Random Bits and Pieces from the last Six Months or So

 "These taters aren't cooked, precious." Ethne: Did you really just call Hazel 'precious?'

Talmage: I was eating a potato, it just felt right, okay?

Me, Hazel, Wyatt, and Navy were driving home from the grocery store, and Hazel was playing some songs, and one came up and Wyatt said, "Mom, this song is for you and Aunt Kami." The song was 'Kick Out the Windows.' 😂😂

So when Talmage was packing for OFY he said he needed a new deodorant stick, so Dad brought out two new ones he had, and I smelled them and said, "This one smells better, Dad has to keep it," and Talmage said, "No! I need the one that smells better--I gotta kiss a girl on the bus ride back!!"

Jethro's response: tell him his charm is all he needs. 😂

Messages to us after YM camp:

Hey guys, I wanted to let you know how blessed we were to have Talmage and Orrin at camp this year. Talmage is a hard worker that loves to do hard things. Orrin is a spiritual giant and shared a powerful testimony. We benefited greatly from their talents and abilities  (Bishop B)

And from Dallan: Thanks for making arrangements for Talmage to come to YM camp (and for the loan of your tent!).  He was a pleasure to have with us, and a blessing to the other YM. His devotionals  were well thought out, and engaging. I'm disappointed to lose him to the Priests next year.

Me, telling about my softball game:

Because I know you are biting your teeth DYING to know how the second game went... I will tell you.

We were super down, like 3 to 12 or something for the first few innings. My first up to bat I struck out. 😔😩😖💔

My second up, I hit the most amazing hit ever into left way out there, and I got a triple!!!!! 🙌👏💪💥🎇🎉  It was by the skin of my teeth, but I got there.

Our last inning of batting we had some excellent running and some good hits and came back up to TIE the GAME 18-18!!!! My last hit was a GOOD solid boom, grounder, past third, and while I only went to first, I was happy with it. Plus I heard a group of kids on the bleachers yelling "Go Talmage's mom!!" And also, "Man, she's quick!" ❤️🥰☺️

Also, they put me infield, which honestly I've not played this whole season so I was nervous. I did some fairly good grounding though! I got about three grounders, two of which I got to my base for outs. (I also missed a couple.)

So, all in, a very fun and exciting game. 😊🥎❤️

P.S. I was subbing on the young team-- the kids who are seniors in highschool or just barely older. So my friend who was on the intercom said he almost made a joke about "the youngest one out there" 🤪😂.

I played second one inning,  and then third for the rest. I was pretty ticked that the short stop didn't throw it to me at second twice when he should have and went to first instead. That's so dumb.

- Okay we are having FHE, and Wyatt was looking up a scripture in the book of mormon, and he noticed there is a note in the front of it and he says, "Who's Maddie and Jethro?" and everyone is just silent for a whole minute, and then Orrin says, "Well Jethro is your brother." And we all CRACKED UP. 😂🤣😂🤣

It was sooo funny.

-Hazel was so grateful for Jethro's help with Statics homework the other day--she said the TA tried twice to teach her how to do it, and she didn't get it, and she didn't want to ask him to do it AGAIN, but then Jethro came to say bye to her (he was in the same building), so then he helped her go through it, and according to Hazel he was way more patient and clear and she got it. And then after he left he sent her an encouraging text -something like, "you got this, Hazel!" and she said she was nearly crying in the TA lab because it was so nice of him. ❤️❤️❤️

- Jethro's no-no's for girls to marry: 1- no gamers (although that's a problem more with boys than girls sometimes), and 2- no Swifties 😂 He's like, if she just kind of likes Taylor Swift, that's probably fine, but if she worships her, then no.

When we were getting ready for family pictures, Talmage (and everyone! Argh!) kept coming in my bathroom to finish getting ready and whatever. Talmage pulled off his shirt and was like, I'll just go shirtless so he could show off his muscles. Or a really tight white t-shirt at least. Brett told him to take it easy on girls, it's hard enough without being immodest 😂

—Wyatt just came in and said, "What's for dinner?"

