November, Miscellaneous, 2020

 November was weird, and warm, and other than that, I'm not sure how to describe the month.  We had a lot of chances to spend time together - but that's kind of the theme lately.  It doesn't feel like we did a lot with the month, but we survived it, and sometimes, that is the most important part.

Doesn't quite look like a November play date.

We got the chance to puppysit Willow while Jarin and Jami went to St. George.  She is the sweetest puppy. The only problem we had with her was trying to keep the kids from fighting over whose turn it was to hold and play with her.  Having her at the house got us excited to get our own puppy.

This boy is a true blue BYU fan and we have had so much fun cheering on the cougars all month long.  These pictures were all taken for different games, the set up just stayed the same.  

We made another visit to the BYU Bookstore.

Tim and the "big boys"

This kids dressed up his "guy" and put him in the bed in Tim's office.  They just kept waiting for him to get sick and go sleep down there so that he would be scared.  Such funny kids. 

Ice cream is always a good idea.

We spent the afternoon at the aquarium and had such a good time.  We were able to get discount tickets and go with our friends which made it even better.  

The Claw!

I take Ruby to dance on Saturday mornings at 8:00 a.m.  When we are done, she often comes with me to run errands.  On this particular Saturday she saw a park and begged me to stop.  She was so excited to play that I couldn't resist, but I told her "15 minutes".  Almost two hours later we finally left.  It was super cold and we were not dressed for the weather.  We were the only two people at the park and I just had so much fun playing with my girl, and watching her excitement.  It was such a simple morning, but one of my favorite memories with Miss Ruby. 

The hot tub is always full of mermaids.

Thanksgiving Weekend, 2020

We knew that Thanksgiving would look a little different this year, but had no idea how quickly everything could change.  I spent a big part of the day on Wednesday cooking and getting my contributions ready.  We got the kids to bed and I was ready to head there as well when Ruby started crying and saying that she felt sick, next thing I knew, she was in the bathroom puking.  Initially I just thought she ate something that upset her tummy, but by the third round, it was clear that something more serious was going on.  She ended up repeating the pattern and puking all night long and by the morning it was obvious that we would not be celebrating the day with any of our family.  So, I called my mom and dad and made arrangements to take some of our food to Santquin and picked up some turkey and rolls for our little meal.  Poor Ruby was so sick, she sat at the table and ate part of a roll with us, then ran to the bathroom to puke again.  We spent the rest of the day just lying around, watching movies and football, and playing with our new puppy - the major bright spot in our holiday.

Poor girl decided it was easier just to hang out in the bathroom.

Bringing this little guy home made our day so much brighter.

After several days in the house, we were all ready for a break and desperately in need of sunshine.  We got in the car and headed down to the lake where we spent a few hours watching the kids play and explore.  It was cold, but there was plenty of sunshine, and we were just so happy to bask in the glow.

For the past few years we have gone to some type of living nativity.  This year I found one that was indoors and they had made some changes to make it feel safe for everyone to gather this year.  After a long weekend of puking kids (yep, Luke puked all night on Saturday), I really just wanted to go home from work and go to bed.  But, I was so glad we decided to still go to the nativity.  It was basically a reading from Luke II with various actors, but it was just so sweet.  As we watched Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, the angels and the wise men, I felt such peace and gratitude for the Savior.  I think Tim and the kids felt something special.  This ended up being the perfect way to start the Christmas season.

Hamilton

 For the past two years (or more), the kids have been begging for a dog.  I have had multiple reasons and multiple excuses and thought that we could go on for another several years without getting a dog.  It's not that I don't like dogs - I do - and I loved Everest for a very long time.  I just wasn't sure that I was ready for that kind of commitment again.  Jami has been "team puppy" for a long time and always points out how happy Luke and Ruby are with they are with any dog.  I guess she decided that I needed a little nudge if it was ever going to happen.  She texted me one afternoon to tell me about a litter of puppies born to one of the dogs from Lola's first litters.  She had a connection to this litter and told me that one of the puppies was extra great and that we should get him.  I told her I would talk to Tim but assumed that he wouldn't be interested.  Ha!!!  He immediately was excited and said to tell her we wanted the puppy.  He and I talked about it for a few days, and even though I was still not quite sure, eventually I agreed.  Then we had to decide when to tell the kids.  We thought about waiting and surprising them when the puppy was ready to come home, but decided that it would be more fun for them to know right away so that they could watch the puppy grow.  So, one Saturday afternoon we showed them a picture and told them we were getting a dog.  Ruby was immediately excited, but Luke was cautious.  He asked us several times if we were joking and said he was just too worried that we weren't serious.  We finally had to call Jami so she could confirm that it was really happening.  Seeing my kids so excited made me feel like we really had made the right decision.  Once everyone knew the secret, now it was just time to wait.....

The first time we met Hamilton and his litter mates.  They were all so tiny and sweet, me and the kids had so much fun cuddling them all.  At this point it still seemed a little unbelievable that this pup was actually going to be ours.

Of course the other puppies got plenty of loves.

Since she was so close by, Jami would visit and send pictures and Face Time.

The owners were also great at sending pictures and updates.

At our next visit, we couldn't believe how much he had grown!

Tim finally met his new best friend.

Every time we saw him, it seemed like he had changed so much.

After a lot of visits, research, shopping for supplies, and so many discussions about the puppy, it was finally time for our new little one to come home.  We had planned to pick him up at some point during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, but then Ruby got sick and our Thanksgiving plans were all canceled.  So, I contacted the breeder and asked if I could come pick him up.  We all needed a little extra sunshine that day, and bringing home Hamilton was the the perfect way to brighten our lives. 

The kids wanted me to send a picture as soon as I had him

Clearly they were excited to finally have their own puppy.

We are all just so in love with this little buddy.