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 :)

The Leake's Week-November 11, 2024

 Hello!

Here's a rundown of our week.  

Poor Gretchen started coming down with a cold last weekend.  She held strong until Sunday night, but then it finally hit her in full-force.  She stayed home from school Monday and Tuesday.  She went to school Wednesday, but we had her miss music and most of dance that day.   It's been a long time since she has had that bad of a cold, but she is doing much better now, just a lingering cough.  Thankfully, the rest of us have managed to avoid it, which I find completely surprising!  So that was Gretchen's Monday.  I did volunteer at the Charger Store that day, so sweet Grizz was left with the TV and a phone!  But, she did great, and as always, I loved my time at the junior high.  The fire alarm actually went off just as first lunch was starting.  Bless those junior high teachers who had to oversee half the student body who was at lunch and so felt they had freedom to roam anywhere.  Ha!  That evening, Rachel went to dance and Bridget was at the farm.  Marshall also went on his birthday outing with my parents-a seafood dinner at Sizzler  He loved it.  :)  Something we never treat him to.  :)  

Richard had work off on Tuesday.  Yay!  Always our favorite days.  He went to the temple that morning, and then ran some errands for me while I was at PT.  Big step of progres for me there.  I put a shoe on my left foot and walked (at the slowest possible pace with a physical therapist right by me the entire time) on the treadmill for eight minutes!  EIGHT minutes!  It was painful, but not terrible, and my ankle felt better the longer I walked.  I was holding onto the treadmill with two hands and the therapist was giving me a lot of corrections, which I did find very helpful.  Nothing like learning to walk again at age 41 to bring lots of humility into your life.  :)  But, all that aside, I was very grateful for that big step, figuratively and literally!  My wonderful Mom also came over on Tuesday and helped with a lot.  She wiped out the linen cabinet in our bathroom, swept and mopped the living room floor, unboxed lots of books and pictures, and helped Richard get our living room rug down.  Huge progress!  And I LOVE the rug.  One funny thing, as my Mom and Richard were working on the rug, they had to rotate it 180 degrees, and as they were problem solving that, my Mom said, "Well, there's more than one way to skin a cat."  She immediately caught herself and realized she shouldn't have said that with Gretchen right there, because Gretchen still is obsessed with cats!  Haha!  But, we thought nothing of it and all moved on.  Later that afternoon, I was sitting on the rug and asked Gretchen if she liked it, she immediately replied, "No!  You heard Grandma!  It's made of cat fur!"  Ahhh!  It gave me a great laugh, and now we are all trying to reassure Gretchen the rug is not made of cat fur.  :)  Rachel had dance that evening and was gone all night, but the rest of us were pretty glued to CNN's election coverage.  What a night.  Thankfully, most of us could sleep in on Wednesday.  We forced Bridget to bed at 11:00 and Richard, Marshall and I all went to bed at midnight.  

Richard had Wednesday off too.  Praise the heavens!  But, he did have to spend a good chunk of his morning at the dentist.  While he was gone, our appliance guy came back and finally finished installing the microwave and putting the trim around it.  Looks great!  The elementary school had early out Wednesday-Friday, so as soon as the appliance guy was gone, I ran down to the school and met Rachel and Gretchen at the book fair.  Always a highlight of the school year.  They each left with some new books that they promptly started reading as soon as we got home.  We were able to have a chill afternoon.  Richard spent a lot of time up in the loft during his days off of work unpacking and sorting and organizing things that go up there.  That night B and I went to YW's, Rachel had piano, and Gretchen went to a short time of dance.  

Thursday Richard was back to work.  I met my friend, Mary, for breakfast.  We have been friends since 5th grade, and it was so good to see her.  We had a great breakfast and then I went straight to physical therapy.  This time I walked on the treadmill only holding on with one hand!  I hate to admit how sore these treadmill walks have made my legs...both of them!  Happy and a little discouraging all at the same time!  After school, it was parent teacher conferences for Rachel and Gretchen.  They both got rave reviews from their teachers.  Their grades are great, hitting all their benchmarks, and excelling all around.  Very grateful for that.  Our evening was a busy one.  Piano for Bridget, dance for Rachel, RS activity for me, and haircut and chaperone meeting for Richard-but we pulled it all off!  Richard is going to be a chaperone on the cross country trip to California in December.  He is excited, but also after the meeting, maybe a little nervous!  Haha!  Marshall also did not want him to go, but he seems to be warming to the idea of having his Dad tag along!  And speaking of Marshall, his return to running has not been as smooth as we had hoped!  But, he ended this last week without pain, so we are keeping our fingers crossed for today!  

