Jan 20 - 26

Monday, January 20 - I finally have an office room upstairs to call my own and yet all of my craft stuff is still scattered in nooks and crannies all around! I went out in the garage today and brought in any boxes or plastic drawers that contained my precious crafting tools and brought them in for a thorough cleaning before finding places for them in my office. While cleaning out some drawers, I came across this gem. I haven't worked there in almost 13 years but if I ever do again, I'm pre-prepared! 

 Tuesday, January 21 - I don't love food pictures but this dinner was extra-yum and healthy so here it is. It's carne asada but instead of doing mine as a street taco, I put it over brown rice and added lots of lettuce. It was more like a stead salad with wheat tortilla chips and salsa. YUM! Okay, I guess I can do this healthy eating thing!

Wednesday, January 22 - Mom is on a cruise, Meg and Marisa cancelled, so Jenni and I had an official "sisters lunch"! It's been a while since we have been able to sit and shoot the breeze with just the two of us. It was a really nice hour we got to spend together. Tonight, Simon and Zack went out with the missionaries, Nick went to Young Men's, and Ricki came to Young Women's with Kendra and I. All the young women in our ward love her so she fit in nicely with our PIE activity. What more can I ask for than to have both of my sweet girls with me at YW!?!

 Thursday, January 23 - I took this cute girl to another boutique warehouse sale. She found this darling top (for only $5) and these shoes in black and brown (only $5 each) so we couldn't resist. I love that she's my little shopping buddy with a cute sense of style! 

Friday, January 24 - My poor Zacky boy can't catch a break! He was sick less than a month ago and suddenly came down with a fever again today. I cancelled all my plans, called into work, and stayed home with him. Not gonna lie, I enjoyed the snuggle time but I felt so bad for him. Luckily, it went as quickly as it came and he was really only down for one day!

Saturday, January 25 - It was a good day! Kendra and I went over to Jackie Jangard's to visit her. She broke her neck in December so we went over around noon to check up on her and visit. She is so great! We were there for over an hour and could have stayed much longer! Tonight, our family had the fun opportunity to pick mom and dad up from the airport after their cruise. We went to Las Glorias for dinner then took them home. It was fun to be there with them when they saw what has been done on their addition. It looks great!

Sunday, January 26 - This was one of the busiest Sundays I can remember for a long time. Church was at 11:30 like normal. At 1:45, our family came to the church and attended Nick's ordination from Deacon to Teacher. Everyone left but Kendra and I stayed because she had her very first temple recommend interview at 2:15 (she passed 🤣). Because it was just the two of us, we ran over to Liz's house to have Kendra try on a few things for a photo shoot tomorrow. We had less than an hour of being home before it was time to head to Dave and Viv's for dinner. We enjoyed a short visit there before heading off for Nick's final (besides his Eagle) Court of Honor. He received a bunch of awards and Merit Badges. It is really kind of a sad thing to say goodbye to the scouting program but we are all really looking forward to participating in the new Children and Youth Program that the Church has rolled out. Phew, we made it all the way through the day!

Jan 13 - 19

Monday, January 13 - This sweet girl is feeling better but not well enough for school yet. My parents are on a cruise right now but they have workers still coming to do construction. Jenni has been hanging out at the house while they are there but she had bowling this morning so Kendra and I came instead. It was relaxing since there is pretty much nothing to do while you're there. :)

Tuesday, January 14 - Kendra had a book report due and of course, finished the book the night before it had to be turned in! She and I spent some time creating a Google Slide presentation for her book report tomorrow. Note: She got an A. 😀

Wednesday, January 15 - I did Ricki's hair this morning and she said, "Mom, will you take a picture of the front and back and send it to bestie?" So of course I did! She LOVES Penney Thomson! And in other news, Kendra finally went back to school and then it was Zack's turn to stay home on the couch, sick, with a fever. 😔

Thursday, January 16 - Nick and I went to 9th Grade Orientation. I can't believe this kid is going to be in classes that will count toward his high school education already! I made him take a selfie with me while we were sitting and listening. It was extra embarrassing (for him) because my new camera's selfie-mode flashes. Oops! Haha! 

Friday, January 17 - My sweet Kendra was awarded "Leader of the Month". They do a special luncheon for the kids that achieve this and parents are invited to attend. However, my darling Ricki woke up with a fever, sore throat, and stomach ache so I had to ask Viv to go in my place. I was really sad to miss it but I don't mind the Ricki cuddles that come along with her being sick. 😊 On a side note, this has been a hard week to have sick kids. I've had to work every day so Simon stayed home with Zack for a few hours on Thursday and I had to go in tonight to get things done. It's hard having sick ones at home.

