The Hutch-Wagon

 I have never been a pro football fan, though I always support my local teams or teams with whom I have some kind of connection. The Detroit Lions have had a major losing streak since we've lived here, or so I heard. I never paid any attention to the games. However, when Ziggy Ansa was on the team 8 years ago or so, I was pretty excited because he was in the Canton ward and we met him a couple of times. Austin even got his autograph. Kyle Vanoy played for them and stayed with Ziggy for a bit before his wife joined him and they moved to the Northville ward. We met him and his wife as well. 

This season, again, I didn't pay much attention, but I heard about how we were having a pretty good season. When I was out shopping for Christmas gifts, I bought Austin a Michigan shirt and a Lions shirt, for a buy-one-get-one-half-off. I knew he needed a new Michigan shirt and at that point, I knew how well they were doing (Go Blue!), and when I saw the deal, I thought, "Might as well get him a Lions shirt too, since they're doing pretty well right now."

After they won their last home game, leading up to the 49ers game, my boss, who pays way less attention to football than I do, had noticed all the kids coming to school in their Lions shirts and realized we should make a bigger deal out of it for some school spirit. So she announced a "wear your Lions blue and white" day for Friday. When she was telling me her idea she mentioned that Aiden Hutchinson, a defensive end for the Lions, went to Red Bell as a preschooler and his parents live down the street! He played for the Plymouth Canton Steelers, where Kade used to cheer, and went to the private school where my boss's mom taught art. She was his art teacher. 

The best part about it was on Tuesday, a student said how he wanted to be a football player when he grew up, and I told them that Aiden Hutchinson went to Red Bell. One 3-year-old girl promptly raised her hand and said, "Aiden Hutchinson is my neighbor and I walk his dog!" Now, I usually take what these little guys say with a grain of salt, however, she said it so clearly and matter-of-factly that I almost believed her. Either way, it was about the cutest thing I heard last week!

Well, we ended up losing to the 49ers, and won't be in the Super Bowl after all, but this is the best they've played in 30 years. Yes, I did watch the game with my family and was rooting for Hutch, the Red Bell alumni, but our journey ended there. It was fun while it lasted.

I borrowed Austin's shirt for our Lion's Pride day at school. 

Snow Days

 Last week we had 2 snow days right after MLK Day. It wasn't a surprise since we knew the high school was going to cancel school on Tuesday, by midafternoon on Monday, because some of the heating wasn't working and the temps were in the single digits with high winds, so negative real feels. 

Erik was disappointed that he would have to go to school, and not Kade and Austin, however right after Erik went to bed, we got the call that they were going to cancel the rest of the schools due to the poor road conditions and extreme cold. 

I was really glad we had gone skiing on Saturday so that we weren't feeling like we'd been cooped up too much. On Tuesday, I still went to a couple of grocery stores, including Costco, and decided that going on a freaky cold day like that was a pretty good idea. There weren't too many people out so there were short lines. I found it interesting that the people who were out didn't seem as bundled up as me. A bunch of people didn't have hats on and some seemed like their coats were barely sufficient. I suppose since they were out, they must have not been too bothered by the cold to begin with. 

The kids had some friends over and I got some work done around the house. Austin and Erik had a birthday party to attend Tuesday night, which was a weird day for a party, but once we knew school was canceled for Wednesday, due to even colder temps, I was happy they had somewhere to go Tuesday night. It was at Chuck E. Cheese to play video games and they had a blast! Their mutual friend is between their ages and is new to our ward. He moved here from Utah to play competitive ice hockey and is home-schooled. He could only have his party on Tuesday, due to his practice schedule.

The friend that Erik had over earlier in the day had gone sledding with us last year and suggested that we go on Wednesday. I was a little hesitant since it was supposed to be so cold, but his mom was fine with it, so after we met some friends at the church Wednesday morning to run around with, we took Erik's friend, Nick, and went sledding at the "warmest" part of the day. I think it was in the single digits with a real feel of -8, but it was actually supposed to feel like -23, so we got lucky. 