And I said, "Food."

And then he's like, "Dang. That's pretty good."

--I have this great memory from a couple years ago, but I wanted to write it down because I don't think I ever did-- but my older kids and Kami's older kids, and Devaney all went to do baptisms at the Brigham City temple, and my dad was there to baptize them (it was the middle of the day and none of the dads were there, just Grandpa).  And so I went in and helped things move along, and so I watched while dad baptized a bunch of kids, and I started to realize that at the end, dad would hold them down just a moment, just a smidge, so that when they came up they weren't sure if they had been held under or not, but he would look at me and laugh his eyes and it was SOOO funny!!! It didn't feel irreverent either, it just felt like I love my dad so much. :)

 I am losing my mind.  Last week I totally forgot an appointment on Wednesday, and on Thursday I was supposed to pick up the boys from baseball and I forgot and was 25 minutes late, and THIS MORNING we drove to the Logan temple to do baptisms and the guy looked at us strangely and asked if we had an appointment, and I said yes at 8:00, but then I looked on my phone and I was like... of next week. 🤦🤦🤦 Afterwards I realized that our appointment is not even at the Logan temple ---it's at the Brigham City temple!!! So even if we HAD been on the right day we would have been at the wrong place. 🤪😜🤦 The happy ending is that they had a group with 6 fewer people  than they had signed up for, so we got to go in and do baptisms anyway. 👍👍

Brett: Where have we gone wrong?? Our son is curling his hair with a curling iron!  (apparently Talmage curled the front to give it just enough flip for a while his freshman year of high school)

Tonight we played a high-stakes game of Zion (scripture trivia questions). We had three teams- Brett and Navy, Wyatt and Talmage, and Orrin and Ethne. We said that the winners would have a free-day from chores (like household chore and practicing piano or violin/viola). So everyone wanted the win! So we went for several rounds and it was between Brett and Talmage's team. Then we would say Last Round, but they kept tying it up, so we would have to go another round. So Talmage got asked, "what were the names of Lehi's six sons?" and he, of course, remembered Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi, but couldn't remember Jacob and Joseph. So we were kind of giving him little hints, so I said, "sing the song of how the Book of Mormon books go..." so then he got Jacob, but he still couldn't remember Joseph, so he grabbed a Book of Mormon and started leafing through really fast, and none of this was technically allowed but Brett started counting down from 30 and so Talmage was under pressure and started leafing faster and faster, and Brett got down to 2, and then Talmage screamed, "JOSEPH!!!!!!" just as Brett said 1 and then he screamed because it was crazy amazing like a half-court shot at the buzzer!! 😂😂 (P.S. Orrin and Ethne pulled from behind when no one ever expected them to win and took home the day of no-chores. Wyatt was crying and Orrin had been teary-eyed earlier...it was intense.)

Yesterday when Brett was pulling kids on the timber sled, Wyatt and Navy fell off and somehow in the kerfuffle Orrin's arm got caught in the rope, but Brett didn't realize, and kept going halfway around the field just thinking he was being a champ and holding on (he's good at that) while being drug on the ground. When he finally stopped and realized Orrin was caught, he said, "Are you alive?" and Orrin said, "Barely." 😂😂😂

For Sweetheart's Dance, we ordered a dress for Ethne from a used, online store, and it should have gotten to us with ample time. However, it said it had arrived, but we never saw it come in the mailbox. I checked at the post office, two different times, so then I texted all our neighbors to see if it happened to go in one of their mailboxes, and so people were trying to be helpful and some people even offered to lend some dresses that their daughter had worn to high school dances, but anyway I was so mystified. Finally I ordered the same dress again because I really wanted her to have that dress, and then, just in the nick of time, somehow Navy looked in her school backpack or remembered or something, but she had gotten the mail from the mailbox many days ago but forgotten to take it out and give it to me. So she had it the whole time!!! The good news is, Ethne had a dress to wear to the dance, but the bad news is I paid for two!

