Jappenings

that's January running into all of our happenings. The boys were sad to send Ellie off to school on Monday, January 4th and both ran over to give her a hug and say, "Good bye Ellie. Have a great day!" Almost like they'd never see her again. I guess 6 hours is a long time in a kids mind.

Ellie had her final Underwater ROV competition. They placed first in the obstacle course that Ellie drove and 2nd in the mission course. Ironically one other team got 1st & 2nd so it was close between those two and the ROV teacher let them keep their machines together in hopes that they might be able to compete in the spring competition with the other ROV teams.

I've been trying to be better about getting the boys out of the house during some part of the day (it's a good break mentally and physically for everyone). When the sun is out we'll bundle up and they'll ride their bikes while I walk/jog to keep up. Or I'll take one on a drive to take Lila to dance. Or one day Marcus scootered and Andrew drove his RC Car. It's been good for all of us.

 

We've been skiing a couple of times. Both days the sun was out and Marcus is building up more endurance to do more and longer runs. Last week he got to ride up the Gondola and today we rode up John Paul and he did 2 blue runs. One of our favorite runs with him is off of Wild Cat and that kid just goes flying down it now. I'm really enjoying our half day ski trips with the kids. Now if only it would snow more!

 

Mom and Dad stopped by on January 12th. Mom was having her post put in for the one set of teeth (praying it heals well this time). And we bought my Dad a new phone for his birthday and had dinner and made him a mug cake to celebrate. The last three years we have celebrated his birthday in Sun Valley but alas it wasn't in the cards this year.

 

Snowshoeing, snowshoeing, snowshoeing. My young women wanted to go snowshoeing (once again we need more snow not just for recreation). Anyway Steve and I bought some for Christmas and decided we'd better go scope out a place I could take the girls. So we went up and did the Green Pond hike. We had a good time. We went past Green Pond and did 3 miles round trip. It's only .6 to the Pond so I decided it was a good starting point with the young women I trekked out there on Monday with them and we had a great time. Little did I know the pond freezes over and you can actually trek around on it. The sun was out and it truly was a lovely morning. So when I got back I decided to take my family (Steve was enjoying his first paid holiday and not feeling guilty about not working 😉). Just as we started to go through the canyon the sun went away and it was trying to snow. Needless to say that made it quite a bit cooler for us but we still had a great time. Andrew was excited to explore on a frozen pond and Marcus was a little upset we didn't bring his skis so he could ski back to the car. As a matter of fact when I prayed with him that night he said, "thank you we could go skishoeing". We picked up Crumbl cookies on our way home for a warm treat. I love having these adventures with my peeps.

 

 

Hear Him

Traditionally on the first Sunday of the year we review family goals and set new ones. However, last year we made a family proclamation instead of family goals and helped the kids all set goals in the new children and youth program. So this year we talked about the proclamation and encouraged the girls to make new goals and worked with Andrew to set new goals. He was a little disappointed with how his goals for last year turned out -- he wanted to get better at soccer then COVID shut it down and he wanted to visit with Grandpa O & those living in the home then COVID and Grandpa's passing. We told him that is how goals work, we make them do our best and some times things out of our control change things and we have to adapt. Then Ellie and I took President Nelson's blessing from the 2020 Christmas Devotional and turned it into a cute poster for our family as we prepare to study the Doctrine and Covenants this year.

We also bought cute posters that highlight a word or short phrase from that weeks Come Follow Me studying. The first week was Hearken and this week it is Hear Him. I feel so blessed to know that the Lord can be a part of our every day lives and that He cares and wants us to be happy. I've had some real opportunities to be stretched this last couple of weeks and I feel of His love and concern and direction. I'm excited to be studying the Doctrine and Covenants as a family and to be reading The Book of Mormon with my boys (the girls and Steve have a study guide to keep up their Book of Mormon reading too) and we've found some time to set aside to have a special primary lesson for the boys. I feel like this is really crucial this year as Andrew prepares for baptism and Marcus really only got 2 months in primary before things shut down so he doesn't really know what it's like yet. Life is good and I look forward to 2021 where we can learn to listen more intently to the voice of a loving Heavenly Father.

Peace Out

This year we took down all our Christmas decorations but the tree so Marcus and I decorated the tree with our new year eve party supplies.

