March

 

Charles is doing well in Africa. Several weeks ago he found a scale and was able to weigh himself. He's lost 10 lbs since he's arrived in Africa. We're thinking that'll probably stay put now that he's got a new groove of eating/moving while he's there. 

The youth in our ward had a winter campout; they stayed in cabins and went sledding. They have a good time together. I'm grateful for their leaders who sacrifice their time to participate in fun and uplifting activities with them. They're great role models. 

We try to have a fun family outing night weekly. Some weeks are busier than others but we try to work it in somehow...like this particular week we had things every night so we decided to have family night at Roxberry smoothie since Annabelle was working there that night. She doesn't like to be in pictures in her work clothes so you only get the back of her in this picture because she quickly whipped around and walked away when I pulled out my camera. 

Elisabeth and Annabelle went out to Pocatello again, Saturday to Sunday, to visit E's boyfriend Tayson (and his family). They did an ice barrel plunge and stayed in for 3 minutes. 

While there, Annabelle's eye started hurting. By Sunday night it started swelling. For the next few days it was swollen and painful. But by Thursday it started feeling better. We think she had an allergy to something. 

Elisa L and I run together on Tuesdays. Years ago(starting back in 2007) we used to get together regularly for play dates, but once our kids were too old for that, we had to be more intentional about planning time to get together. So we've got our running day once a week and for the last year we also have our scripture study group we do together on Fridays. We also are in a bookclub that meets monthly, and we hike together in the summer. They say you end up becoming like the few people you spend the most time with, and we do think very much alike and we sometimes even accidentally dress alike. 

Jane turned 15 this month! I feel like the toddler stage took forever and now time is flying by and I wish it'd slow down. Jane recently had cheer tryouts. She made the team again but is on the 'injured and pending' list to determine if she'll be on JV or Varsity, because she wasn't able to do a full tryout since she's still experiencing symptoms from the concussion she sustained in November during practice. She is currently being seen by a Dr and a cognitive therapist who specialize in sports concussions so we're hoping we see more progress soon. 

Elisabeth heard from the mission department after 6 months of waiting. When she came home in August, it was with the understanding that it'd be for 2 transfers(a couple of months) and then she'd be back out, which would've been October, the same time Charles left for his mission. She got a seasonal/halloween, part-time  job working at Cornbellys which we figured would give her something to do during the week, until she left, plus she was going to the temple with Sugar once or twice a week. October came and went, and that job ended. We waited. And then November, December,  and January went by.... we'd heard there were a couple of miscommunications etc. but continued to wait.  In February she got a full-time job at a preschool and daycare since too much time doing nothing is not good for anyone, emotionally/spiritually. Then part way through March we received word: It would be a reassignment to the states and she would finish in the end of August. After thought and prayer she decided to stay home; she'd served for 14 months in Ecuador, and after so many months of not hearing anything, she'd moved on. So she'll continue to work at the preschool until she begins her position as an FSY counselor for this summer and then she'll head to BYU-I; she's transferring there because her boyfriend lives in Idaho (she met him in Ecuador, they were both serving missions at the same time, but they didn't really start talking until she was home and they connected after about a month). Her mission was a beautiful and sacred experience, one where she planted seeds and saw many come unto Christ, and where she herself deepened her relationship with the Savior, as she got to know him and saw him in the details of her life. Once we heard from the mission department and she made her decision, she was asked to give a homecoming talk in our ward, which was Sunday March 30th. We are so proud of her and all she's doing. 

Life is an adventure. It reminds me of running a marathon. It requires grit and embracing discomfort. Consistency over time brings progress, but it isn't always linear. There are ups and downs. Times of peace and pain. The trick is to keep your eye on the goal (returning to Jesus) and focus on the blessings along the way.

February 16-28

 

Mid February we celebrated Annabelle's 17th birthday. She had friends over for cake and brownies one night, her friend Jenny made a chocolate cake,  and then her and her friend Tessa had a combined birthday party at our community clubhouse. Annabelle had also asked if we could go see Little Women at Hale Center Theater, so her and I did a 'birthday date' to Hale Theater the week after her birthday. 

