Advent Calendar, Flying Home and Goat Portraits

December is here! And all my kids are home. 

Poor Kassie has a cold (which might get her out of work when she goes back home) but she rallied for church and we filled the pew! 

We had them pick out of the calendar before they left for the airport, because everyone needs to have a special gift!

We are auditioning a new tradition...the advent puzzle. The chocolate calendars have waned in popularity. Some kids forget they have them, others eat all the chocolate at once, then save the plastic template, convinced they will melt some chocolate chips down later and refill it. I get the itch to clean and throw it away, devastation ensues and round and round we go....

The advent puzzle has potential.

And we won't start every day in December off with chocolate breakfast. I'm liking this more and more.

I drove Ethan and Kassie to the airport. They seemed happy and excited to get back to life. We loved having them here, Kassie fits into our family perfectly, but I'm so glad they love each other and when it comes down to it, they are building a home and life together and that's where they want to be. I  wouldn't want it any other way!

As for us, we are headed out to Shaver's farm to say hello to the goats, tiptoe around the chickens, learn about sourdough and have dinner with new (and old) friends. 

Why are goat's pupils rectangular?

Chickens are scary. They're....organized. (Chicken Run!)

Crystal Shaver is a new member at the gym and we have become fast friends. She's a homesteader and a homeschooler. And she's super nice! She is endlessly patient and teaching us all to use sourdough. 

Laney left them with a parting gift. That's one lucky goat.

Now, let's go home to our feisty bird.

Ethan And Kassie's Open House

Ethan and Kassie are coming! And Kassie's parents are coming! Holy smack, we gotta clean this house. What if they find out that we aren't especially great at cleaning our bathrooms. 

It's definitely too late to repaint the basement. I had good intentions!

But the flowers are gorgeous, the photos are lovely in their thrifted frames, the plates and cutie-pie caramel corn cone holders arrived just in time. 

Mark is smoking the butts!

4 almond bundt cakes and 7 Chocolate Lovers are ready for display and slicing.

The spread is set! I love the weathered wood with the silver frames and pink roses. Makes my heart happy. 

We set out the tables and I prayed that the shade would move into place.

People started to arrive and Ethan got to introduce his sweet bride to the people he loves. It was so fun to hear him say, "This is my wife, Kassie!"

It took us about 10 minutes of watching people cook in the sun before we knew that we would need to go to the shade. It was not going to come to us. Kyle, Janelle, JD and Katie jumped in to get everything shifted over. 

Sooooo much better. 

We settled in to greeting everyone and introducing our friends to Kassie's parents. It was a beautiful day. Julia and Sara kept the food full and the forecasted rain did not arrive. 

The garden was sparce but manicured. But the new fence looked so nice and the lawn was green and pretty. 

The Asiatic Lilies did me a massive favor and chose this very moment to bloom. The only last a few days, so this is nothing short of a wedding miracle. 

Dad's roses were not as flashy, but just as beautiful. I need to plant more of them.  

We had a lovely time chatting, letting kids play in the swings and holding Audree's new baby boy. 

And just like that...it was over. Folks went home, we froze the ridiculous amount of leftover food (why can't I learn to cook a normal amount??), delivered extra cakes to the deserving and breathed a sigh of relief!

All that is left is to hang around, convince Kassie that Winnie isn't scary (she is totally scary) and get to know our new in-laws!

Sweet Benevolent Universe, it didn't rain!

Birthday Husband

With all the changes our family has gone through these last few years, we aren't all together for birthdays anymore. But I LOVE LOVE LOVE our new tradition of singing "Happy Birthday" over facetime. 

It's my new favorite!

 

Anniversary meal

We snuck out to one our favorite places for dinner. 

I was excited about my yummy salad

And he was ready to dig into his favorite mac and cheese. 

 That's all we need!

75 Hard

I'd have to be a much better writer than I am to effectively communicate what it means to finish 75 Hard. 75 gallons of water, several excellent books read, meal tracking, annoying all of our friends, calorie counting and almost daily winter walks...some so cold that I was grateful to have thick warm facemasks leftover from the pandemic. 

But we did it!

 

Mark's last walk: 

And mine, on my trip to St. George:

Our respective rewards on Day 76!

75 Hard

It's not that we don't know better...we really do. a

and yet....

we find ourselves with this

I'm not gonna lie...that looks amazing.

But it doesn't feel amazing. 

So the day after this photo...I walked into the bedroom and Mark said... 

"I just told my brother Mat that I'm going to do 75 hard"

When Mark tells anything to his brothers, it automatically doubles its chance of success. Sisters are supportive. Brothers are brutal...in a supportive way. 

So after mulling it over for the most of the day, I decided to join him. 

My reasons were:

1. I don't like to be left out of things...even sucky things

2. This takes a pretty hefty time commitment. More time together!

3. I'm supposed to meet up with some old friends in March, right about the time this is over...great timing!

4. My jeans are cutting off my circulation

So....for the next 68 days (we're 7 days in!), we will be sticking to a nutrition plan, drinking a gallon of water a day, doing two 45 minute workouts (one has to be outside), reading 10 pages and taking a daily selfie.

The timing was less than ideal..January?? We have been taking a daily frozen walk and visiting this fortuitously placed porta-potty frequently, due to our intense water intake. 

I'll update on our progress later! I have faith in us!

In with the new!!

Mark loves me. 

And so does the universe. 

Because today was one of those perfect days...a summer day in December. And Mark went out and built me a greenhouse bed for my garden. 

The kids mastered the balance beam.

And I planted seeds in the middle of winter. 

Fingers crossed!!

Oh....and we fried up some mozzerella sticks, wrapped bacon around some lil' smokies and said goodbye to 2021. 

See ya!!