--We we're having a get-together with some friends, and some of them happen to be the parents of Navy's (HUGE) crush, Jaxxon; and some happen to be the parents of Navy's best friend, Addie; and some were the aunt and uncle of Addie who babysit Addie and her brother Everett, who is Wyatt's friend, after school most days. And somehow we get on the subject and they all tell me, "yeah, did you hear Navy and Jaxxon got married on the bus the other day?" And I was like, no, I haven't heard about that. And they told me that Everett was the Bishop who married them, and they had flower girls and a ring bearer. I was like, oh my goodness! And they said, "yeah, Everett was telling me about how he was going to do the wedding the next day, and he was very excited." And I was like--really, they planned it a day ahead? And they said, oh yeah, it was a big thing. And THEN Jaxxon's mom told me that Navy kept trying to kiss him but he kept trying to stand taller and taller so she couldn't reach (he's three years older than her). Oh my goodness!! 🤦🤦🤦 So then I said to Navy, I heard you got married. And she said, "no I didn't." And I said, "well I heard you got married on the bus, and Everett was the Bishop" and she said, "Oh Addie!! Addie, Addie! I TOLD her you can't get married until you're twenty, or older!" And I said, "so you didn't plan it at all?" And she said, "Well I did plan some of it. The place and the song." And I said, "what place and what song?" and she said, "Pioneer Park because you can't get married on the bus!" And I said, "what song?" and she said, "Twinkle twinkle little star."

--talking to Jethro on phone today and he said it's good that it's nice that he and Hazel see each other each week for sure during devotional. She gets there first and saves a seat for him. I said- people will think you're dating, and he said--we've talked about that! But Hazel said, "but you don't have your arm around me." And then he put his arm around her 😆😂 and she was like, don't touch me. (I can hear her saying that) and he's like, "what? You're my sister --I can put my arm around my sister" and she's like, "go away!" 😆😆😆

Talmage just said as he typed it into Google: How to become a millionaire before age 18 😂😂😂😂

The word "dissemble" came up in a conversation at dinner (Talmage said he was going to be a diesel mechanic and Brett said, "you're going to be a disassembler." And then we said something about dissembling...) and Jethro said he wasn't sure what that word means. And I said, "what's that hymn that has the phrase 'never dissemble' in it?" And Jethro was like, "no way--there's not a hymn that has that."

Boom. (Now let us rejoice, #3 - We'll love one another and never dissemble, but cease to do evil and ever be one."

Brett just asked when Grandpa and Grandma are coming and I said tomorrow, and Talmage said, "Good, I can finally see Grandpa's new truck." And I said, "You mean you can see your grandfather?" 😠 And he's like, "well, I can see my grandfather AND his truck..."

Hazel: Mom, did you see I did the breakfast dishes?

Me: Yes! Thank you so much!

Talmage: I wasn't here, so I didn't do that.

Okay, the most hilarious thing ever--

At dinner I had Brett watch the woke video. So then he was talking about all the ways, as the guy says, people play victim to things that don't have anything to do with them. Like the ban on Dr. Seuss books and how our teeny little local theatre were kept from putting on the play The King and I because white people would be playing the Thai people, etc. So Brett summarized again, "Always be offended by things that don't even affect you."

Then later at dinner I said (mainly aiming my question at Jethro and Ethne, who actually play instruments), "We're going to the nursing home with Megan's family and putting on a Christmas program, so we need to tell her what numbers we're doing," and Brett starts groaning and grumbling, and I'm like, 😡 what the heck are you worrying about--clearly you're not the one who will do a special number?! And Jethro said, "Yeah, don't forget to be offended by something that has nothing to do with you." And then everyone laughed really hard. 😂

Also tonight, Talmage's friends came over and they went sledding for a little while, and then his friends went to his other friend's house which is just down the hill from us, like 2 minutes away.

