Travel

I was young when Andrew and I got married. 19 years and 10 months old to be exact. I didn’t realize the importance of marrying a good driver. Andrew is a fantastic driver (professionally trained actually). His skills have come in handy many times throughout the years.

Andrew has had back-to-back travel this month. He drove to Cardston, Canada to attend his Grandma’s funeral. We looked at plane tickets and the prices were unbelievable, so he decided to drive 11 hours. He doesn’t mind driving and got through nearly 2 audiobooks on his solo road trip.

Isabelle’s middle name is Rose after Andrew’s Grandma. Minnie Rose Harvey was born in 1930 and passed away in 2022. She was 92 years old. Grandma Rose has so much posterity! She was known for sending out family emails regularly.  Grandma Rose made family history a priority and she spent so much of her life serving including 26 missions! We spent time with Grandma Rose in April at a family wedding. She was such a sweet lady and led a wonderful life! I’m glad Andrew was able to attend the funeral.

Debbie was able to leave the MTC a day early to be at her mom's funeral

We left to spend Thanksgiving in Spokane 41 hours after Andrew’s return from Canada. Andrew got to drive another 11 hours and did so happily. Our time in Spokane was thoroughly planned and scheduled. Don't fret, we both found time to read. I finished "Saints Volume 3" and Andrew read Brandon Sanderson's latest release any chance he got.  Andrew played sports galore. One evening the family played volleyball. Early on Thanksgiving, the men kept their turkey-bowl football tradition going. I was not envious that they were playing in under 30-degree temperatures. Another morning, Andrew played basketball with the guys. They pulled out Grandpa Ken’s sports pinnies. There was also a pickleball tournament. I joined and played in the kids' bracket with my nieces and nephews. Andrew and Dallin won the adult’s bracket. Pickleball is super fun and I want to look into playing at our rec center. We also went bowling. I'll keep my score to myself.

Looks tempting, right?

Brent and Deena hosted Thanksgiving in their brand-new home, which is stunning. It’s in the mountains in Idaho and you have to have a Four Wheel Drive vehicle and sometimes additional chains to make it up to their place. We were grateful Andrew’s brother let us borrow his car to let us make that steep climb. Unfortunately, someone slid into one of Andrew’s siblings on their way up the hill causing an accident. The next night, a drunk driver spun off the road. The mountains make for an epic place to go sledding. James, Isabelle, and Andrew enjoyed that. Going down the hill once was enough for Izzy. After we ate our hearts out, Grannie gave all the kids their Christmas presents, the adults did the favorite things gift exchange, and there was a talent show. What a wonderful day and late night!

Friday evening was Alysee’s bridal shower and we laughed a lot. Saturday night was the annual ABH (All Brother’s Hike) premiere and pizza potluck. Kelly surprised us by making a video of our cruise to Alaska too. He captured some beautiful scenery and funny moments. 

Sunday morning was Debbie’s mission farewell. The spirit was strong as Debbie testified. She told a story about driving over a snowy pass that I’d never heard before. I was able to accompany the musical number. Debbie's granddaughters sang, "I Can Do All Things.” Isabelle followed the big girls up to the stand and tried to sing along with them. This was not planned and it was the cutest thing. I was worried she was a distraction, but she stood still and was as adorable as ever. She held her 16-year-old cousin's hand for the duration of the song. Later, as we were listening to the recording,  Izzy asked, “Is that the song I sang?” She was so proud of herself. One of Andrew’s brothers asked, “Does Isabelle ever stop smiling?” She has a large fan club in Spokane. Although, Saydee was not part of that club. She was jealous of Isabelle. Our kids loved being surrounded by so many cousins. We stayed at Debbie’s house which meant our kids got to spend lots of time with Owen, Carter, Rhett, and Saydee. 

While everyone was together, we took a family picture. There are so many Dittos! I believe there are 47 of us in this picture. 3 of Debbie’s grandkids are missing because they are on missions. Alex (another grandson) and his wife Alexa are not pictured either. 

Shoutout to Malia for taking this pic!

Andrew’s careful driving came in handy on our journey to and from Spokane. Ladies, add "good driver" to the list of qualities you want in a partner. The Fourth of July pass and Lookout pass were snowy on our drive there. On our way home, we hit quite the storm. Fortunately, our kids were phenomenal in the car and didn't add to the tension. Things were very sketchy and stressful for a few hours near Deer Lodge/Butte Montana. In fact, we got several warnings on our phones telling us to delay travel if possible. There was zero visibility. People were driving maybe 30 miles per hour on the freeway with their hazard lights on. A handful of cars slid off the road. Whew! We made it safe and sound. If even Andrew was scared, you know it must have been bad. I’m thankful this trip happened. James cried as we pulled away from the crowd of Dittos. He didn’t want to leave.

