Abe's 47th Birthday

I was recently made aware of a new arts and crafts material-- wicky sticks?  Have you ever heard of them?  They are wax-covered yarn and can be twisted and molded and they stick to themselves.  Greta got some for Christmas and the kids have enjoyed them immensely.  And although I will not speak ill of pearler beads because they have provided our family with many peaceful hours over the years, please note that wicky sticks are very easy to clean up-- BONUS!!

Peter has been filming a series of episodes with his spaceships and aliens.  As of today, there are four episodes-- all of which feature the same characters and basic storyline.  However, each episode is longer than the previous one and I understand less of what is going on than I did before.   

A recent double date with our dear friends, the Johansens.  They are so wonderful and we had such a lovely time.  Michelle is definitely one of my mentors and her example and friendship have been invaluable to me for many years.

I don't think this picture needs a lot of explanation.  I will only say, that for all her sweetness and agreeableness, you probably don't want to get on Faith's bad side.  This is a homemade safe she made out of a cardboard box and a lockbox, which Faith filled with her protein drinks and Gatorade.  She keeps it in the fridge outside, and, to the best of her knowledge, has thus far been left undisturbed.

Over the years we've developed a tradition of hideous birthday cakes.  This wasn't our original intention, but my lack of skills led to some real doozies, and now it's sort of a thing to just full send the ugly cake.  This year Elinor baked it and Bethany decorated it.  If you can't tell, it's basically a portrait of Abe for his 47th birthday-- complete with rosy cheeks and a beard.  You see it, right?

Last Sunday we celebrated his birthday because the weeks are so full and the chances of getting us all together mid-week is slim to none-- and slim's out to lunch.  (A favorite saying of my high school government teacher-- Coach Caughlin)  

But the chances are much better to get everyone together on Sunday evening.  It is a joy to get to all be together.   

He and I did go out to lunch together on January 25th, to celebrate, not only his birthday, but the 25th anniversary of the day we got engaged.   That was a very good decision. 

The Magic House

I dedicate this post to our blue house that sits on the corner. (Don't worry, we're not going anywhere).  It is about 2300 total square feet, with roughly 1800 of that finished living space.   We've been in this house since July of 2007.  Cannon, George, Peter, and Greta were all born during our time here.  

I feel so grateful for this house and the comfort it's provided for our family.  For years I have called it the Magic House because it becomes whatever we need it to be.  A Room of Requirement (Harry Potter), if you will.  As our family has grown over the years and our needs have changed, this house never fails to adapt.  We've acquired and discarded furniture.  We've done a bit (a small bit) of remodeling.  We've had many combinations of sibling roommates and bunk beds are how we make them fit.  Because our space is limited, regular "purging" the home of no longer needed items is a way of life.  

The magic house serves so many roles.  It's been fun to think back over the years to how we've made use of the space we have.  

A ping-pong tournament

A gymnasium

A barbershop (the mullet was temporary:)

A dance hall

A music studio

A recording studio

An IT department/ podcasting studio

A gaming club

A concert hall

Remember when it was a birthday Space Camp

Poor Boy Space Camp

A Little Ladies Dinner Club

A One-Room (One-House) Homeschool

One more about homeschool

A circus

A Science Lab

The CIA

Halloween Spook Alley

Mini-Golf Resort

Hockey Rink and Art Studio

School for Orphaned Girls

D&D Club

Family Home Theater

A Fashion Design Studio

I could go on, but I suppose you get the idea.  I'm so grateful for this MAGIC HOUSE.  I love it.

Sunday, January 16, 2022

 

I will miss a lot of things when Bethany leaves in her mission for 18 months, but I think the one thing I will miss most is the music Bethany and her friends bring into the house.  When YPMs are around, there is always a lot of music.  Really, really good music.  

Family Riverdance while Bethany fiddles--- it never gets old.

We have a cat with a problem.  Faith bought this kitten off of KSL about a month ago.  What we didn't know when she got it was that it had NO TAIL.  Now, this isn't necessarily a problem-- kind of weird, but not necessarily a problem.  Except that sometimes cats with no tails (Manx cats) have bowel problems and cannot control their pooping.  Sorry, I didn't know how else to say that.  Faith has built an enclosure for this kitten and we hoped the problem would resolve.  One month later, no such luck.  I like how resourceful George was in creating a cat diaper.  It worked well, but it's not a long-term solution.  Adorable as he is, this kitten's days in our home are likely numbered.  It's not that I don't like animals, but I have successfully potty trained eight children-- I am not going to deal with a poopy cat at this point in my life.  I hope we can still be friends.

Peter and his best buddy, Eric, got whoopie cushions as a party favor from a birthday party they went to on Saturday morning.  Seven-year-olds and whoopie cushions are a pretty funny combination.  

This post has really taken a turn toward potty humor.  Sorry about that.

