*Monday Memos*

*MONDAY MEMOS*

   

 (If pictures are too small, just click to enlarge) 
Weekly recap of my rather crazy, insane, but fun and rewarding life!

dear long run, since I didn't get it in on Saturday, I ended up doing it on Monday.  Thankfully my running pal Robin was able to go part way with me.  We didn't leave until 9 something but it was still pretty chilly!  I was not feeling super great.  Mainly my stomach, but once I dropped Robin off at mile 7.5 I decided I was not up to going three more.  I came home and was glad I did. 

dear fhe, instead of looking at each other on Monday night and wondering what we are going to do for FHE, I got us tickets to the high school play.  Dave was on call and so I went alone and he got there about an hour after it started. Some of the kids in my SS class were in it and I really wanted to go see them.  They did a great job!  We saw a ton of people we knew there. I had several people tell me they enjoyed my talk at Stake Conference.  One lady told me that she was so impressed I could give a talk without even referring to a paper.  I tired to explain it wasn't a talk....it was a testimony.  She then said, "You still gave a great talk. It was very eloquent."  I won't be telling Dave that. haha He said Elder Porter wanted me to know it was a testimony NOT a talk when he asked Dave to ask me if I would do it.  Oh how we humans get needlessly caught up in the details of life!

dear freezing run in the tundra!  My Tuesday run was frigid and windy!  I was SO cold!

Do I get sick of the same route?  Yes, I do, but I have one route that I take that I never get sick of.  Probably because it seems to be faster miles than the others even though it's the same. I try and change up my route every day though.

dear wedding cake trial one...(aka disaster with frosting) 
Okay, let me explain.  My nephew Weston is getting married in January.  I have made about every single wedding cake on both sides of the family (Dave's and mine) but now that there are so many grandkids on Dave's side, I decided I better not say yes to Weston or I will have to say yes to the other 24+ nieces and nephews. I'm not sure I'm up to doing that or not!  lol  I've already done one of them. It is not as easy for me as it used to be beacuse my hand gets hurting pretty bad.  Dave thinks I am getting some rheumatoid arthritis and so I hate to increase that from making wedding cakes.  So I explained that to Karen (his mom) and she understood.  Mary (Weston's fiance) picked out a cake that she wanted and Karen decided to attempt it herself and I offered my assistance.  That way I won't be doing it myself and so I won't feel obligated to do all of the others.  We made a plan to do a trial run of it because it was something that I had never tried before. It is a naked cake (meaning a cake that isn't frosted) and it looked very simple to do.  I knew the construction of it would be a little challenging and I had a few other concerns so I am glad we decided to test it out first. 

There were a few problems.  haha

First, the icing she bought from a bakery was NOT what it was supposed to be.  It was a whipped cream icing but the bakery added a fruit filling to it in order to color it and it turned the consistency into basically cottage cheese that was pliable like play dough.  Oh my!  Talk about a disaster!  Luckily, we also had some buttercream.  We sent Aubrey back to the bakery to get a new batch of the whipped cream without any coloring.

Second, Karen baked the cakes using two different brands of cake mixes.  One was perfect (Betty Crocker) and was stable and not crumbly, but the other one (Duncan Hines) totally crumbled and fell apart. She made one each for each size of tier.  Unfortunately, it didn't want to hold up. Now if we had been doing a frosted cake instead of a naked cake, it would have been an easy fix.  Frosting can repair a multitude of sins.  When your cake is naked..stark naked...every little imperfection is on display. Kind of like how people are.  That's why we wear clothes!  ☺

We got to the point where we just decided to have fun and quit worrying about it because we knew there was no way it was going to work out like the picture with all the problems we were having with the frosting and cake.  We were really having a lot of fun!  We both had tears coming out of our eyes from laughing so hard.  We did feel bad that Mary was going to see it and probably cry REAL tears!  But, at the same time we thought that was even funny too!

Aubrey grabbed some random flowers she found and we added a few mints and leaves....anything to help it look somewhat presentable!  Haha 

I wanted to high tail it out of there before Mary got there.  I really didn't want my name associated with it!  haha  Actually, it wasn't THAT bad, just not perfect (not that a naked cake IS) and I am a perfectionist when it comes to my cakes.  We thought we had wasted a good five hours, but then we said that we would pay good money to have that much fun for five hours like going to Lagoon or somewhere.  So all in all, it was a success if you look at it that way!

