Both Sunday and today I swore I was not getting out of my jammies unless an EMERGENCY occurred. (except church of course). No such luck. Ended up having a meeting Sunday afternoon. But the rest of the night was so chill. We had Chicken Alfredo and then watched a cute American Girl movie. Even my boys stuck around to watch it. At one point, during an emotional scene, Katy pipes up and says "OK.. who all is about to cry right now!?" She is apparently soft hearted. ♥
Monday my van broke down to the tune of $600. That's always super fun. Then we had our last Grease performance.
Today, jammies all the way. Sort of. I cleaned the kitchen. A lot. I swept and vacuumed, did laundry and did my paper work all by 10:30. Then I made some butternut squash ravioli and hot chocolate and watched a Christmas movie. So seriously awesome to sit in a clean house with no where to go. Until.... the afternoon hits and kids need picked up and taken all their places. I thought we were having a quiet night at home, but I was wrong. Concerts, mutual, school movie night... So much for family time. Glade and I have a meeting later that will require me to change into Sunday clothes. I almost lasted the entire day in PJs!! Tomorrow starts the errands and family thanksgiving activities and all the Black Friday fun. Then we put Christmas up!
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Rest
Sunday, November 24, 2013
The Every Day
We are all crazy busy, but that will soon come to an end. As much as it ever does in this family. We are finishing our Grease performances which has had us at the theater every night for the last three weeks. It's been a little tough since Nick was always my babysitter and he hasn't been here, I've had to take Bo and Katy with me all the time. They do pretty well till it starts to be bedtime.
After our Thursday morning show, we all went to lunch together then came home and instead of putting away laundry, we decided to get some lights on the house.
Yep, that's Rhett and Dalin up there. My heart was a little stressed watching this unfold, but we all came out alive. Not all the lights are up, but enough for a little Christmas spirit. I can't succumb to all the decorations yet since Thanksgiving is this week, but I had to do a little. I've watched lots of my Christmas movies as I do laundry and LOVE it. The last three days has been nothing but cold and rain. Pure happiness!
I've done lots of shopping already and am a little sad about Black Friday. This year, most of the sales are starting on Thanksgiving about 5pm. I just refuse. So sad it has come to this. I'll still go out the next day and maybe even see what I can get online, but there's no more excitement over it. Stupid world.
I'm sure there have been lots of little newsworthy things over the last month that have gotten forgotten, for that I'm sad that I suck at blogging. It was so much easier when life was a little slower and the day to day things were just cute and fun. But to quote my self, "it is what it is!" That's how I just keep moving forward!
Sad News
Since Nick left on Halloween, we hadn't heard a lot from him. We would text every few days and he came over once. He was invited to Sunday dinner and said he would come, but never showed up. We continued to text, but this time there was no response. We called... straight to voicemail. After two weeks of this, we started to become a little worried. So I called his work and found out that he hadn't been there in two weeks, nor had he picked up his last pay check. The boy he was staying with (co worker) told the boss that he wouldn't be back and when asked what was going on, the kid just said "I can't talk about it." I then went to his bank to see if there had been any activity on his account. They were very accommodating, but there wasn't much to go on. I didn't realize he had never closed the account he had that I was still on. In checking his history, he had spent all the money he had in some strange ways. I was very nervous for what we might now find.
In my mind, there were only two options for keeping Nick away from his phone and his money. Neither was good. Glade was doing some checking as well and finally located him in a jail in Phoenix. That was better than where my mind had gone. He has been there for two weeks already and will be arraigned this coming Tuesday.
In doing a little more research we were able to find out what his charges are. Not good. Keeping in mind we have no idea what actually happened, he has six counts pending against him all surrounding sexual misconduct with a minor and molestation of a minor. After overcoming my shock I did a little more research and found out the molestation charge applies if the person is under 14. Ironically, that afternoon, we received a letter from Nick in the mail telling us that he was in jail. He couldn't talk about why, but just told us he was sorry and that he would likely be going to prison. Glade went and visited him the next day, but again, wasn't really able to talk about it with him. So for now, we know very little about what happened or when or anything. My mind and heart just won't believe he hurt a young child. He's always been so sweet with the little ones (in a good way). But for now, I have to believe he was under the influence and made bad choices with a girl who was too young. There are no assault charges so that is good. Hopefully Tuesday we can have more questions answered. As for now, it appears he will be there awhile. He will be a registered sex offender the rest of his life.
