Weekend Whoopee

I went to Pleasant Grove for the weekend. Dad was having his sibling Christmas dinner on Friday night so I went with Lori and Ari to the movies. My favorite thing is to see the faces of the people around us when they realize we have a baby with us. Those noise-cancelling earphones go on and you don't hear a peep out of her the whole time. Take that random, judging strangers!

 

Saturday morning Lori and I met up with Chance and Amy at the AF Rec for some racquetball. They all hit much harder than me. It's novel being the worst one in the group! Apparently I need to go play with Jer and Nate more... It is fun though and I think we should play more. I also never have to worry about my partner missing their shot. They cannot say the same though...

 

Mom and I hit the movies in the afternoon. I thought we were going to see Pitch Perfect which is what she's wanted to see with me for weeks now. Apparently, he who shall not be named, told her Here Comes the Boom is one of the funniest movies he's ever seen. I parked the car while mom bought the tickets, and next thing I know, we're walking into a movie that already started to go watch that! It was okay. It will NOT be joining my personal collection though like Pitch Perfect will.

 

That night was the Johnson Family Christmas party. Chris was in fine form and all over the place! I helped Jer and Nate buy their dad's Christmas present so I've been hauling it around in the boot of my car, but there wasn't enough space in their car still so we weren't able to smuggle it over. The party was decent, as in better than previous years. I think everyone agreed that it was better at mom and dad's house rather than the PG Rec Center.

 

Today, I drove back to Salt Lake in the morning, shoveled snow as soon as I got home, made it to Church to play piano in Relief Society, and then went to Dinner Groups with my ward. We got one of the...lower-functioning...guys in our group which makes the whole thing uncomfortable. Made me remember why I stopped doing these groups. So much for giving it one more try!

 

Here is the popcorn machine I helped Nate and Jeremy get. My work friend that I bought it from, brought in the giant popcorn container for the boys to give to their dad. It was really nice of her!

I french-tipped my own nails this week.
Not bad if you ask me!

 

Out of Comfort Zone

I've been outside of my comfort zone the past few days. I made an effort to talk with two guys in my ward on Sunday and today I sang at the First Presidency Appreciation Luncheon for our Department. It was a four-part quartet and I was very glad when it was over! Bishop Dean Davies was the speaker from the Presiding Bishopric. He is also the brother of Elder Davies whose condo I lived in for two years Downtown. I miss being Downtown!

Longest Birthday Ever!

Melissa Morris Larson and I met up at Thanksgiving Point a few nights ago so we could watch the movie Pitch Perfect. Yes, I've already seen that one before, but I loved it so much I had to go see it again. Rebel Wilson just makes me laugh so hard!

 

Yesterday was Nate's actual birthday even though we've celebrated it now for the past two weekends already. He and Jer came down to Temple Square with their ward youth group. Amy Felix and I walked all the way around Temple Square three times looking for them so I could give Nate a hot chocolate and a cookie for his birthday. Jer had his mom's phone so we could find out where they were, but he didn't answer the first 30 times I called... Not a big deal, except that it was raining the whole time. I got a little wet. I had just decided to give up, but gave Jer one last chance to answer the phone and he picked up! Turns out they weren't even to Temple Square yet and were still at Crown Burger where they'd all gone to eat. Fortunately I know where that is, so we stopped by there.

 

Amy and I were in a hurry by this point as we were the ones picking up dinner and then driving to Bountiful to watch a movie with Amanda. We got there late but it worked out okay. We watched the Italian Job (had to watch my MINI!) in the theatre room at the house where Amanda lives. They have this new projector which made the movie look like it was in 3D. It. Was. AMAZING! It actually made the actors look like they were in the room with us. You'd think you'd get used to it, but it kept surprising me whenever the scene would change and things would jump out at us again.

