New Years Eve

 Being the party animals that we are, we had zero plans to ring in the new year, other than going to bed early and devouring a variety cheesecake after the kids went to bed. It was just a regular day.

Claire is taking her rold as Queen Elsa very seriously.

We decided to go walk around Elara's Lights one more time. As a New Years Eve miracle, Greg and the girls let me take a picture of them under my favorite tree.

2020 was a weird year - here's a recap:

* January: Greg turns 33

* We kind of start to hear about this weird virus in China

* February: I start to get more nervous about the China sickness, enough to give me nightmares about my kids, which isn't normal for me.

* March: Heidi turns 29 (worst birthday ever).

* March 12, the state shut down 2 hours before our Dear Evan Hansen show, which was a tragedy in and of itself.

* Pre-School was cancelled - but Mrs. Joani still help Zoom preschool

* Greg was diagnosed with HCM and had to wear a monitor for 30 days, nonstop, which left him with several scars

* the girls were tragically diagnosed with the same HCM gene - yes, I cried. I was devastated.

* April: Sofia turns 5!

* We didn't have anywhere else to go, so we headed south to Cedar City instead of going to Disneyland, as scheduled. But, while we were there Greg interviewed for the Assistant Controller position at Wheeler Cat. Fingers crossed!

* May: Surprise! Greg got the job at Wheeler Cat!

* June: Greg gets an ICD placed, after meeting with an Electrocardiologist

* 3 days later, Greg goes in to his exit interview at WSRP. Peace out!

* 3 days after that, he starts his new job at Wheeler! It's a miracle he made it there in 1 piece, so soon after surgery.

* Greg can't lift anything for 6 weeks - it was the worst.

* Summer wasn't so bad. Cherry Hill required reservations, but we quickly learned how to navigate that and as often as we wanted. 

* Lagoon also required reservations which was surprisingly nice. A pass may be in our future.

* July: Something's not right with me physically/hormonally/emotionally, so I get a new doctor to see if I can get some questions answered.

* Only 1 week spent at the cabin, but we made the most of it and had so much fun!

* August: an amazing camping trip to Bryce, just in time for Sofia to start Kindergarten!

* She starts, but can only go Monday & Wednesday, with remote learning on Friday (stupid COVID).

* September: Claire turns 3! And we are loving every minute of it. Being 2 wasn't kind to anyone involved.

October: Sofia goes to 4 days in school with Friday remaining a Remote learning day.

* The warmest Halloween on record! The girls didn't wear a coat and Claire eventually took her shoes off. They were running around in their Elsa dresses having the time of their lives!

* I was also diagnosed with PCOS - another blow, but at least it was an answer. Once again, I was devastated.

* November: Thanksgiving with the Spjute's. There were only 11 of us there, and it was surprisingly nice! Intimate, but the girls ate good so no complaints.

* December: I've decided to go see a Fertility clinic to help answer even more questions

* Trying to make every day magical leading up to Christmas

* Looking for ways to serve and be happy

* Christmas! So much fun being together as a family

* New Years Eve - Finally 2020 is [almost] over.

Peace out 2020! ☮✌ 

Christmas 2020!

 Christmas dawned clear and beautiful. The girls slept in and were so cozy in their fort. Greg and I basically sat around and waited for them - it was hilarious! Eventually they woke up and the party soon got started.

I was so excited for the girls to find their Minnie Car! This is 1 of 2 things I always wanted as a kid but never got. The little girl inside of me had her dreams come true this day, and it did not disappoint!

Claire is anxiously opening her gift to see if Santa brought her long-awaited Elsa dress.

He did! Complete with wand, crown, gloves, and an Elsa braid, which was hilarious and her favorite accessory.

True to tradition, Greg didn't like anything I got him until he opened this mask and everything changed!

On our way to Christmas breakfast at the Spjute's. Greg was all decked out.

The girls took their Minnie car on its maiden voyage around the block. It has some pretty good kickback, and the whiplash everytime the gas was hit never got old.

True to tradition, I didn't take a lot of pictures, but it was a really fun day. The girls played with their new toys all day long, while we all lounged around and enjoyed the spirit of Christmas.

