Ten Truths and a Lie

 Okay, here's a little Lara life update by way of a little game to all you hordes of blog readers (and by hordes, I actually mean all three of you...haha!)  

So, can you tell which is the lie?   

1. I'm having my first ever surgery on December 7th to remove my fibroid riddled uterus (one is 9 cm!!!) and to do a prolapse repair (worth it for the five babies)! 

2.  I am PETRIFIED of having surgery.  

3.   I have to go back in for a repeat mammogram on the same side I was called back for 2 years ago.  My appointment is two days before my surgery.   

4.  In late summer I was called to a calling that doesn't sound that hard on paper (RS activities coordinator), but is one that plays on all my insecurities.  I've tried very hard to lean into my fears and do the best that I can with it.  I thought things were going well.  

5.  Yesterday I received a phone call from someone who proceeded to tell me that I was doing my calling all wrong.  There was ZERO expression of appreciation for the work and effort I'd already put into it and ZERO acknowledgement of the weird situation I was put in (with no committee and at the transition time of a RS presidency).  She made ZERO apologies when I got flustered and was clearly upset at feeling attacked.  It was an ugly phone call where I raised my voice, shed tears, and told her I thought the Utah ways of doing things was stupid.  I am normally not a confrontational person at all and I'm still flabbergasted that things went down the way they did, with no acknowledgement from her whatsoever that she may have approached things a little harshly.  

6.  Glen's stress level at work is sky high and he is not sure how much longer he will be able to last at this job.  

7.  My house has been a complete wreck ever since taking down the fall decorations and making way for the Christmas decor.  I'm talking disaster zone kind of wreck with stuff strewn everywhere, evergreen needles all over the place, and  storage containers littering the whole room. Much to my chagrin, three different groups of people have dropped by with it in this state, including the RS president who came to give me a big hug and to make sure I was okay after I texted her after the aforementioned phone call from Hades. 

8.  I have been slightly obsessed with making candy bar notes for kids in my life lately--including for our Sunday School class and for some nieces and nephews.  

9.  Speaking of Sunday School classes...we've absolutely loved teaching the 12-13 year old class this year and I will miss them!   They've been telling us that we are getting released ever since I got my calling as the RS activities coordinator, but I think that our time as teachers is actually coming to an end now as we approach my surgery and the end of the year and I'm a little sad about it.  I may also be a little sad that this means that we'll have to start attending Gospel Doctrine again too.  

10.  I am very much looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas, though I'm stressed about getting everything done that I need to before my surgery.   Everyone will be home for Christmas, but our missionary.  Actually Garrett will have to come right AFTER Christmas because of his residency schedule, but we are thrilled to have him as long as we can.  

11. Life is so crazy leading up to my surgery that I actually considered (for 2 seconds) to not send Christmas cards this year.  

Who am I kidding?    This is the easiest game ever to anyone who knows me at all.   Number eleven is the lie.   I am may be a complete stressed out basketcase, but you should be worried the year I don't send you a Christmas card. 

Thanks for playing along!     HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! I promise I'll do a happier post next time.  

Halloween 2022

For years and years, my kids would always pull up this blog in the weeks leading up to Halloween and check out what they'd been in previous years.  It was a fun and easy way for them to keep tabs on what costumes they'd already worn and when.    Our current day Halloweens aren't anywhere near as exciting as Halloweens of old, but my family still references this blog all the time, so I figure there's no better place than here to document our very sedate Halloweens of present day! 

Here's a glimpse--starting with the cutest member of the family:  
 

Lucie/Cami/Garrett:  

Cami and Garrett's Aunt Aleisha transformed Lucie into a very adorable little flower.  She was quite a fan of all the Halloween festivities and loved people watching, parties, and getting her first tastes of real sugar!  

 I have zero Halloween pictures of Cami (in Austin) or Garrett  (in Birmingham), so this gorgeous Halloween treat Cami made for a party her and Lucie were attending will have to suffice. 

Emma (aka The Birthday Girl):

Emma turned 22 years old that day and dressed as a fairy, along with her roommate Rylie, for one party...

and donned some Day of the Dead facepaint for another one...

 The following weekend, she came home and got her birthday crepes made by Glen....

Adam (aka Elder G):  

Adam had his P-day a day early for Halloween.   It was a laid back day for him and he got to make cookies (with the ingredients we sent him for his birthday) and got to watch Coco with his mission.  He apparently had a lot of members sharing candy with him as well! 😋

We also very much enjoyed  a family facetime with him...

 Ellie: 

Ellie was actually in Virginia for Halloween.  This was a long-planned gathering with her friends and she was super excited to be able to hang out with them for a few days. 

Me:  

So my favorite part of Halloween was the excuse it gave me to send cards to nieces, nephews, and siblings...

