The Leake's Week-December 16, 2024

 Hello!

Two weeks have flown by!  Who am I kidding, December is flying by!  The kids just have school Monday through Friday this week, and then perhaps their longest Christmas break ever...they don't go back to school until January 7th!  As of right now, I am pretty darn happy about that.  We could use a lot less things on our calendar.  Richard also has a big chunk of that time off.  So, in my ideal world, we will spend our break playing games, doing puzzles, going places as a family, relaxing, football on the TV I am sure, and kids with friends sometimes, but I desperately hope we can make it a happy and fulfilling break for all of us.  I'll eventually report back and let you know.  :)  But for now, here are the highlights from the last two weeks...

*Bridget got her braces off on December 2nd!  She does have a permanent bottom retainer (that is so tiny!) and a top retainer that she is currently wearing except when eating for the next six weeks.  If all still looks good after those six weeks, she can switch to just using that retainer at night.  Her smile is gorgeous and radiant and every time I see her smile, I smile.  Her appointment to get them off was long, so to entertain ourselves, we looked through pictures before and after her phase one braces and before she got this second phase on.  It just baffles my mind how much kids grow and change.  To celebrate braces being off, the girls and I made my Grandpa Yancey's caramel corn two weekends ago, and had the best afternoon.  I have not made that in a handful of years because of kids being in braces, and since Marshall (who still has braces) was out of town, we took advantage of that window of opportunity.  We watched Home Alone 2 and ate the caramel corn until we were stuffed.  A perfect Saturday afternoon in December.  

*Lots of performances!  In the last two weeks we have been in the Viewmont auditorium for all four kids.  Marshall had his Christmas band concert on the 2nd.  It was a fun concert.  There was no printed program, and after listening to the jazz band play seven songs, I thought we would be there until 10:00 pm.  I was so pleasantly surprised that the other two bands just combined and played all their songs together!  Win!  Haha!  The Christmas band concerts are always so fun, and both Richard and I were able to be there.  The next night we were back at the high school for Rachel and Gretchen's dance recital.  Bridget was also able to join us this time in the audience.  It was short and sweet, but a true delight to see those beaming girls dancing and smiling on stage.  Then last week, the junior high had their band concert.  Bridget did great in the jazz band and symphonic band.  We coerced Gretchen to come with us, and my parents were also able to come.  It was a great evening!  All the bands have improved a lot just since October and that was fun to see the progress too.  Bridget and Rachel had their piano recital last Friday night.  All the songs played were duets and it was fun to hear such beautiful Christmas songs.  The girls did a great job!  

*A visit to Santa at the Whitaker Museum.  We have been visiting this Santa every year since 2016...it is the same Santa!  Rachel and Gretchen's childhood ended this summer, in June, when Gretchen cornered me in the garage and asked me if Santa was real.  And unfortunately, or fortunately, Rachel walked out to the garage as all of this was happening.  Gretchen has been a skeptic for the last year, but Rachel was a true believer in Santa and his magic.  Well, all this to say, the truth is out about Santa in the Leake home this go around.  However, Rachel and Gretchen still really wanted to see Santa at the Whitaker Museum and this made me so happy.  That Santa is just the best and they talked about all sorts of things.  Gretchen confessed that her room is a disaster.  They talked about their favorite Christmas songs and Jesus and it was just the best.  

