Busy, Busy, Buying

 2020 has been a year to remember.  For many, it was super hard, and it was hard for us in our own way.  But has also been full of family time as well as lots of work and updating.  We were sort of blown away when we sat down to make a list of our year!  I knew we'd done a lot, but when it was written out, it hit me anew just how busy we've been (and how much money we spent).

2020

Brennon got to celebrate a true birthday just a few days before the world shut down.  

Keilie and Randy went to San Francisco.  

Covid Competition.

1307

• Fireplace removal and wall remodel
• Water Softener
• Bathroom remodel
• Tools for tile removal 
• Tile and grout, plus professional install
• Shower: move pipes, dual faucet and showerheads, floor and drain, glass surround
• Tub: faucets
• Paint: bathroom, closet, and trim
• Lighting: 2 in the bathroom, 1 in closet
• Replace microwave and fridge
• Paint: Main floor, upstairs hallway and bathrooms
• Upstairs bathroom remodel
• Lighting, decorations, and board and batten wall
• Dogwood, burning bush, tulips, and pond to rock landscaping
• RV hookup installation in the backyard
• Garage shelving, cabinet doors, paint, and workbench
• Lighting: Laundry, powder, piano, tv, dining, Keilie's, and Master
• Carpet in Master suite

Rentals

• 2581 & 2701 exterior paint, lighting, and house numbers.  
• 2701 interior paint (including doors), hinges, door handles, and fence staining.
• 2581 Dishwasher and HVAC repair
• Engineering, surveying, and attorneys for land development project

Vehicles

• New Tires for Charger and Focus
• Paid off Expedition after selling Amazon business

Pets

• Mira's unexpected vet, hospital, and x-ray expenses
• Deja's ACL surgery

Miscellaneous

• Randy trained and ran the distance of four 1/2 marathons-- 0 to 13.1 miles in 4 months!
• Food Storage
• Setting up schoolroom
• Desks x4, drawer cubbies x2, chairs x3, lamps x3, whiteboards x3, and computers x3 
• Weed Whacker
• Vacuum
• Treadmill and Futon from Wilsterman's
• Trip to Casper and Southern Utah
• Boat repairs and depth finder installation
• Keilie's Gradation package
• Paid for a vacation to be taken this summer
• Trip to Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama
• Ring Cameras
• New cellphones for Stephanie, Shelby, and Brennon, plus new service for Shelby and Brennon
• Mac repairs and upgrades
• Apple Watch and AirPods for Randy
• Thanksgiving and Christmas
• Countless trips to Goodwill!!

2021 will be a budget year.  Randy questioned whether I would be able to keep to a budget.  When I look back at 2020 all I can see are checkmarks, which means we won't spend money on those things again.  Other than food and extra-curricular activities, we have told ourselves the answer for 2021 is NO!  Heaven help me when Randy gets bored and we don't have any money for a project to keep him busy...

There have been ups and downs this year, absolutely.  But the time we spent together, around the table and because Randy wasn't traveling, stand out as this being one of the best years in recent memory.  I see many blessings and miracles because the world stopped.  I will always remember the lessons learned during this time of unknown.  I'm grateful for Covid-19.

At My Feet

 While Keilie hosted a "party," Randy and I holed up in our room to watch a show.  We found out that our nephew and niece-in-law are finally having a baby after years of trying.  As soon as she told me colors she likes, I went out to find the perfect fabric to make a quilt for their sweet princess, due April 10th.  I finally have a picture of Mira at my feet as I do something special.  It reminds me of the picture I captured of Randy and Caden's feet under the desk, Mira between them, as Caden chose gifts to order for his sisters to say goodbye.  How lucky we are to have been blessed these last five years (In March) with our Mira-kins!

Oyster Dome

 Ashlee had a gastroenterology appointment to go over Daphnee's recent Celiac diagnosis, so Russ, Randy, Keilie, and Mira decided to go on The Oyster Dome hike without us.  It's 2.5 miles one-way, uphill, with the downhill being the most difficult.  When it warms up, I plan to go!

Randy said it didn't take long for Keilie to say, "I regret coming," and fall behind.  We'd been warned it was strenuous, but apparently, she didn't understand fully.

