Helping Friends and Making Art

During the first week of December, our family drove to Idaho Falls to visit with some of our dear friends who had just moved there that week. The Tiffanys lost their home and both their jobs (and the kids' school) in the Camp Fire and they had no desire to sit around and wait for life to normalize in Chico and Paradise. They wanted to get reestablished somewhere new as quickly as possible. I am incredibly impressed with their resilience and their ability to make hard choices and do hard things before everyone else jumped on board. They amaze me. Jacob was our realtor in Paradise and Senessa is a dear friend with a HUGE heart and great attitude. I love them! It was beyond wonderful to see them for and eat lunch together.

 I had them meet us at Brooke and Chad Coon's house because I wanted these two families to meet! They are now only a few minutes away from each other and I wanted to make sure the Tiffanys knew they had connections in their new town. It was awesome to get them together! Brooke had also spent the last 2 weeks before this meeting gathering donations to help the Tiffanys get started. She had someone offer free haircuts to the Tiffanys, and many had donated giftcars and cash to help them get on their feet. Such a huge blessing!! I am so thankful for good people (who don't even know the Tiffanys!!) for stepping up and serving in the ways they could. I think it really hit a lot of people hard to see people just like them lose everything they own and be so displaced. We hear all the time about refugees fleeing their home countries for many reasons, and they come here with nothing and needing everything. These friends from Paradise are no different... they had to flee their homes and their lives and they can't go back. What they had doesn't and WON'T exist every again. They need new everything... and they deserve all the support and love the rest of us can possibly give. It has taught me what it really means to do as the Savior taught and truly give. Not just give my cast-offs and the things that don't fit. But to give my coat to someone who has none. To give amounts of money we never would have dreamed of giving because we have what we need and others we love have NOTHING. These experiences have truly changed me.

 A perfect reminder.

 Another family from Paradise reached out to Ryan in December because he was their kids' pediatrician. They loved him and remembered that our family had moved to southern idaho. They messaged him asking what we thought of the area, etc, and we convinced them to come spend the day and see what Twin Falls was like. Brooke and Cory Gardner came to hang out with us. We got to know them better, took them to lunch, chatted lots, heard their escape stories and what they're looking for in life at this point, showed them around town a bit, took them to dinner, and then they headed back to their temporary home in Nampa, ID. It was wonderful to feel like we were actually *doing* something to help a Paradise family in their recovery process.
We also got to be a part of a sweet tender mercy after connecting with them. Within a couple of days of their visit, I received an email from an old friend (Kris and Billy Hewitt) who had felt that they wanted to DO something to help a survivor family from Paradise. They weren't sure where to go to get connected with someone so they were asking if we knew of anyone they could reach out to through the holiday. I knew EXACTLY who to connect them with: this Gardner family. It was a sweet and precious experience for me to be a part of something wonderful. Kristy was able to help Brooke set up an amazon wishlist of items they had lost (they were uninsured renters so they literally have no insurance and nothing left) for people to donate to their sweet family. They also had quite a bit of cash and gift cards donated and she was able to get all of those donations to the Gardners around Christmastime. It was wonderful. The Gardners were/are SO grateful and I know that being able to connect those families will have a lasting impact on them. They aren't members of our church and I think this example of Christlike ministering will make a positive impression on them for years to come.

Grace and Logan started a 6 week art class throughout December. It was taught by our neighbor a few houses up the street. The kids both had an awesome time! Grace's age group went on wednesday evenings and Logan's went on tuesday evenings. They each came home with some beautiful work! Art is more Grace's cup-of-tea, while Logan is more into sports. But I love giving them opportunities to try out new things!

This was one Grace colored at school and wanted me to take a pic of.

 This is Logan's cute christmas tree he made.

Sleepy Boston... in our new car! We had to sell my Infiniti because it was an absolute LEMON and we bought me a Ford Expedition. I really really love it. :) Ryan also traded in his Toyota Tundra for an F150... but that's kind of a funny story and he is already going to trade it in for an F250 instead.

