December

Dec 1- Firefighter Raffle Shopping and Jim Gaffigan

Jesse and I got to go away this first weekend in December up to Park City. We went up on a Friday night and came home Monday morning. That Saturday we went shopping. Funny enough we came all the way day down to Farmington. Jesse has been the President of the Odgen Firefighter Association since Jan and with that comes being in charge of the Christmas Party. They do a raffle every year of Gift Cards. I talked him into doing some actual prizes mixed in there with gift cards. So we went shopping at Best Buy, Cabellas, Carhartt,  Megaplex and Kohls. I was his secretary keeping track of what was bought, what needed to be bought and ideas for the big items. 

Once we got most of the shopping done, we dropped everything off at home and then we went to SLC to see the comedian Jim Gaffagin. He's a clean comedian, so it's one that I was really looking forward to. Most comedian shows are so vulgar. I must be prudish because I don't find  that kind of humor very funny.

After the show we drove all the way back up to Park City. It was late. Especially since we got stuck in the underground parking lot for an hour before we could even head back up. 

Sunday we did NOTHING. We had rented 3 movies that entire weekend and we watched 2.5 of them on Sunday. We stayed in a Condo and I made breakfast and lunch and were totally lazy that whole day. It isn't like me to be that lazy but for one day I decided it was totally ok. I was sore from laying down so much. lol. 

In addition to all of this Jesse was prepping for his Interview which was coming up on the 4th. So he was a little stressed prepping for that and the Association Party. Monday morning before we checked out of the condo, I made breakfast and helped Jesse write out some of his answers for the possible questions he'd be asked in his interview. I let him talk and I could take notes so he would have some reference for later. 

Dec 4- Interview Day.

I was at work when Jesse finished. So he called me to talk to me about how it went. He has been really worried about all the other Ogden guys that have applied. He mentioned to me several times that they all had better resumes than him. Kris (his best friend that he met in Ogden) has friends on the panel interviewing and a cousin working there already. He was feeling a little insecure in himself. So when he called me to talk to me about his interview he felt that it went only "alright". He told me all the questions they asked and what his responses were. I thought they all sounded great. But who am I to really know.  All along I've felt like it was all going to work out, but for a tiny moment hearing how much doubt he had I started to worry a little bit. But at that point we just had to wait. 

After the written test (which Jesse scored 92.5%), the interview and handing in their resumes they would get a final score from all 3 of those categories. 60% of that final score came from the Interview, 30% from the written test and 10% from his resume. 

When we were shopping at Cabellas on that Saturday (for all the raffle Christmas gifts) we had an experience that was a sign (to me at least) that God sent to us to say "Hey I am aware of your desire to get this job." 

As we were leaving with all of our purchases, I was walking in front of Jesse so that we could fit through a tight asile as this tall man with a U of U shirt on is coming towards us. He passes me and I hear Jesse say "Hey Chief!" I'm used to this happening and I just thought "Oh that must be one of the chiefs from Ogden." until I heard Jesse say "Oh you don't know me. I'm one of the Medics that is applying for the lateral transfer." 

I  looked at Jesse and he looks back at me and says "This is the Chief of Salt Lake City." 

Uh... Really? THE CHIEF!?!

They talked back and forth about the hiring and Jesse seemed so nervous. It was kinda cute so see ho nervous he was. I doubt the Chief picked up on it, but I could tell. 

After we said goodbye to Chief Leib, Jesse and I talked about how cool that was. What are the odds of that happening? God was sending a message if you ask me.  I also was really impressed that Jesse could recognize the Chief like that. He's only seen a picture of him on the SLCFD website. But he was in street clothes and in Farmington. Totally out of place and Jesse still recognized him.

So even though Jesse wasn't feeling super great about the interview, a big part of me still felt like it was going to be ok. HR told Jesse that they were going to take the top 15. So after they interviewed everyone they would send out the email of their ranking 1 to 15. Jesse was really worried that he would be 16. I kept reminding him that a year and a half ago when he tested with the Salt Lake Metro test that he came in #1 out of 200ish applicants. He needed to give himself more credit. 

 Dec 6 & 7- Firefighter Christmas Party(s)
The Christmas Party needed to be 2 nights in a row so that all 3 shifts could have the chance to go to at least one of them. Usually when we have gone in the past a guest we just go to one of them. But Jesse wanted me there for both of them.

