November

Project Dance Peeps. Love hanging out with them every Monday and we're making a tradition of going to breakfast every once in awhile. Then there's the YIN crew and I love that I have family that loves to come. Texas Roadhouse with some of these beauties was so fun. 

   

   

November 12th. A day that will live in Brynlee Thomas infamy. She got her braces and her expander put on and was so excited, nervous, happy! This day was a long time coming for her. Seriously, she has probably been asking for at least a year, maybe two or three, to get braces. What kid wants braces? Apparently ours does. So we will be going to Imagine Orthodontics every 6 weeks or so for the next year for the phase one treatment. Expander will take 5 months, 4 front braces will take about 8 months then she will have a break for about a year before she gets the full set of upper and lower braces. 

    

Cooking dinner one night and Tyler looks out the back window and says, "Why are there firetrucks coming up our street with their lights on?" Uh, because there was a house on fire just across the street a ways. It was so sad to watch and so scary. It was some kind of cooking fire that happened on the back deck with the grill. We don't know the people but we've helped them through a neighborhood effort so they can get through this. Unexpectedly, this has made Brynlee pretty paranoid and she admitted that when we come home from somewhere she wonders if our house will be on fire. That's something we will be working on with her because that's sad to feel that way. 

We did just have an experience not too long ago where Tyler was out grilling something and came inside asking what to put on a grill fire, "baking soda?" Ummmm, why? Cause he didn't clean the grill before he used it and it literally lit on fire. Good thing we have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen and he was like, "Oh yeah, I forgot we had that." Seriously. 

 

Christmas list time. Had to explain to Brynlee there is no such thing as a 121gig iPod. She wants hydro flask stickers, rollerblades, Harry Potter clock tower legos. Needs socks, bras, towels, face wash and deodorant. To wear list: sports leggings and swimsuits. To read is the Babysitters Club graphic novels and the Whatever After Series books. We picked a neighborhood boy, Anders, to be a secret Santa for this year and we got him a scooter. 

My cute friend Jeannette's daughter was doing a project to give painted canvases to those living in a senior center. We donated some money, they bought the materials, handed everything out and let all different kids paint them. Then we gave them back and they delivered them for Christmas. Perfect Covid activity for all involved. 

The gap in the teeth is definitely getting bigger. The expander is doing its job. Yippee!

How does one eat breakfast sitting like this? I'm not sure either. 

    

As for me.... I got to do a beta test for the High Fitness app and it's going to be out of this world amazing. It was only a week before it's actual release so I didn't have it long before they launched it but ever since they launched this piece of heaven, it has saved me so much time and energy! It's easier to make playlists, review songs, and see the blog. Love it. 

Sad note: I had to cancel a couple days worth of work because I sliced my palm with a knife while cutting some rolls. Man it didn't really hurt at first but my pride got to me and I was so mad that I had to cancel work because of my stupidity. Work is pretty precious right now and it hurt (not physically) to have to cancel. I tried to go back two days later and it probably wasn't super smart but I made it through even though as I was getting my stuff together to walk in the building, I reopened it trying to put on my back pack. Liquid bandaid was my life saver for several days. 

Christmas shopping for Brynlee and I saw these darling boots and treated myself. Yes, I know they are from a little girls store. I don't care. I love them. 

  

Thanksgiving Day High! Crystal is always up for decor and dressing up. Love that girl. 

It wasn't a huge class like what we are used to but we did get a good number and it made my heart happy to see so many faces. Covid has made things tough. Tougher than I realized at first but we're making it work and it will be ok. Our shirts say 'Grateful for our Girls'.

 

Thanksgiving dinner-ish at Mom and Dad's. We also did our Raise the Future (Adoption Exchange) Sub4Santa on Thanksgiving too and I like that tradition. We chose one girl this year, her name was Ashley (12yo), and it's seriously one of my favorite things we do. We got her some shoes, an alarm clock and backpack, wireless headphones, some crafty stuff, candy and clothes. 

 

  

We also picked two kids to sponsor with our High Fitness class and it was amazing! A little boy and a teenage girl. There was so much generosity and we were able to give them an amazing amount of gifts. 

 

  

The Thomas family picked a girl and the Ulrich family picked a boy as well. So we helped with another little girl and I just love how much we were all able to help and give. 