The weather was colder than they anticipated, and the fog didn't lend to the picturesque views that Russ and Ashlee had last time, but it was still majestic in its own way.

While there, another "Mira" dog walked up.  They were both born in the same town (Bellingham, which is an hour North of Ashlee's), possibly by the same breeder.  Randy didn't realize that the pictures weren't quite in focus until he got home, but you can see how similar they are without a sharper image.  Randy said the difference was in the color of their noses, but not much else.  Other than the fact that that other dog is not my Mira.

There has been some stress and contention with Keilie recently, so I was glad that she and Randy were able to do this together, even if she fell behind a bit at the beginning.  She said afterward that she was glad that she'd done it.  I hope she remembers that there were good times spent with us this last year amidst the pressure-building tension and rage she's exhibited.  

While Russ and Ashlee have the best views the first time they did this hike, with these as a comparison, ours will be just the opposite-- I can't wait for the day that I get to go, and hope there will be sun and clear skies... unless that would accentuate my sweaty, red, glistening face!

Mount Baker

 We had planned to leave after church on Sunday to go to Ashlee's, but Keilie had to work.  Bright and early, we packed up and headed Northwest for fun!

It's hard to see if you don't know this land well, but the fog you see directly in the center of this picture are obscuring an entire town.  It looked like a frozen-over lake where it is actually a canyon-type gully with farms and the Yakima River far below.  It was a cool feeling to be driving above the clouds! 

Ashlee asked if we wanted to come up to go sledding with them and spend New Year's together.  Randy, wanting Keilie to have a "normal" Senior-year New Year's, offered Keilie money towards snacks if she'd host the party here where we could make sure she wasn't alone with her boyfriend (we've really struggled with deceit and lying the last few months, catching her in some seriously concerning situations where her boyfriend is concerned), so that took away from some of Ashlee's invitation.  I told her we'd come from Sunday to Wednesday.  Then I realized that Keilie had to work (I hate it when things don't click together in my mind.  I knew she had to work on Sunday night, knew we were leaving on Sunday night, but it never came together in my mind that one would prevent the other.  I hate when that happens!), meaning we wouldn't be able to leave until Monday.  Because of some appointments Ashlee had for her girls, Monday was the only day that sledding would work for them.  She hesitantly asked if it would work for us to head straight to Mount Baker after driving to get to her house as if she was asking too much because of our mistake...

It turned out to be the BEST day for it!  Perfect weather, perfect temperature, perfect spot, perfect company.  A perfect day for sledding... as long as you don't remember Shelby's carsick puking 15-minutes before we parked!!

Mount Baker (active volcano) has more snow than many of the surrounding area snow-capped mountains/volcanos combined.  Russ told us it gets more snow each year than any other place on earth.  Our sledding hill (there are three massive spots near each other, not to mention the two of three ski slopes directly next to them) is actually a frozen-over lake.  It was surreal to walk past spots like this...

And see the glacier-blue shining up from underneath as if it was lighted from below.

I tried to step off the path to capture a picture of all of us walking in a line, but my leg fell right through the snow to my groin.  I have now learned that I am not graceful when it comes to getting out of snow like that.  I had a good laugh at myself as I rolled and humphed my way before finally standing and looking around to see if anyone watched me fumble and fall.

While scrolling through Ashlee's phone to find pictures I wanted that she'd captured, I made mention that I didn't look too bad in my snow gear.  I'd never seen what I looked like decked out in my snow pants, Caden's snow boots, and the coat Randy bought for me a few years ago.  The very next picture, after feeling quite cute in my getup, had us all rolling with laughter...

Snow Bunny Funny!!

From the pose she captured as I was trying to stand after sledding down with Aria, you can imagine how I looked trying to extricate my leg from 3' of snow!!  Graceful.  Elegant.  Poised.

Tyson, Austen, and McKaylee climbed even higher than we did.  One of my favorite memories (because nothing ended up happening) was hearing McKaylee's terrified scream as she came down super fast.  You could tell the scream had been ripped from her very stomach, she was so petrified.  When we all knew she was safe, it struck me so funny remembering the sound.

Saying Goodbye.

And once again driving above the clouds.

