Janky January

Snow hasn't really been a part of January this year. Here's what we've been up to:

Penelope's Injury: January 11

Right after church, Penelope was eating lunch and fell of the stool and cut her chin. Our next door neighbor, Dr. Chad saved the day and super glued her chin for us. I'm so grateful we didn't have to go to instacare.

Meagan's Sprinkle: January 14

My friend Meagan is having her 4th baby and 1st girl. Valerie and I threw her a shower. Pro tip-- if you want a giant turnout, host an event in January! I made the invites and got one printed/framed, made the pretzel party favors, and the game.

Aquarium: January 19

No school on Martin Luther King Day which meant we went to the aquarium! So did a lot of other people. We ran into the Pattersons there. The aquarium has a new section open with a giant slide and some cool animals to see. We are enjoying our passes.

Movie "David:" January 20

No school on a Tuesday? $5 movie it is. My mom generously paid for our tickets. Penelope didn't have to be taken out once! We enjoyed this film that's based on the bible story.

2 Recitals: January 24

James and Isabelle had music recitals on the same day and at the same venue! The recitals were at Riverton Music in Sandy. James' performance was in the morning and Isabelle's the afternoon. James' recitals are very low-key. You drop in, play and leave whenever. He nailed his 2 songs "Stealth Mode" and "The Kangaroo That Almost Flew." Isabelle also played 2 songs "Lightly Row" and "Song of the Wind." I accompanied Isabelle and all of Jessica's students. There were some intense piano accompaniments. Jessica has advanced students. I'm proud of myself for being able to play the songs and am glad the recital is over. I love music and that my kids are at the stage that they take lessons. Sadly, James' basketball game and Isabelle's recital time overlapped. Thanks to my dad for taking James to his game. I missed out on seeing James score 10 points!

YW Where's Waldo and Game Night: January 20 and January 27

Not many leaders were eager to dress up for the "Where's Waldo?" activity at the mall. My dream came true (not) and I got to wear a disguise and wander the mall avoiding ward members. I was wearing my mom's glasses and couldn't see well. Only 2 of he 6 groups found me. I don't miss my head itching or my knee hurting from the brace. To help me look forward to the evening more, my family went to eat at Chick Fil A to eat first.

I hosted a combined young women's activity at my house. So many girls came! I think around 20. I had girls rotate between 3 stations/games. 1) First to Worst 2) Chameleon 3) Flip 7. Then we had dessert. I made Johanna Gaines banana pudding in "shot glasses" which looked fancy. I wish I had made cookies instead. Girls didn't seem to love the pudding and making them took a lot of effort after subbing all day. We ended the evening doing a favorite thing gift exchange. Girls stayed awhile-- until 8:40.

I've been prepping for birthday season and am drooling thinking about my birthday dinner... Ready to embrace February.

2025 in Books

I cut my reading goal close this year but made it! I've learned when grief is fresh, I can't read.

My Year in Books... 
19,946 pages read

65 books read

Shortest book... "The Deal of a Lifetime" By: Fredrik Bachman (65 pages)

Longest book... "Saints: Sounded in Every Ear" By: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (831 pages)

Average book length in 2025... 306 pages

Most shelved book... "Daisy Jones and the Six" By: Taylor Jenkins Reid 

I LOVED the audio. It had a full cast. Really liked this one and discovered they made a show about it. Very entertaining. Language warning.

Least shelved book... "Courage to be You" By: Gail Miller
Gail came and spoke at my stake women's conference and I was amazed and impressed by her. I enjoyed learning more about her past.

My Top Reads
"The Correspondent" By: Virginia Evans

This book is about an elderly retired women. She communicates through emails and letters to her friends and that's how you get to know all the other characters. She is witty and passionate. I read this book in less than 48 hours. I was so glad I went to my book club book exchange and came home with this one.

"The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion" series Volumes 1-8 By: Beth Brower

This series has lots of hype. I read it before it was cool. haha. I had to get kindle unlimited to access the books, but they're now available on audible and at libraries. Hilarious with a love triangle that keeps you needing to know more. A little slow to start.

"The Poisonwood Bible" By: Barbara Kingsolver

I learned so much about Africa that I didn't know. Lots of the details and plot points in this story were jaw-dropping. Left me with so much to think about.

"Sunrise on the Reaping" By: Suzanne Collins

Captivating. Well written. Extremely sad but now I understand Haymitch and his story and why he's the way he is. Thought this was leagues better than "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes."

"The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom" By: Shari Franke

Highly recommend the audio. This book is read by the author. I could not stop listening. So fascinating and terrible. I thought the author did a great job not presenting the church in a bad light given her circumstances. Warning-- there is sexual abuse.

