We’re in the home stretch of 2024 and the end is in sight! This post is kind of fun because I’ll be recapping November 2024 while we’re currently in November 2025 in real life and it’s crazy to see how much difference a year makes, especially for the younger kids. Read on for a recap of all the stuff that happened a year ago…
{Updated to include a recap of Grace's birthday, which I didn't initially include because I had no pictures or stories from her. She rectified that situation for me with the following shared Note...}
I spent my birthday out in Utah this year. Shenanigans began when my grandma invited me to Costco to get that $1.50 hotdog-soda steal. We shopped at the love of my life Costco and had a ball together.
Later in the evening I got hibachi with my friends as a quirky little tradition. The VIP included friends and family (Ethan, Hannah, Jonah, Ben, Bi, Josh, Jake, Rylee, and Dallin).
The cousin boys and roommates quickly had to leave after hibachi for a volleyball game. We were their biggest cheerleaders on the side. They won their games!!! (Everything I know about volleyball comes from Haikyuu).
At night Hannah, Rylee, and I watched Mr. Peabody and Sherman while doing a little craft. Such a brilliant movie. I’m getting chills just thinking about it.
Because of the boys’ game we couldn’t have my actual party until the next day. Shoutout my dear friend/roommate Rylee for creating the flyer. Of course it was Roku City themed. Rylee was kind enough to host in her Park City home. She really pulled through for the party.
There was cake and decorations to match the Roku City theme.
Me and Rylee
Me and Hannah courtesy of Seth’s fancy camera.
Another picture thanks to Seth. Despite popular belief (my mom’s beliefs) I was able to blow out my candles quickly.
Overall it was a lovely birthday shared with friends and family. After cake we hot tubbed and watched Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (AKA my favorite movie). I couldn’t have asked for a better start to my 20s.
Isaac celebrated his 9th birthday on November 10th and requested a Diary of a Wimpy Kid theme for his cake. I failed yet again at setting up an actual friend party for him, so poor Isaac had to make do with all the yahoos at home. Lol. He still got plenty of presents and his cake was a hit, though, so I think he’s forgiven me for my lack of planning and foresight. Hahaha.
The Trestle Tracks set he’s opening up here was a huge hit. It’s basically a marble racer and he loved it.
We couldn’t have a “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” themed birthday without gifting him the newest installment of the series, now could we? Hahaha.
This game — Abducktion — was a HUGE hit with Isaac. Luckily for him, I thought it was really fun, too, and we’ve been able to convince Scott and Alex to give it a whirl every now and then with us as well.
The execution of the cake was a little rough around the edges, but the overall effect was what I was aiming for and I was pleased with the result.
Isaac thought it was pretty awesome as well and his only complaint was that he would have preferred chocolate frosting over cream cheese. He ultimately recognized that chocolate wouldn’t have worked for decorating purposes, however, and he was still happy with his cake overall.
He really did have a blast creating different marble-racing towers.
As has become our tradition, we spent the whole week of Thanksgiving in Utah. With Ethan and Grace out there for school and with the kids at home getting the whole week off, we’ve kind of made it our thing. Lol. It was extra exciting this year having Ethan back from his mission and being all together once again. The week was filled with lots of family fun all around — both with my family and Scott’s — and I think we can all safely say that we loved (almost) every minute of it. Hahaha.
Freddie had some wooden Nutcrackers for the kids to paint for a fun craft activity while we were there.
(I was honestly shocked that Isaac spent as much time on this as he did. He isn’t typically one for arts and crafts.)
Is it even a family gathering without Roblox or Bed Wars?
I can’t even remember what kind of dance the kids were doing here. I want to say it was a Just Dance song but I could be completely off the mark. Hahaha. Regardless, it was nice to see them taking a break from phones.
After spending the first half of the week with my side of the family, we finished things off with a mini-family reunion on Scott's side before we had to head back home. Highlights of the back half of the week included: a trip to the mall to make donations with the #LightTheWorld Giving Machine; a first-time-through-the-Temple experience with my niece, Hannah; wearing our matching t-shirts on Thanksgiving Day; and one last rumpus of fun and games for everyone at the church gym.
Scott's parents let each grandkid choose an item to be donated.
Grace chillin' with all the cute little cuzzies. (They all LOVE her.)
Jane joined in the jubilee as well. Hahaha.
For some reason, Hannah decided to try on her mom's wedding dress and Grace followed suit with grandma-grandma's. (That's what we called Scott's grandma.)
Gym shenanigans
With Ethan home from his mission -- and our last formal family photo 5 or 6 years old -- we decided that now was the perfect time to get some new ones taken! The weather had turned really cold right before we arrived in Utah so I had to do a lot of last minute fiddling around to find clothes for everyone that fit the aesthetic and that wouldn't give them frostbite. Lol. One of our good family friends from when I was growing up in New Orleans is a professional photographer and currently lives in Utah, so it was a no brainer to hire her to take our pictures. We went up into a canyon (I think...and I can't remember which one, DOH!) and had a surprisingly painless photo shoot without a single tear being shed (which honestly has ever been done). Hahaha. The following pics are from my phone camera for a behind-the-scenes sneak peek. I'll post the professional ones in the next blog post.
I love all those little faces so much!
💕 My girlie bugs 💕
Brrrrrrr!
Like the bullet point says, these last few pictures represent the other happenings of November 2024...
I voted
We reached the end of an era -- Isaac graduated from Occupational Therapy.
(Miss Amanda worked with both Alex and Sophie previously as well.)
And we began a new era -- Jane got her driving permit!
She also had an asthma flare-up at some point during the month. (And since I legit don't even remember this occasion, it must not have been too bad. Lol.)
And finally, Isaac started gearing up for Christmas with this Santa-and-his-sleigh Lego kit.
And that's a wrap! Just one more 2024 month to go...
No comments:
Post a Comment