Ring in the Birthday!

It's New Year's Eve, but more importantly, it's Mikayla's birthday, her 34th this year. I wanted it to be a good birthday, so with Guy, I planned several surprise activities to try and make it special.

This afternoon, Mikayla and I went to get a pedicure. I had hoped we could get frozen yogurt just around the corner, but they were closed. Instead, we went to Coldstone for ice cream. Rather than heading home, I had arranged for adults to meet us at Teppanyaki for dinner. Eugene and Sharae, Kent, Christopher and Tysen, and Guy of course, all celebrated. 

After a brief pause, we gathered at Mikayla and Guy's for more food, games, and general birthday fun with Clay and Jill and their kids, Eugene and Sharae and kids, Brandt and me, and a Blythe and Kent who both make a brief appearance and then went away. 

I'm getting old so the staying up until midnight doesn't really work for me anymore. I came home and was in bed in time to hear the fireworks someone in the area was shooting off. 

Here's to the new year, 2023!

Drake's New Year Party

Mike and McKenzie Drake throw a New Year's Eve party every year. Mike entertains all the children downstairs with wild activities while the adults enjoy chat and nosh. It's always a good time to visit with our neighbors and even Brandt had a good time hanging around with other teens. We usually bring a tree for burning, but the Drakes had one this year. It was too fresh to really burn well, but Mike sprayed it with gasoline, so it burned. The Drakes hosted on the 30th which I liked better than the 31st. Here's hoping that becomes part of the tradition.

No pictures

Funny Texts

January 11, 2022

Me to Mikayla: "Don't you love how the school district calls us at 5:30 am on every single phone we own to tell us no one has to be at school before 9:30am?"

Not!

Same day: "I'm vacuuming and then I'm going to mop. Then I might get dressed." #goals

January 17, 2022

Me to Mikayla: "I dreamt you and I bundled up our children and drove to California to see Mom and play on the beach. We stayed in a little house on Aunt Grace's property. I was so excited! Then I woke up and was crushingly disappointed."

same day, slightly later

Mikayla to me: "Should I download Libby?" Libby is a library app that allows you to check out books on your phone, either to read or to listen to.

Me in response: "I use it all the time. I can't always find what I want and I do have to wait for stuff, but there are lots of books readily available. I like listening to books when I'm driving and cleaning and walking and making dinner and ignoring my husband. Scratch that last part."

January 20, 2022

Me to Mikayla: "I have a solution to your insomnia. You should read government or private corporation training manuals. I'm two minutes into my first training of the day I was nearly overcome by almost immediate fatigue. I bet it would work for you every time. Maybe we should look into that as a money-making option. We could sell outdated government training manuals as sleep aids. We need to go dumpster diving in the back of the downtown government offices."

January 21, 2022

Mikayla and I are having lunch together and she is going to pick up food at Molly's. After I ask if she wants my order, she texts, "I figured I already knew your order. Pomegranate chicken, dutch oven potatoes, spinach salad, cheddar biscuit, lemonade, salted caramel cookie."

Me to Mikayla in response: "That's it! I shouldn't have the cookie or the lemonade. But as I'm already fat, life has so few pleasures a Latter-day Saint can enjoy, so I'm going to have both and look forward to a perfected body eventually" (as Latter-day Saints believe in the resurrection).

August 15, 2022

Mikayla texts on way home from California

"I just hit beaver."

I reply, "You are making good time! I will tell you I initially read your text as 'I just hit A beaver' and I wondered what in the hell a beaver was doing on the freeway."

August 16, 2022

From Mikayla: We just drove home from Grandma Sue's and Thea said, "Mom, how about we go see Grantie Kake and eat outside there." I thought it was sweet.

I did too, and as a result, we had lunch the following day, meeting at a park so the kids could play and Mikayla and I could visit. 

Dec 27, 2022

Kent: "Did Posh Spice stop by to sign her signature card yet?" This in jest after I related the dream I had last night about trying to figure out how to open accounts for the Spice Girls when they live in England and the bank is in Provo, Utah. While this is funny in itself, it is made even funnier by the fact that Kent sent it through the ward choir text.

Replied Angela Bradford: "Usually I'm grumpy when texts wake me up from an unexpected yet much needed mid-afternoon nap, but that fact that this went to the choir group softens the blow a little. Thanks for the entertainment, Kent."

Kent: "new phones are so much fun to figure out. My apologies. I meant to ask if Sporty Spice had dropped by."