This year the kids also figured out that the paper and coins inside the balloons made them pop when dropped on the tile which is actually easier than sitting on them so they dropped them all on the tile and the coins and pieces of balloons went flying everywhere.

We had some fun corny jokes like: 

Two pickles fell on the ground. What did one say to the other? (Dill with it!)

Why did the pig to in to the kitchen? (he felt like bacon a cake) I was super happy Marcus got this joke because he could read it on his own. He was also really excited about the coins and ran and got his wallet and put them in there. 

We watched the London fireworks on YouTube which used drones and had reflected on many things of 2020. Then we did a count down and did our little poppers. Marcus called them bombs and Andrew got a little frustrated when he couldn't do it on his own and then the very last round of poppers we were one short and he generously gave his to Lila (even though he really wanted to do it again) then Ellie kindly gave hers to Andrew but unfortunately it was a dud that didn't pop. . .eventually Steve and Ellie engineered it back together and Andrew got to pop the last popper of 2020 for us. Ended on a good note, but mostly I was so proud of all of my kids thinking about the other one and passing their poppers along.

Andrew also studied about Greece in one of his Kiwico boxes from Mimi and Grandpa so he really wanted to make a cake with a coin in it and serve it on New Year's and then the person that got the coin gets good luck all year. Well we still had some cake from Christmas so I told him I would secretly hide a coin in a slice. I knew he really wanted it so I put the slice with the coin in it close to where he was sitting but he of course picked a completely different slice. And then he kept saying, "I hope I get the coin." So Ellie and Steve helped distract him while I shoved a nickel in his slice of cake. He was super excited when he found it. Ellie who ended up with the original nickel just pushed it to the side and let Andrew have his moment.  

I'm kind of in denial that break is almost over and we are going to have to go back to school, work, and life responsibilities. We've had a great break. We've enjoyed 3 batches of different types of sugar cookies, played games, watched movies (we started watching Star Wars as a family), colored, played games, ate treats, and just enjoyed being together.

Amidst the hustle and bustle of the holidays Steve accepted a job offer to work full-time for Control4/SnapAV. It was a hard decision because we have felt really blessed by his opportunities at Moore Good Ideas (MGI). We've prayed about it and debated it and finally came to a conclusion that it is a good opportunity and could simplify his life a little because now he would have one "job" instead of juggling multiple consulting clients. David at MGI was understanding and has always been a very fair and honest boss which we greatly appreciate. His co-workers sent him nice messages about his departure and wished him well. So this new year will see several changes for us and it's exciting and a little bit  scary, but we have faith that it will all work out in the end, we just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

a friend sent me Dave Barry's funny year-end review of 2020 which had me laughing out loud at times, but it ended with this, ". . .we’ll close with the wish we always offer at the end of our annual review, although this time it’s more of a prayer: Happy New Year."

Amen!

Twas the Week of Christmas

Mimi and Grandpa came down on Monday, Dec 21st to bring the kids their Christmas pajamas and few small presents. After opening presents we had a little recital. Andrew and Ellie played Deck the Halls duet on the violin, Lila played her piano duet Jingle Bell Rock (she worked hard on it and did a good job), Ellie played Mary Did You Know on the piano, and we watched several of Marcus Christmas songs from his preschool show. It was a nice visit.

Tuesday we had planned on skiing. We didn't know if we go morning or afternoon, but when we got up we decided to just go for the morning. So we ate breakfast and got ready to go. We managed to sneak a spot in Wild Cat Parking -- it was a little tight and all the girls were nervous. Lila was even doing her "dad, dad, dad". And Andrew was chanting yeah, go for it. Haha the difference between boys and girls. As we were putting on helmets and stuff we realized we left Marcus's skis at home. Steve skied down to the base with him and rented a pair of skis. They met up with us at the Wild Cat lift and I managed to snag a picture of all 6 of us going up (well you can see a sliver of Ellie's white helmet at the end, she refused to lean forward for the pic).

The next couple of days were filled with movies, food, and relaxing. The boys helped me make our traditional chocolate cake for Jesus's birthday and then we leave a slice for Santa. They wanted to add some strawberry syrup to the batter because Andrew really likes the strawberry syrup in his hot cocoa (it really tastes like chocolate covered strawberries -- yummy), but the flavor doesn't really come through in the cake, but it was still a tasty chocolate cake. Then on Christmas Eve we had a delicious dinner by candle light where we read messages of how Jesus is the light of the world.

