Ward Christmas Party

Our ward did a breakfast party this year. 8:30 in the morning! It was so much fun, it was worth the early Saturday. They had a fantastic Santa. Ninny was so cute telling him what she wanted. She was literally "whispering in his ear" what she wanted!







They had the primary children do a little Christmas pagent. So adorable. And funny. Ninny's costume was hanging by the end because she kept getting her hands caught in it and pulling them out. There was also a kid who was crying, but singing anyway.

Payden was a Nephite. She had to hold this pose for a good while!

So we had a Nephite and two shephards.

Breakfast was delicious. My mom went with us and it was nice having her there.

Such a cutie! I love that face!

One of the reasons the food was so good was that they had the young women in the kitchen cooking! Michaela was so embarrased that I was taking pictures!

Michaela's band concert

Michaela tried doing choir in sixth and seventh grade. While she loves to sing, she hated the choir experience. She really didn't like the performance aspect of it. So this year, she decided to try band. She is playing the clairinet, and is loving it! She want to try out for jazz band and play the sax next year. She even loved the performing!

Her band did really well, and I am so happy she has found her niche.

Yeah for band!

There is only one of me.

WARNING: This is a whiny, complaining post.

There is only one of me. And I am doing the work of two people. Which is hard enough most of the time, but December almost has me on my knees.

Well, I am there, a lot, praying for help.

I am trying to keep the holidays how my kids have come to know and expect them to be, and I want to do that, but it is really hard.

You know that scene in Father of the Bride, where the father is going bonkers in the store,taking out the "superfluous" buns in the bag, still in his too small out of date tux?

I am starting to understand why someone would be pushed to such extremes.

Today in my daughters school I almost had such a moment. But I was able to contain my reaction and remain socially acceptable. Barely.

I was sitting in a meeting for the musical Payden was going to be in, the MANDATORY parent meeting that I found out about 2 minutes before. (I had been counting my good fortune to have gotten off slightly early and have some time to get something done when the phone rang and Payden told me to get there. NOW.) I had tried to pay the fee before the meeting, only to be told they were not accepting payments until after the meeting. (Read: long line to wait in.) I was sitting impaitently while the lady read the information on the form sitting in front of me. (I CAN READ.)

This is a huge pet peeve of mine. If you have new info, then say it, but don't insult my intelligence by reading something to me that I have in my hands.

Anyway, she informs us that we will be required to sign up for 2 volunteer "opportunities". I heaved a huge sigh, and just about jumped up and shouted " I CAN'T DO ANYTHING ELSE!"

Seriously, I was THAT close to doing that. In front of everyone. I had had it.

I had just learned on Friday that Ninny needed two costumes for her day care/ school Christmas performance that was 6:30 on Monday. I had thought that her performance would be during the day and I would be excused from it.

I know, that sounds awful, but really, I don't have time. Plus, the daycare keeps doing that, having things during the day and "inviting" parents to them. (Basically making us feel guilty for missing things. I WORK, that is why she is there during the day. I can't just hop over and see her. I am not at home, I am WORKING!)

Add this to choir performances, band performances, parties, get togethers, and the ever long list of things I am trying to do and I have just about had it.

So I just about had myself a father of the bride moment, a hot dog bun moment. I am so glad I didn't.

On my list of things to do tonight, after attending the performance, making sure Ava has the gift she needs for the white elephant thing, a snack, book, and blanket for school, the teacher gifts are prepared, dinner is made and cleaned up, scriptures and prayer, bed time ritual, a trip to the dollar store, working on some more Christmas gifts, I am going to squeeze in some yoga.

Cause I need some major de stressing. And maybe a good cry.

Payden's Choir concert

This year, Payden joined the school choir. They met and practiced before school, sometimes as early as 7:30. Payden really enjoyed the experience, and was always out the door on time on choir days! She can't wait to join the choir in Jr. High.

She also did a solo group, they sang "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree". Each girl got to sing a bit on her own, and although she was very nervous, she did fantastically. I am so glad she had so much fun! She even had a large part in the choregraphy for their number. It was very cute.

