Parties, Parties, and MORE Parties!

Posted by Chandra December 17, 2022

Parties, Parties, and MORE Parties!

The theme for this week was definitely: PARTY

On Monday, after cleaning the house and doing laundry, Rayleigh's play practice and a parent meeting, Tanner and I were able to FINALLY go on a romantic date to Roger's Gardens Farmhouse Restaurant with Jill and Paul. We walked around the beautiful and festive gardens and enjoyed a delicious meal. I was so happy we could have a date night and I hope we continue the tradition of dinner at Roger's Gardens because it was fabulous.

Tuesday we met Angel and her boys at Chuck E Cheese to celebrate Nico's birthday! The kids had a blast running around playing games with their friends and I, as always, loved the skee ball. We got a special treat at Nothing Bunt Cake and then met up with Angel and the boys at Big Air. They shared their buddy passes with us and we could have stayed all day! It was awesome and easy and so fun. Angel is my best friend and I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't talk to her every day but the most incredible thing is seeing our kids being best friends with each other. Angel is an amazing mother and has raised the sweetest boys. I just love them all so much. We wanted to get Parker back in time to look at Christmas lights for mutual so we picked him up at my parents and sat through a little bit of traffic to make it all work. While we did Chuck E Cheese and Big Air, he hung out with my parents which is always a treat.

Wednesday we spent the morning at the Discovery Cube. They have the largest display/gingerbread house contest in the world! It was so fun admiring all of the gingerbread houses and the kids are at the perfect ages to enjoy all that the Discovery Cube has to offer. They interacted with everything, made friends, and had a great time. Even Parker! We were there for 2 hours and it wasn't nearly long enough. We were getting hungry so we ordered Mr. Beast Burger at the spectrum which the kids thought was sooooo cool. Mr. Beast is a YouTube guy... but the food pretty good. Then we went to Odyssey VR for Wyatt's 8th birthday party and WOW... the kids were spoiled with video games, VR games and rides, and even a live DJ! It was so cool! As if the day couldn't get any better, we ended with an evening at my parent's house for Book Club. The kids took baths and Parker got them all situated and snuggled up with a show in the playroom and I enjoyed a lovely evening with my bookclub gals. We did a book exchange and I was so pleased that my "over the top" gift with my used books, soft socks, and favorite lotion, went to Darlene who is so sweet and could always use a little extra love. I was feeling unsure about my gift but it ended up working out perfectly and I know I was led to do a little something extra to bless someone's life. I love this group of ladies and the wisdom and love they share with me and those around them.

Thursday was our last Disney day for the year! I scooped up all of the kids and we hit a ride at Disney before heading into California Adventure. We enjoyed a few rides before we met up with Courtney and then Erika. That's when the day (for me) turned nasty. Jack was thrilled to see Reed and Ella was excited to be with Sadie and Ava. Parker was relieved to finally be able to hang out with Kaelyn and Natalie... But the 2 Mias were very exclusive and it was tough to watch them be so cruel to Rayleigh. They only wanted to sit by one another and were very careful to be nice when their mothers were around. As we were walking on to Soarin', they were so rude that it made Rayleigh cry and she tried to bolt away. I grabbed all of the girls forcefully, got them on the ride, and yelled at the Mia's for being such little brats to Rayleigh. Meanwhile, Rayleigh covered her faced and sobbed.

We didn't see them for the rest of the night- we went our separate ways for dinner and then (surprise surprise) they ditched us. It's ok. We were better off without them. But it was incredibly sad. We got dinner and were going to ride one last ride but decided to just call it a night. The next day, Erika called me to apologize and admitted that Mia had told her that she was mean to Rayleigh and felt badly about it. We had a good chat and I was grateful for her willingness to try and make it right.. but I'm not holding my breath. Never again will I go to Disneyland with them. Ever.