 

 

 

After which we watched Dreams of Bethlehem from Elder Holland's wonderful Christmas message. Then we finished our advent chocolate calendars and Christmas Gospel Art reading, brushed teeth and then we turned on Santa tracker to see where he was. And guess what Santa wore a mask while delivering presents this year.

Finally Christmas morning. The excitement! When Andrew woke up I heard him go running into the kitchen and ran right into a kitchen chair then he came squealing into our room, "he ate it. Santa ate the cake!"

 

At that point everyone was awake so I held back the excited boys while Steve turned on the Christmas lights and then we let them all run in.

 

Marcus a couple of days earlier said, that he thought there was a live doggy in the presents who just wasn't woof, woofing yet. Ellie made some of his dreams come true with a stuff dog she made at sewing class.

We got a new game Azul that is fun but the only bummer is it is four player. I decided it would be a fun game for us to play with the girls after the boys go to bed (a good excuse to spend a little more time with them). So one night we had ice cream and played the game and little Marcus came out and we saw him sitting on the stairs watching us. We told him it was past his bedtime and his little lip started to shake and he said, "but you are playing a game without me, it's supposed to be a family Christmas game." Heartbreaker! The ironic thing is Steve and I had just played several games of Cover Your Assets with the boys only the night before. Marcus was quite animated during those games and at one point refused to play a match he had in his hand because "he knew Dad would just steal it" He was looking Steve's cards and realized he had one of those too. I sure love relaxing and hanging out with my family. I hope to milk this next week of break for all that it's worth.

Gifts from God

Moroni 10:8 And again, I exhort you, my brethren, that ye deny not the gifts of God, for they are many; and they come from the same God. And there are different ways that these gifts are administered; but it is the same God who worketh all in all; and they are given by the manifestations of the Spirit of God unto men, to profit them.

I love that scripture and am grateful to be surrounded by many talented people in my neighborhood, family, and friends. However, I do find it to be one of the most difficult jobs as a mom to help each child find and cultivate their gifts because each is so unique and even so different from me. I provide them lots of opportunities and pray for each of them and hope they learn to cultivate their gifts. Ellie has always had an interest in arts and crafts. She can be found drawing at some point almost every day. Today she completed this falcon drawing and I have to say, I'm super impressed. Art is not one of my talents and I definitely do not have the patience for the technical shading this kind of creation takes, but she does and I'm so grateful she has taken the time to cultivate this talent.

J*I*N*G*L*E Bells

Marcus had his preschool Christmas program the morning of Wednesday, December 16th. Steve had to go into work early to support some customer testing, but managed to get done in time to swing by pick me up and head to the program. Marcus was excited for the Christmas program and insisted on wearing a Christmas shirt. He also has been singing lots of songs and has declared Feliz Navidad his favorite. They sang almost a half dozen songs and Marcus was singing and doing the actions it was so fun to watch. He gave us a Christmas gift and then Miss Jessie gave him a gift and as we were walking out the door he said, "I love you Miss Jessie!" She squealed with excitement, grabbed his face, and said, "I love you too!"

 

That evening Lila was at dance and Ellie was doing her virtual zoom activity for young womens and Steve needed to log back on to work so I let the boys watch a Christmas movie.

 

Later after they were in bed Steve and I were craving some potato wedges (homemade stake fries I've recently really gotten the hang of) so we cooked some up just in time for Ellie to come up and have some with us and shoot the breeze. It was a good thing to spend some time with our teenage daughter. It was kind of a crazy morning for me because she just learned that her best friend and his parents have COVID and her ROV partners family also has COVID (they are all in our prayers). It just felt like a double blow close to home and she was kind of being evasive about telling us. She said because she didn't want to worry us. Anyway, it will be good for us to have Christmas break to catch-up and take a break from some of our regular worries (at least a little bit). 