Wind Storm damage

A couple of weeks ago, we had hurricane force winds here in Utah. It caused a lot of damage, mostly by downed trees. We lost power for 2 days, I missed a day of work because my office was out of power, and school was cancelled for two days because so many schools didn't have power. On Wed. night, the winds woke me up and kept me up all night. Thur. morning, the power went out about 7am, and we didn't get it back on until Friday noon. I can't describe how loud and crazy the winds were. It was amazing. We watched the west side of our fence fly away piece by piece, and at 10 am, a HUGE tree fell in our backyard. It actually fell on Kylo! But he was ok. I had to crawl in under downed cords(I know, don't tell me) to get him out. Even though we already had lost power, the tree took down all the cords on a pole in our backyard. As a result, we were out of power for a while longer than others in our neighborhood. I also didn't have phone or internet until Tue. the following week!


Here is a pic of people clearing out the limbs from the tree. The Sunday after it happened we were predicted to have winds again that night. House after house had piles and piles of limbs all over, and they warned that they would become projectile in the wind. Soooo, in order to prevent that, church was cancelled all over our area and we were encouraged to go out and help the community clean up. And we did! It was amazing to see everyone working together. Michaela and Payden helped out at a few houses. Because of the two little girls, I could only help at my house. As we were piling the limbs out front, different people came with trailors and trucks, one after another, to take loads to the dump. They didn't care whose tree limbs they took, they just drove around until they had a full load, then took it to the dump. On their own dime and their own time. Truly a community effort. It was heartwearming. I couldn't think of a better way to spend a Sunday!




Here is a pic of the tree after the power company cut it apart to get to the cord underneath it.

And here is the tree. I estimated it to be about 60'. Not sure though. It was huge. I have a pretty big backyard, and it took up the whole length of it. It took out a smaller tree with it, it is under it. You can just see Kylo's dog house to the left. I honestly don't know how he survived!

Driving around town was interesting after the storm. Many stores lost their signs and marquees, there were huge trees down at every other house, all over the roads. Debris was everywhere; in fact the trains and front runner were shut down for a while due to the debris on the tracks. It really looked like a tornado had gone through. People's roofs were missing shingles (we had to pick up many of them in our yard!) and other damage was visible everywhere. Made for an interesting weekend!

Ava's 7th Birthday

My little Ava turned 7 on November 19th. She is such a sweetie with a tender heart. I can't believe she is 7 already! For her birthday, she wanted her party at a bowling alley. So that is what we did. She invited a neighbor friend and my mom, Jason and his family met for dinner and bowling. She was soooooo excited about this party. She talked about it for weeks. Luckly, it didn't dissapoint!

Here am I. For the first game, Ava beat everyone, even all the adults!

I attempted to make a bowling ball and pin by grouping the cupcakes together and frosting them. It satisfied Ava, and thats all that mattered!


Grandma Wharff

This is a pic of Ava coloring with the present from her Uncle Paul and Aunt Jackie. How we wished they lived closer!

David and Natalia. David had an app on his phone that made a person look fat, so he was taking pictures of everyone and showing them what they would look like fat. It was so funny!

The little girls used this thing where they just put the ball on it and pushed it down. Ninny really enjoyed bowling.

Payden. For some reason I don't have a pic of Michaela bowling, but she thought that Ava's win had something to do with the kiddie bowling thing, so she was using it too!

Ava getting ready to let go.

We ate pizza, and then Ava opened her presents in between bowling. It was loud and crazy, but she loved it. She got mainly art supplies, which she was over the moon for. Everyone knows that this kid loves to draw and paint!

She told me her favorite presents were the ream of printer paper and her La La Loopsy doll. She thanked me for that doll over and over.

I made her a dress for her 18" doll, which she hasn't looked at since. Oh, well!

Then it was time to blow out the candles and have cupcakes and ice cream sandwhiches. After that, the kids went to the arcade in the bowling alley to earn some tickets and get little prizes. It was a fantastic party, and I am so glad Ava had such a good time.

