TSO

I used to go to a lot of concerts as a teen but haven’t been to as many since those years.  Marshall and I have been to a few different concerts together. One band we really like is Trans-Siberian Orchestra. We went to their concert at Vivint Arena the night before Thanksgiving. We loved every minute. The guitars, drums, violins, pianos, with the lights, lazers, and other effects created the ultimate experience. 

The only downside was two crazy fans sitting behind us. These two girls in their twenties acted like they were at a boy band concert. They were yelling to the guitarist, Angus and screaming a lot! Ugh…so that got a little old. Other than that the concert was great!

Thanksgiving

Last Thanksgiving was a little bit of a downer. My aunt had just passed away and my parents and all of my siblings were in Florida celebrating Thanksgiving. It hadn’t worked out for us to go with them and it was hard missing out! Growing up I spent many Thanksgivings in Florida with my grandparents and it was the best!

This year half of my siblings celebrated at Kasey’s house in Baltimore but thankfully my parents and Betsy were here to celebrate with us. Ali’s family was in Heber too so we got to spend sometime with them as well.

Marshall and I started off the morning with a run on a trail I’ve been wanting to run. We went with Ali and Dan to the Deer Creek North trail that goes along the west side of Deer Creek.  It was 19 degrees but with the sun on us it felt a little warmer.

We ran out 3 miles and back. The trail had some good ups and downs but none too hard. They were just about right for a good workout.

We enjoyed dinner that afternoon. Definitely a smaller group compared to some years.

Later that afternoon we went to Southfield park for pickle ball. I’ve accepted that having a puppy means to pickle ball for me. He just barks and gets in the way. So Betsy and I walked laps around the park with Chewie while the others played pickle ball. 

That night the women made advent calendars and the kids painted gnomes. I thought I picked out a craft that wouldn’t take too much time. It ended up taking a lot more time than crafts we’ve done in the past. Haha, note to self for next year. The more pieces a kit comes with = more time and steps.

We finished off the night watching A Candy Coated Christmas. It is a Hallmark movie that was filmed at Andrea’s parent’s house. It was fun seeing their house. In some of the scenes you can see Kasey’s snd Andrea’s wedding picture in the background. They filmed in the summer so it was also funny to see how they made it look like winter.

It was a great day! I’m thankful for my family. I’m grateful for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! I feel very blessed and try not to take it for granted.

Day by Day

Our house is on the market. We have had a lot of showings. We have had a few offers but they haven’t quite panned out. It is really exhausting trying to make the house look like we aren't living in it, while living in it. Everyone has been really helpful about making their beds and cleaning up after themselves. Who knew my kids were capable of this day after day?! It's also tricky leaving at night during the showings and Saturdays during the open houses. 

We have been playing at a lot of parks to kill time during the open houses.

During the showings at night there isn’t enough time to eat, clean up and be out of the house. So we’ve been eating out more to simplify. 

Then we just pretend like we are sitting around our table at home and talk about everyone’s days. It's funny how before I was so sick of cooking every night. Now I can't wait to make dinner at home. Thank goodness for Sundays. Those days are guaranteed no showings so I we can make meals, bake treats and actually live in our home.

Basketball Flashback

Now that it’s basketball season I want to flashback to my basketball life. I am not a great basketball player but that doesn’t change the fact that I love basketball! I still get to play with girls in my stake which is awesome! 

I always loved playing basketball growing up. We had a hoop in my driveway and I would go shoot around a lot. 

When I was in sixth grade they had basketball tryouts but I was in England on a trip with my dad. My sister Ali went to tryouts and told the coaches that I wanted to play. Thankfully they put me on a team even though I missed tryouts. I loved it so much! My friends all played too so that made it even better.

I enjoyed basketball through middle school and had different coaches each year. We played at a tournament in Roosevelt and won!

I tried out in 9th grade which was really exciting since it was high school. I made the team. We had really cool yellow warm ups with our jersey. I wish I had a picture of them. I already packed my year books. I loved that year except that we had to practice on Saturday’s as well and for a ski lover that was tricky. I love basketball and I love skiing so which do you choose?

The basketball coaches for the high school teams were Mr. and Mrs. Pyper. They were very strict. I was so scared of them for a few years until I realized that was their coach side. They were really nice people. They were nice coaches too but just didn’t take any crap from anyone. 

My friends and I felt like we were treated unfairly by the coaches during our 9th grade year. We felt like they favored the girls in the grade above us and the grade below us. We kind of felt like we didn’t matter. So when 10th grade rolled around we decided not to try out. It was a really dumb teenage thing to do. We thought we were sticking it to them. Ha ha, joke was on us. They didn’t need us and it didn’t slow the teams down. We just missed out big time. Although I did get plenty of skiing in that year.

I regretted that decision so much. So I went to the coaches at the end of the school year and asked for a second chance. They gave me a chance. I went to summer ball. I got to play with the team at a tournament in Colorado and some other games through the summer.

I was trying to relearn the plays. I wasn’t quite as tall. It was a little rough and I noticed how much I was behind the others who had played every year.

When tryouts rolled around I thought I could make it but I knew I wasn’t good enough to start. I didn’t know if I could catch up. Skiing was also in the back of my mind. If I made the team I wouldn’t be able to ski. So I ended up not trying out that year or my senior year. It was tough because the team took state my junior year. I would have been a bench warmer but I could have had a ring. 

I played intramural basketball at Utah State when I was in college. When we lived in Bountiful I played on a city rec league. Then once we moved to Utah County I have enjoyed playing with different stakes. One year my stake won the region championship.

Brandon Mull

James loves to read. He has read many book series including Fablehaven and Dragon Watch. He was so excited when he found out Brandon Mull was coming to his school. He got to

meet him and got his Dragon Watch book signed.

Lynnlee loves to read but not quite the same as James. Her friend invited her to go to a book signing with Brandon Mull. Lynnlee brought back posters including a signed one for James.

Roller Hockey

We got into roller hockey during quarantine. Then we played every free minute up until last summer. Summer was so busy and hot so we didn’t play. We have all been dying to play roller hockey. With all the house showings it’s been tricky to find time this fall. 

This week we finally found some time to play. James’s friends love it too so they have been over a few times to play.

Draper Temple

Going to the temple is near the top of my list of things I love. I can still remember my first youth over night trip. We went to a water park in Idaho one night. The next night we stayed at Utah State Univeristy. The plan was to do baptisms for the dead early the next morning at the Logan Temlple. I stayed up too late playing games and accidentally slept in. I was so sad I missed going to the temple. 

With the current Covid restrictions I get really frustrated not being able to go weekly as I did before Covid. It’s also frustrating that I can’t get appointments for James to go. 

Yesterday afternoon I checked the Draper Temple baptism appointments and an opening for James at 9:00. He was ok with missing school so we reserved it. This was a tender mercy after feeling so frustrated yesterday morning about not being able to get an appointment.

4th Grade Books and Buddies

It was Kade’s turn for books and buddies yesterday. I was suppose to work a flu clinic but it got canceled last minute. I was grateful for that so I could spend time with Kade. 

Kade is the middle child and it seems like he always gets the short end. It’s not even intentional but is just how things shake out.

It is like swimming upstream trying to reverse middle childitis. It’s things like getting something from the store and Kade’s is the defective item, the one that is broken. Kade’s dresser is the one that malfunctions. His order is last to come out. I can find all the school pictures except his. There are many more examples but these are a few that come to mind.