*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 monday, I actually CAUGHT UP THIS BLOG today!  It hasn't been caught up in probably almost a full year!  I am always behind!  But I guess it's kind of like laundry, life is always going and so technically you are always behind. BUT THIS IS COOL! I just published last week on the time it is scheduled!  Now to keep up when the craziness of the holidays hit!!!

Woke up to THIS!

First snowfall of the season!  I kind of like it and I kind of don't!  LOL

My sentiments exactly!

This was Sardine Canyon.  They ended up shutting it down.

My cute little polar bear!

I didn't go to the gym today because it was so snowy and the roads were pretty bad. I hibernated instead!  It was good though because I did get this caught up! 

I got the keynote speaker for next year's Women's Forum secured as well. I asked Jennie Taylor and she said YES!  Yay!  I got a lot done today. It's nice to be home and to not have to go anywhere.  I practiced for quite a while as well.  I got two invites done for different events but used the same format.  Kind of fun!

Taylor was tagged in this on FB.  It was a Turkey Bowl in Yakima.  Looks like fun! I'm so excited to see him tomorrow! He is coming home!

dear tuesday, I got up early (like at 5 a.m.) and got ready and practiced my harp. I headed to my lesson and was thankful there wasn't another snowstorm today. My lesson went well. I'm still working on my technique and it does frustrate me.  Takes so much concentration. I then went straight to Karen's and helped her set up the tables for Thanksgiving. Julie and her family was there.  Cousin (Beattie) was also there. We started calling each other cousin in Hawaii because they call everyone cousin. He is a funny guy. We got everything looking so cute. 

We chatted a bit and then I left to run some errands (aka Christmas shopping). I hit Costco as well and HOLY!  I have NEVER seen it so crazy!  Cars were lined up on 36th/Wall Ave. just trying to get into the parking lot and once in there, there was a guy directing traffic because it was insane!  I actually got a pretty decent parking place.  I had a return and so stood in line forever for that but checking out wasn't terrible. My lunch was the samples. Mmm.....  I ended up having to go back after going to the mall to get some ribs for Thanksgiving. I really did NOT want to go back, but I did.  

 

I then met Sky, Sarah, and Carson at the Megaplex to see Frozen 2. It was packed!  Carson brought me a "present". It's so pretty! I love it! That boy has my heart!

He also brought me this invite because he was so excited his picture was picked out of all the first graders. He was so excited to show me.  
The movie was so good!  I cried!  Loved it!  Especially Olaf!  We got a photo after

Sky had to head to Farmington for work (an appt) so Sarah and Carson went with me. We picked up my calendar order from Walgreen's and since we were right by my parents we stopped and visited with them.  They were very happy to see us. Carson was giggling so hard at my mom because he scared her and she almost peed her pants. He made some crafts and we had fun and then headed home. 

So cold out!  Taylor was on his way here and so I waited up for him. He got home about 11 pm.  So good to see him. 

dear wednesday, I hit the gym and I was the ONLY one there! There was a man and lady when I first arrived but I was it for a long time!  Crazy. 

I talked to Teresa and then Betsy. My phone quit working and so I ran to Verizon to see if they could help me. Nope. But she did put the home icon thing so I can get to my apps. It was SNOWING HARD again today. So pretty though.  

I could not get up our hill and could not get the car in driveway. I did get it stuck though. The boys managed to get it out and in the garage. We hung out and I did a ton of online shopping. The Black Friday sales have already started. I got Dave done. And a few others. I still have a lot to do though. Mainly the ones I have NO idea what to get!  Taylor, Sarah, McKay and the littles are all good, but I have no clue on Bryce, Sky, and Haylie. Or my parents.  Sigh.  I just need ideas!  I have been racking my brain hard. It snowed ALL day. We have almost a foot of snow now!  Poor Scratchers is freezing out there and I let him in for a second and McKay literally sneezed all day long. I felt so bad. 

Boys will be boys!

 Training Carson.

I made banana bread and Carson helped me.

dear thursday, 🙏🏻THANKFUL🙏🏻GRATEFUL 🙏🏻BLESSED🙏🏻#thanksgiving2019HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! 

❤♫❤♫❤.•*¨`*•..¸ ♥☼♥ ¸•*¨`*•.♫❤♫❤♫❤
╔═════════ ೋღ❤ღೋ ═════════╗
ೋ ❤~~HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!~~❤ ೋ
╚═════════ ೋღ❤ღೋ ═════════╝
❤♫❤♫❤.•*¨`*•.. ¸♥☼♥•*¨`*•.♫❤♫❤♫❤

I'm dreaming of a White Thanksgiving!
Enjoy your day and drive safe!

It about swallowed my cute neighbor Julie. It would be past her knees on the grass!