*Cross country trip to California.  Marshall, and Richard as a chaperone, left for California on Thursday, December 5th.  In years past, Viewmont has rented two big buses for this trip, but to save money this year, they rented six 15 passenger vans, and had the chaperones drive them.  The night before, I took Richard to the Centerville park, and we picked up one of those vans and brought it home!  Richard and Marshall left at 6:00 am Thursday morning and met up with the team back at the park.  They were on the road by 7:00 am.  They had a very smooth travel day.  They drove to St. George, went on a run, had lunch, and then got back on the road and made it to the hotel one hour before their planned arrival time!  That night they swam, played games, and just relaxed.  Friday morning they went to the Mt. Sac racecourse, picked up their packets, walked the course, and had a team meeting.  After that was lunch, mini golf, and then downtime at the hotel before dinner.  They kept their evening activities fun, but low-key, and all went to bed early.  Saturday morning was race day!  They were all up early, and left by grade to get to the course.  Marshall's race was at 7:45, sophomore boys.  Marshall has not raced since August 30th, and only started running again mid-October, with 3 1/2 miles being his longest run pre-race.  We had no idea what to expect for him.  He ran this race SO sick last year, and this year, coming off of a serious injury.  He did a great job!  He ran it in 21 minutes even.  This is a very, very hilly course and not easy.  Last year he ran it in about 22 1/2 minutes.  So, despite his less than favorable condition, he ran it faster than he did last year.  So, we will just cross our fingers that next year he can finally run this healthy and in top form!  I am so glad Richard was able to be there and cheer for him and take pictures.  We were able to watch the race online, and the camera work was amazing, but I am glad he could have an in-person family member cheering him on!  Our nephew, Benson, was also racing, and it was fun to cheer him on from my phone screen too!  Anyway, the team spent the entire morning at the race because they had different ages racing all morning.  They finally left after lunch and drove to Huntington Beach and spent the rest of the day there.  Marshall played football on the beach, got in the water some, saw dolphins, loads of pelicans, and ended the evening around a bonfire.  Richard made soup on the beach. :)  He and another chaperone were in charge of dinner that night and provided an excellent spread and are already talking about what they will keep and what they will change for next year.  :)  Sunday they all drove home and made great time once again.  I picked Richard and Marshall up shortly after 8:00 pm on Sunday evening.  Marshall was less than thrilled that Richard was on this trip, but Richard is still glad he went.  Marshall even had friends ask him why he was staying so far away from Richard and not talking to him!  This kid.  I reminded Marshall how up until a year and a half ago he wanted Richard at everything, and now he has swung so far the other way!  I recommended he try and find a happy middle ground.  :)  

*The Nutcracker!  While the boys were gone, I took my girls to Ballet West's Nutcracker with my Mom.  I bought these tickets way back in September, and the week of Gretchen informed me she has seen the Nutcracker too many times (she has been twice!) and had zero interest in seeing it.  After trying to convince her for a couple of days, I decided we would all have a better time without her there if she did not want to be there!  So, I arranged for her to play with friends that evening and let Rachel invite a friend to use the extra ticket, and we all had the best time, Gretchen included!  Rachel invited her friend, Chloe, who dances, but has never seen The Nutcracker.  We all met up with my parents at Arella's for a delicious dinner.  Then my Mom hopped in our car and we drove downtown.  With the crazy fog/smog in the air, downtown traffic, and my ankle, we could not have asked for a better parking situation and made it into the Capitol Theatre with time to spare.  The show was amazing, as it always is.  It was done flawlessly.  I cried during the snow dance, it was just stunning.  With all the fog that fills the stage, and then all the snow that falls, and the gorgeous costumes and props.  So beautiful.  The girls did a fantastic job.  Everyone was happy and fully invested and before we knew it, it was over and we were heading home.  I am so grateful that The Nutcracker was a part of so many of my Christmas seasons growing up, whether I was in the audience or on the stage, and I am so grateful I am able to include it in my girls' Christmas memories.  And not to be forgotten, Gretchen had the time of her life!  She went to a Christmas party with friends and then went straight to Afton and Evelyn's house and had the time of her life.  Everyone went to bed very happy.  

*Toney FHE.  Last Sunday we had Toney FHE at my parents' home.  We missed Richard, Marshall, and Benson who were all traveling home from California, but everyone else was there.  My parents fed us a delicious Christmas dinner complete with ham, potatoes, rolls, jello, and sugar cookies.  Divine.  The grandkids also acted out the nativity.  It was a highlight for sure.  

*Christmas lights!  Last night we went up to Danny and Stacie's for dinner and then went to the Layton Park to walk around and look at the lights.  This has become a tradition of ours and I am so glad we were able to do it.  We have had a miserable cold moving through our moving.  Rachel and Gretchen both missed some school and dance this week because of it, and on Saturday Marshall started coming down with it.  He laid low and stayed home yesterday, so we missed him for sure.  We had a great dinner though, our girls played with their boys, and then we went to the lights.  It was not crowded at all and there was a whole new section, so that was fun to see.  I walked around and never slipped and I just held onto Richard the whole time!  Ha!  It was such a fun evening.  

Okay, those are the highlights.  I know I am forgetting day to day things that I thought were memorable at the time, but here we are!  

We certainly love each of you.

Richard, Jenny, Marshall, Bridget, Rachel, and Gretchen :)

Oh, I do have to say, because all the kids know about Santa, things with Marshy, our elf, have also changed.  The kids are moving him and still hiding him and they are coming up with the cutest set-ups.  Bless them.