 Ohhh the joys of the whining 2 year old.

But then there are times when he's super fun and we have lots of fun talking about different things. He loves it when I build him things from legos. This is a boat for Maui. He also LOVES talking about space. Anything to do with space! He is obsessed (just like his sister). It's fun having one on one time with this little buddy while the big kids are away.

 These kiddos have braved some really cold weather. They have complained here and there but mostly they've been fine as long as I MAKE them wear the right amount of layers and accessories. haha On this morning it was 11 degrees when I dropped them off. Yikes!

 We have been reading Harry Potter with the kids for the first time ever! They are loving it and Ryan and I are totally loving reliving the excitement of it through their eyes. We surprised them with a Christmastime Harry Potter puzzle to work on with them.

In school, Logan was assigned an at-home project where we had to work together to decorate a gingerbread man. We decided to make a Christmas sweater for his gingerbread man. hehe Do you see the antlers? He was so happy with how it turned out! It was really fun to work on with him.

 Logan did this assignment at school and I thought his little pictures were just so cute. I had to keep it!

I hadn't opened my computer for a couple of days. When I did I found this cute apology sticky note from Grace. Such a sweetheart.

 This is a funny picture but it represents my husband's love and compassion for me. I am on a very low-sodium diet these days and can't eat deli meat. Lunches have been difficult for me to figure out so he has been braving the bitter cold temps to smoke chicken breasts for me. He loves me!

New Spaces

I have had this dream for our "office" to turn it into a bright, open, clean but functional, well-used space for all of us to use. I didn't want it to have chunky furniture that took up lots of space. I didn't want it to be "Ryan's office" because I knew he would never use it, no matter what he may say. ;) And I wanted to have a place where the kids (or I) could work on projects and have everything within reach. I did NOT want our project space to be at our kitchen table and I did NOT want to have boxes of disorganized crafting items stored in a closet where I hated to go searching everytime the kids wanted to be creative. So I did some research (thank you Pinterest) and found a really fun solution that checked all our boxes! A peg board!

 I showed Ryan a DIY post and he built me a framed pegboard. I found all of the pieces at Hobby Lobby, Home Depot and Amazon. I am so happy with how it turned out! I even had this cute framed sign from our old house that fit perfectly. I'm so glad I found an option that shows off all of the colors of the markers and scizzors, because that's what creativity is all about! I knew that they would get messy in this room, but that's what I want. I *want* the kids to feel like they can pull projects out and utilize whatever they want in order to create something. This room is pretty much set apart from the rest of the living areas in the house, so if they get it messy it's totally fine. If they want to find a quiet yet bright and fun space to paint or draw, they can totally do that now.

 I searched for a long time to find just the right style of desk for this room. I knew I wanted one that doesn't have drawers and cupboards (because they produce stashing and disorganization) but I needed it to have 2 spaces specifically to fit my printer and my laminator. I finally found this one! Plus the fun chair and the super cute paper cart. I love it!

 I also had been wanting to find a purpose and place for our giant chalkboard we had from the old house as well. This worked out perfectly. Boston especially likes to play with magnets and with chalk so it's nice to offer that when the other kids are busy working on something he is too little to do.

This room has also become our "Come Follow Me" room. The room that we teach our kids gospel lessons in because it's away from distractions and it already has a chalkboard that we can write on to help during a lesson. It has been one of my favorite rooms ever! Oh, and there's still space to set up an air mattress if we have people come stay and need to set someone up in there. Win win!

We finally got our alcove in the dining area to look just the way we want it to. I had wanted to find a sign that said "Home is where the heart is" to go along with all of the hearts on the places we have lived and loved. But I could never find just the right sign or style or shape. When I saw this sign at Hobby Lobby I knew it would look great! So now that wall is just right. I do need an Idaho eventually... but I'm not in a hurry. ;) We'll be here for a long while.

 And a quick shot of our kitchen when I had actually cleaned it and the countertops looked shiny. haha This is rare!

