Slow Start

Something about this time of year makes me rethink the purpose of this blog. I had decided I was going to try to do something different this year, but I haven't made that happen so I'm headed down the same road as usual -- one really, super long post to sum up the month. At least I have lots of pictures to go along with it.

I decided I need an assistant on my photo shoots. Chloe has always loved taking pictures, so I made her my apprentice. After this shoot I took her out and shot a couple pictures of her. This is Chloe after her first job.



I love that she loves to shovel my driveway. I had to get a picture of her doing it in her Sunday best.



The girls in their Christmas dresses. We celebrated a quiet Christmas in our new home this year. Lots of neighbors brought us gifts. I need to get back into that habit.



And since I was taking a picture in the living room I thought I should turn around and shoot the other angle. I've never taken the photos of my house I promised. Lark already came to visit, and got the grand tour, so I feel off the hook. At least you can see what we did to the living room.



Brandon helped the girls build a snow tree. They had a lot of fun. They added a little snowman on the top. We were surprised how long it lasted. It must be cold out there! But Chloe doesn't need a coat.



One-on-one dates: Chloe wanted a turn to go to Color Me Mine. Sophie's been there twice, and Lark has also told her how fun it is, so she needed to go. I don't think she thought it was as great as they did, but she was happy in the end. We get to go pick up her plate later this week.




For our MLK holiday we went to the ice castles in Midway. Their website said Saturday evenings are the busiest time, with a wait time of 20-30 minutes. We didn't know what to expect going on a holiday, but it wasn't good. We were in line for about an hour! When we were on the east side, it wasn't so bad in the sun, but then the line turned and it got cold fast. Sophie put Brandon's hat on to stay warm, but I'm the one who ended up with it for the majority of the time.



While standing in the massive line, I told Chloe I bet that we would see someone we know. She took the bet, and told me she would clean all my baseboards if we did. Lucky me! We ran into our next door neighbors. Chloe is already an awesome cleaner, so I'm not sure I won that much. In the evening when she doesn't want to go to sleep she'll come and ask for jobs to do. Here we are inside the castle.




Olaf was a big hit. It was hard to get a picture of him because he was so popular.






I'm including this picture to show what it was really like. The ice was pretty to look at, if you could get past all the people. Sophie was so cold by the time we got in that we didn't stay all that long. We haven't had a fun family outing for quite a while, though, so I'm still really glad we went. Grandma, thanks for the blankets they were able to wrap up in as soon as we got back to the car.



One more for the road: this is just a picture I snapped of Chloe tonight. She was just hanging out, waiting to go to Young Women's.



Brandon and the girls have been busy picking out seeds. Our garden is on its way! They ordered a whole bunch of stuff last night, and tonight they are getting some trees. I love how excited they are to grow their own food.

The Forgotten Carols

Our gift from my parents this year was an evening to "The Forgotten Carols." I arranged for a group photo, which took about 5 times as long as it should to get one photo. I took someone's wedding photos once that I'm sure was less time than it took us to get organized, but I'm getting off the topic here. As you can see, we got our picture and then we got to go eat. We had plenty of time to eat, and then we went to the show. I took a lot of pictures of us eating because that's all I had to shoot. I couldn't take pictures of the show! So these are for my dear family -- mainly the patriarch who told me to put them on the blog. What else did he think I was going to do with them?

For Coldness Sake

After listening to Chloe bellyache for weeks about not having any snow, it finally came. And with it the cold. She was in heaven for a short time, but then when she realized that nobody wanted to play with her in the snow it wasn't as exciting anymore. Poor girl. My favorite part about her fascination with cold weather is that she is always happy to clear the driveway for me. I don't have to worry about that.

