November

Karen Tobler and I met for brunch (love her. Best ministering sister I've ever had.) and she brought me a little container of her yummy granola. Homemade acai bowls are still my specialty. 

He sure lives the life! 

Blanket. Check! Sucker. Check! Remote. Check! Cowboy boots. Check! What's not to love here?

Why does it pain my soul to get rid of sentimental stuff?? I don't think any more toddlers are on their way to our house so I said goodbye to all their old, Halloween costumes. *tear*

My constant companion in all I do.

Signed up to clean the temple and it was my favorite time so far. I got assigned to clean the grout in the bathrooms on the main floor (sounds terrible, but wait). I was with Kimber McArthur in my ward and two other ladies from Elliot Groves ward... Christy Horne and this other fun lady who helped a lot at Olive's baptism. We had so much fun, camped out on the floor with our Magic Erase scrubbies, chatting for hours. The temple is closed right now for renovations so there were plastic sheets, ladders and construction materials everywhere. I guess they were resealing the floors so we needed to get the grout sparkling!

I used to make to-do lists constantly, but with the monotony of my days and repetition of my chores, I don't much anymore. Here's a glimpse of a rare one. I am so busy every day. Sometimes, though, I wonder what in the heck I do. Like, how do "working moms" do it? How would our lives even work if I had a job outside the home? 

He loves to go to the "jumps" at the end our street. Sometimes the farmers mow down the piles of dirt, but usually they're there. This background though. How beautiful is that?!

Weston is playing fall ball on the Gilbert American Little League and loving it. Grandma came to cheer this night!

Met Camilla and Fox at the new place in San Tan Mall called Kid Empire. Camilla and I could chat for hours. And we do. These two nearly had the place to themselves! 

Winnie turned 1! We've had a dog for almost a whole year. Woof. I feel like I've barely made it out alive. Our house is much worse for wear. I baked her some doggie cupcakes special for her birthday. I don't know why Olive had been crying. Par for the course. Someone is always crying. The kids sang Happy Birthday, Olive blew out the candle, Winnie took the cupcake in her mouth and promptly hightailed it out the door.

We didn't audition for the Nutcracker, but they didn't have enough Candies so she was automatically put in. Isn't she the most darling Gumdrop?! Holy smokes though. The rehearsals were no joke. And then the week of the show in December was so much driving. They performed in Queen Creek at the Combs Performing Arts Center which is a 30 minute drive. Between dress rehearsals and actual performances, I was wiped. And her part was literally 3 min. long. Next year, I think we'll audition and get her some parts that make all the effort worth it.

Our stake Relief Society organized an Interfaith Day of Service activity one Saturday morning. I bought lots of supplies to donate and spent hours smoothing out grocery bags to be tied into blankets. And we still barely made a dent on the bags. It was a daunting endeavor!

Arizona is killing me with it's beauty! These colors were even more vibrant in person, I swear.

Tanner has made friends with a boy named Tyde and they love to play together after preschool.

Gas prices are soaring and it's so frustrating, but these stickers make me laugh.

Olive went with Trav to a paddleboarding race and Weston had his end of the season, baseball party, so Collin, Tanner and I had ourselves a date night. We got burgers at Shake Shack, then ice cream at DQ. And so funny, while we were eating, the Laws walked in! They were getting a treat after Livy's dance performance. It was fun to visit with them.

Olive had the time of her life on this trip. They went with the Krausers and another family in their ward. It was on the Colorado river near Parker, AZ. Travis got first in his division!!

Collin has played many seasons with the Jaguars and Coach Singleton, but they've never won until this year! 1st place and proud of it! It was fun to see the boys so excited. They got championship rings and enough pride to last for years. 

Nothing like winning with your best friend!

It was the Primary Program and these kids were loved! Weston sang a song with his class and they all had individual parts to say. Tanner got to fill in the blank for his part, "I can be like Jesus....by loving mom." He said it so bashful and sweet. It was the first year Collin wasn't up there!

