Carpet, Tile, and Visiting Family

We've gone hard with projects and responsibilities as well. In keeping with Hurricane's motivation (see last weeks' email...) we went to a carpet/tile store on Monday. We were blessed to find a nice 18x18 tile that matches what we currently have in our living room by the fireplace. We also found a carpet that matches everything. I cannot say that I am excited to lay tile, but others have laid tile so I can learn how to do that and add that skill. Wendy asked if we should stain the concrete instead. We will go forward with tile.

Random Picture Next to Mama's Desk

Hurricane can read but prefers that someone read to him. He read his library book this week. He got a chocolate chip for every word he read.

Chocolate motivates him currently. Wendy has found the current 'carrot'.

On Wednesday evening we continued to scrape the floor.

It is fun to watch Hurricane go after the linoleum.

On Thursday the boys had soccer. I worked late because I came home early on Monday to go to the carpet place to check out our options for flooring. Mama continued to clean off the floor and finished one bathroom and started the second bathroom.

On Friday Wendy and I went to see a movie, Unbroken, based on the life of Louis Zamperini. We both really enjoyed listening to the book written by Laura Hillenbrand. After the movie I got a call from work and went in for an hour to take care of some things.

Sunset at 65 miles per hour

When I came home from work, our family piled into the car, and we headed to Gilbert.

At the Temple

The boys stayed at Merris's house, my sister, and we went to the temple.

Yvette, Sweetheart, Merris

Yvette, my sister from Utah, came down to Gilbert because her husband's 90+ year old grandmother passed away.

It was nice to see both my sisters.

On Saturday morning we got up and drove straight to the boy's soccer games. We made it 4 minutes before they started. After the games we went to the grocery store and headed home to meet up with the carpet guy. He took measurements of the place and told us what the damages would be...

We spent the rest of the afternoon hustling to clean up the house, get ready for Sunday, and to prepare to host games. We made the inaugural batch of homemade ice cream. Thank you Cyndy Ludeking Ryan for loaning Wendy that most precious of kitchen tools. The ice cream is so good!

We made homemade pizza last night for supper.

I am so grateful for our new church building and meeting time. With church at 8:30 a.m., we have an afternoon to spend together. Even if I have meetings, I am still home by 2!

In addition to all the above, this week has been emotionally hard for a variety of reasons. Some times, we write the rosy side of the picture but do have some really lousy moments. The point is that we aren't as rosy as we write some times. We try to highlight the positive that happens but wonder if sometimes it comes across as we are better than everyone else. And we aren't.

Be Well. 

Need Demolition Crew?

Funny thing that happened this week - We started removing the linoleum from our bathroom, in preparation for tile. Mama enticed Underfoot and Hurricane by offering them 1 dollar if they scraped the floor clean.

Hurricane decided it was so much fun that he started removing the linoleum from the kitchen. We weren't planning to do the kitchen until after the bathroom was complete ... meaning that we'd removed everything and installed the new tile.

Hurricane has a way of motivating us.

Today we attended church in our new building for the first time. How wonderful it was! Yesterday was the open house. We spent several nights this week knocking on doors and inviting neighbors to come see the inside of the building.

Hurricane helping with the refreshment shopping.

Mama was tasked with providing refreshments.

In all some 300-400 neighbors toured the building. We can now walk to church in less time than it previously took to drive. I am seriously considering riding bikes with the boys. Mama might still take the car, but bikes could be fun.

With the new building comes a new schedule on Sundays. We now meet from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m., which means mornings are busy but then we have the afternoon. Mama is taking a Sunday afternoon nap for the first time in years.

Just a random picture

Underfoot and I played a round of Settlers of Catan, which is my favorite board game. Underfoot is a little young to play, but he is learning quickly.

Hurricane and Underfoot have 5 Saturdays left of Soccer. It is fun to watch them play. The games are held on Saturdays at the same field. Mama coaches Hurricane's team, so she is coaching Hurricane while Underfoot is playing, so I always watch Underfoot's team. It is interesting to see how some parents are far more concerned with winning than we are.

Mama painted the frame of a mirror in our entry area this week.

Before

The new frame is black, which matches the other frames in the entry room and the whole front room. We have a picture family tree and all the frames are black.

After

It is something she's been stewing over for the last 6 months. She is sometimes slow to action, unlike Hurricane.

This week Mama saw the orthopedist to get the prognosis on her ankle. (She had an MRI done back in December.)

It turns out that she has a genetic condition called talocalcaneal coalition, which in plain English means she has arthritis in her ankle and two bones are fusing together when they should not be. They never developed as two separate entities. This means she will like never run again, at least not on a consistent basis. She can swim and bike because they are both low impact, but running is out. She is very sad about this, as she had the goal to run a marathon. At least we now know what it is, and how she can manage it.

Underfoot's personality continues to develop.

He is learning how to tell jokes appropriately, how to work the punch line, and how get others to laugh.

It is fun to watch.

Mama and the boys saw a random rainbow during the week.

They stopped so Mama could snap a picture on her phone. It is amazing how simple things can mean so much to a 5 and 7 year old.

Here are 2 pictures that don't have a story but happen every night at our house.

Underfoot picks out a book and reads on the top bunk.

