Latelyish

My Christmas cactus bloomed early and beautifully

!

I will always--ALWAYS--be ecstatic when friends want to overnight at our place on their way to hear or there. I loved seeing Corie again during Thanksgiving break!

I hate Covid! And also, these kids are vaccinated!

Wig Sib Date Night!

When we go on runs, we always get asked by bikers and runners alike if we are sisters. Basically!!!

Somehow we always end up with a baby (and puppy, omg) in our bed.

OrangeTheory with Lori--it was such a good one!

T thought he was so funny when he found this sign and offered to buy it for my kitchen. PILL! I cook...sometimes. But he's right, definitely not from scratch!

My Christmas dog. I'm a dog girl now, how did that happen?!

Grammie's birthday walk and brunch.

Remember how I said I was a dog person now? I'm a dog person now for sure!

Did you also wake up at 3:30 for candles? no? weird!

Mani-pedi date with Lacey girl when she was staying at our place.

This guy just screams cool. I don't know how he does it but it's effortless for him. He's so handsome. He's so cool. 

See all these kids? They all spent the night at my house last weekend! Par-tay at the Wigs!

Christmas Cousins with their new ornaments.

Cousins and so many appetizers that none of them looked like they had even be touched. It was so delicious!

A Christmas pup!

Cora's First Recital

Cora wasn't so sure about dance before her Saturday recital. She liked it, but she didn't looooove it. But after an afternoon on stage dressed in a fancy dress and get this--red lipstick!--she is sold on dance forever. When I saw her again after her performance the first thing she said to me was, "I want to dance onstage ten times and then do it ten times again!" This was my first ever dance recital, and it will probably surprise you exactly zero that I cried at least three times, including when the five-year-old class walked onto the darkened stage and I saw one little girl who was at least a head taller than the others, shimmying her shoulders with excitement and flashing a giant smile that was evident even without light. I know nothing of dance recitals or dancing or frankly, of five-year-old girls that like lipstick, but I'm pretty obsessed with this little doll. I love that baby.

Ruby and Cora dance at the same studio, but they performed in different shows. It was a day of dance recitals for me, and it was wonderful!

My girls

Quinn and Cora are everything I could have dreamed, no--they're better. They are in this perfect stage of childhood where they're learning to read and constantly making crafts and so unapologetically authentic and unique and it's an absolute thrill and delight. Kindergarteners. First graders. Is there anything better? Having two little girls finish my family still feels too good to be true and I love them with all my heart.

This turkey was definitely safe on Thanksgiving, all disguised in pink sparkles as a princess!

Cora made the turkey hat, but I was the lucky one to wear it. 

Quinny made it to the all-star team for soccer season and of course, all the McKee's showed up to cheer her on! It wasn't exactly what we were expecting (it kind of felt like a club team tryout) but if that's true Quinny-Cat will definitely be making the team because every coach there asked for her name. She's a wonder!

Quinny and Coach Micah. She was so lucky to be on his team this year. Oh yeah, and I was the assistant coach. She scored a billion goals a game and had a blast!

Birthday party face paint for this little fairy. 

These sisters are still yin and yang. These were their outfits of choice for adventuring with Mama. I love their styles--they're honestly my spirit animals, both of them! (Although Cora would want me to tell you that I made her wear tennis shoes, she would have preferred tip toe shoes or sandals.)

Quinny has been having a little bit of nerves going to school lately, so she stays close to me as we drop off Cora at her kinder class before walking Quinny to first grade.

Cora smiling up front, Quinny throwing people down in the back. 

So many tears for Cora when she watched the movie Clifford and the dogs got lost, haha. Luckily Uncle Gogo was there to comfort her. 

Date day for these cutie cousins. 

This piggy-girl desperately wanted to help me blow the leaves in the backyard. She was SO HELPFUL! I love it when kids think helping is fun. 

Not a day goes by that Quinny isn't talking about Julia--her 5th grade big buddy at school. Quinn is obsessed with Julia--she's funny and likes to play with her, she's good at soccer and has matching blonde hair. I'm so grateful for older kids who are kind and compassionate and such a good example for my littles. 

Fancy hair for the baby girl. 

They've learned how fun it is to put up their hair with towels after their baths. Gosh, they're darling!

Young Women Stuff

I recently told the parents of my young women that even if it wasn't my church responsibility to hang with their daughters, I would definitely still be pining to do it. They are the best of the best and every time I am with them I am impressed with their maturity, their energy, their familiarity (because am I a forever teenager? I think I am!) We are together a lot and when we're not I'm planning and praying and preparing for our next adventure, but it's worth it. I love them!

Temple and In 'N Out--we're planning for once a quarter in 2022 as a big group. Our YW are small in number compared to all those boys, but they are magnificent!

We helped the Food Bank hand out 500 meals to members of our direct community in three hours. This is definitely something we want to do again! It was wonderful hearing our youth talk about how good they felt serving others, and how they learned that there is need all around us, even when it looks like everything is ok. 

The YW helped our ward collect 28 full Thanksgiving meals for a local children's receiving home. They worked so hard and the children's home was so grateful. I love serving our community!!!

Cutie Sarah painted the backdrop of our Grinch's Cave for the ward Christmas party. She's amazing!