My car, on the other hand, hates cold as much as I do. Now that we don't have a garage to park it in, it's had a hard time starting. One day I got it to the library, only to have it abandon me there. At least I was at the library. I can't imagine being stranded at some other place. Brandon came to help me when he got off work, but even he couldn't get it started. It was so cold that we decided to just go home and get dinner, warm up, and then come back and try later. We came up with a plan, went back, and... no luck. We debated between calling a tow truck or a neighbor. Calling a tow truck is so much easier for me, but I decided to do the hard thing and let someone help me. I know people need opportunities to serve. At least I know how good it feels when I am able to help someone. So, I called my neighbor. She didn't even hesitate, just said her husband would be on his way. He showed up so fast, with two of his grandsons. His remark, "What else are friends and neighbors for?" They pulled me home where my car now sits skiwampus in my driveway. Brandon brought my battery inside to warm it up and charge it. Then we waited for a warmer day to give it another try. We found a warmer day, just not exactly warm. Still dead. So... I told Brandon after we moved here that I thought we should try being a one car family. I really don't think we need two cars, so it's just wasteful for my minimalist lifestyle. Guess I'm getting my opportunity.

Chloe asked me to take some pictures of her playing in the snow one day. This is her... happy to be cold.

Yesterday we forced ourselves out of the house to do our annual family pictures. The forecast did not live up to my optimistic meteorologists plans. He let me down, but we had already scheduled it. It was now or never. We didn't get many shots because we froze our butts off, and that doesn't make for pretty pictures. At least not cute smiles. Hopefully I can get a Christmas "card" put together to share them.

Give Thanks

We joined the clan in Bloomington again for Thanksgiving this year. Some of the Hodges were able to join us, which made for great entertainment. I always tell Sophie I don't have a clue where her humor comes from -- now I know. She must be related to Ned.

The kid table got converted into a "find a spot in a corner to eat."

Alondra borrowed Ned's sombrero. He picked it up on a recent trip to San Antonio, TX -- not to be confused with St. Anthony, ID. I can't wait to see the photos of it in Afghanistan. And I'm happy to know that my years of raising sheep are helping our country forge bonds with the enemy.

Mom and Dad wanted their picture taken in the buggy for their Christmas card. That turned into everyone needing a photo. I'm not using this for our Christmas card.

Chloe was a wee bit disappointed in the amount of snow in Bear Lake. She was counting on quite a bit more, but she was able to make a small friend.

After the buggy got put back there was time for some chit-chatting, and a slight snowball fight.

And Chloe used her special powers to make it snow, just for her.

Productive

Chloe made a comment to me that this has been our most productive week ever. I don't know about that (we did work really hard when we first moved here), but we have got our butts in gear and accomplished many things last week. We got our smoke alarms, carbon monoxide detectors, and fire extinguisher installed so we can now feel safe. Finished the master bedroom, and got it all cleaned up and put back together. Finished the last little bit Sophie's room needed, where her door got messed up. We got Chloe's fan back (from our house in Centerville -- more on that in a minute), so that is now installed, finished putting up her stars and planets. She hung up her giant poster (now her room feels REALLY small). We even got her moldings put up, but I haven't got them painted yet. The stairs are almost ready for painting (I said almost). I got several boxes cleaned out of the guest room. Lots of little things, as you can see, but they add up. I think we may get there yet.

So, yeah, we had to go to Centerville to check our tenant out (he finally got married), and get the new guy moved in. Of course, they were doing it at the same time! It was a mess. We made sure the new tenant knew that he was not going to get Chloe's ceiling fan. That was a big mistake we made last time. We forgot, so we promised her we'd get it when he moved out. We couldn't have used it in Lehi anyway, so all is well. But here's a funny story. When we pulled up to "our" house, there were some kids playing in the front yard. They quickly disappeared. I thought they had gone inside, but no one would answer the door when we knocked. Not wanting to barge into "our" house, we decided to start our inspection outside. As we walked around a strange lady comes up to us and introduces herself. Then she says, "And you are the Nicholls!" Not used to people telling me who I am, but also not surprised that she knows who owns the house -- but then she says, "You are famous." Really? She asked me, "You're a photographer, aren't you?" Yeeess (say that really slow). "I've seen your work." Oh. Now I feel like I should just be flattered.

