Oh Deeeaaaaar!!!

"Oh DEEEEAAAARRRR!"

This is one of my favorite phrases of Hudson's.

But not for this reason.

I got this picture while I was in a meeting yesterday morning.

I told Mia she should take him to Instacare.

No stitches, but glue it was.

Poor Squish.

All bandaged up.

Also, peep the artwork he created on their living room wall!!!!

 

The Tree

Hello, our 2025 tree.

You are beautiful.

You are decked with ornaments from years and years of memories.

Kaydon, Porter, Cooper, and Ryker decorated you magically.

You bring a feeling of coziness and warmth to our home.

 

Grandma's Service

Burke and I flew out of Beautiful Salt Lake City at the butt crack of dawn on Thursday.

We awoke at 3 AM to get to the airport.

He made sure I had a cold Diet Coke in the cup holder!

The flight was stunning.

I HATE flying.

I'm a terrible flyer.

However, he finally talked me into opening our window on takeoff.

I was in awe!!

This earth is magical.

The plane only had about 20 people on it.

It made it cozy and quiet for the hour we were in the air.

When we landed, we went to the house where my grandparents lived.

My auntie and uncle are moving into it now.

My mom and auntie have been cleaning, organizing, shredding, donating, etc. for about a month.

There was a pile of pictures I was asked to go through.

I took a few moments to go into the master bedroom.

It was quiet and I was alone.

I said my whispering goodbyes to my grandparents and to the house, the memories within and all that included.

Then we went to a delicious restaurant, called Huckleberry's.

It was DELICIOUS!

Friday morning, we got ready for the services.

Fresno was much colder than Utah was when we left.

We did not bring coats.

It was COLD.

The casket and flower arrangement were beautiful.

My mom and auntie did so good with all of the details.

My grandma would have been pleased.

After the services, I decided against going to the family luncheon.

Burke drove me out to my childhood neighborhood.

This is the house I grew up in.

3450 Browning Ave.

We drove by my old school, the schools I would have gone to, some of my favorite places, and along Van Ness Blvd.

Then we went to a delicious lunch at BJ's Brewery.

We awoke at 3 AM on Saturday and flew home.

I had the shade open again to catch all the details of the flight!

And I made sure to get a picture of the gorgeous Christmas Tree at the airport.

 

Lettering

We attended Cooper's JV and Varsity Football Banquet on Monday evening.

Coop lettered this year and received a certificate for it.

I am SO proud of him for obtaining this.

I am most proud, though, of the kid he is.

He was sitting at a big table with all of his friends when I sent him a text from our table, asking him to get me some fruit. He didn't hesitate. He jumped right up and headed to stand in line. One of his friend's parents told me that he is a joy to have in their home, always polite!

Love this kid.

The week before, he received this postcard in the mail from one of his teachers.

LOVE!

 

The Nutcracker 2025

Burke started a tradition.

When Aria turned five, he took Aria and Rian to the Nutcracker.

Kehlani turned five this year.

He took Aria, Rian, Kehlani, Isis, and MEEE!!

If you know me, you know I don't do ballets or operas or anything that isn't football or baseball or hockey.

I loved it!!!

Watching the magic in the girls' eyes was so worth it!

I love these girls so much.

Aria said, "I'm most excited that Kehlani is here!"

Melted my heart.

They are three years apart and Kehlani just idolizes Aria.

So sweet!

In three more years, we'll be back with Delilah!

What an amazing tradition.

Papa got them each a stuffy and a Christmas tree ornament.

He got us a nutcracker for our house & collection.

SO blessed.

 

Thanksgiving 2025

I LOVE our Thanksgiving breakfast tradition.

Everyone gets to our house early, before they've been to five other houses.

The babies are still happy.

Then they leave when they need to and it's just so perfect!

Burke got up early and prepped his breakfast casserole on the Blackstone.

He is really the best.

Muffins, donuts, pastries

Fruit & yogurt parfaits

Breakfast casserole

Juice

Diet Coke!

We missed the three youngest who go to Southern Utah for Thanksgiving each year to spend it with their Grandpa & Grandma Lisa.

It was a good day!

The grandbabies were happy to just be!

They REALLY wanted Gigi this weekend, which was such a nice treat!!!

They all love Papa so much more than Gigi.

On Thursday, they were all about Gigi and I was loving it!

I got extra Hudson time on Saturday.

Watching them grow is the best.

I LOVE that so much of Hudson's personality includes things Papa has been doing with him since he was an infant!

Eating whipped cream is at the top of that list!

And he is obsessed with the lights Papa put up, too!

 

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

Burke and the boys got out the Christmas stuff for outside on Sunday.

Porter helped Burke put it all up.

It's beautiful.

Magical.

I LOVE the spirit of Christmas so much.

SO MUCH.

Porter said, "Now all we need is snow!!" 

I told him to watch his mouth!!