Watcher in the Bedroom

I got a Fitbit for Christmas.  Yay!  It's just what I wanted!

It tracks my steps, calories burned, distance, and even my sleep.  I've heard so many good things about it, so hopefully I think so, too, after using it myself.

I didn't get it set up until late Christmas night, so the first thing it was going to track on me was my sleep.  I was a little bit anxious and very curious about what the "results" would be the next morning....

Here they are:

As I was looking at this, I was telling Matt, "So, the Fitbit says I went to bed at 1:12a.m., it took me 18 minutes to fall asleep, and I was awakened 12 times at 1:40, 1:42, 1:44, 1:46, 3:00, 3:05, 4:10, 6:40, 6:42....."

Then Matt burst out, "HOW does it know all that?!!?"

And he got the creepy feeling that we were being "watched" during the night.
Then I started to feel a bit wary, too.
But, not enough to dwell on it to the extent he was because......
......mostly I was disturbed by the fact that I woke up so much and only got 6 hours and 3 minutes of sleep!!  AND that's even with sleeping in because it was the holidays!

Uh Oh.......that does it!  NOW I'm on a mission to get those # of awakenings down!  I'm going to be tracking it religiously.
EXCEPT will knowing I'm being "watched," only create more anxiety and lack of ability to stay asleep all night long?

A vicious cycle.

These are a Few of my Favorite things -- THIS Christmas

My favorite "Neighbor Gift" we received:

It's Rudolph the Red-Nosed [E.O.S. lip balm] Reindeer!

The Christensens are always so clever/cute with their gift & "packaging."

My favorite reaction to a gift I gave:

Haylee was SOOO happy (like jumping around & talking giddily) about her PJ's this year!  Namely, she loved the hood, the pockets, & the owl print.

She opened them on Christmas Eve and actually said that she'd be JUST FINE if that was her whole Christmas!  She was fulfilled!

It reminded me of a Christmas several years ago when she had a very emotional reaction to a ROBE she received.

{She doesn't have extravagent wants!  I LOVE it!}

This is not MY favorite, BUT the kids' favorite Christmas wish came true:

The kids were having a hard time FEELING like it was the Christmas season because we hadn't had any snow in December - AND it had been in the 40's & 50's (no coat weather!)

But, THEN they got a WHITE CHRISTMAS.  

It literally started snowing late Christmas Eve, and we woke up to a blanket of snow everywhere. 

THEY thought it was the best thing ever!

My favorite part about Christmas 2014:

Talking to/Seeing Ryan (Elder Brenchley) via Skype!!!

We waited forever - he'd told us it would be in between 3-3:00p.m.......we finally heard from him at 6:05p.m.

BUT, it was worth the wait!

It was so fun to talk to him - we got to be reminded of his playful, amusing personality, but also got to see HOW WELL HE IS DOING and how mature and solid in the gospel he is becoming! 

He absolutely loved the #sharethegift focus this Christmas season.

He testified again & again to us that HE IS THE GIFT.
We got about an hour with him, and 10 min. with his companion (he talked to us while Ryan HAD to go to the bathroom - some things never change! ;) haha. 
We didn't want to hang up and have him call us back because it took SO LONG for him to do it the first time!!)
He also witnessed Haylee smack Kyle while we were skyping....he laughed his head off about that!
Like I said, some things never change!  ;)

**********

What were your "favorite things" about Christmas this year?

Why My Husband is Awesome - Reason #419

Night before last I kind of had a little (read: major) Freak Out to Matt.
It had to do with how close it was getting to Christmas and how much work there was to do still.
It had to do with THE LIST.
It had to do with everyone's expectations.
(The Fam wants everything to be the same even though everything is NOT the same!)
It had to do with the demands on my TIME.  Namely, I don't have the same kind of TIME that I used to have to get things done - I now work my job during the school day hours, whereas before I "did Christmas" (and the homemaking/laundry/cooking) during those same hours.

So, after this "diarrhea of the mouth" (that took a good amount of time, with Matt "trapped" in our room) Matt's face had a look of bewilderment on it.
He doesn't want me to quit my job.
He doesn't want to quit having dinner.
He doesn't want me to quit showering.
He doesn't want to quit Christmas.
As a man, he feels he's suppose to come up with a solution - that's what men do, they "fix" things, but, at the moment, he didn't have a solution. 
That night, it got left like that - UNfixed.

The next afternoon, I got a text from Matt:
"I will be home from work around 5:00 to make dinner.  I will make whatever you have on the menu schedule if you leave me with the recipe.  Feel free to go and run any errands you may have."

Ahhhh!

That's what I needed!
He figured out a "solution" - sometimes in marriage, you need to re-divide the household responsibilities. 

Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup (from "The Girl Who Ate Everything") was on the menu schedule, so, admittedly, I was a little nervous for him because.......well......let's just say it wasn't SPAGHETTI!  ;)

He realized dinner takes a long time to make!!  Whew!
But, that was OK - I was busy doing other things, remember?

When we sat down to eat, and I took my first spoonful -- it tasted A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.
It's like the lemon enhances all the other seasonings/flavors!

And I exclaimed this multiple times - as he sat there, hardly smiling about my compliments, BECAUSE he was drained from making dinner - it is A LOT of work - especially with multiple children all around needing help with homework, zippers, & urgent dilemmas.  Them asking, "What's for dinner?" or "What is THAT?" and telling you they're hungry don't make things any easier, either.  Poor Guy! :)  I can relate.  I love you, Matt!

Well, I thought I'd share the fabulous recipe with y'all.
I still haven't decided if it was SO GOOD because it really is SO GOOD or because I didn't have to make it!
Either way, here it is:

Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup

Yield: about 6 servings

Ingredients

• 9 cups chicken stock
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 1/3 cups carrots, chopped
• 1 1/3 cups onions, chopped finely
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 1/2 teaspoons lemon rind, grated
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 rotisserie-cooked chicken, shredded (about 3 cups)
• 8 ounces orzo pasta, uncooked (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, coarsely cracked (optional)
• 1/4 cup Romano cheese, grated (optional)

Instructions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or large pot.
2. Add the carrot, onion, celery, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, lemon rind and salt. Saute ingredients over medium heat until vegetables begin to soften.
3. Add the chicken stock and lemon juice. Bring to a boil.
4. Add the chicken and orzo. Simmer until orzo is cooked through. (see Note not serving soup right away)
5. Just before serving add parsley and remove bay leaf. Garnish with salt and black pepper if needed and Romano cheese if desired.

Notes

If you're serving right away you can add the orzo pasta and chicken at the same time until the orzo is cooked. If you plan on serving later it at a later time you may want to cook the orzo separately and add right before serving. The orzo pasta tends to soak up all the liquid and can become quite thick if you simmer the soup for a long time. You can always add more chicken stock if you want to thin it out a little.

Have YOUR husbands make it for your family, too!!  Enjoy!

This Weekend:

YES!  I am actually going to write a post that is not about Elder Brenchley!  ;)

THIS WEEKEND:
*Matt & I were in charge of our ward Christmas party this year.

It was on Friday night, the 12th.

But, I worked on getting it ready all day Friday.

And Thursday.

And Wednesday.

And the whole month before.

We had an awesome committee, though, who contributed a TON!

{Thanks Christensen's, Derrick's, Evans', Floyd's, Becky & Gina}

Some of the HIGHLIGHTS:

  ~"Neighborhood Trivia" was projected up on a movie screen up front as people arrived.

First, the "clue" would come up on the screen for people to read, and then a while later, the answer (person's name) would go up on the screen.
(THINK: movie theater before the movie starts.)

It was a great "mixer" to get people talking to start the party!
The ones from our family were:

This woman had a leg hair growing contest with a guy – and WON!

This person drove 140 m.p.h. in a blue Mustang GT – and lived to tell about it.

This [non-native Japanese] married couple both know how to speak Japanese. 

This person played on an ALL-GIRL baseball team (with pink uniforms) in a BOYS’ league.

This person has a purple belt in Karate.

This person cracked his head open doing a flip off the couch. 

This 6 YR. OLD likes to eat tomatoes, green peppers, avocado, cauliflower, & green salad! 

This missionary has now picked up the “Southern” patterns of speech. 

(Can you guess them all?!?)
~A "Green Screen" Photo Op

(THINK: weatherman on the news)

People literally just posed in front of a green screen......THEN......

it turned into THIS:

~Dinner with food from Mo' Bettah Steaks

I broke tradition and did away with the chili & soup (not my favorite) they'd done in the past!  I'm such a rebel!  But, that's one of the perks of being in charge!  

PLUS, this menu had the "gluten free" crowd in mind.

~Entertainment/Musical Program

{The Primary sang, "Stars Were Gleaming"}

Katelyn is 3rd from the left (fuchsia pants, turquoise vest).  Brookelle is 5th from the right (pink camo pants, navy shirt).

We also have this TREMENDOUSLY talented Sister Missionary serving in our area - she plays the ukelele, she sings, she plays the piano, she does it all together!
(Too bad [for us] she is returning home this week.)

She performed, "A Hallelujah Christmas."  Have you seen/heard this song?!!?

I've been watching/listening to it on YouTube ever since the party!
 

 You won't be able to get it out of your mind, I tell ya!

*On Saturday, we spent the whole day in bed recovering from the ward party.

HA!

NOT!

I WISH!

But, we had the Fowers Christmas party at our home that night.

We barely got all the dishes & small appliances from the night before washed up & returned, then started cleaning up our house before the people started to come!

