Best of 2021

1. I got my Covid vaccine early on, in January.

2. We went to Oahu for William's 40th birthday.

3. We went to Disney World and Universal Studios for Spring Break.

4. I went on a ton of mini dates with William while the kids were in school.

5. We had a family reunion in Utah (minus Sidney who was on a mission in OK).

6. William and I got front row seats to UFC 263, with Nick Diaz fighting amongst others.

7. We saw a Maroon 5 concert, which was #1 on my concert list. I knew every single song!

8. William and I left the kids in Utah and went on a Book of Mormon tour in New York. The best part was the Niagara Falls, which I'd always wanted to see. They were breathtaking!

9. I went on a lot of lunches with Erin, and then Rachelle moved out here and we went on even more.

 

December Happenings

My neighbor gifts

Alexis has way too many stuffed animals

Our naughty elf drew a mustache on the kids' faces and Alexis wore it to school (she really wanted to)!

Angela and I hit up a market with lots of cute Christmas-y stuff.

We now have a golf simulator in what used to be the playroom. 

It was fun to get the kids from school with Buddy in the passenger seat.

Our Christmas cards!

Spirit week and teacher gifts

Spirit week and teacher gifts

Spirit week

Meeting Nelly for the first time

Our elf Crystal gave the kids early Christmas presents. Alexis got a fruit cup, Logan got a piece of bread, Kendall got guacamole, and Taylor got some Ramen noodles.

We went on a hayride for Activity Days. I was dressed for the cold and Kendall was dressed for... well... the summer.

Hayride with the Hailey

It rained a ton in the week leading up to Christmas, which was great for the newly planted palm trees.

Logan and Trenton hung out at the playground, so all the siblings tagged along. 9 kids in all.

We held a hot cocoa stand. Our street isn't very busy, so it was super lame and we only had 2 customers, including William.

We went to a trampoline place with Erin and her kids and Rachelle and her kids. Afterwards, I took Rachelle to this BBQ/Mexican place that is suuuuuper yummy!

 

Meet Nelly (or Gucci)

Jac's oldest son has had a hedgehog since May. He also has 2 bearded dragons and a dog. They used to have a turtle, too, but it died this summer.

Anway... I told Jac that Kendall really wanted a hedgehog for Christmas, but that William was really against having a pet.

Her son Nixon wasn't really keeping up with cleaning Nelly's cage, so they talked together and decided to let Kendall loan it for a month. Their house is undergoing some renovations, so it was the perfect time. At the end of January, we're going to revisit and see how everyone feels about the situation. Does Nixon miss her? Is Kendall taking good care of Nelly? If Nixon wants her back and Kendall still wants a hedgehog, we'll look into getting another one. And if Nixon is okay without her, but Kendall isn't taking care of her, then we'll give her back to him. In the meantime, we've got Nelly for a month... whom Kendall will rename Gucci if we end up keeping her.

New Year's Eve

We finished the year with a bang! I signed for a goat yoga class when April and Sarah first started it, 5 years ago. I don't know why it took me so long to sign up for another one. It was soooo much fun! A great way to end 2021.

When Alexis got a birthday invitation for 12/31, I wasn't sure I was going to take her. After all, that's New Year's Eve! But she wanted to go, so I took her. It was at Main Event. The older kids came with me, and they played a bunch of games while I made small talk with the other parents. Yay... Meanwhile, William went next door to practice shooting his guns.

That evening, we had cheeses and crackers and some other little appetizers, then we watched an episode of Cobra Kai, the fourth season, which had just been released. Then we had steak, a green bean casserole, and potatoes for dinner. We rested our tummies and watched another episode of Cobra Kai. Then we had creme brulees for dinner, after which we watched another episode of Cobra Kai. But then it was 8:30, so William went to bed because he was on first call the following day. Alexis and Kendall went to bed at a decent time, but the boys wanted to stay up until midnight, so we did. We didn't really do anything special, just "Oh, it's midnight. Let's go to bed now." I was tired...

 

Christmas Eve & Christmas Day

For Christmas Eve, we ate breakfast at Eggstasy, then we went to a special Christmas Eve service at The Groves.

Later that day, we spoke to Fred, Marie, Luc, and Aria, who were at Papa and Maman's house for Christmas Eve.

We had dinner at Paul's (minus Paul, who was working). The kids always like to spend time with their cousins.

The kids slept in until 7:30 AM. The older kids didn't really want much, just money, gift cards, and Robux, so they were done opening up presents really quickly. Alexis had more toys, but even then, we didn't spend much money on Christmas this year. William's golf simulator cost us nearly 70 grand, so we'll be paying for that for a while... in addition to the student loans and mortgage. *sigh*

The kids played with Legos most of the day. Then at night we got into the hot tub and spend some quality time together.

For dinner, we had a raclette. Sometimes we do it for Christmas, and sometimes we do it for New Year's Eve. I guess this year it was Christmas. William kind of rushed me, so the table didn't look as nice as I wanted... but the food was delish!

 

Christmas at the Princess Hotel

I believe this was our 4th year at the Princess Hotel, but it was our first time ice skating. We were able to do it this year because I got our tickets way in advance and because we went on a Monday instead of on a weekend. Once again, William was super nervous about Alexis ice skating, but she rocked it! After a couple of minutes on the ice, she let go of my hand and skated all on her own.

After about half an hour on the ice, we roasted marshmallows. Then we went through a maze, went around on the Ferris Wheel, and went down the ice slide a couple of times. I wish we'd done the ice slide earlier because the kids loved it, but it was already 10 PM and the adults (William and I) were getting sleepy. Still, it was a super fun evening. I love this tradition. And this year we didn't waste any time with Santa because we'd already seen him at the North Pole Experience and at Schnepf's Farms.