Us girls met at Liberty Market for Abbey's birthday! It's interesting to think we are complete now. Everyone's married. Lots of different personalities. We'll feel more comfortable with each other soon enough I hope.

We really lucked out being friends with Kirk! He had tickets to the Suns game and Collin was the lucky guy who got to go with Dad.

With temples still mostly closed and few appointments available, it's been so hard to find a time to take Collin. I finally found an opening on a weekday at 4pm. I had to ask my mom to come over and be with the kids after school, pick up Collin early from school, meet Trav at work and drive all the way to Phoenix, but dang it, we made it happen!! Collin was beyond thrilled. His excitement was SO cute. When the temple workers learned it was his first time, they were extra attentive and kind to us. Taking time to explain extra things and really make sure Collin felt comfortable and understood what was happening. It was such a wonderful experience. Travis baptized and confirmed him and I was able to be there for all of it. Afterward, we got dinner at Cheesecake Factory. Fancy fancy. :) Collin is such a great kid. Truly. He wants to do what's right. He is fun and spirited and goes through life with happiness. I feel so grateful and lucky he is my son.

When we went through the Phoenix temple open house, he was just 5, I think. I thought this before and after was cool!

Marcie told me about this product line called Dr. Schultzes that her friend, Vanessa Gaytan, had success with when she was trying to beat her cancer. I was intrigued so I bought the Kidney Detox kit. It was INTENSE. Brewing the tea (looked like when kids use grass clippings to make "soup" in the yard, haha) taking the drops and making sure to drink all the water was so much work! I didn't eat much while I was doing it. I think I had a green salad some days and a couple times I ate some oatmeal. But I wasn't hungry from all the drinking. I wasn't having any bladder or kidney problems, but one thing I noticed after I was done, was I didn't need to get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom anymore! So interesting! Before this, I always got up at least once to pee in the night. But now, I rarely do. And if I do, it's more like around 5am by the time I need to.

We noticed a leak in the garage ceiling. Wahhh! Later, we found out the master bathroom toilet was leaking. Not cheap to repair.

Weston's team won the championships!! I forget why, but Travis couldn't be there. I was all sorts of anxious at the game. Near the end, I almost couldn't watch! Then they WON and the boys were whooping and hollering and running the bases and jumping on top of each other. So so fun to watch. I was so happy for them! They had a little ceremony afterward and Weston got a medal. That called for banana splits from DQ!

Olive was in the Gilbert Days Parade! I had to wake her up at 4:45am to get ready and down there in time. 

It really is such a good parade, with lots of marching bands and cool floats. The boys yelled at every mascot who walked by to do the dab. Almost all of them obliged.

I got a new car.

Gulp.

Dolly was just breaking down constantly. I think we put several thousand into her just this past year. After the fiasco of having to run with Della and Tanner in 115 degrees to pick it up from the shop, I was finally willing to talk about getting a new car. Then I saw the price tag. And changed my mind. But Travis met this guy at Henry Brown who gave us a bit of a deal and he ordered a new, Yukon XL. He promised me that when it got here in 4 months, if I didn't want it, we didn't have to take it. I wish we could have bought a used one, but for all of Travis's researching, apparently used cars are impossible to find at a decent price without 100,000 miles on them already. It just didn't make sense to buy used. It took a few weeks of getting used to the idea of the price and knowing we could pay for it outright to come around to the idea. When the call came in that the car was here I LITERALLY felt so nauseous driving to the dealership. It's the new body style and almost no one has one yet. I felt so pretentious having such a nice car. I wished we could buy it but that I could drive it around with a sheet over it or something so no one could see me. I could tell Travis thought I was being silly. But honestly, my stomach hurt so bad thinking about it. Then I got in the car and about melted in luxury. I couldn't help but squeal, "It's so pretty!!!!" How could I not take it??! I knew my other car was old, but it took being in a new one to really open my eyes. I could drive without the big crack in the dashboard rattling! I could see out my passenger, side mirror! (My old one was hanging by a thread). It drove like we were gliding on clouds. It's a diesel, so I don't have to fill up as often. I got an hour long tutorial from an employee about all the bells and whistles and how to work the screen functions. I cleaned out Dolly and said my goodbyes. She was a good car to us! It's all that Olive and Tanner have ever known. And it was really fun picking up the kids from school and seeing their reactions, haha! I cannot even describe how spoiled I felt. For weeks after I got it, I would get in and immediately say a prayer of thanks. I 100% recognize how lucky I am and I do not take this blessing for granted. Thank you, husband! 