Needless to say, we were the only crazy people there, besides one mom and her son for about 20 minutes. We were there a little over an hour. The sledding wasn't great because it was so cold that the snow was frozen solid, but Erik and his friends (we invited a buddy from church too) played some adventurous games after sledding. I was snowshoeing the entire time so I wouldn't get cold. I was actually warmer than when we went skiing because I had on my snow pants and the coat that Kade had worn skiing. The sun was shining too, so that was nice. 

The worst thing about it? I didn't take any pictures! I thought about it, but I didn't want to take my hand out of my glove to take one, so no pics to show- sorry. 

All I have is this of Erik on Friday when it wasn't as cold and he decided to play outside in the yard, just for the fun of it. He got his square of snow from one of our deck chairs. 

Welcome to winter!

Ski Trip

 For our gift for Christmas from my mom, we were all going to go skiing when Victoria was here, but we never had any snow. In fact, it was pretty warm. I think I mentioned that it was 55 on Christmas Day. Victoria will go at some point in Idaho, I'm sure.

Austin and I were supposed to go on Jan 6 also, since he wants snowboarding to be his winter sport, or at least as many times as he can go, using the money that would have gone toward the dive team. Well, that no-snow issue determined that we couldn't go then either. A few days later, it looked like the forecast of snow for this weekend was going to be correct!

We went to one of our favorite places, Mt. Holly, about an hour away. It was a freakishly cold day, but Sunday and Monday are even colder, so I guess we made the right choice. The warmest part of the day was supposed to be at 11am when the temp was 28 with a real feel of 11. When we left at 5, it was in the teens with a real feel of 1. The winds were blowing so hard that my skis were blowing up on the lift a few times, and then the final blow (pun intended) was when the lift itself was being pushed to the side from the wind and all the snow from the ground was blowing around like a blizzard. I don't know where Jason was at the moment, but he would have had motion sickness if he had been on the lift at the time! 

Even still, the kids had a blast and weren't phased by the cold. Jason and I had a lot of fun too, though I got too cold. It didn't help that I somehow forgot my snow pants, but I did have thermal underwear, plus my winter running tights, so it could have been worse. I ended up putting on Erik's sweatpants over my other layers just to keep my bum dry from the snow on the lifts. Erik only needed his long underwear and snow pants. Jason forgot his snow pants too (ours were together, hanging up by the door...), but his two layers of pants were sufficient for him. 

The kids coming down for a practice round. 

Just about a year ago, Austin broke his wrist in both bones while snowboarding. We're pleased to say that we had no injuries this time! 

I was on one lift and they were on another here. 

They are all pretty good at skiing/snowboarding. I'm pretty impressed when we don't go as often as we would like!

Just before we left we actually saw some sky!

Right now it's -4 with a real feel of -7. Brrrr! I'm glad we're not going today!

Winter Break

 We had some fun times over the break with Victoria here, besides what we did for the actual holidays and Kade's birthday. 

We went to the movies, roller skating,  watched Michigan beat Alabama in the Rosebowl, went for a hike, went to dinner with the Kish family, played games, and watched movies.  Those were the activities that most of us participated in together,  though Austin and Jason had their turns being sick for some of those and couldn't join in. Austin also had to recover from a sprained finger/hand that occurred just before the break on his run when he slipped he hit his hand on a guard rail. Luckily,  it wasn't broken,  but he had to wear a brace for two weeks and it sure didn't look good.  That visit to the urgent care with him made 7 visits to the urgent care or ER last year due to my children's injuries 😕.

I don't get into football as much anymore, but I was pretty stoked about this game, especially after we won!

 

Kade helped make the pizza dough for the game- I think I have a new pizza dough maker!

A warm spot!

Dos Fuentes- yum!

