The Leake's Week-November 3, 2024

 Hello!

I can hardly believe we are into November.  Time flies.  What a year 2024 has been, and it is far from over!  We were real lame for Halloween this year.  The girls pulled out a handful of decorations, we didn't buy a single pumpkin, and the only picture we took on Halloween was one of Marshall.  Winning!  Sigh.  However, we are all eagerly looking forward to Christmas and I have a feeling Christmas decorations will start making their appearance soon.  We all need some extra light and joy around here and I think putting up a couple of Christmas trees will be very helpful!  Okay, onto our week...

Monday was a pretty straightforward day.  School for all the kids, work for Richard, physical therapy for me!  Rachel did get to have a Halloween party Monday morning for student council and had a blast.  For a game, she was wrapped in toilet paper and the picture from the student council advisor seriously made my morning.  Darling and joyful Rachel Louise.  Marshall bumped his running up to 1.5 miles on Monday and reported he felt good.  After school, Rachel and Grizz had dance and Bridget had the farm.  The Garlicks are in the process of drying out all the goats, so milking is getting quicker and quicker.  The girls should have a stretch of 3-ish months with no milking, that will be a welcome relief for everyone!  Everyone was home by 8:00 on Monday evening and it honestly just felt so nice to have everyone home together for a bit before heading to bed.

Richard did not have work on Tuesday, which was so lovely.  Between Richard and my Mom coming by, lots got done around the house.  I am so thankful for each bit of progress!  The plumber came Tuesday evening and finished all the plumbing in our master bathroom-hooray!  Rachel and Gretchen had dance that evening, so it was just Richard and me and the oldest two kids for dinner and a good chunk of the night.  It was fun to sit at the table and eat dinner with them and talk about a wide range of topics.  Time is fleeting, and all the kids seem to be growing up too quickly!

Wednesday was a big day.  Richard was back at work, and I was back to physical therapy.  At therapy, I got the green light to bump down to just using one crutch!  Huge milestone for me!  The state cross country meet was that afternoon, so Marshall went with the team to cheer them on.  The boys team took 2nd (just like last year) and the girls team took 4th (improvement from last year).  Not 100% the finishes they were wanting, but still great.  Even though this cross country season has looked very different for Marshall, I am very grateful for exceptional coaches, great teammates and the experiences he has still been able to have this fall with the team.  And speaking of Marshall, he played some soccer at the meet and did some walking and running and reported a sore leg when he got back on the bus.  It is a challenge to figure out if this is muscle pain that is good, or bone pain, which is not good!  Ahhh!!!  Anyway, Marshall and the team got back to the school just before 6:00, he quickly grabbed some dinner, changed his clothes and got ready for his band concert at 7:00.  Richard and I were able to make the band concert and had a great time.  Once again, just blows my mind we have a child in high school.  There are several kids in our ward in the high school bands, so it was fun to see them too and talk with their families.  Bridget had horseback riding that afternoon and then YW's that evening.  She brought home a beautiful fall flower arrangement that is still looking great on our kitchen island.  Rachel had piano and then got to chill and relax the rest of the night.  Gretchen had music class and dance.  And between Richard, me, and my Mom, we got everyone where they needed to be.  And thank goodness Marshall can drive himself around!  

Oh, and for house stuff, our new range was delivered Wednesday afternoon.  Not broken!  The delivery guys were so kind and brought it into the kitchen, unwrapped it, and put the legs on it.  After they left, I went over to look at it and started to panic that it was not going to slide into its spot.  Duncan was here and grabbed his tape measure.  The range is exactly 36" and the opening for the range between the cabinets and counters is 36 and 3/16".  Oh man, I was on pins and needles until that was installed and officially slid into place the next day.   Also on Wednesday, we passed the final inspection and the broken range was picked up and taken away.  Slowly reclaiming the garage!  

Thursday, Halloween.  Richard, very thankfully, had the day off again!  Historically, I have not loved Halloween, but I have liked it more the last handful of years, but not this year.  I found myself in quite a grumpy mood that day for a huge variety of reasons, I think.  Gretchen was also in a grumpy mood that morning-yikes!  Richard was able to get the girls to school and then he went up to the temple to do an endowment session, went to Murray to pick up his license plates, and then stopped at Costco on his way home.  Bless him.  I took a nap, got ready, let the appliance installer in, and then shut myself in the family room watching a K-drama to get my mind off of the range installation.  By 1:15, Richard was home, my K-drama was done, the range was in, and my Mom arrived to keep getting some things done.  I chatted with both Richard and my Mom for a few minutes, made a quick lunch, and then ran down to the elementary school to help with Rachel's class party.  I walked into Rachel's classroom (in a sweatshirt) and I kid you not, it had to be 80-85 degrees in there.  By the time all of us moms had finished setting up, we were all in a full sweat.  Thankfully, the game I was helping with took place in the hallway, so me and the other mom 100% lucked out there.  The whole party was Harry Potter themed and those crazy 6th graders had a blast.  And despite my bad mood, I had a lot of fun helping with a broom game.  After I got home with Rachel and Gretchen it was a mad dash to get the girls ready to go, hence not a single picture of them.  I had to curl Bridget's hair (she and Cambria went as the Shining Twins, and no, she has not seen the movie).  I had to wave Rachel's hair (she and her friends divvied up the Taylor Swift eras and Rachel was reputation).  And cute Gretchen was supposed to have a wig and face paint, but within minutes she decided no wig and just one heart on her cheek which she insisted she do all by herself!  Haha!  Grizz was Bridget from the new Descendants 4 movie.  :)  

So, quick recap on all the kids' Halloween nights:

Marshall went to a Halloween party, dressed as a BYU football player, in almost 100% authentic apparel.  They had dinner, did reverse trick-or-treating, and played games.  He had a blast.  

