Hello January.

On Dec. 27th we made the long drive to Utah (with Britt, Austin and Scarlett PLUS Lo and her school stuff). The plan was to stay until the 30th, as Bill had agreed to preside at the marriage of a couple in our ward on the 31st. Dayna had planned a surprise birthday party for Jeff's 40th, and we were going to be able to attend (yay!). 

We {carefully and gently} passed around their new baby Easton. It was so fun to meet him for the first time.

Scarlett found the toy room, so she was a happy camper... for the most part... unless another child snagged a toy she was playing with. There would be an occasional meltdown heard coming from behind the stairs haha.

 Just look at all the love Easton got from his cousins.

 We grabbed this picture of us all together the night before Bill and Mar were leaving. I had decided to stay in Utah because I knew that Tay and Lynnea's baby would arrive the moment I left. 

On New Years Eve, since Britt, Austin, and Scarlett were spending it with Austin's family, and Jason and Lex were spending it with Jason's family, and Shilo had a DATE, I invited Tay and Nae over for dinner and a game or two (we played my new current fave, Ticket To Ride)... a nice quiet start to 2017.

Hello, 2017.

Later that day we attended Easton's baby blessing.

 A lot of the next week was a blur. I was just waiting. Patiently waiting. And enjoying spending a little extra time with Wonderful Sweet Scarlett.

Britt, Scarlett, and I also got Shilo settled into her new digs in Provo.

That Saturday Shi, Lex and I went to the Salt Lake Temple for a session. They loved it (a first for both of them) and I loved being there with them.

 I traveled to Bountiful to stay with my parents for a night, then had a flight home Sunday evening. Still waiting for my new little granddaughter to arrive. I was hoping that she would come on Mauri's birthday and BEFORE my trip home. Nope. Lynnea had been having contractions and had gone to the hospital to be checked, but they sent her home. Auuuuggghh! I stressed over what to do. 

Should I stay or should I go now?

At the very last moment (and after consulting with Billy-my-hero, who was in the middle of a Stake youth fireside with Mar), the decision was made to stay.

Monday morning I headed to Provo to chill with Lynnea while Tay started his first day of the new semester. When I got to their apartment, they were contemplating going back to the hospital because Nae had had a long night of painful contractions. After hearing the details, I thought going would be a very smart choice {happy dance that THIS might be the day}.

Once she was checked and the doctor was called, we were told she got to stay.

 {Happy happy dance}

 Lynnea labored throughout the day, initially progressing pretty quickly, but then things slowed a bit.

Shilo came after school to hang out with us, followed by Britt and Austin, Lex and Jason a little later that evening. Finally it was time to push, so we all headed to the waiting room.

 To wait.

The waiting made me a little nervous. I knew it could take a while for a first baby (I pushed for over an hour with Tay), but this was REALLY taking a long time. Every time the double doors would open, I would expect to see Tay with a big smile on his face telling us "she's here!" 

Finally the doctor came out and asked me to come into the room with Taylor and Lynnea. The rest of the family followed. It was there that we found out that sweet 8-pound-3-ounce Evelynn was here, but she had some complications immediately following her birth. She was in the NICU. It was something to do with her lungs, but they were still assessing. We would not see her.

Taylor and Lynnea would get to see her briefly.

They had done an x-ray, and her lungs looked cloudy, small, and were not inflating as they should. She would be on a respirator. Tay and Nae were told not to expect her home for 7 to 14 days.

This was not the excited, fun greeting I had hoped for, but I am so so grateful for the medical advances we have today. Evelynn would not be here without the quick reaction of the medical staff, and the expertise of educated doctors and nurses. I am especially thankful for them! It's been a lengthy stay for my new precious granddaughter {17 days today}, but her parents have had the best attitude. 

I have learned from them... about patience, about faith, and about love.

Next up: Meet Evelynn

Back to December.

A huge THANK YOU to my sweet girl, Britt, for taking the time on this very important day (Bill's birthday, Lynnea's birthday, Presidential Inauguration Day) to send me pics from my point-and-shoot. I can now move forward with catching up.

But first I must get a cake in the oven for Bill...

...funny how that doesn't take long when you're reading this. Needless to say, the German Chocolate bundt cake is in the oven, the coconut pecan frosting is cooling on the counter, and the dishes are done. That wasn't fast.

Back to December.

And Sister Syddall's return from her service for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the England London Mission.

I have to admit, I'd been (and continue to be) a bit {scattered}, so when the big day rolled around, I didn't have an awesome banner printed and ready to go as I had intended. Since I had asked a couple of family friends (the Weeds and the Kennedys) to join us in welcoming Shi at the airport (feeling like Bill, Mar, and I were a bit anti-climactic), I asked my neighbor Mace if she would be willing to whip out a couple of signs for the big event. She agreed {phew}. When Saturday night rolled around, we gathered to wait.

 I was thrilled to also see these adorable signs Kate and Grace Kennedy made to welcome Shilo home.

