Talking Gingerbread

Maysen and Stockton both gave talks in sacrament meeting today. They did so good!  My dad came to watch them.  That was pretty nice since I just told him about it at 10:00 last night.  My dad loved the talks. Stockton talked about gratitude.  He was really funny and talked about the children of Israel not being grateful when food was falling from the sky.  He also talked about losing a ping-pong tournament last year and how he was grateful he could make someone else happy. Maysen talked about hard work.  It was good timing because she is completely stressed right now.  Mostly because of her statistics class. She gave a quote from Chicken Run.  "It takes hard work, perseverance and hard work.  You said hard work twice!  That's because it takes twice as much hard work as perseverance."  They both did fantastic.  They just jotted down notes so they were able to look at the audience for most of their talk.  They also spoke clearly and were easy to understand.  We heard many, many compliments on how great they did.  I 100% agreed with all of them.

We had my family's gingerbread party today.  I was pretty stressed because I was also trying to finish Sam's Christmas stocking.  Mike and I have Matt & Sam's name for Christmas this year.  We had picked them up some nick-nacks from our trip.  We got Sam a Smithsonians baseball (she collects those) and we got Matt a disappearing constitution mug.  When you put hot water in it part of the constitution disappears.  We laughed so hard at that one.  We found it at Mark Twain's house.  Anyways, I had been wondering what to get them when a few weeks ago I decided on Christmas stockings.  I was just finishing Anne's when I had that idea.  The problem was it is so close to Christmas!  Anyways, I found these stockings that weren't as time consuming as some of the others.  I thought they turned out really cute. I finished Sam's stocking about 20 minutes before everyone came over. I was quite stressed, but so glad I got it done!  I forgot to take a picture of Anne's stocking before I gave it to her on her birthday.  I'll need to ask Matt & Sam for a picture.

Matt's stocking

 Sam's stocking

 I like the way these look together

We had fun decorating the gingerbread.  My dad brought pizza and I ate way too much candy!  Maysen spent her time helping Anne decorate her house.  They were pretty cute together.

Anne & Maysen

Bubs and Ange brought a friend.  Right before Thanksgiving they were at McDonalds when someone came and asked them for directions. They talked to her and found out she was from Mississippi.  She came to Utah to find someone to adopt her baby.  She was all alone except for her toddler Ava.  Bubs and Ange invited her to Thanksgiving at their house.  Ange has worked hard to help her feel comfortable in Utah. They invited her to make gingerbread with us.  (I knew about this, they just didn't spring it on me.)  Anyway, Ange's friend Jasmine had a great time.

Ange

 Jasmine

 Ella

 Millie

Jorja invited Katlyn to do gingerbread with us.  A few days ago Katlyn told Jorja she couldn't go because they had a family thing.  Jorja misunderstood and thought Katlyn said she could come because it is a family day.  Thinking back, that doesn't make sense.  I wonder if I'm remembering that wrong.  Anyways, I picked up Jorja from Katlyn's house a few days ago.  I was talking to her mom and said, "Thank you so much for letting Katlyn come to make gingerbread at our house. Jorja's so excited."  I did not realize that they were not planning on sending her.  Katlyn came and missed her cousin's birthday party. Whoops.  Katlyn's family is so nice.  I realized later what happened and apologized to her dad when he picked her up.  He laughed and said he knew she would have more fun here anyways.  Jorja sure is happy when she hangs out with Katlyn, that makes me happy too.

Jorja & Katlyn

 Jorja

 Jorja & Katlyn

 Abbs, Anne & Maysen

The little kids finished decorating their houses a lot sooner than the older kids/grownups.  Anne has been obsessed with the movie Hercules.  She keeps talking about the bad guy.  Maysen took the little kids in my room to watch Hercules.  We had several beanbags in there that Mike is planning on taking up to the cabin.  Mike got a $250 Overstock gift card for working at Overstock for 5 years.  He bought these beanbags with those.

Anne, Maysen, Millie, Abby

 Ange (Ava in the background)

 Matt

 Matt, Jeff, Sam, Anne

Jorja had Jeff's name for Christmas.  She made him a hat, although it looks too small for him already.  She also got him a puzzle that is like one Grandma Parry had.  This is what Preston wanted to give Parker, but we could not find another one.  Preston ended up giving Parker the train puzzle.

Maysen & Jeff

 My dad was very interested in Jeff's present.

Stockton had Anne's name as well.  Crazy how we got Matt's entire family this year.  Stockton knew right away what he wanted to get her. A tumble train!  Anne is pretty scared of it right now because it moves so fast.  She loved watching it chase Maysen around though.

Anne

Maysen had Abby's name.  She found a Hello Kitty dream light.  Abby loves Hello Kitty.  She was very happy with Maysen's choice.

Abby

 Abby & Maysen

 Abby with Jorja and Katlyn being silly behind her.

 Katlyn, Abbs, Jorja

 Katlyn & Jorja

 Katlyn

 Jorja ~ she made a manger scene

 Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus are inside

 I loved her three wisemen.

Cinnamon Santas with candy mustaches and pez as gifts.