On another note, Penny got into Annabelle's room and found a giant chocolate symphony bar. She ate the entire thing. I tried administering hydrogen peroxide to her so she'd throw it up, but she's a big strong dog and even with a couple of us trying to hold her still and get it down, we couldn't get much down, so we ended up taking her into the vet where they induced vomiting. And $400 later she threw up and was good to come home. Before we went I had asked if it was fatal and necessary to bring her in, and whoever I talked to said yes. But when the vet came out after Penny was done, he said it wouldn't have been lethal but she would've had diarrhea. I can deal with diarrhea, we've done that before; and for $400 I would have dealt with it, we would just send her outside til she's done. Oh well, live and learn. 

Grandma Sugar passed away. She was 91, and not my kids actual grandma, but they called her that along with many of the youth in our ward. She loved them and took them to the temple and McDonalds often, and they loved her. I loved her too. I loved visiting with her, she had a feisty and loyal personality. A couple of years ago, I went to a bagpiper concert with her in SLC, along with my family and 'her boys', Charles, Koen and Drew.  We had a great time. She instilled in me and my kids a deeper love for doing your own temple and family history work. She went with them to the temple every month, sometimes more. When Elisabeth got home from her mission, she and Sugar had a weekly temple day that turned into biweekly up until just a couple of weeks before she passed away. I'm so grateful for her example, and for her love. We will miss her dearly. 

February 1-15

 We had a couple of back to back road trips for sports over the first couple of weeks in February. The first was to St George for Nora's(and Scott's, since he coaches) soccer tournament. The girls did well; they won 2 and tied one. They almost made it finals, but they needed to win the last game AND the shootout, and although they won the game, they lost the shootout. It was a fun weekend and I'm so grateful for our dear friends who always let them stay with in their home while we're in St George. 

Whenever we travel, we try to find an LDS temple to visit -- we also do work in temples near us often...We had been going monthly for many years, but about a year ago, Scott and I made it a goal to go most weeks. We switch off what ordinance we're doing, so one week we'll do initiatory, another week endowment, and another week sealings. The kids go regularly with their youth group to do baptisms, but that's another thing we've recently decided to add into our normal routine, so that we can go as a family about once a month. While in St George, the Red Cliffs temple is about half a mile from where we stay, so we did baptisms one morning before a game. And a couple of Nora's soccer teammates came with; pretty neat to have your soccer coach be able to perform baptisms with his players. 

Elisabeth, Annabelle and Jane stayed behind. Annabelle had her Sweethearts dance and she asked Peyton, Tayon's brother (tayson is Elisabeth's boyfriend in pocatello), so Elisabeth wanted to stay behind. Jane had some cheer things, so she stayed too. 

Meanwhile, Charles is doing well in Africa. His companion is going home to Australia soon. Charles enjoyed his time with him. 

The've had a lot of people interested in learning about the gospel of Jesus Christ. In areas where people live in more humble circumstances, and do have as many material things, they're also more open, teachable and ready to follow Christ. In more affluent areas, like in some areas in the USA and Europe, you see more people who feel like they're good on their own. They feel like they don't need God in their life; it might complicate their life. If they only knew! I guess you don't know what you're missing until you have it. But if they knew, they would want the gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives; they would want his strength, and comfort, his healing and power to be in their lives through the good and the hard as we will undoubtedly experience it all. 

We got home from St George on Sunday, unpacked, washed and repacked and then Tuesday after school, we took off for California to see Jane's cheer competition(staying the night in St George at our friends house again that night before finishing the drive Wednesday). Originally, Scott had a work conference there that same week, so he was going to fly (paid by his work) and we would drive and meet him there, but his conference got cancelled so he was able to drive with us. Jane flew with her cheer team on Wednesday (she stayed the night with Anisten, on the team, on Tuesday since we had already left). Scott's company has an office near where we stayed in Cali, so he still worked during the day, we would just drop him off, and then go play. We were able to visit 3 temple while we were there: Newport Beach (15 minutes away), Los Angeles (almost an hour), and Redlands temple. 

Wednesday we got in town around 1pm and dropped Scott off at work. Then we checked into our hotel, changed and went to the Newport Beach temple. 