{Scenes from the evening}

One of the highlights from the evening was when my Aunt Louise shared experiences

from her mission to Australia back in the late 60's and her news reporting career at KSL television.

(She started at age 22 and was the 1st and ONLY woman reporter at that time in the Salt Lake area!  She was just the 2nd woman in the nation to do it, and the ONLY woman on the air at that particular time.)

Many of the youngest generation did not know any of this family history, so it was great to have her share it!

She brought a few clips of her news stories she reported on from the past, too.  They were fun to watch!

She is also a talented musician, and we always gather around the piano and sing a Christmas song that she wrote, "Waiting for the Child."

She's written other songs, too.  You can see one of her pieces on YouTube here:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsWIvnQHEa8

and here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cZm8Ny0CoI

(That's my cousin singing the song!)

*On Sunday, we finally rested & recuperated all day.

(HA! again.....In my dreams)

Our darling niece, Megan, recently returned from her mission to Madrid, Spain on 12/9....

 YES!  I cried at the sight of the reunion between missionary & parents - THIS one AND strangers I don't even know!

 {COUSINS!}

Megan had her "Homecoming" (reported on her mission at church) on Sunday - at 9:00 in the morning!!

We got to attend that and hear her testimony (in Spanish - don't know what she said!) and her contagious enthusiasm for the Gospel!

We went to my brother's house afterwards for food and visiting and stayed well into the afternoon.

*We had Tithing Settlement with the Bishop later Sunday evening.

GOOD THING we discovered those missing checks so everything really could be "settled." ;)

*I realized I have 9 days to get ALL the Christmas stuff done, now!

THE LIST for this week started rolling through my mind at extraordinary speeds!

It's a "Gray" Area

The missionary care package I did for December was GRAY.

I sent it early this month because we'll be sending his Christmas presents in a separate box later next week.....and I want to Spread the Cheer throughout the month!

 {The contents}

{The packed and ready-to-ship box}

The four gray flaps say:

"You make me happy when skies are GRAY"  ~Johnny Cash

"Remember: Be careful...and use wisdom...Please don't give us [anymore than we already have] GRAY hairs!"  :)

"GRAY skies are gonna clear up, put on a happy face."  ~Tony Bennett

"Way to use your 'GRAY matter' on your mission!!"

I knew he'd be getting two packages from us this month, so I thought I'd send a smaller box (medium size) than I have in the past months and choose a color that I thought wouldn't have very many things.  Interestingly enough, I didn't have any trouble filling it up with gray stuff!  In fact, I could only fit two small cans of the diet Coke instead of the entire 8-pack I bought.  (It's OK, Ryan doesn't even drink diet Coke, but some of the other missionaries or his "peeps" might, and it's kind of a "community" care package anyway, AND it was the RIGHT color!)

I'm In The Money!

Several months ago, I could not get my checking account to balance.
My check register said one amount, and THE BANK said another amount.
THE BANK said I had $145.00 more than my check register said I had.
Could it be TRUE?!?

I went back through my check register and re-added, and re-subtracted all the deposits and debits for the previous several months and did not find any errors - I STILL ended up with the same balance that I was showing in my check register.

(These kind of discrepancies almost make me go BONKERS!)

Something my friend, who used to work at a bank, once said came to my mind; "The bank balance is right!  The bank's not going to make an error."  (Something to do with scanning all the routing numbers, account numbers, and using high-tech calculations.)
So, going off of that.....fortunately, the difference was in MY FAVOR - and I just added that amount into my register.

Cha-Ching!

THEN tonight, again, as I was going through my checking account, I found the balances were OFF again!
THIS TIME, the bank said I had $375.00 more than my check register said I had.
It couldn't be TRUE twice, could it?!?  I couldn't be THAT fortunate, could I?!?  My friend says THE BANK isn't wrong, so it must be my money.

So, again, I double checked, and triple checked all the addition & subtraction I had done in my register over the last several months since the last "incident."  And again, I STILL ended up with the same balance I was showing in my check register.

How could it be?

I started to really wonder if the "Christmas Elves" were secretly padding my account.  I've heard of that happening with other people before.

How exciting!  Cha-Ching!

But, I pulled up my online banking and carefully looked through the list of transactions, and saw no "mystery deposits."  THE BANK would have to show these even if it was an anonymous donation, right?

(AGAIN, These kinds of discrepancies practically make me go INSANE!  I'll spend hours on it trying to figure out the error.  I like the Math to work out just perfectly.)

Should I just add the extra money into my register and let it go?

No.  I HAD to figure it out.  It was after hours, so I couldn't call THE BANK - I would have to figure it out on my own.

I did have one check, still in my possession, that I had written out, but hadn't actually given it to the corporation I was paying, yet.  But, it's amount did not equal $375, so that wasn't the answer.......

