Last night for young women (Delaney - “why couldn’t I go???!!!) the girls climbed at the Henderson’s. Their rock wall is so cool and unfortunately I’ve never climbed it. And I’d love to. 

For years I’ve wanted a pencil tree and finally I bought one and seeing it in our front room, even still undecorated brings me so much joy!

Yes, I’m overachieving on this. 

I chatted with Lexi-Lu and she is sick sick with influenza. They were sick and missed out on thanksgiving and then the boys felt better so she sent them to school yesterday, but while we talked they called and said Carter was not feeling well again and then he threw up last night. All my poor babies!

Christian and jeanne packed up their cute little first home together and set off for Alabama last week. 

After a brief stop here, where I took zero pictures, they made it to their new sweet home for the next year. I’m so proud of Christian chasing his dreams!

The Virginia Rays came for thanksgiving and on Friday we drove over to Solomon’s and walked around. 

It was beautiful and chilly. 

Just some cousins on a swing. 

We climbed up on their lifeguard chairs and I could have sat up there forever, so peaceful. 

❤️❤️❤️

Delaney will wade no matter how cold it is. 

After this we headed home for 2nd thanksgiving wherein we got out every dish and covered the island and feasted again. It was a delicious meal!

Delaney wanted one so bad! She swears this is gonna be her when she grows up!

And finally, after the Rays headed home Adi and I checked in on Chelsea’s shop. She swept and made sure everything looked tip top. We loved having a 5 day weekend!

Some things

I’m up to my eyeballs in garland and Christmas lights. For years I’ve needed to remove all the non working lights from so.many.garland strands and I’m finally doing it this year. It’s taking a surprisingly long time, like the better part of going on day 3 today. That in addition to dinners, calling stuff, Christmas prep, and general household maintenance. It’s a labor of love and I’m enjoying the satisfaction of completing a long dreaded task and also trying so hard to stay on top of Christmas mayhem so I can be present and enjoy December. I’m sharing this Elder (now President) Holland quote in the RS’s I visit this month - and it’s made me teary every time I’ve shared it, so I really need to hear it too. 

To all of our mothers everywhere, past, present, or future, I say, Be peaceful. Believe in God and yourself. You are doing better than you think you are. 

In non-garland related news, we had the sister missionaries over for a brekkie dinner and home evening Monday night. They shared with us the new Light the World campaign for this year which is a modern nativity, so very fun. First task is to be the star and brighten someone’s life. I tend to be in my own world when I’m shopping, but I’ve been trying to be more personable, (weirdly I can be v v un-personable when I’m not focused) charming (see above), and friendly (also see above.)

Adi and Frankie walked them to the door with us and I grabbed a quick pic, and then Delaney, who was at the table working on a forgotten homework assignment (oh middle school) yelled “are you taking pictures?!” and rushed to the door. 

She’s a surprising little nut sometimes and she loves the missionaries. 

Yesterday was more of the same garland and lights, lights and garland. My delicate little hands are tender and scratched from removing non working lights. 😂

I had a presidency meeting where we are finally full throttle towards womens conference 2024. Can’t wait! 

When Matt got home he suggested we go for Covid shots, which we’ve talked about for weeks but haven’t made happen. So when the girls got home I let him have the task of informing them and from upstairs I heard the wailing of one Frankie G Ray. “You didn’t warn me! Noooooo! Not today, I need some notice!!!!” She literally wailed for a few minutes. 🙄

Anyhow, Walgreens hi jinx while we waited and Delaney “looked something up” on my phone. 

She’s really researching something something. 

Matt and I got a chuckle out of this one, his little bald patch isn’t that noticeable until someone takes a shot from right above his head. 😂

Incidentally, the shot giver at Walgreens is ah-mazing and that was the best shot experience ever. And we let her know that and regaled her with funny shot antics. Just us shining like bright little ⭐️’s. 😂

After, we made the girls take the frigid walk across the parking lot to McDonald’s, where much to my delight I found it’s McRib season! This is probably the grossest thing I like, and I’ll always think of Mindi cracking up at my love for them.  

The revamped our McDonald’s and it is tres fancy. 

Unrecognizably fancy. And since we couldn’t remember the last time we ate inside thag McD’s, we did, even though I’d already simmered a turkey soup. I’m being easy breezy this Christmas season. 

While Delaney ballet’ed, Adi, Frankie and I hit up target and Michaels. I saw these books when I was checking out and sent this shot to my favorite. 

D is excited about the Nutcracker, which the girls lovingly referred to as something else that rhymes with nut and starts with b and ends with 2 T’s. 

Anyhow, I miss my mom. 

Her birthday is December 6, and Christmas feels tender. ❤️

Oops I did it again

I’ve been wanting to blog for awhile now but the thought of catching up feels daunting. One bite at a time, and here we go. 

This is pretty much how we’ll be rolling. Last night we cleaned out the leftovers and tonight we’ll see. Adi’s been petitioning for pizza, and she might just get her wish. 

