Happy 89th Birthday Gma T!

Over the past 8 years, we have been blessed to live close to Jeff's grandma, Donna Thompson. We have had so many fun moments and memories as we've visited with her and grown to love her spunky, sweet personality. On January 24th (Sunday), she will celebrate 89 years of life! Her legacy is her family. She has devoted her life to her kids, grandkids, great-grandkids, and now great-great-grandkids. She exemplifies charity, patience, and service. Today, we had the great honor to have lunch and cake with her. A few weeks ago, Jeff and I were talking to her about her birthday plans. Of course, she didn't want to make a fuss but we eventually pulled out of her that she would like a "good" steak and some lemon cake. It was our privilege to make her simple birthday wish a reality. We enjoyed a nice lunch with her and some birthday cake. To be honest, I would love to live to 89 if I could be like Gma Thompson. I pray that she stays with us for more years to come, but if not, I will cherish the moments we have had with her...like today.

8 years...more to come!

Today Jeff and I celebrated our 8th anniversary! In so many ways, it feels like this is the life I've always had and always known; yet, in other ways, it seems like just yesterday I was single and wondering if I would ever find my eternal companion. I am so glad I have! These 8 years have been the most defining, molding, and stretching years of my life. While those growing pains have, at times, been difficult to endure, I have been blessed with a husband who has been my calm in the storm. He is my anchor and my constant. He has been generous with his love and even more merciful with his patience...and, the best part is that he would say the same about me. We are each other's perfect match...even in all our imperfections. He is my everything. I am grateful for all the adventures we've had together (I may be a little more grateful for the ones that make me smile and laugh than the ones that break my heart...but I'm thankful nonetheless.) I can't wait to experience so many more adventures with Jeff! Tonight, I gifted us a little adventure. The traditional gift for the 8th anniversary is pottery so I bought us a gift certificate to a pottery date night at the Kreative Kiln. Jeff has always been pretty open minded to these type of "adventures". We actually had a lot of fun. Jeff was definitely more willing to play with the clay. I tried to keep it safe; but both of us produced a couple pieces to eventually take home. 

After our pottery class, we tried out a restaurant that Scott recommended to us, The Block, for dinner. It was really delicious food! I got some roasted potato gnocchi with braised ribs, and Jeff got a hamburger.

We finished our evening at the Hale Center Theater in Orem. I have missed so many of the in-person events and activities (and the TRAVEL) that occurred pre-pandemic. I wish I could say that life would return to normal soon, but even with this vaccine rolling out, they are still predicting several more months until we can return to some semblance of what we would consider "normal". Thus said, we relished the opportunity that we had to attend a play that evening. We watched the Oscar Wilde comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest. While we didn't do anything spectacular, the evening was simply perfect because we celebrated us. I love us! I love who we are together. I love where we're heading. I love what we have created. We are not perfect...but we are definitely better together.

One Smart Cookie

In December, Amber finished all the requirements to earn her Bachelor's of Science degree in Organizational/Industrial Psychology with an emphasis on Spanish from BYU! Because of all the chaos of the holidays, we were unable to celebrate her at that time, but it did not go unnoticed. We are so proud of her for all the hard work and countless hours she put in to her education. We remember numerous late nights and countless headaches as she studied for and completed assignments. We can recall the stress and confusion of choosing a major. We know how much energy and effort it takes to maintain good grades and a job...and we're proud of her. Tonight we got to throw a little graduation celebration in her honor. It was small because of the current pandemic. In fact, we kind of rotated people in and out so as not to have a large group together at the same time. Still, we got to celebrate Amber's hard work and honor her achievement.

Hello 2021!

