The Twelve Days of Brittish Christmas

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Hugh Jackman in my Christmas tree!

(Courtesy of my friend Christie)

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Two seasons of Cobra Kai!

(I watched the whole first season on Christmas Eve and the whole second season on Christmas Day)

On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Three gold painted Barbies!

(Our girls got these "color reveal" Barbies - they had to soak them in water and remove all the gold paint to reveal their Barbie. Santa had no idea that's what they were when he loaded them in his sleigh)

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Four fighting children!

(I thought a simplified pandemic Christmas might help my kids' behavior... it didn't)

Watching shrinky dinks in the oven. 

I promise I brushed their hair for Christmas Day.

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Five 2020 ornaments!

(A popular gift this year).

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Six jigsaw puzzles!

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Seven days off work for Scotty!

On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Eight gingerbread houses!

(Two different sessions of gingerbread house making - which is fewer than we normally have)

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Nine phone calls from my father-in-law trying to connect to Zoom.

On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Ten small family gatherings with masks.

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Eleven handmade snowflakes!

(Our kids decorated our room with snowflakes one day while we were out Christmas shopping)

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Twelve rolls of toilet paper!

(Our most popular neighbor gift - and we have no complaints!)

It Happened in 2020

This is a traditional post that I do at the end of every year. It was surreal to look back on 2020 and make this list. I'm glad I have it documented because there is so much I want to remember. 

It was a challenging year, for sure. But for us, it wasn't a "bad" year. I have mixed feelings about making that statement because I know so many people for whom this was a year full of adversity and tragedy. My heart aches for so many people right now. That is true for any year, though. This one just has the additional pile-up of a world-wide pandemic, an ugly election, and the turmoil of Mother Nature. I would be amiss to look back on my own experiences of 2020 and say I had a bad year. Despite the challenges, this year was still wonderful for my family, and wow! Was it ever memorable! Yet, I feel guilty for having so much good to praise while others struggle.

Here are some of our experiences from 2020:

January

• I turned 36
• I joined a book club
• Scotty, Nicky, Daisy, and I saw Seussical at Hale Theater

February

• Zoe had six teeth pulled
• Nicky had a bad case of croup and was prescribed "vocal rest"
• Our garage spring broke for the third time since we bought our house
• I finished the requirements for the Honor Bee before it was discontinued 
• I read the Book of Mormon
• We bought a new couch for our basement and stored it in the garage for six months

March

• COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization
• School was dismissed 
• Scotty started working from home
• Church was canceled
• Dance classes were canceled
• Piano lessons were canceled
• The library closed
• Disneyland closed
• We had a 5.7 magnitude earthquake and hundreds of aftershocks (lasting for months)
• We planted a garden
• A stay at home order went into effect in Salt Lake County
• We canceled a trip to Moab

April

• Our neighborhood began doing a weekly scavenger hunt
• Eva turned 5 and had a drive-by birthday party
• General Conference was held with no congregation
• No Easter parties and no church
• Scotty fixed up an old riding lawn mower
• Baby birds started hatching in our yard
• We finished our first 2,000 piece puzzle
• Zoe started doing speech therapy online
• We got stir crazy, so we camped out in Grandma's backyard
• Scotty's annual "brocation" had to be rescheduled

May

• The school did a teacher parade
• The last super moon of 2020 took place
• We refinished a picnic table
• We canceled our anniversary trip to Disneyland
• Scotty and I had our 17th anniversary
• Dance classes resumed outside on a tennis court with masks
• Stores and restaurants started reopening
• School ended 
• Nicky passed me in height
• I started doing chalk art
• We camped at Wallsburg over Memorial Day weekend
• Riots and protests started all over the nation following the death of George Floyd, Salt Lake City included
• Some stores (specifically Walmart) started closing at 5:00 pm for the safety of their employees
• The kids resumed piano lessons on FaceTime
• I broke down and started drinking soda after being sober for 135 days