Thankful For Life

My mom and dad had no plans for Thanksgiving and we were feeling so drained that we didn't want to go to Utah. So we decided kind of last-minute to host them at our house! I warned them that I was planning to do as little cooking as possible, stay in my pajamas, and try to do absolutely nothing. I can't describe how difficult these weeks following the fire were for me... but I felt like I was living outside of my body. I was overwhelmed with so many emotions and anxious thoughts that it was difficult for me to live the life I was living right then and being present. Having my mommy and daddy come spend a few days with us was such a breath of fresh air. I needed to talk, to cry, to have my support group close by. We all needed the distraction and the boost! I'm so thankful for them.

We went to see Wreck It Ralph 2 and it was hilarious! 

 Yummy breakfast on thanksgiving morning.

 Ryan graciously took over the entire turkey-prepping and turkey-cooking so I didn't have to think about any of it. I am very thankful for him.

 I was thankful for plenty of game time and for this beautiful rainbow outside my window!

Puzzle time.

 Grace and Nana prepping the funeral potatoes (our potatoes of choice on our "simple Thanksgiving").

 He's my hero!

Paper plates and paper tablecloth are A-okay.

 These are my people and I'm so thankful they are mine! I'm thankful that we are safe, we are well, we were protected, and we were led to this home and town that is closer to grandmas and grandpas. So much to be thankful for.

 yum!

 We are so blessed. Look at those sweet faces.

A Birthday Girl and Lots of Cake

Grace and I had planned a super fun crafty birthday party at a local place called "Hands On". But our trip to Chico put it on hold and we held it a week later. Grace surprises me all the time with her maturity and her willingness to put herself last sometimes. It was nice to finally celebrate her with some "hands on" fun, some cake and some time with her friends! I had mentioned to her that instead of having the kids bring gifts for her it would be nice to show them our love for THEM by letting everyone take home something home from her party instead... and she quickly agreed that that would be more fun. She's a sweet girl.

Grace requested a chocolatey chocolate cake! Done and done.

 The kids got to pick a shape, paint it, cut up pieces of tile and then glue the tile pieces on.

 Asher Dunlavy, EV Dick, Grace, Greydon Dunlavy, June Ellison, Halli Straley, Logan 

(Wren Platte not pictured)

 Final products! They turned out awesome.

Speaking of cake... I took a cake decorating class from a lady in a neighboring ward, "Cakes by Eden". It was SO much fun, and I needed that creative outlet after such a rough week. She had prebaked the layers and then she taught us how to build it and frost it with several fun techniques.

Our fall themed cake! It was so fun. 

 A dear friend who lives in Idaho Falls (Brooke Coon) sent me a pick-me-up with my favorite treats as a pick-me-up: Madster drink and a Sips cookie. She called in a favor to the local Sips shop and they surprised me by delivering it. THAT is ministering at its finest. ;)

For the last couple of months I had been experiencing some intense seasonal allergies (or so I thought they were) plus problems with my inner ear. I'll explain more on that later... but it has been a long road figuring out what the Idaho air is doing to my body. Ok so I don't know if it's the Idaho air but my body is not liking SOMETHING about life here. I've had congested ears, hearing loss, rhinitis symptoms, and dizzy spells and vertigo episodes. I've been working with an ENT and my PCP to figure it all out and still don't have many answers. But at one point I was taking multiple types of allergy meds, a steroid and other meds (this doesn't even show all of them). Yuck. I'm still searching and praying for answers but thankfully don't have to take all those meds anymore. Turns out I have ZERO allergies. None!! It's so weird.

 The Turner cousins have been doing some "cousin club" fun by assigning each cousin a name. They check in throughout the month, send notes in the mail, and try to do nice things for that cousin in an effort to strengthen those relationships from far away. The kids have really enjoyed it and Logan loved receiving a fun book in the mail from his Berger cousins!

 We have been nearing the end of our carpeting project and it's been so nice to see each space looking cleaner and brighter!