*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, today I hit the gym early. My ankle is still not where it needs to be. I only got in two miles on the treadmill.

I ran to Wallies to grab some stuff. I got some green mint milk that I am going to call GRINCH JUICE and deliver to the needy family as well as to Bryce's kiddos. Liam is obsessed with the Grinch!  I also got some green cups. Christmas is so fun! Most of the time anyway.  I am trying to not let the stress of having so much to still do get to me. But you still might hear me utter under my breath that Christmas is stupid once in a while. Hehe.

Sarah helped me get the Snowman candles (neighborhood gifts) done. They turned out cute but took so much longer than I thought. Things always seem to do that. 

Dave got home and all the boys went to Crystal Hot Springs. Carson and Chayden loved it. They were able to use my free passes that I have earned each year at the Honeyville race. Pretty cool. I had no desire to go and freeze!  Sarah liked it too. We had tacos for dinner and you would have thought no one had ever eaten before. They inhaled it!  I wrapped for quite a while today and I am almost done. Crazy considering I don't even wrap most of the boys gifts. 

Three wisemen, two donkeys, one camel and six pandas. 🐼

#whoknew

#HeIsObsessed😂

dear tuesday, I LOVE my tree!  There is something so peaceful about the dark sky with the bright lights against it. I wonder why we don't all have trees all year long. Maybe then we wouldn't appreciate them as much, but this year I have thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful peace it brings.

It was only 15 degrees this a.m. and so I bagged my walk. Wimp I know. LOL  I practiced the harp for a long time. I am getting closer to being ready for the recital. I also practiced Pirates and the boys knew what I was playing. Cool. Taylor made breakfast. It was yummy. I worked some more on Christmas. Mostly the other neighbor gifts (the bigger ones). I am now once again behind on this! Ugh. So hard to keep up!  ONE WEEK FROM TODAY is Christmas Eve and I haven't even started on the poem!  Yep. Bad. But it is what it is. Not sure WHEN I will find the time either!  But it will come whether I am ready or not!  It was fun having everyone home today. Dave was off as well. I worked on the signs for Karen again. I want to get them DONE today!  They have taken a lot longer than planned!
The finished product:

I also repaired the gingerbread house for my mom.

Sky and crew as well as me and McKay went to the movie Jumanji 2 in Logan. It was a bout 10 degrees colder there!  Happy Decemburrrrrrrrr!  The movie was good but a ton of swearing that ruined it and totally unnecessary. I liked the first one better.  We then went to see if I could get my $ back from Juniper Take Out from last week. They explained that we weren't overcharged though I am not convinced. She gave me a free dessert for my trouble. We grabbed some Little Zah's (McKay's name for Little Ceasars) and came home. I am starting to get stressed because Christmas Eve is one week from today!  

Some of the many faces of Chayden:

 He loves to eat COLD Spaghettios right out of the can!

 He had on Sarah's Moana wig here...

Mr. Cat loves him!
Taylor not so much.
JK LOL

dear wednesday, today I got up early and practiced and then I took Carson to school because Sarah's windows were frozen. I then went to harp and we worked on my recital piece O Holy Night and I am getting nervous because I can play it perfectly at home but not when I am thinking I am doing it for the recital. She gave me tips on how to relax and relieve the nerves.  Hope it works. I then got in my last day of Christmas shopping (at least in O town). I grabbed some things for those I didn't have enough for. And for the needy family. I hit Costco hoping for samples because I was starving but everything was sweet and I wanted nutritious. hah  I went to Burlington to get a character towel for the secret Santa family but the line was beyond insane and there were about 35 people ahead of me and only four cashiers. My wait in line would have been at least 30 minutes and I wasn't up for that so I put it back and headed home. 

I am so shopped out! I stopped at the Ortho to get my retainer and everyone was so nice. I had on a buffalo check shirt with a red vest, black pants and my new red boots and everyone told me I looked very festive. Clark adjusted my retainer and told me I have to wear it all day for a while. Hmmm... THAT is going to be hard to go back to that. Sarah got her invisalign today and so she was in pain. Poor girl. Julie stopped by to give Carson and Chayden a gift. She also gave me another one!  Naughty girl!  She is very generous!  She is so nice though. I love getting neighborhood gifts!  
Bryce and crew stopped by so Liam could see our Grinch we set up for him. McKay was also obsessed with the Grinch he was about four or five so we have a lot of Grinch stuff. It was pretty cute. When he first arrived he was oblivious to it and then when he realized it talked and moved, he was very unnerved! He stayed as far away as possible. He even went up the on the balcony to check him out from afar. Hilarious.