I totally did not see that one coming. You could have convinced me of a lot of things, but I wouldn't have guessed this. So absolutely heartbreaking and senseless. Not sure the reality of it all has completely set in yet, but there is some relief in knowing he his safe. As much as I know kicking him out was the right decision, the not knowing on a daily basis if he was ok, was a little tough. I have no idea how he can overcome all of this and have a happy future. Right now, time has kind of stopped for him. I guess we'll just have to see what happens the next couple of years.
the Little Ones
Gilbert Temple
We are so blessed to have a temple being built so close to home, and it's almost done!!! The youth are having a Cultural Celebration as part of the grand opening. This is a production that will include over 12000 youth in the temple district. I was lucky enough to be called to teach them the choreography to our Fiery Furnace dance. I also get to teach them sign language to a song they will be singing. I'm so excited to get started with it!!
Not only do I get to be part of the Cultural Celebration, but Glade and I were asked to be tour guides inside the temple. This brings much excitement as well, but so much responsibility along with it. I'm so not feeling up to the task of presenting the House of the Lord to hundreds of people. What an honor and a privilege. We will serve about 10 hours a week for 5 weeks while the open house is going on. I truly have no words to express my gratitude for this opportunity. Feeling very blessed.
Brooklyn
She's growing right up and loving it. She has good friends and has done better with her grades than last year as well. She's even taller than me now! Her teeth are coming along nicely and I'm excited to see that cute smile in a year or so when her braces are off.
Finishing XC
Rhett got recognized at several assemblies for his accomplishments during the season. At the final awards banquet, he was awarded a back pack for Most Improved and got awarded first team all state. What an awesome ending to his season.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
It's Time!!
And one day I got the bug to increase my Christmas movie collection, so I cruised Amazon and ended up with these! I haven't watched any of them yet, but this week is looking promising. ♥
Mom's so Hip, or at least has a New One
Halloween night I went to spend the night with Mom so I could take her to the hospital in the morning for her hip replacement surgery. It was really early! But all went well and she is doing great. She had a little problem with anesthesia so they had to watch her carefully for awhile after that, but she did great. She is home now and walking around like a pro. She slept pretty much the whole day Friday and I got to sit and watch her say silly things as she came in and out of consciousness. It was very entertaining. Chelsey came up later that day and stayed with her so I could go home. I encouraged her to marry her PTist, we'll see if she listens, hehe. Can't wait till she can get and up and moving like her old self again!!
Nick's Halloween
You won't find any pics of Nick this Halloween. We have had a rough time with him lately. That afternoon I got a call from the school letting me know they had Nick in the office and he had pot on him. They were calling the police and would let me know what happens. I, of course, was sick. I thought we were past this. Lately I have given him the lecture about "growing up" and him needing to be responsible for himself and that I was done babysitting him. In that same spirit, I chose not to go to the school to hold his hand during this process. Apparently the police don't have the "time or manpower" to actually take him to jail so they did what was called a "charge and release". He will be charged as an adult and because of this his previous incident with the narcotics, will now leave two felonies on his record. Most likely they will end up fining him and reducing it to misdemeanors. We'll see. He's expelled from school, so the cops brought him home and explained things to me. I'm upset they didn't take him to jail. Maybe if someone made a big deal out of it, some of these kids would think twice. Anyway, I took him upstairs and sat while he packed his bag. Glade was on his way home as well. Once Glade had a long talk with him, he took him and his things to McDonalds, where he works, and dropped him off. Heartbreaking, but necessary. We left him with the assurance that we love him and that we are still his family and he is welcome to visit, but he can't live here.
He has no clue what he has just done to his future. I honestly cannot understand why this continues to be a problem for him. I do know that we have done everything we know how and have forgiven and given second chances as much as we are able. At this point, it's just time for him to figure it out on his own. Glade texted him and he said he has a place to stay for now and is working on getting a 2nd job. We don't know where he's staying but I can't image its with good people. I'm not sure the reality of him not being around has truly hit yet. We'll see what happens in the next few months.
Halloween 2013
Pumpkin Carving