.......but it DID get me thinking.......Were there other checks in this same situation?  Checks that I [unknowingly] still had, or the corporations still had, or had been dropped, taken, lost, forgotten in a pocket somewhere?

Frequently, I will write out my tithing check sometime during the week, and then I set it in a certain place on my desk, ready for Matt will pick it up on Sunday, so he can submit it with his tithing/donations check when we go to church.  He keeps all the receipts, so when I asked him if he has submitted all my checks, he went back and looked through his receipts.  He found there were "gaps" of time where there weren't any checks from my account.  Strange, because I wrote a tithing check EVERY month.

Long story short, we scoured my whole desk; lifted up the computer keyboard, the mouse pad, computer tower & monitor, the lamp, the speakers, went through files and stacks of papers, etc.

AND we found THREE checks that were "hiding."  Checks that had somehow fallen back behind the computer equipment and were out of sight.  Including one dated back in July from when I first discovered my "bonus" $145.  

So, THE BANK really was right.....my checks just hadn't ever cleared.  But, they WILL when we MAKE SURE to give them at church on Sunday, and my account balance will be quite unexciting once again.

So, unfortunately, the FANTASY of the "Christmas Elves" is over.  It was good while it lasted!  ;)
Instead it was a case of inattention, distraction, and disorderly confusion.

Celebrate 100

All of our elementary school kids through the years have always made a big "to do" on The 100th Day of School.

Everything they do that day revolves around the number 100.

* Math problems that equal 100.
* Counting to 100.
* Bringing 100 of some object to show the class what 100 looks like.  (When Ryan was in kindergarten, he took 100 Happy Meal toys....with instructions from me to give them to all his classmates!  No joke - we had that many.  How embarrassing!  It's when Matt was working at Hertz, and those toys were left in cars, unclaimed, All. The. Time.  The sad thing was, even after I had him gather up 100.....we still had some junkin' up the playroom!)
* Doing a word search where the only word to search for was, "hundred" like a hundred times.
* Drawing pictures of what you will look like when you are a 100 years old.
* Finding as many words as you can from the word, "Hundred."  (like "red" & "run")
* Making lists of 100 something or other.
Etc., etc.....you get the point.

SOOOO, taking inspiration from all THAT, we did our own recognition of and celebrating for The 100th Day of Ryan's Elder Brenchley's Mission.  Which happened to be December 4th.

We made him a "100" list: "The Top 100 Things we Love About You" and then folded it up, put it in a big [decorated] manila envelope, and sent it to him.

You can't see much of them, but there are things like:

• You have a big heart
• You bring high energy to your interactions with others
• You show interest in the things we do
• You give up your chair for others
• Playfulness
• Blue eyes
• Values & morals
• Enthusiasm
• Loyalty
• Your middle name (it's "Matthew" - guess who put that one?  haha!)

At first, I thought 100 was A LOT (too many?), but once I got writing, I was on a roll!  I got to #78 all by myself, then I figured I better let the rest of the family finish up the last of the list.  :)

Here's to 100 more days.....

And then 100 more...

And 100 more....

And 100....

Then throw in 100 + 100 + 30 more days!

He Is The Gift

My missionary son, Ryan, wrote home yesterday insisting that I  #sharethegift.

He is very enthusiastic about the "He is the Gift" video he, and many other missionaries, are sharing with everyone.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints wants this true message to flood the nation.  He is doing his part, and he wants us to do our part.

The first gift of Christmas was a simple gift given by a father to all his children, to us. He gave us His son, the Christ. He is the gift. This Christmas season, how will you share the gift?




It's BEAUTIFUL. Just beautiful.

It really puts things into perspective......especially after the way I've been spending my time lately (See yesterday's post).  Woops!

Way to keep me on the "Straight and Narrow," Elder Brenchley!   ;)

'Tis the Season

Black Friday + Cyber Monday = Keeping UPS/FedEx/Post Office busy!
(It's helping them to FINALLY get to know our address, even though we still don't show up on any GPS!)

Now I don't dare open them.....sealed boxes are good "hiding places" from the children!  ;)

So Thankful.....

On Thanksgiving, right before we were getting ready to eat, my text went off, and I checked it, only to see an unknown number.....with an attachment.

Should I open it?  Was it OK?  Would it make my cell phone crash?  Was it spam?

I hesitated.....but I opened it anyway, and to my great delight (& surprise) it was pictures and a message, "Your son with his companion after a fun game of touch football this morning."
(I love how she clarified that it was touch so I wouldn't worry about him getting hurt in tackle football or breaking the rules by doing so!!  She's a mom - she knows how we think!)

 My son, as in Ryan, who is away from home, serving a mission, on his FIRST Thanksgiving.

 A minute later, I got another text; this one with the message, "It was quite muddy!  This is Kristi H.....a sister from the ward."

