Fall break lowdown + basement progress.

If I don't start somewhere, I'm going to get very very backlogged, so I'm gonna dig deep and git 'er done. I'm sitting here on Bill's old old laptop (with a broken backspace key, which can be so annoying since I backspace A LOT, and Mr. Old Laptop randomly morphs the cursor without notice, so suddenly I'm typing along and SHAZAAM, I'm typing in the middle of some previous sentence somewhere... also annoying).

I've spent the morning painting, running to a paint store in Parker, then painting again, finishing up just in time to chat with Mar at lunch and help her email in a two weeks notice to her employer at the Parker Rec Center. She has decided to find a job closer to home (like the Castle Rock Rec Center... I hope they're hiring). It doesn't hurt that her {boy}friend works there, too haha. That girl and her boys.

So I'll back up a bit and hit you with a boatload of pictures and limited commentary.

(I always say that, then say way too much haha)

10.11
We headed to Utah for Fall break... we admired the beauty along I-70, even if we missed the true brilliance by about 2 weeks. It was still pretty amazing.

That evening, as we were driving through Spanish Fork canyon in the darkness, Mar and I had our heads out the windows in awe of the amazing stars arrayed above us. I don't ever want to forget that... the music turned up (we were singing along, of course), the windows down, wind in our hair, admiring the sky. 

Billy-my-hero just had to keep his eyes on the road and drive. He's such a good sport.

We pulled in late to Britt's, so Scarlett and Ellis were down for the night. It was fun to wake up to their sweet faces.

10.12

We had made plans to drive out to Bountiful to have lunch with my parents, then to visit J's grave on this, the 2nd anniversary of her leaving us. I'm so grateful to know that this separation is only temporary. It is still hard, though. 

Gigigi (Great Grandma G.) gave Wonderful Sweet Scarlett some purses... of course, she loved them. 

Note to self: this is not a flattering pose for me. I must be aware of where my chin and tummy are in relation to a camera lens at all times haha.

I love Scarlett's face in this picture.

Gigigi has baby sleeping skillz. And yes, Ellis is in his second outfit of the day.

Ellis has been such a good baby. I'm so glad that he's been a bit easier than his big sister for his mama's sake!

It was another perfect fall day. (This was a screenshot taken from a slow-motion video Mar had taken of Scarlett throwing the leaves. So. Cute.)

After an amazing lunch, we headed over to the cemetery to decorate J's grave.

We had to smile that the only mum my mum could find was on the smallish side, and the only mum I could find was on the ginormous side. They balanced each other out perfectly.

(There's my unflattering chin shot haha).

It was good to reflect again on life, it's brevity, it's sadness, it's joy, and it's purpose.

I love a phrase in Jacob 7:26: "...the time passed away with us, and also our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream..."

Yes, that's what the passing of time often feels like to me... a dream. 

After visiting the cemetery, Mar and I headed even further north to Logan to meet up with our friends, the Hawleys. They moved from Parker a while before us AND WE MISS THEM.

(Chin, Tina, chin! You would think I would have learned from my latest drivers license picture... which looks very much like this picture, but worse because they wouldn't let me smile)

We got a tour of their new house, ate dinner at Sweet-o Burrito, then had Aggie ice cream. YUM!

I wish we would have had more time to spend with them.

We met up with the rest of the fam at Grandma and Grandpa Syddall's that evening, then Bill, Mar, Lo, and Kody (I'm still trying to figure out how to shorten his name to a single syllable... it just may not work, much like Scarlett and Ellis haha) headed off to Nightmare on 13th.

10.13

Friday was pretty much a prep day for Ellis' baby blessing the next day.

We had our good morning play time before running a few errands.

When we got home from our errands, Nae and Evie came over to play.

I love spending time with these precious souls! I'm seriously so blessed to have the privilege of being a Gigi. I also love seeing my children be parents. So so rewarding {wink}.

That night I gave a few haircuts... but this was the funnest.

That was rewarding, too haha.


10.14
Saturday afternoon we decided to try once again to get a family picture. Our last attempt was somewhat successful, but could have been so much better had the weather cooperated. Lucky for us, Saturday's weather was "okay." A little chilly, but without the crazy wind.

