Nov 22 - 28

 

Monday, November 22 - David's birthday was about a week and a half ago but his gift hadn't come in yet. We had them stop by tonight to give him his new Shady Ray's sunglasses! He seemed to really like them. Happy birthday Dave! 

Tuesday, November 23 - I love getting the opportunity to have lunch with my BFF Amie. We almost always forget to take a picture but not today! I love my time with her!

Wednesday, November 24 - I can't believe this is really happening! It's official, I work for Jordan School District! I went to the Corporate Office to meet with HR then got my badge. Wahoo!

Thursday, November 25 - Since mom recently had knee surgery, the kids and I went over to help her get dinner ready for Thanksgiving. We prepped the turkey and stuffing then got those in the oven. We did a few other little things for mom and then headed home to meet up with Simon and Zack (Z wasn't feeling 100% so we didn't have him come help us prep). Thanksgiving dinner with the family was wonderful. We had a great time with the Howard clan this year and amongst all we had to be thankful for, we were most thankful that we got to celebrate this year together. 

Friday, November 26 - It's not really like me to be out in the stores on Black Friday but Kendra insisted so we went to a few places...including the mall. It was busy but not actually as busy as I had anticipated. It was fun to spend a few hours with my main gal!

Saturday, November 27 - Our family went to dinner at Chili's with the Moon's then went back to their house to watch a movie. We hadn't decided on a movie to watch until we got there. To get us in the festive holiday season, we watched "Elf". Haha, I love that movie! :) It was a good time with them! My heart needed some friend time and this was helpful and healing for me!

Sunday, November 28 - Ricki had the sniffles all night and this morning so she and I stayed home from church and then we stayed home from dinner as well. The family went to the Pearson's but we stayed home. I had leftover Thanksgiving dinner and Ricki had Ramen Noodles. :) We spent time together playing games, reading, and then watching a movie.

Nov 15 - 21

Monday, November 15 - Mom had her other knee replaced this morning. She is doing great! She's up and doing better than last time! Praying for her a speedy recovery!

Tuesday, November 16 - This was one crazy day but luckily, I was able to fit a lunch in with Jenni, Meg, and Marisa. Meg had a surgery on her hip and is down for 6-8 weeks. We took her lunch and sat at her table to eat and visit with her. She seems to be doing pretty well!

Wednesday, November 17 - Ricki was being "Santa" again in the tub and always wants a picture so that she can see too. She's just so darn cute, how can I resist?

Thursday, November 18 - Marisa and I went to card exchange in Mom's neighborhood tonight so of course, we had to stop by The Chocolate and have a Cazookie!! I was a nice wife and brought Simon home a chocolate peanut butter cookie too. :)

Friday, November 19 - The many adventures of Simon's camera roll. Haha! He sent me the picture of his Sam's Club haul with the caption of "I think I was hangry when I was shopping". :) Then, he took a bunch of pictures of his tools hanging in the garage. When I asked why he needed pictures of his tools, he told me that sometimes he hangs them just right so that they all fit perfectly so when he uses them, he wants a guide on how to put them back so they fit. Makes sense to me! 

Saturday, November 20 - We had a full day at home and wanted to get out for dinner tonight. Simon convinced us to go to JCW's. It took forever to get our food but once we had it, it was yummy!

Sunday, November 21 - Sometimes you just need a quick snuggle with your mom when you're a little exhausted from playing with cousins at Grandma and Grandpa Pearson's house. :)

Nov 8 - 14

 Monday, November 8 - These cute kiddos got their "Spirit Wear" from school so they are excited to wear their new clothes to school!

Tuesday, November 9 - Book Club was tonight. I read not only one, but two books in preparation for it. I loved "Follow the River"! I didn't like "The Four Winds" too much though. They were both books about women surviving what seemed like circumstances that could not be survived. Both were also based on true stories so they were very interesting. I was in an already depressive state (thanks friends) so "The Four Winds" was extra hard for me to get through. It's a really a depressing story that never lightens up. However hard the book was, Book Club was 10 times harder! I wasn't ready to be bombarded with everyone that was there. :( I'm hoping and praying that this gets easier.

Wednesday, November 10 - Okay, I know these are lame pictures to post. But...I'm not in a good place right now so I don't have my mind right to think of taking pictures at parent-teacher conferences. :) The top picture is Ricki's teacher, Mrs. Anderson. The bottom is Mrs. Lofgren, Zack's teacher. They are both wonderful and had nothing but great things to say about the kids. They both got glowing reports so that was definitely something to be thankful for! 