I always go to the 5:30 class at my gym and it's just a small group of us girls who have become friends. We were doing pull ups one day and they all started making a fuss about my back. Which, to be clear, I do not see what they were seeing. But Jenn grabbed my phone and took some pictures to show me and I decided I would document it so that one day, when I'm old and saggy I could remember what it was like to be strong, haha. Still annoying that I can't do a pull up unassisted though!! Wtf.

I've been bad about running in the mornings as it's gotten colder, when I do get out, I am always amazed at the beauty and peacefulness of the morning. And look at the gradation in blues on that mountain! The earth is so beautiful.

THANKSGIVING!!!

Woohoo! My second favorite holiday. Except things were different this year, which made me sad. The Goodmans invited everyone to the dunes and most people decided to go. Marcie and I rallied and did Thanksgiving lunch at my house. My mom came for a little bit, too, before driving to the dunes. I made my pies the day before but messed up the crust on one batch. The sides totally caved in when I was prebaking it. So Della, Tanner and I munched on crust and weren't too sad about it. 

So happy that the Gilbert Turkey Trot was happening again! Covid restrictions are finally going away. I LOVE this tradition with my family. It was the first time that Olive ran the whole thing without getting into the stroller! She only had to stop a few times. Weston never stopped running and he was really struggling at the end. His breathing was ragged and I knew he was hurting but I kept cheering him on and he did it! I was so proud of all my kids!

We got home and hurried to finish the sweet potatoes and corn casserole. Travis smoked the turkey and it was *chefs kiss* amazzzing! Everyone was raving about it. At the last second I wanted to do something fun for Olive's hair so I found this idea and had the white felt on hand so wah-la! Turkey leg hair! Haha!

We had such a nice lunch together! I made a berry pie and chocolate cream and Marcie made apple and a chocolate pecan that was to die for! We had a little bit of time to rest and digest before heading to Fat Cats to see Clifford the Big Red Dog. I was fully expecting to take a nap during the movie but it was actually really good! I laughed out loud a bunch and completely enjoyed it. We went to the Evans' to visit that evening and snack on leftovers. It was a wonderful day!

And I think it was the next day at the dunes that Craig proposed to his girlfriend, Camille!

The hotly sought after honor of putting the star on the tree was Olive's!

We went on a family hike in the San Tan mountains that turned out really nice. They are at perfect ages for stuff like this. Then, we finally cashed in a trip to As You Wish. They earned it last month during conference, but we didn't have time to fit it in during fall break. Olive painted a reindeer mug, Collin painted a Bills mug, Weston painted an actual piggy, piggy bank and Tanner painted a puppy piggy bank. It was such a weird feeling to just be able to sit there while everyone painted and not have to deal with a toddler running around throwing tantrums! I'm really liking this stage! We definitely made the most out of our Thanksgiving break! 

He leads a charmed life in the mornings, being spoon fed his breakfast. 

I watched Cohen one morning for Abbey and attempted to go to Target. What was I thinking?! I actually kept him fairly occupied with snacks but man, I already forgot how hard it is to try shopping with a busy toddler. He is just like Collin was at this age. The PTSD was resurfacing, haha!

Annie is their FAVORITE. Seriously, never a more fun piano teacher. Today's lesson involved playing Pie in the Face. They were fans.