Friday I took the kids to Defy (which is now Sky Zone) and Jack made a friend named Dylan and now I'm hooked into getting them together for a playdate. We had a coupon so the kids got to jump for 2 hours for free! They had a blast and even after 2 hours, they wanted to stay longer. Ella was getting pretty good at the areal ribbons things! We got Christmas Krispy Kremes and went to my parent's house to help clean out the playroom before Ben's party. We filled a whole bag of toys and I was worried that I'd have to drive around with those toys in my car for weeks but guess what? We passed right by a Goodwill truck on our way to the party and we were able to drop off the toys! The man helping us was so kind and grateful and I knew that the Lord was consecrating our efforts to serve. Once again, because we were prepared to help, the path was made clear. Ben's party was a huge hit. We had pizza and cake in Jon's backyard and then the kids played for hours in the dark at the park. Laser tag is their new favorite thing! And it was my parent's 56th wedding anniversary! They went to the temple and to the Easton's for dinner and had a wonderful night celebrating their eternal love. What a spectacular couple they are and a true enduring example of devotion!

We came home to a plate of goodies left on the porch from Haley's family so that was a sweet surprise!

Tanner, if you were wondering, has been busy at work with parties and festivities as well. He's home every night before we are and has been lighting candles and putting a fire in the fireplaces so when we get home, it's so nice and cozy! Thanks, Tanner!

Saturday, we ran errands and had a chill day at home. Tanner took Jack to the library and to sign him up for soccer. We baked treats for our neighbors and ding dong ditched them all. I love doing that. Then Tanner rode the ebikes with me over to Valerie's house where we started our Progressive Dinner (I didn't want to go along and Courtney bailed on me at the last second). But it was soooo fun and just what I needed to give me a morale boost. We started with appetizers at Valerie's and then rode to Cari's for lasagna, and ended with dessert at Christie's. Everyone who came was fairly new to the ward so it was nice to get to know people a little better. Sister Graves came and was so sweet to tell me how much she loved my talk and asked for a copy. I'm so glad Danja came and I was able to get to know her a little better. I really love her. She's so funny and I'm so happy we sing alto together. It was fun to ride bikes and Christine and Michelle rode me back to my house at the end of the night and we had a good chat. It was perfect.

On Sunday, I had to teach Parker's Sunday School class. It was the Christmas lesson so it was nice to spend the time preparing it and focusing on Christ. We were late to church and I missed the sacrament which made me sad but I wanted to be mad at Parker (for making us late) and I wasn't. So I felt proud of myself. He ended up being able to take the sacrament in the other ward while we were practicing our song for next Sunday after church. See? It all worked out. But Rayleigh was running around the church trying to find me when I was setting up my classroom and she missed singing with the primary and was so sad. Rule number one: stick together... She also got in trouble for running off after primary and I just wanted to scoop her up and take her home. Poor thing just couldn't get it right. She was crying and crying and wouldn't talk. I told the Primary worker that she runs off and acts weird because the girls make her feel awkward when they don't include her. So maybe talk to those girls about being Christlike before you come to me about behavior issues. If one of those girls took her by the hand, looked at her with a smile, and said, "Come on Rayleigh! Come sit with me!" her life would be drastically different. But they don't and they probably never will and that's a shame.

My lesson went well and my full sized candy bars were a hit. After church, Jill noticed that we were taking all of our kids with us to song practice and offered to take them to her house. What a saint she is! The kids loved playing over there and I was so grateful. We came home, had chicken n rice, and were able to relax a little bit before heading up to the LA temple with the ward.

We listened to the First presidency's Christmas Devotional on our way down and got there a little before everyone and walked around. The kids were in awe of the size and majesty of the temple. We met up with other families from the ward and watched a sweet nativity video and took a big group picture in front of the Christus statue. It was hard for me to feel the spirit because those families in my ward give me so much anxiety. We didn't stay long and headed home as soon as we could. Jill texted me and asked why we left so quickly and I told I just feel so awkward with the people in our ward. She showed me some compassion and shared her tender feelings of inadequacy. It made me feel so much better. Then I came home and began getting ready for bed only to realize that I had failed to wear a bra. All day.

And that sums up my life right now.

I'm trying.

But honestly, it was a fantastic week and I loved each and every day. For every 100 ups there was only 1 down and I am blessed beyond measure for this incredible life!