Other December Happenings

I love, love, love that Aubrey and friends hang out at our house all of the time.   It's getting much too quiet around here with the other three gone.  These girls are silly, giggly, loud and crazy, and I'm glad Aubrey has a good friend group.  

Macy, Maiya, Aubrey and Parker

I made lots of the Santa Sacks (75 plus probably) during November and December.  I ordered hundreds of blanks from China a couple of years ago and am still trying to move that inventory.  They are really well made and super cute, but each year I am ready to move on from this item when December 10th hits.

I volunteered to take care of Christmas gifts for our Relief Society presidencies in the stake. (I am serving as the RS secretary in the Stake.)  I found some super comfy and cute Cuddly Dud socks at Sams Club.  I also bought a huge bag of Hershey's chocolates.  Then I headed to Hobby Lobby for Christmas sacks and ornaments. 

I found a fun idea on Etsy and made it my own on Canva, and my dad printed the cards for me because my printer not printing well.

Brian and Aubrey helped me put the gifts together for our Family Home Evening activity.  Aubrey agreed as long as she could play her favorite Taylor Swift songs for us as we worked.  She was happy blaring her music and telling us in detail what she liked about each song.  It was especially nice for me to have the 52 gifts put together in 1/3 of the time.  Teamwork is dreamwork.

She is a crazy girl, and I love her.

Gram and Grandpa stopped one afternoon.  She looks so cute in her scarf.

My dad had oral surgery one day this month, and I stayed the night to help with my mom so that he could start the recovery process with a full nights sleep.  My mom needs help walking but doesn't realize it.  My dad has an alarm and cameras set up in her room so he can help her before she tries to get out of bed on her own.

Well, in the middle of the night I looked at the camera and about had a heart attack.  I thought my mom had somehow evaded the alarms and was on the loose.  It's happened before.  Can you spot her in her bed?  Guess what?  She is there.  She is just so small (less than 90 lbs) and her head was covered with blankets so I couldn't tell.  

My brother Kerry is quiet and kind.  One early morning I heard the doorbell ring and found a GIANT 3 lb Hershey bar on the doorstep.  He made my day!  (month?!)

We chipped away at this yumminess a little bit every day.

The week after Christmas, I took Aubrey's car to church and was so pleased to see three of her Christmas gifts already being put to good use: the adorable gear shift sweatshirt, her new Stanley and her car freshie.

Aubrey and Brinley both have used their light book lamps too.  Yea for successful Christmas gifts.  

Aubrey taught Kaide to dab! ( watch video here.)  And Brinley taught him "again" in sign language, which he does at the end of the video.  He is learning new things every day, and we all think he is brilliant!

He also says "DAAA" when he dabs, and it's the cutest.

Bryn and Kaide

Also, Erin invited Bryn and Aubrey plus a few school friends over one night for a girl's night.  How cute is that?

Over the break we went to the movies as a family (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes) and organized volleyball at the gym a couple of times with the Birds and Vores plus our missionaries.  We played Dominion, Skull King and JackBox Games.  

JackBox game 

Parker and I went on many late night walks.  Brinley joined us a few times too.  I LOVED these walks and talks.

Tan and Bryn have always been close, and it was fun to see them back together again.

The Birds had us over for pickleball and cornhole.  We enjoyed talking to the cousins about their favorite Christmas gifts and enjoyed being active together.  (I wasn't one of the active ones...wimpy elbow, but I could tell my young adult kids really appreciated being active.)

Parker & Braddock vs Hudson & Britney

Cute Ella Bella

Aub, Tanner, Brit and Ella

Front: Sister Smith, Braddock, Aub  Back: Sister Leavitt, Ella, Brit and Tanner

The first time we played, we fed the missionaries at the church and then they joined us for one hour before heading to appointments.  The second time we played at the church on their p-day and it was our teens/young adults and missionaries from the zone.

Front: Adam & Brinley Back: Erin, Parker, Charlotte

We visited with Gram and Gramp often.

I love how excited Gram was to see Parker when he came home from BYUI.

Aub, Gram and Grandpa facetiming Becky

Bryn & Gram

Grandpa took the girls out to eat one afternoon.

