Mon. 1st--I saw this stocking at the store and thought of my sweet, new daughter-in-law, Trina. She'll need one when they come out for Christmas. I took a picture of it and sent it to her. She said she really needed that text. She was having a tough day.
They were delicious! We need the recipe
*We didn't have a free evening to invite the missionaries, Elder Nelson and Elder Loveridge, over for dinner, so I suggested they join us for Calvin's football game and we'd buy them dinner at the concession stand. :) They agreed. I think they were hoping to meet some people at the game, but this was JV and there weren't as many fans at this game. Had to dress warm for this one...a high of 54, low of 38.
JJ loves Elder Loveridge. They both enjoy drawing.
Karcyn and her Ag UIL team--they competed that day. Unfortunately, Karcyn said she completely screwed up...she forgot her part halfway through the script and in her words "ended up shedding tears in front of the judges." She felt like she let her team down. Poor kid.
Fri. 5th--Back to the house for a peek. This sight worried me greatly. When I envisioned a walk-in shower, I pictured the actual walk-in part closest to the door, not by the toilet, near the water spout. That would never work. Getting around the toilet would be egregious. I needed to call Donell. She assured me the guys put up the stem wall on the wrong side.
The main bath has been walled in and I like the huge cutout for shampoo and soap bottles.
Sat. 6th--While Jared took the boys to bowling league, Christina and Karole and I drove up to Lubbock for a stake RS activity. There were several organizations that needed our service, so we divided and conquered. Karole helped with a cake walk activity while Chris and I monitored a bounce house. All proceeds from this event went to help foster children in the area. The work was easy, but it still felt good to help. There was a parade with high school bands, emergency vehicles, and horses.
*Cousin James took Calvin to his barber in Snyder to help Calvin get his hair cut and styled. It looks good.
Sun. 7th--Not wrong!
Wed. 9th--Calvin tinkers around and plays the piano by ear. So I suggested that maybe he'd like to actually take lessons again. He agreed. It's always great to see your kids practicing without being asked.
*When you live in the same small town as your relatives with the same last name, you are bound to receive their mail with your address. And in this case, Olivia's report card was sent in Calvin's envelope. Haha! It would have been better for Calvin if that really was his report card.
*Majestic doggo has found his new perch.
Thurs. 10th--Poor Karcyn...she fell asleep while working on her homework.
Fri. 12th--Subway tile is in the main hallway bathroom. Looks great! They were working on the floor tiles.
Sat. 13th--Second week of league. One of the coaches, Scott, helping JJ get used to the feel of throwing the ball two-handed by throwing it on the seats.
Bill Wood--owner of Whitewood Lanes and coach, giving Calvin advice and tips for his approach and release.
Bill whipped out his map of the lanes to show Calvin the math and physics that go into bowling. It was way over my head.
JJ practicing his throws.
Bill watching Calvin and another coach, Gary (brother to Scott), helping JJ, too. We thought it would be good to have the boys on the same team since they didn't know anyone and so we could watch them together on the same lane.
JJ got a strike!
JJ was pretty consistent with his three game scores. Calvin started out super strong the first two and tanked on the last one.
*While we were in Lubbock, we made a Costco run, but we also went to Brand Source to check on our induction cooktop. We had ordered it back in August and it still hadn't come in. The guys at the store were very sympathetic. This appeared to be an issue with the supply chain--being stuck out on a ship somewhere off the coast of California because of covid--not enough workers to unload and deliver. So Brand Source said they'd get us another cooktop instead that was similar to the one we ordered. It would look like this one except it had 4 burners, not 5. Same look (black with chrome trim, slide dials, etc.)
The bathroom stem wall is in the right place now. Much better!
No more HVAC closet in the hall. A nice, clean, sleek look.
In order for barn doors to work in our front room, the opening had to be closed a little bit. We were fine with that. This is after they brought it in.
*JJ really misses his friends from Carriker Court in College Station. I encouraged him to write to them. Unfortunately, no one has written him back. It's pretty disheartening, even for me, to see JJ making an effort and no one reciprocating.
