"Mom, Will You Take Pictures of Us Eating But Don't Tell Us When You're Taking Pictures?"

 

Like a Bear

I've joked for years that I would love to hibernate through January because the cold is so painful. I would definitely not call what I'm doing right now hibernating since that generally involves sleeping. However, I do get to spend January inside my house, only going outside if I choose to and not because I have to.

Today marks ten months since we started our at-home-all-the-time adventure, and it doesn't appear to be ending any time soon. But that's okay, because staying inside gets me through this cold month a little easier than usual.

And that, my friends, is a silver lining.

Read Me a Story

Advanced

Yesterday, in our living room, Bryan ordained Peter a priest in the Aaronic priesthood. Our Bishop and some family members were able to join over Zoom. This was such a blessing and, as my Grandma put it, a lot easier than having them travel to witness this special event. Next Sunday when we have the sacrament at home, Peter will be able to bless it. That is very exciting.

The Sous-Chef

 

Make New Friends

Topher got a big bag of Play-Doh for Christmas full of lots of tiny, party-favor sized containers. He's enjoyed having some creative play each day this week.

He's not the only one.

Chaos

Today is hard. 

Not with the kids, it was a pretty good day for them. 

It's hard for our nation. 

I've felt for a long time like parts of the system were broken, and tonight I am feeling that sadness deep in my soul. Bryan and I followed what happened in Washington D.C. today closely. We talked with the kids about it during dinner. We talked about political parties and domestic terrorism and what a peaceful transition of power should look like. After the kids went to bed Bryan and I read reactions from people we know and love of both extremes posted on Facebook.

And my heart hurts.

Writing Buddies

 

The Biblio Files: 2020

It's that magical time of year when I post all the books that I read during the last fifty-two weeks. The theme for our two-person book club was Classics I Should Have Read But Haven't and included Jane Eyre and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Occasionally we would pick a book that one of us had read but the other hadn't, so not all of them were new, but it was good to revisit. And a big change from last year: I actually read books with my eyes and not just my ears! Starting in October I began using my Kindle Paperwhite a lot more and I really enjoyed having a mixture of audiobooks and print books.

The book club picks (for both book clubs) are italicized, the excellent reads that stuck with me and were profound are underlined, and the books that I read on my Kindle are starred. This list only contains the books I finished, there were several I started and returned to the library without completing. They don't get a place of honor on the list.

January:

1. How to Raise an Adult by Julie Lythcott-Haims
2. A Place to Belong edited by Hollie Rhees Fluhman and Camille Fronk Olsen
3. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
4. Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
5. The More of Less by Joshua Becker
6. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
7. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
8. Spin by Neil Fishman and Harvey Edelman
9. Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

February:

1. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling
2. The Year of Less by Cait Flanders
3. Sunny by Jason Reynolds
4. Patina by Jason Reynolds
5. Golden Answers by John Bytheway
6. How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age by Dale Carnegie and Brent Cole
7. Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly

March:

1. Saints Volume 1
2. Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly
3. Saints Volume 2
4. I Saw the Lord: Joseph's First Vision Combined from Nine Accounts by Kerry Muhlestein
5. The Book of Mormon is the Word of God by Ezra Taft Benson

April:

1. Doctrine and Covenants
2. Book of Mormon
3. Funny, You Don't Look Autistic by Michael McCreary
4. Food by Jim Gaffigan
5. Lu by Jason Reynolds
6. Because of the Christ on Calvary by Brad Wilcox
7. Grace Where You Are by Emily Belle Freeman
8. Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
9. The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
10. Dad Is Fat by Jim Gaffigan
11. Middlemarch by George Elliot

May:

1. The Enchantress Returns by Christ Colfer
2. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
3. Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
4. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
5. Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen
6. Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman
7. Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
8. No Time Like Now by Troy Dunn

June:

1. Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
2. Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
3. Argo by Tony Mendez and Matt Baglio
4. Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne
5. The Alchemyst by Michael Scott
6. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
7. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
8. The Three Musketeers (abridged) by Alexander Dumas
9. So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
10. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

July:

1. Austenland by Shannon Hale
2. They Can't Kill Us All by Wesley Lowery
3. Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
4. Even This by Emily Belle Freeman
5. Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
6. Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
7. The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
8. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

August:

1. How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
2. Spirit by David Butler
3. Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds
4. Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan
5. Without the Mask by Charlie Bird
6. The Condemnation of Blackness Khalil Gibran Muhammad
7. Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad

September:

1. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
2. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
3. Animal Farm by George Orwell
4. 1984 by George Orwell
5. The Power of Stillness by Jacob Z. Hess, Carrie Skarda, Kyle Anderson, Ty Mansfield
6. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

October:

1. White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
2. To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han
3. P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han*
4. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
5. Harry Potter and Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
6. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
7. Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey
8. Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han*
9. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
10. Healing from Hidden Abuse by Shannon Thomas

November:

1. Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George*
2. Fathers of the Prophets by Susan Arrington Madsen, Rebecca Madsen Thornton, and Emily Madsen Jones
3. Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George*
4. Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George*
5. Covenant Motherhood by Stephanie Dibb Sorensen
6. Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand
7. Princess of the Silver Woods by Jessica Day George*
8. Born This Happy Morning by John Bytheway
9. Wednesdays in the Tower by Jessica Day George*
10. A Return to Christmas by Chris Heimerdinger

December:

1. Bleak House by Charles Dickens
2. Dying of Whiteness by Jonathan Metzl
3. Stamped From the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi
4. Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
5. The Mansion by Henry Van Dyke
6. The Book of Mormon
7. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
8. Rising Strong by Brene Bown
9. October 2020 General Conference
10. The Self-Driven Child by William Stixrud and Ned Johnson

Hello, 2021

For the first time ever, we let Sophie stay up until midnight for New Year's Eve. We even let Topher stay up until 9, two hours past his 7 o'clock bedtime. That means we had a bunch of very tired people at our house today and everyone was tucked in early tonight.

To say goodbye to 2020 we ate finger foods

and tamales.

Bryan found these cute cookies that the kids had fun painting before eating. I think this activity filled our gingerbread house quota for this holiday season.

And we ended the night watching the new Pixar movie Soul. It's wonderful and so beautifully done. It prompted many discussions last night and today about big existential questions which Bryan tied back into the scriptures. I don't want to spoil the movie, so I won't say more than that.

We watched the ball drop into a sparsely populated Times Square and chased the kids to bed.

We're really glad it's 2021.