We survived family pictures.  I will put the real pictures in another post.

Park (21) & Aub (17 in a few weeks)

Brian had several days off which was wonderful.  It really made it feel like a family vacation.  He also cooked quite a bit which made for an AMAZING break for me.

The day before Bryn and Parker headed back to school, she and I decided to go to the movies.  It was just us and one other couple in the entire theater.  Craziness.  We saw The Boys in the Boat.

Aub making dinner and being dramatic.  Notice the swim goggles as she cuts up an onion.

Love this cute little family.  (haircut time!)

New Year's Eve FHE

December 31, 2023

It was awesome having Brinley and Parker home for our Family Home Evening on goal setting.  For one, it felt more like the good old days.  FHE with me, Brian and Aubrey is a quick and quiet affair.  It was also really cool to share and discuss our goals together.  Everyone participated with insights and suggestions on how to set and reach goals.  Tanner gave an excellent talk on Christ Centered Goals earlier in the day so even though he and his family weren't there, we pulled from his talk, so it kind of felt like he was there.  (They did join us for dinner and the activity: Skull King, but then they headed home to put Kaide to bed.)  But back to our Family Home Evening lesson...

First, we took some time to review the past year.  Not necessarily the goals we set and how we did on those but rather looking back on things we accomplished.  It was uplifting.  I think I sometimes feel dread and defeat when I look back on the specific goals because I didn't accomplish as much I as planned.  However, that little tweak of looking back and thinking of the good things I learned, worked on etc. made me feel happy and proud of this past year.  I am a better person in so many ways, even though I didn't eat as many veggies as planned or workout out as often as I should have.

Some of the things that came to mind from this past year: I listened to lots of amazing podcasts, most of them gospel based.  (Follow Him, Don't Miss This, Unshaken, BYU Speeches, All In, How to Sell Online and Freakonomics Radio)  I visited my parents almost daily and helped with my mom on Sunday mornings.  I took a couple of new business courses and continued to learn and grow in this area.  I went out of my comfort zone and listed a few t-shirts and Santa Bags on my personal FB page and made hundreds of dollars I wouldn't have otherwise.  I worked on Family History by blogging over 30 posts and adding pictures and voice memories to Family Search.  

It really is easy to think of all I didn't accomplish or the ways I fell short...but look at me!  I am a better person because of my choices and hard work in 2023.

Also, it was fun as a family to share in the personal growth of each member this past year.  A few of things Aubrey mentioned were her grades (all As except for Physics), finding/enjoying new hobbies (reading, podcasts, going on walks) and working through social anxiety to do hard things like attend HXP. (Humanitarian Experiences for Youth in Guatemala.)  Parker mentioned finishing his mission strong, taking time for the temple, making all As in his first semester of college and his team winning the Rugby championship.  Brian mentioned persevering with some really hard work responsibilities and flying out to visit and help his parents.  Brinley shared weekly temple attendance, starting and loving her new job (Registered Behavior Technician), and journaling weekly.  

Again...Go Us!

Then we took time to think about 2024 and we wrote a few goals we would like to achieve.  We tried to make them specific and measurable and to break them down into bite sized steps.  

Some of mine were: workout 4-5x a week, menu plan monthly, plan (life) weekly, block off 7-8:30 to exercise and study scriptures each day, learn ward member's names (recent ward boundary changes), and to listen/read more books (Library App/Deseret Bookshelf/re-sign up for Audible if needed).

I am looking forward to 2024.

A few 2023 accomplishments/2024 goals jotted down from the lesson...
 (Brinley and my sheets were MIA.)

Shout Out to Barbara

We knew we wanted to get out of town during the break, but we didn't have any great ideas.  Parker, Tanner and of course Brian were all working so we knew it couldn't be too complicated.  We decided to take a quick trip to Lubbock to shop, eat out, and just get out of town.

At the last minute Tanner was able to join.  We were hoping Erin and Kaide were able to come too, but she changed her work schedule so Tanner could at least join.  We had a great overnight trip together.