We have video of her arrival... somewhere. I will post it here when I find it (still a bit scattered).

We were so happy to hug this girl again!

 A few years back, Shilo told us that if anything ever happened to Bill and me, the Kennedys would adopt her. I told her she's an adult and wouldn't need to be adopted. Her response: "They would adopt me as an adult child." Most likely it's true. So grateful for the love and friendship (and tons of belly laughs) this family has given her!

 The Weeds have been some of the best neighbors and friends we could ever ask for. Blair and Mist happened to be flying in about an hour before Shi's arrival, so we brought their kids with us and all met up at the airport. Their daughter Mace made those awesome signs for us.

 It was a lovely welcome home, thanks to the help and support of these wonderful people.

We stopped by a Chick-fil-a drive thru, unloaded Shi's luggage from the car upon arriving home, visited for a few brief moments, then gathered in our living room with our Stake President. It was a fantastic hour as he asked some specific questions that caused Shi to reflect on her entire mission. She cried when he released her, I cried giving a closing prayer.
It was the sweetest experience.

A few days later we started welcoming friends and family to CO.

Grandma and Grandpa G came first.

We thought it would be fun to take them to a nearby park in our town that has a nice light display.

It will be fun, we said. The weather should be nice, we said. I don't need to layer, Shi said.

It WAS fun, but it was sooooo cold. We stuck around long enough to snap a few pictures, for memory's sake.

Next up, Britt, Scarlett, and Michaela arrived.

These girls had a good time being reunited...

...and taking silly pictures.

I loved having Scarlett to wake up to!

 Grandma and Grandpa Syddall drove in on Friday, and Lex flew in late that evening.

On Saturday we had a belated Thanksgiving feast. It was fun to have so much family there.

 Following dinner, we all headed to Mar's Christmas recital.

 On Sunday Shilo was talking in church. She did a fabulous job, even if she didn't shed tears (she and I had a conversation about that later). She joyfully shared her message, which was perfect. 

She had such great support from her friends... we HAD to get a jumping pic afterwards.

 Followed by a nice normal pose.

We took a lot of pictures that day, but this is one of my faves:

 (I told the girls I like candid shots, but they always like to pose. I think I may have staged this a little by saying something like, "Laugh and talk amongst yourselves..." All I can say is, "See?? It's cute!")

 Later that night, the friends gathered at our house to hang out (like the good ol' days). It was super fun to have the gang (+ 1) back together again! Hailey's boyfriend (the +1) had served his mission in the Denver North Mission, which is the mission we live in (for the past 9 months or so, due to a boundary change; we used to be in the Colorado Springs Mission). How cool is that??

We had a big fondue party for the group. Well, maybe not a "party"... more like a cheesy gut-filling dinner that you eat standing up hahaha.

 Lex was supposed to fly back to UT Sunday evening, but her flight got cancelled (don't even get me started on the crazy Frontier Airline fiasco that weekend), so she climbed in with Grandpa and Grandma S to head back to UT on Monday.

Grandpa and his truck ain't afraid of no snow.

Grandpa and Grandma G stayed one more day (although stressed about their flight being cancelled, too) to play games and hang out with us. We loved having the grandparents stay with us!!

When it came time to say so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye, we gave them a proper send-off. Grandpa really enjoyed his haha. Thankfully, their flight, although delayed, was not cancelled.

Austin flew in to spend the rest of the Christmas holiday with us. On his Denver bucket list: eat at Wahoo's Fish Tacos. Scarlett was on board, since rice and beans are her fave.

 I seriously can't get enough of this girl.

The next evening we went to see the lights at the Denver Zoo. That was on MY bucket list, as we have never been before. They were impressive, although admission is a little pricey (no free SLC Temple lights here). And it was a bit chilly. And the Denver Zoo is soooooo big (I forgot... I haven't been there for a few years, and never in the winter haha).

We were able to see a few of the attractions... this guy (his name was Billy) definitely gave us a show. In more ways than one haha. Let's just say this is the only semi-modest picture I have.

On Christmas Eve we snapped a few family pictures...

...then had the Sisters for dinner and a simple Christmas Eve reading.

We had Pavolova for dessert... Shilo's request (she'd had it in England). Yum!

We opened our Christmas Eve gifts...

...then tried mightily to get a good jumping picture with the point-and-shoot on timer.

I failed every time.

Christmas morning was super fun with Scarlett. We had 9am church that morning, so everyone got mostly ready before heading downstairs to the tree.

That girl loved unwrapping presents. She was happy to help any and all. 

I had the grand idea to make the girls tee shirt quilts, but I didn't start on them until about a month out, so I was scrambling to get them finished, quilted, and bound.

After unwrapping like crazy, we all got dressed up and went to church. Scarlett was pretty darn reverent, but clapped her hands and shouted hooray when church was finally over.

After church, Austin put together her bike.

And we changed back into our lounge wear.

Returned missionary + Christmas 2016 is in the books.

Phew! That was a long post.
There's more where that came from.