 

Thursday we made sugar cookies and I ate way too many (good thing Steve and I ran five miles on Wednesday). Today is our 17th wedding anniversary. Last Friday, I seized an opportunity to have Steve pickup some lunch and we ate in our room and wrapped presents (I fed the kids spaghetti O's then sent them to watch a movie) so I count that as our anniversary meal (I learned many years ago you don't have to celebrate most things right on the day and am glad we did that). I sent Steve and Ellie off a little after 8am to enjoy 4 inches of overnight fluff at Snowbasin. I'm doing a Christmas story time with the boys and some of their friends on zoom and Lila didn't want to miss fun Friday with her teacher so we stayed home. We'll check in with them later and maybe take other skiers up to meet them. Although looking back to last year Steve took Ellie with my nephew Ethan skiing on our anniversary. . .I think I'm going to have to change that next year and Steve and I will go skiing on our anniversary. Ha! Tomorrow we have a fun day of laundry and washing sheets planned and then Lila is going to have a little virtual Christmas party with some of her friends (she is missing that connection from school a little -- she logs on a chats with her teacher in the afternoon). Next year she'll get to attend young women classes with the girls in the neighborhood that will provide another social venue for her (even if it is virtual). There you have it our happenings the week[end] before Christmas. I cannot believe it is already here. Marcus asks every night if tomorrow is the day we get to open presents. Now he has a snowman countdown he made at school so he has a better idea of how long before Christmas. The other day he looked at our advent calendar that moves Mary & Joseph closer to the manager and he could not believe how far they had traveled. ;) Eventually he will be right and "tomorrow" will be Christmas.

Santa on the Slopes

We're really taking advantage of the elementary kids doing online school and took off for an afternoon of skiing again today. We were hoping yesterday's storm would bring more snow than it did, but it was still nice to have a fresh skiff and the conditions were better than last week (albeit it was a little cold). Marcus and I did two runs down Little Cat while Steve took Andrew and Lila up Wild Cat to see how the conditions were. They met us after their first run and we all rode up Wild Cat together. Marcus barrelled down the first section super fast (reminded me of our first run at Pomerelle and I had a little panic attack) then he started making turns and snow plowing to slow down. He did good, but wanted a break so he and I headed back to the car for a snack and a break. On our way to the car we saw Santa.

Marcus was certain he is not the real Santa but I keep telling him Santa lives in the North Pole and can ski all year, but he didn't believe me. While eating our snacks we talked with Grandpa and then saw Santa coming back up on the lift. So we decided to get our skis on and ski down with Santa.

So we did one more Little Cat run and then met the gang back over at Wild Cat and did one more big run. Marcus did really good this time. However, Andrew got out ahead of us at one point and I was worried about him because I couldn't see him. Lila skied ahead and then I saw her on the side of the run waving her pole at us. She had found Andrew crashed and crying on the side. When Steve and I got there we were a little shocked because there were tracks that looked like someone had skied through the trees and over a rock to right where he landed so we were concerned he had done that. I kept asking him are you hurt or scared? He just kept saying is too deep I can't get out. Eventually Steve helped him up and back in his skis and he told us that he wasn't skiing through the trees but that he just went off the trail and fell. Ironically we think it was close to where Ellie ran into a tree. Good thing we had decided this was our last run of the day. We went all the way to the bottom so the kids could hit the bumps off Little Cat then we rode Little Cat up to the car. As we were driving out of the parking lot we managed to see Santa again and Andrew's eyes got huge with excitement. It was a good day! Lila is really a good confidant skier, she gets a little nervous at the beginning of if we're doing a new run, but she really skis well and has fun once she gets going. If only we could convince Ellie to skip school more often. ;)

Light The World

Our family has been using the calendar at Light The World to serve others daily. We've had some fun opportunities and I hope it has brought a little extra "light" and love into the lives of those around us. You can get a calendar here.

Dec 2nd was Hero Highlight: A dear friend sent me this sweet text, "I just wanted you to know that you're my hero! I see so many Christ like attributes in you including patience, diligence and faith! I love how easily you cry with others because of your Christ-like love. Thanks for your great example to me." It of course brought tears to my eyes. This dear friend has not had it easy and she is an amazing example to me, so for her to send this to me meant so much. I sent a message to someone who has recently come in to my circle more and has really touched my life and those around her.

