Happy New Year from Maryland!
We had family visiting last week so I didn't take the time to write a post then. I have a lot to cover for the last 2 weeks, but I'll try not to get too detailed!
Saturday (December 20th) was quite busy. Seth went to see a movie that morning. It was our ward Christmas party that evening and we had signed up to cook a ham and bring brownies. The ham was provided by the ward. Frank put it in the oven on Friday night and cooked it on a really low temperature overnight. It smelled so good and made us all hungry for ham! We made the brownies on Saturday morning. I ran some errands with Frank and there was so much traffic--Saturday before Christmas was probably the culprit. I also cleaned the kitchen floor, practiced the ukulele a bit, and practiced all the choir songs for the next day's Christmas program. Frank replaced my laptop screen so I have a functioning laptop again. 😊 We went to the ward Christmas party that evening and it was very nice. Lots of good food, beautiful decorations, visiting, and instead of a program we did a service project where we put together food packages to be given to school kids who are at risk of going hungry when they aren't at school. ("Blessings in a Backpack") Afterwards, we gave a ride to Florian--one of my former Seminary students who joined the army last summer but was here visiting for the holidays. It was great to see him again!
On Sunday (December 21st) there were a lot of visitors at church and it was nice to have such a large congregation. The choir went up to the front after the sacrament and stayed there for the rest of the meeting since we were singing several songs. (We had a long practice before church.) I think all of our songs went well and I loved being able to sing them. There were a lot of congregational hymns as well and many of them were new hymns which was kind of interesting since most people didn't know them! 😂The opening song was a particular struggle because the organist didn't know it very well either. Oh well! We will never learn them if we don't sing them. Scott and Tanner flew in that evening, so we all went to the airport to pick them up. It's always so wonderful when our kids come home!
Monday December 22nd - I woke up early enough that I was able to exercise before everyone else was up. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to exercise since then (lots going on and I've also been sick) but I will be starting back up on Monday hopefully. I had a LOT of groceries to buy that day and Frank came with me to buy them which was very helpful. Seth had a follow up visit with our primary care doctor that day so I went with him to that appointment. The abscess was healing nicely and we got a referral for a GI doctor but haven't called to make an appointment yet. While we were there, Frank texted me to say that the surgeon's office called and they wanted Seth to come it to get his wound checked by a nurse and then make an appointment with the surgeon. I texted him back and asked "Why does he need a nurse to check the wound if we are at the doctor getting it checked right now?" to which he replied "Exactly what I was wondering." After we got home, Seth called them back and finally convinced them that he didn't need to get his wound checked again and he made an appointment to see the surgeon on January 5th (although they called today and changed it to the 7th). That's the short version of the story...there were several phone calls going back and forth for a while.
Scott drew Frank's name for Christmas and decided that part of his gift would be helping Frank clean out and organize his office, so that afternoon he started by breaking down a whole bunch of boxes that had accumulated in the hallway outside Frank's office. It made a huge difference--nice! Unfortunately, that's basically all he was able to do while he was here because we were busy with activities and then Scott got sick. Oh well! I'm really glad that one thing got done.
On Monday evening we all went down to the temple to see the Christmas lights and the creche exhibit. While we were there, we ran into one of Scott's good friends who is now working at the temple as a security guard. It was really great that Scott got to visit with him for a while.
After we got home, we went to an open house at Tammy's house for their daughter who just returned from her mission. Lots of fun visiting!
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(Tanner and Scott with Tammy's husband...he was one of Tanner's Seminary teachers so they are pretty close.)
Tuesday December 23rd - I picked up Jared & Jessie at the airport that morning. Frank was having some issues with his stomach, so he wasn't feeling good about the long drive to the airport and back. Instead, he stayed home and made two batches of fudge, which was very helpful. Jared & Jessie came back to our house because we were doing a family photo shoot that afternoon. We originally planned the photo shoot for Friday afternoon, but since the weather forecast was for rain on Friday, the photographer contacted me on Monday and we decided to do the photo shoot on Tuesday instead. I'm really glad we did because not only was the weather much better, everyone was feeling well (except for Scott, who was just starting to feel a little sick). We got the photos on Wednesday and I am really happy with how they turned out. Here are a few:
After the photo shoot, we made dinner, made buckeyes, and Frank and I went to the store to get a new shower head for the boys' bathroom because the one we had was leaking all over. Jared went to a shooting competition that evening and Tanner met a few friends at Taco Bell for a visit. I squeezed in some reading--I was still working on the book for book chat.