 He eventually warmed up to him and got brave enough to push the button at the bottom and then even touch his hands and shake them.

Brinlee sang and danced with the microphone and then Liam tried it as well. Fun times.

I am not sure if I posted the letter I received in the mail as well as $100 bill. I got it in September and we were supposed to use the money to assist someone in need. I wanted to do something really creative and unique but I never came up with anything and so we used it for the needy family this year. There was an article in the paper this week about it. Here is the online version:

 Here is my return letter I sent this week.

There are some pretty amazing people out there who would do this!  I am grateful we were selected to be a part of it!

dear thursday, today I hit the gym and there were not very many peeps there. I chatted with Teresa for quite a while. 

When I got home I talked to Sarah about the needy family She needed to pick up some gifts in Tremonton and I had to go there anyway to do a return and get a gift card for Haylie. So we headed out. We got lots of stuff donated to the needy family. People are so nice. 

We went to the boutique and it was fun looking at stuff. Then we went to The Sunflower Shop. It's so cute. We came home and they had to head to family photos. Taylor came home from snowboarding and we chatted about his love life. We delivered the 12 Days of Christmas because Sky and crew were gone.  It was fun. But they didn't open the door. 
Carson got home and came up in my room to tell me all about his day. He was so pure and sweet and I could eat him up. 

Taylor then headed up to Logan and wasn't sure what he is going to do. I sent a gift. Good thing too. I was so beat. Still SO much to do!
Chayden opened our presents and he was pretty happy! He loved the shark pillow and the other stuff we gave him. 

dear friday, I was ready to hit the gym and then Carson came in my room and gave me a present. Inside was an ornament with his picture. I cried. Big tears. It meant so much to me. 

He is the sweetest little thing on the planet. He said they could only make one and he wanted to give it to me. I feel bad Sarah doesn't have one. I decided it was too late to go to PT and so I showered and then delivered Sis. Fitzgerald's plaques.  She loved them. I told her my cost making them was $88 and she wrote me a check for $288. I refused to take it and she gave me $100. Everyone thought I should have charged her $20 each but it was a service and I wanted to help her out. I talked to her for a long time and her cute dog was very sweet. Dave and I went and delivered a gift to Miriam during his lunch and she was so sweet. I feel bad we don't do more for her. She is pretty independent and doing well but she is now on a walker. So sad. I would say getting old sucks but in the movie Jumanji the old guy kept saying that and then at the end he changed it to "getting old is a gift. I forget that sometimes."  So true!  Sky and crew headed to his work party. I was alone and so practiced. Taylor got home and we chatted for a while about his decision to take a break with MK. Poor kid. Rough time of life with so many huge decisions. I made more deliveries. Tried to catch this up but I am so far behind again! UGH!
I met Bryce and crew at Hallmark because the Grinch and Olaf were going to be there. Liam is obsessed with the Grinch. Brinlee sat on Santa's lap. She loves him.

 But Liam is ANOTHER story!  It was trauma for him. But cracked me up!

 He almost did but not quite..

 He did not like any of them!

 Santa and the Grinch were so cute and got behind him without him knowing it so we could get a photo. Hah  

 He eventually warmed up to the Grinch but still kept his distance

 It was really fun!  We ran into Betsy as well. 

dear saturday, I got up early and practiced away for the recital.  I have my piece pretty darn good. Not perfect every time but once in awhile. Hopefully it will go well.  I got ready and Dave and I headed to my recital in Kaysville. I told my parents to not come.  I am not feeling as confident about this piece as most recital pieces. We picked up Mickey and then went to the library and we were the first ones there. I had no idea there was going to be so many harps. The bad thing is Nanette didn't bring hers and that is the only one I was familiar with so I had to choose one of them. I had no idea which one to use.  Aubrey and Karen showed up. That made me a bit more nervous. The whole harp thing was making me nervous. It's hard to play on a harp you aren't used to. So I chose one that I thought would be good. Mickey played first and then two little new students and then me. I was playing O Holy Night.  I chose the wrong harp!  HOLY!  The F string was completely faded and so it threw me totally off. I did okay for the first part but once the chords began I couldn't find my notes because I couldn't find the F which I used for nearly every chord. UGH!  Then I started to panic a bit. Then my hands started to shake when I hit the wrong note. Then I wanted to literally crawl in a hole. I had to pause for a very long time and it appeared I didn't know my song...I DID!  UGH!  Oh, man!  I was dying! It was the most embarrassing thing ever!  I really did know my song!  And I wanted it to sound amazing because of the song. I wanted everyone to feel the importance of the Savior's birth.  But I slaughtered it. Sorry Jesus. I tried. Looking back now, I wish I had just stopped. Stood up. And walked over to the other pedal harp and start over. It would have been disruptive but it would have sounded so much better!  I sat back down and was so disappointed and embarrassed. I told Dave that I am quitting!  I don't want to go through that again! A couple others had problems. The new man that is taking had to start over three or four times on his song so I started to feel a bit better but not much!  