Thursday we were able to spend the day in Disneyland (Jane went with her cheer team a couple of days later). It was Nora, Annabelle and Jane's first time doing Disney. I had gone when I was a child, and Elisabeth went with the cheer team several years ago. Since this was a last-month decision trip, I had told the girls that if they'd like to do Disney, I'd contribute $100/each to their ticket and then they'd need to come up with the rest (which varied on what they wanted to do. Annabelle only needed to pay $50 because she just wanted to do Disneyland and no Lightning pass. Nora and Elisabeth each had to pay $160 because they wanted the Lightning pass and they wanted to do a Park Hopper, so you do Disneyland and Disney Adventure park). It rained the entire day (glad we decided to buy Ponchos at Walmart the night before) so even though Annabelle and I didn't get fast passes, we still got on 8 or so rides in the 6 hours we were there; we both tend to get a little motion sick, so I wasn't planning to do that many, but we both took some meclizine and wore ear patches, and that seemed to help. Most of the rides we went on we could just walk right up and get on. We did have to wait 45 minutes for space mountain though, and that was the longest wait. Though after Space Mountain I was feeling done; that ride was a bit wild for my tummy. Our favorite might've been the newer Star Wars ride; although I also like Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean. 

Valentine's was Friday while we were in Cali. I sent a treat and note ahead with Jane for her to open, and then Valentine's morning I had love notes and Valentine's treats out for the family. After we dropped Scott off to work we went to a couple of temples mentioned above and did baptisms. 

For dinner, I got the girls Cafe Rio and then I picked up Scott from work and we went to this African Restaurant where we saw they had Fufu. Turns out it's not a restaurant but a place where you can get take out. So we ordered a couple of things, including Fufu since that's Charles' favorite and then we ate it outside the building at a picnic table. It was gross. Well, the fufu was bland and a dough consistency (it's made from cassava), and whatever they served with it was not good; there were some spices I'd never tried before and that didn't taste good. This restaurant is Nigerian and Charles is in Ghana so it's not the same, and he always has his fufu with some sort of soup he dips it in which this restaurant didn't offer. After forcing down a few bites of this (because I was SO hungry and needed to eat something now), we got in the car and drove to a place that had several small food places side by side in this indoor market area. We got fish n chips, and then sticky mango rice and a boba for dessert (from 3 different vendors). It was so yummy! I was happy we decided to have this second meal because it made me happy to have yummy food on Valentine's Day :). 

That night at 9pm, Jane had her first performance. We went and they did well and made it to the finals which was Saturday. Because of Jane's concussion back in November, she'd been out for a long time, and had just gotten the approval to practice again a couple of weeks ago. I was surprised they put her in all the stunts and everything, and I could tell during the performance she wasn't quite ready for it yet or healed all the way. I knew she was still getting headaches sometimes. During the performance she was more wobbly in the air and she looked off; like she was a little scared and uncertain and her face seemed a bit more pale.  I was nervous for her as she performed and just hoped they wouldn't drop her. They didn't. But I decided then I would take her to see a concussion specialist once we were home. 

Saturday we had to leave to make the drive back; since this was a last minute trip, I had already planned my gospel doctrine lesson and would need to teach Sunday morning at 9am. We also weren't sure of the cheer team schedule until about a week ago, and we were under the impression they would be performing Thursday and maybe Friday, not Friday and maybe Saturday. I said lots of prayers for her that weekend. The second day performance was okay, but she did fall out of her one-man stunt though luckily it was a soft landing on her feet. They had gone to Disneyland earlier that day which means a lot of time on their feet and I think that also played into her fall; as well as the fact that she went on several rides which also made her feel not great before the performance. 

Saturday we drove home, but stopped in Vegas because Tayson's family was there for Peyton's soccer tournament. We watched his game and then got lunch before continuing on our way. 

We were held up in Beaver for an hour or so because our car got a nail in the tire that we had to fix. We decided it would be a good time to eat dinner as well. We had a fun trip and enjoyed our time together. 

January

January was a good month. Both Annabelle and Elisabeth got jobs (answered prayers!)! Annabelle works at Roxberry Juice in Sandy, although we're hoping over time she can move to a closer location. They're closed Sundays and they're only open until 9pm which I love!  Elisabeth got a job at a preschool and daycare in Draper and works from 9-6pm Monday through Friday. No late nights for either of the girls and Elisabeth's is full time!!! I love it! 

We (meaning Scott) got the basement wall patched up but then it took us another week to finish because we paused to put in our cabinets in our closet which was such a fun and rewarding project! Our bedroom closet looks SO much better! We ordered everything from Ikea after we measured our space and then Scott installed it all. He did so great. 

Elisabeth and Tayson try to get together as often as possible, which ends up being about every three weeks since he lives in Pocatello. But they're making it work. She is transferring from BYU provo to BYU Idaho so that she'll be closer; he'll be going to school in Pocatello where he has a full ride. 

