Best. Year. Ever. Just kidding.

Oh hey. What can we say about this year that hasn't already been said a million times? Nothing. It hasn't been too bad for us, other than not seeing friends and loved ones as much as we'd like. We've been healthy, the kids being able to go to school has been the best thing ever, and life generally feels normal. We're all used to wearing masks when we go places, which is the biggest change of all. Not too shabby.

Being self-employed is the best, and I say that with a heavy dose of cautious optimism. We're mostly having a great time coming up with ideas. It's a lot of work, but it's nice that it's ours. 

Nils has never gotten more sleep than he is getting right now, haha. He's always had so many things going on at once that he hasn't had time for sleep. I challenged him to work out 5 days a week for 4 weeks back in November, and he's still going strong. We often work out together, and it's just a barrel of laughs, jump squats, and sweating. 

We were recently called to teach youth Sunday school together. We teach the 14-17 year olds, and so far it's going fine. Teaching over Zoom is a little crappy, but the kids are mostly good. We're bribing them to participate with full size candy bars, so we'll see how long that lasts. 

Well, December starts out with Ava's birthday. She's 11?! Currently Ava loves watching YouTube, doing crafty stuff, reading graphic novels, and playing with friends. As the youngest of 4, she gets away with staying up late and being quite independent. A few weeks ago she asked for a haircut, and it didn't go great. I was tired and not concentrating hard enough, and end up cutting one side about an inch shorter than the other. This resulted in a much shorter cut than she bargained for, and I feel bad. It looks cute, but it's not what she wanted. Good thing hair grows back, and good thing MomSalon is free. Also, these pictures are pre-haircut. 

We had our first annual company Christmas party. We got food at Culver's and had a gingerbread house contest. 'Twas fun. Nils and Anders won the contest and got a $25 Amazon gift card. Next year we'll all have to be on our A games. 

Aani had a Christmas orchestra concert that we were actually allowed to attend. It was during the middle of the school day, which wasn't a problems because WE DON'T HAVE JOBS. 

Trying to figure out a thumbnail, and Anders interrupting. Thumbnails are life on YouTube. Also, the bangs are still not my favorite but there's nothing I can do about that, is there. 

I spent an entire Saturday making gingersnaps for the neighbors for Christmas. There were about 300 gingersnaps. I made a list of those I considered "gingersnap worthy" because I was feeling a little miserly after making that many cookies and not being able to eat any due to their glutenousness. Everyone loves these gingersnaps, I'm telling you. 

Christmas was a success! On Christmas Eve, we played bunco with my mom and niece, which was fun. We missed the normal big crazy party, but we had a good time. 

The kids were all happy with their spoils on Christmas, which I was honestly a little surprised by. I do 99% of the shopping (and 99% of that online), and they were all really pleased. Thanks, internet! We're definitely out of the toys phase in our house, so there are a lot more clothes involved. Addie got a record player, and a weighted blanket. Aani wanted clothes and makeup, so I threw in a Caboodle. Anders wanted Jazz merch, Stance socks, and a nice coat. Ava didn't tell me one single thing she wanted, so I had to guess. She got some books, Legos, a stop motion Lego movie making kit, snow boots, and some other stuff I don't remember. 

We drove a few miles away to see the Christmas star. It wasn't that exciting. The magnificent pictures that people were posting online are not the same as what we saw. That didn't stop Nils from fiddling with this crappy telescope for 45 minutes, though. The kids came because we promised them Wendy's. :) It got us out of the house and we got to spend some quality time together. 

Whelp, I think that's about it. Thanks, 2020, for being super weird. The year of meeting friends in parking lots to eat take out in camping chairs. The year of book club on Zoom. Church at home and all the screens in the house being used all the time. It is what it is! Go easy on us, 2021, we're a little crazed. 

Slower November

Last month we thought we would die from driving so much, and in November we barely left the house. We had a two week stay at home recommendation from the governor, so team sports were suspended. It's been kind of nice slowing down a bit, but Nils and I especially hardly go anywhere, and sometimes we forget what day it is. Addie is able to start swimming again tomorrow, so the driving will commence. :) 

Almost a whole month since Nils quit his job, and things are going well. We're still learning a lot, and will always have more to learn and figure out. We've been able to get one video out per week, which is the goal for now. It's so, so much work. You really wouldn't think that making a 5-10 minute video would take 40-50 hours, but it does. We're slowly working on building up the website as well, which is basically blogging the video content and making it into an article. This is also very time consuming, but one of our favorite things to do is look at the website analytics and see the teensy tiny growth. We're hoping that it will be an encyclopedia of sorts for home repairs/how-to's at some point. Little by little! 