Hurricane and Sweetheart read a book together. They usually laugh about the story they are reading.

Back to the Swing of Things....

We are back - to school, to work, to real life, and our normal activities like piano, soccer, mutual, and other commitments.

The boys started school on the 5th. Hurricane was so excited to start school that he was up at 5:30 am getting his treasure map done so he could play Legos before he left for school.

The treasure map is the morning routine in treasure map style.

Underfoot got up shortly there after around 6, and both boys were ready to go to school.

We even left earlier enough to walk to school. That hasn't happened since before Fall Break. Sweetheart on the other hand was so anxious to get back to work that he fell asleep about 4:30 am. He left for work around 8:30 am. By the time the day was done, all the boys were tired. For family home evening, we finished our caroling for the friends who had left town.

The 16-18 year old young men from our ward (another word for congregation) came to our home on Tuesday to learn how to cook breaded chicken. Sweetheart taught them how to do it. The boys loved using the tenderizing mallet.

I decided to host a clothing exchange for women. The point was for women to clean out their closets of things they don't use or wear anymore that are gently used (or not.) 

After the clothes were gathered, there was a "shopping" day. No money was exchanged. All the clothes that were leftover were donated. About 12-18 women participated.

I cleaned out my closet when the house filled with smoke, but I did clean out a drawer and reorganize it.

As a family we celebrated my Mom's 60th birthday! Because they are serving a mission, we went to dinner in her honor.

We even woke her up on FaceTime by singing Happy Birthday! She said she had a wonderful day and wanted to make her day an extra special day of service.

She got her wish!

Pack 791's Pine Wood Derby was Friday evening. Since we are getting a new building in Corona, the 2 wards bought a new 6 lane track. The new track was used. As a pack we also opened a division for parents to build a car and race. Six cars participated.

Our little car took 2nd place. It was built quickly, and  Underfoot named it Darth Mal because of the paint job. My goal this year was to have no obvious tears. I didn't witness any.

We went and saw Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. Both boys sat and watched the show with great interest. 

No squirming until the last song for Hurricane. Hurricane decided to struggle with me before the show. He got a bonk on his nose that he felt needed to be bandaged.

We've been singing the songs ever since Saturday. They both played soccer games.

We met for the last time in the Rita Ranch building this past Sunday. This coming Sunday will start to meet in the chapel that is 4 minutes from our house. We think that is AMAZING! Our congregation will share the building with another so there will be 2 wards in the building. Last and not least, after meeting at 2 pm for almost 2+ years, our ward will meet at 8:30 am. We are so excited! 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

No travel log. Nothing spectacular to report. We had a quiet 2 weeks at home with little responsibilities. What we did do was....

- Caroled to people in our neighborhood. We shared with them Mexican Hot Chocolate in a mix.

- We were invited to the Romney home on Christmas Eve for Clam Chowder and Green Chili Beef Soup. Christmas Pie tradition. The children shared a talent and the Nativity.

My talent was making dessert.

These are their family traditions. We shared with them the

We made Celie Hanscom's chocolate raspberry trifle.

 We had a lot of fun.

- Christmas day we enjoyed being together.

We continued in the Hallelujah Chorus tradition.

- Underfoot woke up in the morning with a bruised eye.

He has been very consistent in checking it daily. He didn't want to return to school with it.

- We spent New Years Eve with some friends in our congregation.

Digging the penny out of the flour.

He wrapped his lips around it. Do you see the penny?

We played the flour game and artillery Uno and ate lots of junk food. Hurricane found the fireworks the family had misplaced. We came home and took pictures before bed.

We had a sack-out party in the front room (aka: slumber party.) The blow up mattress that Mama and the boys were on deflated through the night, but none of them went to their own beds. They must have been very tired (and can sleep anywhere.)

- We played games as a family and with friends, including many rounds of Sorry. I had a lot of fun learning a new game, Castles of Burgundy.

- We pruned our trees and vines. We prepared for cold weather by putting lights under our citrus trees and sheets on top of them to keep them warm.

He even started a few on his own. It was a great time.

It looks like we got a little leaf damage but nothing serious. Those up north in the great white land of Idaho are accustomed to cold temperatures, but we aren't used to 24 degree weather!

We even got snow that stuck for a day.

- We have eaten a lot of tangerines and drank a lot of fresh squeezed orange juice from our trees. We've consumed just about all of our naval oranges, but the tangerine tree still has perhaps a hundred pieces of fruit left.

- We went bowling on New Year's day.

We also went to see a movie about Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

- The Morgan family came on their way back from Hawai'i. We made a German Chocolate Cake for supper. Yum!

We enjoyed a great dinner and time together!

Mama and Miss S. were roommates at Ricks College. It's been 20 years. Wow!

-  Mama repaired jeans and made lots of Monster Pants for Hurricane.

Note the monsters on his shoulders. How many monsters do you see?

- We took the International Harvester Scout for a couple spins.

- We cleaned out our garage and cleaned the whole house, so it is nice and clean!

- We made oatmeal cookies with cinnamon chips instead of chocolate chips.

They were surprisingly tasty.

- Mama and I have entered into a competition. I have to lose 15 pounds and stay there for a month. She has to lose 15 pounds. Whoever gets there first gets a prize. The stakes are high.