well how is it 3 months later....I really feel like it has not been that long since I posted something. Who knows where it went. or time is flying.
We headed down to Texas for Wes' wedding the week before Thanksgiving. The kids were sooo excited to get to fly again. We got a hotel with Jordans for the two nights we were in Dallas. We did an adult dinner with all of Amandas family (she had family that flew in from across the country) at the church and mom and dad had it catered. Everyone went around the room and introduced themselves and actually it was super nice (it took awhile but I enjoyed getting to know all of Amanda's family) and then us sibs gave Amanda a Haynie survival kit (earplugs, cleaning supplies, an alarm clock, and I can't remember the rest of the things) but we told stories along with it. It was fun.
The next day we swam and ate and some of our family went on a long run together. We all got dressed and went out to a huge beautiful barn/ reception place. That is where they were married and had their dinner and reception. It was so perfect and beautiful. Lucas got to be the ring bearer and Lila and Lucy were the flower girls. It was super sweet. Lucas nad Lila couldn't make it down the aisle without tears and running to Ryan (Lucas) and throwing herself on the floor (Lila). 3 year olds....
We all had appetizers/drinks and then dinner started and we all ate together and then had speeches and then dancing started. It was serious. And the DJ was the best I have ever been around. He sang amazing (he could cover anything) and he played the best parts of songs and mixed stuff..he was really really good. Wes loves to dance anyway, and with all the cousins it was a big party. Wes even split his pants (like serious split). It was a perfect night and we were all so tried by the end. The next morning we all headed to Houston to stay at Syd's house for the week. Mom and dad were down at a neighbors (They needed a quiet place to go back to at night;)). It was the best week. AMAZING super healthy food, lots of sports--especially VB and basketball at the church (one night we played till midnight cause it was so fun to play VB with all the teenagers, a talent show/FHE at the church that was basically like parts with all the cousins), a chocolate tasting from Switzerland courtesy of Carl and Court (who weren't there but Carl had left them after the wedding when he headed home), walks in the morning to solve all the worlds problems with Anna and Syd, lots of wrestling of all the teenage boys, a temple trip and dinner with adults, a little shopping, playing at a park (all the teenagers and anna, curt and I played vb and juggling the soccer ball for several hours, we did a day down at the beach (which was super windy and a little chilly--but SO fun we all loved it). Lots of chatting, games, etc. and Monday night we did Thanksgiving dinner with everyone.
Curt was in charge of having the kids clean up the house and he told the kids he'd give $20 to anyone that picked up more things than him (which he would never let happen) but man was it effective. He did buy icecream for everyone the next day. 18 of us fit into Syd's van to go to Sprouts one morning right before we left. Just lots of little fun moments. I love being together.
We came home Thanksgiving day at night (which meant we had to Uber home in 2 cars....lame $90 later). But it was super nice to have Fri-Sun to catch up on sleep, hangout and put up Christmas. It was really nice.
December was slammed but most of our shopping had been done online on Black Friday so it was fun activities. Clara was in Mountain West ballets nutcracker and there was months of practices leading up to the 10-12 performances they did. She was in cast A which did half of them. She loved it so much. She loved performances and her 5 minutes on stage each time. She loved all the behind the scenes and memorizing everyone's dances she could. She loved the makeup and processes and costumes. She is so excited to do it again. The performance was semi professional and soo good. We loved going to see it. That was a lot of December for her, plus her regular ballet mini nutcracker. The school didn't have as many things this year (because of Covid of course--I think everyone loves the excuse to not do things:). One day Clara and Lucas and I loaded up our wagon and knocked on doors and delivered our poutporri to our neighbors. I actually enjoyed that day so much. We did carol a bit with Pratts in our neighborhood and with all the extended Haynies one Sunday night in Dan and Tara's neighborhood which is always a treat.