I have heard so much about this GOOD family from Ryan's letters.  They are so great to him; having him over for dinner often, accompanying them when they teach the people, working hard to get permission from the Mission president for them to proselyte at a high school football game where there would be many important contacts, serving him, driving long distances to help, etc. etc.  The list goes on and on.

I sent her a text telling her I've heard all about her family and thanking her for all she does for Ryan.

She replied, "Your son is a wonderful missionary and we love having him here."

By this time, the Brenchley's were READY to start our feast, but Matt & I were on our phones looking at the pictures & texts.  Matt's mom (I don't think she knew what had happened?) had to scold us saying, “Now, I made the teenagers put away their phones for Thanksgiving – you put yours away, too!”  And I was like, “I’m getting photos of Ryan, I’m not putting it away!!”  What a rebel "teenager" I am!  ;)
This is about as close as we can get to having any contact with him - except for the Christmas and Mother's Day phone calls (or Skype?) that are allowed in the future.  The way technology has changed the whole missionary correspondence - amazing!  I was so thankful for this "tender mercy."  I did get a little emotional and teary after that, though.  Just KNOWING he was OK - more than OK.....Turkey Bowl?  Nothing could be better!!  He's so passionate about that annual tradition!  But, he's away from us, yet he's still getting taken care of.  It's a mixture of feelings; not really too sad, but relief, assurance, and thankfulness. 

A little more than an hour later, my text went off again.  Kristi was sending me more....

 ....with the caption, "I promise he's not starving today!"

"We were happy he could spend Thanksgiving with us."

There were actually two families from the ward in this photo.  I guess they both wanted the missionaries for Thanksgiving dinner (along with 5 other families from the ward - what competition!) so they combined forces and did it all together.  

I have heard a lot about this other family from Ryan, as well.  In fact, Ryan has already "pegged" one of their daughters as Kyle's future wife because he wants to be a part of their family, they're so awesome!  ;)  This family has done so much for Ryan, too.  For example, they have been known to drive 30 minutes to sit in on & fellowship at an investigator's lesson, just to be "stood up" and they have to drive all the way back home for nothing.....but, at least, invite the missionaries for dinner still.  (It makes me feel lazy!)  They have a missionary son out, too, so they understand the life.

I am so thankful for these fantastic families who are working in the Lord's vineyard located in West Virginia!  I'm so thankful for these "surrogate mothers" he has to watch out for him while he's away - it's such a blessing!  They are doing such a good job!!  I love them (his family away from home) and I've never even met them.

Something funny happened in the middle of all this, too.  I kept looking and re-looking at the texts on Thanksgiving and somehow the wrong button got pushed because all of a sudden, I see that my cell phone has dialed Kristi's phone number.  When I realized it, I was like, “Oh No!  Oh No!” and I was frantically trying to end the call as fast as I could, but it wasn’t working.  That would be a big NO-NO to try to call him - or her if she was with him - but I didn't mean to, I PROMISE!  I don't want to be One of Those Moms!  ;)  I don’t know if she answered and heard all the commotion, but if she did, I also hung up on her!  ha-ha. 

Ryan's end of the story was that when Kristi's phone rang (from my inadvertent call), she pulled out her phone and showed Ryan the screen.  He was like, "Oh, no!" and he shot out of the room!  But, she did realize and told him it was just a "pocket-dial."  Whew!

Again.....I'm so thankful.

The Benefits to Having a Missionary in the States

Both Matt and I served our missions [for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints] outside of the country (Okinawa & Fukuoka, Japan).
My sister and both my brothers served their missions outside of the U.S. (Ukraine, Mexico, & Brazil).
All of Matt's brothers (5 of them!) served missions outside of the country (Puerto Rico, Spain, Chile, Uraguay, & Venezuela).
SOOOO.....I've always associated missions being synonymous with out of the U.S.  So, when Ryan got called to serve his full-time mission within the States, it was a NEW CONCEPT for me.

And I've come to realize how GREAT it is as far as the MAIL situation is concerned!!!
I can actually send him mail AND packages [for fairly inexpensively]......AND he actually receives them!!!  So many other MM's do not have that luxury, they will not be able to send their missionaries anything for the whole 18 month/2 years - I have been told I am very lucky, and I believe it.

Even before he ever got his mission call, I saw an idea of what I wanted to do for my future missionaries' care packages......and then his IN STATE mission made it possible.
It has been very fun!!
In the beginning, I sent him a small box tied up with 12 different colors of ribbon or pipe cleaner.

It included an explanation that he'd be getting color-coded care packages each month for the first year.  The color of the package would provide the CLUE to which tie he was suppose to cut off that month.  At the end of 12 months (and 12 color coded care packages), he could open the tie-free box.
(Shhhhh.....but inside the box he will find a picture of Christ, and a message from Him to Ryan, because he is one of the missionaries for His church.  The letter contains gratitude and encouragement to serve for one more year, etc.)

