My Least Favorite Month

 January is not my favorite month of the year.   It's cold.  It's dark.  The holidays are over.  Spencer was diagnosed with leukemia in January, so there's a bit of PTSD I still deal with every year.  And, in general, I experience all sorts of restless feelings this time each year.  So I donate blood every January.  It's definitely become an annual tradition now and it gives me a sense of purpose/giving back in amongst all the angsty feelings.  

I also try to stay very busy.  That also helps.

All in one week in January,  I cleaned out the pantry, put away the Christmas stuff, hosted book group, donated blood, cleaned the house, made a menu, and started going ham on creating the Come Follow Me activity sheets for the upcoming year.  Staying busy is good for my mental state.  

I also finally got all the Christmas Eve pajama photos compiled into one collage, which made me super happy.   When you've got kids all over the country, these kinds of things can take a while!   

So I mentioned above that   I've started creating the Come, Follow Me activity sheets again for this upcoming year.  I discovered the use of AI for creating coloring sheets and it's been a fun resource for me. I'd been using CHATGPT for creating them and they would turn out like this.   Pretty good.   Sometimes with some weird stuff in it, because it's AI, but not terrible in my opinion.   

Then Spencer told me about a new AI platform that he'd heard was really good.  I decided to test it out and I put in the exact same prompt that I'd used on Chat to create the above coloring sheet of Abraham and Sarah from the bible.  This is what it came up with.... 

HAHAHA!  We may have laughed for a very long time about this.   I looked it up and apparently Claude is better for words than images and  I'd have to say that is a massive understatement.  Ha! 

January has also been quite the adventure for getting to know the new members of our BYU ward.   It's a little harder than we expected, because while it was only a fraction of the people than it was in September, it seems like the expectation is higher to learn the names more quickly.  I am still working hard to get there, but  I'm realizing that my brain still needs to meet people a few times before names/faces are really stuck in my brain well!  

And how did we finish my least favorite month off?   

WITH A TRIP TO RHODE ISLAND TO VISIT SOME OF  MY FAVORITE PEEPS!!!! 

Stay tuned for that blogpost coming soon....

Lara is a Children's Book Author? Nah, She's just Conscientious.

 Once upon a time, there was a lady trying to entertain her three young nephews without the use of screens—a task roughly equivalent to defusing a bomb with a spoon.

"Here are the Legos," she tried, gesturing hopefully at ten thousand tiny plastic barefoot stepping hazards. Nope.

She knew the "Let's read books!" trick would no longer work, since they'd graduated to independently reading graphic novels and chapter books—apparently her dramatic read-aloud voices had lost their magic somewhere around age seven.

Baking up something yummy in the kitchen didn't appeal to them either, since home-baked goodies taste different than store-bought ones and they prefer the unvariability of the store-bought ones. 

Playing a card game worked for a while, but then someone got grumpy that they didn't win, so that endeavor went down in flames faster than you can say "Go Fish."

Then, when one of them asked for paper, writing utensils, and a stapler so he could start writing his own comic book, she decided to join in on the fun.

Now, please keep in mind that Lara is not an artist, nor is she an author. In fact, the list of all the talents she does not have is approximately 40 gazillion items long, and one might say that she may be one of the least naturally talented people on earth. She's pretty sure that when God was handing out talents to everyone before they came to earth, His bag was running low on that fine day in April, and so Lara got funeral program maker, the gift of interpreting the language of 2-year-olds, and conscientiousness. It's a random assortment of skills to be sure—like getting dealt a 2, a 7, and a joker in poker—but she's done the best she can with it. And it was her conscientiousness that would not allow her to give in to their cries for screen time that day.

So, without further ado, here is the comic book that she created for the boys.  Be prepared to be slightly bemused and to continue thinking/knowing that Lara is a bit of a weirdo.   

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

"The Adventures of the Three Brothers" by Aunt Lara 

Three boys went up and over a mountain.  

They went through the forest fighting off wild chickens along the way. 

Next they went on a long voyage across the ocean. 

They fought off sharks and narwhals along the way. 

Then they landed at the North Pole and built an igloo. 

They made friends with the reindeer and visiting penguins. ( She couldn't let them believe that penguins actually lived at the North Pole, so she had to put in the disclaimer that they were visiting.) 

And together they fought off the space invaders trying to kidnap Santa. 

Dedicated to Manuel, Isaiah, and Jesus.  The end.  

 

 

Yes, yes.  I know it's amazing...

 

...ly lame.   Especially compared to Sonic the Hedgehog... 

But it impressed them for approximately 4.2 seconds after which they started asking all about the snowball gun on the last page.  

What do you think?   Should Lara start writing and illustrating children's books in her spare time?   

Never mind, you don't need to answer that. 

Back to conscientious funeral program making she goes, while trying to get as many facetimes as possible with Ollie ...


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

Kristina's Crew Comes to Utah!