Later, when the girls were in bed, Greg and I took a walk around the block. We've learned we need to lock our cat in the house or he'll follow us the whole time. I attempted to keep Mittens warm, but he wasn't having it - he was growling at me the whole way. But, it was hilarious and Greg got the most unflattering picture of me, probably ever, but I'm throwing it in for posterity's sake 😉.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Christmas Eve!

 Christmas Eve was here! We were on our own this year, and while I was dreading it, mostly because I'm used to big family gatherings each year (that's how my childhood was anyway), but it actually ended up being a really fun day, with just the 4 of us. Different, but no less enjoyable.

Greg and the girls exercised while I watched with a smile from the couch.

It was a warm enough day that we spent it at the Farmington Park. It's our favorite and we nearly had the place to ourselves.

Our yummy Christmas Eve dinner!

We attempted to do the Nativity, but Claire wasn't having it. This is right before she chucked the star and went crying to her room. He had her background cries while Greg and Sof did their bestest to fulfill their roles. Some people have hearlding angels, we have a crying Claire.

The cutest Mary around!

Claire reemerged to open Christmas jammies, and they both loved them! Such cute little besties.

Christmas jammies for all! Thank you 10 second delay on the iphone.

Telling the filthay animal N-night

We made the girls a fort to sleep in and it was the cutest thing! They slept so good.

When the girls are away, their mama will play .... with their toys!

December Fun

COVID cancelled everything we normally do in December, and the weather was still somewhat permissible to spend time outside, so we did what we could to stay entertained.

Up early one morning and felt like someone was watching me. Turned around to find this little creeper. 

Our Charlie Brown tree! It was the lone survivor after the Thanksgiving haul, and somehow it made it home with its pine needles. We loved having a tree on both levels this year.

This is how Claire does the library. She finds a book and a cozy place to read. It's kind of the best.

Found this note in one of our library books. It basically made my day!💗

We wanted to serve someone this year, so we signed up for 2 girls Sofia and Claire's ages and went shopping one night for them. The girls picked out everything and we had so much fun explaining to them the meaning of Christmas, when people aren't as fortunate as us. It was a fun experience.

Sof got this bead kit as an early Christmas present and was so excited to make all of her friends a bracelet for Christmas. 

Just me and my boyfriend.

Mittens has a strange fetish with climbing inside boxes. Unluckily for him, Claire decided to follow him.

Oh Claire, we love her! 🤣

The week leaded up to the Christmas break was so fun for Sof. She got to dress up every day. This day she got to dress up as her favorite Grinch character. Does she look like Max?

The local hangout.

The gang's all here!

Mittens typically sleeps on one of these chairs, but he was at a loss one day when I actually mopped the floor. I wasn't sure whether to be impress that he improvised, or disgusted that he was laying on the table.

We finally were able to go sledding! The snow was sparse this year.

We made homemade gingerbread cookies. Claire spared no icing or sprinkles.

Sof decorated the gingerbread men for her friends, and I was really impressed!

Snug as a bug!

We made it to see the Tree of Life in Farmington and walked around the park to see Elara's lights and the blowups. I think this is my favorite thing we do each year and I'm so glad it wasn't cancelled like everything else.

Everyone but Greg refused to pose under the Tree of Life.

He's not sure what to think about the snow.

Merry Christmas ya filthy animal!

We had fun walking around the Layton lights this year. You could tell there was nothing else for people to do, because everytime we went the line to drive through was crazy! It's way more fun to walk through anyway.

For our ward party this year, we did things a little different, for obvious reasons. Each house in the ward boundaries, regardless of whether they were members or not, got 15 bags to fill with sand. On the bags, we were instructed to write or draw things we were grateful for. It was so much fun! After our bags were ready, we lit candles to put inside. Then, at a specified time, we were told to drive around the ward to see everyone's display. It was so pretty! After, we congregated at a house where we saw a live nativity (the ward had found animals) and got hot chocoalte and the D&C Come Follow Me manual for the upcoming year. It was so good to get together with our ward family again! Even if it was through social distancing measures.