 I wanted to high tail it out of there! As I left I told Nanette I want to quit. She was surprised and told me I did great and to not let a few little mistakes worry me. A few little mistakes? I wish!  Oh well, it's over and now I can quit worrying about slaughtering it because I managed to do that really well!

I changed in the car and Dave and I went shopping. I had to hit a few stores. We also hit Costco. We ate lunch at Mod Pizza and it was yum!

I spent a lot of time wrapping once we got home and then we went to Dave's parents and headed to Logan for the Bar J concert. Sky and the boys had the Escalade in SLC to go see Star Wars and so we took Dave's Dad's burb. Scott and Grace came as well. When we arrived we saw this guy on the street!  

 He was good!  He sounded (and acted) exactly like the Grinch. If I didn't know better I would have thought it was Jim Carrey himself!

 He had me laughing so hard. The things he was saying were hilarious!  He kept making a "tooting" sound and then made some remark about it. Too funny!

 The concert was amazing as always!  They are such great wholesome entertainers and no matter how many times you hear the same jokes over and over they are still hilarious. They are always so nice to call either Dave's Dad or Dave and give us free tickets when they are in town. 

 We talked to them all after. Dave's dad and Babe are good buds. They act like they have been friends their whole life. Scott is always so kind as well. They are just good people all around and our association with them has been such a blessing.

dear sunday, today Sky and crew took Chayden to the airport. I went to church alone. But then Taylor and McKay joined me. 

 The meeting was good. The Primary kids sang and it was so sweet. We then had a linger longer with treats and time to visit. It was fun. Definitely a first.

 We came home and Dave and I took out traditional Sunday before Christmas photo in front of the tree. 

 Sarah's took some with her phone.  The color is much better than mine but almost off in a way.
I need a new camera (phone) for Christmas!

She had us do a few poses.  Hah

This ↓ one is with my phone. Major difference.

 Sarah's phone ↑

My phone ↓

My phone ↑

I collaged these ↓ and you can easily tell the difference. 

Sad thing is my favorite ones are with my phone but with poor color. I tried to edit on Picasa but it doesn't even help much.

SANTA BRING ME A NEW PHONE!  I need one for more than just a new camera. My home button doesn't work and it has all kinds of issues!

I posted this:

Grateful for THIS year! It has been a year full of miracles and so many blessings. I am forever indebted and grateful to the One whose birth we celebrate today.

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn...

#Oholynight
#whatadifferenceayearmakes

So glad it's this year!  We hung out and then went to Dave's parents for the annual Utah Noodle feast. Kevin and Scott prepared it. It was so good! Aubrey was back and so excited when we arrived. She is the cutest. So is Sam.  All the boys showed up but Bryce. I was hoping he would. We had a lot of fun visiting and playing games. We played Taboo. The guys actually beat us for a change.  Hah  We had a great time chatting and catching up. The littles were so cute. It was fun.  We were there a long time.

 Kevin and Scott are the chefs and they are amazing. They have perfected the Utah Noodle recipes and it tastes just like it!  Sooooooo good! 

 Everyone gave two thumbs up!  So yummy!  

 The cousins always have so much fun together!  

 Karen snapped these ↓

 I will treasure them always because Dave's Dad is holding my hand and it was so sweet.

I came home and tried to do some Christmas. We delivered the 12 Days (Secret Santa) and it is heartwarming. I think this is the first time I have done it when I don't know the people. Here are the tags....

Carson made me this ↓... 

 He's the cutest!

 Have I mentioned I love my tree so much?!!!  

 I kinda like this guy too ↓

This crew isn't too bad either!  An oldie...

dear random,

My new profile picture. It was taken awhile ago too...