It stopped snowing and so that was good. I normally would be out on a run but today the roads were covered because it snowed all night. We lost a branch on one of our trees from the heavy snow. We have SNOW much!  About 18 inches at one point. Crazy!  It's never like this before Thanksgiving. 

I had the parade on and it was good what I got to see. We took green bean casserole and ribs. Dave didn't make all the ribs I bought and I was not happy about that. 

We got to Karen's and it was a mad house. I worked up quite the sweat trying to get ice and water in all FIFTY ONE cups as well as get the food all where it needed to be.There was a lot to be done.  I was the last one to get my food because I was trying to make sure everything was good downstairs but Dave was upstairs waiting for me to sit down. The food was so good! I love Thanksgiving dinner. I wish it lasted longer. Bryce and crew ate downstairs and they came up after about 30 min because he had to get back to work. He had plowed all morning as well. 

 This week Carson made about 31 turkeys for each plate. He was shy about 20 but he said it took too long. He's so thoughtful.

 Cousins.  Taylor's stache. Barry gave him a hard time about it. Hilarious.

The food was so good! I love Thanksgiving dinner. I wish it lasted longer. Bryce and crew ate downstairs and they came up after about 30 min because he had to get back to work. He had plowed all morning as well. 

We hurried and gathered everyone and got a family photo. I am not sure how we ever got all 51 peeps to gather as fast as we did but somehow we managed. Kevin taped his phone on the wall. He always has some ingenious idea. LOL  

The posterity! (minus about 10 or 11)

 Kevin got caught before he made it to his spot.  LOL

 The sibs with their spouses.

Just the sibs.

 Had to add this ↓ one because it looks like Linda is standing in the air. She was actually jumping.  

Then came the dishes. I scrubbed the rib pan for over 30 minutes. Dave washed a ton as well. It took quite a while tot get everything done. I was beat. We then had pie and that was yummy as well. It turned out nice. 

 I could eat these two ↑ up!!!  Soooo cute!

 LOL

I was so grateful to Karen and Barry for letting us have it there. It's got to be so much work to host. I truly appreciate them for doing that. We looked at the Black Friday ads for a bit. Sky, Sarah, Taylor, and McKay went to Walmart, Michael's, and Target. I had no desire. We all hung out for a while and watched Mom and Dad open gifts from Julie since they won't be here on Christmas. 
We stopped on the way home to get our tree but they were closed. Dang. I was so tired when we got home and just wanted to go to bed. I shopped online instead so I didn't miss all the killer deals today. Black Friday is now Black Thanksgiving Day.

FB post:

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends and family! 🦃

As I looked out my window at the gorgeous winter wonderland scene this morning, my heart was so full of gratitude. My journey this past year only reaffirmed how important it is to cherish each and every moment whether those moments are good, bad, or ugly. Each moment is a gift and passes quickly. Each moment is what makes up our lives. If cancer and my accident taught me anything, it is to always remember that life is short and we need to embrace those we love each and every day and CHERISH the MOMENTS we have been gifted with gratitude. We are all so blessed! I feel such gratitude today for each of you, for life, and for the blessings I am granted each day! Enjoy your blessings today! 💜🙏💜

😇Happy Thanksgiving to all those loved ones in heaven.😇
😇💜🙏 May you feel them close today. 🙏💜😇

#noemptychairsinheaven

Julie brought over these cute turkeys for us. She is so kind.

Our THANKFUL tree. I also did TWO white plastic pumpkins and had everyone write one word what they are they are thankful for. But, I forgot to take photos. I took one to our big thanksgiving feast. I will take it back every year. 

One of my all time favorite Thanksgiving recipes:

dear friday, I didn't rush out this morning. I guess I should have because when I finally got out the stores were packed again. If you go from about 7 to 11 you are good, but then the crowds come back out.  It's so much better than it used to be when we would get up at 4 a.m. and stand in long lines and freeze. I will never be one of the Thanksgiving Day shoppers because I just think it's wrong, but I still usually find whatever I need today. I do miss Shopko. My first stop was Smith and Edwards. I got some great deals for Sky and Sarah and Bryce and Haylie. I tried to use my gift cards from ACE and for some reason they were not working. That turned into a 30 minute ordeal of them calling the main company and waiting and waiting and in the end it was all for nothing. They wouldn't work. Sigh...  Then I hit Real Deals. Nothing there. Except I DID find a penny in the dressing room!  Score!  I then went to Ogden and it was really snowing hard!  I went to see if Downeast had the plant I have wanted forever on sale. They did!  I got it for 30% off and that's the best it will go they said so I got it. I also got a cute sweater etc.  I hit a few stores on my way to Bath and Body Works and found some awesome deals. I don't usually do the mall on Black Friday and it was cray cray. Bath and Body Works was insane. You could barely move. I stood in line for at least 25-30 minutes. But I got some good stuff. 