Shortly after Christmas, Emma went back to Rhode Island and my sister arrived with her entourage in tow—four of her kids, including Manuel, Isaiah, and Jesus who bring a bit of mayhem with them wherever they go. And right behind her came one of her friends, who brought her teenage triplets, increasing the number of people in our home by 200%.    Within an hour, my house had transformed from a peaceful post-holiday sanctuary into something resembling a combination of a Dave & Buster's and a convenience store after a tornado. Actually it wasn't that bad.  It really was loud...and messy...and a bit chaotic, but I have a good bond with all of Kristina's kids and genuinely enjoy having them around!   

LESSONS IN FOOD: 
  I raised five kids and know a lot about feeding them, however I can never seem to get it quite right with the boys.   I had stocked up on a bunch of their favorite foods before arriving, but I keep learning the hard way with them that there's a lot more to it than just picking the right kind of food for them.   Last time they were here I learned that chicken nuggets cooked in the air fryer were inedible and that soggy microwaved ones were the only way to go.  This time I learned  that different brands of mac & cheese can vary in taste and apparently I picked the wrong one.  I haven't eaten mac & cheese in approximately 40 years or so,  so I was unaware of these nuances, but apparently it's a thing.    Also, much to their happiness, I did manage to remember to get some of their favorite snack in the whole universe before they arrived--Blue Heat Takis.  However they thought I was quite mean for portioning them out into serving sizes for them, as they wanted the whole bag at once!  Ah, well!  I'll try again next time!  

 

THE SNOW THAT WASN'T 
Kristina and her family (and their friends) live in California and came to Utah very excited to see some snow.   Unfortunately for her and the record breaking low snowpack in the mountains this year, snow has been hard to come by this winter.  It's been unusually warm (something I appreciate) and very dry with only a couple little skiffs of snow here and there.  The boys were very disappointed by this and so Kristina went driving to higher altitudes in search of some.  She found the jackpot up at Suncrest and the boys happily played in it!   Sadly the triplets had never been to Utah or seen snow and it was all melted by the time they arrived.  They were quite disappointed.  

A TRIP TO LUMINARIA
One of my favorite parts about people coming to visit us, is that it gets us out of the house to see more of what Utah has to offer.  We went to Luminaria at Thanksgiving Point a  couple years ago and loved it, so Kristina and company coming to town was a perfect excuse to go again!  It was as amazing as we'd remembered and I think everyone enjoyed it!  

A TRIP TO ANTELOPE ISLAND

Another trek we took was to Antelope Island.   To my knowledge, I'd never been there before and I was completely enchanted by this wild and beautiful oasis so close to civilization.   

We saw this great horned owl...

and these beauties, an American kestrel and a starling...

Heather drove and my Mom also  came along for the adventure...

as did Adam and Isaiah.   Kristina and her crew came up an hour or two after us.  

We also saw bison (real ones) and this incredible bird, which was probably our highlight of the whole trip:  

It's a burrowing owl and they're pretty hard to spot, unless you know where to look.  My sister, Heather, has gotten quite into bird watching and bird photography lately and she had the inside scoop.  I totally want to go back  in the spring and see if we can find him again.  

VISITING OUR WARD
My niece, Madeline, and the triplets hope to come to BYU in the next year or two, so they all came to our YSA ward on Sunday to see what it was like.  They weren't very excited that we meet at 9am and had a half-hour drive to get there, but they made it with smiles on their faces.   I actually have no idea what they thought, but it was an excellent fast and testimony meeting and we were happy to share our wonderful ward with them for a week! 

Kristina was happy to see Alicia there too!  Alicia was Kristina's friend first and her husband is now serving as Glen's 1st counselor, so we are all friends now!   

HAPPY DENALI
Denali is 100% a diva.   She loves being the center of attention and there's nothing like more people being in the house to give it to her.  Happily, the boys adore her and she gets lots and lots of attention when they're around.  I daresay she goes into a bit of withdrawal when they leave...

 A FEW MORE RANDOM PICS
I'll finish off with a few more random pics from their stay here.  There's also a few more in this post about the Buttercup Neighborhood game.  

Madeline, Kristina, and me...

Jesus has grown up A LOT over the last several months, which meant a bit more sass, a lot more stubbornness, and a whole lot of silliness. He just got baptized this past weekend and I was super sad that I couldn't be there to join him.  

My sister, Kristina, is probably the only true extrovert of the family and she seriously has the best friends!    I've become friends with a few of her friends since moving here and we went to this gathering one night knowing no one but Kristina's crew, but came out with more friends!  We've even hung out with one of the couples again since then.  

I love when K's family comes to town and somehow even miss the noise and the mess when they leave.  

Happy February to you!  

Cookie Party with a Commitment Problem

The older I get, the more I realize that I tend to think about things for a long time before I take action.   It's not simply indecisiveness, though that's a piece of it.  It's more like not wanting to tie myself down to an action before I know that it's what I really, really want to do. 