Ah, I also just thought I should give a quick update on my ankle.  I had a HUGE day at PT almost two weeks ago.  It was so empowering and made me think I could actually get back to a normal life.  Well, the next day I woke up in quite a bit of pain and by that afternoon I was back in my boot and taking ibuprofen!  It was my first setback in this recovery I would say.  I proceeded to limp for the next six days.  So, we have taken it easier at PT, but still working hard.  I have days where my limp is more pronounced, and days where it seems to hardly be noticeable.  For the most part, I am going down the stairs normally, instead of like a toddler.  I took Ziggy on a couple of walks at the park last week and I am getting faster, so that feels good.  Long recovery for sure.  I hit my four month mark this week, but I am grateful for progress.  I have mentally committed to being done with the brace for my everyday normal activities next week.  :)

The Leake's Week-December 2, 2024

 Hello All!

We hope each of you had a wonderful and happy Thanksgiving weekend.  December is finally upon us!  It has been three weeks since our last email.  Per the usual, much to catch up on.  Here are the highlights!

*Thanksgiving:  We celebrated Thanksgiving at home, in our newly renovated, finally almost done home!  It was our year to be with the Leakes, but since Richard had to work Wednesday and Friday, we decided to stay here and we convinced Bob and Becky to join us!  They arrived late Wednesday afternoon.  It was so great to have them here.  Everyone pitched in for our amazing feast.  We ate about 4:00 pm, and we spent our time before the meal relaxing, watching football, playing games, building legos, and of course, making food!  Bob, Becky, Bridget, Rachel, Gretchen and I all pitched in to make the apple pie, and dare I say, it was the best pie we have ever made!  Not even a bit of juice leaked out of the crust (that is definitely a first for me).  Amazing.  It was so nice to have all of us in the kitchen working on something and to have the room to do it!  It honestly made me so happy to have the kitchen full of people and conversation and cooperation.  Richard smoked a tri-tip and cooked the turkey breast in the crockpot.  Marshall, single-handedly made the raspberry pretzel jello and the stuffing.  Bridget did the mashed potatoes with Becky doing the peeling, but B literally did everything else.  Rachel shirked her food responsibilities with me on Wednesday evening to hang with friends (haha!) but she did help me roll out all the rolls on Thursday morning and she did the topping for the sweet potatoes.  Sweet Grizz helped set the table, helped with the apple pie, and argued with Rachel about helping with the rolls.  :)  It was a delicious feast.  After relaxing and playing more games, we dove into the pies.  Three store-bought, and then that delicious apple pie.  A success all around.  We always have so much to be thankful for, but especially this year, our gratitude is ever-present.  From an almost complete home that allows us to gather, to my healing ankle, and ALL the help we have received from SO many over the last 3 1/2 months.  I get emotional every time I think about the help that has so freely been shared with us.  Most people who have helped us say they hardly did anything, but one thing that has been impressed upon me time and time again during this long recovery is, when you are able-bodied, many things seem small and maybe the help seems inconsequential to you, but to someone, or to a family that is dealing with a lot, even the smallest amount of help can lighten a huge load.  It has been tender to be on the receiving end of so much help.  

