Christmas Card 2021

With it being yet another year with a missionary out serving, we decided to to try an artistic rendition of our family this year for our Christmas cards, instead of a collage.   (2016, 2017, and 2020 were also missionary years)

We found an artist on Etsy who did the family picture and the frame.  I designed the card and had it printed at Smartpress.   I am kind of obsessed with the way it turned out...

We also enclosed this birth announcement for Lucie, which I designed myself, got printed at Walmart in Austin, then enclosed them with the cards and sent them from Austin...

This was our newsletter, which I had great fun designing ...

I may be a little obsessed.   Hope you had a lovely Christmas! 

Gigi Life (letter written to our missionary)

LETTER WRITTEN TO OUR MISSIONARY    12/19/21

****************************************

HOLA and FELIZ NAVIDAD, HERMANA!!!
I am writing this email from balmy Austin, Texas. It's only in the 50's here, but compared to Utah lately, it feels balmy! I'm here with Dad, Adam, and Ellie and we are just here for a super quick trip. Spence wanted to come too, but ticket prices jumped quickly after we made our plans, so it didn't work for him to come on this trip. He is hoping to join you on a visit sometime in January. :)

This was the original trip we planned for everyone to come meet Lucie briefly before Christmas (since it's not our turn to spend Christmas with C&G). I am very much enjoying my Gigi time!

It's been knocking my socks off to travel TWICE at Christmastime, but not actually FOR Christmas. I got our Christmas cards sent off (because that's one of my favorite parts of the season), but that's pretty much the only thing I feel pretty confident about and otherwise I feel pretty scattered. I'm hoping that I don't forget anything significant and that I'll start to feel a little more put back together by the time you get home. Hopefully. 😐

Speaking of Christmas cards....aren't ours AWESOME this year!? I'm quite enamored with how it all turned out and they're going to be extra hard to create next year, because this year's turned out so well. Can you spot ours in the mix?

So, I don't think this was the original plan, but Cami and Garrett ended up blessing Lucie today. I think they decided to do it because we were in town and because it wasn't too hard for Amy and Travis to come up spontaneously. They just did the blessing low-key at Patrick and Aleisha's house (Garrett's aunt and uncle). We were so happy to be here for it. Lucie wore the same dress that Cami wore for her blessing day.






Of course, Lucie May's blessing was the highlight of the week, but here's another glimpse at our happenings over the last week:

Monday--was pretty boring and normal. I ended up running a lot of errands and trying to recuperate from traveling the week before!

Tuesday--I have no idea what specifically I did that day, but I know I stayed busy. I did go to a RS dinner at the church that night in our new ward. I know it doesn't sound that exciting, but it was the first RS activity I'd been to in over two years and I was absolutely thrilled to be in a ward that actually has them. It was so nice to just have the opportunity to chat and be social! Yay for being in another new ward! It snowed a thick heavy wet snow overnight.

Wednesday--Dad had a big presentation at work and Adam finished his first semester finals! They were both happy to be done afterward! Adam also saw the new Spiderman movie a day early and got us all excited to watch it too. We also shoveled A LOT! It was only about 4-inches, but that snow was heavy and wet!





Thursday--I hosted a 'goodie exchange' at our house! It was the first official meeting for book group and I think it went super well. I think it's going to be a great group and I'm looking forward to it. Here are the goodies we got....



And here's a closer look at my Rocky Road fudge, which I think I *finally* got to a good texture and sweetness level...YUM!


Friday--Dad fixed the chicken coop (that partially collapsed with all the heavy snow), we packed our bags, and left for Austin

Saturday--it was our 28th wedding anniversary and we spent a rainy day in Austin, baking with Cami and snuggling with Lucie as much as possible.

Sunday (today)--we watched church with Cami and Garrett from home and headed to Patrick and Aleisha's for the blessing. This was the goody plate we brought! Rocky Road fudge by me, dipped Oreos by Ellie, gingersnaps by Cami, and peppermint frosted brownie cookies by Cami. There was a gluten free version of everything for me. YAY!!!!

And just because, she's so darn adorable....here's some good Lucie spam for you




Kristina made this ornament for Lucie....


Fresh out of the bath....


More adorableness....


Blessing day....









And in other adorableness....Denali will be a permanent resident in our home as of Wednesday!



I can't wait for you to meet her too!

Well, I hope you've had an awesome week! I love and miss you like crazy!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!
Love,
Mom

Flashback Friday: OUR BABIES!!!

In honor of the last Friday before we have another new baby in the family, I thought I'd do a Flashback Friday all about my babies!  

TOP ROW:  Cami, Emma

BOTTOM ROW:  Ellie, Adam, Spencer

Here's a few little memories about each one of them:  

SPENCER: was born after 36 hours of labor.  He was 8 lbs. 6 oz. and we were released from the hospital when he was just 12-hours old.   The doctor called him "Banana George" because his head was quite misshapen after birth.  We had no routine when he was young, so he just slept whenever he felt like it, often in very funny situations.   He had a giggle like no other and we would go to great lengths to garner them from him!  