Bridget trick-or-treated in Cambria's neighborhood and reported 208 pieces of candy, weighing in at 10 lbs.  Bridget slept at Cambria's that night and when I picked her up Friday late morning, she said her candy haul now only weighed 7 lbs.  Yikes!

Rachel met up with all her friends at Maisy's house for dinner and pictures, then they got rides to Ellie's neighborhood, and proceeded to trick-or-treat all over Farmington.  They ended the night back at Ellie's for candy sorting and a movie.  

Gretchen and two of her friends went trick-or-treating in Farmington for a pretty short time before they decided they were done and then they came here for a night of playing and half watching Hocus Pocus as they continued to run around and play.  

Richard passed out candy at our house, per the usual, we did not get many trick-or-treaters (we have decided that living at the top of a hill dissuades many!)  I got all our girls where they needed to be and then drove Rachel and some of her friends from dinner to Ellie's house and then I went and picked up In-N-Out for Richard and me!  A Halloween night unlike any other for me.  

Thankfully, the kids did not have school on Friday (the best calendaring thing the Davis School District has ever done-no school the day after Halloween, no matter what day it falls on!)  Richard did work, but the kids and I all got to sleep in.  The kids were awesome on Friday.  I told them they all needed to help with Ziggy, finish their zones, and then give me 30ish minutes of their time to help with other house projects.  And they all did!  Ziggy got two walks that day.  My Dad came over to keep cleaning up our storage room, so between him and Bridget's help that afternoon (and hours from my Mom throughout the week), that room, which took a major beating during the remodel, is now 100% cleaned up and put back together.  We got more organized in the kitchen, and Marshall helped cut back flowers in the front flower bed for winter.  After all of that was done, they spent the rest of the day playing.  Marshall went to a church with friends to play games, went to the Viewmont football game, and then back to a house for more games.  Bridget and Grizz had Cambria and Naomi over for the afternoon and evening.  And Rachel went to Beckham's house with a whole group of kids.  A productive and fun day off of school for all of them.  

Saturday 5 out of 6 of us were up early.  Bridget was the only lucky soul who got to sleep in, which being Bridget, she 100% capitalized on!  Ha!  Marshall was at the high school by 7:15 am to catch the bus to go to Spanish Fork for the JV cross country state meet.  I was out the door at 7:40 with Rachel to take her and her friend to the dance studio's dance intensive for the morning.  And then I was back out the door with Grizz at 8:40 to take her and her friend to the same place.  The girls danced all morning and then Richard and I got to go see them perform all the combos they had spent the morning learning:  hip-hop, jazz and contemporary.  They had a fun morning dancing, and we had a fun time watching!  Marshall had a fun time cheering for Viewmont, who took first in the state, for boys and girls, 5A cross country.  He got home about 1:30 and slept for the rest of the afternoon.  :)  Yesterday evening, Richard and I left for an actual date for the first time in a LONG time.  We went to dinner at Twigs, made a couple of stops at Farmington Station, and then went to the adult meeting of stake conference.  :)  It was SO great to sit and eat good food and talk without any kids around.  Something we very much needed.  When we got home, we put Rachel and Gretchen to work to help us vacuum and mop the family room floor because the rug we ordered had been delivered!  They were great helpers and we were able to get the rug down last night.  We love it.  It is so soft and the colors are great, and Richard and I are very happy with our choice!  Things continue to slowly come together over here.  

Today we have stake conference at 2:00 pm, so combine that and Daylight Savings Time, and we are pretty happy campers over here since we are currently in the 9:00 church slot!  It should be a very relaxing Sunday, which is something I think we all need.  

Love each of you.

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

The Leake's Week-October 29, 2024

 Hello!

Well, almost a month has flown by.  There is a lot to catch up on, so here it goes...

*The house:  I am sad to say the house is not yet finished!  When I wrote on September 30th, I had the highest of hopes it would be done in a week's time, but that whole week was two steps forward, one step back, and here we are four weeks later still creeping at the slowest pace toward the finish line!  Maddening.  The end of September/beginning of October, our house really was a flurry of activity between subcontractors and wonderful friends, neighbors, and family helping to clean up and move us back in.  I did move back in on October 4th, but our washer, dishwasher, and oven were not working, plumbing wasn't finished, and loads of touch-ups loomed in front of us.  Also, when we unboxed our beautiful new range, we found that the entire glass top (induction cooktop) was shattered!  Not really an ideal situation to come home to!  Thankfully, the electrician came the next week and got the washer and oven working.  Praise the heavens.  Then last week he came back and installed the electrical outlet for the dishwasher.  It has been SO nice to have the use of a dishwasher again!  The plumber is coming today and the final inspection is Wednesday afternoon.  For better, or worse, the electrician will come back after the final inspection to fix what we know needs to be fixed, as well as anything else the inspector finds.  Is this just laziness, or being smart with one's time???  We are still a ways out on the range, but at least all other kitchen appliances are working!  We are so slowly getting settled.  It is really cramping my style being so limited, so progress is slow.  The kids have been good helpers, and Richard is doing as much as he can while also being so busy!  Wonderful Stacie came on Friday morning and spent over two hours helping me.  We got my Grandma's china unboxed and put away, she completely cleaned up and reorganized a storage room that had taken a beating, and she opened a new vacuum I had bought months ago and cleaned two chairs for me.  It felt so good, and I was beyond thankful for the help, because I couldn't have done any of that on my own!  I know it will all come together, but gosh, the pace has been really hard for me.  All that being said though, we are happily back to living on the main floor of our house.  The weekend I moved home was General Conference and it was so nice to be spread out in our family room and spend the weekend in there.  The kitchen isn't totally put together yet, but we are eating at the island and making easy meals and it does feel so nice.  I am grateful for main floor living, space to spread out, and light coming through big windows!  At this point, if I had to guess, I would say the house should be 100% done by Thanksgiving!  Ahh!!!  I certainly hope so.  

