New Year's Eve with the Halls + our last week of Christmas Break

We enjoyed a really nice New Year's Eve with the Hall family--Spencer, Megan, Katie, and Daniel came over at 8:00 pm with lots of delicious goodies to add to our own, and we stayed up til midnight with NO problems with this crew!  Played card games, watched a movie called Split, and suddenly it was time to run outside and make some noise.  

The next day everyone pitched in and helped take down and put away Christmas decorations.  Not really bittersweet this time, just fun!

Other highlights from the week:

--Later in the week we enjoyed putting together some Hello Fresh boxed meals (a great Christmas gift from Brant and Chris--thank you!)

--The boys enjoyed a golf day with Zach Bell down in Palmdale while Rhiannon and I had a girls' day

--I had lunch with two friends (Michelle Beames and Heidi Evans)

--We all went to Desert Memorial Park and put flowers on Howard Collins' gravesite for his birthday

--and Wade and I had a blast seeing the Spider-man:Into the Spider-verse movie.  It was AWESOME!

Sunday was our first day of 8:30 am church.  All of us enjoyed it, but it was still sure a back-to-back day for Jason with bishop interviews, meetings, and the like.  

Yesterday Wade and I started back to school, and we both agreed that it could not have been a nicer, smoother first day back.  For the win!!  I was particularly grateful because we'd had 50-mph gusts the night before and I slept t-e-r-r-i-b-l-y!

Today Rhiannon made a college presentation in Wade's English class with Mrs. Palerma Wilson, and she really enjoyed that.  She also had a great time at a work party with her movie theater co-workers.  It has started to sink in a bit that she'll be going back to school herself in a couple weeks, and she's sad about that, but we are confident she will do great!

Playing catch-up: Halloween 2017

Halloween 2017 was a blast!  We enjoyed a trunk or treat chili cook-off with church friends, and we all stayed home to answer the door the night of Halloween!

Rhiannon was a Holy Cow, Wade was Batman, I was Squints from the Sandlot movie, and Jason was "a serial killer because they look like everyone else." ;)

Animal Farm!  Cute girls Trini and Lettie Miller with Rhiannon

The Batmans! Wyatt Miller and Wade

Playing catch-up: Homecoming 2017 for Rhiannon

Homecoming weekend was a blast for Rhiannon.  She was recognized for being a senior band member on the football field Friday night and had a blast with friends at her first high school dance.  Her friend Jacob Kelley, friends since kindergarten, asked Rhiannon to Homecoming and they had so much fun with a big group!!

Rhiannon and I searched out of town and in town and all around for a dress for this event and were not impressed, so she looked up dresses on eshakti online and found a beautiful dress that she was able to custom order to her size and preference, too.  She looked amazing and said she got many compliments for her pretty, unique, and modest dress.  Yay!

The boys' annual backpacking trip!

Jason and Wade joined up with friends--the Kimblers, Fitts, Lees, and Tomlinsons--a couple weekends ago for a great summer adventure, hiking up in the Sierras past Lee Vining.  There was a LOT of snow and water and they had some crazy adventures getting through some of it, but I think they were glad to go.  Our friend Nate Kimbler took some amazing pictures from the trip and I had to share!

Young Men's Camp

In July there was a big fire up in the mountains called the Schaeffer Fire.  Our stake was putting together a Young Men's camp that had to be changed up a bit last-minute because the fire was heading in the direction of Camp Andrew Brown, where they'd planned to hold the week-long camp.

So the call was made to change plans and reorganize the week.  It was a good call.  Wade and friends had the choice to do rapelling or gun-shooting that Thursday night locally, and then the next day was an all-day excursion down to the Los Angeles Temple visitor center, a park for dinner, and an indoor trampoline park.  It was a fun day!

A great group of boys!  There were several more who came--this was the group from our congregation.

Fun t-shirts!  The back said "Eternity Just Got Real."

A really amazing day!

Today has been a really amazing day!

Highlights:

For our Cushing Christmas service project, we donated supplies to our local animal shelter, the same place we adopted our dog Samson three years ago.  We dropped off dog and cat food, new blankets, cleaning supplies, bleach, and detergent.  They were happy to get donations there!

This afternoon Rhiannon invited a few friends over for a Christmas party, and they have been playing games and laughing non-stop for the past 3 hours.  TOO much fun.  I think the highlight was the massive tape ball game, where Rhiannon taped a bunch of random small gifts and candy in this wad of a ball, and you got a turn at it when you rolled doubles.  (Thanks to Aunt Chris for the idea!)

And probably the happiest--today Uncle Brant, Aunt Chris, and nephew Greyson brought home a new baby boy from the hospital.  They got a phone call yesterday and picked him up today!  They will foster-to-adopt, and he should be an official Sheen in several months.  We are so happy for them!  Chris's text yesterday is officially The Best Text of 2016:

Wade reaches an important goal for the year!

Wade earned his Star in Boy Scouts this month--hurray!  This was a personal goal Wade set at the beginning of the year.  We're very happy for him.   I was also glad to know that after many months of being patrol leader for his troop, he's finally starting to enjoy it, haha!  It has not been easy, trying to "lead" nine or ten of his peers, but he has learned a lot from it.