This is the second time I've captured the moon while standing in Ashlee's driveway.  The clouds looked so cool, so I wanted to see how my camera would capture them.  The one thing that caught my attention, though, are the stars!!  The lights of the homes and decorations below a full moon robed in clouds with stars in the dark, dark sky.  Perfect way to end a perfect day!

Christmas Day 2020

 We are the scrooges that tell our kids they can't wake us before 9:00am on Christmas morning.  Well, ok, not 9:00am, but later than most kids like to wait.  When sending our kids off to bed at 10:00pm, we called up like we always do, "No coming down to get one more drink.  Don't wake us up until 7:30am.  Goodnight!"  But I had other plans in mind.  Like my wrapping paper surprise, I wanted to add one more-- Let's wake them at 4:30am?!  We set our alarms, I took my depression medicine that also works as a sleep aid, and went to bed.  My excitement had other plans-- the last time I looked at the clock after tossing and turning was 2:37am.  It's going to be an AWESOME day!

One fun thing about having cameras all over our home is the videos that captured my voice as I knocked on each door, "MERRY CHRISTMAS! MERRY CHRISTMAS! MERRY CHRISTMAS! MERRY CHRISTMAS!"  You can hear my groggy giddiness!  We opened gifts while cinnamon rolls baked and then headed out to deliver them with our last 12-days of Christmas gift: Baby Jesus.  A few years ago, I found an idea on Pinterest where you print off scriptures to go along with a carved Nativity to assemble for 12 days, Baby Jesus delivered on Christmas Day.  We just delivered it much earlier than we ever have.  The cinnamon rolls were hot when we dropped them off with a soft knock (there were lights on, but we didn't want to wake anyone with our usual ring and run), but I don't know if they ate them while hot, seeing as it was 5:30am.

We came back to open Grandparent gifts since I wanted to try and FaceTime or Video.  My parents had given us money for gifts, but also shared some of an inheritance they'd received from Grandpa and Grandma Kimber's estate.  We decided to use that money for something our kids have been asking for for a few years but was too expensive for our blood: A PlayStation and Virtual Reality system with Just Dance.  6:30am Utah time, we called my parents.  They answered from waking, their groggy"Hello" sounding like my "Merry Christmas" an hour prior, keeping the lights off cause they 1) don't have kids to surprise at 4:30am and 2) don't want to surprise their Grandkids with their state of undress.  I'm not sure how much sleep they got after the squeals of our kids!  

Jackie and Darwin had also sent more money than usual.  Not wanting to wake them (I did feel a bit bad for waking my parents because we all know how much I cherish sleeping in), I recorded a video instead.  Keilie felt a bit of guilt for bragging, "I got more money than you guys.  Guess I'm their favorite Grandchild."  The other kids all looked at her and said, "We don't care how much money we got," to which she shut her mouth right quick.  They used some of the money to purchase a VR game they love: Beat Saber.  *The girls wanted to buy it, but the boys didn't really care.  "Well, if you don't help buy it, you'll never get to play," Keilie heatedly protested.  After a few minutes, Brennon said he'd go in on it with them, wanting to keep the peace with Keilie.  Tyson, "I'll go in on it, too, then, because Brennon will always let me play for free, and that wouldn't be fair."

After my nap, I woke to this...

We technically had a White Christmas, even though I think that is only cool if you wake to it fresh and white before opening your presents.  Just my opinion, though.

The kids sure loved it.  Tyson and Shelby went out for a snowball fight while Mira ran victory laps around the yard.  I love that I captured a snowball mid-flight!

And so it begins...

We had such a good day.  It was nice to have a break from some of the contention that has been building over the last year.  All the kids were kind, pleasant, and happy.  It was a FUN day!

Beautiful Gift

 The week before Christmas Break, we sat down for a family meeting to ask what everyone thought we could do to have a Meaningful Christmas.  True to form, they wanted free-time and no chores, exercising, or expected reading.  We still did the tradition of Good Deeds to fill the Manger in preparation for Jesus' birth, as well as a 12-days of Christmas to a family Randy got to choose after winning our Ugly Sweater Cookie Contest, but we wanted more.  The kids all said they love doing our Secret Sibling, and each had written out their predictions of who had whom. 