*Disneyland:  Months and months ago, Rachel's dance studio announced an opportunity to dance in Disneyland over fall break.  Of course Rachel said yes to this opportunity, and we have had it on our calendar for a long time.  Rachel has worked hard at rehearsals for this since August and she has been so excited.  The day after I broke my ankle and saw the surgeon for the first time and found out how long my recovery was going to be, I had extreme hesitations about going!  But, lots of people talked me into it and assured me I could handle it!  I only said yes because I knew we would have a lot of help from dance friends, and our next door neighbors who were also going to be in Disneyland.  It was very far from an ideal Disney trip for us, but we did it, and we all managed to have fun (some more than others!)  Here are the quick highlights:  Rachel and I flew out Wednesday morning, the 16th, with Sara and her mom, Meri.  Meri was beyond helpful in the airport.  Rachel and I sat on the front row of the plane and the flight attendants were helpful with my crutches and our bags.  I managed to get myself through the LAX airport, on and off a shuttle, in and out of an uber, and pick up my motorized scooter.  That scooter saved me for the next 3 1/2 days and I am honestly so relieved to say I never ran into anyone and I never drove myself off a curb, I still get a chill down my spine when I think about that happening!  Richard and the other kids flew down that night and made it to the hotel just before midnight.  

Richard and the kids rode as many rides as they could.  I did six rides, and other than that, the scooter was my ride!  Rachel had a master class on Thursday afternoon and loved it.  Friday afternoon they performed in California Adventure and rocked it.  Saturday was a completely dance-free day.  We rope dropped and Richard and the kids got on many rides that day!  We spent the heat of the afternoon back at the hotel and then went back to the parks that evening.  Rachel had a lot of fun with dance friends.  We ate good food.  Thursday night the three older kids and I had dinner at the Blue Bayou with Sara and Meri and had the greatest time.  Saturday night, all of us, and Sara and Meri, had dinner at Cafe Orleans-yum.  Our next door neighbors were also there Thursday and Friday.  We met up with them both days (they are Disney pros) and had delicious ice cream with them and did some rides together.  There were definitely some low moments with tears shed, but all things considered, I think we pulled off a successful Disney trip.  Here are everyone's highlights:

Gretchen:  Soarin', Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, Pirates of the Caribbean, Dumbo, Autopia

Rachel:  "Dance, rides, food.  There.  I'm not getting specific."  Direct quote!

Bridget:  ribeye at Blue Bayou, pretzel cheesy garlic bread, Cafe Orleans, Incredicoaster, Radiator Racers, Pirates of the Caribbean.  This was clearly a great food trip for Bridget!

Marshall:  Guardians of the Galaxy, Radiator Racers, Incredicoaster, and churros!  Marshall could live off of Disneyland churros.

Jenny:  Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, this was the first ride we did in the park and we were all together, loved it.  Watching Rachel dance (I cried).  Listening to Grizz count her steps as she and I were leaving the park on Saturday.  Soarin' with all my kids.  

Richard:  watching Rachel dance, Pirates of the Caribbean, Runaway Railway with Gretchen (they rode this a couple of times by themselves).

And as a side note, this is the first time we have had kids old enough to send out on their own!  Sometimes when I was busy with dance and Rachel, Marshall and Bridget would go off and do the big rides and Richard and Gretchen would stick together.  That's a pretty big milestone!  

*Gretchen:  Grizz is rocking 2nd grade.  She is a whizz at math and is rocking reading.  She does her bit of homework every night without complaint.  She is loving dance and tells me all about their Christmas dance and their competition routines.  I cannot wait to see her on stage!  She needed tan jazz shoes so a couple of Saturdays ago I took her to Pat's Dancewear, where my Mom used to take me!  Grizz has the tiniest little feet.  The cute girl who was helping us kept commenting how tiny she was.  Small Bear Cub!  Speaking of small, Gretchen was repeatedly asked her age when she would get on a ride at Disneyland.  It became comical.  Sometimes they even asked her twice on the same ride, just to verify that she was okay to sit wherever she was sitting.  It made us smile every single time.  Gretchen remains our social butterfly.  She loves playing with neighborhood friends and school friends.  A couple of Fridays ago, the elementary school had their fall carnival.  We did this last year with Rachel in a wheelchair, and the girls begged me to go, but I had zero desire to hobble around there.  I pawned Rachel and Gretchen off on friends, and they both had a ball!  Gretchen played with the Hope girls in Mrs. Hope's classroom after school, then they picked up their younger sister from daycare, got pizza for dinner, went to the carnival, and then ended the night at Chick-Fil-A for shakes.  Best day ever for little Gretchen.  She came home on Cloud 9.  The whole seven weeks I lived with my parents, Gretchen slept in my bed with Richard.  :)  When I moved home, she was good at sleeping in her bed for a few nights, but it has definitely been an on-again, off-again struggle the last couple of weeks.  In California, Rachel, Gretchen, and I all shared a bed...a queen size bed...that was fun.  :)  Oh, speaking of sleep, we were at Bridget and Rachel's Halloween piano recital on Friday evening and Gretchen fell asleep on me!  I loved it.  I don't know the last time that happened.  Bear Cub forever!  Since before I even moved back home, Gretchen has been talking about The Wild Robot.  Her teacher read the first book to the class this fall and Gretchen loved it.  The movie came out a few weeks ago and Grizz and I had a Thursday night date to the movies.  It was an exceptional movie and I loved my time out with her.  Side note:  I completely underestimated how many stairs I would need to get up to get to our seats.  I was in a full blown sweat after crutching up 12 stairs.  I was proud of myself for getting up, but there was zero way I was crutching down.  So, when the movie was done, I scooted down all 12 stairs.  It was a lovely little low moment in my life.  Gretchen was a good sport about it.  