When Frank was melting the chocolate for the buckeyes, he got distracted and dumped the chocolate chips into the pot of hot water instead of into the pot that was going to rest inside the pot of hot water (like a double boiler). He quickly drained the water out and tried to melt them, but it didn't work. We dubbed the result "Christmas Poop":
It actually tasted pretty good, in spite of its unappetizing appearance. Fortunately, we had enough chocolate chips on hand that we were able to melt a new batch for dipping the buckeyes.
Wednesday December 24th was super busy with preparations for our Christmas Eve dinner. We decided last minute (the previous Saturday) to invite the Elders over too because no one else had signed up to feed them that night. That meant we would be crowded, but that's okay. Frank and I went back to McCutcheon's that morning (same store where we get jam) to get some Maryland scarves to give to the Elders. Frank and I did a lot of advance preparations for dinner as well--both cooking as well as getting out all the dishes, table linens, candle holders, etc. and making place cards. Tanner made cookie dough and later that day we baked the cookies and decorated them. I also went with Tanner to deliver some of those cookies to a friend of his--she served in the same mission as him and she and her family recently moved into our stake. She actually wasn't home, so I didn't get to meet her, but it was nice to take a break from dinner preparations and visit with Tanner plus there was a cool halo around the sun:
We had all the kids here for dinner as well as the Elders and it was really lovely. One of the Elders is brand new and he is from Mesa, Arizona so it was nice to have that connection. After dinner, we read the Christmas story in Luke, Matthew, and 3rd Nephi and then we watched a short video and we each shared a gift that we want to give to Jesus this year. (Like being kinder or being a better listener.) The Elders both shared testimonies with us before they left.
After the Elders left, we watched The Muppets Christmas Carol and then everyone helped prepare the stockings before we went to bed.
Thursday December 25th - we all slept in, which was awesome! Frank and I woke up before everyone else and we exchanged a few gifts with each other. Then we went downstairs and started making some cinnamon rolls for breakfast. After everyone was awake and Jared & Jessie arrived, we opened all the presents. Each of us gave to one person this year. Frank gave to Tanner, I gave to Seth, Scott gave to Frank, Tanner gave to Jared, Jared gave to Jessie, Jessie gave to me, and Seth gave to Scott. It simplified things a lot and it was really nice! I was more interested in watching everyone else open their presents than I was in opening my own, so I didn't open mine until last. 😂 Frank and I surprised the kids by giving each of them a gift card, which they weren't expecting.
After breakfast, Jessie did an IQ test on Tanner (she's learning to administer them and needs practice). Then we played a few games (Tenzie and Bank) before Jared & Jessie needed to head back over to her house. The rest of the day we just relaxed. I talked to my Mom and texted with Amy a bit. I spent a lot of the day finishing the book chat book (My Friends) because it was due the next day & I couldn't renew it because someone else had requested it. We made pizza for dinner which everyone enjoyed.
Scott wasn't feeling very well on Wednesday and was feeling pretty rotten on Thursday but after a few naps he started to feel a little better later in the day. Seth started to get quite congested again and didn't feel his best either but fortunately he never got really sick.
My Christmas loot. Frank gave me the four things on the left (gray pants, Sleep Smarter book, Crochet book, and hand warmers) and Jessie gave me the four things on the right (blue pants, watch, First State of Being book, and digital photo frame):
Most of those things were from my wish list, but Frank surprised me with the hand warmers (they are so nice!!) and Jessie surpised me with the digital photo frame, which I love! What a nice idea...she is really good at coming up with things that I love but hadn't thought of myself.
Friday December 26th - more grocery shopping, did laundry, updated the budget, ran errands (put gas in my car and returned the library book I had just finished). Scott was starting to feel better, thankfully. That evening we were invited to the Hatch home for dinner and games. We made a big salad and a layered chocolate dessert to take to that. All of Jessie's sisters and their husbands were also visiting and the Hatch family had also invited a couple of families from the stake that we know. It was loud and fun and the food was great.
