November 2017

Almost forgot to update the blog for November with Thanksgiving and more hours at work due to the holidays (luckily, Fountain Books is a WAY better place to work more hours at since we still close early enough to be with family and it’s not a big store to tidy.)
Lucky for all of my blog readers, I woke up today after going to bed early, with a big cold so since I already had the day off, I’m going to do this and then rest and read pretty much the rest of the day.

So many things happened in November: TOFW/TOFG, School Activities, Thanksgiving, New Clothing at Fountain Books, Primary Program, School Concerts, a new window, and more (like planning the whole Ward Christmas Party).

Elizabeth and Olivia went to Time Out For Girls in Portland when I went to Time Out For Women (same place/same time).  My mom, cousin, sister in law, Andy’s aunt and cousin and her daughters, and many others we knew were there.  We took three girls with us who are friends with Elizabeth and Olivia.  We all really enjoyed the talks, music, and refreshing Time Out we received there.

Me and my girls, Elizabeth and Olivia. We were all helpers at the event, so we had to dress a little nicer. I helped at the TOFW doors with bags and greeting.  Elizabeth helped at TOFG with registration.  Olivia was a door greeter as well.

The girls all rode with me in our car.  They had a fun time getting to know each other better and being with other girls who believe the same way, but were starting to get a little tired of each other by the end of the second day.

My cousin Danette drove my mom to Portland following me and my carload of girls.  Andy’s sister Sara met us there.  It was so great to go with such a fun group!

We had to have a picture! My cousin and mom and me.

Olivia’s a pretty adorable door greeter if you ask me.

So glad Sara could make it! It was awesome to visit more with her and spend time together.

 

Most of the girls ready to start again after a break.

 

My favorite presenter at the TOFW in Spokane was these fantastic ladies.  Zhandra and Tamu.  They are so funny and spot on spiritually and down to earth.  Still my favorite in Portland.

Picture with my mom and girls.

We had to meet up with Andy’s aunt and cousin and cousin’s girls for a snapshot too.

Andy was out of town for much of November.  Actually, when I was on my way to TOFW, he was on his way home from a trip and his flight was cancelled and he was stuck in Seattle (it snowed a tiny bit there).  Vincent and Abby were at friend’s houses after school until Andy was going to be home, but when his flight was cancelled, he ended up renting a car and driving home instead.  His sister Torrie picked up Vincent and Abby and took them home with her for the evening until Andy was able to get back to town.

The Saturday of TOFW was also Ribbon Festival for area pianists.  Vincent was able to go this year.  He performed a duet with Andy.

For each category you participate in, you get a special ribbon at Ribbon Festival.  They have a church set up that has nearly 30 pianos in it that the kids can go from room to room and pass off their songs.

Lucky to have some help in the kitchen!  Abby likes to wear the apron and hat Aunt Sara made her and make french toast or tacos or anything!

I took Olivia, Vincent, and Abby to a science night at the middle school.  There were cool things set up all over the school to check out and touch (some of them) and learn.  They all loved it.  It was done very nicely!

Olivia had an orchestra concert at Hanford High School.  They invited her middle school orchestra to join them.  They sounded great!  Watch and listen here or here.

After the concert.

Olivia is good about making sure Abby’s hair is fixed and that she matches and is ready on time.

She had my friend’s daughter over for an afternoon and they decided to make denim purses from old jeans.

We hung these painting up soon after I painted the living room gray, but I didn’t get a good picture of them.  I love them!  Elizabeth did an amazing job painting them.  She’s wants to paint more of them for other people too as a job. Several people have told her that they’ll send her some pictures to get started, but they haven’t yet.

Vincent and Abby are getting to be really great roller skaters.  It’s fun to watch them with their friends at the school skate night, plus they are really tired when the two hours are over.

We had a very nice, relaxed Thanksgiving.  We went up to Andy’s parent’s place in the mountains and hung out, cooked, played games, and rested the whole day.  I absolutely LOVED not having to eat in a rush and go to work (I had to work the next few days, but not on Thanksgiving.)

As we were heading out the door to go to the mountain, Olivia and Vincent practiced one of their piano duets they like to play together.

Elizabeth helped Abby get ready before we left.

We showed up in the middle of the day.  Their regular power was out and the generator was on, so the oven wasn’t able to run on that.  Luckily, the turkey was cooked on the special grill outside.  There was plenty of help in the kitchen to get the meal ready.

(And yes, the picture above was taken while I was sitting on the couch hanging out watching the other ladies and girls work…)

Great kitchen helpers!

It was just us and Sara’s family with Andy’s parents for Thanksgiving this year.  We had a wonderful time!

I helped when it was crunch time and I helped to clean up the kitchen after the meal.  It was really nice to not have to run to work.  I hardly knew what to do when I had time to just rest on a couch.  Abby came over to keep me company.

Andy’s sister Sara brought a Thanksgiving Bingo game.  The kids played it with M&M’s for the markers.  When they got a blackout, they could eat their treat.

Wanted a family picture on Thanksgiving.  Love these guys!

I took Sara and David’s family picture while we were there too.  They are so cute.  I’ll let her post those ones though.  We were happy to have them come to our house to stay Friday night.

Andy’s cousin’s wife let me know they were coming to town for Thanksgiving so we arranged a special game night on the Friday after.  She ended up not feeling well, but sent Andy’s cousin and their four girls over to play.  Adults played Apples to Apples in the family room and we sent the older kids in the living room to play Apples to Apples Junior.

That Saturday after Thanksgiving, Andy’s dad came down to help him put in our new giant living room window.  The window guys delivered it on Monday so we had to strap it to the fence post to the side of the house and hope it didn’t break before we could put it in.  (They were supposed to call and arrange delivery, but didn’t.)

On Saturday as I left for work, Andy and his dad were taking out the old window piece by piece.

It looked great when I got home.  We still have some work to do to finish it, but it’s nice.

The last week of November Fountain Books got the permission from Deseret Books to sell clothes again!  We got a huge shipment of Sweet Salt Clothing.  They asked me to kind of take the lead on setting it all up.  We didn’t get skirt hangers for another few days, but this is the corner area where the clothes are.  Really cute blouses and dresses and skirts!

It took most of the week to get it all set after we got the skirt hangers and in between customers if I was the only one there, but it looks even better now and things are selling. I wasn’t sure I’d like having to fold and hang clothes again or empty the fitting rooms, but our customers are pretty respectful and don’t leave things on the ground or in a heap on the tables like at regular retail stores, so it’s been great!

December is busy with more days and hours to work at Fountain Books, but Andy is home more this month too.  Still loving my new job!

 

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