 Jorja

For some reason Jorja used her other house when taking final pictures with Katlyn.

Jorja & Katlyn

 Ange, Bubs, Abbs, Millie

Jasmine, Ava, Ella, Lincoln

 Bubs

 Ange

 Lincoln

 Ella

 I loved her house!  Look at her cute door.

 Abigail

 Abby covered her house in Hello Kitty

 Amelia

 Jasmine

 Ava

 Dad & Max

 Dad

 Max

It's hard to tell with the picture below, but Preston make a fence with several gingerbread doors for a small farm in the backyard.

 Preston

Gingerbread done for the year.  I was hoping to make several more to give out as neighbor gifts.  I'm disappointed that I won't be able to do that.  I have been busy working on a present for Stockton and Preston that is taking all of my spare time.  Oh well, maybe next year.  It seems like I say that every year though.

Sugar Challenge Done!

I finished my no-sugar challenge this morning.  We had a fancy weigh in with a BodPod.  It is this fancy contraption where you sit in it and it measures the air displacement.  Well, I have no idea what it does exactly, but it is supposed to be accurate.  Anyways, my results were pretty good.  I started at 105 pounds, which is the heaviest I have been in years.  It doesn't sound heavy, but I am pretty short so that makes a big difference.  Anyways, I got down crazy small.  I got down to 92 pounds.  Let me emphasize that I was NOT starving myself!  I started at 26% body fat and got down to 18% body fat. I was a little disappointed with that.  I was hoping to lose 10% body fat.  I think I could have done it if I decided to be serious about the no sugar challenge from the beginning.  I didn't get serious about that until the beginning of November, about three weeks into the session.  I decided to celebrate by eating Lisa's chocolates.  They were delicious.

Mike and Jorja went shopping today.  They were shopping for ugly sweaters.  Mike got me a penguin sweater.  Jorja a Santa sweater and he got himself a Star Wars sweater.  We went to Nate and Jen's house for an ugly sweater party.  I had a lot of (sugar) food there.  I'm sensing a pattern.  Oh well.  I'm not going to worry about it over Christmas.  I'll get back on track in January.

Jorja's Braces

Mike worked from home today.  He had a dentist appointment early this morning.  He has been in intense pain for over a month.  Well, really for several months, but it has been a month since he has been to the dentist and obviously the problem has not been solved.  When I'm talking about pain, it is a lot.  Some nights I wake up to find him writhing in bed.  It has been horrible.  Mike called two weeks ago to let them know he was still in pain and needed to be seen.  They scheduled it for today.  Are you kidding me?  They can't get him in any earlier? Well, they decided to pull the tooth.  It is his wisdom tooth.  They filled it last time, I have no idea why.  I wish they would have pulled it a long time ago.  The annoying thing is they had to schedule another time to pull the tooth.  So, Mike will need to be in pain until Tuesday.  The dentist didn't even want to pull the tooth.  They wanted to see if it would get better on its own.  Mike told them he couldn't live on pain medicine anymore.  I have been texting my brother Mike the last little while about this problem.  He has a dentist friend that just moved here. He could have seen Mike awhile ago.  Mike didn't want to go to him because he thought maybe he needed to be seen by the guy that started working on his teeth.  Well, I'm definitely switching.  I'm totally annoyed with how Mike has been treated.

Okay, now that that rant is over onto more teeth news.  Jorja got her braces on today.  She looks pretty darn cute.  My little brace face Porgie.

Jorja ~ before

 Jorja ~ after

 Jorja ~ before & after

203C Off of 3

I took Jorja to the orthodontist today.  Her dentist wanted me to take her when she lost her last baby tooth.  That happened this summer.  I never got around to taking her.  Jorja has been asking me if she could have braces.  Her teeth are pretty straight, but one of her front teeth is crooked from the side.  It's barely noticeable though, but Jorja doesn't like it.  She says she wants braces now while all of her friends have braces rather than waiting and ending up having braces in high school when she would stand out more.  Anyway, the orthodontist said he would like her to wear braces for a year.  She also has a slight overbite. Might as well make her mouth perfect.  She spends a lot of time on her teeth.  Jorja has used an electric toothbrush for several years now. Both Maysen and Stockton needed to have a gum graft when they were in 4th grade.  Jorja's dentist told her that using an electric toothbrush might help her avoid that problem.  When the orthodontist was looking at her teeth he pointed to her front bottom tooth and mentioned that it was receding.  Oh boy.  Let's hope she doesn't need a gum graft, those things are painful!  I met with the office staff after Jorja's appointment to talk about a payment plan and to schedule a time to get Jorja's braces put on.  They actually have an opening tomorrow.  That happened fast.

Josh has been taunting Stockton today.  Those two are pretty funny together.  I begged Josh to record Stockton's dive for me.  Stockton was trying to convince Tyce to extend the warm ups.  Tyce wanted them to do a one minute flutter kick and then they would get on the boards. Stockton said, "No Tyce!  Let's do it for two minutes."  Anyway, Stockton did it.  As soon as warm ups were over he went right to the three meter.  First dive.  Josh was true to his word and recorded it for me.  I just have no idea how to put it on here.  I could hear Tyce count Stockton down.  Right before Stockton launches he yells, "I hate you Josh!"  Then he did it!  A back one and a half.  He HATES his back dives.  You can hear all of his teammates burst out in applause.  It was awesome.  Stockton and Josh are going to retell that story for a LONG time.