CAMI: was induced when I was 7 days late.   She was 8lbs. 15 oz. and the biggest of all my babies.  She started getting teeth at 4-months old!   The nurse at the hospital called her one of the prettiest newborn babies she'd ever seen and she hoped that her future babies would be that cherubic looking!  She was overall a pretty content baby, but she did have a temper that would make her scream so loud she'd pass out.  The doctor said she was the youngest child (about 9-months-old) he'd ever seen exhibit that behavior and told us she was too young to be manipulative, and that she just had a strong temper.  

EMMA:  was born right on her due date (Halloween).  She was the smallest of the Goold babies at 7 lbs. 13 oz. and was also the baldest of our babies and surprised us all when her hair came in red!  She was by far the squirmiest (non-cuddliest) one of our babies!  With her high energy, loud voice, cheerful personality, and need for attention, she got called a "little firecracker" a lot in her first few years of life!  

ADAM: was my most traumatic birth by a mile.  He was 8 days late and was scheduled to be induced the same day I went into labor naturally.   He was 8lbs. 13 oz.  and had an APGAR score of 2.  From early on, he had a smile that could light up a room and it was that smile brought us through the hours and hours of crying he did in those first couple years.    I was glad he was my 4th child, because I'm not sure how many more kids I would have had if he had come first.  As it was, we held him almost non-stop for those first two years.   

ELLIE: was induced 5 days before her due date (at my insistence after Adam's traumatic birth) and her labor took 12+ hours!  The doctor called me an unripe banana.  She was the only one of my babies that had trouble gaining weight.  The doctors did all sorts of tests that all came back normal, but I already knew that would be the case, because she was such a happy baby (and certainly didn't act like she was starving).   She ate like a baby bird, opening her mouth wide and tilting her head back for each bite!

Stay tuned for exciting baby news coming your way soon! 

 

The Last Week or So (via a letter written to our missionary)

 My letters to Emma end up being a pretty good summary of what's going on in our lives, so I figure they make good blog posts too.  Here's the latest....

LETTER WRITTEN TO OUR MISSIONARY 11/28/21
******************************************

Hola to our favorite Missionario!
Okay, so what's the scoop on transfers? Are you staying or going? How do you feel about it?

{She's heading to a Spanish YSA ward for the last transfer of her mission. She's excited and nervous.}

Also, did your baptism happen on Saturday? I didn't see anything on the mission FB page, but I assume that that's not a definitive way to know if something happened or not. 😄

{It did not happen, however she is hopeful that it will happen soon.}

Hope you've been enjoying the plethora of food you've received this weekend! We are happily making our way through leftovers, including all the pies. The only stuff we have left is the healthy stuff...haha!

I feel like we don't have as much to say this week, because we talked to you on two days, but here are a few things.

Today was our last day in the Nth ward. {...} We already talked to the new Bishop and don't you worry....we'll make sure you get a homecoming talk in the new ward {since she never got a farewell talk thanks to COVID and a move}! :)

On the bright side, I had absolutely NO idea that this ward change was coming and I started a book group. We are going to have a cookie exchange in a couple weeks to launch it, then get started with reading books for January. I am a little nervous about putting myself out there like this, but hoping it will mean finally finding some local connections.

Tonight we had Buddy, Debra, Hannah, and Isaac over, along with my Mom, Dad, AnnaLisa, and Tim. I was bit stressed about it beforehand, but it turned out well. We had turkey tacos with the leftover turkey, Adam made double chocolate cookies, and Ellie made a delicious fruit salad.  😛

We took Adam back to BYU this evening and he's already off hanging out with his friends.

 
He and Ellie had a lot of fun together and I think that Ellie is in a bit of withdrawal. Both he and Ellie are gearing up for getting back to school tomorrow and Dad is heading to the office for the first time since Ellie's been sick. I frankly have enjoyed having the more laid-back schedule for the last week-and-a-half and am probably dreading 'reality' as much as they are.

Oh yeah, Dad and Adam went fishing together on Strawberry Reservoir on Saturday....they caught 8 fish! 

{...}This part was a repeat from another post

Oh, and guess what we did on Friday?

We dog-sat for Denali and all her siblings for several hours, so the Moores could go to a family activity. It was definitely an adventure and I left there with the distinct feeling that I never want to breed puppies. haha!

Well, this week involves trying to get as much Christmas prep done as possible, including paying bills and shopping, so that I can go meet Baby Lucie next week!

Here's a talk I read in my personal study this week:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2021/10/29stevenson?lang=eng

I loved how he talked about the 4 aspects of the gospel and shared examples of how people were living them. What have you read lately?

LOVE YOU!!!!!
Love,
Mom

Thank Goodness for Old Friends!