Christmas

I have decided I love Christmas on a Sunday. Our meeting today was lovely, with sweet narration and beautiful singing. It was wonderful to be with so many neighbors and friends I love so much and to feel the real spirit of Christmas as we partake of the sacrament and renew covenants we have made to God through Jesus Christ. 

Before we went to church, we opened presents and had crepes, our traditional Christmas morning breakfast. After church we went to Grandma Sue's for lots of yummy food and plenty of game playing. I wanted a picture of all of us in our Sunday Christmas best, but Blythe didn't come to church, and I didn't want a picture without her. I didn't take a picture at all, so all these included are from Mikayla.

Christmas Eve Festivities

It was a typical Christmas Eve, following in traditions of past Christmas Eves. We gathered with the DeMartinis in the morning to open presents, reveal who our Secret Santa was (for the adults), and to eat yummy breakfast, although not in that order. Blythe chose not to join us.

After Christmas preparations, we spent the evening with the Barruses having dinner, doing the nativity, and having our white elephant gift exchange. Blythe did not join us for this party either. There was talk of moving our Barrus gathering to another night as lots of our nieces and nephews have children and would like to be able to do their own thing on Christmas Eve, maybe next year will be different. 

It was nice not to have to work at the bank on Christmas Eve and feel like the day was really for festive holiday celebrating.

I took very few pictures.

Our tall wise guy.

Fun to have Charlie, Makaela, and baby Boston play

Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus

Cuzzies

 

Hat swapping under cute faces.

O Christmas Tree

I have not felt very festive this year. Every year, I decorate, I shop, I cook, I wrap, I plan fun activities then execute them, I serve, I prep, I do it all. This year, I didn't. I didn't plan a single activity for our family that wasn't an extended family event. I didn't decorate. I hardly shopped. I cooked as little as possible. I have been overwhelmed and everything about Christmas is overwhelming.

A couple days ago, Kent and Blythe went and picked out a tree, then brought it in and Blythe decorated it. It's small but festive and brights a twinkly sparkle to our home.

Christmas Cookie Decorating

We did sugar cookie decorating with the DeMartinis tonight. YUM! I don't think we brought home a single cookie, we just frosted (or not) and ate. Num num num

Riverwoods and Waffles

This evening, in the company of quite a few DeMartinis, we went to the Riverwoods to see the lights, have a little chat with Santa, and wander around in the cold. It's so much easier to travel five minutes up the road to see beautiful Christmas lights than to travel all the way to Salt Lake to see the lights at Temple Square, which we tried to do once. We always like a little treat so we stopped at Waffle Love which is now located right at the Riverwoods. There was one person working and a long line of people waiting. In fact, someone told Sharae they had been waiting for half an hour for their waffles. I have the wherewithal to make waffles at our house, so I had everyone come home and we had yummy, yummy waffles in the warmth of our house without a huge wait or dent in the wallet. It was a fun evening. 

Dancing together in the cold

I Don't Remember

We did something this day. I'm super behind in my blogging, so months later, I don't remember what it was. Blythe rode home from the whatever on my lap. Maybe there were lots of other people in the car. Maybe we were both really cold. Maybe something spilled on the seat. Really. I don't remember. But here's really bad pictorial proof.

Dec 13, 2022 at 6:40pm

Forever Famiy

For the past several years, my siblings, our spouses, and my mom have gone to the temple sometime in December to do sealings. Tonight we all went together. It was a beautiful snowy night and we were able to seal many Italians. We laughed with our sealer, cried a bit too, and were so happy to be together in the house of the Lord. I know families are eternal and I'm always thrilled when I can offer the sealing blessing to others. I'm even more thrilled when I can be in the temple with my very most favorite loved ones.

Backstage

Here are some backstage pictures of people unrelated to us, but who are friends of Brandt and Blythe. 

Erika, Diana, Emma, and Landon

Silliness backstage

Mason wearing his 80s dad look

Lighting backstage, or rather, front of house

Hannah

Gasping backstage over the leaking ceiling

Backstage responsible people (not pictured)

trying desperately to save electrical equipment from rain damage.

Catastrophe!

Helping Bryan

Bryan and Missy have had a large shipping container in the front of their house for years. It has been full of furniture and lots of other stuff as they have been trying to refinish their basement. The basement has been a slooooooow process and apparently some neighbors have complained about the shipping container having permanent residence on the street. As a result, Bryan asked for help emptying the container today, moving everything from the curb back to the basement. 