*Rachel:  Rachel is rocking her busy life.  Dance Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, piano on Wednesday, and if she can finagle it, a Wednesday evening hangout with friends.  Thankfully, her teacher this year gives very minimal homework.  It was so fun to watch Rachel perform in Disneyland.  They learned the dances in August, rehearsed just once a week, and then put them on the stage in October.  Considering how many hours they put into competition pieces, this was not a lot of rehearsal time, but they all shined on the stage.  My heart was soaring watching Rachel.  She has the best facial expressions and I love it.  Rachel also had fun at the school carnival.  She went home with Eily after school, and then went to the carnival, and then they came back here to hang.  Because of student council, she also had a 30 minute time slot of selling tickets at the carnival and had a lot of fun doing that.  Rachel rocked her piano recital on Friday evening.  She played a very dynamic song and she played it in a very commanding way!  One other thing I have to write about Rachel, Rachel has been hoping and hoping for a temple in Wisconsin, specifically Milwaukee.  We have told her for years that a temple in Wisconsin probably will not happen any time soon, but cute Rachel has held out hope.  Well, you better believe Rachel was beside herself with excitement when President Nelson announced a temple in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  We were all thrilled, but I was especially happy for Rachel.  She has been begging me to pay her her allowance so that she can pay her tithing so the temple can be built.  :)  Of course, whenever it is done, we 100% plan to go to the open house!  

*Bridget:  Bridget is loving jazz band.  Seriously loving it.  She isn't always loving that Marshall is her ride to jazz band and doesn't always leave as early as she would like, but she hasn't been late yet!  The band concert was a couple of weeks ago and it was fun to see her up there with jazz band and the 8th grade band.  Now that their fall concert is behind them, they dove into Christmas music last week and she is so happy about it.  Bridget also had her piano recital on Friday evening and played beautifully.  I don't think she made one mistake.  I hear her practice at home, but every time I watch her play the piano at a recital, I am blown away by this beautiful touch she has with the keys.  It is just gorgeous.  And I love it.  Bridget is still thriving at the farm.  A couple of weeks before I broke my ankle, I started to feel like the girls didn't need our help at the farm anymore.  The chicken watering situation has greatly improved, and I felt like they could tackle it on their own!  Melanie was an angel and covered the farm for seven weeks straight (including everything with the state fair) with the girls.  To pay her back, I am taking all of October, but all I do is drop the girls off and pick them up!  Praise the heavens!!!  On Saturday my Dad came to help clean out our garage and I had him throw away my pair of farm boots and two pairs of shoes I had been wearing at the farm...good riddance!  But, B loves it, and it is her happy place.  Last Monday evening she took a picture of every goat and came home and showed me all of them.  The Garlicks have been building a new milking shed for over a year and it is finally finished and Bridget loves it.  B has had some fun friend hangouts lately.  She even went to the school carnival with junior high friends, and ended up with a fun group she isn't usually with and had a ball.  She went to Cambria's family Halloween party a couple of weekends ago, and per the usual, those two had the time of their lives.  On Friday night she went to Avery's birthday party and also had a great time.  Growing up!  On Saturday I was able to take her to the temple to do baptisms and that was so great.  Love her.  

*Marshall:  So much going on in this kid's life.  Marshall got a second MRI of his leg at the beginning of October.  It showed huge improvement, but was not completely healed.  Richard estimated he needed two more weeks, and so far, that has seemed to be true.  He hit the two week mark when we got to Disneyland.  He did a lot of walking those three days, and reassured us he was fine.  Last week he ran one mile around the track Monday-Friday and was pain free.  This week, he has bumped up to 1.5 miles, and reports that he is good.  He is very happy to be back at it.  Marshall survived his first term of his sophomore year.  He didn't quite pull off a 4.0, but before and after, we assured him that there is nothing wrong with an A-!  Marshall has also become quite a social butterfly, and it really does make me so happy.  He has gone to birthday parties, surprise parties, hangouts after XC practice, and the most recent was his day date for the Sadie Hawkin's dance this last Saturday.  The dance isn't for a couple of more weeks, but it seems the current trend is to do the "day activity" on a different day!  Anyway, they all got together and painted self-portraits of each other.  :)  Marshall's portrait is currently displayed in the kitchen, and he tells me his painting of Camile was "not good".  Such a fun activity for these kids though!  Richard, Marshall, and Marshall's friend Gabe, did go to the Arizona game that was in Provo a couple of weeks ago.  Huge win for BYU and all three of them loved being there.  

*Richard:  Richard is very happy to have his wife home, though so much still falls on his plate.  :)  He has put Gretchen to bed every single night-for two reasons.  One, and the most important, she wants Richard to put her to bed (it is quite cute to peek in on, they read each other books).  And two, her room is SO messy, I literally cannot get past the doorway with my boot and crutches.  He has also given a lot of help with meals and cleaning up the kitchen.  And laundry.  Bless him.  He is also in the middle of installing all our window treatments-some of those have been easy, and others have not!  Obviously, Richard is super happy with BYU football right now.  What a season they are having!  BYU played Oklahoma while we were in Disneyland so he was keeping a close eye on the game as we navigated Disney and the walk back to our hotel.  We were all just crawling into bed for the night when BYU had that amazing touchdown pass to win the game in the final minutes.  So exciting!  

*Jenny:  Man, I am here!  I cried a fair amount of tears for the seven weeks that I lived with my parents, but those tears have definitely continued at home!  I have days where I am okay.  I am content with my current limited abilities and I am hopeful and optimistic, and it is easier to remember that things will get better and easier each week.  But then I have days, more often then I would like to admit, that are so hard and discouraging.  It takes me a long time to do anything, and that is frustrating.  I get easily overwhelmed by how unsettled our house is and how little I can do about it.  For someone who likes control, productivity, and order in their life, this has been very hard.  I have cried, a lot!  But, I and we are getting things done.  My parents have been a HUGE help, and Richard and the kids too.  I know I will get better and our house will come together, it is just challenging to be in the middle of it.  Physical therapy is coming along great.  I am still wearing the boot and walking with crutches, but by the middle of October I could tell I was walking more normally.  The last few days I have been taking some steps around the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom without my crutches.  Putting weight on my foot has not been painful.  It is the motion of rolling through and walking that causes me to wince a bit, I am attributing this to still stiff and tight tendons, ligaments, and muscles.  So fun!

