To Be Thankful

I prepped most of my feast assignments on Saturday and Monday.  Austin put up the tree and the kids helped decorate when Maisie called.  Of course, football was happening as well.

Andy came to town.  We began our day of thanks playing a ruckus game of flagball: boys vs. girls.  Luckily, Austin was our quarterback, and he didn't keep track of our downs.

Carol brought a charcuterie board that Andy ate most of.

Our morning was the most relaxed, ever.  Austin took care of the meats and veg.  Grandma baked the potatoes and brought the Martinelli's.  Our table was surounded by 15 people and headed by 2 babies.

(I didn't even want to make a salad, so I didn't.  Ha!)

The children were persuaded to sit and eat as long as the adults.  

Then Maddie and her posse performed 8 songs complete with choreography, costumes and lighting. n

We loved it so much.  We ate cheesecake and pie, and then ended the day quietly and with hearts full of thanks."Kick It" Irish Jig "Uptown Funk" "I Gotta Feeling"

Up at 4:30am to head to the Grand Canyon.  The shuttle ride is always the warmest bit.

Sunrise.

We were down to the botton in 2 1/2 hours, and up again in the same amount of time.  We crushed the hike!

Resting at the river.

Maddie's first hike -- she was the first one back up to the top.

Finishers.

More finishers. ''I understimated how hard that would be," Nick's friend, Whitten (the body builder and state swimming medalist) concluded.  I guess it's harder than one would think.

The Armstrongs held down the fort -- Eddie, Ryan and Molly quite prefer them -- and even picked up the ransacked house.

Saturday morning the Christmas decor went up, and the BINGO game went down.  We had never played our favorite game with Elijah before.....How is that even possible?

These two boys showered in 1minute and 23 seconds and the crowd went wild.

Our weekend ended with lots of games -- TENZI cash winners -- and lots and lots of betting on the camels.

 

It's Still Warm

We went to Walmart for FHE and purchased toys for kids around the world.  We fit our offerings in a little shoe box and included a picture of our family.  

Nick, Ed and Ryan rode skateboards.  Maddie begged me to buy her items.  Molly understood the task and carefully chose a nice dolly and lots of accessories. 

We're reading Thanksgiving stories from Aunt Jo's scrabbag.  We quite like them.

The MUHS swim banquet was a success.  Maddie is only one of two sophomores on the teams.  She represented well.

Nick was surrounded by his best buddies this year on swim.  His smile makes all the girls swoon.

Since the beginning of November, we spend each school morning on the trampoline memorizing gospel truths.  I set a timer for 17 minutes, and we go.  We now have the Family Proclamation, Restoration Proclamation and The Living Christ memorized.  Those lines keep all jumpers in their correct quadrants.

NEW HAIR!

Last April Nick was given a fish as an answer to prom.  Bluey died this week -- he rearranged her environment and she got stuck under a bush.  Sad.  We held a funeral.Bluey's Funeral

Eddie marked her grave.

I finally ordered Maisie's missionary plaque.

Lots of college football these days.

We have a new family picture!  Elijah is officially on our wall. 

We spent most of Saturday at Eddie's wrestling tournament.  He won three and lost one.  The one he lost, he should have won.  Good times.

 Maisie's Update:

• "I hit two months.  466 days until February 27th.  Don't worry, that's the February 26th in 2026.  Eberyone's like: it goes by too fast.  I'm like: When does that start?"
• "I really appreciate Emily."

Andy's Report:

• "I look like Rudolph."
• "I helped Grandma and Melanie trap a little mouse."

Armstrong Update:

• Babies and parents are with us for a few weeks as E's new job opens ups and they move to Utah.  We are loving their sweet family.

A Harvest of Memories

Another week of a beautiful life.

Eddie's shiner is healing.  That's a good thing.

Our primary hosted an activity where our children were called on missions kearned all about countries all over the world.

Austin was the Italy mission presenter.  He made a flag and brought in his best props and pictures.  He even made them gelato.

Monday was Veteran's Day! We are grateful for the veterans in our family.  Uncle Mike and Grandpa B. both served in the Vietnam War.  Grandpas Guymon and Goodell served in WWII.  Currently, the war we wage is the fight to maintain our obligations.  We have rights, but we have to fight for our eternal roles.  

The family was home together, so I wanted to hike a mountain.  We decided that Bear Mountain was the perfect choice.  Molly was practically dragged up, but she skipped and chatted all the way down.  Nick's long legs sent up cruising along so fast.  Ryan was pleasant and was the water hog.  Maddie was a bush wacker, she didn't notice the white painted hexgons that mapped the route.  Eddie whined all the way up, but ran down.  Austin stayed with Molly and held her hand.  Me, I was in the middle of the pack up and the last down.  

The view is amazing.

Afterwards we cleaned the office.  I accused Molly of taking candy home in her pockets, she pulled out flossers, toothpaste and tooth picks.

The next day Molly was scheduled for her upper centrals extraction.  

Boom.  We're hoping that her underbite changes with space while her teeth grow in. 

Big bucks from the tooth fairy.

Thursday night was my stake YW auxiliary meeting.  We were blessed to be guided and directed.

Friday night Austin, Nick and Ed went backpacking with the YM.  Fossil Creek was their destination.

Very nice teen.

The Armstrongs are here!  We are a transition space while they finalize employment in Utah.  We are so happy.

Handy at the gym.  He called me on their way to the temple.  "I put my name on the prayer roll -- you know I need that."

Sister Babcock sends the best emails.

Here are her details:

• She found some sunless tanner which resulted only in an orange elbow.
• There is often a school-yard pick on p-day, and she gets chosen and is labeled as an assest in volleyball, 
• They found three potential people, three of whom approached them. 

This is a gem we found this week."Jingle Bells" 2019

The babies are 1! What a miraculous year of growth and joy.  We think they are pretty special.

A huge shout out to their parents who survived this year.  More than survived, they managed to create a happy home where these children are loved and nutured with every ounce of hope and love.