Chilling with Emma

 It was so fun to have Emma home for the holidays.  She's an easy person to have around, because she's easygoing,  so helpful, and loves to cook! 

So, together, we cooked, played some games, went to the temple, watched movies and a goofy TV show, and just enjoyed being able to spend some more time together. 

And we also donated blood together.  

I started donating blood back when I was in high school and regularly donated for the next few years into college.  I was really excited when I received a special pin for making it to a gallon.  Then the 5 pregnancies, breastfeeding, daily life,  kept me away for many years.

  Then, almost exactly 12 years ago, Spencer was diagnosed with AML (leukemia) and received dozens of blood donations  through his treatment.  It was then  I decided I wanted to get back to donating again.   Too bad by then, I really struggled with my iron levels, which were often low even when I was taking an iron supplement, so, for several years, I tried to donate just once a year--every January--in Spencer's honor.  

Then I had my hysterectomy in 2022.  

Hallelujah!   In addition, to many unpleasant symptoms being eliminated, having the hysterectomy also meant that  low iron is no longer a problem, which means I can give more regularly. 

Giving blood together  worked out perfectly...the first week of January (the month of Spencer's diagnosis) and our stake held a blood drive.  I talked Emma into coming with me and we did it!   Emma struggles with iron like I did, but she was good to go this time.  I was grateful for her presence, since I actually got a little lightheaded this time, which is very unusual for me when donating.  I let her drive home and we felt good that we'd done our small part in helping a cause that's near and dear to our hearts.  

Plus we got cool t-shirts...

If you are able and you haven't done it recently, I highly recommend donating blood! There's a critical shortage currently and I know firsthand that blood donations were a part of what saved our Spencer and countless other cancer and trauma patients.  Get on the Red Cross website and look for a blood drive near you. 

Visiting with Old Friends!

Moving across the country in middle age is not for the faint of heart!   The part I miss most about living in Virginia is people knowing us and our story.  I feel like I will always be a  stranger in this land where  3/4 of our ward grew up in Utah County, many of those in the same neighborhood we live in. While I admit that it was nice to have had a fresh start, I was not mentally prepared for the anonymity that comes with being the newbies in a place where outsiders are such a rarity.  I think I had this naive notion that our outsider status would somehow make us more interesting (like it often does in other parts of the country), but when you're  boring introverts at heart, there's just not that much pull for people to leave their comfort zones to really get to know us. 

BUT...all is not hard about living in Utah!   There are some parts about Utah that we love (other than the scenery)!  For example, I love, love, love being close to my college kids.  It's been fun to meet their roommates and friends and feel like our connection is stronger with them once they leave the house.   I also love being able  to stay connected with old friends.  Utah is such a crossroads for so many members of the church and, although it's less frequent than I'd like,  I really enjoy being able to keep in touch with others that have also moved here, are going to school here, or are passing through here. 

One of those opportunities came up this past week. 

  Elena is Emma's oldest friend.  Their birthdays are a week apart and we met her and her family back in 2002 and love them all.  If you look back through the archives of this blog, you'll find a lot of posts with Elena and Emma together over the years.  

A few weeks ago, Elena and her husband, Harlan (also from Virginia), had a baby.   I loved being able to see and catch up with both of their parents, as well as being able, along with Emma,  to meet and hold their new baby.   Elena was in YW almost the entire five years I served as YW president, so in addition to feeling connected to her as one of my daughter's best friends, I also got to watch her grow in the YW program.  

It does make me feel a bit old to realize that someone who is only a week younger than my THIRD child is already married and has a baby (even after both of them served missions), but I am a grandma and have a full head of gray hair under all the dye, so I guess I should just embrace that I actually am old! 

It really is moments like these that make living in Utah worth it to me. 💖

Things that Made Me Smile This Holiday Season

The older we get, the more low-key our holidays become.   We are not on anyone's party invite list and it's frankly rather difficult to get excited by gift-giving when my kids are so specific with what they want.  It's been many years since I've had an ounce of confidence about buying an article of clothing or jewelry that my kids will actually wear and that's usually mostly what they want.  So they send me links and I try my best to also make sure they have something that's kind of a surprise to them.   I miss the days when I could get Lego sets, art supplies, or doll accessories, depending on the kid, and know that they would be totally happy.  