June

• Our power went out for a night
• We bought some new dutch ovens
• Our trip to Mount Rushmore was canceled
• We went camping over Father's Day weekend at the Spruces
• We did lots of hiking
• We bought a bidet
• The girls had outdoor dance performances
• Hamilton came to Disney+
• Church started again with just sacrament meeting and the ward was separated into small groups to attend. We chose to wait a little longer to go back

July

• We camped over the 4th of July
• Scotty's grandpa's property up the street from us caught on fire
• We had a Disney themed party at Grandma and Grandpa's
• Salt Lake County issued a mask mandate
• We hung out at the lake a few times
• We finished our basement and got new carpet

August

• Nicky did his Eagle project - refinishing an amphitheater at Wallsburg Camp
• We spent a weekend in Wyoming with friends
• We spent more days at the lake
• The kids went back to school in-person with masks
• Eva started kindergarten
• Scotty took the kids on adventures almost every weekend
• We harvested and froze a lot of raspberries
• I finally got to go to Cafe Rio with Christie for the first time since February
• Scotty's "brocation" had to be rescheduled again (and eventually canceled)

September

• I quit soda again after my final Dr. Pepper on Labor Day
• We went camping for Labor Day weekend and helped get Wallsburg Camp ready for the winter
• Daisy turned 11
• Scotty was supposed to go back to work, but they changed their minds because the COVID cases kept rising
• The library opened back up
• My mom had a combined Easter and Halloween party 
• Dance classes started again, this time indoors with masks
• We started going to church again

October

• Scotty's mom had an "autumn party" while it was warm enough to gather outdoors
• We had our second COVID General Conference
• Sacrament meeting resumed weekly, but then we had to go back to every-other week
• Zoe started taking piano lessons
• We took a road trip to Gandy and Fillmore
• Nicky challenged us to not eat out during October, and we succeeded!
• We celebrated Halloween with minimal trick or treating

November

• Zoe turned 8 - we didn't have a party because COVID cases were getting even higher
• The governor issued an executive order that mandated masks state-wide and asked us to not mix households for two weeks
• We took a spontaneous trip to California with Tim and Amber
• We had our first Thanksgiving dinner at our house

December

• Zoe was baptized
• Our van went kaput (but we got it fixed)
• Nicky had his Board of Review to become an Eagle Scout
• Jupiter and Saturn were closer than they have been in 800 years - people called it the "Christmas star"
• Nicky turned 14

Thoughts About...

...Push-ups

You may recall that in September I set a goal to do 2,000 push-ups by the end of the year. I'm well on my way to that goal, but in order to meet it, I will need to average 42 push-ups a day through December 31.

When I started this goal, I couldn't do push-ups on my toes because my elbow felt like it was going to explode. I did the first 500 on my knees to build up strength, and then I was able to start doing them on my toes, but I could only do 3-4 at a time. Now I've successfully done 25 reps in a row three times. Thus far, the only way I can measure my progress is by how many push-ups I can do in a row. I hope someday I'll be able to see a difference in my arms, shoulders, or back. But for now, it's all about numbers. 

Even though I'm stronger now, push-ups are funny. There are times I can pump out 15-20 with no problem, and there are times I can hardly do three. Today is one of those days where I can only do 3-5 at a time. 

Last night I spent some time researching proper push-up form. I want to make sure I've been doing them right. There are mixed opinions on form, but I found a few notes of general consensus. Depending on whose opinion I follow, I may need to reposition my arms a bit. Today I tried a slight change in position. 

Whoa, Nelly. That hurt. 

..."Pooh-poohing"

Speaking of goals, I recently decided that I want to stop pooh-poohing everything. I find pooh-poohing to be a very unattractive practice, and yet, I am a major pooh-pooher.

(If my dad is reading this right now, I can guarantee he has at least ten poop jokes running through his head, and he can hardly contain himself).

I also want to share my opinion less and stop being annoyed by so many things. The most common message I receive from the Spirit is, "Don't say anything." I'm amazed at how often I'm caught when I'm about to say something I shouldn't.