So when Talmage came in, I said, "didn't you ask Jake and Cody to stay for dinner? It's ready right now." And he said, "well I mentioned it. But I will talk to them again and tell them it's so good (we were having Tuscan soup)." So he called them, and then he asked if he could drive down and pick them up, and Brett said he could take the Focus (the car he's been fixing up for Ethne to drive). So Talmage went out to get it, but apparently he was having trouble getting it to go in the snow at all, so after he's been out there for a long while, we look out to see what's going on, and he's changing the tires to the snow tires! And we're like, what in the world is he doing? And he's out there for about 40 minutes or more, and we're all laughing at him, and I said, "I mean, if it were good weather, that would be one thing--but it's freezing out there!!" And Brett said "The prospect of getting to drive for 5 minutes is warming his soul." 😂

We were doing a Thanksgiving activity tonight, and everyone had to write something they are thankful for according to a little prompt. One of the prompts was "someone you can count on" and Wyatt said Uncle Wyatt. Then Navy said Uncle Wyatt too, and we said, "really, what do you count on him for?" And she said, "silliness." Which was a great answer. And Hazel said Grandma. Also, Brett said "myself" first, but then wrote someone else.

Another prompt was "liquid" and Brett said, "If Grandma was here, she'd say 'cream.'"

Orrin: ChaCha Morado! (Talking about dances, cha cha came up)

Hazel: what's it called when a book throws in a twist you weren't expecting?

Me: ...a plot twist?

Hazel: riiiiiiight

(From Peru): We were all hungry and wanting something sweet, so Brett went into the kitchen and made us some cake. We have barely any ingredients, and he baked it in a pot, and I thought he had just invented this recipe. I was so impressed because it was really good!! But then he was like, I just followed a recipe 🤷 so then I was not nearly as impressed. But it was still yummy, particularly with dulce de leche on it. 😋

Basically, we're all hungry. (Even though Talmage and Jethro cooked us delicious soup for dinner. It was a Sopa de Criolla.)

I told Hazel it was hard to start reporting this trip (Peru) when I'm so behind. I started (on Instagram) with a post of our hike, but that really was nowhere near the beginning. And she said, "yeah. The beginning was chaos, and then we rose from the ashes. And now we're descending again."

I just told everyone that Grandpa and Grandma were set apart, and Navy said "why did they get set apart?" And we said, "because they're missionaries." And she said, "They can't go together?"

😂😂

Also, I was walking around Cusco this morning with Hazel and Ethne and I said, "I really want to go travel somewhere with Kami sometime." And Hazel said, "I feel like there would be lots of hysterical laughing." And I said, "Yes, and hysterics in general." 😂

Last day in Cusco and Lima and Home!!

 Our last day in Cusco we went to church in the morning, and the Elder's Quorum took this picture.

Then we hurried home to finish the last bits of packing and cleaning, and I of course had some last minute errands and things I wanted to grab at the market. Ethne was looking for some trim like this for a ukulele strap. So we did find some for her.

Also, I finally got a picture of one of these horribly ugly Hairless Peruvian dog.

Then Javier picked us up and took us to the airport. He gave everyone a gift which was so kind.

Hugs all around.

We had a random citizen snap this picture which is actually a pretty great picture of everyone looking and smiling.

Then we checked in, and due to not realizing you had to check in online during a certain window two hours before your flight, we had to pay extra just to check in and Brett was so mad. But what can you do? So we paid and checked in and waited around for two hours.

It was only an hour flight, and we got our things and found a taxi driver. We were far more savvy than our last time trying to get a taxi in Lima. This guy just stuffed all of us and all of our stuff in his mini-van sized vehicle. It was squishy to say the least. Everyone had someone on their lap, except Talmage who was in the back with all the luggage nearly crushing him. Brett said he could feel the suspension bottom out every time we went over a bump. haha. Good times.