Ananbelle had a soccer tournament in St George that we all were able to go out for. We stayed at the Ludwig's which is always so nice of them to let us stay. We try to always leave it better than when we arrived by not only cleaning everything up, but we also leave something that it looks like they need (toilet paper, shampoo/conditioner, a ladder when the alarms were chirping and we wanted to fix them but they were too tall to reach). We were able to do baptisms at the Redcliffs temple. We love going whenever we can and visiting temples in other areas is always something we look forward to. 

Every Friday for the past year or so, I've gone to scripture class and brunch with Elisa L; it's mostly her family, but they are so sweet to include me and another friend or two. I love going and talking about the gospel and visiting with everyone. On this particular week, Elisa L was out of town and Deanne her mom-in-law was watching Luka, their dog, who got up on a chair while we were eating because he wanted to be a part of the group. 

Annabelle and I went to Midway to see the ice castles which is something I've been wanting to do for years, but Scott hasn't been interested in going. It was so cool to see all the formations and walk through the caves. 

The following weekend Scott and I also went out to Midway, to soldier hollow, but this time it was to go cross country skiing for his birthday. We took a lesson and then skied for another hour or so. We really enjoyed it (much less terrifying than downhill skiing) and want to go back. Afterwards we got lunch at Lupitas Mexican restaurant which was delicious. 

In February Jane has a cheer competition in CA that we're all going to, and we decided to do a Disney day. I told the girls I'd contribute $100 each toward Disney and they needed to come up with the rest. Annabelle just wanted to do Disneyland and no fast pass, so she just needed to come up with $40. Elisabeth and Nora wanted to do the park hopper pass to go to both parks, and they wanted the lightning pass, so they each had to come up with $166. Nora got it all by making and selling cookies and frozen cookie dough. 

 

2024 Christmas Newsletter/Updates and Books read in 2024

I did another digital Christmas card this year and posted it to social media because I did not get around to printing/mailing, once again. Here are some of our highlights from 2024:

• Charles graduated from high school
• Scott and Elisa took Charles to Iceland for a Senior trip
• Elisabeth serving a mission in Ecuador and Charles in Ghana Africa (for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints)
• All the kids home for September and October = more family time
• Nora and Annabelle in soccer; Scott coaching Nora's team and assistant coaching Annabelle's
• Long weekend trip to Seattle for Elisa and Scott; Elisa got to share San Juan Islands with Scott
• Annabelle driving
• Jane made high school cheer team (she's currently on a break because of a concussion)
• Lots of hiking for several of us. Scott, Elisa, Elisabeth and Charles hiked the Grand Canyon R2R (Elisa did R3). Nora and Elisabeth did Timp for their first time. 
• Scott had a work trip to Orlando and Elisa tagged along and played at Harry Potter World while he attended conferences :)
• Elisa working with elementary kids on reading and learning English (for the ELL kids)
• Visits from extended family

I am so grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ who is the light of the world! I have felt his light when times were dark, his love when sad and alone, and his peace when life seemed chaotic. I love this time of year and the increased light, love and joy because of Him. 

2024 wasn't my greatest year for book reading. I think the past few years I read 24 or so, but this year I got through 19.  I mostly listened to books on Audible and lots 12 of them were bookclub books. I think the only books I physically read were Heart of the Matter, Better than Happy, and the Book of Mormon. I read parts of Outlive, but I mostly listened to it. I don't normally include the Book of Mormon because I read it most years, but I decided to this year since my numbers were low. The books with asterisks next to the title are my top rated,  5 star books. 

1. How the Penguins Saved Veronica

2. The Body Keeps the Score

3. The Tattooist of Auschwitz (didn't finish this one because of inappropriate content, but got 2/3 through)

4. Glory Over Everything

5. Outlive

6. Salt to Sea

7. Better than Happy*

8. Ivanhoe

9. Heart of the Matter *

10. A Gentleman in Moscow

11. The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto (Scott and I listened to this one while driving around Iceland; Charles had his headphones in)

12. I Must Betray You*

13. Nothing to Envy*

14. The Healer's Apprentice

15. Grandma Gatewood's Walk    

16. Dracula

17. The Guardians

18. The Book of Mormon*

19. Follow the River 

Scott read 12 books this year, and he also finished the Book of Mormon again, so 13.