"Finding My Way" By: Malala Yousafzai

Listening to Malala say the words in her own voice was great. I love her vulnerability and story.

YA Books I Devoured and Loved
"The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" By: Gennifer Choldenko (Nearly cried)
"Tig" By: Heather Smith
"Whistling Past the Graveyard" By: Susan Crandall (Glad I didn't give up because it was cute.)
"A Night Devoured" By: Jennifer A. Nielsen (Audio. Good balance making it not too sad.)
"The Talk" By: Darrin Bell (Important and relevant subject matter.)

Solid Reads
"The Matchmaker's Gift" By: Lynda Cohen Loigman
"The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern" By: Lynda Cohen Loigman
"Small Things Like These" By: Claire Keegan (Feel good. Only a 2 hour listen. Beautifully written. Good cozy Christmas time read and the theme was on point.)

"How to Solve Your Own Murder" By: Kristen Perrin (fun mystery)

"The Kamogawa Food Detectives #1" By: Hisashi Kashiwai (Loved the idea that food is memorable for years.)
"The Poppy Fields" By: Nikki Erlick (Thought provoking)
"Truly Devious" By: Maureen Johnson
"How to Seal Your Own Fate" By: Kristen Perrin (Not as good as first)
"Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (On a Dead Man) Vera Wong #2" By: Jesse Q. Sutanto (Funny. Not a letdown after an awesome first book.)
"Go As a River" By: Shelley Read (Audio was good. There is some language.)
"How to Hide in Plain Sight" By: Emma Noyes (About OCD. I really liked it. There is sex and swearing.)

"Heart the Lover" By: Lily King (Sex and language! Absolutely beautiful ending. Very well- written.)

Parenting Book Club Reads
"Building Resilience in Children and Teens Giving Kids Roots and Wings" By: Kenneth R. Ginsburg
"How to Talk to Your Child About Sex" By: Linda Eyre
"The Danish Way of Parenting" By: Jessica Joelle Alexander
"Bad Therapy" By: Abigail Shrier (Disagree with what it says about medication.)
"The Anatomy of Peace" By: The Arbinger Institute 
"Crucial Conversations" By: Kerry Patterson

Neighborhood Book Club Reads
"The Small and the Mighty" By: Sharon McMahon
"Joe Nuthin's Guide to Life" By: Helen Fisher (Lots of language!)
"The Berry Pickers" By: Amanda Peters
"Rock, Paper, Scissors" By: Alice Feeney (Didn't like the plot. Thought the audio was fun.)
"James" By: Percival Everett (Didn't live up to the hype for me.)
"The Deal of a Lifetime" By: Fredrik Backman
"Here One Moment" By: Liane Moriarty (Led to quite an awesome discussion. Loved the message. Too long.)

Friend Bok Club Reads
"The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession" By: Michael Finkel (Surprisingly good! Audio)
"Weyward" By: Emilia Hart (Not my favorite. Very heavy. Lots of triggers.)
"The Wishing Game" By: Meg Shaffer
"Skipping Christmas" By: John Grisham
"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" By: Mark Twain

Rom Coms
"The Love Haters" By: Katherine Center (Cheesy, predictable, great escape.)

"Ruthless Vows (Letters of Enchantment #2)" By: Rebecca Ross (Read a long time after the first book and still grasped/enjoyed.)

"It's a Love Story" By: Annabel Monaghan (This author is usually clean so I was surprised by the sex.)
"The Wedding People" By: Alison Espach (Cute premise. Language warning!)
"The Husbands" By: Holly Gramazio (Pretty naughty. Language and steamy! Amazing plot.)
"Letters for Emily" By: Camron Wright (Squeaky clean.)
"The Exception to the Rule" By: Christina Lauren (Language!)
"Tangled Up in You" By: Christina Lauren (Swearing!)
"The Three Lives of Cate Kay" By: Kate Fagan (Wouldn't recommend to everyone.)

Non Fiction (Lots in the Parenting Book Club category too)
"Everything is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection" By: John Green (Liked this one a lot. Didn't expect tuberculosis to be so intriguing!)

"Strokes of Genius: Federer, Nadal, and the Greatest Match Ever Played" By: L. Jon Wertheim
(Go Federer!)

Books That Disappointed Me

"The First Ladies" By: Marie Benedict (Slow start for me and then I was disappointed/mad to find out at the end that some of the details were made up...)

"Rules of Civility" By: Amor Towles (Long and wordy. He's not my favorite author.)
"The Mystery Guest (Molly the Maid, #2)" By: Nita Prose (Huge letdown after loving the first one. Guessed the ending.)