Elinor bought Greta clip-on fox earrings.  Greta was overcome with joy!  She named one of the earrings "Foxy" and the other "Roxy".

In fact, she loved them so much that when we went ice skating, she wore her hat high up on her head so it wouldn't cover her earrings:)

Last weekend several of us were finishing up our time of COVID (I do not recommend!) While we were homebound we watched all of the U.S. Nationals for ice skating.  We are fans because... you know...THE OLYMPICS!!!!  They are almost here again-- HAPPY DAY!  George was intrigued and really wanted to go ice skating, so this past Saturday we went. 

Not surprisingly, George was even better than we expected he'd be.  He's quite a coordinated little lad.  

Faith holds her own and Greta did really well for her first time.  I think she expected she'd be able to do more tricks like they did on TV.  How disappointing:)

We were so proud of Peter, who, at first was pretty frustrated with how hard it was.  But he didn't give up, rather he just kept trying, and eventually, he could skate without any help. 

I quite enjoyed myself and would like to go again soon.  

I loved seeing Bethany with Rachel and Kara at Matthew's wedding reception last night.   Oh, the hours these three spent playing together in their childhoods.  

Last, but definitely not least, today was George's first day as a Deacon passing the Sacrament.  He did so well and we are so proud of him.  Hard to believe he is this old already. This was Cannon's first week helping prepare the Sacrament, but he also passed because George is the only Deacon that comes to church in our ward.  I am so grateful for Abe and his example in leading his sons in their Priesthood duties.  

Sister Fox Goes to Texas

On Tuesday, January 11, 2022, Bethany opened her mission call for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, to serve in the Texas, Fort Worth Mission!!!!! She'll be speaking English and she begins her home MTC (Missionary Training Center) on March 7th.  She'll train at home for one week and then go to the Provo MTC for two weeks and then she's off!  HERE is a link to the video.

You may recall that Clark served his mission in the Texas, Dallas mission from December 2017-December 2019.  The Fort Worth Mission and his mission are next-door neighbors.  So you can understand why Clark was the first one to hug Bethany and there were tears for them both.  And for the record, this is one of my favorite pictures ever-- ever, ever!

She is so excited and we are so excited for her.  And we are happy she only has to wait till March 7th to be on her way. 

There were lots of guesses as to where she would go-- everyone got a foreign and a stateside guess.  The winners were cute little Kate Schramm and David Chandler.  

You know that two seconds after she opened her call Abe was planning a family trip to Texas after her mission:)  He did not deny such charges.

Bethany and Dallin-- he was a fellow Nauvoo missionary, although he served in the fall and she served in the summer.  

Just a few more pics

Best little cousins:)

Christmas Day to New Years

 

Abe is so big on tradition, that I think if I looked back, I would find almost identical pictures of each Christmas event year after year.  This is the picture of him cooking his British fried breakfast.

This is the picture of Abe sitting down to feast on his breakfast.

This is the picture of all of us feasting.  I'm not terribly sentimental, so I am grateful that Abe is so good about creating and recreating meaningful traditions.

I love this picture of Greta on Christmas morning-- it  really capture the essence of Greta.

As does this picture:)  I often think how much Greta must enjoy being herself.  

Her mind is a very happy place to live.

The four of us did a musical number in church the day after Christmas-- "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day".  Listen to a rehearsal HERE.  The actual number in church was markedly better for all of us, but I'm glad we have this.

We enjoyed dinner and time with Baden and Mary's family Sunday evening.

Mary and I worked a bit of my most prized puzzle-- a Jane Austen scene.  It was a moms only puzzle.  I'm selfish like that.

Tuesday night was a family highlight-- we all (plus Elinor's friend, Brandon) went to see West Side Story.  So good.  SO GOOD.  SO GOOD! If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it.  And invite me to go with you, because I want to go see it again!  We all loved so much about it, but the "Officer Krupke" was so entertaining and the whole movie was so well done.  

Abe and the boys went to see the new Spider-Man movie.  They all enjoyed it.

A Fox siblings dinner is always an enjoyable evening.

On another of the big snowstorm days, Greta enjoyed helping shovel driveways in the neighborhood.  Then a bunch of the neighborhood kids went sledding at Wardle Fields.

I like how the young men get out shoveling when it snows.

Flynn/Millers joined us for New Years Eve games and revelry.  It's always great for Bethany and Raven to reunite.

A little Code Names

Greta loves when Clark is around

The Great Dalmuti

Despite several of us being under the weather, Sunday was a really wonderful day.  I taught Gospel Doctrine class, Bethany had her Stake President interview for her mission and her papers are officially submitted, and most importantly, George was ordained a Deacon in the Aaronic Priesthood and Cannon was ordained a Teacher,  So wonderful!

And believe it or not, I think I'm pretty well caught up with life (on the blog, at least). It was a very full holiday season and as always, I'm more than happy to welcome January and the calmer pace of life it brings.  Happy New Year!