Dec 3rd & 4th: I shared some messages in the Gospel Living app with my wonderful young women. I shared a new 2020 Light the World video titled "Hope" and the following message:

Tonight as we watched, The Christ Child: A Nativity Story this image struck me. Mary was a young woman, like you, on a journey to do the will of Heavenly Father. She was entrusted with a sacred mission to be the mother of Jesus. You each have been entrusted with a sacred mission and I know the Lord will help you and guide you just as he did Mary. This season I hope we can all draw closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus and seek to know their will in our lives. 

Dec 5th: I visited a dear friend who has been on my mind for a while. I actually sent her a text beginning of October thanking her for all she has done for me and my family this year: "I just wanted to say thank you for being such an awesome friend!! When I look back at the year, you've been there to help when me Mom was in the hospital (you took my kids), checked on me while I was caring for my Grandpa, helped with our crazy tree incident (hours cutting and taking tree debris to the dump), temple swap dates (seems like forever ago but it was this year), and sending me the sweetest texts just when I needed them (you're so in tune). Love ya too pieces!!" She has had a crazy year and I thanked her for serving me during her difficult times. We gave them a little card game and asked if we could do anything for them this Christmas season (some times being vulnerable is hard but she has seen me at my most vulnerable and loved me and I wanted to return the favor "Pay it Backwards")

Dec 7th: Today we made 3 batches of cookies and notes. Andrew did the math to double the batches and he did pretty well but was glad Lila was double checking when he said 11 1/2 tsp of baking soda when it was 1 1/2, but I can see how that can be confusing. Marcus was the official Bosch turn on and off guy. It was fun. We plan to decorate a dear sister's door and leave a little gift for her and then visit our neighbor who just started her nursing career today. We want to thank her and see how her first day went and ask her take a big box of cookies to the hospital for us tomorrow to show our gratitude for health care workers (we pray for them every day but thought a thank you and a little treat might "light" their world tomorrow).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have lots of other plans in the works which include a young women activity to share favorite Christmas stories tomorrow, treat delivering, takeout from a local yummy Greek place, story time with Andrew and his friends, doing a service activity for Sunridge where Grandpa O spent his last few months (and where Marcus still has friends he needs to see). We're going to attach this note to a package of hundreds of mini candy canes that can be passed out to the residents and staff.

 

When Jesus Christ was born, angels proclaimed, "Peace on earth, good will to men." This December the promise remains the same. #LightTheWorld

Rolling with 2020

It's been a year! I'm ready to live life again without the fear of spreading a virus, but I am grateful for some of the changes this pandemic has sparked in our lives. We have a deeper appreciation for seeing friends and family, for attending school, worshipping with our wonderful church family, for our health, and especially for the love of our Savior whose light brings peace and happiness amidst crazy and uncertain times. We are grateful for this time of year we get to celebrate His birth and His life. We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and that we get to gather with each of you more in 2021!

Love,

Steve, Britney, Ellie, Lila, Andrew, & Marcus

pictured with Steve's parents, Russ & Carole Moore

Ski Legs

We planned to take everyone (but Ellie who would still be in school) skiing today after their virtual classes. We left around noon and were home by 3pm and had an amazing time. There wasn't much terrain open, but we were able to park in the Little Cat parking lot and ski down to the lifts. Steve managed to leave his pass in the car, but they let him ride up and then he went and got it. Marcus was a little nervous going down the first run, but by the second he was making pizza stops like a pro and turning. 

We thought we would catch Becker for our 4th run. Steve took Lila and Andrew over to the lift and I had Marcus, but the stinker snow plowed  while I was trying to get momentum to get up the little hill to the lift so we didn't make it. We did two more Little Cat runs while they came down. Steve called and said they were having a great time and would meet us at Becker. So Marcus and I managed to make it over there and the liftee said, "It's intermediate terrain." So I hesitated a bit, decided to call Steve who said after he called me they were forced down School Hill and it was scary icy so Marcus and I bailed on Becker and caught up with the other three. We rode the lift back up and Marcus wanted to go to the car for snacks (my food oriented child). Steve wanted to take him over the bumps and he said he wanted to but his desire for a snack was greater. I rummaged through my pockets and found an applesauce packet he inhaled and then decided to do the bumps with everyone. 

 

It was a fabulous last run and we already have plans to go again next Thursday -- we'll get Ellie up this time. Andrew looks so grown-up in his new skis and gear and he can really duck walk to get going on flat ground too. Here's to more outdoor adventures.ok, just getting out this year is a blessing! #letitsnow