Both nights were fun to watch him interact with everyone. The dinner and the raffle made for a good party. Especially on the second night. There were more people willing to drink more than they should for the weekend. I enjoyed watching Jesse be a leader.

Also Friday was a great day because Jesse got the email from HR about his ranking. Aaaaand he found out that he ranked at #2!!!!!
That's right. NUMBER TWO!

All of the other Ogden firefighters that we was feeling inferior to were ranked below him. 7 guys from Ogden applied and Jesse was ranked the highest out of all them. Super proud. And not surprised to be honest! I knew he would do well. But he was so happy and very shocked that he ranked so well.

So being in front of the Ogden Associates knowing that he was number 2 on the SLC list was quite the confidence booster.

The second night Jesse was actually on duty. He was able to go out of service during the time of the party. As soon as the party was over he went back into service. Right when they (Him and his partnet Zac) went back into service they got a call. He looked at me and said...
"Wanna Come?"
I couldn't resist.
I stayed in the rescue truck most of the time and it was fascinating watching him in action with a seizure patient. Gave me a new appreciation for him and what he sees and does on a regular basis.

 Dec 8- Temple square
Took the boys down town to see the lights at Temple Square. We parked a few blocks away and rode Trax into the downtown area. We did that same thing last year. The boys loved riding the train so we did it again.

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf said about this season..."Christmas is a time for remembering the Son of God and renewing our determination to take upon us His name."

I thank Heavenly Father every day for giving us His Son, Our Savior Jesus Christ! I look forward to the day when I will enjoy His embrace and He tells me how much He loves me.

I also am beyond blessed for my 3 loving boys and my incredible husband.

 Dec 12

Oh this kid.

He likes to get into my makeup drawer while I'm getting ready in the bathroom.

Oh he just makes me laugh all the time.

Dec 14

I got home from work kinda early on this day which is pretty rare this time of year. And there was a pile of gifts on our side porch. When we brought them inside we discovered there were 12 gifts and all of them numbered. Someone secretly gave us the 12 days of Christmas. How very thoughtful. 

I thought it would be nice to take my 3 boys out for a date night. So we went to go see the new Grinch movie.
The Farmington Station theater upgraded all of their seats to recliners. I loved looking over and seeing all 3 of them lounged out.

Dec 21
Getting ready to leave for Bear Lake for the week and Fynn comes walking into my closet telling me so "FOST". I was a little confused for a second until I saw what was on his feet. My slippers. He was saying they were SOFT.
He has this thing with certain words where he flips the letters around.
For example: Careful has been Fare-Cul

Dec 22
We got settled into our condos late Friday night. Ate dinner and went to bed. So this morning we were ready to explore and play.
I loved this moment of the 2 littles wanting grandma at the same time.

Grandma and Grandpa gave each of the grand-kids some snow toys to play with and they wanted to get into it right away.
Fynn got a shovel.

Ryker and Cy got snowball makers. Cy got one thrown right to the face. And he didn't even care. I swear I would cry and he just took it like a champ. I love this picture of him with his snowy eyelashes.

Having a blast in the snow and picking on Grandpa and Dad.

We eventually all made our way out to the lake. Our condos were right by it.

Such a clear and beautiful day. The blue skies, the blue water and the white snow was something else. I loved seeing all the littles standing on the shore with this stunning scenery.

This view is something we can't complain about for the next week.

That night we had a Dance Party to celebrate my birthday (a week early). Grandma Heidi surprised all of us with the a dance she and the grand-kids had been practicing. They were so cute.

Then we danced the night away. Thankfully no one else was in our condo complex so we could be as loud as we wanted

Oh Fynn. His tiger costume and him dancing on the table during YMCA. Pointing and stomping his foot. He was killing me with his moves.

 Dec 24- Christmas Eve Snowmobiling

Funnest day ever. It was my first time riding a snowmobile and it didn't disappoint. It's so snowy up there and so pretty. We were all loving it.

He's so cute in that helmet and goggles.

