Post Christmas Post

One of our family Christmas gifts was movie tickets to go see Rogue One in the theater.  Most of us really enjoyed it, but I will admit it was a little too action packed for me.  I needed to go home and cleanse my pallet with some Jane Austen.  I'm getting old.  The highlight of the outing was squeezing all ten of us into the selfie booth.  I like the lone clone trooper in the upper right corner.  Really, what did it matter which background we chose?  Definitely my favorite family selfie ever.  Even better than the one in Costco a couple years back. 

Well, I don't know... that one was pretty good too.

Bethany started her first day of work at Papa Murphy's Pizza the day after Christmas.  This is where Clark has worked for the last year and a half.  It has been a really great, though not terribly lucrative, first real job for him.  At the start of December he put in his two weeks notice because we decided it would be best for him not to work during the robotics season.  He mentioned to his manager that his sister was thinking of applying when she turned 16 in March.  The manager said to send her in immediately and she's got the job.
So thanks to Clark's good work and reputation, Bethany took his place.  But I'll tell you what.  Think whatever you will of me, it is a very different thing to send your son off into the working world than it is to send your daughter.  I know she will do great, and I know it's a good thing for her, but she is my little Bethany and I'm not terribly thrilled.  

And speaking of my little Bethany.  Look at all my little babies!  These pictures (minus Greta's) were all taken when they were about 7 1/2 months old-- my favorite baby age.  We hadn't updated with frames for Peter and Greta until now, but thanks to Abe gifting me these frames for Christmas, the collection is complete!  I think you can probably tell who is who, but just in case, across the top is Clark, Bethany, Elinor, Faith.  Along the bottom is Cannon, George, Peter and Greta.
This wall makes me SO, SO, SO happy.
If you want my analysis of who looks the most like who, here it is.
Clark and Peter
Bethany and Faith
Elinor and George
Cannon and Greta
But what do I know... I'm only their mother.

The girls enjoying their "lounge, sport, active, pajama" wear.  I don't know what do call it.  But it sure looks comfy.
Cannon also got some active wear that he'd been wearing for FOUR days straight.  Uh, yes, that includes undergarments.  Disgusting.  This morning I did demand he shower and put on clean clothes.  I mean, I get that it's Christmas break and everything, but sheesh!

Hmmm.  I have very mixed feelings about this.
This picture represents what these boys call "Marathon Week".  In essence, they live in our basement almost every day during the week of Christmas and New Years.  They say they must do this because it is the end of an era.  Several will begin robotics season next week and there will be no time for D&D club to meet.  School starts back up and church missions are coming fast for some of them.  They say they must finish the campaign they've been working on all year.
For the record, I do no think this is the healthiest way to spend this week of their lives.  That being said,  they are quite self sufficient-- they take a lunch break and go buy pizza for themselves.  Thankfully, Bethany works at Papa Murphy's now, so the discount is still in place.  They don't make too much noise, they are very polite, and they let the little kids come hang out with them.  They aren't staring at screens, they are talking to each other and being very creative.  I suppose they will overdose on D&D and get it out of their system for a while.

Tuesday night the girls and Abe and I went to a very fun wedding reception for a gal in our ward.  Here are two of her younger brothers that are good friends with our kids.  I just think it's a cute picture.

We paid a little visit to my brother Chip's new home in Sandy this week.  Mostly we wanted to see his new puppy!  Absolute cutest puppy I have ever seen .  He's a blond border collie-- somewhat unusual.  So soft and fluffy.  Peter loved petting him from the safety of the coffee table.  Let's be honest-- it made our new kitty look pretty lame.  And his puppy, named "Crush", doesn't have rancid gas like our cat does.  It is really a problem.

But then again, a kitten is a little more self-sufficient than a puppy.   And since I am having trouble getting children to change their underwear for four days straight, I really am not qualified to care for a puppy.  I get that.

And in fairness to Holly, she does entertain us.  She likes to hang out in the Christmas tree.  Please note the style of our Christmas tree decor.  Our kids like to say it looks like Christmas barfed on our tree.  Festive, is it not?

 Perhaps because I was annoyed with D&D basement dwellers.  Perhaps because poor neglected George kept begging.  Perhaps so I could live vicariously through my children, I told them all to get themselves dressed in snow clothes ... I was dropping them off at the park to go sledding.  Some were cooperative.  Some resisted.
But I prevailed.  They sledded.
That's not entirely true.  We did have one hold out who pointed out I could make her put on her snow clothes and sit out in the cold, but I couldn't force her to actually go down the hill and enjoy herself.  For privacy sake, I shall not reveal who the hold out was.  I will only say that I clearly recognize that kind of behavior.  I believe that in my youth I may have pulled some similar stunts.  Like the time we went to the Kirtland temple on a church history tour and I was really mad about something, so I just stayed in the car.  To this day, I have never been back to Kirtland.
So while I think it's ridiculous, I can relate.