evening with eating food that everyone brought since it was a potluck. We brought a veggie tray because I didn't have time to make anything. After eating, our families were sorted into one of the 3 schools. Our family was in Beauxbatons Academy of Magic , as were our other friends, Bryan and Laura Rovig, with their 3 kids. 

Charlotte put our family name in the "Goblet of Fire", which was a vase filled with cloudy water and a light underneath. The light would change to a certain color for each school. The light turned blue for us.

This was the party invitation. It looked so cool, shiny and sparkly silver! And it was sealed in an envelope with the Hogwarts wax seal.

The first challenge in the tournament was to grab the golden dragon egg and pass it down the line either between your legs or over your head to pass it to the person behind you. The last person had to run it back to the front. Unfortunately, we lost that one because our egg opened up and we had a hard time getting it back together with the little dragon inside. Oh well, we still got some points. 

The 2nd task was for one of our team to get the rest of the team over to the other side of the room in as little trips as possible. There was an office chair with wheels that we could use only once. The first team was Hogwarts and they did it in two trips. We totally rocked this one because we had lots of smaller kids and two engineer dads. We got it done in one trip! We had 4 of the kids piled up on the chair seat. Then the youngest girl sat on the top of the chair with me holding onto her. The two women (me and Laura) leaned over the kids on the chair with our feet on the legs of the chair, holding onto each other. Then Curtis pushed us across with Bryan on his back. It was so fun!

The third task was playing charades. Unfortunately, we lost this one too. Bryan was the one acting out the clues and he had a difficult time but it was still fun. 

This was the Hogwarts team. Chrystal was holding the basket of clues for everyone. Her husband Matt was the one acting out. He did great and their team won! The other guy in the picture is a friend of theirs who lives in Kennewick and we learned he's not far away from our new home! We had a good conversation with him. Matt is from Kennewick and it sounds like they hope to move their eventually if a football coaching and teaching position open up at Kennewick High School. I hope they do!

They had golden (plastic) trophy cups for all the winning teams, or at least the kids. Hogwarts won, so they received them first but every team got some. Then they turned on some music and had some dancing. It was a lot of fun dancing with the girls! We stuck around to help clean up afterwards. We knew we had to stay up late anyway to go pick up Nikki from the airport. Somehow, we ended up bringing home 5 of the trophies and the girls loved them.

Chrystal had one of her friends paint these flags for each school. They looked like they could have been store bought! It was a fun party (again)!

I told Chrystal to let us know when their next party is because we might happen to be in town for it when we make some visits. 

Curtis had to take a nap after we got home from the party because he wakes up early and was very tired. He needed a nap if he was going to go to the airport with us to get Nikki at close to midnight. It turned out that her flight landed about 30 min early! We were just leaving Nampa to head to the airport when she landed. However, it did take awhile to get off the plane and get her bag. She was able to check her bag for free because the plane was so full. With us being late we decided we better just pick her up curbside instead of going inside like we had wanted. Fortunately, Nikki's boyfriend, Ted, was there already and surprised her. His friend gave him a ride to the airport. He had told her that he wouldn't be able to come since it was too late at night. Awww, he's such a nice guy!

It turned out to be a good thing that Nikki's flight was cancelled, not only because she came home early but also because the other kids and myself had a dentist appointment Tuesday morning at 10am. I was worried about having time to pick Nikki up at 8:30 and getting back in time because I would need to take her home to Nampa from Boise and then go to Meridian for the appointment. And who knows how long it would take her to get off the plane and everything. It all worked out and she's home for a little over a week.

That Tuesday evening Ted came over and we baked some sugar cookies together. 

Nikki bought matching sweaters. 

Having fun baking cookies!

Unfortunately, that same evening is also when the boys started getting sick. Jack had a sore throat and congestion. Garrett got a low fever and chills. They did a lot of sleeping the next couple of days. Even Alice was starting to get a little cough. 

Curtis and I finally got to our Christmas and birthday gift wrapping Wednesday night. We kept saying we needed to do it but it wasn't happening. We designated that night for wrapping. We watched two whole movies and only had a few left at that point but Curtis started another movie and we felt like we had to watch it even though we were finished wrapping, probably around 11:30pm. I didn't get to bed until almost 1am. It is so not worth it staying up that late. It makes me so tired and sluggish the next day. After sleeping as much as I could the next morning, I finally got myself to finish getting Christmas cards mailed out. Whew, we finally did cards again! The last time was in 2018. 