Alright, here are some pictures of our boring lives this month:

We tried being food stylists one night. I was kind of pleased with this meal of gluten free potato soup and gluten free cornbread. Am I still gluten free? People ask me this, and the answer is yes. The answer will always be yes. I had to take an antibiotic a couple weeks ago, and something about it made me flare up. It was misery. It was a good reminder of what gluten does to me, and that it is not worth it.

We took a big family trip out to get some froyo. Everyone had to wear masks and gloves, and it was just weird. But, the froyo was delish.

I went ahead and ordered a swim hoodie so that Addie and I can be twinners. 

This pandemic has given me too much time to evaluate my forehead. I decided to cut some bangs, and it was overall a poor decision. Good thing they'll only take 6 months to grow out. 😢

Nils and I made a GF chocolate log roll for Thanksgiving. It turned out tasty, but it was not without some struggles. 

Pip really likes whipped cream. It's the only people food she likes besides meat. She's so weird. 

We got back today from a little weekend trip to Cortez, Colorado, and Mesa Verde National Park. We had a good time. It was cold, but clear and good for hiking. Mesa Verde is a really cool place to spend a day, and we had a great time on our hike, and seeing the cliff dwellings was very cool. We also got to drive through Moab, which is high on my list of favorite places on planet earth. I love it. It never gets old. 

There's not much to do in Cortez, and since it gets dark at 5:00, we had some hours to kill at night. We bought some games and had fun playing Upwords. Well, Addie and Aani hated it and went to sleep, but the rest of us had fun. 

One night we had a dollar store showdown. We visited 2 dollars stores, and each had $2 to spend at each store. We voted on who found the best item, and whoever won got a McFlurry. Addie won with that picture frame, because she said that the people in the picture was my other family. Also, it was decided that Dollar Tree is better than Family Dollar. 

Not sure how long Ava slept with this thing on her head, but whatever helps, right? 

Did I forget anything? Probably. See ya next month! 

Death by Driving

October, October, October. This month has draaaaggggged. Probably cuz Nils gave notice at his job mid-September, and was originally given an end date of Oct. 9, but then extended it to the beginning of November due to some people crying a lot about his leaving. His last day is technically Nov. 2, but his last day of actual work was yesterday, and he is feeling really happy. We are both exceedingly grateful for the job he's had, it's been a huge blessing and we don't take leaving it lightly. 

Well, since school is in session and we're all trying to pretend like things are semi-normal, the kids have all the things. We've been hauling kids to and from swim, cheer, work, friends houses, etc. etc., and sometimes it just feels like we will die from driving so much. I've been trying to have the perspective that this will not last and I'll miss it when the kids are all gone, but sometimes that can be tough. :) 

Halloween nerds

Halloween cat

Aani and friends made up a rap to convince me to let her cut side bangs- which I didn't have a problem with. I think she thought I'd say no because I wouldn't let her dye her hair pink a month ago. Good times. Her friend cut her bangs for her that day, no rap was necessary.

Grandma's 75th b-day! We took her some Mi Ranchito for lunch and had a good old time.

I've been taking the kids to the dentist and eye doctor while we have insurance. It's a pain in the butt getting 6 people into those appointments. Anders and Ava suffered with the dilated eyes. 

We drove up Little Cottonwood Canyon on a Sunday afternoon, and Aani perched on a log to sketch and eat Cheez-Its.

Ava had a cheer showcase. Fun stuff! She's got the skills! 

Waiting at the dentist. I've come to really hate the dentist. We will be switching dentists.

Business lunch with my boo.

Addie's orchestra concert, where she had a solo. Go Addie!

We sold Meep, our 1995 Toyota pickup. Now we only have three cars- we had six there for a little while and it was pretty embarrassing.  

Fun at Grandma's.

Aani was going to be Cinderella for Halloween but decided the dress was too itchy. Not too itchy for a selfie, though. 

Cheer Comp. Go Ava Flave! She's awesome. 

Anders is living it up during his senior year. He had a lot of fun going to all the football games being part of the "Westlake or Die" section. He and some friends spent Fall Break down in Cedar City and they had a great time. He came home saying he's ready for college. 👍

I like this. 

This week begins our foray into self-employment. We're excited and a little nervous, but mostly anxious to dig in and do this thing. Wish us all the luck. Also, cheer ends this week, so we may not die from driving after all, which is nice. :)