Saturday December 27th - I enjoyed sleeping in but woke up not feeling too great: headache, congestion, slight sore throat. Even though I slept in, I was still awake before everyone else. I was reading scriptures and had the thought that I should check the Church website for an update on Pres. Holland--I just had the feeling that he may have passed away and when I checked, I was right. Kind of strange that I had that feeling! He will be missed so much, although we can't help feeling happy for him. I have felt really connected to President Holland for many years. The way he speaks just really speaks to my soul! In particular, he gave a talk in General Conference in April 2006 called Broken Things to Mend that I will never forget. I had been going through some difficult years, but not long before this talk was given, I felt like I had been healed by the Savior and I felt like President Holland was describing exactly what I had experienced. It was really sweet. I am so grateful for him and for all of our Church leaders who inspire me and bless me with all that they do.
Scott and I went to the storage unit and to the church to return some things we needed for Christmas Eve--a roaster oven from the storage unit and some tables and chairs to the church. I mostly tried to rest that day, though, since I wasn't feeling great. Unfortunately, Jessie was sick by then too. She had all the same symptoms as me except she was also running a fever. Jared was feeling okay so he came over to visit and to watch the Pop-Tarts Bowl with us. Scott signed up for a 24 hour free trial of Fubo so that we could watch the game using that. It was, as most of you know, a very frustrating but exciting nail-biter game and we were thrilled that BYU won in the end. We really enjoyed watching the crazy / silly award ceremony after the game ended. So funny that the football on the trophy is actually a toaster!!
Sunday December 28th - Scott and Tanner had a 6:00 am flight, so we had to get up very early to take them to the airport. We were up late and I didn't sleep well and I was feeling pretty sick, but I wanted that extra hour with the boys so I went to the airport with them. It's always sad when they have to leave, but I'm so grateful that everyone was able to be together for Christmas this year! It's the first time since Christmas 2020 that we've all been together for Christmas and the last time we were all together for Christmas in Maryland was 2012.
After we got back from the airport, we went back to bed for a few hours. Frank went over to the church to set up the broadcast for the first ward, but he wasn't feeling well by then either so we both stayed home from church. We were able to watch our sacrament meeting from home; Tammy's daughter who just returned from her mission was the main speaker and she did a great job. We stayed in bed all day and tried to rest. Originally, we had planned to have Jared & Jessie over for dinner and to play games but Jessie was still sick so we weren't able to do that. (And I guess it was just as well since Frank and I were sick too.) Seth was feeling fine so he went to our ward's Sacrament meeting and to the YSA sacrament meeting as well.
Frank shaved off his beard that day (he stopped shaving at the beginning of November so he had a pretty decent beard) but I didn't even notice until Seth pointed it out the next morning! Wow, I'm observant.
Monday December 29th - I slept in and tried to get as much rest as possible while doing a lot of laundry (including a lot of bedding since we had just had house guests) and planning 2 week's worth of menus. I put in a pick up order at Wal-mart and Seth was going to pick it up for me but when the pick up time arrived I got a message saying my order had been delayed and they never did fill it--I had to give up and cancel the order after the store closed that night. Super frustrating! Instead, I gave a list to Seth and he did the shopping for me on Tuesday morning, which I really appreciated.
Back to Monday...I printed up the tax certification tests and went through the first two tests (they are short & easy--only 10 questions each.) Jared visited briefly but Jessie was still sick so we didn't get to see her. Seth went to see a movie at a friend's house that evening. I was starting to feel a little better by the end of the day and thought I might be "turning the corner". Frank, on the other hand, was feeling really miserable all day.
Tuesday December 30th - I didn't sleep well so felt tired all day. Seth went to the store for us, as I mentioned earlier. I cleaned the bathrooms and then spent the rest of the day taking down all the Christmas decorations. I'm OCD about the ornaments and have to go through all of them every year to make sure none of them get lost which is why it takes so long! 😈 We have special ornaments for each year we've been married, plus a lot of extras and there is not enough room on the tree for all of them so we don't use all of them every year and I feel the need to inventory and organize them as I put them away. I know it will drive Frank crazy, so I always tell him I will do it myself. He was too sick to help this year anyway. I was very tired and my back hurt by the end of the day but everything was packed up neatly and accounted for!