Saturday, January 18 - This feels like a Knotted Fern right of passage. This was the first warehouse sale that I have been involved in with Liz. It was SO much work carrying all the products up her basement stairs, down the front stairs, loading it all into trucks, and unloading it at this warehouse. However, it was really fun spending so much time with Liz and Marisa. We laughed until we *almost* peed more than one time! We had a good turnout and it was fun to be involved in this event. My favorite customers were Ryan and Ashley. 💗

Sunday, January 19 - Mom and dad are on a cruise, Jenni and BJ are in St. George, and Kenny and Katie had other plans tonight so we went to Grandma and Jim's for dinner. We had a yummy dinner then Grandma entertained the kids with some "Minute to Win It"-style games. It was super fun and way chill with us our family there.

Jan 6 - 12

Monday, January 6 - This picture is so exciting for me! We found out today that this is my dad's biological half brother, Ahmad Bassiri. He lives in California and as you can see from the picture, he is a Raiders fan (just like dad has been my whole life). He spoke to my dad over the phone and is so excited to have found him. They also have another half brother, Robert Bassiri. He told my dad about his bio-dad and it sounds like he was a great guy. He passed away in 2005 of stomach cancer. I'm sad I didn't get to meet him but thankful we have found this new blood-connection. 💕

Tuesday, January 7 - This was a whirlwind of a day! Our amazing boss, Liz, took Marisa and I to Disneyland for Christmas. We also went with her BFF, Aimee Crandall, and her Assistant, Nikki Thacker. It was so funny when we drove past my old house to pick up her assistant. I laughed when I found out that it was someone I knew! We hopped on an 8:30 plane, got to Disneyland by 11:30 (there is an hour time difference so we gained an hour flying there), and ran between the two parks until 9:30 pm! It was awesome, fun, exciting, and exhausting!

Wednesday, January 8 - Any adult that has not been to Disneyland without kids should experience this at least once in their lifetime! Especially girls on a girls trip! It was so fun to go from ride to ride without stopping. We also ate at pretty much every little venue they have there! (Which would be WAY too expensive with kids!) We had such a blast though!!

Thursday, January 9 - This trip was soooo great! And perfect timing! I was feeling burned out and needed a break. It went by way too fast but we had so much fun, it was perfect! I may or may not have gotten home at 4:00 pm and crashed in my bed until Simon got home with dinner at 6:00! 😀

Friday, January 10 - Well, I didn't take this too seriously while I was out of town but now that I'm home, I'm hitting it hard. I joined a healthy eating/fitness challenge called TerraFit. I am on a team with 5 other ladies from my ward. It will be challenging but I need something to kick my health into gear. I've been far too lax for far too long!

Saturday, January 11 - This poor girl has been on the couch all day long feeling sick. I think the flu bug is running rampant right now. She's doing okay but has had a fever of 101° and has thrown up a couple of times. Here's hoping it doesn't run through the whole family. 🤞

Sunday, January 12 - I stayed home from family dinner with Kendra tonight but Alexis sent me this cute picture of Nick and Finley twinning in their buffalo check. :) So cute!

Jan 1 - 5

Wednesday, January 1 - I am so sad about this post. Our Dori that we've had since March of 2004 (almost as long as we've been married) had to be put down. She's been going downhill health-wise for a while now but just before Christmas, she seemed to age very quickly. Her hind legs started giving out on her, she had a large hard lump on her right side by her hind leg, and she had lost so much weight, she looked sickly. She also started throwing up a little blood. It was just time so we took her in and the vet agreed. It was time. We will miss our "Doris".

Thursday, January 2 - I get spoiled! :) We were able to move Zack downstairs so his room upstairs was free. We are making it into an office/craft room/nail room/MY room! Yay! Simon and I went to Ikea and got new furniture to set up to make it awesome!

Friday, January 3 - I was at work with Liz and Marisa when I got a text with that first picture. His zipper popped at work! Hahahahaha!!! And then my cute Kendra and her cute friend McKell decided to do "blind makeup". McKell put makeup on Kendra without looking. Oh boy. 

Saturday, January 4 - Happy birthday to my daddy! He took the whole family, as tradition, to Golden Corral for brunch/lunch. How cute are all of his grand-kiddos? This afternoon, Ken Staley offered Simon two tickets to the UofU basketball game against Oregon so he took Zack. They had a good time together. Glad it was Zack's turn to have a sports event with daddy!

Sunday, January 5 - In the last year a huge thing has changed...2 hour church! We go from 11:30-1:30 this year. That has nothing to do with the picture but it's fun to note. :) Since I'm going to Disneyland this week, I thought it was time for some Disney nails.