I definitely had fun with it, though I got the impression that the recipients didn't enjoy them quite as much as I enjoyed sending them.  I actually had to remind most of them to check their mail and, even then, response was lukewarm at best.    Oh well, I already knew I was weird  anyway, so what's a little more weirdness to add to the mix?     

For the first time in our whole married life, we live in a ward that does NOT do a Fall Festival of any sort.  As a Mom of older kids, I was frankly pretty sad about it.  Sad to not be able to sample other people's chili/soup recipes.  Sad that I didn't get to show off my pie-making skills.  Sad not to see all the ward kids in all their adorableness.  Sad to not have a laid-back opportunity to get to know ward members better.  And sad not to have an excuse to dress up.  I'm all about simplifying where simplifying makes sense, but, I'll be totally honest, I think skipping a fall party (usually a HUGE draw for getting friends and neighbors to attend as well) is just lazy and I'll shut up about it now before they call me to plan it next year.  😒 

 

 In a moment of spontaneity, I did put on a costume to hand out candy.   It was originally bought as a German girl costume, but Spence thought it was a pirate costume, so I went with pirate.

 

But then Glen dressed to match me as a German guy when he got home, so my career in piracy didn't last long.   In any case, the dress is exceedingly uncomfortable and we only got a few trick-or-treaters anyway, so we changed into our sweats before too long.   

Oh yeah, and lest I forget...Glen also was very proud to have remembered to wear his Halloweeny socks to work that day...

 

The puppies: 

Don't ask how it happened, but somehow Ellie talked me into getting Halloween costumes for the pups as well.  She wasn't even around to enjoy it, but here they are in all their cute glory. 

Rocky didn't mind his costume a bit once we had it on him, but Denali acted totally humiliated the whole night.  She was definitely not a fan.   We had to keep Kiwi away from them while they were costumed, because the first time he laid eyes on Rocky trying his costume on a few days before, she went crazy (we assume because she looked like a stuffed animal)

Speaking of Kiwi...

She also had a cute costume, which she tried on for 10 minutes and never wore again.   We kept her out of sight and downstairs during the doorbell ringing part of the night, so as not to scare anyone. 

 

Spence (much like in his teen years) opted not to dress up for the occasion and basically hunkered down with Kiwi for the evening.   

So, there you go.    Aren't you glad you tuned in for a glimpse at our very not-exciting Halloween this year?   

Lucie Love in Austin

 When Cami asked if I could come help with Lucie for a week in October; I jumped at the chance!  It's hard living far away from your only grandbaby and, though I still have a kid at home to consider, you will never have to twist my arm too hard to come hang out with her. Thankfully I was able to make arrangements for getting Ellie to and from school while I was gone and I went with open arms ready to snuggle my sweet Lucie May for a week! 

Inexplicably, though,  I  got the crazy urge to sew Lucie a dress before my trip.   Lest you forget this post from back in 2010, I am a terrible seamstress, but there's something about baby girls that occasionally gives me the urge to try my hand at it again.   This time around wasn't any better than my sewing escapades of decades ago, but after a lot of unpicked seams, an extra seam in the back where there wasn't supposed to be one, and some emergency help from a neighbor to make the buttonholes, I finally had a finished product worthy of presenting to the cutest little baby in the universe.  

And it's a good thing she's so stinking cute, because it made all imperfections totally unnoticeable.  

Cami had a week full of classes to attend and homework to do, so we didn't do any sight-seeing or adventures.  

 My days were filled with long walks with Lucie...

playing on the floor and reading books with her....

 

 and soaking up as many snuggles as I could get.  

 Oh, and there was a trip to Costco which led her to discover the joy of Costco free samples...

  She was teething during the second part of the week, so she was a little more  irritable...

But then Ellie came to join us on Thursday evening and we made it a full-out girls' weekend...

We made treats and had a Hocus Pocus marathon...

We went on a long walk around Lady Bird Lake on Saturday...

And after eating at home all week, we got some treats at some of our favorite Austin foodspots (Including Bird Bird Biscuit, which makes the BEST gluten free biscuits)...

WE tried OMG Squee, a gluten free ice cream shop, which was featured on the television show, Queer Eye....

WE also found a swing and had a little Facetime chat with our favorite missionary...

We went to church on Sunday and had the very weird experience of being asked by the Bishop if we were Hepworths (my Mom's maiden name).   I was very confused and assumed the Bishop must have been some long-lost cousin, but, in actuality, there were Hepworths in the ward and he thought we were related to them.  I contacted the Austin based Hepworths later and found out that we have the same great-great grandfather, but descended from different wives. 

I loved my time there in Austin and can't wait to head back for Cami's graduation in a few weeks.  After that, Cami, Lucie, and Garrett will be reunited, and our visits will be to Birmingham, Alabama. 

 

Have I mentioned lately how much I love being a grandma?