Me and Karen with our masterpiece!  hehe

This is what it was supposed to look like.  And in our defense, it would have if we would have had cakes that were more stable and the right icing.  Maybe... :) 

When I got home I got a text from Mary asking if THIS ↑ one would be easier! I said, "Heck YES!" lol  So this is the one that she wants now.  I am not even worried about it one bit.  It will be a "piece of cake!"

dear "the boys are home!"  I had been out running errands on Wednesday when it started to snow!  Felt a little more like Christmas!  I love the snow!  But mainly only when it's coming down.  After that it can melt and go away! When I got home it was dark. I finished making dinner and heard a knock on my door.  I opened it and there was my nephew Weston!  I was not expecting him but apparently Taylor was.  They had made plans for him to spend the night since Taylor was coming home and we were going back to Weston's for Thanksgiving the next day. I just wasn't informed.  As usual.  So it was just Weston and me for a while because Dave was on call and Taylor was stuck in a blizzard (white out) in Sardine canyon trying to get home. Bryce was still in Idaho Falls closing up for the big opening night for the city council and other big whigs.  Taylor finally arrived and then Dave.  We ate dinner and then Taylor and Weston went and played ping pong and video games.  They both did some homework as well.  Bryce didn't get home until after midnight.  Poor kid.  He looked like crap when he got home. He is working his keister off and then some!  Plus the roads were horrible and it was a white knuckle drive home.  He said it was so nice to be home! 

 Just like old times!  I miss these days when these guys would hang out in the Man Cave together every summer.  Now Weston is going to be married in a month!  Changes.... I am not a fan of changes most of the time.  But change is inevitable and the part of life that we can't change!

 Breakfast on Thanksgiving day!  Dave made it while I was out on a run.

dear coldest run of the season so far!  Brrr....  I headed out fairly early on Thanksgiving day to get my run in.  I was only going five miles but holy hoody it was windy!  VERY WINDY!  I NEVER wear my hood but today I had no choice!  It was just too windy not too and too cold!  It did help!  I am sure with the wind chill the temps were close to single digits...maybe less! The first photo is of the flags blowing.  I don't mind running in the heat, rain, snow, hail, but the wind!  Oh the wind is just brutal!  It drains your energy and wears you down and just beats you up.  I felt hammered once I got home!  But...I AM thankful I am able to run!  I came home and took a HOT shower and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade while I got ready.

dear day of thanks!  I LOVE Thanksgiving!  I always have.  But more so now because I understand how important being grateful is for our well being.  I am feeling very grateful this year for so many blessings in my life.  I am truly blessed...

I hate to make a list because I fear I will leave so much out, but I am going to just make a short one.  This year I am most thankful for:

• Both my parents are still living
• All my boys are safe and healthy and doing good things
• I am healthy and Dave is healthy
• Dave's calling (it truly has blessed our lives)
• My cat (he fills in that "no grandchild" gap - kinda) 
• Living in a first world country and all the blessing that come with that
• My warm home
• A wonderful husband - he is just a really good person
• My extended family
• Wonderful in-laws
• My amazing friends - I have been blessed with so many good ones
• The list goes on and on.........but I will end it there for now.

This year we went to Dave sister's Karen's house again.  We went there two years ago as well.  She is so good to be willing to have it there.  Especially since there were almost 40 people!  That is a lot of peeps!

The food was SO good!  The only people missing from the ENTIRE family this year was Skyler, McKay, and my niece Kimberly and her little family.  EVERYONE ELSE was there!  That's a first!  The sad thing is we never got a group photo!  UGH!  I am so sad!

 SO MUCH FOOD!  YUMMY YUMMY FOOD!

We took two racks of ribs and a huge casserole pan of green bean casserole and both were gone instantly.  Not everyone got some. I took twice as much as I usually do and it still wasn't enough.  This is by far the most we have ever had gathered together for Thanksgiving and the numbers are just going to keep going up!

I took a TON of photos. I am usually the designated photographer because I need the pictures for the family calendar I do each year.  After dinner everyone just kind of kicked back and played games or watched TV or chatted.  A few even took off to go Black Friday shopping.  Barry took my boys and Weston to his shop to go drop off the garbage.  I enjoyed talking to my nieces and sil's. 

It was so fun to have everyone together!