Jared & Jessie flew back to Texas that day. They stopped by our house briefly to say goodbye. Jessie was still somewhat sick, but her fever had finally broken at least. We are sad that we didn't get to see her for the second half of their visit. It was a bummer that so many of us got sick!
Wednesday December 31st - Seth helped me take all the boxes of Christmas decorations back to the storage unit. We also returned one more table to the church (the table for all the sweets...we had eaten enough of them by then that we could fit what was left onto the table in our dining area). On our way home, we stopped to pick up 2 prescriptions for Frank which took a while because half the world was picking up prescriptions that day. After we got home, I dusted and swept and vacuumed with some help from Seth. It's a nice feeling to have a relatively clean and uncluttered house again. I also planned one of next week's Seminary lessons. Around dinner time we started a puzzle--Erick & Liz sent us one of Boise for Christmas so we made that one. It was only 500 pieces (we usually make a 1000 piece puzzle) but an easier puzzle was perfect for us this year since we were still recovering from illness. We got the outside edge done and then took a break for a while. Florian (former Seminary student) came over for dinner and for a few hours afterwards; he and Seth went together to a YSA New Year's Eve party after that. I worked on the puzzle a bit more and Frank helped a little bit. He was starting to feel a little better but still not great. Surprisingly, he did stay up until after midnight, though, so we got to wish each other a Happy New Year. (Frank has not made it to midnight for the last several New Year's Eves which is one reason I was so surprised that he stayed up this year.) We went to bed around 1:00 and Seth came home shortly after that.
The puzzle at 11:00 pm:
Thursday, January 1, 2026 - When we woke up, we had alerts on our phones for snow squalls that had been sent around 4:00 am. What? Did it snow? There had not been any snow in the forecast. I looked out the window, and sure enough...there was a dusting of snow all over everything.
It was sunny all day which was really nice--I always feel more cheerful when it's sunny!
The day was busy with grocery shopping and laundry (including a lot more bedding because I washed all our sheets and pillowcases since we'd been sick). I also planned my second Seminary lesson for next week, worked on the third tax certification exam (I completed the first 6 scenarios), and we finished the puzzle.
Working on it around 10:00 am:
Although I started to improve on Monday and felt almost completely better by Wednesday, on Thursday I started feeling congested again and by evening my head and neck were hurting, which was how I felt when I started getting sick in the first place. Frank has improved a little bit each day and by Thursday was doing quite a bit better.
Friday January 2nd - My neck has felt better today, thankfully. I have a little bit of lingering congestion, headache, and slight sore throat, so I'm not 100% better, but I'm not feeling too bad. I updated the budget this morning which took a lot longer than it should have since it's a new year and there were some issues with the new spreadsheet that Frank had to work out. I spent the afternoon and early evening completing the last 3 tax scenarios for the advanced tax certification test and was able to complete all three tests and got 100% on all three of them. 😊 I'm glad to be able to check that off of my "to do" list. Frank was awesome and let me work and made dinner for me.
Seth was gone to work most of the day today (his first shift in a couple of weeks--between his health problems and the family visit for the holidays, he had a lot of time off) and he has another shift tomorrow.
I've spent the rest of the day working on this blog post and now it is nearly midnight so it's been another long day. There is a Seminary training tomorrow at the stake center by the temple and I wanted to go to that but since I'm still not feeling my best, I probably won't go. I still have quite a bit of preparation to do for both of my lessons next week, but I am grateful that I have been able to get so much done this week in spite of being sick for a lot of it. I feel like I am mostly caught up on all the household chores and ready for the Seminary onslaught to begin again next week. 😂
Interesting story to finish up. When I was putting away Christmas decorations on Tuesday, I was contemplating this little nativity set that Frank's mom gave us when Scott was a baby:
I've always loved it because it's so durable and the kids could play with it when they were little without destroying it. I've always wondered why there were no shepherds, though. When I was putting it away, I decided to check online to see if perhaps a shepherd set exists but we just didn't get that one. (The set we have came in three parts--Holy family, wise men, and animals). I discovered that we have a complete set...there really isn't any shepherds. What surprised me, though, is that complete sets like ours are now selling on eBay for about $150! It definitely didn't cost that much when it was brand new. 😄
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