Happy Birthday, Ava!

My new place

Warning: there are a lot of pictures in this post, and a good number of them are sideways. I don't know whats going on with that. I went back to bloggers old set up, and I rotate the pics in their file, they rotate there, but when I upload them, blogger uploads them sideways.

Anyway, here is my new house I am renting. With any luck and much blessings from above, we will be here at least a year, preferably two or three. It is just the right size for us, in a great neighborhood, minutes from work, good schools, and an awesome ward. I did't take pics from the outside, but it is a rambler, brick and siding, one car garage. Huge backyard. We love it!

Here is my bedroom, my favorite room in the house. I painted it the same color as the last bedroom, and did it with lots of white furniture and accents. I loved my frame wall before, so I did that again. It is pretty tiny, and has a small closet, but I bought myself a dresser on KSL, and there is more storage just outside my room, so it works.

Here is the dresser I bought. It didn't have a top drawer, which I liked so I could put baskets there. I refinished it, and have found one basket to fit. I am looking for another one.

I absolutely love my bed. I found it on KSL too. It is an antique, with lots of neat distressing. I love how it has the original castors, and how the wood wraps around the mattress.

Here is the top. I think the painting on it is original, but I don't know.

Here is my kitchen. Very little counter space here. And no pantry. But, there is storage elsewhere, and I have adjusted. I love the color of the cabinets, and the wainscotting. It is also very bright.

Here is a pic from the living room.

Here is a pic from the front door. To the right is a nice big coat closet with hooks for backpacks.

Here is a pic from the front door, looking into the kitchen. I worried about this little peek through, cause everyone would see dirty dishes from the front door! But I put an antique pitcher stand thing there, my microwave is on it, and it kind of hides the sink. Unless you are way tall.

I had to put my huge table in the garage, no way would it fit. My mom gave us her little table, she had already finished it just like I like! I bought mismatched chairs, two at a time, on KSL, painted them white and recovered the cushions. I love it. It is a squeeze, but we all fit.

This is downstairs, kind of a wide hallway. It is my craft room, and I didn't even clean it up for you guys! As you can see, some of it is still unfinished. At the end, there is a big cold storage, to the left there is a big storage under the stairs, and to the right is the laundry room.

These pics are out of order! This is from the living room looking down the hall upstairs. To the right, that is a wall of big cabinets. That is where I have some pantry storage, linens, the little girls clothes and some of my clothes.

Here is the upstairs bathroom. I haven't had to share a bathroom with my kids ever. That is somewhat of an adjustment, but ok. The downstairs bathroom is the one the older girls use, and is nice like this one.

The little girls room, in all its dirty and as yet undecorated glory. It is a nice size, and eve with both their beds they have plenty of room to play. It is right next to my room.

Here is the large laundry room. To the right is floor to ceiling shelves, and more storage at the end. This house has lots of storage, it makes me happy!

Here is Michaela's room. Nice size, Paydens is similar in size and right next to hers. It wasn't clean when I was taking these, so its not recorded!

And here is our little family room. To the left is a nice size bookshelf. It was nice to get all my books out of boxes. It is small, but it serves its purpose.

So out of order! Sorry! This is the upstairs living room. I really like this room. All my furniture fit in it, it has hardwood floors, (all the upstairs does except for kitchen and bath), and is very bright. Please excuse the naked windows. I had my white and sheer panels up, but they got knocked off the wall (I hadn't installed them very well) so now they need to be rehung.

A view from the other side of the living room.

And a view of my defunct drapes!

Another view and a question, if you are still reading! What do you think of the two circle things? Too much circle? Or nice and balanced? And that awesome lamp on the table is my $2 yard sale lamp that is worth upwords of $200. Awesomeness. Also that poof on the floor I got for $5, worth $50. Have I ever said how much I love yard sales?

Also, all my fall stuff is out, so thats not usually there. I love this house, we all really like living here. Bountiful is beautiful. I am so glad I chose here, and chose this house. Here's to staying for a long time!