This was a BIG ask. Shipping containers are very big, about 300 square feet of space. Bryan's was full from floor to ceiling with only a narrow walkway up the middle. There was SO. MUCH. STUFF to move and we went up and down and up and down and up and down the stairs. Brandt, Kent, and I, Blake, Mikayla and my mom, then later Christopher were there, with Frey and Thea and Mila and Vika to "help" too. It was a lot of work, but we were able to successfully empty the container and refill the basement. 

Mom took the girlies to the store for donuts and oranges as a treat for our hard labor. 

Work Christmas Party

Kent and I participated in my work Christmas party tonight. Right after work, we all had dinner from Olive Garden. That's not my favorite, but it is Dave's favorite. I thought we should have used one of our restaurant clients to get our Christmas dinner, but we didn't plan well enough in advance. 

I brought our silly Christmas head ware and made everyone wear something. We did a white elephant gift exchange. I brought all this old, weird colored wrapping paper Kent got from Richard and a game I got at Day's. Kent wanted to bring the wrapping paper home again, but I gave him a steely stare and let Tyler take it instead. I didn't like any of the other offerings and brought my game home. It was a fun evening with my co-workers and their spouses.

I should have taken a picture of all of us, but just got a picture of me and Kent.

Christmas Decorating with Mom/Grandma Sue

This evening, we went over to my mom's house to help her decorate her Christmas tree. It's the only decorating she wanted to do because she is only home for a short time and then returning to her mission. It's a lot of work to decorate and undecorate, and to cut down on time, we just did the tree. Although it wasn't as much decorating as usual, the tree made her house look festive for the holiday.

Celebration of Christmas

Having driven all the way home from California yesterday, we were in plenty of time to enjoy today's A Celebration of Christmas at BYU. This yearly performance of choirs and the orchestra at BYU is a wonderful way to begin the Christmas season. The music is always fantastic and festive. We attended with Mom, two sets of DeMartinis, the Johnsens, Dalzens, and Girards. It was terrific!

We should have taken a picture, but didn't.

Collecting Mom for Christmas

Mom has come home for the month of December to go to the knee doctor, maybe do some physical therapy, celebrate Christmas with us, and have a little break from her mission (not that she really wants one). 

Mikayla and I went to collect her, but all did not go as planned. We had intended to fly, but our flight was cancelled two weeks in advance. Why, might you ask? Who knows. We were given no real explanation. So what to do? We looked at other flights we might take, but none of them worked, so in the end, we decided to rent a car and drive. It wasn't ideal because what was going to take about three hours total ended up being almost twelve hours. 

We left on Wednesday after work so that I wouldn't have to miss more than two days. We drove to Vegas, talking and laughing as we went. We had made no reservations to stay overnight, and looking at places to stay was somewhat deceptive. Rooms at casinos were very reasonably priced online, so we booked a room. When we arrived, however, we were charged a resort fee which was not included in the online price and which essentially doubled the cost. How is that right? Didn't matter. We were tired and needed to sleep, so we stayed. When we stepped off the elevator to go to our room, there was a couple sleeping on a small couch in the hallway. Mikayla and I wondered if we could have just gone up to a floor and stayed for free. 

We got up early and drove to Clay and Jill's. We were going to fly into John Wayne airport, which is close to Clay and Jill's, so somehow, we got it in our minds that that is where we were going, even though we were going to pick up Mom in Los Angeles. After we collected her and had started home, we had a whole discussion about why we did it the way we did it. Oh well. 

We had lunch at Sancho's, a favorite restaurant in San Clemente, then headed off to beach in Clay and Jill's convertible. It was cold, but we sat in the sand, watched the water and the birds and surfers, and put our feet in the chilly water. I do love the beach. We played games with Jill, had Chinese food for dinner, and watched a goofy Hallmark-ish movie which I largely slept through. When it was over, Mikayla and I retired to the bunkhouse, Clay and Jill's fifth wheel that sits in their backyard. 

Friday, we met Mom between Santa Monica and San Clemente at a Home Depot. We transferred the few things we brought to her car and started home. We did more talking and laughing, getting the scoop on how Mom's mission is going, and talking about the status of things at home. We thought we might stay overnight in St. George, but we got an earlier start than we had anticipated, so we just drove all the way home. 

It will be so nice to have Mom home for the month. We have really missed her at family gatherings, and at Christmas, we are so glad she'll be with us.