 Actually, writing that out makes me realize that what I just described is probably the very definition of indecisiveness.   Oh well.   I don't know...let me think about it and I'll get back to you when I decide whether I'm indecisive, or merely just a bit of a commitment-phobe.   Or whatever.  This blogpost is going nowhere fast.   

Back to the story at hand.  

Sometime early in Christmas break I got the great idea that I wanted to throw a New Year's Eve cookie party, reminiscent of my birthday cookie party of 2023.     Why a cookie party and not a regular party with normal party food and fun activities?   That's a really valid question and I can't really answer that without reminding you all of the fact that throwing parties is really, really, really not my strong point.  Remember this one from back in the day?    Yeah, well let's just say that I may have an empty nest and a house much more suitable for entertaining, but I really haven't changed much in 18 years.   

Oh yeah, and I really like cookies. 

Emma, Adam, and I made a plan and started baking and freezing cookies several days before the intended party.   

Did I start inviting people then?  

No, though that would have made perfect sense.   

I  thought through the details of timing and such and created this cute invite. 

Did I start inviting people then?   

Nope, not yet.    

I went full-blown Lara 2008 mode and waited until December 30th (the day before) and with hundreds of cookies sitting in my freezer, a whole hot chocolate bar set-up, and all the paper goods purchased, I decided it was time to start officially inviting people.   

So, I finally did.   

I'm happy to say it was not near as chaotic as the birthday parties of years' past.   

We had hot chocolate...

and cookies galore (all gluten free)...

that were enjoyed by all who came.   

Though I consider the party to be a success, I know more people would have come with more notice. But, upon reflection, I think that very concept is a big  part of my chronic indecisiveness.   I'm the kind of person who likes to invite everyone, so no one feels left out, and when you invite everyone, that means it could get overwhelming fast.   So sending invites last minute, I think became my own subconscious  defense mechanism to keep the crowds manageable.  

So, once again this blog becomes Lara's therapist.   Now let's see if processing all this helps me to plan a party with more notice next time.  Or helps me to make a decision and stick with it.    We shall see, but I recommend not getting your hopes up!   HAHA!  

********************   

The Buttercup Neighborhood Game

 We played a lot of board games over the holidays--including Wingspan, Telestrations, Codenames, Coup, Nertz, Trash, Magic the Gathering, 10 Days in Europe, and Dixit.  We enjoyed the more laid-back time to play together and only had a few grumpy moments when the competition got a little fierce.  Haha!  

But there was another game we played over the holidays that I haven't mentioned yet.   It involved the whole neighborhood and some equally tense competitive moments, and also some very silly moments.  

It was all about this cute little Christmas inflatable named Buttercup. 

Basically Buttercup was purchased by the H family in our neighborhood and was introduced as a sort of reverse hot potato.  But instead of trying to get rid of it, the goal was to steal it from a neighbor's porch and see how long you could keep it inflated on your own porch. 

 

   In order to be an official participant in the game, you had to join the Buttercup GroupMe and follow along with the updates and rules.  That GroupMe was one of the funniest things I'd been a part of in a long time and it was quite humorous to see the silly {and competitive} side of our neighbors.  

We didn't even try to attempt any heists until Adam arrived home, but once he was home, the game was on!    He had a few unsuccessful steal attempts where he was caught before escaping, but I thought it was quite funny that the first time we actually managed to steal her was just after attending the temple together...

We took a little drive around the neighborhood on the way home and Adam snagged her in his church clothes.  Haha.  

We were quite proud of our conquest and guarded her pretty fiercely until we went to bed. 

  Guarding it meant playing games while sitting on our stairs just inside the door, then opening the door and yelling "we caught you!" to the would-be thieves.  

We caught a few and met a new neighbor in the process.  Much to our surprise, Buttercup actually stayed put overnight and was stolen while on our morning walk the next day.    Once we'd experienced the "thrill" of capturing and guarding her for ourselves, we didn't try too hard for a few days.  But then Kristina's family came to town and all that changed.   The second the boys heard about the Buttercup game, they were excitedly all in!  

Honestly it was a fun excuse to get out on neighborhood walks with the boys...

and the boys were far more diligent Buttercup guardians than we had been.   They literally sat outside waiting to yell at anyone who dared attempt a heist.   At one point in the final couple days of the game, the games keeper had  to change the rules to only allow an hour of "puppy guarding", because there were a whole lot of eager young boys out of school and willing to even sleep outside for the cause.  

It was a sad moment when Buttercup got stolen on New Year's Eve night and the boys'  final attempts in the last hours of the game (New Year's morning) proved unsuccessful, despite their coordinated efforts with fellow-would-be thieves to outsmart the conquering family.  

All in all, it turned out to be a fun distraction over the holidays and I 10/10 would recommend, as long as you get everyone on board with understanding the rules and the idea that it's all in good fun!