Christmas day we ended up getting each of the kids one big gift and hiding them in the 5 rooms downstairs and putting an "answer" on the door of each room. They had to solve a math problem to see which room theirs was in. It actually was so fun and we loved giving them the things they got. Robbie got a bench and Bowflex adjustable weights, Aubrie got a nice guitar and case and Christmas carols book to practice, Hallie got a trip to Boise to stay with Paige (still needs to happen), Blake got a dirtbike (that was HUGE for him, we used his saved up money to pay for a small part of it--Robbie had found an awesome deal on a KTM 65 and bought it with Milo and they all worked on it for a few weeks to get it running). It was the greatest surprise and Robbie had it all planned out at the church, and Blake started crying when he saw it (We had put dirtbike boots behind his "door"). Clara got a Vespa electric scooter I had found at a pawn shop and cleaned up, and Lucas got a new bike (that looks like a little dirtbike). It was a great day with mom and dad here too.
We gave our parents a painting we commissioned Lindsay to paint of the SLC temple. And we all wrote our family plan for the year to increase our temple attendance and experiences with the temple--each family was different. We did it for Jensens and for Haynies and it was really neat for both of them. It was special to give it to them. Ours is to go twice a month (once together and once alone) which will stretch us. And to take each of the younger kids on a "temple date" and the teenagers are going once a month and collectively doing 100 names indexing each month. I hope we all have our tents more turned to the temple by the end of the year.
We went to AZ for the week in btw Christmas and New Year. It was a little chilly some of the days. It was a packed week. We did a kids temple trip and dinner one night, Bingo with adults another night, dinner as adults another night, lawn games, swimming in Sullivans new pool, a morning of classes (cooking, trains and shooting) for all the kids over 8, Ryan and I went on a long run one day and jumped in the freezing pond after--Hatches new pond area is just beautiful and they have worked so hard to make it resort-like
I got sick the next day--which we now believe was Covid being passed around). By the time we headed home Sunday Robbie and Ryan were getting it too. We stayed home most of that week assuming we had Covid (Although Hallie on down never really got sick). It was doable. Robbie got the sickest with flu like stuff and was coughing so hard. He still isn't totally back to normal. Ryan and I basically had head colds and headaches. We managed to pass it through preschool though apparently (we had sent Lucas without realizing that he might have Covid) then we learned that day that Dave tested positive and by the next few days there were 8-10 adults that had all tested positive and we were pretty sure we had it. But we never went to get tested since the lines were a 3-4 hour wait. Ain't nobody got time for that. But later when they did a test to stay at school Aubrie tested positive and Robbie tested negative so we were wishing that we had got tested so she could stay at school since she wasn't sick. We ended up having a long weekend so she didn't miss too much school.
That was MLK weekend which was SUCH a highlight weekend for me. Aubrie was technically in quarantine so we spent the weekend altogether. We went to Antelope Island on Saturday all together and it was the funniest time. Biking across the 6 mile bridge, ice skating on the frozen lake and exploring. And then finding 100 bison from the herd all hanging out by the side of the road and watching them for a good 30 minutes before needing to head home so Hallie could babysit. we stopped at 5 guys to eat on the way home and we were all starving by then. Sunday we were asked to stay home again by the bishop since Aubrie had technically tested positive. I do like our Sunday church routine with Ryan blessing, Robbie passing and watching over Zoom.
Come Follow me has been a total blessing for our family. It is always such a process to start every week but it is rarely not worth it. I am grateful for how persistent Ryan is with it especially. It often leads to such good discussions and lots of good remembering and learning. Last Sunday it led to a great discussion about the importance of strengthening and being careful with our family relationships so that they are good friends as adults. I should write all the details cause it was such a good discussion (Bryan shared some of his relationship with Amber Kay and how his mom talked to him about how much he was affecting her self-esteem and then how close they became in college, etc). I have noticed the kids genuinely trying to change their attitudes toward each other. It's not perfect but definitely better. Especially with the older kids. I am very grateful.
This past weekend Hallie played in her first VB tournament. It was SOOOOO fun to watch her play. She has improved so much. They recently asked her to be the captain and it just has helped her bloom and to get out of her comfort zone and be a leader in her quiet confident way. We stayed at mom and dads Friday night to be down there for the tournament Friday and Saturday night (Ryan brought Blake and RObbie down after practices) and it was so good to be in their amazing comfortable home and have them come to the games with us. DAd made a yummy pancake breakfast, they helped with the kids, cheered loud at the games and just made it an awesome weekend. They are literally the best. we feel so grateful to be living near them for a short time.
Aubrie was at UTA all weekend with her theatre crew. She will have to write more about it. It was such a good weekend she said. She came home pumped and tired.