I think the retakes were successful. My only complaint is Bill's transition glasses. UGH.

After pictures, we hurried back to Britt and Austin's house for Ellis' baby blessing.

As I haven't been to a baby blessing at someone's home before, I wasn't sure how things would go. 

It was awesome. I love this picture. Ellis has some really great men to look up to and learn from, lucky guy.

(Ellis' facial expressions are the best... check them out!)

10.15
We made the long drive back to CO to find the tree in our front yard in the middle of it's fall metamorphosis. We weren't sure what we were going to get, and we were so so happy to get THIS.

Crazy enough, in the past couple weeks the leaves completely changed orange, then fell from the tree. There are a few stragglers, which I only know because Bill spent the morning raking leaves to beat the rain/snow that's supposed to come later today, and since his meticulous leaf removal a few more have fallen. 

Also on Sunday, Britt snapped these pics to commemorate Ellis' blessing.
So adorable.

I was finally able to give her the quilt I made for Ellis. My regular machine-quilting friend is moving, so mi mamita referred me to one of her friends to quilt it. I think it turned out beautifully, but it took a bit longer than I had hoped.

10.18
Since Fall break, it's been back to the grind.
The grind being teaching seminary... and working on the dang projects in my basement.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE seminary. I wish I was a better teacher. I wish I was interesting and funny and insightful. But I love these kids and feel honored to be with them each morning.

The daily grind to teaching seminary is all in the lesson preparation. I'm hoping to figure out how to not take 5 hours a day preparing. My goal is two max, then fill in the gaps with the spirit. Easy to say, hard to do, especially, I've heard, for first year, non-professional sisters. My fallback is food.


10.19

I made it to the temple with some RS sisters from my ward. It hit me that I had not attended an endowment session for a long time, with all the weddings this summer. It was so good to be there.

10.21

Mar decided to be the corpse bride for Halloween, and had a party lined up for Saturday evening. She borrowed Nae's amazing dress and wig, and we had this veil from the last time she was the corpse bride, circa 2010. She decided it could use a little more visual effect, so went to work on it.

It was kind of a bummer that her boy bailed earlier that day, but she was going with or without him.

I went wild braiding her hair to put it up for the wig.

She did a great job on her make-up, then was ready to go.

She had a great time at the party, then brought 3 friends home with her to watch a scary movie.

Bill grumbled a little, as we were getting ready for a movie night of our own, and were then relegated to our bedroom and our lowly 32" TV. Another reason to GET THAT BASEMENT DONE.

10.25

Finally a few basement pictures.

Walls are painted except for touch-ups (there are many).

Most of the trim is painted.

I've been spraying the built-in bookcase, shelves, and doors, hoping to NOT get overspray on my freshly painted walls (that still need touch-ups).

In the corner, there, are our cabinets. Our builder should be here tomorrow to install them (I hope!). Also we should have the area measured for carpet tomorrow (I hope!).

This is our partially finished bathtub tile, which we have recently decided needs to go to the ceiling. I may or may not work on that tonight. If not tonight, then Saturday, as it's a little uncomfortable for me to work on things while our builder or other workers are here.
Plus I have VT appointments tomorrow.

As of today, the two doors on the floor are finished (both sides), and the other two doors have one side done. I'm definitely git'n those done tonight (all by myself -- think Barry Manilow -- while Bill is at the temple and Mar is at play practice).

The only area still needing paint is our play/toy room. Hopefully that will get done Saturday, too. Along with our assignment to clean the church, make food for our ward Trunk-or-treat, and then attend it. I think we'll do Mr. and Mrs. Potato head again... if I can find my parts. I know I trashed the big potato pieces in the move, but they were fairly easy to make. Oh yeah, I'll make those, too, with all my extra time. {Hint of sarcasm}

I'm git'n tired of house projects.
I can vaguely see the end in sight, and I'm praying it will be done in time for Tay and Nae's BIG MOVE. I've got some rearranging and baby-proofing to do to get things ready for them AND FOR EVIE. Things will be different around here, that's for sure. I definitely think it will be good for my lone child at home to have some extra peeps around.