This chair was in front of the restaurant we ate at, and the kids were good enough to pose in it for me.  (Definitely the difference between young adults on a family trip vs moody/unwilling teens on a family trip.)  We've heard a lot about the restaurant, Uncle Julios, from my dad over the years.  It was the closest thing in Lubbock he could find to Pappasitos.  He used to like it a lot but not as much recently.  Anyway, we decided to give it a try.

We had mixed reviews.  It was much more expensive than Brian and I expected.  (I had three small tacos for $22.)  Aubrey hated her cheese enchiladas.  Brian and Parker's meals were so-so.  Parker and Tanner split a fajita plate.  Tanner loved his, but Parker wasn't too impressed. My fish tacos were amazing, and Brinley said her chicken tortilla bowl was delicious.  I don't think we will go there again any time soon, but it was fun to try something new.

Aubrey glaring for the camera.

After eating, we headed to the hotel.  Aub and Brian headed to bed early, and Bryn, Parker, Tanner and I decided to hot tub and play games.  SKULLLLLL KINGGGGGGG

Aubrey gave Tanner and Erin Skull King for Christmas.  It a family favorite.  (I love those thoughtful gifts.)  We had to tease Tanner on his terrible loss, mostly because he was teasing/bragging about his previous win. 

My favorite part of the trip, hands down, was being in the temple together.  I really can't put it in to words, but I'll try.  

I wasn't sure it was going to happen.  I didn't want to force the temple on the group, but I was hoping it would happen.  I got buy in from Parker and Brinley before I brought the idea up to Aubrey and Tanner.  They were game.  Yea!

At 10:00pm on the night before we left, Aubrey and Tanner couldn't find their recommends.  Bishop Bird (aka Uncle Adam) was able to print Aubrey's, but Tanner's wasn't in the system.  The next day, Bishop Bird came home from work at 3:00 to meet us on our way out of town.  I'm so grateful for leaders willing to go the extra mile.  (And I also apologize to those leaders for being a big pain.)

The (kind of) funny part was on Saturday morning when we pulled up to the temple right on time for our 9:00 appointment.  I asked, "does everyone have their temple recommend?"  Groans from the back seat.  Tanner and Aubrey both left them at the hotel.  Ugh.  We debated about running back to the hotel and being late, but we headed into the temple instead.  Luckily the presidency was able to verify the recommends.  Also, Brian left his recommend in Odessa.  We were not coming in strong BUT we were coming!!!  I'm counting it as a win.  Go Gwilliams.  

We had a beautiful morning in the temple.

Being in the temple all together was amazing.  We had printed a few family names.  I was baptized first.  I felt so blessed as I stood in the font with Tanner baptizing me.  Brian was in front of us recording.  I could see Brinley's reflection in the glass and new Aubrey was right beside her witnessing the ordinances.  Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Parker sitting on the chairs waiting his turn.  I'm pretty sure this picture will be etched in my mind for years to come.

After baptisms, it was just our family doing the confirmations.  Brian was confirming Aubrey, when Parker got the giggles as the last name Barbara Loise "Weiner" was read.  He was trying so hard not to laugh out loud that his body was shaking.  Well, we could hear Parker's weird breathing and then Brian's voice started cracking as he tried to continue.  We all kind of peaked and Brinley was shaking her head.  Smiling, she whispered to Parker, "are you still 12 or what?"  Well, that about broke us.  We all just busted up laughing--really laughing--uncontrollably laughing.  It was bad.  But it was also so good, and I thought, "this is what heaven looks like."   

We were desperately trying to squelch the laughter. We were not too successful for a bit.  I'm really grateful it was just our family in the room, and we didn't disappoint a temple worker or ruin another patron's experience.  

While laughing, I did say out loud, "I think our family whose names we are doing are LOVING this moment right now."  It really felt like a little bit of heaven on earth.

Over the next day or two Parker would randomly say or text to the family, "Shout out to Barbara" and we would all bust up again.  

This is our attempt at a picture on our way into the temple.  Too many shadows, so we got a wet picture afterwards.

We left the temple, gathered our items from the hotel and set out for our day.  We went to Golf Suites first because we were sure it was going to be packed over the New Year's holiday weekend.  It was EMPTY.  We rented our bay, ordered some nachos and cheese fries, and golfed away.  