I went to a fancy mall with Victoria,  Barnes and Noble and a thrift store in Ann Arbor with Kade, and Sky Zone with Austin and Erik,  once Austin could take off the brace. Jason and I went to the temple and a wedding reception.

It's the Somerset Mall in Troy and is huge! It has a bridge to cross over to the other part of it, which we didn't get to because Victoria had to go to work. 

I assume Santa's castle isn't always there.

I loved the fountain here!

This was taken a couple of days after his injury.

You can see the bruising in this pic.

This was almost 2 weeks later- still had some bruising!

I know I posted this in the last post, but I wanted to post it again!

I am officially ready to return to school next week and happy to say that Victoria safely made it back to Rexburg.

A goodbye huddle.

Kade's 17th Birthday

 Kade's 17th birthday was yesterday, a day full of celebrations. Kade's friend CJ, who lives an hour away, came over Friday night to sleep over and start the day off with celebrations. We got Einstein Brother's Bagels for breakfast on Saturday, per Kade's request. Since everyone slept in, they had time to eat their bagels, watch Kade open up his first and main gift, and then get ready to attend the Stake Youth Activity at the church from 11-1. 

Kade's bass arrived while he was picking up CJ, but we didn't have enough time to wrap it as elaborately as we wanted to. Austin suggested we just make it look big and obnoxious in the corner. 

Kade wasn't surprised, though. 

But still super happy to see it!

Kade stayed home with CJ and had fun here, but Victoria went with Austin and Erik so she could see some of her old Stake friends. She had a babysitting job right afterward, so I picked up the boys so she could go straight there. At the church, I saw two of Kade's good friends from a different ward and they asked about him, so I told them to stop by, which they did! When I arrived home, a few minutes after them, the mom was in our driveway. We chatted a bit and she told me she'd just wait in the driveway for 20 minutes while they visited, since her younger child didn't want to get out. It was so nice of her to sit and wait while some good friends could catch up. They live about 30 minutes south of us. Then as they were leaving, a friend of Kade's from a different stake whom he met at FSY last summer, who lives about 30 minutes north of us, stopped by to give Kade his gifts. He was going to come to the birthday party that evening, but had a change of plans and his mom drove him all the way to our house to deliver the gift. It was so nice!! Kade has the best friends!

Mario Cart!

Surprise visit from friends!

They did their party things on their own while Jason and I made another Puerto Rican dinner, per Kade's request as well. One friend just kept eating cupcakes, so I told her she could have plain noodles with Erik and she seemed super happy about that! The rest seemed to enjoy the Puerto Rican food. We made the rice and gandules vegetarian so that friends could enjoy who weren't going to eat the pork. They played games, talked, jumped on the trampoline, and walked to the park. Kade had told them not to bring gifts, so some didn't bring any. I didn't take my usual gift-giver pics so that those who didn't bring any wouldn't feel bad. Kade also didn't want a big fanfare of singing Happy Birthday with all the candles. I did get one candle for a cupcake and he did let us sing to him, per my request. 

Be Real!

Before CJ left.

From what I observed, everyone had a great time, especially Kade. Happy Birthday, Kade!

TV Girl posters from Erik and a fidget pen from Austin.

Some cool T-shirts from Victoria. 

Since I'm writing this on New Year's Eve, I'll just wish everyone a Happy 2024! We don't have much going on tonight. We were supposed to go to Susie's family's cabin to play in the snow today and tomorrow, but since there is no snow and Jason's a little under the weather, we decided not to go. He's been wearing a mask and avoiding the friends mostly. I've been trying to disinfect everything around so no one catches it. Just games, snacks, and movies tonight. Actually, Jason and I are going to bed soon. Until next year!

