The Leake's Week-January 2, 2022

 Hello!  Happy New Year!  We are gearing up to jump back into regular life tomorrow with school and work.  I don't know how we are going to do it...those alarm clocks are going to go off real early.  Rachel, in particular, has perfected the art of sleeping past 9:00 am with this school break!  Our church time this year is at 10:30 am and I am shouting praises to heaven!  I have been on this countdown for weeks, months even!  Pretty much since the BYU football season started and the kids were back in school, 9:00 am church was harsh!  10:30 church was glorious today.  

Before I jump into our fun-filled week, I do want to write about one December event that I forgot to mention.  Weeks ago, the first Friday in December, I hosted our annual December service project.  I really feel like it was divine intervention how I settled on what organization to help this year.  I have felt very pulled to the Afghan refugee situation, but apparently, so had everyone else and so every organization here in Utah helping refugees was overwhelmed with help.  I loved doing foodbags for the Bountiful Food Pantry last year, but they had changed some things, and I just wasn't feeling it.  And then one day, I was having a lovely lunch with Katie Irion and she mentioned Usana Kids Eat to me and said that Foxboro Elementary was a school that needed help.  When I got home from lunch, I immediately looked them up and within minutes, had us signed up to make 20 bags of food for kids at Foxboro Elementary to take home for the Christmas break.  Friday, December 3rd was the day.  I had a counter full of cookies, and I was smart this year and baked almost all of them before Friday!  I just really enjoyed that day.  I had a pretty steady stream of people from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.  The next day, the girls sorted all the food.  Usana was very specific about what needed to go in each bag, and it was just so nice to completely work off their list.  On Monday I went shopping to buy the rest of what we needed and then that afternoon and evening Bridget and I figured out the best way to pack each bag and then she completely finished the project with the help of Rachel and Gretchen.  She was so cute with them.  She would gather each item that went in a bag, and then Rachel and Gretchen would take turns "scanning" them pretending like they were in a grocery store, and then Bridget would pack each bag perfectly.  On Tuesday, I loaded all 20 bags in my van, which was a bit of a feat, and then I checked my kids out of school early.  They all wanted to come with me to deliver the bags to Foxboro.  Between all of us, and some kind volunteers at the school, we got all the bags unloaded and into the school in one trip.  I am so grateful for this opportunity.  It was humbling to put these bags of food together for KIDS.  I couldn't help but think of all the food our family would be consuming during the break, and realizing that the amount of food we were fitting into these bags would be the majority of what these kids would eat for the two week break.  It was so good for our kids too.  And I am so glad we could give back to a school that Marshall and Bridget went to for two years.  

Alright, onto the last week...

Last Sunday evening we all gathered at my parents' house, we were just missing Jordan, Meredith, and Danny, who we surely missed!  But it was still so fun to be together and celebrate Christmas.  We had a wonderful dinner, my parents did bells with the kids, who were completely captivated, and we did the nativity.  All the cousins were so happy to be together and they all just played and played and played.  The nativity went surprisingly well...I thought it had great potential to be chaos, but all 16 of those grandkids did a wonderful job.  It was so great catching up with my brothers and their wives, and of course, visiting with my Grandma Toney.  We were spoiled with dessert that night:  my grandma's Texas sheet cake (Marshall literally swallowed his piece whole), gingerbread cake, and fudge.  Gosh, writing this on Fast Sunday is killer!  Ha!  I wish I had all of that at my fingertips right now!  Anyway, it was just a great, great evening and I am so glad we could gather.  

Monday, Richard jumped back into real life for a couple of days and went into work.  The kids and I lived it up by sleeping in.  :)  My kids had had so much fun with cousins the day before, that we pulled together a spontaneous sleepover and had Benson, Anna, and Cadence over.  Ben dropped them off about 4:00 pm on Monday and they all immediately got right to playing.  We put nine of us around the kitchen table for dinner and those seven kids really helped put a dent in our Christmas goodies that had been accumulating!  After dinner, we had everyone put pajamas on and then the kids had a movie night in the theater room.  Ben's kids had already seen Encanto, but ours hadn't, and now our kids are addicted.  I really think our kids have watched it five times since Monday evening and if music is playing in our house, it is most likely Encanto.  After the movie, we divided everyone up into their sleeping spots, and all lights were out by 10:00 pm.  It really went so well!  

