DECEMBER

 

Gwinna had a long morning of being in her first Silva Injury Law video with her grinchy dad! Overall she had a lot of fun & is already excited for the next:) 

Early in December (or maybe late November) we found & fell in love with these babies! 

They will be coming home with us on January 10th!!! We are crazy people. Fudge’s name will be changed to Jack (as in Jack Skellington) and Chip’s will be Frankie (short for Frankenstein) 

So I did a silly thing and drove by our old house here in Provo after the temple one morning & then I sat in front of it and cried (thinking of me and Gwinna looking out that front bay window during a stormy night) 

“I’m a stupid woman.” Ha! 

Such a better time when the girls participate in the elf adventuring! 

Love my Noelle’s tiny drawings every season for my phone!!

Sia was our girl for Christmas tree setting up and decor AND she helped me with Michael Joe’s Coca Cola train this year that drove me INSANE! 

Hehe. Fun texting Gwinna these things. Which, by the by, she watched ALL of the last episodes with us UNFILTERED & then all of the filtering for my Sia the next day.

 Noelle is just not interested;) 

So I must be real here. There were good moments & then there were moments I wished I had stayed home…I am just NOT a party person in the slightest. 

Not sure…

We have the coolest leaders here. Sia’s activity day leader dropped off a premade pop tart house for her to decorate!! AMAZE. 

Barrett gifties❤❤❤

We CRAFTED. A miracle. 

This was so fun & I learned a lot from our awesome cookie decorating teacher!  

First phase of braces OFF! Yay!!! She got a big cup of candy & a HUGE bowl of dole whip:) 

She likes to do things, this one;) 

This girl. She recently joined this art school & they still let her perform at the mall with them for the Christmas performance.  

I cried. The end. 

Sugar cookie decorating & fried potato girl night 💛

I do love hanging out with my gals. 

These beauties. Such a sweet, cozy Christmas ward breakfast. 

Sia on the right ;) 

WHOLE gym to ourselves. Sia asked for a “friend” birthday this year. ‘Twas fun. Massive chocolate cake, root beer, lots of crazy music and running around and games for two hours! 

Caroling with our youth family! Too fun…overshadowed later by ALL of us getting sick from one child ;) 

Sushi for our Sia birthday dinner. 

Twas not the worst Christmas ever but it was pretty miserable. 

Not a lot of energy but still good moments. 

Noelle and Gwinna both got loud & excited about hues and cues game from Wilder this year! 

The New Year sit around reading gratitude moments was much betta than Christmas. 

So necessary to look back and remember why our lives are so very good!

NOVEMBER

 BE curious & brave - become AS A little child

 Isaiah 12:2 -  "Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth.” Excellent things He has done in my life: 

 Allowed me JOY despite being such a foolish mortal OFTEN 

Blessed my life to come together smoothly…

 I live in UTAH!

 I am married to Michael Joe (absolute man of my dreams & love of my life) 

We have 3 beautiful, amazing, strong, hilarious, curious, awesome daughters teaching us how to be better humans. 

 surrounded by beauty in our neighbors, wildlife, mountains & temples 

 Hymn: Thy will, oh lord, be done “To save our world of sin by love”

  

My birthday. Sweetest neighbor Jess gave me the most fitting, brilliant gift of a magic puzzle. So awesome. Julin and Chris got me eclairs from Sundance?! The BEST ones I have ever had. 

Shopping for Christmas decor…

The girls have such awesome opportunities to serve here. A Saturday morning spent prepping and serving at the Food and Care Coalition. So so great! Some grateful people and some meanies mixed in this time :) All good, character-building opportunities! 

Finished this baby blanket for our new baby Murdoch girl coming in February!

Blind, deaf, mute challenge with our girls. We made a dinner…salad, an autumn drink and gluten free Mac and cheese! Us leaders literally used a microwave for Rice Krispie treats and still managed to explode it all! I realized later we put a whole stick of butter in when it calls for only 3 Tablespoons! OOPS! 

Cutest black babies. 

Cutest human babies. Shoppings at scheels this year for winter wear!!! Twas wild & fun. 

This guy sat outside in our backyard like this for a couples hours! Sweet. 

Discovered this bird/squirrel channel for our kitties. They LOVE it. So funny & sweet. 

Clara and the Nutcracker. 

LONGEST DAY EVER for Noelle. She had to go in for rehearsal at 9:30 and we brought her lunch around 12:30, then she had shows back to back and THEN I volunteered to be the “clean up” crew after the shows so we did not end up leaving til 9:30 PM! 

She was the cutest though with a big smile on her face. So graceful & happy up there. 

Oh and we decided we wanted carpet in our living room so this happened!!

These girls…talked me into another hair cut for the year😍

This year we did a Maglebys order for Thanksgiving. Good stuffs. Loved the ham, salad and stuffing. Michael Joe loved the sweet potato casserole. Girls loved the breadsticks, of course. Noelle made our mashed potatoes and we all loved those! I did an apple pie that I basically ate by myself over the last week! Yum. 

Wicked 2 with my gals while Michael Joe watched football. 

Popcorn and candy for dinners! We loved it but this one was more somber and sad overall. 

SNOWING last day of November!!! 

Also finished my puzzle on the last day of November!

We FINALLY got professional photos of us this year. We just never do it, but thinking we should continue from this point on. Also I sent out Christmas cards?!! Who even am I?

We do not have our Christmas tree yet…so theres that;)