Brandon had a birthday. We squeezed in a little celebration. This was the best year yet. As always, the topic of Halloween came up. I told Sophie I got to have my sugar free year, so now that she's seen it both ways it was up to her to choose. She decided at first she wanted to reuse a costume we had so we wouldn't have to buy a new one, and just go to a few houses on our street. Then she came back one day and said she'd like to find out what our friends do who don't eat sugar. So, we went and asked them. No surprise, they do nothing. It's about more than sugar. She takes her family away from it all. And ever since then Sophie lost all interest. As a mom I do all I can to teach my kids correct principles, but it is amazing what only one other person can do to reinforce those teachings and really make it stick. I've seen it time and time again. So, we had a birthday celebration and that was enough. Brandon had picked a restaurant he wanted to go to, but when we got there they were closed. No sign or explanation why. There is another one in Orem, so we decided it would be worth it to drive down there. They were closed too, but they left a note stating that they closed early for Halloween. So, we ended up at his second choice. When we got there it was so dark we thought they had closed too, but they just had shades drawn. We got some food (really late), and then went home to a cake that Chloe had made.



This past weekend I took Sophie to a mother/daughter retreat for homeschoolers up at Bear Lake. Chloe didn't want to come (for those wondering). I think she was looking forward to some alone time with her dad. They are a good team and got much accomplished while we were gone. Soph and I just hung out together. We met a few new people, but mostly played lots of pool, ping pong, and basketball. Then we went to visit my grandma on our way home, and stopped to see Melanie.



My husband has been in San Francisco all week, but he comes home today. We've enjoyed sleeping in, but we've missed him a lot. Now I have to go get everything in order to welcome him home.

I just want to go to bed

I took Sophie in for her orthodontic checkup a few weeks ago. The last time we were in they decided she was further behind schedule than they originally anticipated, so we were thinking maybe early next year. But when I took her in he said "she's ready," and they set up an appointment for one week later! She only got them on the top for now. There are still a couple baby teeth on the bottom that need to come out, plus the bottom doesn't need as much work. She'll get them on in about 6-9 months. She had been so excited to get them until she realized that she'd be getting them on the day before her sleepover with Aunt Lark. Then she was nervous she would be in too much pain to enjoy it, or wouldn't be able to eat anything. Poor thing! She was in a little pain the day of/after getting them, but she refused to take any medicine (she's got a little of her mom in her). She does not do drugs, she told me several times. I think the sleepover was a good distraction for her. I haven't heard her complain any since. Oh, and the part she was most excited about was choosing the color for her braces. She ended up going with purple. While she was getting them on, I got to sit and listen to the orthodontist and another mom rant about Halloween and Easter. I was in good company.

The next day we met Elsie in Centerville (stopped at Smoochies to get Sophie a smoothie), and then I took the girls up to Logan. This was Elsie's first sleepover! She didn't make a sound the entire time she was in our car, but the minute we got to Lark's the real Elsie came back out. The magic potion I put on our car worked! Lark had requested a photoshoot with the invitees, so I took care of that before I headed home.

I know you're thinking I've forgotten all about my house. Truth is, we decided we like to do other things besides work on it every minute, so it's slowed way down. And it's a material possession. It doesn't make me happy to show it off. I will show my husband's hard work when we have something to show. Our bedroom is still coming together. Sophie was going crazy having her room in a bit of disorder, so Brandon hurried and finished her's up the other day. It messed up my beautiful paint job when he ripped the door frame off, and I had used all we had so I have to go get some more paint, but we put the room back enough that she feels safe. She is my little clutter bug, so I was very surprised to see her get so worked up about a mess. It was good, and I got to talk to her about how good it makes us feel when things are clean and put away. One of our side projects was getting the carport cleaned off. Brandon really doesn't want to park outside another winter. The chickens moved several weeks ago, and as I was looking at the empty coop one day I had the thought that I could turn it into another little shed to store our bikes and stuff for the winter. We had all the old doors laying around, plus some other scraps, and then Brandon came and took the coop apart which gave us more materials. It's quite the little pieced quilt of a shed, but I think it will work. And my patio is all cleared off! The horses got out one day while we were gone. I don't think the neighbors were happy about it, but they haven't put the horses back in our field since. Now I feel like we really have our land.