To conclude, I need to write about something very special.  A few times through our remodel I thought of my Grandma Yancey and how happy this major home renovation would make her.  They were just fleeting thoughts, but they always made me smile.  Then, in July my Mom told me that my Uncle Bob and Aunt Anne Beale, who have had my Grandma's piano since 2016, were ready to part with it.  I immediately reached out to my Uncle Bob and after working out a few things, we found out the end of July that the piano could be ours.  I was overjoyed!  Bob and Anne Beale have been so kind to hang onto the piano as our home completion date has just dragged on and on.  By the second week of October, I felt like things were settled enough that we could bring the piano in!  I reached out to the same company who moved our piano upstairs at the beginning of the remodel and we set the date!  In the handful of days leading up to its arrival, I thought of my Grandma often.  I started to feel that the piano was always meant to be here, but Bob and Anne Beale were just watching over it until the time was right for me to take it in.  On Saturday, October 12th, the movers picked up the piano from Bob and Anne Beale and drove it here.  They brought this gorgeous piano in so carefully and reattached the legs and positioned it right where I wanted it.  It took a bit of time to get everything settled, but I was just so happy when it was all done.  As soon as the movers left, Rachel and Gretchen came running in (everyone else was gone).  They played a few songs and spent just a handful of minutes with it before going back to playing in the loft.  When they left, I just stood in the living room (with the help of my scooter) and took it all in.  I took a few pictures and sent them to my uncle and my Mom.  Then, I sat down to play.  I have one song from my teenage years still partially memorized, so after running through that a few times, I wanted to play some other songs.  When our music cabinet was moved to the living room in the beginning of October, all of the music was taken out and was left in multiple stacks all over our bedroom floor, piano music and clarinet music everywhere!  We hadn't put the music back in because we weren't 100% sure where we wanted the cabinet.  Anyway, I called Rachel into the living room and asked her to run upstairs and find a hymn book for me in my bedroom.  I didn't necessarily want to play hymns, but I knew that would be way easier for her to find instead of a random piece of sheet music!  A couple of minutes later, she came back down and handed me a simplified hymnbook.  I was bummed!  I asked her if she could find a regular hymn book and she told me she looked and couldn't find anything else.  I begrudgingly took the book, opened to the middle, didn't like the two hymn choices there, so I opened to the front, looking for a table of contents.  What I found instead, literally took my breath away, and then I cried.  The book Rachel brought me is the simplified hymn book my grandparents gave me when I turned nine.  (We have a couple simplified hymn books.) Right inside the front cover, in my Grandma Yancey's handwriting, was a note to me on my 9th birthday.  To see the words, "To Jenny" in her handwriting, as I was sitting at her piano, that had just been delivered to my home, was the sweetest moment to me.  I just sat there and cried.  I just feel like she orchestrated all of this, and I am so grateful for it.  

I have so many memories of my Grandma Yancey and this piano.  And I have memories of me at this piano.  I started taking piano lessons when I was five from my Grandma, and this is the piano she used to teach me.  I have countless memories of her playing the piano and me dancing around the living room.  When we lived with my grandparents before we moved to Wisconsin, I played this piano a lot.  One night, my Grandma fell twice during the night and both times my Grandpa asked me and Richard to help get her back in bed.  The second fall was early in the morning.  Once we got her back in bed, I sat with her until she fell asleep and until I felt I could call my Mom and have her answer.  Once I knew my Mom was coming and my Grandma was sleeping, I went to the living room and played the piano until my Mom came, it was all I could think to do to calm my worried heart.  I am crying while I am writing this!  I just feel like this is a huge hug from heaven, from God, and from my Grandma that came in a really, really challenging season, and I am beyond grateful for it.  This beautiful piano gets played every day, multiple times a day, not just from our girls who are taking lessons, but from all of us.  Even Richard and Marshall have sat down to play it and it just sounds beautiful.  I am so thankful.  

And on that note, I will end yet another lengthy email.  Love each of you, very much.

Love,

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

The Leake's Week-September 30, 2024

 Hello!

Here we are closing out September.  So bananas!  To start with a pessimistic view, I still cannot put weight on my foot, our house is still not done, and I am still not living at home!  BUT, this should all change this coming week...please bless that it will all change!

My next appointment with my surgeon is on Wednesday.  I will hit six weeks post-surgery on Thursday and should be able to start being partial weight bearing this week.  Now, I have no idea what this is actually going to look like, and I have a feeling I am in for a whole new adventure, which I am starting to think is going to be very challenging, but regardless, Thursday signals my halfway point in this recovery with a boot and crutches.  

Also, our house should be done on Friday.  Final inspection is scheduled for Friday afternoon, and by golly, I am not going to let that get pushed back.  My Mom and I have a cleaning and unpacking plan that starts today so that I can finally move home on Friday night and sleep in my own bed!  We are getting lots of help from wonderful friends, and as long as all these sub-contractors can get their jobs done, we should be good.  Please, please, please let it be!

So, here are the highlights from the last two weeks:

Gretchen had her birthday outing with my parents on the 20th, and she invited her dear cousin, Cal, to come along.  Per Gretchen's request, they went shopping at Target and then just came back to my parents' house to play and do crafts and have dinner.  While I have been living here, it has been fun to join in on two birthday outings for my kids!  We all ate dinner together outside and Gretchen and Cal led us in a fantastic discussion about all sorts of things, including the Tooth Fairy.  :)  Loved it. 