Fall Recital

My Fall Recital is over! Huzza! The recital has been scheduled for months. Recitals are a lot of work. Jessica and I decided to do another combined recital. Jessica made the chic invitations. I got invitations and posters printed to advertise the recital. I framed my poster and it has been hanging in my piano room. Making the program also took effort. I thought the program was perfect until one of my students pointed out that I spelled her name wrong. Oops. I felt bad about that typo. My finger stayed down too long and pushed a letter twice.

Ditto Studios has taken off. In fact, I technically have a waitlist with 5 people on it. I currently have 11 students! My Monday and Thursday evenings are filled. It’s wonderful.

To prep for the recital this time, I held 2 performance classes the week of the recital. This gave students a chance to play in front of others. We also did a studio competition leading up to the recital. This was Jessica’s fabulous idea. Each student was given a “41 Days of Practice” chart. Students had to play their recital song every day and practice for at least 10 minutes. At the recital, I announced who won. 3 of my students practiced all 41 days! They got a certificate of recognition and won a $10 Swig gift card and 2 fun sets of piano socks. I wanted to keep some of the piano socks myself.

The recital was held at my church building in the chapel. All day Saturday, I was antsy with anticipation. James said he was sick of being in the chapel. I can’t say I blame him. We cleaned the church that morning (and we were in charge of the chapel), he had primary program practice in the chapel, and then we were back again in the afternoon for the recital.

I played a slew of songs at the recital. I accompanied 5 of Jessica’s students. Jessica and I opened the recital with a beautiful rendition of “Beauty and the Beast.” I also performed piano duets with 2 of my students. I was glad that I didn’t end up getting very nervous. Things ran smoothly without hiccup.

I was extremely satisfied with how the recital went! My students worked hard and were well prepared! It was fulfilling to see how much my students have progressed. I have some advanced students who played showy and impressive songs. I was disappointed that a couple of students brought their music up with them during their performances. They have had their pieces memorized for ages. When a third student of mine attempted to bring her music, I stopped her. I’m so mean.

One of my students had to leave early, so she isn’t pictured. Another student backed out of performing a couple hours before the recital, so he is also missing.

At the end of the recital, people were complimentary. One parent told me, she “recommends me to everyone.” A grandma said, “You are doing such a great job with my granddaughter.” These words meant extra to me because this grandma is an accomplished pianist herself. Another person stopped me to ask if I have any openings because they would love for me to teach their child piano. A young woman leader in my ward told me that they talk about their highs and lows in young women’s every week. She told me that a few of the girls said their “high” of the week was the recital. One girl explained that the recital was both her high and low for the week. I can relate. Recitals can be stressful, but Saturday was certainly a teacher pay-day for me! 

After the recital, it was like a weight had been lifted from my chest. Andrew and I went out on a date. We had a lovely time relaxing at “Crack Shack” and going to the movies. The next recital is tentatively planned for May. For now, I’m enjoying picking Christmas music for my students. Ditto Studios is thriving.

FREE

I'm a sucker for finding a good deal. As a family, we've been able to experience 3 awesome things in the last month all free of charge. I'll start with the most recent.

Disney on Ice

Thursday, November 10

Getting a good pic proved to be very challenging. Maybe it was the time of day? We attempted to take many pics and even resorted to bribery. 

Princess Anna had french braids in (you can't really tell). I was proud of myself. 

I noticed a giveaway on Instagram. 4 free "Disney on Ice" tickets were up for grabs. I didn't bother entering. A few days later, I saw the giveaway again. I decided why not enter? I had 15 minutes to spare before the giveaway closed. I won! I was shocked. There were over 2700 comments, so lots of entries.

I truly feel like winning the tickets was a tender mercy. I was feeling down and couldn't go to sleep the night I won the tickets. I had super itchy hives and my mind was spinning thinking about other challenges. I got on Instagram and saw I had won the tickets. What? It felt like the Lord knew I was struggling and showed me he is aware and gave me a pick-me-up. I'm so thankful. I won 4 tickets that were $35 each. 

We rode the train (tracks) to the arena which the kids had never done. They loved it. The show didn't start exactly at 7 like we expected and we were early because I am always early. The kids were antsy. Some popcorn helped. The emcees of the show were Minnie and Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy. There were 5 main Disney movies in the show-- The Little Mermaid, Moana, Tangled, Beauty and the Beast, and Frozen. The Little Mermaid and Frozen were the best according to my kids. Although not mean Ursula!

The kids' eyes were glued to the ice and the performers. Watching their reactions brought Andrew and me so much joy. Isabelle was singing along, James was shouting characters' names, and waving and clapping was a must for all. After each scene ended, Isabelle worriedly asked if the show was over. She wanted it to last forever. Disney on Ice ended after 9pm. James could hardly keep his eyes open. At one point he was laying down because it got too hard to hold his head up. Some sugar helped, but he was out on the train ride home. We got back to our house at 10:15. When I woke James up for school this morning, he declared, "Wasn't Disney on Ice so fun? I think yesterday was the best day of my life." It was definitely a night to remember. 