Saturday we went to a family history expo. Chloe had volunteered to server refreshments at it, but when she got there they had so much help that they sent most of them away. They showed us the new family history discovery centers they are planning. Chloe thinks Grandma Lark will be amazed.

I don't like to talk about homeschooling. Actually, I don't like to talk about much of anything controversial because it's... uncomfortable. But I so admire those who are bold and able to speak their minds. Well, the other day I read a blog post that resonated with me more than anything has in a really long time, and I thought maybe I could share it here-- We are going to home school our kids... But if you don't feel like reading the whole article, here's a point that I have tried to make to people:

Many of us screamed from the hilltops when Obama set forth on his plan to seize control of health care. Yet we seem to have taken it for granted that the government ought to control education. We don’t want any bureaucrat telling us what pills to take, but we’ll sure let them tell our kids what thoughts to think. We don’t want them controlling what we put in our body, but we don’t seem too intent on disabling their ability to control what’s put into our child’s mind.

Or my version, "We don't want socialized medicine, just socialized children."

I'll leave you with a cute little thing from Sophie (I really wish I wrote down her stuff more often). Yesterday she was cleaning out some boxes and came across my old yearbooks. She found the senior superlatives where I was voted "cutest smile." After chastising me for not telling her about that before, she asked if Brandon had a yearbook. She wanted to go see if he got voted "coolest hair -- or something like that."

Charleston & Savannah

When you tell people that you are going on your dream vacation to Charleston, South Carolina, be prepared for a lot of WHY?s. I found it quite astonishing that the people I associate with are unaware that Charleston is the Top Destination in the World. It's actually only held that title since 2011, but I've wanted to go there for at least 20 years. It first appeared on the list of top US destinations in 1993 -- so that would be about right.

We decided this would be the year to make it happen, in honor of our 15th anniversary. It's also a little awkward to tell people you're celebrating your anniversary, and then when they ask you what day you have to say... Uh, it's in December. But I plan my vacations around weather, and this was a great time to go. OK, I'll correct that -- the first few days were ideal, but then it did get pretty warm. The only problem was that we didn't pack enough shorts, and took too many pants. I even took a couple sweaters!

I'm just going to link to my album so you can see all the pictures with lovely captions. But here are a few that I didn't take.

A highlight of our trip was getting to meet Suzanne. She is a cousin of Brandon's biological grandma whom he never met. I met Suzanne online several years ago doing family history work. She was full of all kinds of information, since she grew up with this family in Chicago. She now lives in Charleston, so we met for lunch. She is such a sweet lady.

I originally planned to split our time between Charleston and Savannah more evenly, but then I found a great place to stay in Charleston that offered a weekly rate. It was cheaper to stay there for the full week than to do just 5 days, so we had a short visit in Savannah. The full week in Charleston was so nice and relaxing, though! Without much time to see Savannah I decided to go ahead and just book a tour. But in searching for a tour, I found this couple that does photography tours. I am so glad I booked them. It was totally worth it. Not only did we get a tour of Savannah, but they were really into architecture so they told us all about that, and they shared all their photography knowledge with us, and we got a photo shoot out of it! They shared a couple sneak peek pictures with us, but the final edited ones won't be ready for a couple weeks.

And no, this was not a birthday trip. Strictly anniversary. I got a new computer for my birthday! I am one spoiled girl.