Now it's your turn to tell me what you read and loved this year and I'll add it to my list!

Together at Last for the Holidays

Penelope was sad when we put the Christmas tree away. She asked where the tree went and gave it a goodbye hug. How is Christmas over already?

Isabelle wrote a paper at school about her favorite holiday tradition and she talked about singing Christmas carols as a family. I will miss the music and the nightly Christmas stories/chocolate advent calendars, and the excitement.

Thursday, December 25

This season was extra special because my parent's are back from Brazil! My brother and sister and their families flew in and we had giant party after party. 

My mom hosted all of my dad's side of the family for Christmas dinner. I made nearly 10 pounds of funeral potatoes, 48 rolls, and 7 layer dip. 

We also had birthday celebrations for Dorothy who turned 1 and Esther who is 10. The only thing that was missing was Joel.

Read on to see far too many pics of my favorite holiday of the year.

Choir

James and Isabelle had an amazing opportunity and got asked to sing in a children's choir. The director is in our ward and last minute got asked to get a youth choir together to sing along with the Draper Philharmonic orchestra. I'm grateful she included my kids. Isabelle was the youngest member of the choir and only 1st grader! She learned the 2 songs well and had the biggest smile the whole time on stage. One of the last choir rehearsals was canceled and she was upset and shed some tears. She wanted to go sing with the choir every chance she could.

The kids had several practices and 2 performances at Skyridge High in Lehi. My parent's and Grandma came. 

Friday, December 19

Christmas Sunday

This year I opted for getting new accessories instead of new dresses and sweaters. The girls got matching red velvet bow/headbands. The boys got Christmas socks. Andrew sang in the choir, and I sang in a small women's group and last second accompanied the primary children. After our church service, Izzy and I went to my parent's ward to watch their Christmas program since my mom wrote it and arranged the music.

Sunday, December 21

Santa Take 2

The first time we went to see Santa, Penelope wanted nothing to do with him. Good thing there was another chance at school/daycare. Apparently she had no fear and went right up to Santa and was very brave.

Friday, December 19

Spongebob

I wouldn't recommend this movie but I've never really been a Spongebob fan. Penelope made it through the movie! I didn't have to take her out once. This movie wasn't too long. My kids had never seen Spongebob and James was especially intrigued. Chris, Rob, and Andrew went to see the new "Avatar" movie too. That doesn't tempt me in the slightest. It is 3 hours and 15 minutes long. Need I say more?

Tuesday, December 23

Gingerbread Houses

Jessica had us over for a Christmas craft, hot chocolate, pizza, and decorating gingerbread houses. Oh what fun we had!

December 13

Christmas Eve

My girls helped me make dozens of sugar cookies to decorate! We went shopping for each other at "Five Below" this year instead of the dollar store. James got Isabelle a K-pop Demon Hunters poster. She exclaimed "this is the best gift you've ever given me James." Isabelle got James a water rocket. James got Penelope a squish mellow. Isabelle got me makeup brushes. James got Andrew checkers. On Christmas Eve, we had pizza, the kids got matching pajamas and cousin crew tshirts, acted out the nativity, did cousin/sibling gifts, and sang karaoke. Jill brought a new fun game that we've been playing lots called "First to Last."

Penelope got a custom, "I want chips" tshirt embroidered by Lindsey! And Ms. Rachel jammies! She did not want to take them off.

Christmas in Color

Watching lights in the bed of a truck is pretty cool for little kids. Though hearing the music back there was tricky. They didn't care too much.

Friday, December 26

Christmas Wrapping Paper

Can you guess which kid got which paper?

Christmas Card

Anniversary

We've been married for 13 years! Woah! We celebrated on Saturday, December 27 (instead of Sunday, December 28). We did sealings at the temple and got Mexican food at a restaurant we hadn't tried before--Chungas which has excellent reviews and friends have raved about. My mouth was on fire and I didn't even get the spicy sauce. I'll order something different next time. We were impressed with the place and got free drinks because it was our first time. Andrew got the hot sauce and started to sweat but loved it. Many thanks to Jeff, Lindsey and Esther for watching our kids! We don't always get to celebrate our anniversary in December due to the business of the season, so we are extra grateful.

Saturday, December 27

We've found time for pickleball and we continued our tradition of making salsa for my parent's friends/neighbors. The grandkids helped deliver it. This post made a dent in what we've done (and I didn't cover everything), but there is still more to come. Here we come Luminaria and Soldier Hollow. 

Windy pickleball day!

Salsa delivery Friday, December 26

Monday, December 29

Luminaria Tuesday, December 30

Soldier Hollow bust Thursday, January 1