With Adam on his mission and Cami taking her turn with the in-laws, this holiday season we had 3 of our 5 kids here.  Combine the smaller crowd than usual with the fact that Glen only had a couple days off of work and Ellie left for Alabama on Christmas night (to help babysit Lucie), and it felt even more low-key than normal. 

Here are a few things that made me smile this holiday season...

Our Christmas tree is wild and crazy with a collection of ornaments from the last 30-years.   I keep thinking that I *could* get a second tree that we keep all fancy and matching, but, frankly, that's not me and I rather love our Tree of Memories.   We collect ornaments from our travels and special events from the year and it keeps getting more and more covered with ornaments every year. 

These missionary ornaments that we've gotten for each of our missionaries while they were serving, were making me extra smile this year.  This is our second Christmas without Adam at home and I found myself looking at that ornament a lot!   We did laugh when we put them side-by-side and saw the height differences between them.  Cami and Emma are both 5'5" in real life and Adam is 6'2", so the ornaments are definitely not to scale.  Haha!

 

I also really loved this ornament I found at the BYU-Idaho bookstore.  I love the artistic style of it and I love that BYU-Idaho is a new special place for our family now that Ellie attends there. 

 
Here's a collage of some more of our Christmas activities...a trip to Temple Square to see the lights, more treat making, our Christmas Eve devotional with my Mom and Heather, and some Christmas Eve pajama pics!  

 

We were completely charmed by the Christmas Eve Nativity pictures sent by Cami with their Christmas crew in Alabama.  Lucie was Garrett's parents' first grandchild too, but they now have four (almost five), while we are still anxiously awaiting number two! 

Christmas morning involved a delicious breakfast made by Emma! 

She could sell her  gluten free cinnamon rolls...they're amazing! 

Actual gift opening was  slow and pretty low-key...

We loved being able to talk with our missionary {and Cami, Garrett, and Lucie} for a while...

Some other Christmas break happenings, included a temple trip with Emma, Glen, and I....

Dropping Ellie off at the airport on Christmas night for a red-eye to Alabama so she could help babysit Lucie...

WE introduced my Mom and Heather to the game, Codenames, and totally laughed when both of our last names were *almost* in the first set of words! 

We saw a beautiful sunrise...

We saw our first American kestrel in the wild on one of our morning walks...

We ate a lot of good food, including this charcuterie board that Emma made us for NYE. 

I got a bee in my bonnet and took down the Christmas decorations before New Year's this year.  As much as I love our tree, I hadn't loved the way the rest of the decor came together this year, so I wanted it down while I actually had helpers in the house to make it happen.   I went straight for the Valentine's decor...

Also, I couldn't help but throw this great photo of Spence and Kiwi in here that my sister, Heather, took of them.  Much like when he was a teen, he still doesn't love sitting still for photos, so I'll take what I can get! 

Hope you all had an amazing holiday season filled with many happy memories!  

17 Years of Christmas Cards and our 2023 Card and Newsletter

After 16+ years of blogging, you might have noticed some trends here on the blog. For instance...though I have not a single shred of wit in real life, I sometimes think I'm wildly funny here on the blog and I post silly things that make no sense to anyone other than....me. Also, I have a real problem with using the blog as an outlet when I'm feeling upset or hurt. I usually end up editing or deleting those posts later, but a lot of you regular readers have probably seen a few of my PMS-driven rants pop up and then quickly disappear over the years. And last, but not least...almost every year I post something about Christmas cards and how much I love them sending and receiving them.

Sooooooo...in the spirit of all three of my blogging trends....allow me to rant about how annoying it is that I'm still not funny, still get PMS despite not having a uterus, which means I can't predict when it will hit anymore, and how I still get so dang obsessed with Christmas cards every single year. I literally work on getting the cards sent out before buying gifts a lot of years (like this one)!   

Here is a glimpse of this year's card....

With Adam being on a mission for the entirety of 2023, we never got a family picture, so this collage was the best I could come up with.