Over the past few weeks his group finished the geocaching merit badge (many thanks to Spencer Hall on this one!), had a Court of Honor, and went on a stake camp-out for young men.  Keep up the good work, Wade!

Saturday

Yesterday was a busy, fun day.

--Wade attended an engineering conference for boys on base.  He said his favorite station was "Outbreak," where his group played a board game called Pandemic and had to figure out how to end epidemics quickly.  "We had to use a lot of strategy!" he said.

--Jason got away to work for a couple hours and had some time to himself to get things done.  That's hard to do during the work week when his office seems to have a revolving door and people in and out all the time!

--Rhiannon finished up a night with friends at her friend Izzy's house.  She said she got about 6 hours of sleep, as opposed to other friends that night who only got three.  Izzy is moving to Arizona next week, and she will be missed!  Rhiannon drove us home afterwards (she now has 9 hours under her belt of driving time...we really need to step up our game if she needs to get 56!)

--I walked the dogs for three miles and then came home and did yard work for 2 hours.  Yes, I am very sore today, but I feel like I can concentrate better with the yard cleaned up (the garden areas were full of weeds and needed some help).  Rhiannon was a HUGE help, too--she mowed the lawn for me, trimmed up some bushes, and did some pool maintenance.

--Jason and Rhiannon drove out to Inyokern and back.  He said she did pretty well but starts braking way earlier than she needs to.

--After chores Wade played some basketball with neighbor friends and then played some video games with his friend Nick next door.

--I made pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.  The ingredients had been out on the counter for two days...and I finally fixed that!

--And finally, our family donned a bit of pirate gear and went to the Chairez home for a "Talk Like a Pirate Day" party that night.  I appreciated Jason, Rhiannon, and Wade coming and being good sports, because they didn't know too many people.  Most of the families there were old MOMS club friends, so the moms knew my family, but my family didn't know them.  It was fun to catch up a bit with the Chairezes, too, who had recently moved back after living in Virginia for 5 years.

Lately I find myself wondering if time is going to slow down and when we get to take a rest and do nothing, haha!  But this weekend was still pretty good for that.  We had a nice mix of work and play!

3 "It's Summer!" videos

These three videos, taken recently this summer, have consistently put a smile on my face!

Kids lip-syncin' in the van...


   



Wade and his buddy Jacob--"take a time-lapse video of us!"...


   



Jacob sharing his "4th Edition BeanBoozled" JellyBean game with us...

Verity's 40th birthday vacation!

Many months ago, I gave some thought to what I'd like to do to commemorate turning 40.  Jason had done a great job with his, and I wanted to follow his lead and do something really special.  I thought about my life and realized that I had one major regret, not visiting my friend Linden when she lived in Oregon.  I sent her a text asking her if I could come, and with my family's blessing, I booked a flight for June 6-9!

So, here we go, all the love I've been storing on my mind, heart, and phone for the past three weeks, thinking about a truly amazing 40th birthday trip to see my friend Linden in Montana.

It made me so happy!

First stop--drove down to Brant and Chris's home on Sunday afternoon and enjoyed spending time with them.  YUMMY food (we made about 3 different Blue Apron meals and fed the missionaries last minute, too).  Took a walk around the neighborhood with sweet little neighbor girls.  Greyson was a cutie, and so was their new dog Penelope.  THANK YOU for the cozy night stay, the taxi ride to/from the Ontario airport, and the "free parking" of the van in front of your house for a week!  Loves!

  

  

Second stop--We bought the round-trip ticket for this adventure SEVERAL months in advance and got a killer deal doing it--under $250.00.  That meant a long layover in Portland, Oregon, about the only downside.

I was sitting there at the airport, getting really bored really quickly, and decided I'd take a walk on the wild side and go get a donut in Portland at Voodoo Doughnuts, a place I'd seen a few times on TV food shows.  I had 4 hours to kill!  I remember taking a big breath, getting my suitcase and purse, buying a MAX rail pass, and exiting the airport.  After a nice 40-minute ride, I got off at the Skidmore Fountain exit, walked a few hundred steps, and bought a McMinnville cream donut for a buck or two.  Ate the donut with relish, and then walked right back to the tram and headed back to the airport, haha!  I had my luggage with me and everything.  Was it worth it?  YES!

 

  

  

Funny thing happened (I can laugh about it now) coming back through airport security.  I did the body scan thing, and then a security guard pulled me aside and did the WHOLE SHEBANG on me because my crotch lit up on the computer scan.  What the heck was that?  !%$##?  They swabbed my hands for residue, checked my clothing, checked my body, and found NOTHING.  CRAZY.

I arrived in Kalispell about 7:00 pm.  And my friend Linden was waiting there for me.  I could see her on the other side of the glass as I entered the little airport, and we gave each other a huge, huge hug.  It felt so wonderful to be with her after so many years!    