It was a cold day!  Karen and her girls were heading to go shopping after everyone left around 8 pm.  I had no desire.  I truly feel bad that shopping has taken over Thanksgiving... the one day when you are given an opportunity to spend it with your family but now with all the craziness of Black Friday starting on Thursday, and the employees needing to work, it has become more of a day of greed than a day of thanks and that just bothers me.  The good side is, Friday is no longer a zoo when I go and grab what I want.  No lines, no fighting, no standing in long lines in the dark and cold. But it comes at a cost. 

This guy is pretty cute! 

 A couple pix of my own little family.  We really missed McKay and Sky!

dear black friday, the REAL Black FRIDAY.  I didn't see too much in the ads that I felt I needed this year, other than a back pack from Smith and Edwards.  I also saw in the ad that they were having a killer sale on Bosch mixers and so I called Linda because she was looking for one.  I got there first and waited in my car for a while because it was SO COLD but I finally got out and stood in line. I wasn't really too stressed where I was in line.  If the stuff was still there, then it was, if not, then oh well.  I wasn't in the mood to fight and run for it.  The best part was they didn't open until 9 a.m. and so I didn't have to get up at the crack of insanity like in years past.  We ended up meeting there so we could divide and conquer.  

Lynn also came along.  Dave had to work or he would have been there as well.  I think... :)  They were handing out hot chocolate but it didn't quite make it down to our part of the line.  We did get bite size scones when we entered the store though.

Linda wanted the backpacks and I decided I wanted a Bosch for future weddings (my boys) because they were such a great deal this year.  We also go two for Karen.  We had our carts full.  I should have taken a photo!  I got some great deals and I felt good that I went out.  Nothing like a crazy sale to get the adrenaline going.  I hit Shopko and Walmart and Hallmark on the way home.  I got a good start on Christmas!

The rest of the day I worked on bridal shower stuff for Mary's shower tomorrow.  I had to make a ton of mini cupcakes and a pasta salad.  As well as do a get to know you fairy tale on Mary and get the gift put together.  Luckily, I had assigned out a lot to the other sister in laws too. 

dear bridal shower for mary, the day arrived!  It was a snowy blustery day!  The roads were not very safe and that kept a lot of people away.  In fact, the news was telling people to not go on the roads unless absolutely necessary.  I actually almost slid off the highway at one point.  But all of the family made it safe and sound!  We got things set up and it looked so cute!

 Here we all are!  This hasn't happened for a while!  Seems like someone is always missing.  But all seven of us including Mom all made it! I love these sisters so much.  They are the sisters I never had.  Each one is an amazing woman! I have been very blessed to have them a part of my life!

 Here is all the family that made it.  We are excited to welcome Mary (center in the apron) into the family. She is as sweet as kind as can be and also a lot of fun! 

Mary in her cute apron (part of a game)

 We always have a lot of fun when we get together.

 She got some nice gifts!  We only had about 30 peeps there, which was really good considering the holiday weekend as well as the bad weather. 

 I saw these cute chips on pinterest and thought it would be fun to do!  Aren't they cute?  There is salsa and cream cheese in the bottom of the cups. Tori made the yummy cranberry salsa!

 We played a lot of games.  Probably too many!  I wrote up a fairy tale to help everyone get to know Mary a little bit better.  We had Weston read the answers.

  

Taylor showed up!  To eat!  haha  He had been working for Barry and so stopped in to grab some chow and then had to head back to the USU football game.  He froze!  It was fun to have him there for a bit.  I told him to eat his food before he left but he was in a rush.  He text me a bit later and told me he spilled it and would be cleaning up salsa for days!   

We had a good turnout for a blustery day!  It was fun! 

dear mr. cat, you have been staying in and sleeping a LOT more this week!  I don't blame you!  It's been chilly!  Nothing makes me feel cozier than watching a furry ball of fluff sleep contently while it blows and snows outside.

dear bryce's lighted park, (Festival of Lights in Idaho Falls) things have been going great!  They had a great opening night and it's looking like all the publicity is going to help things go better this year!  Opening night had 450!  That's huge!  A new record!  I am excited for him but worried he is freezing to death!

You posted this on Snapchat and it just yells COLD and MISERABLE!  Brrr......

dear mr. buck and wild turkeys, I LOVE LOVE LOVE being able to see you just chill in our backyard!  It's so fun to just look out the window at such beauty.  Okay maybe the turks aren't so beautiful but they are still pretty cool to watch.

 

dear quotes, 

 Isn't that the truth!

As is everyday!

Amen!