Thursday, November 11 - We are throwing Jenni a 40th birthday bash so my main goal after work today was to come up with an invitation. I thought some color would be fun so this is what I came up with. Now...to send them out to all the recipients. :)

Friday, November 12 - I did a really hard thing today. I put in my two week notice to Liz. It was so so hard! I got a new job at the kids' school in the cafeteria so I had to tell Liz that I am leaving just after Black Friday. I cried a lot. I think she understood why I needed to make this change. It is literally for my mental health. I just need to make some major life changes. Anyway, after school, Ricki went right to Bridget's house and played hard. She came home around 6:30, promptly fell asleep, and slept for the rest of the night!

Saturday, November 13 - I did a really gross thing in the bath! I was shaving my legs and hit the razor on the side of the tub to clean it out. I don't know how it happened but I caught my fingernail with the razor and cut the end off! It was dripping blood in my bathtub...so gross!! This afternoon, Zack got to go see Clifford the Big Red Dog in the theater with his buddies, Max and Rex. They are his friends from school and they hang out every day at recess. I'm glad he has such good friends and that they have such fun parents!

Sunday, November 14 - This was on my friend's Instagram page and it hit me this week. I have fallen, I'm not standing in a good place, so some things are changing for the better. 

Nov 1 - 7

 

Monday, November 1 - I can't believe it is November already! Nick and Katelynn started their week of fun school days getting ready for the Sadie's Dance this Saturday. They are super cute! :) At mom and dad's house last night, Zack stubbed his toe. He was so sad about it so we put ice on it and I held him for a while. This is what we woke up to this morning! It is black and blue!! Poor guy, I'm sure it is broken...right before his last soccer game!

Tuesday, November 2 - It's been hard. I've been fragile. My friends know this and Jen Moon dropped off this box of sunshine for me. It helped but I am still in a pretty dark place. I am not eating much, sleeping well, or spending much of my day without crying. It's been a really rough few days. :( I appreciated her reaching out to me though. It was very kind!

Wednesday, November 3 - Reunited and it feels so good!!! Mom, Jenni, and I hopped on a plane at the crack of dawn this morning and jumped across the entire country to Florida. There is a super funny story about me walking off the jetway with those two carry-on bags. One is Jenni's and I *thought* the other one was mine! It was not! 😂 Oops! After a full day of travel, we made it to Florida and met up with Kenny, Katie, Kam, and Kayla! It is SOOOO nice to be together!

Thursday, November 4 - We got up at the crack of dawn (really, it was like 4:30 am Utah time) to get to Universal Studio's Island of Adventure first thing. We had a great day riding rides, eating treats, and just being together. Kam was my little buddy and held my hand since I didn't have Ricki there to hold my hand during the "scary parts". Seriously, he was my little attachment all day and I loved every. single. minute! Oh, and K&K are pretty much super models!! When we left the park, we hit up VooDoo donuts. They are so famous, we just had to! :) They were really yummy! (Shhh, we had a donut BEFORE we had dinner. What happens on girl's trip stays on girl's trip!)

Friday, November 5 - Today was a bit more chill than yesterday. We had a relaxing morning and ate our leftover donuts for breakfast. We went and watched Kenny pump some iron in their apartment's super nice gym. Then, we went to lunch at First Watch, a yummy breakfast/lunch place. Mom's main goal for coming to Florida was to get Christmas shopping done so we went to the mall then Target to get that done. Great news, she did it! She got them all done! Kenny and Katie were so sweet and cooked us a yummy dinner. I didn't help with dinner...I played with the kids! We colored pictures. :) After dinner, we played a few rounds of Pictionary before us girls headed to the hotel. What a great day!!

Saturday, November 6 - We spent the (windy and freezing cold day) on the beach! We met up with Uncle Dan and Aunt Carolyn there, hunted for sharks teeth, sat on the beach for about an hour, and then ate lunch together. It was so nice to see them! I haven't seen Uncle Dan since Grandpa Howard passed away 18 years ago! Time flies! Then, we went to a mini golf course that has live alligators. You golf the 18 holes and then get to feed the alligators! It was seriously so cool! Katie had to work tonight so she left early then after golfing, we went to dinner at the Steak n' Shake. This is where we said goodbye to Kenny and the kids. Man, that was hard! It's just so weird not knowing when we will see them again. Of course, we had to get our annual Kenny Christmas kiss. :) Tonight, Nick went to his first official school dance with Katelynn Romero. So cute!

Sunday, November 7 - And again, we're home. :( We had some craziness getting home. Jenni ended up on an earlier flight than us from Denver to Salt Lake so we sat in Denver for 3 hours while Jenni sat in Salt Lake waiting for us to come in for 2 hours. Regardless, we all made it home safe and sound. What a trip! It was quick but jam-packed with fun!