That first night I met the Wendle children for the first time--Charis, Will, and Anna.  Enjoyed talking to Andy and Linden, too.  They gave me this huge bedroom to sleep in downstairs, and a beautiful guest bathroom to use.  The kids were funny when I said we could share it: "Oh, no," they said, "that bathroom is JUST for you."

I slept SO WELL that night.  Seriously, the best sleep I've had in a long time!

The next day was busy.  Andy went off to work, Will and Charis went to school, and Linden went to an interview for a little while.  It was a LOT of fun for me to hang out with their 5-year-old daughter Anna.  We played lots of games and she showed me her stash of kindergarten supplies that they were putting together.  She was a cutie!

When Linden returned, we got ready to visit Glacier National Park.  Linden packed a nice lunch, grabbed the bear spray, and off we went.  Bear spray is no joke--it's like a bottle of pepper spray on steroids.  Thankfully we didn't have to use it. :)

Glacier Park is beautiful.  Even though we didn't get to go too far into it (ice/snow was blocking some roadways), there was still PLENTY of gorgeous scenery to see.  Some of my favorite things that day were:

Having a picnic by the lake

Seeing a snake and daddy-long-legs

Making several stops to see the river up close

Getting delicious huckleberry lemonade at the gorgeous Glacier Park Lodge

Looking for different state license plates

Hearing Anna's ghost stories

The tree with a "nose" on it--see the cool picture below!

  

 

Had a great picnic at Lake McDonald!

 

 

One of my favorite pictures from the trip

 

 

"Nose" tree--so funny!

Huckleberry lemonade at the Lodge HIT THE SPOT!

That Tuesday night we had fajitas for dinner, looked at old yearbooks, and visited.  Those Wendles sure know how to make a person feel loved.  After dinner, they brought out a bowl of birthday ice cream and cookies for me and sang Happy Birthday to me--so fun!!!

I also got some huge belly laughs with tears when Linden told her kids about the buried Sheen "tradition" of bumb darts--an embarrassing phase that we went through--but, boy, her kids wanted to know all about it and how to do it.  I was CRYING with laughter and embarrassment, haha!

I also enjoyed saying grace with them at dinner time--"God is great, God is good" to the tune of the Indiana Jones theme song--love.  And I thoroughly enjoyed participating in their family devotional before bedtime, where every person shared about the day, telling a happy moment, a sad moment, where they saw God, and something they looked forward to.  It was really lovely and special for me to do that with them!   Went to bed with a huge smile on my face.

Wednesday was the twins' last day of school!  We dropped them off at school and then Linden, Anna, and I drove up to Whitefish.  I had the BEST CREPES of MY LIFE there and enjoyed looking in some great shops.  The pottery shop at the end was awesome, too!

I just had to get the "Darth Bacon" crepe!

 

We got back in time to pick Will and Charis up in the afternoon.  I loved the school's tradition of waving to all the kids on the school buses as they drove away.   If I'd known I'd be there during such a busy time for their family, I might have rescheduled, but Linden and Andy and their kids were so kind and just included me in everything.  I loved that!

That day I got to see more of the surrounding small towns of Lakeside and Somers, some huge homes, and the Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp right off the lake. And I loved getting a tour of the church right next door to the Wendles' home, Eidsvold Lutheran Church, where Andy is the pastor.  It's a beautiful, old church with lots of history!

That last night we thought about getting in their family's boat and going out on Flathead lake, but some thunderclouds rolled in.  Instead we had a delicious last-day-of-school dinner at a local pizza place (Mackenzie River Pizza?).  I shared some Thai-inspired pizza with Linden and Andy and it was good!!

That night we drove around looking for wildlife, played games outside, looked at the garden, and had all kind of different s'mores around a campfire.  My favorite was the s'more using a marshmallow and Reese's peanut butter cup--YUMMO!

Andy shuffled the kids inside after that and let Linden and I have some time together outside by the campfire for a while.  We went inside and did the family devotional time, and then Linden and I looked at photo albums.  She showed me the picture of the last time we'd seen each other--it had been 16 years!!!

Being with Linden, as adults, brought back so many memories from our middle-school/high-school years.  How grateful I am for her friendship during that time, and for the continued friendship over the years.  I haven't been great about keeping in touch, but this visit reminded me that my friendship with Linden is eternal, and worth strengthening.  She is an amazing wife, mother, and friend, and I'm so grateful she is in my life!

 

THANK YOU, WENDLES! 

I loved every minute of my Montana visit!!!!!  Love to you all!

Flathead Lake, very close to the Wendles' home

The next day Andy and Linden got up very early with me for my 6 am flight.  Andy drove me to the airport on his way to the gym, and I really enjoyed visiting with him, too.

The flights home were uneventful and quiet for me.  I didn't want to talk to anyone, just sit and absorb the incredible time I'd had in Montana with Linden and her family.  I loved every minute of it!  Chris picked me up in Ontario and graciously sent me on my way quickly, knowing I was anxious to get back home, too.  Thanks to Jason, Rhiannon, and Wade for letting me go and holding the fort down so well in my absence!  What a great 40th birthday trip!!!