I had great fun creating this newsletter with a template I'd purchased on Etsy. In years' past, I've mostly created our newsletters from scratch on either Microsoft Publisher or Photoshop, but this year I needed a creative boost, hence the Etsy help. I was happy with the way it turned out.

Last but not least, I FINALLY got a bee in my bonnet to gather all of our Christmas cards and compile it into one big collage. I wasn't able to locate any from pre-2007, but with a good bit of sleuthing, I was able to find them all from the last 17 years at least.

Wow!  It was kind of crazy to see a little glimpse of all these years in one place.   From cancer, epilepsy, unemployment, the failing health and death of a parent, mental health struggles, to a wedding, a grandbaby, 11 years of homeschooling, 3 missionaries, 5 high school graduations, a whole lot of adventures, etc... these years represent A WHOLE LOT of stress, heartache, struggles, and also deep deep joy.

A closer look at previous years' cards: 
2025 (the red collage card and a SIMPLE SPOTLIGHT newsletter)
2024 (the simple card and the HAND-DRAWN newsletter) 
2022 (the card full of regrets and TMI newsletter)
2021  (the artistic card and NEWSY newsletter)
2020 (the covid update)
2019 ( the simple card and the SECRET FILES newsletter)

2018 (the super small airmail card and the ANNUAL REPORT newsletter)
2017 (the basic, but pretty fall leaf card and a  GAZETTE newsletter)
2016 (the Jefferson memorial card and the CANCELED newsletter)
2015 (the card with a pic from a Lord of the Rings filming site in NZ and funny CATALOG newsletter)
2014 (the card where we look a little disheveled and DICTIONARY newsletter)
2013 (silly mustache/pajama card and GAZETTE newsletter)
2012 (middle of cancer card and FAIRY TALE newsletter)
2011 (Alleluia silhouette card and GOOFY newsletter on the back) 
2010  (letter here) (the card where 2 of us were photoshopped and NUMB3RS newsletter)
2009 (the professional photograph card and the TRIFOLD CHURCH PROGRAM newsletter)
2008 ( card in fall leaves and WANTED POSTER newsletter)
2007 (my early attempts at graphic design card )

 

Thanks for coming along for the ride!  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!  

leading up to christmas

As mentioned in my previous blogpost, this Christmas has felt a little more scattered than usual.  I felt more like I was in survival mode than even the usual chaos zone leading up to Christmas.   I'm still stress eating too much junk, having trouble sleeping, and still fighting off a variety of  bugs...including a cold sore that arrived just a few days before Christmas Day.   Having said that...we did accomplish some fun Christmasy things along the way.  Here's a  little glimpse at the last few days leading up to Christmas this year...

We had a little treat making party with Emma, Ellie, my sister, and Mom at my Mom's house...

Emma tempered the chocolate and Emma and Ellie made the truffles...

Heather made the caramels, Mom was the ingredient gatherer, and I was on fudge duty.  I do make a mean fudge, though this year's was a little more "decorative" than usual with my helpers adding sprinkles and marshmallows to the top.   If you like a creamy delicious fudge that's not as sickeningly sweet as most, then try my recipe.  I spent several years getting it "just right" and am quite proud of it, though I do tend to eat too much of it when it's around.  

As you know, I LOVE Christmas cards.  Love getting them, love sending them, love thinking about them.   I was a little less on-top of things this year than usual, but I am happy to say that they were all sent before Christmas at least. 

I do my Christmas card sending in phases every year.   Phase #1 is  the bulk of the cards, phase #2 are the people I need to doublecheck addresses on, phase #3 are the locals, and phase #4 are the people I need to spend a little more personal time on.    All in all, I sent about 230 this year, but likely will send a few fewer next year as there are quite a few people on my list I haven't heard from in several years.    

In case you didn't know or didn't remember, this past summer I went as the Trip Mom on an HXP (Humanitarian Experience) trip to Thailand with Ellie.   It was a life-changing experience for both of us and I feel so blessed to have been able to be a part of it.  This past week, one of my Thailand "kids"  had a mission farewell that I was thrilled to be able to attend (one of the perks of living in Utah now).   His decision to serve a mission was solidified while he was in Thailand and I felt like we had a small glimpse into him opening his heart to the idea while we were on the trip. 