Hello 2021!! There were many times in 2020 that I wondered if we'd make it to 2021. Of course, I knew logically it would happen, but 2020 was filled with so much uncertainty and chaos in our nation that I couldn't help but wonder. Just so you know, 2021 didn't automatically annihilate the pandemic or cure the racism epidemic. It didn't bring to life departed loved ones or replace employment for those who suffered these losses. However, I think it has brought hope of better days to come. I honestly can't say that 2020 was a horrible year. In 2020, Laurin got married, we got to see Dallin for 6 weeks, we bought a boat, paid off our house, and welcomed little Carter (amongst a myriad of other blessings). Thankfully, none of my family (immediate or extended) got sick. Southwick Plumbing never experienced a lull in work or job losses. While school was interrupted at times, the boys are still able to learn remotely if needed and haven't suffered academic deficits. Even though, we weren't really able to travel, we still found a few weekends to take the boat to Flaming Gorge, American Falls, and Lake Powell. We got to spent time with family even when everyone warned us not to. I have to admit, there is still a subtle sense of anxiety that is leftover from 2020 regarding the pandemic. I don't want us to get sick, but even more, I don't want to get anyone else sick. Still, there is hope. There are reasons to be excited for this new year...and for that we celebrated!

We actually started our celebration on the 30th. It was Krystle and Jordan's 10th anniversary so I volunteered to take her 4 kids for the day/night. Yup...I survived! Krystle is seriously a rockstar! I don't know how she does it. After 24+ hours with 5 kids under 7, I needed a Dr. Pepper (that's the hardest drink I enjoy....haha!). Still, it is so fun to see the cousins get together. In fact, I kind of missed Jonas after those two days. Even though he was here, I hardly saw him or played with him. He was too busy with his cousins.

Finally, Krystle and Jordan decided to come join the chaos and the party started! I pretty much replicated our party from last year. We enjoyed a traditional chimichanga dinner before starting the festivities. The boys were tasked with finding 7 bags with a clock on each bag. Theoretically, the clock indicated the hour in which we were supposed to open the bag and play the games associated with the clues in the bag. However, Krystle and I were more than happy to speed up the process so the boys would open one bag after the other! We started with our fun photos (at least fun for Krystle and I....Danny wouldn't even take a photo with us) then moved through several games. We shot and blew ping pongs, threw snowballs, balanced marshmallows, and so much more. The evening culminated with a wishing lantern, sparklers, noise makers, cupcakes, and a Martinelli's toast....and 7:00 p.m. By 7:30, the Tanners were gone and by 8:30, Jonas was asleep. I didn't think 2020 would mind if I skipped out on the last few hours so I celebrated the New Year with the east coast then headed to bed. (I actually did wake up with the fireworks at midnight. I peeked outside to see them, silently wished everyone a "happy new year", then went back to bed.) 

2020 was a weird year, but a surprisingly good year for us. On New Years Day, I had originally planned to get laundry and chores done...you know...a good way to start the year, but Jeff decided we needed to just have fun. Danny took off skiing so Jeff and I took Jonas out for lunch and to buy a toy before dropping him off with Gma Penny so we could have our own date. We enjoyed walking around the mall (to kill time...that wasn't the original plan) before having a nice dinner followed by an actual new release movie in a theater (News of the World). Last year, we went out to dinner on New Years as well, and I took some conversation cards with prompts to reflect on the previous year. We really enjoyed reflecting on the highlights of the year that I decided to do so again. We relished the opportunity to ponder on all the positive aspects of 2020 and make goals and express dreams for 2021. Our dinner ended with a pleasant surprise as well...someone paid for our meal! I have a feeling 2021 is going to be an even better year. Yes, things are still a little weird. The restrictions and face masks are frustrating. We've been trying to plan a family trip, but there are so many obstacles to travel because of the pandemic that we may not be able to make that happen...or at least we wouldn't be able to do everything we would want to because of restrictions in place. But life is good. We are all healthy. Our kids who have moved away, still come home to visit! Dallin will be home from his mission this year. We will still take more local trips together. We still gather with family for holidays. We are looking forward to all of what 2021 will offer. I'm certain there will be moments of frustration, hurt, tears, and maybe anger, but I am determined that will pale in comparison to the moments of joy and love. For 2021 I want to embrace the small moments...after all, life is made up of them.