...Winter Recess

Twelve more days until my kids go back to school. 

Do I sound like a mean mom who hates her kids? Cuz I don't (you know that, right?) I just have a different level of exhaustion with my kids right now than I usually do. Okay, yes, I whine every year when they are home for long periods of time, but this year? This COVID-laden year? They have been home so much, and I have utilized every amount of energy and creativity possible to keep them busy from the moment they dismissed school in March. Here at the end of 2020, there's just nothing left. 

I asked Scotty to take next week off work. This will be a new experience. Scotty doesn’t take time off work to just be home. I have no idea what it will be like to spend a week together at home. The last time that happened was the week after Nicky was born. 

With my luck, Scotty will end up with COVID that week. I guess the bright side is, in that case, he can use sick leave instead of vacation time.

2020 in the Books

The year isn’t over yet, but I think it’s close enough to the end that I can post a list of what I read in 2020.

This was a weird year for reading. My brain was complete mush from all the 2020 things, so looking back at the books I read this year, I have to confess, I don't even remember what most of them are about! 

Here is a list of the books I read in 2020, but first, a few bits of business:

1. I give most of the books star ratings, but there are some books I don't rate. This is either because I feel undecided about how to rate them or because I just see them as something I shouldn't rate (particularly people's personal experiences, I can like or dislike what they wrote, but I don't always feel like I should assign stars to someone's life story). 

2. No one should base their interest in a book on my ratings. I'm all over the place with my book ratings, and I rarely represent the greater population in my opinions. Something as simple as having a bad hair day when I read a book can make me hate it, and eating a really good sandwich the day I read it can make me love it.  

3. There are over 40 books that I started and didn't finish (they aren’t included on this list).

4. My entire year of reading was very "meh." I don't have a favorite book this year.

Books Read in 2020

175 Temple Symbols and Their Meanings by Donald W. Parry***

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Phillip Sendker***

Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane****

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins***

Ban This Book by Alan Gratz****

Becoming by Michelle Obama

Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris***

The BFG by Roald Dahl

Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain***

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty****

The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd****

The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel***

The Book of Mormon

The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Can I get an Amen? Celebrating the Lord in Everyday Life by Zandra Vranes and Tamu Smith

The Canyon’s Edge by Dusti Bowling****

Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon (in progress)

Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel***

The Dilemma by B.A. Paris**

The Devil Aspect by Craig Russell****

The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony****

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer****

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Neilsen****

Fatal Throne by Candace Fleming****

Find Me by Anne Fraser***

The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys****

Framed by James Ponti****

The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown***

The Girl With the Louding Voice by Abi Dare

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes****

Golden Answers: Why We Need the Book of Mormon by John Bytheway***

A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler****

Grace is Gone by Emily Elgar***

Grace Where You Are by Emily Belle Freeman***

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell***

Hate List by Jennifer Brown****

The Haunting of Maddie Clare by Simone St. James**

High Achiever: The Incredible Story of One Addict's Double Life by Tiffany Jenkins

How to Train Your Dragon by Cresside Cowell***

The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty****

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager****

House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig***

Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling****

I Saw the Lord: Joseph's First Vision Combined from Nine Accounts by Kerry Muhlestein

Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage (in progress)

Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger***

Leaning on Jesus: Strength for a Woman's Heart by Michelle Wilson

The Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick***

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly***

Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life by Tish Harrison Warren****

Malorie by Josh Malerman***

Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid***

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb****

A Mind Unraveled by Kurt Eichenwald****

Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling****

The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth***

Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor***

Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel****

The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff

The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry***

Pipi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren

The Power of Stillness by Jacob Z. Hess****

The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay****

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid***

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides***

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Nuevel****

Spirit by David Butler****

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach***

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor****

The Test by Sylvain Neuvel***

The Toll by Neal Shusterman***

Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty***

Unshattered by Carol J. Decker

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett ***

Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel****

When Life Gives You Pears by Jeannie Gaffigan****

The Whisper Man by Alex North****

This is Where You Belong by Melody Warnick***

White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo

Without the Mask: Coming Out and Coming Into God's Light by Charlie Bird

You're Not Listening: What You're Missing and Why It Matters by Kate Murphy****

More Christmas Things

Fifteen more days until my kids go back to school. 