Mar has had hours upon hours of play practice. Next week is tech week, and practices go until 9pm. The following week is showtime. SEVEN shows in one week. I hope by then it's just all FUN.

And I hope by the time Les Mis is done, my basement is finished, too.

Even more tired.

What a full couple of weeks I've had since I last posted.

Today I am just plain tired.

4 hours of sleep last night, 5 the night before, Bill's been out of town, and it's been my week to teach seminary. I just received an email stating that we won't be having seminary next Wednesday due to testing. That's the day my team teacher starts her week, OF COURSE. She's lucked out 3 or 4 times with having an extra day off thrown in. I'm trying not to have bitter feelings about it hahaha.

Hallelujah for Fridays.

 Here's a headless pic of what I looked like after painting for 5 hours today (which I started after cleaning house for 3 hours, which I started after teaching seminary).

 I'm a mess when I do anything. Good thing those are the jeans I detest (from our last family pics haha) and the Legend Guinness World Record shirt from that time we attempted but didn't succeed. Just looking back at the post makes me... tired.
Can I be done yet??

I thought I had a picture of my nearly-awesome half-done bathtub tiling job on my phone somewhere, but I don't, and I'm just too beat to go snap one right now.

I do, however, have a picture of my nearly-done piano.

 There are a few touch-ups that need to be made, but I think I'll do those another time. Like maybe next year. Or maybe never.

I do like it so much better than before, so I'm considering it a win.

Hopefully I will soon get a chance for an extended post about our Fall break action. There's some good good stuff to share.

Tired.

I've been running on very limited sleep lately, and today I'm feeling it. I don't think I've had more than 5.5 hours once this week, and had a couple nights that were around 4. 

I really want a nap. 

But, since fall break starts today, and seminary is done for the day, I'm going to nab a couple minutes hours to catch up on life lately. Then I might take a nap. Or do laundry. Or go to lunch with Mar, who has a half day due to finals.

CV's Homecoming Dance was on Sept. 30th.

You would think I would know more about boutonnieres by now. I ordered from a flower shop in Parker (one I haven't used before, but, upon asking around when seeing cute boutonnieres in the past, had been recommended), but was told they only do red or white roses for Homecoming. I told them Mar's dress was burgundy-ish, and the guy told me he had "deep colored" roses that would look good. Needless to say, it wasn't a match hahaha. I tried. It was also a bit tricky for Mar to pin it on. Talking with her friend Aspen's mom, they ordered theirs from a Castle Rock florist and it was a MAGNETIC boutonniere. You can bet that's where I'll be going from now on. 

I didn't get a lot of great pics on my phone camera, so some of these pics are borrowed.

Aspen is in our ward and turned 16 a day or two before the dance... she's one of those lucky girls that has a date right off the bat.

Mar's friend Mo was Aspen's date, and he hosted dinner at his home... a dinner that HE made (minus potatoes and a salad that Gavin's mom brought). I was super impressed. The only parents that came for pictures were the Mormon kids' (Mar, Aspen, and Gavin). That was pretty funny. Again, it seemed so different than Parker (so hard not to compare to what you've known) where it's a pretty big deal for parents to come for pictures.

This was Bill's idea... obviously.

Mar said it was a good night.

Bill's court date was Oct. 3rd.
He has been losing sleep for weeks about this day, and I was thankful it was finally here and would be over. I had determined that, whatever the outcome, I would be content knowing we gave it our best shot. Prior to scheduling a court day, he had been offered a 1-point reduction to admit his guilt, pay the ticket, and move on. He was taking a risk to fight the ticket. He was taking a risk to represent himself (attorney fees are not currently in our budget haha). We both strongly felt, however, that he was not at fault, so it was worth trying to get others to see that, too. Bill selected to have a jury trial (an extra $25), so a selection of 6 jurors was part of the process.

I found it all very fascinating, and felt very much like I was in the middle of a Perry Mason episode.

Bill had acquired a copy of a 911 call from a woman who had been an eye witness to the accident, and who had clearly stated in the call that the white Mercedes was driving too fast, made a lane change, and must not have seen the cars stopped in front of her. I figured once the jury heard the call, the case would be finished. Bill had tried several times to contact the woman who had made the call, but after initial contact she didn't respond. He found out that day that, since she wasn't present, he couldn't use the recording of the call. Bummer.