Christmas Concert and Party

The last two weeks were pretty busy so I'm going to break up my posts so it's not one huge post. Well, the week before Christmas, Jack was sick and missed all but one day of school (Friday the 16th). He wasn't able to perform in his Christmas band concert, which was the same night as Garrett's. Unfortunately, with Garrett being in percussion and one of the younger students, he only got to play in one song. The song he performed in was a 20 songs in 2 min medley and the band teacher played a game with the audience to see who could name the most correct songs in the right order that they were played. I was busy trying to play the game and didn't even get to see Garrett play the timpani (large drums). Curtis got a video though. On the very last song, they invited kids to come down and help jingle some bells, so both of our girls went down. Alice shared with another little girl because they ran out of bells. They had fun doing that. Also, at the end they finally handed out the letters and pins that were received for marching band. Garrett finally got his letter!

Our niece, Livvie, showed up unexpectedly because she was there to watch a friend, so she sat by us.

My mother in law was the only grandparent that could make it this time but I'm glad she did.

Charlotte and Alice playing the bells. (white and black jacket, purple jacket)

He almost tried to get away from taking this picture but I made him pose and I'm glad I did! It was the only picture I got of him that night.

The girls didn't have a Christmas concert BUT they did have a school wide sing along and they surprised the kids by inviting parents, family and friends to come join. Santa and Mrs. Claus also made an appearance and joined the singing. The principal made Christmas very fun for the students. They had started out the day with everyone watching the Polar Express in the gym, where many kids wore their pajamas, even our girls. 

This was during the sing a long. They displayed the words on the screen while the music played so everyone would know the words to sing. It was fun listening to the kids sing loud. I was singing as well but did not notice many adults around me singing. I guess they just came to watch.

This was on the last day before the Christmas break. After the sing a long was done, parents were welcome to take their kids with them if they chose. Alice decided to come home with me but Charlotte stayed so she could be with her friends longer and she rode the bus home.

My dad brought over some gifts and the kids opened their ornaments from Grandma Vernie. They are so creative and cute!

The two girls got cupcakes. Garrett got a drink with whipped topping (maybe hot cocoa?). Jack got a snowman head made from a block. 

That same Friday night (the 16th) was our ward Christmas party. They had crafts for the kids to do and some coloring and activity pages. We ate dinner and then the primary kids did a live nativity. Charlotte wore her new red dress and Alice brought her white dress to change into when it was time. They had fun being angels.

The girls making their crafts. They made several different kinds of ornaments.

Charlotte is the angel in red. Alice is on the left side holding her halo on her head.

Our two little angels.

All of the fun crafts Charlotte made.

Alice's crafts.

Santa made an appearance as well but neither of my girls wanted to sit on his lap or even talk to him.

We learned how to make these ornaments made from plastic cups. You color on the cup with sharpie and then melt it down in the toaster oven. 

Curtis has gotten addicted to smoking......smoking food that is, thanks to living next door to his dad who has a smoker! He has now smoked different types of meat, cheeses, and chili. We ordered Curtis a smoking tube so he can use it with any grill or even in the oven.  That was one of his birthday gifts that he knew he was getting. It was actually his idea to get one for my dad for Christmas and so we ordered two of them. 

I'm not exactly sure how it works but you fill the tube with wood chips and some how light it and it will smoke and the flavors soak into the food.

I finally got a picture of my boys in their Christmas ties! Garrett was quick to change after church but I made him change back so I could get this picture.

I'll end this post with that same Sunday we spent the evening with the Butterfields for their special Christmas FHE. We ate dinner together first, which was smoked chili (brought by us), Zuppa Toscana, and chicken noodle, along with some rolls. My in laws make all of their favorite Christmas time treats and share them with their kids and grandkids. Both of my in laws also bore their testimonies. It was a nice time to spend with them, as it might be our last time sharing in that tradition.

December Fun Continues (part 2)

Last Saturday was a fun filled day, at least for most of us. Unfortunately, Jack woke up with a headache and it turned out he had a fever. He stayed in bed pretty much all day while the rest of us went out and did some things. Curtis was finishing up helping a sister in the ward with a project with his dad. I had been on the look out for a bright red dress that Charlotte would be happy with because she really wanted one. The first dress I bought at Saver's, she didn't like. Thankfully, it was only $5.00 but earlier in the week I found one on Facebook marketplace and it was in Nampa so I wouldn't have to go far. I messaged the gal but didn't get a reply until several days later, which was Saturday morning. We arranged to go look at it and Charlotte said she liked it so we bought that one for $5 as well! It was located in a neighborhood behind South Middle School, so it was only a 5 min drive. 