 

This morning, Nate called to say thanks for coming the night before. Apparently he was surprised I'd shown up and was glad I had. It was a cute call. He's very excited about the present I've helped him and Jer get their dad for Christmas. My friend MaryAnn at work left a little present for them on my desk to go along with the gift she helped me get with them:

 



Flashbacks

It has been awhile since I've experienced my heart issues to the extent that I did today. I had to go lie down in the bathroom again in the morning for over a half an hour trying to get my heart to stop hurting. After an episode like that, I just feel unwell for quite some time, so I ended up going home early for the day. Sure wish the doctors could diagnose this problem!

Shoplifting Disruption

MaryAnn, my friend and co-worker, and I headed over to City Creek for lunch today. We enjoyed some Kneaders and then stopped at the Tricked Out Accessories store to get protective covers put on a couple of iPhones. There was a group of teenage boys in the store when we entered and the salesman left them to come over and help us. As he installed the covers, I was aimlessly looking around the store and happened to notice one of the kids acting oddly by fiddling with his shirt and then smoothing it down carefully before turning around and walking extra slowly toward the door. He glanced up and saw me staring at him and so he did a slow turn again, went back to his original place by the display case and lifted his shirt back up to replace the earphones back on the wall that he'd had stuffed up his shirt. He acted like he was browsing again, and once again, our watching him stopped him from stealing an iPhone case when he reached to take one and glanced back to see us watching him. We mentioned the groups behavior to the salesperson and he went to where the kids had been before they left and believes that they did get away with an iPhone case, but we managed to keep them from getting anything else! So crazy!

Zabelicious

I do love me some Zabel boy cuddles in the morning. They are so sweet! Brett makes a mean breakfast burrito and we got plenty of exercise to burn those calories off when we went to play basketball at the Church. We couldn't play racquetball because family pictures were scheduled for the evening and Jenny didn't want any bumps, bruises, or scrapes on their faces beforehand. As it was, I pulled out my makeup beforehand and helped touch up their existing marks and blemishes. Yes, three of the boys (including Brett), got touch ups. =D

 

To celebrate Jeremy and Nate's birthdays, I took them out to the Yo Bar for some frozen yogurt which we then took to the park to enjoy. They are growing up so fast! And are great boys. We brainstormed about gifts that they wanted to get their parents and I was able to help them locate the present they want to give Brett. Thanks Nate for letting me be there for your steak birthday dinner!

 

The picture in white was...an experience. It was at the high school gym so there were A LOT of people who got to see them all walk inside in white. Jenny was a bit embarrassed. I was there to help get the kids to smile, but the photographer made me stand away from everyone because all the kids were looking at me instead of him. What can I say? They like me better than him! It meant though that I couldn't snap a picture when they were all sitting there so I tried to catch one when we got back to their house.

 

Nathan got a few BYU gifts: earphones, hat, and chair!

Waiting an hour in the bleachers for our turn.

Apparently Brett and Jer have been arguing a bit more than usual
lately. So glad I was able to catch one of the times on camera!

TJ and Chris were the HARDEST to get to give real smiles!



Friday Night Fun

Traditionally in our family, the day after Thanksgiving is spent putting up the Christmas decorations. Mom wasn't home in the morning so I decided I would start without her and at least put up the nativity sets. She still wasn't home so I did the living room Christmas tree. She still wasn't home so I did the banisters. When she still wasn't home, I did the family room nativity as well, the Christmas tree in there and hung up all the wall decorations. I had time to vacuum and sweep and then headed in to shower. Which is when she got home, and then turned around and headed out again for Tucano's and a movie with Kevin. I have since decided that on my next work holiday, I'm going to be checking out what is going on before spending the day on my own.

 

Fortunately, most of the rest of the family met up in the evening to go to the Jazz basketball game together. We had the highest nose bleed seats you can get, but as the game was against Sacramento so we got to see Jimmer AND there was a come from behind win in the last two minutes of the game, it was all worth it! I hitched a ride with the Zabel's back to Heber to spend the night so we could celebrate Nathan's birthday tomorrow a week early.

 

We enjoyed some cotton candy at the game if you can't tell.
That and making crazy faces at the camera.