Did I mention this is FUN?!?

The first month (September) was GREEN.....BECAUSE that's what he was - GREEN, fresh out in the mission field.  For some reason, I did not take a picture of it before I sent it, but PICTURE THIS:
Each flap of the box was covered in green decorative paper, and I wrote on each one:
"Good Luck, Greenie!"
"How's our favorite 'Green Bean?'"
"We LOVE our 'Greenie.'"
"It's not easy being 'Green'" ~ Kermit the Frog

It included things like:
a can of green beans
Andes mints
Sprite
Apple Jacks cereal
Mike & Ikes
Listerine strips
a green Sharpie
Wet Ones wipes (green pkg.)
sour cream & onion Pringles
green apples
Ghiradelli mint chocolate squares
winterfresh gum
pad of paper (green border)
plus.....several other green items - you get the picture.

In October I did ORANGE.  But, this time, I had my brain and I took pictures.

 {The contents}

{All packed up in the box}

These FLAT RATE boxes (provided for FREE by the post office) are the way to go (if you're sending more than 2 things) - whatever fits in the box, can be sent for one rate - it can be as heavy as I want it to be, and it costs me the same!

In contrast, if I were to put it in my own box, and they determined the postage off of weight, it'd be  like $40+ just to ship.

The 4 flaps say:

"ORANGE you glad you're a Missionary?!?"

"ORANGE you glad it's time for another care package?!?!"

"ORANGE you glad We Love You!!!"

"ORANGE you glad you survived your 1st Transfer?"

To which Ryan responded in his next letter back to us:

"Thank you so much for the care package....ORANGE you glad I got it?"  ;)

Are you having fun, yet?!?  

In November, it was BROWN.

 {The contents}

 {All packed up, ready to be sealed shut}

The flaps say:

"A little BROWN-NOSING never hurt anyone!!"  :)

"What can BROWN (substitute Elder Brenchley) do for you?  ~UPS

"Yes!  We're trying to score BROWNIE points!"  :)

"Oh, the WONDERFUL THINGS Mr. Brown (substitute Elder Brenchley) can do!!"   ~Dr. Seuss 

In the upcoming months, hopefully, I'll post them as I do them, once a month, instead of in a group, playing catch up....
Colors still up on the docket:
Gray
Red
Yellow
Pink
Purple
Blue
Black
White
Fuchsia


My other kids all LOVE these packages, and wish they were for them, saying it's not fair, but I try to tell them, they live at home and get our presence, love, & attention (not to mention free access to the pantry) every day, but Ryan does not, so THIS is an attempt to give him some of that, too, while he is sacrificing/serving away from home. 

Yes!  I can see, now, how it's pretty beneficial having a missionary in the States....how did I, and Matt, and all our siblings ever get our packages in those foreign countries?  Oh, yeah......we didn't.
Or they were just few and far between (If they even made it!)  And they took forever.  And cost an arm and a leg.

BUT, this may backfire on me, too, if my other children all go foreign, and they don't get any care packages......but remember that Ryan DID.....uh oh!

The Day of Awakening

You gotta get through 18 3/4 years of the [back breaking, heart aching, mind going crazy, blue-in-the-face] daily grind FIRST, but it finally comes.....it's the day when your child realizes AND admits JUST HOW GOOD HE HAS IT!  (and always has had it.)

We got this letter from our missionary son, Ryan, this week:

The letter was partially spurred on by him receiving some family photos we had taken before he left on his mission this summer.  They finally came back from the photographer, so I sent them to him in a little album:

We were kind of surprised to have our letter addressed to us in such a way, "My Eternal Forever Family" - such an upgrade from the usual, "The Brenchley's."  ;)

Then the content of the letter provided even bigger "revelations" to us:
"I am so grateful for what a great family I have!  The pics are just too precious!  Maybe it's the great color scheme or all our great smiles, but The Pictures just glows every time I look at it.  I took the album to church with me Sunday to show to some families and it got passed around to a couple of the other sisters in the ward.  Everyone who saw it was all, "Oh, what a Beautiful family you have!"  The other missionaries around the house were all commenting how much younger my family was.  (They're just jealous because their family grew up and isn't as cute as my family!)  I love you all so much.  You are all one of the main reasons I'm serving a mission.  I KNOW the happiness I have knowing my family can be together forever and I want nothing more than to share this message with others, and have them have the same Happiness I have!  I Love You all so much!"

(I think I want him to stay with this current group of missionaries who refer to us as the "YOUNG" family amongst the group!  ;)  In fact, when Ryan was telling his companion that his parents went on a 20th anniversary cruise, his companion pointed out that he's older than Ryan's parent's marriage!  His companion was born a few months before we were married....and he's the 4th child in his family to give ya an idea of the age difference in their parents!)