*Electrical fire:  While I am on the topic of gratitude, I might as well record the scare that was our Monday morning.  A little after 8:20 on Monday morning, Grizz and I were the only ones home.  We were in the kitchen and we both heard a noise upstairs.  It wasn't loud, but loud enough for both of us to hear.  It almost sounded like something got knocked over, was sliding down the wall, and then fell on the ground.  Gretchen asked what the noise was, I told her what I thought, but she was not buying my answer.  She told me she didn't think there was anything upstairs that could fall, but she had just come from the upstairs, so I told her maybe she accidentally brushed against something that was slow to fall.  Great explanation, right?!  I'm the best mom.  Anyway, I finished her hair and got back to my breakfast and unloading the dishwasher while she went to the mudroom to grab her things.  When she came back to the kitchen she asked me what that smell was.  At first, I didn't smell anything, but then I caught a whiff of it and instantly knew that something was burning.  I hobbled over to the entryway and looked up the stairs and saw SMOKE at the top of the stairs.  I ran up the stairs (with my boot on, so this was not fast by any means).  There was no smoke in the girls bathroom, but I turned into our room and it was filling with smoke.  No flames, but definitely smoky.  I immediately called Richard while feeling the TV and all of his computer stuff.  Nothing was hot.  Our bathroom was smoky, but not as smoky as the bedroom.  Richard told me to send Gretchen outside to see if she could see fire on our roof and I went to the basement to flip the circuit breakers.  After getting back up to our bedroom and still not seeing flames anywhere, but knowing the smoke was getting worse, we decided I should call 911.  Sweet Gretchen was making her lunch while I was on the phone with 911.  After talking to them and telling me help was on the way, they told me to get everyone out of the house.  I put Ziggy on his leash and Grizz and I scooped up her things and left.  I was calm through all of this, but at that moment, when we walked out of the house, I thought "It could all end here.  This beautiful space we just created could go up in flames at any moment!"  Ah!!!  We finished getting Gretchen's coat and shoes on just as the first police officer pulled up.  He immediately ran in the house and I gave Gretchen a hug and a kiss and sent her to the Howell's to catch a ride to school.  Seconds later, two fire trucks, two ambulances, a second police car, and a fire department SUV came flying up our circle.  This is also when all the neighbors appeared.  :)  These first responders were amazing.  It is sobering to be told to evacuate your home and moments later, complete strangers are walking into an unknown and possibly dangerous situation in your home, in order to help you.  After several minutes, a firefighter walked out with our bluetooth speaker!  Richard had plugged it in that morning and clearly something happened to it and that is what was causing all that smoke.  Bananas.  The firefighters were so great.  Even after finding the speaker, they checked our circuit breaker boxes and all our furnaces and just about everything else.  They opened windows and brought in huge fans to clear out the smoke.  Everyone took great care of me and Ziggy.  The police wrapped Ziggy in a blanket because he was a shaking mess, and they even let us keep it.  And my wonderful neighbors wrapped me in a blanket because I was outside in a nightgown and a hoodie!  And my boot.  A great look.  I was able to get back inside around 9:45 or so, I think.  I just laid on the couch for a while, in a bit of a fog, before coming to my senses enough to call my Mom.  I smelled terrible and was in desperate need of a shower and I knew we were going to have workers showing up at any time.  My Mom was so great and dropped everything and came straight over.  Later that afternoon, while I was gone, but both my parents were here, the electrician who had done all of our work came to the house.  The fire department recommended he come just to double check his work.  Honestly, I am so glad I was gone when he arrived and that my parents were able to handle all of this.  Also because they could ask questions and get answers straight from him, instead of me, in my still dazed-state!  Turns out, it was just the speaker.  Even the power strip it was plugged into was totally fine.  No sign of fire or scorch marks at the outlet or the circuit breaker boxes.  Nate, the electrician, validated how scary the whole ordeal was, but said that the speaker actually failed exactly how it was supposed to.  It contained all the flames and sparks and didn't catch anything else on fire, just produced a ton of smoke!  We are SO thankful that the only damage was to the speaker.  Our room has aired itself out.  Nothing else is damaged.  And we are safe.  That is really all that matters.  

*Three month check-up:  If Monday wasn't already exciting enough, I had my three-month follow-up with my surgeon.  I drove up to the appointment in my boot and while in my car, I changed out of my boot and put a shoe on!  Haha!  He really wanted me to walk into this appointment totally "normal", but my physical therapist I would say is on the more conservative side, so I faked it for a bit.  I have walked and done enough at PT with two shoes on that I felt fairly confident doing this.  :)  Also, my appointment ended up being with just the NP, who was much more understanding of my progress.  :)  But, my x-rays look great and the screws are all in there tight, which was my biggest worry because of horror stories I have heard!  So, I just keep going with PT and spend more and more time out of the boot and brace and go back in 3 more months.  What an ordeal.  On Wednesday morning I put the brace on instead of the boot and have spent the majority of my time in the brace since.  It is very stabilizing, but gives me definitely more range of motion than the boot and that has been helpful.  I can tell things are loosening up, in a good way!  