Not that I'm counting down or anything. 

My kids are hard at Christmas time. I remember when Nicky was about to turn 9 (his birthday is two days after Christmas), his attitude and behavior got so intense, and his anxiety was through the roof. He was terrified and worried about everything, and it was getting unmanageable. I took him to his well-child appointment, and I talked to the pediatrician about it, and, in giving me a list of options on how to move forward, she suggested that it could improve after the holidays. She said that she sees a lot of anxiety and behavioral issues with kids through the holidays, and sometimes it gets immensely better after the new year. I didn't think it would with Nicky, but I decided to hold off on treatment and see. She was right. He became much more manageable a few weeks after Christmas. 

Since then, I've noticed that it happens with one or more of my children every November and December. This year is no exception. All of my kids are being difficult, and one in particular is having some anxiety issues along with the tough behavior. 

I love this time of year, but I also really love when it's over. So I'm excited for Christmas, but I'm also looking forward to having a whole year before it comes again.

Anyway, we've continued doing some fun things for the holidays. We're definitely taking a different approach to our Christmas activities this year, but it's been wonderful and memorable. 

Last weekend we went to Luminaria. We also got to go see Jumanji: The Next Level at a private screening for our nephew's birthday. It was so fun to be in a movie theater again! 

On Sunday we made gingerbread nativities. 

Making nativities - courtesy of Aunt Michelle

Nicky's nativity right before it collapsed in slow motion

Monday was my mom's birthday, so we took her dinner.

On Tuesday, Zoe and Eva had in-studio dance performances. Only one parent could attend. Zoe had a meltdown and refused to do anything the dance teacher asked. Part of me was terribly disappointed. The other part of me knew to expect that (see opening paragraphs).

Daisy by the tree in the dance studio

We've had a mysterious Christmas elf who has left gifts on our porch for the past 17 years. My mom The elf made a drop off on Tuesday night. 

On Wednesday we had Nicky's Board of Review for him to become an Eagle Scout. He passed and will be eligible for the rank of Eagle as of December 29. We'll do his Court of Honor sometime next year. 

Our cute, little Eagle Scout

On Thursday I got to go to dinner with my friends Lynsie and Michelle. My kids went to their aunt's house for Elf Night - an event formulated by Zoe wherein the kids "go to Amber's house and watch a movie and eat popcorn." 

On Friday we went to my in-laws' house for dinner. In lieu of a big family party, they are having each family over for dinner. Scotty smoked a brisket, and then we cooked vegetables and s'mores on a raclette grill. The kids got to have a Zoom meeting with Santa and open presents. Then the kids shared some talents, and Grandma read us some books. 

Cooking veggies & kielbasa while Zoe waves

melted cheese in front of the camera

Zooming with Santa

New pajamas from Grandma & Grandpa

Grandma reading books

On Saturday morning, Nicky and Scotty went ice fishing. 

Nicky reeling one in

While they were gone, I went to the store "for the last time" (a trip I've made at least five times already). I bought some stuff for my kids to make Christmas cards to take to the residents at the nursing home. After Scotty and Nicky got home, we delivered the cards and visited with Scotty's grandma through her window over the phone. 

This is the saddest part of COVID. There are so many aspects of the pandemic I can handle, but this isolation and loneliness for the elderly breaks my heart. 

Visiting Grandma

Delivering cards 

After we left the nursing home, we drove all over Salt Lake just to be out of the house. We found a house with a Charlie Brown photo op, so we stopped to take some photos. 