So, basically, now Ryan thinks we really are great!
(That's why we send them away!)  ;)
One child down, four to go!

A Sure Way to Have a Whole Month Fly By Without Even Realizing It

If time is ever moving too slow for you - just dragging on and you're wondering HOW you can make it go faster.......just GO ON A CRUISE.

Because it takes a WHOLE WEEK of pressing preparations before you can even leave:
Laundry
Writing up lists
Shopping
Making an instructions guide for our children's caretakers
Packing
Accomplishing THE LIST
ON TOP OF the extra hours at work that I had to pick up for others in trade to get the cruise week off, and Matt had to work to get all the things done that were needed for deadlines that would come up while we were gone or very shortly after we returned.
PLUS, add a daughter's birthday and party in there with my annual girls' shopping weekend in Park City on the side....

....and pretty much I was going non-stop for that first 8 days of the month.

THEN we made it on our [20th anniversary] cruise!  Aaaaaaaaaaah!!!

 The Allure of the Seas, Royal Caribbean

Relief.

No Responsibility.

Restful.

{Haha.  Matt took this "selfie" on the first evening.  

I was so worn out by the time our vacation actually started, I fell right to sleep waiting for the show to start!} 

 Recreational.

{Yes!  There is a operational Carousal on the ship.} 

Rejuvinating.

 Refreshing.

Royal Treatment.

from our awesome waiters, "Jeff" & "Lito"

 Romantic.

 Rewarding.

Sadly, that week went by way too fast.

Side Note:  My #1 tip for married couples:  Get Away Together (alone) often! (anything from a date night to an extended vacation)  There's really no substitute.....but that's a whole other blog post for another time.

And then we came back home.  Here's another adjective beginning with the letter "R" to describe that experience:  Rude Awakening. 

Not only was is COLD, but I had to now cook my own food, pick up my own towel, wipe my own nose......Oh no!!  

  
(It's been pretty much back to work non-stop again)

So, on MONDAY, I worked my shift all day and had to go to the grocery store for all the, "Mom! We're out of (fill in the blank with anything & everything)! items the kids bombarded me with upon my return.

On TUESDAY, I worked my shift all day and had to catch up on paying bills.  What in the heck was the current status of our bank account?!?

On WEDNESDAY, I worked my shift all day and did the miscellaneous "office" stuff...and finally decorated for Thanksgiving!  With a side of planning our ward's Christmas party.

On THURSDAY, I finally had a day off work, so I got around to unpacking all my luggage.  I also tackled cleaning the stove which appeared as if a 10 gallon pot of an assortment of foods & other stuff had exploded all over it in my absence.  I also slid on in to the Post Office in the nick of time - 4:56 p.m. - to send off this month's missionary care package (a blog post for another time) for Ryan Elder Brenchley.  (It's that time again, already?!?)

So, there's another week that's gone by in a FLASH.  It's November 20th already!?!?!  That means practically the whole month is gone!  And then Thanksgiving week always goes by fast and after that, November's over.  I really can't believe how quickly it went.  Here I am left reeling.

There you have it.
Prep week + Cruise week + Catch up week.....
How to lose a month in 20 days. (but what only seemed like a few)

What are THESE?

The temperatures have DROPPED way low here in our neck of the woods.  Thanks to the November-that-feels-like-January we're having due to the Arctic Chill that has come from the North, affecting most of  the U.S.

(Yet, ANOTHER rude awakening in returning from our Eastern Caribbean cruise.  The Islands, high 80's.  Utah, 30's.)

So, Brookelle was complaining she didn't have any warm clothes to wear.  It's true - I hadn't done the official [season changing] closet/drawer clean out project, changing all the short sleeves/capris/shorts/lightweight fabrics and replacing them with the winter clothes - it was still in the 70's when I left!

So, I pulled the big Rubbermaid tote of "Size 6 Winter clothes" out of the basement that I'd been storing ever since Katelyn outgrew them 4 years ago (AND which had many hand-me-downs of Haylee's from before then, too!)

Usually this ritual is like "Christmas," opening up a plethora of  outfits to wear; an instant "new" wardrobe!  The girls & I get all sentimental, while gushing, "Oh, I loved this!  This is soooo cute!" remembering the clothes they used to wear, and what event they wore them for, etc.

THIS TIME when Brookelle started pulling out all the long pants (the main thing she was looking for), it was NOT like that.  She was NOT thrilled or impressed or even grateful.

Her response was more like......

What are THESE?!!?

When I answered, "pants," she started to giggle.

SHE SERIOUSLY THOUGHT I WAS JOKING/TEASING (like I frequently do, and she's become pretty good at discerning when I am, based on the absurdity of what I say)
so she responded, "No, they're not!"

To which I replied, "Yes. They ARE."

She retorted, "What's wrong with the bottoms???"

I said, "They're flare jeans."