*School musical:  Rachel auditioned for the elementary school musical, Frozen Jr. a couple of weeks ago.  In that same week I was roped into being a choreographer, Gretchen joined the cast (this is not open to 2nd graders but because I am helping and one cast is significantly smaller than the other, Gretchen gets to join) and Rachel and five other girls ended up being double cast (again, to help with the smaller cast).  My oh my.  Pray for us from now until the middle of March!  Haha!  I don't think it will get terribly intense until February/March, but then it will be bananas.  Gretchen is in Olaf's chorus-could this be any more fitting for her?!  She has loved Olaf for years.  Rachel was really hoping to be Queen Iduna (Elsa and Anna's mom) but instead she is in Elsa's Snow Chorus.  Essentially these are Elsa's back-up dancers/singers and apparently they get a good chunk of stage time.  This is what I am choreographing!  All of these girls are dancers, with limited availability because of dance, and they are the only people double-cast.  Rachel initially was hugely disappointed, but once I explained the director's vision for them and how she went about figuring all of this out, she felt better about it.  And she has tasked me with making her shine.  Zero pressure.  Especially since I haven't choreographed anything since 2015.  Gulp.  It will be fun sharing this with my girls, and I haven't sat down to think too much about it, so the overwhelm has not totally consumed me!  

*Speaking of theatre...Richard and I went to go see Beauty and the Beast at Hale Theatre and it was amazing.  Anything at Hale is always amazing, but by the sounds of it, they really pushed the limits of their stage with Beauty and the Beast and it showed!  It was all just stellar, and a great evening out with Richard.  We loved it so much, we bought tickets to take our older girls during Christmas break.  Also, I must include Wicked in this paragraph.  Gretchen has been waiting on pins and needles to see Wicked and has watched the trailer countless times.  Rachel went to a birthday party last weekend for Sara and they all went to see Wicked.  Then on Wednesday, with the kids out of school, I took all three girls and we had the BEST time.  Oh my.  That movie is amazing.  We have been listening to the soundtrack on repeat and now Instagram's algorithm is showing me all things Wicked and I am lapping it all up!  It was so, so well done.  We were all captivated for the entire show, even Gretchen.  I have to see it one more time in the theater and we already can't wait for the second movie next November.  

*Richard in Idaho:  Richard had to work in Idaho a couple of weeks ago for a Thursday and Friday.  He was just helping someone out up there, so this is not a normal thing.  Anyway, he drove up after work that Wednesday and that Friday, the girls and I met him up at Maddox for dinner!  Amazing!  Marshall had a better offer, or so he thought, and went to a pie night with friends.  We certainly missed him, but we still had a great evening.  We listened to Christmas music the whole way and talked and laughed and were so happy to be reunited with Richard.  Dinner, as always at Maddox, was delicious and we left with a slice of banana cream pie to go.  

*BYU games:  Richard and Marshall have made it to the last two BYU home games of the season, in frigid temperatures and all!  One loss, one win, but of course, they had a great time, as always.  

*Saturday we took Marshall and Bridget to do baptisms at the temple.  Next time we go, we will have Rachel with us!  Marshall passed Richard up in height in September and it was fun to watch Richard baptize Marshall because Marshall is the taller one now!  

*Food bags:  Just yesterday we wrapped up our 7th annual neighborhood service project.  This is the 4th year we have provided food bags for USANA Kids Eat, but this is the first year our elementary school has been in need of bags.  These bags go home with kids over Christmas break who would not have enough to eat otherwise.  Saturday afternoon we went shopping for our portion of the bags.  Our kids were great and it was a fun little outing that we topped off with a stop at Handel's ice cream.  Delicious.  This is the second year we have roped the Atkinsons and Sonntags into helping us with the service project.  We all ended up shopping Saturday afternoon and within an hour, our living room was brimming with grocery bags full of food.  Yesterday at 1:00 everyone came over, plus a few more people from the neighborhood.  We had the kids sort all the food, we figured out the best way to pack the bags, and then let the kids circle around the island gathering food.  Within minutes we had 27 bags of food ready to be delivered to two different elementary schools.  It was a really fun afternoon.  People stayed and visited and it was just so great.  

Okay, I think that just about wraps up our last three weeks.  Oh my goodness, how could I forget...looking through pictures...Rachel's school class is making Egyptian death masks at school this coming week and in preparation we had to make the plaster mask AT HOME!  I about died when I got the email about this.  We had to watch videos and slather her face in vaseline so the mask didn't take off skin or eyebrows, which Rachel was very paranoid about!  It took the better part of a Wednesday evening a couple of weeks ago.  Good grief.  I am happy to report that Rachel retained her eyebrows!

That's really it now.  Happy December!  Bring on all the Christmas delights!

Love each of you,

Richard, Jenny, Marshall, Bridget, Rachel and Gretchen :)