Last week Chantell and I finally caught up and she asked if they could come for thanksgiving, which is great and fun, and also made me get into gear after being busy and not being in home gear. Every day has been busy busy switching out summer clothes, getting rid of huge boxes of clothes we’ve been given and bought through the years that Delaney won’t wear, prepping for thanksgiving, finishing putting away Halloween and scouring the house. It wasn’t bad before, but the dining room and basement bedroom had become junk catchalls, all those projects I didn’t want to do, and now with the prospect of visitors they are getting done. And I am tired but happy. 

Bubba called Monday night and surprise! He and jeanne were cleared to leave NY early and were driving down as we spoke! And could they stay the night? 🤣 It’s absolutely fine, but young couples and they’re flighty flight plans are funny. Thankfully we were already well on our way to being ready for guests, so it all worked out and we’re always so happy to see them. 

Chelsea is out of town, so Adi, bubba, jeanne, Matt and I headed to her shop and decorated and switched out merch. It was fun to go all together. 

And hooray for turning off alarms and settling in for some full time thanksgiving prep because there’s no school Wednesday! 5 days off feels very luxurious and we’re all excited! Also exciting, we got a mystery advent calendar that we finally tracked down to Grandpa Ray. I’ve been giving grandparents fun advent calendars the last few years, so I guess I’m rubbing off on them. 🤗

I must be excited to be done with my long to do list (so close!) or to eat all the delicious food or for family time because I woke up at 2 and now it’s 4 and I’m still here. I guess it makes for blogging time? We’ll leave it here with just a toe dipped in the blog pool for now, but I think I’m feeling winds of massive catch up posts. Or maybe I’ll wait another 2 months. Only time will tell. 

Boooring

Life has been pretty tame the last few weeks, so nothing fun to write about. 

Delaney and I made a deal about having a good attitude at church, and then I saw this picture shared. 😂😂😂 She’s lucky I love her so much. 

Speaking of Lanes, she started ballet and looks so cute in her leotard and bun. I wish she’d let me do her hair everyday still. And that she still wore pink cowgirl boots too, but 11 year-old bug is pretty great too. 

Tom sent Amy and I this picture and even though my eyes are closed, I love it. We adored that baby brother of ours!

Lexi had a fun birthday idea for papa that we sent, late obvi. 

It’s the front page of The NY Times from his birthday for every year. ❤️ It’s what you get the guy who has everything. 

One slow Saturday we went to Kneaded and finally met our LG neighbor who owns it. 

Delaney had to do a presentation about something that affects the community, so she wrote about the declining bee population and subsequently has been obsessed with bees. I know soooo many bee facts, y’all. She practiced her speech with us and it’s actually really cute. She’s a funny and engaging writer. 

We had a Trek reunion dance where we got to do some square dancey kind of dances. I grabbed this shot of adi dancing away. She spent a lot of time in the game room, which I think is so cool that they have game rooms and quiet rooms for kids to hang out. 

We had 5 kids from our family there and it was so fun to see them! It was a great night. 

Piano started the week after Labor Day and Frankie is a goof. 

Matt was out of town for 2 weeks so I got to do all his stuff, including, but not limited to extra watering of the front grass. This was my “look how much I love you I’m watering the grass” shot from 10pm. It’s been so dry all summer. We need some rainy nights!

Playing all summer = Matt and I both have had huge to do lists. We’ve been happily chipping away at them. One of the things I did was finally put handles on my hutch. I bought 2 sets of hinges for the doors and finally decided to paint the original ones because I couldn’t find the right style/size. It’s almost done, I just need to figure out why my screws don’t go in all the way. I’m seeing the electric screwdriver in my future but I’m nervous. 

The girls and I overhauled the basement toys and they got rid of so much and also decided they were ready to part with their tsum tsums. They are so cute that I sent Lu this pic and asked if the boys would like them and she said yes! She is very tidy and minimalist, so I never know. 🤗 We also sent a Moana set and we got to FaceTime last night and watch them play with all their new toys. 

I also cleaned out my nightstand and decided to put Christian’s amazing sticker on my water bottle - why not? 🤷‍♀️ Delaney saw it and was all like - where’s mine I need one now. So bubba is sending her one. 😂 His something or other boss made them. 

We took new passport pictures and fingers crossed they accept them! Our appt is tomorrow. 

I bought magnetic lashes monthes ago and promised the girls we’d try them out, so finally on Sunday we did. Long long lashes are all the rage and these were kind of ridiculous, but it was fun to play with them. 

I’m unpacking one Halloween bin a day and one of my favorite things is looking at all our old Halloween pictures. Emmett and Carter are being Buzz and Woody this year, so they got a kick out of seeing mama and uncle as Toy Story people too. 