After getting home with the dress, Charlotte tried it on with her white vest from the other dress I had just bought (the white one) and she was very happy with it. Thank goodness, because I was done buying dresses for her! 😂 I told the girls they needed to take a shower or bath early today because I knew we were going to be busy. After the girls showered/bathed I took them over to the Rec Center to do Santa's workshop. They had crafts, games, cookies and Santa. However, my girls were fine to just see Santa from far away. They did write letters to him though and stuck it in a box. Charlotte got hers in there before I could get a picture but I did get Alice's. Charlotte asked for a sewing machine (kid size). Charlotte actually already knows the truth about Santa because she found out last spring when her friend from school kept saying it, so we told her. She's fine with it though because now she gets to be one of Santa's helpers at home. Alice is the only one left.

Alice asked for an electric cat and dog. She also asked for a light projector like Charlotte's. And then I added "Or any toy you think I would like". 

They made pins.

Coloring reindeer headbands.

Wearing their headbands and made an ornament.

Playing a game where they knock each other's pin down while standing in the hoop with it.

They saved this ornament to make at home.

They also had boxes wrapped up as gifts that they did stacking with but I was busy talking to my old friend Brittanie (Poulsen), who was there with her daughter, so I didn't get pictures of that. I hadn't talked to Brittanie in forever so I was excited to see her. I talked to her about moving over to Kennewick, which is where her sister is also.

We came home for an hour and a half break before taking off to go see Jurassic Quest at the Idaho Center Sports Arena. Since Jack couldn't go, Garrett invited a friend, Hailey, to take his ticket. It happened to be a girl in our new ward who is also a sister to two of his new friends (Calvin and Logan). She had asked him on a double date last week. They were going to do the date last Friday but had to post pone it. She is a fun girl and talkative, meaning she got Garrett to talk! I'm mad at myself for not getting a good picture with both of them in it. I was mostly following the girls around and we were moving quickly.

The dinosaurs were big, I'm assuming actual life size but they also had moving parts, like the head and tail would move up and down. Our girls were moving too fast to read any information at each station.

This was the only shot I got Garrett and Hailey in. I should have told her to look but I didn't! Mad at myself!

This shark was huge! And the tail moved.

The girls got to take a short ride on these moving dinosaurs (on wheels).

Both girls loved it!

This was the biggest dinosaur they could get on but it didn't move much. The head and tail moved but that was it. There were some other smaller dinosaurs that you could get on that moved more.

Alice wasn't scared at all.

They had multiple inflatables.

Excavating fossils. They ended up bringing them home to finish another day.

They finished excavating their fossils after church on Sunday.

It was messy but fun for them. Charlotte helped Alice with hers.

They each found 3 treasures. Some looked like rocks and some were small shells.

The girls had a great time and we could have stayed there longer but Garrett and Hailey were done after 2 hours and it was time for dinner anyway. Jurassic Quest was cool and fun but it's mostly geared toward younger kids so I wouldn't take my teenagers there again.

We ate dinner at Idaho Pizza Company where Garrett and Hailey had a competition to see who could sprinkle more chili flakes on their slice of pizza and eat as much of it as possible without getting a drink. Hailey won that competition. Garrett could only eat 2/3 of the slice before wiping flakes off his pizza. Hailey ate the whole thing no problem! Wow, tough girl! I think Garrett paid for it later because the next two days his stomach felt icky.

Since we were on that side of town, we wanted to stop and see the display at the church on Birch Rd. They started this display a couple of years ago. When I first heard about it, they had missionaries out here with hot chocolate but when we went, there wasn't anybody there. It was pretty cold because of the wind, so Garrett and Hailey decided to stay in the car while the rest of us got out to look at it. It was freezing so we didn't stay longer than a few minutes.

Charlotte didn't seem to need a jacket. BRRR! Crazy girl!

We dropped off Hailey on the way home and found out that she likes a lot of the same things Garrett does, like video games and Zelda. Curtis said at the same time I was thinking it "it's a match made in Heaven". 😂 Hailey is also 16 but she's homeschooled and apparently taking some college level classes. I'm not sure what grade she is technically in at the moment. She's smart and fun. It's too bad we're moving next month! 

The next day, both the girls wore their new red dresses to church (both were bought 2nd hand this time).

I found this nice jacket for Charlotte at Saver's also.

The dress is a size 10 plus so hopefully it will last her for next year also.