Mon. 15th--Rolo was not acting himself (not eating or drinking) and Jared found remnants of a lego piece in his poop outside. We worried he might have an obstruction that his tiny body couldn't pass. So I made the decision to call the vet. They didn't have an opening til Thursday which was ridiculous. My dog could be dead by then. So I called the animal hospital in Roscoe about 30 minutes away. They said I could bring him at 3pm.
JJ was out of school at noon that day because of district competitions that were being held at Ira. I was grateful to have him with me to help. We packed Rolo up and headed to Roscoe.
Wed. 17th--The majestic doggo back on his perch with his favorite stuffed toy and feeling more himself.
*When your missionary son is over at your house more than his, you deliver him treats in your living room. :)
Fri. 19th--JJ and his new friend, Jackson Wall (whose dad is the PE coach at Ira). Jackson came home with JJ after school to hang out and then his parents invited JJ to a see a movie with them that night.
Sat. 20th--JJ is gradually improving his bowling scores. Calvin's are lower, but more consistent.
*Jared spent some time teaching Karcyn about driving, including showing her how to check the air pressure in the tires.
They went to the junior high parking lot to try a little driving. Kind of scary from Jared's perspective. It's more from a lack of focus.
She's so short she has to pull the seat all the way forward.
Hmm, the paint looks great, but clashes horribly with the fireplace now. I didn't mind the fireplace brick with the faded cream paint that was already on the walls. This won't do though. It needs to be painted and I don't think we can get the crew to do it.
The boys bedroom.
The master bathroom. I DO, however, LOVE the small, hexagonal tiles they used for the inset and shower floor. Donell worried the big tiles would be too slick and a falling hazard, so she added the small ones as a contrast. They're perfect and really do add a little something extra to the walk-in shower.
Unfortunately, due to the cold temperatures (the HVAC still wasn't installed), the tile and grout wasn't setting properly and they had to redo the stem wall once they could get heat going in the house.
You can really see the "diarybell" color here.
The master bedroom.
The clean hallway, but it's missing an outlet which came up in the inspection before we got started.
Karcyn's room.
Wed. 24th--Time to make pumpkin pies! I had been subbing in water aerobics the entire month of November, while the normal instructor, Ronda, was out for surgery, and I had my last class at 7am, I had a bridal shower to attend for both my twin nephews, Cole and Connor, visiting from Provo with their fiances (Jake and Trina were watching Cole's dog back at home), JJ was getting his first covid vaccine at 12:30, and I had an echocardiogram scheduled at 1pm. I saw my new cardiologist, Dr. Bradley, on the 16th. He hadn't received my records yet and wanted to do his own echo. Pie making wasn't exactly in the schedule for me, so Jared made them. He did a good job. There are ulterior motives though. There is always more filling than there is pie shell space which means leftover filling. Jared had this great idea to blend it with ice cream several years ago, creating his own pumpkin shake, for which is very proud. It's actually pretty good and I'm not a fan of pumpkin at all.
At 3pm, a huge Hough family Turkey Bowl was organized, complete with team shirts and everything. The missionaries joined us (Elder Bailey replaced Elder Loveridge) and we had a great time. Jared wasn't a fan of running (he had just recovered from a stress fracture) so he volunteered to ref. Though he and I had to leave early because we had to drive to Abilene to pick up a secret Christmas gift for the kids (a new Nintendo Switch...the first video game our family has ever owned) and we were going to see the movie "King Richard" with Will Smith about Venus and Serena Williams.
Sun. 14th--Checking on the house is like a hobby now. They've got Jared's small closet walled off where the HVAC used to be.
The vets didn't find any major obstruction on the x-rays. But did notice that he was constipated and backed up that way. They suggested giving him some canned (plain) pumpkin. Dogs like it and it gets them moving again. I had no idea. We were grateful for the information and hoped the pumpkin would do the trick. It took about 24 hours, but he did resume his eating and potty routine. The pumpkin worked and we worked doubly hard to keep things up off the floor. But man, little dogs are like little toddlers. They find things you can't see.