So we got to our hotel, got our luggage in, and then went out to find some food. We ordered pizzas at a restaurant and then walked to a grocery store to get groceries while they cooked. This grocery store was about 5 times bigger than any that we saw in Cusco. It was downright American sized. When we got back to our pizzas we devoured them like ravenous wolves in about 5 seconds.  Then we went back to the hotel and went to sleep.

We had the day in front of us, because our flight was a redeye. So we walked down to the ocean. The part of Lima we were in was pretty nice.

We went to one little beach area where there were a lot of people, but then we went farther abroad where there was nobody. We had fun throwing rocks and playing with crabs and dipping our feet in the water.

There were a million gazillion of these little crabs coming up across the shore, maybe to beat the tide? Anyway, the video I took of it gives me a little bit of the creepie crawlies.

Talmage went for an actual swim.

We had sandwiches for lunch. We'd been there for a couple hours, and then we parted ways. Brett took Jethro, Ethne, and Talmage with him to first retrieve Ethne's phone from the bus main office, and then visit the family that took care of Jethro that first day when we were delayed getting to Lima (whose daughter/sister he had taught and baptized in Washington on his mission).

For some reason this graffiti that we walked past was so funny to me. Like, I'm going to graffiti something on this building, how about, "Santa no existe." So sad/funny.

Oh, and Brett stopped at some kind of ruins in Lima that I don't know anything about.

Such kind, generous people that helped Jethro out so much! Their house did have a floor, but the walls were only sheeting, and they had no insulation, indoor toilet, or running water.

Me, Hazel, Orrin, Wyatt, and Navy had an interesting time because I got us lost for a while, looking for a certain ATM. I think we were wandering into the wrong part of town, because after I stopped a taxi and failed to communicate and he didn't take us anywhere, a random citizen that spoke English told me to go back the other way where the grocery stores were and use an ATM there.  So we did, and then we got some fruit and icecream to refresh us from our hot, humid walking.

Then we got a taxi to take us to El Parque de Amor. It was cool and was trying to be like Park Guell in Barcelone (that we've actually been to). But it overlooked the ocean too.

So we walked around there, and then walked down to the next park, watching the guys parasailing (I even asked how much it cost, and it was probably a million times cheaper than the States and definitely Switzerland).

There was a Chinese garden.

Then we made our way down to the beach again, and Wyatt wanted to get in, but I said we didn't have time.

Then we came back the same way to go to our hotel.

We stopped here to get some Ceviche which I wanted to try while in Lima because it is supposed to be super amazingly delicious.

And it was (super amazingly delicious). After we slurped it up, we went to a different, cheaper, restaurant to fill up. (I had Lomo Saltado for the last time, it was very sad.)

After that we found a taxi to take us to our hotel, where we picked up our luggage, and then he drove us to the airport. We waited for a little while before Dad and the others got there. Then Brett helped Jethro go get checked in at Delta (again, he flew a different airline than us).

That morning I had told everyone that if we saw missionaries today while we were in Lima I would buy everyone ice cream. Guess what--it wasn't until the 11th hour, but we spotted some! (Also, I didn't buy them ice cream because we weren't near any.)

We did eventually get through security (it was soooo crowded), get on the plane, tried to get some sleep in the night as we flew, stopped in New Jersey, went through customs and security again...  It was a rough night for Navy.

Then we sprinted to our gate in Denver because our last flight had been delayed, but we made it.

Then we FINALLY got to SLC and found Jethro and Jared came and picked us up and drove us home because he's a saint!!

When we got home we couldn't believe how huge and dazzlingly bright and new our house was--it just seemed different. And everything seemed so clean, and kind, wonderful friends had soup and bread read for us which was absolutely the greatest thing ever. When we went to wash the dishes HOT water came out of the tap! 

Some things Hazel wrote that she learned:

South America is a crazy place.

You can survive with a lot fewer things than you think.

Peru is beautiful.

There are kind people everywhere.

:)