Stockton Lost a Bet

I took Stockton and Josh to diving today.  They sit in the back of the van and play Geometry Dash together.  Stockton is crazy good at that game and ranked in the top 50 in the world.  He has gotten Josh to be excited about the game as well.  It is funny to listen to them talk while they play the game on their phones.  Josh was playing a super hard level.  It was a 12 star level.  He had never beat the level, but was on his 1,161st attempt.  His battery on his phone was also about to die. Stockton randomly says, if you beat the level this time I will do a back one and a half off the three meter first thing at diving tomorrow. Well.....Josh is clutch.  He beat the level that time.  Both Stockton and Josh couldn't believe it!  They talked about it the rest of the ride home. It was really funny.  Too bad I'm not taking the boys to diving tomorrow.  I would love to see that!  Stockton has never attempted a back one and a half off of the three meter.  Way to go Josh!

White Elephant

Busy day.  I spent most of it making gingerbread and trying to finish Sam's Christmas present.  I'm hoping to have it finished by Sunday. Maysen had statistics today.  She is going to be thrilled when that is over.  She has worked really hard in that class, and she totally hates it. Jorja had a white elephant party for young women's today.  Katlyn came with her.  I picked them up from school and we stopped by Harmon's.  I needed to get more molasses.  Katlyn picked out pez and pez candy for her white elephant.  Jorja picked out a dozen Dunford donuts.  Katlyn came back with her pez and Jorja came back with a Christmas blanket.  They were both happy.

Jorja and Katlyn asked me a math question while I was making gingerbread.  I explained it, but for some reason I didn't realize it was for homework.  I thought they were just curious.  After Katlyn left, Jorja shows me her math homework that had barely been started.  I couldn't believe it!  I told her she wouldn't be allowed to have friends over if she left her homework until the last second.  She said that she and Katlyn had been doing their science homework and they didn't want to bother me while I was working on gingerbread.  I wish I would have realized they needed help.  That is the math that I'm actually good at and can explain really well.  I have no chance in helping Stockton and Maysen anymore.  I kept Jorja up late, I think she understood everything before she went to bed.  I told her to find Katlyn at school in the morning and teach her.  December sure is a crazy month!

Maysen Mary, Stockton Joseph

Once again I have fallen super behind on my blog.  You can tell my life is out of control busy when that happens.  It stresses me out.  Plus it's annoying because my memory isn't good and I forget the details when I don't write everyday.  Oh well.  Today we had the Christmas patent with Mike's family.  It was at Brent and Kim's house.  It has been a few years since it has been at someone's house.  We loved it.  It is much more cozy that way.

Stephanie

I have been super strict on my diet for a contest that ends Saturday.  I didn't want to blow it, so I ended up only drinking water at the party. Everything else had sugar, especially my brownies I made.  I call them 'butter brownies', they are Stockton's favorite.  ***Spoiler alert:  I did great on my contest, but then blew it right after with Christmas and gingerbread.  I bet no one could see that coming!  Oh well, I'll have to get back at it in January.

Jorja, Stephanie, Preston

 Jorja, Maysen, Stephanie, Preston

I am kicking myself for not bringing the good camera.  I almost ran back in the house to get it, but then I decided I didn't want to worry about it.  Too bad because Maysen was Mary and Stockton was Joseph this year.  It was so fun to watch them!  Most of my pictures turned out blurry though.

Preston ~ angel sheep (he wants to be this every year!)

 Jorja ~ wiseman

 She hid a doll in the treasure chest

 Stockton ~ Joseph, Maysen ~ Mary

 Brandon ~ Shepherd, Stockton ~ Joseph

 Jorja

 Maysen, Jorja, Stockton

 Stockton, Maysen

 Preston up high

Maysen and Stockton were so cute.  I loved it.  The donkey was played by Champ.  He was so funny.  He really wanted to hold baby Jesus.  So hard to not find that adorable!

Champ, Maysen, Stockton

 Haha Champ!  Best donkey ever!

 Maysen decided it is better for the mom to hold

the baby then to have a farm animal do it.

Melissa is holding Leo as a donkey and Nova is a cow.

 Maysen & Stockton ~ I love this one

 This is another one of my favorites

 Jorja makes an appearance as a wise man

I knew Jorja had the baby in the treasure chest, but I had no idea she would open the chest and present the baby.  I can't describe it, but it was hilarious.  The entire room busted up laughing.  Mike most of all. Mike told me later that he thought the chest was filled with random doll parts.  Creepy!

 The end!  My favorite pageant yet!

 Preston

Here are three pictures that look exactly the same.  What a great day!

Stockton ~ Joseph, Maysen ~ Mary

Jorja ~ wiseman, Preston ~ angel sheep