*Karcyn had her district LDE competition with her Ag team and they got 2nd place! She got some redemption.
Sun. 21st--We have the beginnings of paint on the walls! It looks good. We are SO relieved. Jared loves it.
The bathroom was starting to come together, but I was curious when they were going to paint it white like we had talked about. Because it was still that grungy cream color. When I finally touched base with Donell about it, she said the bathrooms were already painted. She said she worried about it being too white and chose a "dairybell" white (cream) instead. While I appreciated her concern, the walls needed to be white. They didn't look clean at all and clashed with the gray/white tile and trim. She said okay.
Tues. 23rd--Snyder kids had the entire week of Thanksgiving, but not JJ. He got out early on Tuesday. He took flowers and cookies and wrote a note of gratitude for his new teacher in his new school in a new place. She has been a real champion of JJ and we are most grateful. (Mrs. Porter had a student take this picture of them and she sent it to me, complete with a photobomb from Jackson, haha!)
JJ pretending to be the shoulder angel from Studio C with his cousin Cole.
Creating teams.
Orange versus Maroon.
A beautiful end-of-November afternoon. Perfect for flag football.
I love the pedestal feet where the cooktop/microwave will be on the peninsula and where the sink is. Those really add some class to the cabinets.
The detailed work is crazy. I won't like dusting those grooves, but it's so much nicer than the flat particle board I'm used to.
And laundry room cabinets to match. I love that I'll have more than just a shelf in there.
The spread...there almost wasn't enough room on the island for all of the food.
Our Hough family picture.
Christina and Kevin's family.
Jared and Jenn's family (minus Jake and Trina).
Nicole's family.
Karole and her kids.
Trying to help Karole over or through the fence that protects the golf course across the street from Kevin's house. We found an empty slat we could pull out and put back in. :)
Fri. 26th--Jared had to work, but I got my covid vaccine booster at 8:30am and then was fitted for my event monitor. Dr. Bradley didn't like that my heart rate is in a range between 40 and 50 and wants to know why (because it's always been that way). I had to wear a heart monitor and carry another phone synched to the monitor so I could indicate when I felt my heart racing, skipping a beat, or other physical irregularities. Fortunately it was only for a week.
*Jared and I had to graciously bow out and left to run our errand in Abilene. It was the first time we'd been in that direction. We got the deal on the Nintendo Switch at the Best Buy there. On our way there (about an hour away), Donell sent me these pictures of our cabinets going into the kitchen. Hooray! We're moving in the right direction even though I'm certain we won't be in by Christmas. Even still, cabinet installation is a big hinge point. They look so good.
Thurs. 25th--Thanksgiving day and Kevin's 50th birthday. There was a family walk around the nature path not far from the house we were building, but we were smoking a turkey and I didn't feel comfortable leaving the smoker unattended and sent everyone else to go on the walk. Including Rolo. I was in charge of making deviled eggs, sweet potato casserole, a turkey, and a keto dessert. We were going to eat at 2pm, but it's hard to time it exactly when you're smoking meats...so we didn't really eat until 3pm. And the Cowboys game was on at 3:30, but it doesn't take long to eat anyway.
It was kind of a banner day for Karole, too. Nicole and her kids came out for the weekend from Arizona, so Karole had all of her children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren with her that day, with the exception of Jake and Trina who had to stay in Provo for work.
Christina always knows how to make meals special with a couple of simple decorations.
*Elder Hough had a shift to work at the Lubbock Temple and was one of the few times he'd actually let me take his picture. Yay!
*Nicole came over to see our rental and we drove her up to see the house reno thus far.
Her oldest, Daniel, joined us.
*Donell sent this picture to see what we thought about this vanity for our master bathroom. We liked that one best out of others she sent.
*Finally, the day arrived for Karcyn to get her ears pierced--a birthday IOU since March! The best place to do it in Snyder is at a tattoo parlor. She was super brave!
*Now that Thanksgiving is over, it's time for the pumpkin shakes!
Jared loves him some pumpkin shake! ;)
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