So a few weeks ago, I sent out  "We Moved" cards to everyone on our Christmas list.  The underlying purpose was to beat the rush and hope that none of our Christmas cards would get lost in the mail, but it also served the unexpected purpose of notifying old friends how to get a hold of us.  After sending them out, I had several old friends reach out to us.  Here is a recap of some of the connections we've made in the last few weeks.  💗 

A couple weeks ago, we went to dinner with the Lowes and the Bowens {old friends of ours from Virginia} and had a delightful evening catching up with some of the most wonderful people God ever put on the earth.  Seriously!  Take out those two middle people and you're looking at the best of the best! 

The next day, we attended the baptism of Eli Richards...our down the street neighbor in PA and one of the bright spots from our time in Pennsylvania. The Richards are the sweetest family and we felt so blessed to have been able to have been their neighbors for that year!

And then later that week, we had Riley and Olivia {and their families} over.  Riley and Olivia were sister missionaries serving in our ward when Cami left on her mission and they were my sanity during that time!    I missed Cami desperately {this was in the days before weekly phone calls} and they were missing their homes and families too.   So we formed a strong bond, like I never had with any other missionary before.   We received their packages from home, so they wouldn't have to wait for them to be delivered from the mission home. I sent messages/updates to their moms when something needed to be communicated on a non-P-day.  They'd stop in front of our house to "borrow" our internet {back when missionaries didn't have cell service}.   They were my surrogate daughters while Cami was gone and I liked to think I was a bit like a surrogate mom to them while they were far from their homes.

We ate dinner and played games, and just enjoyed being together again! 

 These were relationships that meant the world to me and seeing them again was just what I needed!   

Riley and her husband, Mitch, have a sweet baby girl named, Blake, that I very much enjoyed snuggling through the evening!  Doesn't a baby girl look natural in my arms?   {ONLY ONE MORE WEEK UNTIL I HAVE MY OWN GRANDBABY TO HOLD!!!}  😁

A few days later, I went to a wedding and got to see another bright light from Pennsylvania!   Amanda is a dear friend and helped me to feel loved and valued, especially after feeling so hurt in the other ward.   I will forever be grateful that Heavenly Father brought us to this other ward, and did not allow our time in PA to end on a negative note.  

Last but not least, the Palmers came to town!  Amy and I embarked into homeschooling at the same time and she was my sanity and savior many times over in that journey!   Our youngest three kids lined up in age and they are all as dear friends with each other as I am with Amy.   It was good for my heart and soul to sit down and have a chat with her again.   

In the end, I decided that I can be patient with Utah.   

I've got my book group all scheduled out for the new year and we start our new ward on Sunday.   Maybe we'll make some new good friends along the way...maybe we won't.   In the meantime, I'm going to embrace the old friends that always  seem to find their way to Utah.   

💓💓💓    

Thanksgiving 2021 by the NUMB3RS

THANKSGIVING 2021 BY THE NUMB3RS

It's been a long time since I remembered a special event by the NUMB3RS and Thanksgiving seemed like the perfect opportunity to do it again! 

39-  How many guests we were originally planning for

7- people who ended up canceling their flights

11-  How many guests we actually had 
(me, Glen, Ellie, Adam, Spencer, Hyrum (Adam's friend from VA), mom, dad, AnnaLisa, Heather, Tim)

1-  False positive rapid covid test last week that officially scared off most of the expected guests 

6- subsequent negative PCR tests (between the 3 of us) to reassure the rest of the guests (including Spence and Adam) that it was okay to spend time with us

5-  pies total
(apple and blueberry made by me, peanut butter made by Ellie, chocolate fudge made by AnnaLisa, and pecan made by Marie Callender) 

I definitely have not perfected my gluten free pie crusts yet!   They were still delicious, but decidedly much less pretty than my gluten-filled ones of past years.

3-ish hours that Glen smoked the turkey for.  It was delicious! 

He spatch-cocked the turkey this year and was very happy with the results

12- other yummy items on the menu

(gluten free rolls made by me, cranberry tip top "salad" and spinach salad made by Adam, green beans made by Ellie, smoked turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and gravy made by Glen, ham and sweet potato casserole made by my mom, glutenous crescent rolls  made by AnnaLisa, and broccoli salad made by Nana)

My gluten free rolls turned out well enough that I was not the only one eating them, which is not a small feat considering there were also homemade gluten-filled crescent rolls available!  😆

2-phone calls with our missionary!  She got well-fed today and was excited to tell us about a baptism on Saturday.  

4 -boys excited to have someone else to play Magic with (Spence had already left when I took this picture)

3 - full loads of dishes + a bunch that were washed by hand!  Glen, bless his heart, did most of them.

1- very full mama who is ready for bed! 
We missed Emma and Cami being here, but overall it was a great day!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
Thanks for caring enough to read my blog!