 

I should've taken a picture of everything all together. It filled my front room and we had several large bags filled to the brim with stuff for these kiddos. This year, for us, was different. I haven't had the income we usually do but we still wanted to give. We still had the means to give and I am so grateful that is the case. My business has been impacted so much and the work I do have is a blessing I don't take for granted. Having that work has allowed us to still be able to have fun and to give back in ways like this. Tyler got his yearly cost of living raise in October and that has helped as well. Life is different but we are still living comfortably but with some changes. 

Other goings on for November. 

Got to go to lunch at Sweet Lake Biscuits with Patcho (Erica). She's busy with her store, The Land of Salt, but she made time to make something I am getting for a Christmas gift and we had lunch during the exchange. I miss her. Don't get to see her often enough. 

I met up with Holli Meza for lunch at Sakana one day too! I miss her and think of my Magna friends often and wonder what they're all up to and how things are going so it was good to hang out with her too. 

We refinanced our house through Homie. Got a better rate and a lower mortgage which helps with our financial situation but boy, that's a lot of paperwork. 

Dad had his gall bladder taken out finally. Hopefully that helps him feel loads better. Might take some getting used to and adjusting his diet but that needs to happen for him anyway. 

Grandma Cookie went to the hospital. She tore her ascending aorta doing something (sweeping leaves?) on the back patio. It's so sad. She didn't understand why she was there and became somewhat violent and they had to tie her to the table and hold her down then sedate her. Mom told us it worsened her memory. She also said they were going to do surgery to fix it but couldn't immediately because the ICU's were full so they'd have to wait. The waiting in the hospital broke the deal though. Grandma just wanted to go home. We all know this episode has shortened her life expectancy but by how much we can't be sure. I don't think she will make it through the winter, honestly. I'd be shocked if she made it through to her next birthday. It's sad and I don't like saying it but I think that's the reality ahead of us. It tore Grandpa apart. I went to see Grandma and Grandpa a few days after they came home from the hospital and I gave Grandma a very light touch massage on her arms, hands, legs and feet. Her feet were deteriorating and that's not a good sign usually. Her memory was worse than the last time I saw her. She asked me how old my kids were and how many I had. She repeated the Taylorsville seminary story with Tyler several times. At one point I had to explain that her Wendy was my Wendy and that I was her daughter/granddaughter. That part broke my heart a bit but it's nothing compared to what Grandpa has to deal with. Per usual she tried to pay me, she put the money in an envelope and stuffed it in my bag. But I left it on the side table by the back door. In true Grandma fashion she was worried about me being out late and driving in the dark. I listened to her talk about how her and Grandpa met, dated and got married. Her memory isn't great but her conversation is still going strong, even if it's constantly being repeated. I'm glad I got to have that special moment and do that for her. 

During the month of November, Governor Herbert put another couple weeks lock down in to place because COVID numbers were spiking again. I hadn't really made a decision on where I stood with masks and such but what I did know was that we would suffer financially, even more, if one of us got it. If any of us in this house get COVID we would have to quarantine and since this is where my business is I wouldn't be able to work, period. I prayed hard about that and you know what? My answer came clearly and immediately. THAT NEVER HAPPENS TO ME! It was simple, "You already know what you have to do." So I did. We let our families know we would be wearing masks to functions to minimize risk of exposure but we didn't want to stop living either so we would still come to things. It was not easy. Brynlee felt picked on, people didn't agree but that's ok. No one else in either of our families have the same situation as we do. Ty's family basically all got it and it wasn't bad for them which is great. It's not that I'm worried that we would get really sick either. It's mainly the fact that I am exposed to people differently because of my line of work so A) I don't want my family or friends to get COVID from me because I have my hands on people and are in close contact with them and B) we can't take the risk of me shutting down my business for a potential 6 weeks. I struggled hard with this. Especially because it's around the holidays and no one else really agrees with our way of thinking so we had to just do our thing. 

Weird adulting/grown up thing we had to do. Brynlee had a temple prep meeting. Ugh! She is old enough to go to the temple in January and I'm like what!!!!??? However, the meeting didn't really give a whole lot of logistics for what to do and how to do things when you go to the temple so I'm glad I can eventually go with her, when the temples open back up again. What a day that will be. Looking forward to it.