Friday!  Always a good day.  Rachel went to school early to help clean up the book fair with the student council.  I had a PTA meeting at the school that afternoon and finished just as the bell rang.  The girls and I ran to Target for a major haul of birthday gifts, pants, and home things.  They were great little shoppers.  Rachel went to Ellie's birthday party that evening and had the best time.  The rest of the kids were home and I actually made a real dinner, a huge rarity for two reasons.  One, I hardly do that anymore, and two, it was a Friday night!  Rachel was home a little before 8:30 and we decorated the living room Christmas tree!  It was the best.  I sat on the couch with my leg up and just took it all in as the kids decorated and Richard helped.  I did not want to leave that room when it was all done.  Between the piano, the tree, the new rug, Christmas pillows on the couch, it was so peaceful and beautiful and made me so happy.  This is the ONLY corner of our house that is fully put together, which makes me appreciate it even more!  I can only hope that in just a few weeks the rest of the house will be put together.  :)  After all of that, we watched funny instagram reels before calling it a night.  

Saturday was a busy day.  We managed to squeeze in a breakfast with most of us, and then Bridget was off to the farm.  Richard got a couple of things done around the house and then he left for work.  Richard usually works from home on the weekends, but because he was going to the BYU game that night, he decided to work at LDS Hospital that day.  The kids and I spent the day at home attempting to get jobs done.  :)  My Dad did come over that afternoon and helped me organize the cupboards in the laundry room.  While this seems like a small task, to me it wasn't, and I sure appreciated his help finding all that stuff in the garage, wiping it down, and getting it in the house.  Feels so great to have one more thing done.  Shortly after my Dad left, Marshall's cute date, Camille, came to pick him up for the Sadie Hawkins dance.  :)  It was fun to see them off.  That evening, Rachel went to yet another birthday party.  Bridget and Gretchen had Cambria and Naomi over and they played the night away while watching the BYU game.  As for me, my wonderful and dear friend, Shannon came over.  She brought dinner from Beaumont Bakery and we ate and talked and then watched the last episode of our current favorite Korean Drama!  Hospital Playlist!  It was such a fun evening.  Loved every minute of it.  Shannon left about 9:00, the girls' friends left at 10:30, right around the time Rachel got home.  Gretchen was beat and went straight to bed, but the rest of us stayed up to watch that very intense ending to the BYU-Utah game!  Wow!  Richard, obviously, was so happy he was there.  He and Ricky had fantastic seats and had a great view of that beautiful field goal to end the game.  Obviously they stayed to celebrate and got to give a bunch of BYU players high fives as they walked by.  What a great night!  At home, there was just as big of a celebration.  Rachel was a riot to watch in the final minutes of that game.  You may have seen a video Richard posted of her on social media.  Pure celebration from that Rachel Louise.  Such a fun night.  Ah!  I can't forget Marshall, though I have gotten minimal details from him about his date.  But, I do know that after Camille picked him up they went to someone's house and made homemade pizzas and then while the pizzas cooked they took pictures in the backyard.  After dinner they played games, one of which was Spoons-the game of my high school years!  After that, they went to the dance, there were zero slow dances, which made Marshall so happy.  After the dance they went to a house and watched the last hour of the BYU game and managed to all still stay friends even though some were cheering for different teams! Haha!  So much excitement, and also so much exhaustion on Sunday for all of us.  :)

Richard went to bed at 2:00 am and got up at 5:20 am for bishopric meeting, ward council, church, and then started working at 11:00 am.  My afternoon was filled with young women meetings.  After all of that, the girls and I went to Toney FHE.  Richard was still working and Marshall was exhausted and trying to finish homework.  The girls and I had a great time with family.  We got home just after 7:00 and enjoyed time at home with the six of us.  

That's it!  Thanks for reading.  :)  Love each of you!

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

P.S. I am attaching a few pictures from last week.  Gretchen asleep on the floor at stake conference.  And Halloween pictures of Rachel, taken by her friend's wonderful mom.  Bless her.  

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 :)