Richard and Marshall made it down to BYU last weekend for that crazy football game against Kansas State.  What a game!  What a few minutes of the game!  That evening, my parents were gone, and Bridget and Rachel were off with friends so Gretchen was over here with me.  I told Richard I was pretty sure that between the help of my scooter, and Gretchen, I could make us macaroni and cheese for dinner.  And we did it!  It was so fun to have that one-on-one time with Grizz and she was a great helper in the kitchen.  May this willingness to help stay with her and all my kids for the next several weeks!  

Richard went to an Elders Quorum dutch oven dinner this last Thursday evening and had a great time.  Great food, great company.  I am glad he was able to escape the madness of our life and go socialize for a while.  

Also on Thursday night Marshall was asked to the Sadie Hawkins dance!  The dance isn't until November 9th, so I think to be asked in September is a pretty big deal.  The sweet girl who asked him is that same girl who helped him and his friends ask girls to homecoming.  Bless this amazing girl!!!  Richard was so kind and thought to FaceTime me late Thursday night so that I could join in on the fun.  And turns out, Bridget was in on this!  The younger sister and reached out to Bridget to verify our address and make sure Marshall's car would be parked outside.  Lucky for her, all our cars are parked outside right now, but unlucky for her, Marshall parks right next to the porta-potty that has graced our driveway for eight plus months.  Smells terrible currently.  Anyway, the girls covered up our camera doorbell (smart thinking) and made a trail of chocolates from the front door all the way to Marshall's car.  Marshall's car was covered in yellow post-it notes and on the back windshield the post its notes spelled Sadie.  Then, in little red paper letters, scattered around the car, were the letters of Camille's name.  So, so fun.  I am so glad he got asked, talk about a confidence boost.  

And speaking of cars, Richard got his new car!  He picked it up on the 20th.  It's the brand new Toyota Crown Signia.  He has been driving it for over a week and has really been loving it.  

Marshall has spent his last two Fridays at the symphony with friends fulfilling a band requirement.  The first Friday it was music from movies that he is very familiar with, plus they had brought in Cirque Du Soleil type performers, so it was very cool.  I thought this last Friday was just a regular symphony and when I asked Marshall about it Saturday morning I asked him if it was boring.  He quickly told me it was amazing.  They brought in a guest trumpet player who played a trumpet with four valves and Marshall said it was amazing.  I loved his response!  

Rachel is on student council this year and Friday was their first community service project.  Their advisor arranged for the student council kids to go to an assisted living center and play games with the residents.  Rachel, and two of her other friends had dance, so they missed a chunk of this activity, but they did rush over right after dance and still got some good fun in.  When Rachel isn't at school, she is at dance, or with friends, or both!  Her dance team had a party Saturday night and she had a blast.  

Quick update on me...I can tell my ankle is getting better and better.  I have been diligent at taking my boot off and moving my ankle (point and flex only).  I wish I could report substantial progress, but I can only report a bit of progress!  But, better than nothing.  I literally could only wiggle my toes at my first check-up, so there has been some progress, but gosh, I know I have a LONG way to go.  For the last several days, I have been doing more and more in the kitchen.  My scooter is a lifesaver.  I can get any meal all for myself now.  This may sound small, but this is seriously huge.  I am back at church, and at my church meetings.  And this is no small feat, because our blasted church is two levels and has stairs.  I don't take the stairs, but instead I get back in the car, and Richard drives me to the lower parking lot!  Haha!  Saturday morning I was stressed out of my mind because Bridget and I had a youth planning meeting at 9:00 in someone's backyard and then the kids and I had flu shots at 10:00, and Richard was working this weekend so zero help to me.  Again, in my normal life, none of this is a big deal, but I am not living a normal life right now!  But, I managed to navigate the grass of this yard on my scooter without falling over, Marshall picked us up on time and drove us safely to and from our flu shots, and all the kids were so helpful to unload and load my scooter and hold doors and just bless those sweet little cherubs.  It actually did my heart a whole lot of good to be with all four of them in the car, we talked the whole time, and I love them dearly.  Richard did take me home last Saturday for a bit.  We had lunch on the deck and then I crutched around the main floor to look at everything.  It was great to be there.  On Thursday evening I was going stir-crazy and thought a walk/scoot at the park might do me some good.  My Dad took me and walked as I scootered around.  It was both stressful and refreshing.  Over a 20 minute walk/scooter-ride!  I did have one little mishap.  My scooter does not handle flooring transitions super great, or cracks in the sidewalk.  Most of our walk was on an asphalt path, and that was great, but we had some short segments on cement.  I was going slow, but at one point, my scooter did not clear the crack, so the scooter momentum stopped, but my body momentum was still going forward.  To prevent myself from falling over, I put my left foot down instinctively.  Both my Dad and I immediately said, "Oops!"  But, I am thrilled to report, it did not hurt!  My boot really protects it, but when I accidentally put weight on it one week after my surgery, I literally wanted to die. It hurt so bad.  This did not hurt!  Later that evening, I could tell my ankle was a little sore, but nothing troubling, and when I woke up Friday morning, it felt totally normal.  So, progress, progress, progress.  And speaking of progress, my ankle still has an ace wrap on it to continue to help with swelling.  My Mom and I take the wrap off every 3ish days.  She has been cleaning it, without getting my incisions wet, to just get off all the betadine and dead skin.  :)  Skip ahead if you don't want to read about the appearance of my ankle these last couple of weeks!  Every time I look at my ankle, I feel discouraged and worried.  My foot is still bruised, it has been so swollen, and discolored because of the betadine.  I have markings on it from surgery still, healing incisions and stitches, zip ties, and tape.  The middle of last week I told my Mom it looked like a cadavers foot.  It looked so leathery and gross to me.  Well, Saturday evening, my Mom unwrapped it and I was blessed to behold the most beautiful sight.  The swelling had significantly decreased in 72 hours.  The coloring was pretty good.  Bruising is fading.  And for the first time, it looked like an ankle.  Oh my gosh, I was SO happy.  So happy.  We unwrapped it again last night because I felt like the wrap was pulling on my incisions and it still looked good!  I am on Cloud 9.  Yesterday was my 6-week mark from when I broke it, and I am just SO grateful to be on this end of things, which is still not even halfway through my recovery, but I am feeling very grateful.  