Elder C is on his way to Florida now and we loved being able to hear him share his testimony with us...

As part of this mini-reunion for the farewell, we hosted a few people at our house for a couple nights.  Somehow the hair bleaching went down at our house when we were out of the house for all of 45 minutes.  😑

It was great to see them again and remember what a special time that was for us...

Last but not least, after spending 3 weeks in a row with Lucie, I was feeling very deprived in those couple weeks leading up to Christmas.  I missed my "Cici" (her self-picked nickname) snuggles, the storytimes, the silly singalongs, and just feeling like I was making a small difference again.   I clung to every picture Cami sent me and delighted anytime they had a chance to Facetime...especially when Lucie asked me to read her a book over the phone or to sing her a song.  I really do love being a Gigi and can't wait for a new little one to join the mix soon. 

Hope all you, dear readers, had wonderful holiday filled with many happy memories.   Stay tuned for a post on the actual Christmas holiday coming soon...

Thirty Years of Us!

 On a cold, but sunny day in Denver, on December 18, 1993, a couple of young kids got married.

 

Here are a few random facts about our early relationship and wedding:

-We met at BYU.

-I was officially introduced to Glen when I was going on a double date and the other guy canceled super last minute.  My brother offered to find a replacement date for my friend and came back with Glen.   He dated my friend for a while, then she went on a mission and the rest is history.  Haha! 

-Both of our birthdays are on the 25th of the month (me in April, him in June), so he asked me to marry him on September 25th.  We likely would have married on the 25th as well, except the 25th doesn't really work in December. 

-My aunt made my wedding dress and it cost right about $100 total.

-I truly didn't care about my wedding colors.   I originally picked peach and green (it was the early 90's, so don't judge!) and happily changed it to burgundy and green after my Mom informed me that those colors were hard to find in the wintertime.

-Actually, I really didn't care about many of the details of my wedding and I went along with whatever my Mom and Glen's Mom told me would be easiest.   We even had a potato bar for the luncheon, despite me not liking potatoes back then. 

-We jumped in the car the day after we got married and drove to Minnesota with my family for the reception and to spend Christmas with them.   I feel bad for my younger siblings in the back of the car with us. 

-It was bitterly cold in Minnesota the week we were there (like -40* with windchill type of cold) and Glen very quickly redacted every naive statement he'd ever made about how growing up in Colorado meant he knew all about cold. 

-The first place we lived together after we got married, in South Orem, was the sketchiest neighborhood we lived in in our whole married life. Police were in our little culdesac on a semi-regular basis. 

-Glen's first job out of college was in Baltimore, Maryland...thus beginning our 25 years of living on the East Coast. 

-Our first three kids were born in three different states.  Spence in Utah, Cami in Maryland, then Emma, Adam, and Ellie were all born in Virginia.

  We were certainly pretty clueless about life when we got married, but we were filled with a deep love and naive hope for the future.   It's probably a good thing we couldn't really glimpse the future at that point, though, because I think we would have been pretty petrified at some of the things we'd be facing together.   It turns out though, that we make a pretty good team and while our family is far from perfect, it's perfect for us.  

Our official 30th anniversary celebration was the trip in October/November that I have yet to blog about (but will eventually), but we enjoyed celebrating today in our own low-key kind of way.  

We started off with a long walk (6-1/2 miles),

Then stopped for a delicious  brunch at a place called Communal,

 

 

 Then, just as we've done every anniversary for the last 30 years (except when it falls on a Sunday), we went Christmas shopping.    We also found a Giving Machine at the mall we were at and took a little stop there. 

Weirdly, I'm not sure we'd ever been up close and personal with a Giving Machine before and we were impressed with how it works.  Can you guess what I picked to give?   

After a few pitstops, we headed home where we had a boat load of Christmas cards waiting for us in our mailbox!     Any of you who's been following along with this blog for long, knows that I am quite a Christmas card aficionado and it made me smile!   

And with that, Glen had to skedaddle down to the Outpost.  😐

The trip was a grand way to celebrate, but today was a perfect low-key way to commemorate the beginnings of our family.  I'm grateful to have this man by my side through life and into the eternities.