Hill Air Force Base Museum

Saturday, November 5

Hill Air Force Base has a free museum that I've heard about a lot. We decided to go as a family on a weekend. Andrew was fascinated by the planes. He enthusiastically explained things to us. We were all interested. It was rainy, so we didn't spend much time looking at the outdoor models, but there was plenty to see inside the 2 buildings. I thought the old airplanes without roofs were cool. James was surprised to see bombs and guns in the planes and had many questions about why they were needed. At one point he asked, "why are all of these fighter planes?" The museum is 50 minutes away, so it was a time commitment. We spent nearly an hour and a half browsing the museum before the kids were asking to leave. More like wanting snacks. 

SeaQuest Aquarium

Saturday, October 22

One of my friends told me that SeaQuest was doing a deal. You could get free tickets to the aquarium. I jumped at the chance. This saved us over $70. We had plenty of time to kill over fall break (James had 6 days off of school). This activity helped break up the time spent at home.

SeaQuest is in Layton and is 45 minutes away. We live near the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium and going to a different aquarium was a welcome change. There was a pig! We fed birds (ok, it was all Andrew). There were ginormous snakes and one was even out of its cage being held. You could feed most of the animals. The chickens were aggressive and eager to eat. They put an end to the kids' desire to feed creatures. After, we stopped for lunch. I won another giveaway earlier this year, so we ate at that pizza place and used my gift card. It wasn't what we expected. It was a fancy sit-down restaurant with high prices (that our gift card didn't cover.)In Andrew's words, "I've had better pizza from Little Caesars." Not our vibe. I could see us returning to Sea Quest though, especially if I can snag free tickets again.

I'm grateful we have been able to spend quality time adventuring as a family for free. I'm on the hunt for the next bargain or giveaway!

Happy Halloween

Things I want to remember about Halloween this year...

• I helped with James’ class party. Isabelle got to come along too. Isabelle adores being with the big kids. Though she was livid at one point because there weren’t enough juice boxes for her. Being a newbie at the whole elementary parent thing, I eagerly signed up to help with both kids' parties. (Isabelle’s party was a different day). A break is earned next year. Isabelle’s party was especially exhausting since I was in charge of helping 3-year-olds make Oreo spiders. What a mess. I did enjoy seeing my kids in their school environments though.
• The kids have so many costumes and dress-ups. They could not decide what they wanted to wear. Throughout Halloween day, Isabelle wore at least 4 costumes 2 of which were princesses. For her preschool party, she was Elsa. On Halloween night, Isabelle ended up being Wonder Woman and James was an astronaut.

• I took the kids to Crave cookies because they were giving out a free cookie to all school-aged children dressed in costume. Obviously, there was a large mom tax. 
• The kids have wanted to go to the pumpkin patch near our house. It has a slide. I thought Halloween might be our last chance, so we went. It turns out pumpkin patches are semi-deserted on Halloween. We had the slide to ourselves. Izzy was afraid to go down the slide initially, but I was proud of her for doing it again and again.
• I decided that we clearly didn’t have enough sugar and made a new recipe: pumpkin spice cinnamon rolls with maple glaze. They were superb. I will make these again, but probably not on a sugar-packed day.
• Jessica, Chris, and George joined us! We had pizza which is a Halloween must/tradition. George made the cutest George Washington and came trick or treating with us for a few minutes before his bedtime.

• We met up with the Bradshaws and Boones while trick or treating. Valerie is a costume designer and seamstress. Their Spider-Man-themed costumes were next level.
• Our neighborhood is an amazing place to trick or treat. People go all out. Our bishop passes out homemade doughnuts! Someone else provides hot dogs. The buttery popcorn was a highlight; apparently, those neighbors passed out a record high of 400 bags. Cotton candy aka “witches brew” is fun too. We nearly forgot about the homemade root beer around the corner. It was worth the extra steps. 
• Our neighborhood had extra excitement this year. A street was blocked off and many fire trucks, emergency vehicles, and responders were around. There was a large chemical spill. We’re still confused why a neighbor had mercury in their garage, but we’re grateful everyone is ok. There was a news helicopter looming overhead and a full-on news report.  

• We were out trick or treating for over 2 hours.
• Andrew and I typically watch a scary movie after the kids are in bed. We watched “Hocus Pocus” but I don’t think it’s categorized as frightening. Neither of us had seen it before and we didn’t end up finishing or loving it.
• We couldn’t have asked for better weather. I’m so glad the snow waited until later on in the week.
• Cheers to celebrating more holidays with my perky children. I'm here for every minute of it. 

Waiting to go trick or treating was pure torture. The kids' excitement was through the roof.