After breakfast the next morning, the kids put on all their snow stuff for the less than one inch of snow we got.  I was really hoping there would be a few inches of fresh snow to play in, but despite the lack of snowfall, the kids played outside from 9:30 until noon, and only came in because it was time for lunch.  They had such a great time!  After lunch, and the eating of more Christmas treats, I had everyone clean up and then I met Ben in Salt Lake and gave him back his three kids.  All the kids had such a fun time, and were bummed that it had to come to a close.  I think we are all committed to making this happen again!  Richard worked from home on Tuesday, from 12:00-8:00 pm.  That night I went to the church with our primary president and we did a major purge of our primary closet that has been stuffed full of things since before we were put in as a presidency.  We found Article of Faith cards from 1988!!!  And a classic church binder that I clearly remember from my childhood.  So nuts.  

Wednesday was a fun day.  Marshall played up at Cooper's all day and had so much fun.  When I picked him up, I was happy to hear that he even helped them put Christmas decorations away!  Glad he willingly works for someone!  Bridget had Cambria over to play all day at our house.  Those girls imagined and created a Hogwarts world all day and it was so fun to listen to them.  To keep the fun going, Rachel and Gretchen also had friends over after lunch.  It was so fun to listen to six girls run all over this house that afternoon.  They all had so much fun.  Bridget had horseback riding that afternoon at 4:00 pm.  When I picked her up she was beaming.  She was able to choose a different horse to ride, and she was pretty thrilled about that.  It seems she has graduated from her "beginner" hose, Blaze.  Once we got all the kids home, Richard and I gave them a Little Ceasar's pizza, and then we took off for Salt Lake.  We met Ricky and Katie downtown at Setebello's and had a delightful two hours with them.  We talked and laughed and ate and it was just such a great time.  Richard and I both clung to that happiness, because putting our kids to bed that night was not fun!  

Thursday morning, Marshall and I both had to wake up early, way earlier than we wanted.  You might recall that a few days after Marshall got his first Covid vaccine last spring that he broke out in hives in the middle of the night.  Those only lasted about 24 hours, but since then, a couple of times a week, a part of him will get incredibly itchy and then he breaks out in a rash in that area.  We have been treating it at home with Zyrtec whenever he needed it, but as of late, he is becoming less responsive to it!  So, we snagged an early morning appointment with a dermatologist and off we went.  Funny story, after we checked in for the appointment, they handed Marshall an ipad with a questionnaire on it.  First, I will note, it made me feel old because he filled it out entirely by himself.  I couldn't believe I was at an appointment with my own child and I felt like I was just there to be his ride!  He had a complete conversation with the dermatologist while I just sat there.  He is growing up!  Anyway, back to the funny part, the last question on the questionnaire was "Do you feel like you are in good enough physical condition to handle eight hours of heavy labor?"  Marshall had an audible gasp when he read this question.  He was shocked about why anyone would need to participate in eight hours of labor.  His reaction cracked me up.  Clearly we need to get this boy working a bit more!  Anyway, Marshall is now on around the clock over the counter allergy medication and prescription medication for two weeks to see if we can get the histamines in his body to settle it down.  So far, so good!  He takes one at night that causes extreme drowsiness, so I am not going to lie, that has been nice.  :)  The rest of our day was spent at home, hanging out, taking down Christmas, playing, napping, and that night we took the kids out to the Olive Garden for dinner.  

On Friday we took the kids bowling.  They have been begging to do this for days.  We had a great time!  They all had some strikes and spares and it was a fun outing.  We picked up Culver's on our way home and had a late lunch.  Cambria came over for the afternoon and evening, which was great.  All four girls played together and Marshall watched the endless football games!  We finally got our act together and had a very late dinner at 8:00 pm!  We had bought a bunch of frozen appetizers and then cooked them in the air fryer!  It was great!  Cambria ate with us too.  We love her.  After dinner, the kids played laser tag while Ziggy just about lost his mind.  Bridget and I took Cambria home just before 9:00 pm.  When we got back, we watched family movies for quite a while, which was a lot of fun.  We learned that Gretchen gets an absolute kick out of herself and listening to her laugh at her own laugh from when she was a baby had us all laughing.  We also watched some America's Funniest Videos on YouTube and kept the laughter going.  We then spent our next while playing games and then at 11:40 Gretchen decided she couldn't last any longer and I took her up to bed.  I came down at 11:58, just in time to find a spot on the couch and we very casually rang in the new year.  It was a laid back and lazy night, but still a good one. 

Saturday I was very grateful for kids who are getting older and value sleeping in.  :)  We just spent our daytime at home yesterday.  We had an early dinner at home and then we got all bundled up and went to see the Centerville lights.  My gosh, it was freezing cold.  My face really hasn't hurt like that since living in Wisconsin!  But, we bundled up well and the kids had a blast.  When we first got there, the girls just ran from tree to tree and it was quite magical.  They had some light up displays and Gretchen found a cat and was in heaven.  Soon, the kids were going down the slides and making snow angels and literally rolling through the snow.  I don't know how they did it!  The cold clearly did not bother them that much!  It was such a fun little outing though, and I am so glad we made it happen.  We came home and had hot chocolate, watched the Utes lose the Rose Bowl, and took showers and went to bed!  