After riding the groomed trails we went for some sledding. Jesse would come and get me at the bottom and pull us back up to the top with the snowmobile. It was quite perfect. I took Fynn down only the one time and Evie the rest of the time. She was loving it, Fynn, not so much, But the hill I went down with him was really powdery and we were flying down it. The powder was all over his face and he was bawling. I tried to slow us down and all that did was throw more snow in our faces. He was so mad at me after that. I felt SO BAD. I tried to get him to go on the slower hill but he wouldn't.

That night we all needed to un-thaw so we went to the Hot Tub. The boys and I took on the challenge to get out of the hot tub and go lay in the snow, hehe

That night we had a Christmas Eve program that Heidi put together. The littles put on a little Nativity Scene. Oh it was darling. Evie made the cuteset Mary and cared for the Baby Jesus so perfectly. Pretty amazing to see the nurture in a 3 year old.

 Dec 25 Christmas Morning

SNOW SHOES!

We all got robes from Santa.

The only request Heidi made was to get a picture of us in our matching Christmas shirts by the lake. Which is was freezing. But it worked out, minus Cyrus being very grumpy about it. He made it last even longer.

This is my favorite one. Haha.

 Dec 26- Snow shoeing
Next day we wanted to take the boys out to test out their new snow shoes. Fynn was all smiles for the first... 5 minutes. Then he cried almost the rest of the time and wanted to be carried. He did have a moment that he was giggling as he was walking down a big slope deep with powder... until he fell on he knees and couldn't get up. Jesse eventually had to run ahead to get Fynn back in the truck. Fynn fell asleep on the way back to the truck.

This tree was cool.

Here's the hill I mentioned earlier that Fynn was coming down.

The other boys were all about it too. Cy would even dig his way into the side of the hill and I could only see his legs, Lol. He stayed in there so still for a long time. I don't know how he stood it.

At this point Jesse had ran ahead with Fynn. I loved these trees arching like this and the lake in the background.

I LOVE this picture. I don't know why seeing all those snow shoes together puts a smile on my face.

Thursday we were snowed in all day so we just played games the entire day. I worked on the blog to be updated and was in and out of playing with the family.

Dec 28- Home Bound and  Movie Night

We had to be out of the condo by 10 am so we were up early to get out of there. We were home by noon and unpacked. We cleaned everything up and were able to make it to a movie by 4:20pm. Tyson and Tayler gave our family a movie package to Megaplex for Christmas and we were wanting to take advantage of it.

 The movie we saw was Mary Poppins Returns. It was really cute. Afterwards we all had the urge to watch the original Mary Poppins when we got home...so we did. Lol.

 Dec 29
Jesse was scheduled to work on my birthday, but he was able to get the first 8 hours covered. So he made me breakfast in bed to start out with. And it was delicious.

 Then we took the boys to Mike and Heidi's house and we then headed up to Milcreek Canyon to go snowshoeing up Mount Aire.

 The views from up there were incredible.

 This picture is so incredible. The views up here were my favorite. Being in the mountains makes me so happy. I was loving every minute of it .

 33 years young today! Even if Jesse tells me I'm in my mid to late 30s now.

 My friend Jenny loves Yoga, actually teaches Yoga and she likes to do this yoga pose on her hikes. So I adopted this into my own hikes.

 Dec 30
My family threw me a party. My mom put together a breakfast for our dinner, baked me a cake with ingredients that I can have. They spoiled me. 

 Especially surprising me with tickets to go see Hugh Jackman in concert on July 12.

 Dec 31 New Years Eve
Jesse had to work today. So the boys and I got to party together.
We started out our party with the new Come Follow Me FHE.

 Then we colored our own party hats.

 Since seeing the new Mary Poppins we have been singing the songs. So while we were coloring we were singing along with the music.

 Even little Fynnie was singing to "Chim-chim-a-nee"

 After we got our hats all finished the boys helped me work on dinner. I had the two of them busy chopping veggies for me.

 We made Chicken Pad Thai and Asian Cucumber Salad. They devoured it.

We rented 2 movies to make our way to  midnight. And we only made it to 11:51pm before everyone just gave up. lol.

Fynn has been feeling a little bit under the weather, so he was in bed by 10pm. But the other 2 were partying late. Lol.

Well that's a wrap up of 2018. We made it. I made it. Lol. It was a crazy year and I'm curious what 2019 will bring our family