Brookelle:  "Flare???  WHY would they make them FLARE?"

Me:  "Because they're cute!"

Brookelle:  (giggling, thinking I'm joking again) "No, they're not!"

They're not?????  

But, your sisters wore them!

They used to be!

And then I realized that sometime between the last 4-6 years and the modern day, flare jeans must have gone the way of the dust.  In Brookelle's [short!] lifetime, she has never been exposed to flare jeans and, therefore, has absolutely NO understanding/attraction to them.  In her opinion, they belong in the costume box, categorized under, "clown pants" MORE THAN they belong in a sane person's closet!!
Skinny jeans are acceptable, though!  ;)

(Weird to think that I'M living through style changes!  Isn't that just for old people?)

CRAP!  Now she still doesn't have any warm bottoms to wear!  

Is Christmas too far away to wait to get new clothes?!?

Three Strikes.....on My Idea

Katelyn turned 10 years old this week.  Double Digits!!

It was her year for a friend birthday party and she wanted to have a “Game Show” themed party.
We played "Wheel of Fortune" and "Friend Feud" with some puzzles/questions I made up.

I made the game show boards out of poster boards and paper.

I thought it would be fun & clever to have one of the “Friend Feud” questions be:  
"Name something great about Katelyn.” 
I thought it would be a good way to "CELEBRATE" the birthday girl.

FOR THIS QUESTION, I had all 12 answers worth 100 points each (instead of how I did it on the other questions and how they do it in the real game where ALL the answers only total 100).  This way, the girls could REALLY earn a lot of points for this *BRILLIANT* question.

The 12 "Katelyn" answers on the board [that were covered] were: Friendly, Happy, Athletic, Crafty, Honest, Brave, Great singer, Caring, Helpful, Gives compliments, FUN, & Smart).

Well, this *special* idea of mine?.....it kind of bombed...
because the first person guessed, “funny.”  STRIKE ONE. 
Katelyn:  "WHAT?!?  I'm not funny?  I always make everyone laugh."  (As everyone, literally, laughed!)

The next person guessed, “sweet.”  STRIKE TWO. 
Katelyn: “WHAT?!?” 
Oh no.....she's [thinking she's] NOT funny, and she's NOT sweet!

The next person said, “Awesome.”  STRIKE THREE. 
Katelyn: (practically speechless, with mouth gaping open)


So, the other team gets a chance to "steal."  And they say, “pretty.” 
I was dying because I knew THAT answer wasn't on the board, either, but I didn’t want to give ANOTHER strike.....because what Katelyn wasn't understanding was, that even though all the previous answers given about her were TRUE, and it's what her friends thought of her....it just wasn’t one of the TOP TWELVE ANSWERS ON THE BOARD.
"Pretty" got a STRIKE, also.
 
When Katelyn saw it wasn’t on the board, she hid her face in the couch and started to cry.

Come on - everyone break out into song now, "It's MY party, I can cry if I want to, cry if I want to.....YOU would cry, too, if it happened to you!"

*****************
But, in an attempt to make things better, I let the "stealing" team call out another one of their answers they had brainstormed up together - and it was [finally] ON THE BOARD! (Makes friends easily)

Things That Make You Go, "Huh?"

1.  I saw these cough drops at the store on one of those "mark down" shelves.

$1.49 for a bag - I'll take it!

I like to always look through the items that have been re-tagged with a sale price to see if there is any great deals (that I also *need*.)

If there are multiple price tags on top of each other, it means there have been multiple mark downs.

When I get home, I like to peel off the price tags one by one to see the "price history" - how the price has changed/dropped.

(Then I know what a great deal I got!)

Except, this time when I peeled off the top tag (the $1.49 price I paid), I saw that the previous price was just $1.00!
Huh?!?
I think the price tag put-er on-er needs a refresher math lesson.

2.  Katelyn had some cute, navy blue Toms-type shoes that looked very similar to this:

After wearing them several times, they got a little hole in the toe.

Which, by the way, I have seen many, many times with this type of shoe. NO BIG DEAL.

So, then the next day, I see Katelyn wearing THESE shoes:

I asked what was going on.  Apparently, THIS was her solution to concealing the little toe hole.
(These are, in fact, her navy blue Toms)

Because fluorescent orange duck tape covered shoes are SO MUCH BETTER?!!?
Huh?!?

3.  Our missionary son, Ryan, wrote home eight questions that he wanted our whole family to each answer individually, in a letter back to him.

It was the same 8 questions for everyone, but he was curious to see the differences in our answers.
It was kind of a fun activity because everyone's DIFFERENT perspective of the SAME THING was revealed.

Here is Matt's (dad) response to Ryan's eight questions.

ALMOST half a sheet of paper!

In contrast....

Here is my letter/answers.

Page #1

And Page #2 

Huh?!?

(I KNOW missionaries like letters!)