We have had a lovely Sunday today.  I know I already said this earlier, but thank goodness for 10:30 church.  Marshall was sustained as a teacher today.  How on earth did this happen?!?!  Time goes too quickly.  Rachel and I were planning to make Grandma Becky's chocolate chip cookies today for her FHE treat.  But, just before we started, Marshall proposed that I oversee from a distance, and the four kids could all make them together.  I agreed to this plan, though I admit it was hard for me to keep my distance!  Rachel, however, was very skeptical.  She was hilarious.  Before they started she declared, "Okay, I will do this, but if there are any mistakes, it is going to get ugly!"  Oh my gosh, I died laughing.  That girl.  I am pleased to say, it went pretty well, though the counter was covered in flour.  :)  After dinner and FHE we went over to my parents' for a quick visit.  My Dad has been sick for two weeks and finally got on antibiotics on Thursday and is finally feeling better.  We overlapped some with Kevin's family and Danny's family and it was great to be with all of them for a bit, and of course, spending time with my Grandma is a huge bonus.  

Tonight there are mixed emotions in this house about going back to school tomorrow.  The girls are excited, but sweet Marshall is dreading it.  Because of his concussion, his last day at school was December 9th.  Yikes.  I desperately hope once he gets back into the groove, he will be okay.  His preferred life is definitely being at home with just us.  

Okay, well, that is it!  

I am going to try out something new this year and try to remember to send a few pictures with every email.  I just find myself posting less on social media, and I want to share these pictures with someone!  So, here you go.  :)

Love,

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

Leake Family Reunion-2019-Part III

Friday finally brought us a day of relaxation!  Richard and I took our kids to the park mid-morning, and then at 11:00 Bob and Becky took Mara, Teia, Becca, Katelin, and Marshall on an older grandchild activity.  Initially, they just walked along the boardwalk on Solomon's Island, but that was a quick activity and all the ice cream shops were closed.  So they made the drive up to the North Beach at the Chesapeake Bay-much bigger!  They walked along the boardwalk, had lunch, did more walking, got some ice cream and drove on back.  Marshall, despite getting a bit carsick, had a great time.  After everyone returned, some of us finally went to the pool.  It was our first time swimming all week long!  I took our girls, and Richard stayed back with Marshall.  We had a great time!  The weather was perfect.  Bridget and Rachel played in the big pool with their cousins most of the time and I hung out in the kiddie pool with Gretchen who had the time of her life!  After everyone got cleaned up after swimming, we went to Five Guys for dinner to celebrate Aubri and Mara's birthdays.  Five Guys sure makes a good burger.  Yum.  That night we finally devoured the cupcakes we had bought the day before and sang happy birthday to Aubri and Mara.  Once the festivities were done, Marshall finally got to play the long-awaited game of Axis and Allies with Richard, Nathan and Bob.  The rest of us took a stroll down to the beach to watch the sunset.  It was another beauty, and this night I got to share it with Bridget.  She and I sat on the beach for about 20 minutes and talked and laughed and watched the colors of the sunset change.  It was a great night with my little Bridget.  That night, once my girls were in bed, and the game of Axis and Allies was still going strong, I enjoyed a peaceful evening out on the deck with Becky and Nina.  A great end to the day...though it seems I got about 70 chigger bites!  

Saturday morning, after telling Richard about these weird mosquito bites on my legs, he diagnosed me with chigger bites, and then Bob told me to slather myself in white Colgate toothpaste.  It ended up turning into a toothpaste party as everyone began checking themselves for chigger bites and most adults found some, though I surely had the most!  Later that morning, the guys went golfing and us women wrangled the children.  We did the park, the beach, and the pool!  It was another fun-filled afternoon!  We had a leisurely dinner at the cottage and just enjoyed talking with adults while the kids played.  That night, Richard and I took a stroll down to the beach for the last sunset of our trip.  When we got back, we joined in a fun game of passing a glow-in-the-dark football.  It was a great way to end our last day on Solomon's Island.  

Note the high heels.  :)

Sunday brought us a LONG day of travel.  We finished packing Sunday morning and we had to clean up the cottages before checking out.  It was about a 90 minute drive to the airport, returning the rental car, waiting through a long security line, grabbing a quick lunch at the airport, boarding the plane, and then enduring an over four high flight home, once again wrangling Gretchen.  Sigh.  I was so happy when our plane finally landed!  Grateful for a direct flight, but boy, that is a long time to be on a plane with a two year old!  Getting our bags took another LONG time, but we finally made it back to our house just before 7:00 pm and it was great to be home.  Once again, Gretchen loved pushing her suitcase around.  :)

We sure enjoyed our time with the Leakes.  Time with them is filled with fun and relaxing.  Wonderful memories were made.  Cousins had fun.  Adults had fun.  It was a great, great trip!  Can't wait until next time!