Alright, I think that is it!  Thanks for all your love, support, and encouragement.  We love each of you.

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

The Leake's Week-September 17, 2024

 Hello!

This last week has been a HUGE week of milestones!  Here they are...

*Last Monday morning, Marshall had his last driving session with his driving instructor and as luck would have it, at 6:45 am he was able to take his driving test!  For several reasons, we had had a hard time scheduling his driving test, so even though he was very nervous, he was very happy to all of a sudden be doing it!  He passed!  On Tuesday afternoon, my Mom and I loaded up here and drove to our house, picked up Marshall, and drove to the DMV!  I vividly remember doing this with my Mom in 1999-same DMV!  Time is crazy.  Anyway, my Mom dropped us off right in front and I crutched my way in and Marshall was good to hold all the doors for me.  I let him do all the talking as I just tried to focus on not falling over and keeping my tired leg up!  Fifteen minutes is a long time to stand with one of your legs raised!  Marshall did great though.  And the man who helped us was great too.  He kindly reminded Marshall that his parents can take away his license at any time and encouraged him to be kind, helpful, and responsible.  :)  I appreciated his pep talk!  Much to Marshall's dismay, we didn't let him drive to school on Wednesday.  But, he has been living his best life since Thursday morning!  He took Bridget to jazz band last Thursday and Friday morning and then drove straight to the high school.  He drives home from practice.  He drove the girls over here on Friday afternoon.  He drove himself to the football game on Friday night.  He drove himself to Gretchen's baptism.  He picked up his corsage for homecoming Saturday afternoon!  He feels that he has found true freedom!  Haha!  It blows my mind that we are old enough to have a child who can drive a car, but here we are, and I know time will keep flying by.

*Friday morning was a big milestone for me!  I officially hit three weeks post-surgery, which means that I am halfway through my non-weight bearing recovery for this blasted ankle.  Yay!!!  On Thursday morning, Stacie was so kind to swing by my house and pick up my knee scooter.  She brought it over here and put it together.  I worked up enough courage to get on it Thursday afternoon.  I was terrified!  We made some adjustments to the height of a couple of things and I took it for a spin around the kitchen a few times.  I got back on it Thursday night and did much better and was on it for quite a while.  My plan was to use it on Friday for my check-up so I was grateful for the practice.  On Friday morning, just after 8:00 am, my Dad and I were out the door for my check-up!  It is quite the process.  He pulls out the car, loads my scooter, I crutch out the door and down the stairs, slide myself in the car, he takes the crutches.  It is a process!  But, we did it!  The scooter was a lifesaver at the doctor, I definitely still have to focus on balance and be aware of all the floor transitions, but it takes less energy than the crutches!  My appointment was good!  They took off the cotton splint and removed one stitch on the inside of my left leg (where the long screws were inserted-shudder!) When I go back in 2 1/2 weeks, they will remove the stitches from the other side, and there are a lot.  Ugh.  Makes me queasy just thinking about it!  Anyway, after all of that was done, they took me for x-rays.  The x-rays look really good.  Everything is lining up well and looks great.  They put an ace wrap on my ankle just to continue to help with swelling and they gave me a new boot-hooray!  It is still heavy, but it is way better than my other boot.  It fits way better and my ankle is snug and secure in there.  As I have been getting used to its size, the boot has brushed against the floor just a bit as I am crutching or it taps something and I literally feel nothing internally.  Very padded and protected!  They did say that when I am sitting or laying down, and safe, I can take the boot off.  I can ice and heat directly on my ankle, and they want me to start pointing and flexing my foot.  I have been very compliant in doing this!  My range of motion is obviously super limited....my foot had been in the same position for 27 days!  But, I just keep remembering the words from Rachel's PT-"Motion is lotion!"  I know I will see progress each week!  

*Gretchen was baptized on Saturday morning!  Our youngest.  So crazy.  Once again, time flies.  Her baptism was at 10:00 and Richard, Bridget, and Gretchen got to the stake center shortly before 9:30.  I got there soon after with my parents, but sweet Bridget had already helped Gretchen change into her white dress.  I am over the moon that Gretchen chose to wear a dress.  I was baptized in a dress and I could not talk Bridget and Rachel into it, so Gretchen made my day with the selection of a dress over a jumpsuit.  :)  She looked darling.  We spent the next 20 or so minutes waiting for family to gather and taking pictures.  Gretchen did not love all the attention, not at all surprising, so she was not super cooperative for pictures with us, but that's okay.  :)   Gretchen shared her baptism day with our sweet neighbor, Charlie.  They are exactly one week apart in age and we moved in when they were both just 21 months old.  They have been good little friends all these years and I loved that we got to share this special day with the Atkinson family.  As part of the program before the baptism, Rachel shared her testimony, per Gretchen's request.  It was so tender and heartfelt and I am so grateful to Rachel for being willing to do that.  After we moved into the Relief Society room for the baptism, Gretchen was baptized first.  Marshall and Bridget were the witnesses.  Both Richard and Gretchen did a great job.  Gretchen had been real resistant to practicing with Richard beforehand, though he did get her into a classroom for about one minute before we went to the chapel!  But, she did so good!  She walked down the steps and just had the happiest expression on her face.  She let Richard position her exactly where she needed to be.  Between her dress and her hair being down, Richard had a lot to keep track of, but they both did fantastic.  She came out of the water so happy.  Bridget went right back to the bathroom with her and Rachel and I went around through the hallway and met up with them in there.  Cute Gretchen.  :)  Bridget and Rachel did so great helping Gretchen get changed.  I just sat on my scooter.  :)  I will write more about this part in a different paragraph.  :)  After we were back in the Relief Society room, Richard gave Gretchen a beautiful confirmation blessing.  I was so grateful that we could have both of our dads, and two of my brothers in the circle.  Definitely a special morning.  After all of that we just got to visit with Gretchen's friends who had come and take pictures and it was just so great.  We then made our way to my parents' house and my Mom, daughters, and sister-in-laws all pitched in to provide a great lunch for everyone.  I just sat on the back patio with my foot up and people brought me food and talked to me.  :)  Gretchen, the guest of honor, had a great time.  She loves any time with cousins and had a great afternoon.  Once everything was done here, Richard took her to Deseret Book to pick out her own scriptures and scripture case.  She was insistent that she did not want her name engraved on them!  She picked out a darling case and was so excited to show me on Sunday.  Richard texted me last night that Gretchen was reading Genesis.  :)  Such a special weekend for our little Bear Cub.

