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Good day

We cleaned a lot today. The children don’t think that is very fun but I actually do. I love a fresh smelling, organized and tidy home.

Grace went to a bonfire party with some of her band friends.

Ethan went to play basketball.

Rob and I went out to dinner. I got a Cheesecake Factory GC for Christmas so that’s where we went.

98 times out of 100

Rob stays up later than I do. Every once in awhile I am the one who isn’t ready to go to sleep. When that happens sometimes I read in bed…but the light bothers him. Sometimes I just lay there and think. Sometimes I go to the pink room, which is my favorite room and hang out doing whatever. Then I sleep there. Now that we are older I occasionally sleep in this room. I like it, he likes it. It’s quieter. I still like him just as much as when we were first married that has nothing to do with it. Back then I would never have thought to sleep in a different bed, but now, from time to time, I find it peaceful.

Me on the cruise the one night it was a little chilly and we had an outdoor diving show to watch so I decided to go in my pajama pants (after our dressed up dinner, and the show started at 10:45pm). That’s something else I do now that I’m older. Sometimes I wear my pajamas out. Really it’s only been for walking the dogs..and then only when it’s dark out, either very early in the morning or after 10pm. Before I would have gotten dressed to walk them. Now if it’s dark I don’t care.

So it’s time for a little life update post:

Dani. She did her polar plunge again to ring in the new year. She and Greg are going on a trip to Rome in March. Homeschooling has been hard and great (I may be putting words in her mouth) I know she’s thinking of sending them back to school. Penny got cast as young Anna in the upcoming middle school production of Frozen! I am delighted to report that I will be in Utah to see it! She’s still serving as the primary president and donates plasma for fun money. She also still does her spray tan business. Tatum is becoming a good musician and loves HP and Marshall loves Minecraft and Mario. He goes to preschool. Greg works, and serves at church, and is a good dad, and likes to fish, and play basketball; and life is busy for them.

Sierra, she is in California babysitting the boys for Anna and Amadeo while they are in Cabo. She is a wonderful aunt and in this case cousin and little kids love her! She’s not sure what to do next but I’m sure she’ll figure it out.

Jenna, she and Clayton are adjusting to Utah. Clayton passed his exams and is now official!! They like living near family. Cora and Ruby are adorable and bright. They love Dani and her family and they love them right back so that is awesome! Jenna is busy with all the mundane joys of raising toddlers. Sometimes is boring and the days are long (this I remember even with my rosy hued-backward looking- mommy glasses on) They are also planning a spring trip, I think to Costa Rica.

Hannah, she and Sawyer got an apartment for the semester near SLC. She’s doing an internship with Deseret Book, then back to school to finish up her degree! Sawyer is taking a phlebotomy class and hopes to be able to work doing that while going to school.

Ethan, he’s been sick post cruise. We are waiting to hear from many schools, tennis try outs are coming up, mission prep time is almost upon us. Where has the time gone?!

Grace is doing great and fun things with band and choir, with her dog and with her many friends.

Rob doesn’t like living here and is actively checking what’s out there. He does like to fish, and kayak.

I like it. I like my job and friends and my calling, and the winter weather is beautiful!

That’s us, in a nutshell.

New

I was thinking about getting a new blog because I don’t like WordPress. But for now I’ll stay, for reasons no one cares about.

Rob and I went to the temple yesterday. It was very nice and I loved it. New year, new chance to go each week!

Grace finished her painting. She is one talented chickita!

Bub made late night cinnamon rolls. While we were having family scriptures he was wondering what tasty treats we had. Eventually he asked if he could make something. Then asked if I wanted to watch him. Which I did. So did Grace. We watched and laughed with him as he baked. We love that boy.

Today Grace and I went with Lincoln to the Clearwater aquarium. Then to the beach. We had a fun fun day. Linc was good and perfectly behaved. He didn’t like the beach too much though. He was very funny when he first saw a dolphin. He was surprised and attentive with big eyes.

Rob and Ethan didn’t want to go. Rob went to the movies to see Midway. They ate Greek food for dinner.

NYE

Hannah and Sawyer flew back to Utah early this morning. It was sad. She will start her internship next week! Which is super exciting.

Ethan is still sick.

We did some cleaning up today, and some grocery shopping, and we had the elders over for dinner.

This evening we had a NYE party at the Thompson’s. It was lots of fun! We had an outdoor movie, a fire pit, a crepe bar and ice cream bar and hot chocolate bar. We played games and hung out and had music and there were fireworks all around. The lake was beautiful and the Florida night was a delight!

We had lots of YW attend, I think we had 12 girls there. There were also 6-7 young men.

Fa-ra-ra-ra-ra Ra-ra-ra-ra

We went to the movies and saw the new Star Wars. I liked it a lot.

We also had Chinese food for dinner.

And took the dogs on walks & watched HP

Last days of the year

We are almost to a new year/decade.

After we got home from the cruise we cleaned up, did laundry, went to the grocery store.

Sunday we went to church. Both the talks were so good. I really felt the spirit strongly as Bro. Latham spoke about reading the Book of a Mormon as a family and Pepe spoke about service and the new youth program. During the second hour we had priesthood preview and temple prep for our incoming young men and young women. It went well. We are getting a new girl! Yay! Also a family moved in with two new girls, Maya is 16 and Lettie is 14. We are excited to be growing!

Grace went to the Vergaras. The rest of us watched Harry Potter and Mandalorian.

Ethan and Hannah are both sick:(

Last day

We went to Coco Cay, Royal Carribean’s private island. It was beautiful and rainy.

We stayed a couple of hours and then gave up and went back to the ship.

It was okay though, the day was still fun. We played lots of games. Ethan hung out with friends, and we ate. We saw a fabulous show and enjoyed the ocean view.

Sea Day

Slept in.

Ate. A lot.

Played games, watched movies, looked at the ocean.

Ate. A lot more.

We went to Abba’s scuba graduation.

It’s been a good time.

Christmas Day

Xcaret Adventure

It was so fun! We didn’t get to see even a fraction of what is there but it was really beautiful.

We started with a swim through a river that went underground in several spots. It was dark underground but really cool. We saw bats flying around while we were swimming right under them, which was neat.

Then we were in the park. I can’t really describe how beautiful the water is or how pretty the land is. We had a delicious lunch and saw what we could.