I'm feeling inspired to make something like this for my yard next year. I just need to figure out how to keep it from getting stolen (a constant battle where we live). 

We drove long enough for the Christmas lights to come on around the city. We drove around Sugarhouse and downtown Salt Lake. There was lots of screaming and fighting. Then, against our better judgement, we went to Cracker Barrel for dinner. 

It's been another week of celebration, fun, and sibling rivalry.

Did I mention that my kids go back to school in fifteen days?

Things the Kids Say: Episode 11

 “I feel like sitting on the toilet and reading a magazine.”

-Zoe

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“Wow. Mom, those are some nice boobs you have.”

-Eva

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“I didn’t know Danny DeVito was a real person!”

-Daisy

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Me: Zoe, would you like to pick a song for us to sing at your baptism?

Zoe: Yes. “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

Me: That’s a great song, but since it’s a baptism, we should probably sing a church song.

Zoe: It is a church song! It’s about Mary!

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“Mom, will you buy me a nutcracker so I can crunch my nuts?”

-Eva

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Daisy: Do you know what VIP stands for?

Zoe: Yep. Employee of the month!

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“Mom, I was crying in my bed because there was a hamburger tornado in my dream.”

-Eva

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"I know how to spell coffee... E-E-F-F-O-C."

-Eva

Never Have I Ever

The other day I was looking for a show to watch, and I remembered that in 2017, I watched 75% of the first episode of Anne with an E. Then, a few weeks later, I finished that episode and watched the second. Then I didn't watch any more of it. So after a three-year break, I decided to watch episode three, and lemme tell you something! Those kids are so mean to Anne. I have a hard time with bullying in books and shows, and I often get frustrated with how characters treat each other, so I was all sorts of riled up over the treatment of Anne, and I realized... kids have always been turds. They were turds in 1908, and they're turds now! Their resources for being turds have changed, but they're turds all the same. 

But that's not my point here. What I actually want to say is that I have never read nor watched Anne of Green Gables in any form. I know nothing about it save for what I have now seen across three years of watching the first three episodes of Anne with an E. I am not loyal to the original mini series. I don't know how the book compares to any of the film depictions. I don't even know the basic plot other than Anne is an orphan, and she talks a lot. 

I'm sure I'm a disgrace to the die hard Anne fans. I'm sorry if I've failed you, but we all have to be disappointing in some ways, right? 

Watching Anne the other night got me thinking about some of the other things I've never done. Here are some of my "Never Have I Evers."

Never Have I Ever...

• Eaten Indian food (or naan)
• Had a passport
• Been skiing
• Sewn something with a pattern
• Taken aspirin
• Seen Les Mis on stage
• Stayed awake for 24 hours
• Gone into labor
• Lived alone
• Been offered drugs
• Watched HGTV
• Had braces
• Failed an assignment or class
• Had my nails done
• Been late for church*
• Had a hickey
• Eaten eggplant
• Watched or read Little Women
• Used Twitter
• Gotten a tattoo
• Seen the Grand Canyon
• Been drunk
• Worn Crocs, Toms, or Converse
• Been asked to a dance at my school
• Had anything professionally done to my eyebrows
• Watched a Hallmark movie

There are a lot more things I've never experienced that I'm not going to add to this list because I don't want to jinx myself. For example, if I'd never broken a bone, I definitely wouldn't say so here because that's just inviting disaster. 

I'm not necessarily opposed to the things on my list - I just happen to not have done any of them. I think the ship has sailed on being asked to a school dance, though. And I definitely don't want to go into labor at this point. But hey, some day I might eat some naan and take an aspirin (is that a safe combo? Must research). 

What never have you ever?

*Due to the jinx, I'm totally going to be late for church now, and everyone is going to secretly love it. They'll be all, "Oh look! Little Miss Punctuality is late for church! Whatever shall she do?" I'll tell you what I'll do! Imma just give up and go to McDonald's. Looks like I won't be late for church after all. I'll just be in the parking lot eating my fries at quarter after if anyone wants to join me.