*Side note about predictions: For the past few years, I've wrapped each child's gifts in a different wrapping paper.  Christmas morning, I'd hand out gifts to each, easily grabbing them from under the tree.  This year I decided to switch it up and surprise them.  I still had only four wrapping papers, but it was the bow color on each gift that was the indicator.  It was super fun to surprise them because each had a gift that was identifiable.  I knew which gifts those were, so I purposely chose gifts in a different wrapping paper than the ones they'd identifies as their own, and gave those out first.  It was just fun to see their confusion when they thought they were 100% correct.  They had been correct about those gifts, absolutely, but not about the wrapping paper.  It was just fun.

So, as we added more and more things that we love about Christmas to our whiteboard, Randy got the idea that he wanted to do something as a family that would impact those that may not have the luxury of adding as many activities and traditions: the homeless.  He got on and signed us up as volunteers to help at the Union Gospel Mission for any time, and job during the Christmas break.  10-minutes later, they called asking if we'd be able to wash dishes on Christmas Eve.  Because the space is so small, they want to minimize contact, so our family of six would be perfect if we could.  All of the kids were super excited which brought joy to my heart.

We weren't as busy as we thought we would be.  I remember doing dishes in a room similar to this in Elementary school, and that was non-stop FUN!  We had times where we were just looking for things to do.  You better believe I enjoyed organizing their shelves!!  We cleaned and polished everything in our down-time, leaving it cleaner than we found it, even though they do a great job to keep it nice.

The one thing I could say that we all wished could have been different was the lack of interaction we had with those we were serving.  They had other volunteers that would clean the tables for them, so we didn't get to see the faces of those we wanted to wish a Merry Christmas to.  It was still an amazing experience, one that I want to do again soon, but it would have made everything just a bit more special to be able to speak to and smile at those that may feel a bit of sadness to be away from those they love most.

Our personalized wreath.

My token Christmas picture

Secret Sibling gifts.  

Brennon had Shelby, Shelby had Tyson, Keilie had Brennon, and Tyson had Keilie.

While singing Christmas songs around the piano, my favorite thing about Christmas and the one thing that can hurt my feelings if everyone doesn't fully participate in (as happened this year), Shelby said, "I could bring down Caden's guitar and play Away in a Manger!"  I didn't know she knew how to play it!!  She was a little embarrassed because it had been a while since she'd tried it, but I loved her courage and excitement to play it for me, to give me that gift. 

Randy asked her to teach him how to play it.  They worked together to tune up the guitar and then Shelby sat next to him, instructing and helping him when needed.  21 years ago, a scene much like this one started our love story when Randy asked me to teach him how to play Joseph Smith's First Prayer on the piano.  The rest is history!

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2020!!!

Beautiful Boxes

 Every time Randy goes to a new place for work, or we go somewhere new together, Randy always gets the kids a keychain.  He has quite a childhood collection himself that he keeps in a box he made himself, actually.  As he was considering what he could do to have a Memorable Christmas, he excitedly told me he knew what he wanted to do: make boxes with the kids.  Shelby, Brennon, and Tyson were the only ones that wanted to.  Keilie scoffed, giving a "yeah, right" attitude.  Her loss.

They went to Home Depot for supplies while I moved all cars to the driveway.  Randy set up "shop" and they got to work.

Keilie took the opportunity of an "empty" house to invite her boyfriend, Dallin, over to play games and hang out.

Randy gave them the option to stain or burn their box.  Shelby and Tyson chose stain.

Brennon chose to burn his.  However, he said he wanted Randy to do it so he wouldn't ruin it.  But that's not how Randy works, thankfully.  He showed Brennon what to do...

And then stood back to watch his son work.

I was sitting on the couch reading a book when I happened to look up to see Brennon standing by the twinkling Christmas tree, looking down at the box in his hands.  "I am always going to remember this Christmas when I got to make this with my Dad," said softly, reverently to himself.  When he caught me looking at him, he ducked his head, embarrassed I'd caught him talking to himself when he thought I was distracted.  The scene was one I wish I could have caught on video to show Randy.  It was incredibly precious.