Christmas 2023

 Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were nice this year. Nothing too big, but enough celebration to satisfy. Jason, Austin, and I were a part of the ward choir for the last song in the sacrament meeting program. The program was full of music and only one amazing speaker, so it was lovely. We have a very small, but mighty Primary who sang two songs, and some beautiful soloists in voice and piano. We got to see some people, including college students, whom we hadn't seen in a while, which was really nice. After lunch at home, we went to an assisted living center with a few other families from our ward and from some other wards in the area and sang Christmas carols as they ate lunch. We used to do this every Christmas Eve with this group, before the pandemic. This is the first year going back again. It was so much fun to see the joy on the resident's faces as we sang. We sang about 10 pages of songs, so by the time we were done, I told my kids that we didn't have to sing any songs at home, since I knew by then they were done with singing! Plus, it's much better with more people. 

We had the sister missionaries over for dinner. It was cool getting to know them, especially since one of them is from Rexburg. She and Victoria had some good conversations. We ate ham, sweet potato casserole, Jason's homemade dressing (stuffing, but it stuffed nothing), homemade rolls, and green beans. Pretty much anything with the ham that we didn't get at Thanksgiving, or didn't get the way we usually have it. We had a variety cheesecake from the orchestra fundraiser that was nice to save until now so I didn't have to make anything. I had even bought sparkling grape juice that we drank in goblets, but of course, I forgot to take any pictures of the set table or food. 

After the missionaries left we went to the Remington's house to do the Nativity with them and another family friend of theirs. They had invited us for dinner, but since we had the missionaries over, we told them we'd join later. It's more fun to do the Nativity with younger kids. Before acting it out, we played the left and right game. I wrapped a gift for each person and read a version of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, modified to have more right and left words. Most of the gifts were small toys, crafts, or candy that I didn't need for my class, were from my gift stash, or were leftovers from Erik's birthday party favors. I had to buy a few things from Dollar Tree, but it was so fun and worth it! Some kids traded at the end and I'm pretty sure all the kids ended up with their parents' gifts as well because they were all something most kids would like. 

Erik made a good King Herod!

Kade and Austin were 2 of the Wisemen.

Jason was the narrator and Victoria and I got to be in the audience!

The Nativity was much more enjoyable with younger kids, which also meant we left earlier and were able to play a few games and relax at home before going to bed, since we had everything completed earlier, including watching the Church's Nativity video.

Even though my kids are getting older, most of them still wanted to wake up fairly early to open gifts, except Victoria who's still on MST. We didn't allow any waking to happen before 7, though Austin couldn't help it, but at least he didn't wake everyone else. Erik's alarm went off way too early, like 4, because his clock was wrong, but he didn't get up to turn it off anyhow- Jason did!

I think we looked at the stockings at 8 and then opened gifts right afterward. We had waffles, egg bites, sausage, and berries for breakfast. I also had saved some of my 12 days of jam for everyone to try, though Jason was the only one who tried any. So I've been getting to finish off the rest these past couple of days, which I have enjoyed!

Lots of socks were received!

Leia spent who knows how much time getting her kitty treats out of her hanging stocking, which was still hanging, even after she had secured the treats? The bag was full of puncture holes in the hopes that she would rip open the bag somehow. 

Erik was pleased with his gifts.

Victoria got a ski jacket, among other things.

Go Lions!

And make sure to watch the Michigan v. Alabama game on New Year's!

Minecraft Legos!

Guitar strap!

Austin's new weight bench and weights.

Our breakfast spread!

We relaxed, played games, talked with family on the phone, and watched The Hunger Games in preparation to see the new one in the theater on Tuesday. Since it was a whopping 55 degrees here, we went for a little hike at Maybury State Park. 

When we returned, we ate our traditional Puerto Rican dinner- roasted pork, rice and gandules, tostones, and colorful cauliflower. Most of our kids have come to love this meal, so it's fun to serve it and easier to make since we've done it so many times now. 

We did some dancing in the sunroom and Kade told me that this was one of his best Christmas Days. He felt happy and relaxed. Hearing that made me so happy myself!

Merry Christmas!