Brinley

Parker

Brinley (23), Aubrey(17 in 2 weeks) & Brian

Tanner (19), Parker (21), me (Erin) and Brian

After golf, we headed to the West End shopping center to hit the Nike outlet and other shops like Cabellas, Marshalls, and Gap Factory.  

On a whim, I decided to use some of my Christmas money from my parents to buy a Costco membership.  It was definitely not needed and felt so much like a splurge!  I found a Groupon for a $60 membership with $40 Costco Cash, so it was really only $20.  (Girl math?!)  Sweet.  

After shopping some with the girls, they headed for lunch, and I spent a good 1-2 hours browsing the goods in Costco.  I am excited to be able to stop there this next year each time I go to Lubbock to attend the temple.

I was impressed that everyone was so patient with each other on Saturday afternoon as we all had different interests of places we wanted to eat at and shop.  I think we picked up lunch at three different restaurants and then headed to the South Plains mall for a couple more hours of shopping.  

We definitely aren't a shopping family, but we had fun.  I think Tanner and Brian just stayed in the van for phase two of the shopping trip.  The girls spent the majority of their time in H&M, and Parker browsed a few stores.   I once again used some of my Christmas money from my parents and instead of shopping, I got a massage.  Woot woot!  It was such a good massage too.  Thanks Mom and Dad!

When the girls wrapped up their shopping, and we were on the road home.  It was really nice to just be hanging out together for a little over 24 hours and especially nice to have the temple time as a family.  

Christmas Day

December 25, 2023 

Brian is awesome and always takes care of Christmas breakfast and dinner.  It is a delicious and much appreciated gift to the family.  This year, while Brian and I were napping, Brinley cleaned the whole kitchen!  It was very appreciated.

The traditional waiting in the hall photo.

We were all so happy that Tanner, Erin and Kaide were able to join us for an hour and a half on Christmas morning.  Erin has lots of family in town, and we knew they would be pulled in many ways.  

Checking out stockings!

Aub loved her itty bitty Nutella.

It was the year of new shoes.  Tanner got these b-ball shoes, and the other kids got new shoes as well.

Kaide found the keychain that had a tiny Croc (shoe) on it and was really wanting help putting it on.  It was hilarious.

Kaide didn't really care a thing about the gifts, but he was pretty happy just hanging out with everyone in the living room.  His bear slippers were hilarious.  (Adam and Megan passed them down to him.)

He did pause for 2.5 seconds to look at one of his new books.

Tanner and Erin spoiled Brinley and Aubrey with travel bags filled to the brim with fun girl stuff like hair clips and makeup accessories.  One of my favorite things about this year was seeing the thoughtful and generous gifts the "kids" gave each other.  They know each other well and were willing to spend a little more when they had a specific gift in mind.

To: Dad From: Mom...Kind of...we have a small budget and shop for our own gifts from each other.  It works out perfectly for us!

Kaide loves balls.  We gave him a small soccer ball and the tennis balls he is holding.  We also got him picture scriptures for The Book of Mormon and New Testament, some footsie pajamas, a hat and glove set, a couple of bath toys, books and a couple of outfits the girls picked out.

Our Christmas with my parents was kind of segmented.  We exchanged gifts a couple of days before Christmas, and then we went over again on Christmas day.  Here are a few pictures from a couple of different days.

Me & my dad (I'm wearing my wearable blanket I got at our sibling gift exchange.)

My parents give their kids/spouses the best stockings each year.  (This year's stocking was in the gift bag I'm holding.)  This year it was loaded with fancy chocolates (Ghiradelli, Godiva, Ferrero Rochir), fun lip balms, pistachios, fruit snacks, Icebreaker gum and other treats.  There was the traditional flashlight which we love to keep in our nightstands, a face cream and some other small gifts.  They also give both Brian and I some spending money, which is the best!  I usually use mine to splurge on massages, pedicures or other pampering type gifts.  It's just nice to have guilt free money to use any way we choose.  Thanks Mom and Dad.  

I kind of love this picture of Bri and my mom.

Gram and Grandpa gave the kids BYU blankets.  They were a hit.  

We had a very relaxing Christmas day.