Leake Family Reunion-2019-Part II

Tuesday morning we took at a bit of a slower pace, but we were out the door around 10:00 and made a 30 minute drive to St. Mary's.  St. Mary's was the fourth permanent settlement in America and we actually have a family connection there!  Bob's 12th great-grandfather, John Jarboe, was the second man to own land in St. Mary's, and he married a woman there named Mary.  We all found this fascinating, Marshall and I especially.  Now, St. Mary's is essentially the same as This is the Place State Park here in Utah, or Old World Wisconsin.  It has been restored so well and was very hands on and interactive for the kids-we all loved it.  We rotated through different areas, the kids were able to try different activities, including helping to carve out a tree trunk using clam shells!  They also had a reconstruction of a ship, The Dove, that we were able to tour.  It was just a real fun and educational outing, and also thrilling to know that we are related to colonists. 

Mackall Barn-1785.  One of the oldest standing barns in Maryland.

That evening, we had family pictures done, which turned out absolutely wonderfully.  Of course, Richard and I snapped a few of our own pictures, which we also love. 

We got back to our cottages right as the sun was starting to set over the Patuxent River.  Richard, knowing that I had been looking forward to sunsets over the water, told me to get out of the van and run down to the beach to finish watching the sun set.  I stayed on the beach for about 15 minutes and it was stunning.  Stunning.  I watched the sun set two more nights later in the week, but this sunset was by far the most beautiful.  There is something about water that is incredibly calming to me, and the peace of a sunset or sunrise over water cannot be matched.  It was just gorgeous. 

On Wednesday we did split up.  Two vans drove to the National Zoo, and one van (ours, along with Bob) drove to the Air and Space Annex by the Dulles Airport.  Once again, the kids were troopers with such a long drive.  We got to the museum about 11:00 am and there was hardly anyone there.  Right off the bat, Marshall and Bridget were able to have a mini-flying lesson in a Cessna.  They learned about the three main parts of a plane and how they are controlled and they actually got to sit in the plane and try everything out.  The rest of the time there we just roamed and took in the sites of all these massive and amazing planes.  It really is so impressive.  This place is much more open than the Smithsonians in D.C. and had way less people, which we all really appreciated!  The highlight, as it always is for us, was seeing the space shuttle, Discovery.  You really are in awe when you are right up close to that amazing creation.  It was also very special to have Bob with us on this outing.  His father helped to work on the very first cruise missile, which is housed in this museum.  It was another great outing and we only hit some D.C. rush hour traffic on our way back to Solomon's Island.  Once everyone returned, we had a relaxing dinner, put the kids to bed at a normal hour, and then some of us adults enjoyed a peaceful and fun evening out on the deck. 

Thursday brought us a trip to Annapolis to visit the Amish Market.  We all feasted on freshly baked pretzels, and they were divine.  We also walked around the market and admired the beautiful Amish furniture, especially the kitchen tables.  After that, we had a short girls outing and let the men take all the kids 11 and younger back to the cottages.  It was a much more peaceful drive, I will say that!  We stopped at a cupcake bakery to pick up birthday cupcakes for the next day, but of course we all ordered a cupcake to eat right there and then.  I got key lime.  Delicious.  Thursday night we went out to dinner with Richard's brothers and their wives.  Bob and Becky were kind enough to stay behind and host a grandparent's night.  It was a win all around for everyone.  The kids broke a pinata with Grandma and Grandpa, played outside, played games, watched a movie, popped popcorn, and played in the fresh rain puddles after a brief downpour of rain.  A perfect summer evening for the grandchildren.  The adults also had a wonderful time-my favorite night of the trip!  We got reservations at a restaurant just a few minutes away, right on the water.  I really wanted us to sit outside, you know me and water, but because our group was larger than four they had to seat us inside.  We were still right next to the windows though, which I appreciated.  And then I really appreciated it when that torrential downpour arrived!  It was actually really neat to watch that storm roll in.  It happened so fast and reminded me of a Midwest rainstorm with the blue sky quickly changing to dark gray and then dropping buckets of rain in just a few minutes.  Weather aside, we had a delightful time with Nathan, Nina, Joe, and Aubri.  It is so rare for the six of us to be together and we really just had great conversation and laughed a lot; it was wonderful.  In true adult fashion, we ended the night by stopping at the local grocery store.  :)  Another great day in the books!