The prosecution had 4 witnesses, Bill had 1... me. Since his phone had died two days prior, he had no way to take photos of the accident, so once I arrived on the scene, I snapped away. I was basically there to testify that they were my photos, and also to confirm Bill's injuries to his wrists and arms from the airbag (part of his defense), and to the fact that he did NOT have a phone in the car with him.

A couple of things to note if you read my earlier post about the accident:

The policeman issued Bill the citation because the front vehicle in the accident said he only felt one impact. (Bill used Newton's law of motion for part of his defense.)
The Mercedes was over 2 tons heavier than Bill's car was, and had lost it's front right tire in the accident.
The woman in the Lexus was injured enough to go to the hospital.
The Mercedes driver admitted that she was trying to move toward the median (the crash happened in the far left lane).
The citation was for careless driving. The jury had to believe beyond a reasonable doubt that Bill had been carelessly driving.

Going in, I thought this would be done by noon, if not earlier.
Nope.
This was a full-day trial.
The jurors were so patient, as well as the prosecuting attorney and the judge. Bill received advice from another attorney interested in the proceedings on his lunch break.
Because I was a witness, and Bill had opted for sequestered witnesses (meaning they can't stay in the courtroom and hear the testimony of other witnesses), I spent the majority of the day in the hall... with the prosecution's witnesses. Such a joy.

Once closing arguments were given, the jury went into the deliberation room and everyone else scattered. After having a pleasant conversation with the prosecuting attorney (primarily about Utah... "are you Mormon? My wife and I love Utah. I think it's the most beautiful state in the country, just hard to get a job there." He also complemented Bill on a job well done, and said something to the effect of, "I think you may have got me today."), Bill and I sat in the courtroom and waited. 10 minutes later, the jury had it's verdict. The judge allowed the jury forewoman to read it... and it was NOT GUILTY. What a relief.

I wish this photo wasn't blurry of Bill... but it sums up how we felt as we left the courthouse.
He even gets a refund of his $25 fee for a jury trial.
Manna from heaven.

On Wednesday we went with some friends to a concert at Red Rocks. I couldn't turn down free tickets and a beautiful Fall evening. I didn't know who was performing (my friend thought it was a couple of acapella groups), but we were totally down for it.
It. Was. Awesome.

A guy and a piano... loved it.

This group was super fun, and put an old-fashioned big band sound to current pop hits.

Loved them.

The final group was Straight No Chaser. You may have heard their fun rendition of The Twelve Days of Christmas.

This was a fun spin-off of a few musicals... I tried to get the entire performance, but had the camera on, not the video, so I now have about 15+ pictures taken in burst mode vs. the full piece on video, but enjoy the part I was able to capture:

Last night Mar had her first CV choir concert.
It also was awesome.

She participates in 3 choirs at CV, and had a wardrobe change for each one.
The above picture is a special women's jazz group made up from Red Hot, an early morning mixed jazz choir that Mar doesn't participate in due to attending seminary. She thinks this yet-unnamed group will continue throughout the year, but they have only been meeting once a week before school, so Mar has left the last 10 minutes of seminary to attend on those days.

This concert was much different than Legend's (remember? held in the big church with jumbo screens and a crazy good sound system), but Bill and I felt the CV choirs were more practiced in technical and performance skills, not to mention the majority of their songs were uplifting and happy (in Mar's previous two years at Legend, the choir she was in always sang the most depressing songs at the Fall concert). The choir teachers at CV are pretty darn intense (husband and wife duo). When your child tells you the classes that were harder before (English and Spanish) are the easy ones on her schedule, and her choir classes are the most demanding, you know there are some serious choir directors making it so.

Versailles

Mirinesse
This wasn't their most technical piece, but it was one of my favorites because I loved the message of the song (called The Blessing, btw).


That's all I've got time for today, friends.
I'm attending Time Out for Women tonight and tomorrow. I'm excited, but OF COURSE it would fall on a weekend when we need to knock out basement projects. And I hope I won't fall asleep on my feet... I'm seriously THAT tired.

XOXO