I got some pretzel bites before I left. Soooo good!  It was coming down hard still. I ran to Walgreen's to get my calendars. They actually did them right this time.  I wish I had done them in a 12x12 size. Too late now though. I shopped there and got some killer deals on Pistachios. I also got Trevor's bday gift.  I came home and it was still snowing. The roads weren't too bad.  We went to Linda's for Trevor's bday party. Taylor and McKay came with us. They had pizza and yummy salad and a good cake. We had fun with Kimber's girls. They are so cute.

We came home and I did a bit of Black Friday shopping online and then Carson and I watched the new Aladdin. It was so good! I loved it.

Carson made me this cute picture and gave it to me as soon as I got home from shopping. 

dear saturday, today was another CHILLY day!  The little C man helped shovel snow!

Dave made breakfast again. I am so grateful when he does. It's so nice to have Rouze and McKster here. Carson was so sweet too. I am going to miss that kid when they move to their apartment. They are getting close too. Chayden comes in one week. I realized Santa was coming to town today and so Carson and I ran over to the courthouse and got there before he left. I am sure we missed the big crowds but that's okay!  

We stopped at Julie's because she got a new tree and wanted us to see it. It's gorgeous. She has a Santa that climbs on a ladder up and down it. She made some hot cocoa for Carson in her purple Keurig. It was really tasty. She also gave us a sample of her cider. It was fabulous. I wanted to make some for our big lunch today and she basically gave me all the ingredients. She is too nice. She also let me store some Christmas gifts there. We came home and I made the cider. So yummy. 

I didn't have enough cider and Julie was at Kent's and bought me some. She is truly the sweetest person. Very generous. I spent the next couple of hours cleaning like a mad woman.  My parents arrived and then Bryce and crew. We had a full house and it was so fun. The dinner was so good. Dave had made a prime rib and the ribs I bought at Costco. It was a feast.  

The littles were so cute. I made some cookies and then CJ stopped by!  We had saved him some dinner. He is the nicest kid. It has been awhile since I saw him.  He is doing well. Carson loves him. 
Bryce and Haylie left for a bit to grab a gift in O town for Brinlee. I told them to let me tend them while they went.  I had to talk them into letting Liam stay. They are both too nice and don't want to put anyone out. I was so happy to get some time with those cute little ones. I rarely get to see them and I love them so much. They are the cutest. We had so much fun. Liam was totally fine. He did say, "Muma?" a couple times. It was cute but he was fine when I told him she would be back soon. He calls Bryce, "Daddy" now. It's so cute. They were playing with the nerf guns and it was hilarious.

 We had a great time. My parents left and then Bryce and Haylie got back. CJ was nice enough to play Greedy Granny with him. It was hilarious. Fun night. I love having  lots of family over. 

This game is a blast!  If you have littles and don't have this game...GO GET IT!  Love it!

dear sunday, we headed to church. I had to say the opening prayer and Carson and crew weren't ready when I had to leave but Taylor and McKay came with me. It was fast and testimony meeting and it was a good meeting. Pat taught today and Carson's class joined us. We left about 15 minutes early because Taylor's ride was arriving at 11. We got a photo and said our goodbyes. 

It was easier this time around because he will be home in a couple weeks for Christmas! Yay!  It's going to be a very busy next three weeks!  I haven't even started the family newsletter (as usual) BUT at least the calendars are done!  YIPPEE!  Dave was in the mood for homemade bread and so Carson and I made some. He had fun. I had dough all over my hands and tasted it before I washed it completely forgetting I was still fasting. Oops! 

My bread making buddy. And the recipe for future reference.😆😁🍞

Gotta have lots of budr!

Working hard to stir the dough!

Sarah's IG post:

More shenanigans

LOVE!

I took a screen shot of this cute calendar and put my own acts of kindness to do. I also made little strips of these and put them in our advent Gingerbread house.

dear random,

 Tis' the season!  HO HO HO!

Memories from last year: 

Oh- my little Brinlee!

She wasn't still drinking out of a bottle but she loved to come to my house and dig them out of my cupboard and pretend she was a little baby.  Adorable. Her mom didn't agree. Haha

HERE is a great little story of why Linus drops his blanket in A Charlie Brown Christmas.   

HERE is the rest of the story.

HERE is a story of how the Boston Marathon charity runners work. It's mind blowing.

RANDOM FACEBOOK MEMORY POP UPS:
(click to enlarge)

Little did I know that my life would change so much that that might be the last time I get one of those in the mail.  However, I am STILL HOLDING ONTO HOPE that there will another time in the future!!!

dear quotes, this is SO Mr. Cat...