Kidnapped.

 Her very last day of Activity Days and her very first taste of Young Womens!

Nobody kidnaps like girls between the ages of 12-17. 

Nobody. 

Blindfolds, shrieking, unnecessary roughness. It's all a part of the initiation. It's totally the best. 

Things really are changing around here!

5 in 5

Did I mention that I feel like life is changing around here? 

I have proof. 

SO MANY PARTIES.

5 parties in 5 days. 

And not only that, but I didn't need to find a babysitter for any of them. 

Wednesday: Relief Society dinner: Soups, salads and chatting with the ladies. Courtney and I were peer pressured into attending. It turned out ok. A 4 out 10.

Thursday: Coaches Pickleball Party: I picked up the food (twice) from Fajita Pete's and then wrapped myself in my electric blanket and watched everyone play. I'll give that a 8 out of 10. I was warm and I had snacks. And I really like all of these people. 

Friday: Wachter Holiday Party: It was "country Christmas". I own this red flannel and a leather belt. I was comfy and I got to spend the evening with Mark, so I was pretty happy. Andy Ebert and Les Harvey work at Wachter too, so I had a few people to talk to. I'll give that a 6 out of 10. I would've taken dinner and movie by ourselves any day. 

Saturday: The On Track Christmas Party. We had a great turn out and it was fun to see the community growing and forming friendships. I'm pretty proud of us. AND! I got some chocolate and chicken leg socks! 8 out of 10!

Sunday: Pat Crownover's Christmas Open House. I didn't take a picture, but I think you you take a look of this screenshot of her, you can use your imagination. Think pinapple cake, potato chips and onion dip. We were in and out pretty quickly, because we are truly worn out. 

Life is kinda fun these days. I like all the parties and dinners and open houses. But I kinda miss thoses quiet evenings when we had all the little kids home and we would read a Christmas story out of our collection. But for now, just tell me what to bring and text me the address. 

Charcuterie in Bethlehem

Here's a funny little story. 

I almost got tricked into running this whole activity. But my mama dint raise no dummy. 

I slip slided into the infinitely less stressful job of creating a little shop for the the "Night at Bethlehem" the ward put on for the ward Christmas party. I volunteered for the charcuterie shop. I know...it's funny. I don't doubt the fine citizens of Bethlehem enjoyed their fair share of shelf stable meats and cheeses, but did they call it charcuterie?? I think they called it dinner. 

But we're rolling with it. 

We dug out our bucket of earth tone fabric with rough-cut neck holes, loaded the truck with every tablecloth,  basket, candle and tassley pillow we could find.  Don't forget the staple gun!

And check it out!

Can you believe this beautiful hand-painted sign Megan created for me just hours before the party. She's so talented! I was blown away. 

I was a little stressed, maybe a little jaded. But we actually had a good time running our Charcuterie Shop. 

Anderson's ran the Bakery

And I loved our Roman Guard and Friar Tuck 

And this was probably my favorite Christamas program ever. It was a shadow nativity, with Brother Jackson singing "Hallelujah". It was lovely. 

Now what do I do with all this leftover cheese??

Nailed it!

 The inspiration:

The final look:

It's the beauty spot that really brings it home!

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!

2023 On Track Christmas Party

 Mark has the smoker goin!

Ross hung the the ornaments with care!

We decked the halls!

And then we all did what we do best: eat and talk and look cute

Lauren Smith, Kristi Cowan and Lauren Terry

Dan Smith, Ross Terry and Mark

Megan, Laney and Kyle Flynn

The spread...featuring my famous apple juice and 7up concoction

Nic Conovor and the fam...love those prepared parents!

Clint and Carol Gregg, Grace Laskaras, Marlene and Mellissa Conchola, Anna Mollman(floor), Ainsley Wilber (box), Sarah Laskaras

Maddie and Kyle Gillett

Jamie Schmidt, Bridet's husband, Bridget Netherton, Maddy Schumann, Kyle Koontz

Kyle, Katie the fiance, JD Dalton, Harrison Mehlman, I don't know that guy

JD doing as he does and telling everyone to zip it and watch the video, I do believe he started his holiday speech with "When I'm talking, you're not talking!"  Always be coachin, JD.

The best 3 minute video ever shown!

And as is our long-standing tradition: the White Elephant swap! This year I was impressed with how passionately these folks fought for all the silly gifts...

And quickly becoming an On Track tradition, Alinda's ornamant earrings! This time made especially for her by Ross. 

But the very best thing to happen during the party was this phone call!!!

Maybe the best day ever!!