*Our ward had their primary program the next day, so you bet I went to sacrament meeting for that.  This was Rachel's last primary program.  Rachel, and our neighbor, Nolan, were the narrators, so they each got to speak 3 or 4 different times.  Gretchen's class was the last class to speak and they each got to write their own parts about their baptisms.  Gretchen and I talked on FaceTime Saturday evening about how she had felt that morning.  I was kind of planning that I would have to pull information out of her and basically write her part myself.  But, she and I had the sweetest discussion.  I could tell she had already put some thought into what she wanted to say and she was quick to share with me how she felt that morning.  Even though we weren't in person, I am still so grateful for the FaceTime call and the few minutes she and I had to talk through her feelings from her special baptism day.  

*A lighthearted moment I must record!  As I mentioned earlier, Bridget, Rachel and myself were all in the bathroom with Grethen after she was baptized.  Bridget and Rachel did all the work and I just sat there on my scooter.  As Bridget was helping Gretchen dry off, I noticed that Gretchen's flip-flops were sitting there on the bench!  I asked Gretchen if she really wore flip-flops to her baptism!  I was dying inside!  Gretchen immediately said yes!  Bridget quickly chimed in that she told Gretchen not to wear them.  :)  After Gretchen got her dress on, Bridget was brushing her hair, and Gretchen pulled out mascara and lip gloss from her bag!  She started to put on the mascara, and I told her to wait until Bridget was done brushing her hair.  Meanwhile, Rachel exclaims, "Hey, that's my mascara!"  To which Grethcen replied, "I know."  :)  Gretchen agreed to wait on the mascara, but the moment Bridget was done, Gretchen was going at it.  This was all without a mirror.  Gretchen did her first eye really well, but totally mucked up her second eye.  Without missing a beat, Rachel immediately licks her own finger to step in and solve this mishap, but mind you, Rachel showed up to Gretchen's baptism with incredibly long fake nails on!  Ah!!!  You can guess where this is going.  Mascara smeared allllllll over and Gretchen not that happy about a long nail coming at her eye!  My word.  I sent the girls to the sink to get paper towels and water to clean Gretchen up.  As you know, church paper towels aren't the softest and before long Gretchen was done.  Thankfully, we had a wet towel that helped us with the rest, but good grief.  Gretchen ended up skipping the lip gloss, but she did put on clip-on earrings, and rounded out her look with the flip-flops.  It was comical!  I just had to smile, shake my head, remember that I am not living with my family, realize that I have lost all control, and just be grateful that I did not slip on the wet tile floor when I had to stand up to get back on my scooter.  

*Last milestone...homecoming!!!  Marshall went to homecoming!  I wrote in my previous email that he asked a girl without any of us knowing.  He told me on Sunday evening that what really happened is the Friday before Labor Day, a wonderful girl on the cross country team, convinced Marshall and three other guys to come over to her house and ask some girls to homecoming.  She made their posters, and while they colored them, she figured out which girls could go and hadn't been asked yet.  Bless this girl!  They prepped everything that afternoon and then asked the girls a couple of days later.  Marshall's date was a darling girl named Eliza.  This last week was super stressful for Marshall, but also lots of fun.  They had a group text going between the boys, and then a group text with everyone in the group.  Their initial plan was to do their "day date" on Tuesday evening and go to Top Golf.  They chose Tuesday, because that night is cheaper at Top Golf, but those cute boys didn't realize how early you have to reserve your time on a Tuesday evening.  They had to scramble last minute and decided to just play frisbee golf at the park and then go to Dairy Queen.  On Saturday, they met at a park for pictures, and then went to Dex's house for dinner, then off to the dance (the first time Marshall has ever slow danced with a girl!) and then they went to Gabe's house for apple crisp and games.  Richard picked up Marshall and Eliza at midnight and they took her home.  A success!  Marshall told me he did have fun, and will go to the next boys choice dance.  Two funny things I want to record real quick...I helped him buy a corsage early last week.  When I asked him the color, he said, "Ugh!  Aren't flowers all the same color?!"  Haha!  It cracked me up.  Second, I asked him earlier in the week if he knew how to slow dance with a girl.  He said no, but that Gabe was going to teach all the guys in their group how to dance.  I forgot to follow-up with him on this, so when I talked to Marshall on Sunday he told me that after dinner, the girls went inside and the boys stayed outside so Gabe could teach them how to dance!  I was dying!  Oh how I would have loved to see this play out!  

So there you have it.  I wish I had a milestone to report for our house...there is progress, but a lot slower than we would like.  One day it will be done and I can move back home.  Sigh.

Love each one of you!

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