I’m neck deep in JustServe coordinating. I’m in charge of distribution, so I’m figuring out drivers and warehouse helpers and pickups and deliveries. Since distribution is the last bit, we’ve had to do things as they come, and now is crunch time since we finally have everyone’s orders and are starting to coordinate pickup times. The project is this Saturday and I can’t wait for the day and also for it to be over. And then for all the deliveries to be done. We’re doing things totally different this year and I was only involved in the tail end last year, so all the prayers that it works out because 🤷‍♀️. Also, there’s an 80% chance of rain for Saturday and 4/10 delivery trucks are open topped so we’re praying and we’ll see how that goes. Or what our plan b will be. 

Life is just rolling along. I love seasons of accomplishing long put off tasks, even though it’s a lot of work and not always super fun, it is super satisfying and I love crossing off those items that have been there forever. 

Dam Neck

We had the best beach weekend. Saturday was a smidge on the chilly side, but we still played in the waves and enjoyed the beach. I took one picture.

Until dinner and then I had to grab a shot of chickfilas new pimento chicken sandwich that is chefs kiss delicious. 

We showered, watched some tv, then went to Food Lion for Sunday food. We let everyone choose 2 tv dinner type meals and snacks and it was so different that it was fun. 

On Sunday we found a small ward and went to church. After we spent some time walking around and then went to the Chrysler Museum of Art. 

It’s a free museum that I thought would be boring but was actually really cool. 

Delaney loved this glass making play area and we spent a lot of time there. 



At 5:00 I had a 2 hour meeting for Bag Hunger. We’re so close and we’re all so ready, it’s a lot of work but will be awesome!

We headed to the beach early Monday and it was the best day! It was warmer so it made the coolish water feel so much better and the waves came in nice steady and calm but not too calm sets. 

We love Dam Neck beach! We can park right close, there are lifeguards and it’s busy, but not too busy. We had a lot of fun. 

Matt gave the girls a little surf lesson, and though none of them actually surfed, Delaney stood up on the boogie board several times. She even managed to stand up and ride a wave. It was pretty impressive. 

We played all day. We got out for snacks and we went for a walk to see if we could walk down to Virginia Beach, but after 1/2 a mile there was a restricted area because of explosive practice. The girls and Matt  played with the wake boards and I happily bobbed along with them. That is one of my very favorite things to do and I could stay on the water all day! We had to drag ourselves away at 4:00. We went back to the hotel and showered and loaded up. We’d watched traffic throughout the day, and I never saw it very busy. We left just after 6:00 and made it home by 9:30, super easy drive. 

I’m so thankful we got a free weekend at the beach. It was lovely lovely and the cherry on top is that I hit my move goal by over 200% just from playing at the beach. Could there be anything better?

This week

Delaney has been into swimming laps, so even though it was chilly and she was the only one in the pool, we went every evening this week. 

I listened to my book at the table and then came over and sat on the edge and timed her and cheered. She’s so fun. The major bummer is that next week, when the pool is closed, it will be in the 90°’s. This always happens, it’s so dumb. 

On Wednesday we went back to the dentist and ran some errands. There was a beautiful sunset that night! Matt headed down to Norfolk for work that morning, so we sent him this. 

On Thursday morning Nola and I went walking. We went from 7-8 because I had and appt in Waldorf to train Susanne. She is German and made me a German style brekkie and we went through the handbook and got to know each other for 3 hours. We both received further confirmation that this is the right calling for her right now and I can already tell I’m going to love serving with her. 

I went shopping at Sam’s after and decided we were gonna have a girls night for Adi. She tried out for the high school play and didn’t get a part, so she was pretty bummed. These are the little disappointments that train and prepare us for the big disappointments and they are a part of life, albeit a crummy one. But girls night with treats are also part of life, so we went all in. When Delaney and Frankie got home they told me this was a good idea and Adi would love it. Bubba and sissy commiserated as well. We come together to love on each other. 

Today I headed to Calvert to train my new secretary. We’re trying something new where she’s going to minister especially to the Spanish branch, so she’ll be with them at least once a month and really get to know and be a support to them. We counseled together about what the rest of her calling would look like, and I think some of it we will just figure out as we go as we follow the spirit. It was wonderful getting to know her and I know I’ll love serving with her too. Our first presidency meeting is Wednesday and it’s all I can do to wait till then! It’s been a long time and we’ve got work to do. All good things. 

Today we finished laundry and got beach fun packed up. We went to the pool but they were closing down, and I had sent the girls before me so I could quickly vacuum and none of them wanted to ask why they were closing or when they’d be open, so we scrapped that last swim of the season. After dinner we left for our beach weekend with Matt in Norfolk. We hit traffic so we stopped to kill time and when we left the Dollar General (gross I know) 30 minutes later the maps showed us arriving at the same time as if we’d waited out the traffic. And I’d much rather peruse a gross DG than sit in traffic any day. We sent Matt our traffic whomp whomp shot. 

It will be a chilly beach weekend, but I’ll take a chilly day at the beach any day.