Piano recital
Dec 15, 2018
The lights at Temple Square in front of our favorite orange tree for Ryan.
All geared up to go feed the animals- Adam and his cousin
Christmas morning
Adam
Ethan loves the Rams (it was Ryan's favorite team)
Jaime
We didn't have much snow but still wanted to make Ryan a snowman.
Merry Christmas from the Lotts in 2018
At any given point you can walk
into our house and hear the rustling and bustling- not to mention fighting and
grounding of two busy boys, who for the 4th time have put a hole in the wall
upstairs. Yikes, and they wonder why we
won’t put a pool table in the toy room.
That’s all I need is more ammo for them.
Be warned, we do have a never ending nerf war going on and you could be
shot at any moment. Who’s idea was it to
have 100+ nerf bullets handy for them to use- they should be shot. Oh yeah, that was me, and believe it or not I
have been shot plenty of times trying to prepare yet another meal where someone
will find something to complain about. And
to top things off, I just can’t figure out how to teach my tech-smart kids how
to turn the tv and X-box off. Their
unconvincing excuse is that they don’t know where the remote is- it’s usually
only two feet away from them, or in their hand.
I guess maybe they need to start
offering a class on finding the on and off buttons as an extracurricular
activity at school. I continue to spend
part of my day sniffing the air to try to decide where yet another bad smell is
coming from in our house. It’s usually
the boys sweaty dog smell (very true), because I haven’t reminded them to
shower yet, or we play the game of whose smelly socks are making us gag at that
moment- to be honest Adam usually wins.
Funny story his teacher at school actually commented on them last
year!!
Ethan is ten and is so excited
to try and grow his hair out. I can only
take it so long, as he wets it down and combs it over to the side, plastered
down. Yep, you guessed it. We have a 10-year-old comb over going
on! I realize bad hairstyles are in style
again these days, but I don’t want anyone to think I have another little old
man, other than Mike, living in my house.
Ethan continues to grow like a weed, probably because he is always
covered in dirt, and is 5 feet tall now.
He can’t wait to grow up. He’s
constantly doing pushups and showing me his muscles. To be honest his constant pushing up on the
counters and walls drives me nuts and that’s why I think he continues to do
it. We recently went hiking in Little
Wild Horse slot canyon as a family. He
got soaked and ended up wearing an extra pair of my capris the rest of the
way. It was pretty funny, especially
because he was commando and they almost fell off of him. I volunteered at his school a few months ago and
secretly donated a few of his toys to be used in a little store. He caught me and told one of the teachers,
“What kind of mom sells your toys to other kids?” Luckily, he really wasn’t too upset and I let
him take back a few of the toys he noticed.
Next time, I will have to be sneakier, as I snatch those toys again to
try and get rid of them once and for all.
(I promise he never uses them and wouldn’t have even noticed them
missing had I not got caught.) Ethan
caught his first fish this year. For
some reason I let him put it in our kitchen sink so it could swim around. Once I came to the reality of how gross that
was (in like two minutes), we put it in a bucket outside so we could let it go
the next day, as I wasn’t in the mood to fillet a four-inch fish. Poor fish, too bad it died and became cat
food instead. Ethan also had fun
practicing roping our goats after watching the steer wrestling at the rodeo
this fall. Needless to say, he deserved
it when he got bit by the goat after trying to throw it to the ground and tie its
legs together. And as luck would have it,
he had a black eye in June for Alex’s wedding, which was perfect timing with
all the family pictures.
Adam is in Jr High and loving
it. He’s only been shut in his locker
once, and thank goodness they finally remembered the combination to get him
out. He ended last year on a high note
by getting poked with a small branch in the eye while sledding and surprising
us with a $1200 ER bill two days before our new deductible started. At least we now have a good reason to tell the
boys why they are getting nothing for Christmas this year and to blame
Adam. JK. But, thank goodness he was ok. We did learn he was having trouble seeing the
letters on the eye chart. It wasn’t due
to his accident, but because he is “blind” and needed glasses. He does have new glasses now, but refuses to
wear them. Darn boy. Adam wondered how some hand soap, which
smells fruity and yummy, would taste. He
quickly found out that it doesn’t taste as sweet as it smells. That made us all laugh and gave me a good
idea. When you have to wash your kids
mouths out with soap for talking naughty, make sure it is a fruity smell- at
least it smells good going in and the experience starts out pleasant!! Adam made my hit list this fall. While
watching tv and seeing a really pretty actress, who is a few years older than
me, he asked, “Mom, why don’t you look like that?” Needless to say, the tears flowed from both
of us, as my self-esteem took a nose dive and he got grounded for the rest of
his life. JK. Adam and his friends surprised us this fall by
purchasing My Little Pony masks and caps at the Hooper fair. They put them on and walked around all day in
them. It was especially funny when they
were chasing a cow in the corral (it had money stuck to it) and you could see
different colored capes flying in the air as they ran. Adam snagged a dollar on the cow but remarked
it was not worth the effort. It
definitely was worth it to me and hopefully I can convince him to do it again
next year. It was quite humorous for me
to watch my My Little Pony caped 12-year-old boy running around an arena,
falling all over the place, chasing a confused little calf-- highlight of my
day.
Jaime finally got her driver’s
license after much fasting, praying, cringing from mom and dad, and bribing her
driving teacher. So far she has only taken
one side view mirror off of the car while backing out of the garage. She just got accepted to BYU Idaho and will
attend next fall. It will be a joyous
day when her bedroom here will finally stay clean for more than ten
minutes. We have heard that BYU-I is
referred to as BYU- I- do. We have a friend
who bet that she will be engaged by summer 2020. Jaime doesn’t think this will happen. Little does our friend know that she just
brought a fluffy sweater (I call it a granny sweater because it looks like
something a 90-year-old lady would wear) that she plans to wear up there
because it is warm and soft. Jaime also
has a cat hot chocolate mug she just proudly purchased because she loves cats. So, with her sporting the sweater, cat mug and
a fat book (she loves to read way too much), I am sure she will win the bet for
sure. Jk. She is a cutie and I wouldn’t be surprised if
she loses the bet.
Ryan, we miss you so much and we
think of you always. You will forever be
a part of our family. We continue to
honor you by wearing orange and letting off balloons at the cemetery on the 12th
of each month. Till we meet again my
sweet boy (now a man), what a joyous reunion it will be.
Alex now knows that miracles
can happen because he proposed to a cute, young lady in January and she said yes. He and Kelsie Smith were married on June 9th. We love Kelsie so much and have told Alex
that if we have to ever choose between him and her, we would without blinking
choose her. Jk. Ok just between us, we are not kidding. Jaime was honored that they were married on
her 17th birthday and thinks that a sister is the best gift
ever. Alex and Kelsie live up in
Logan. They are enjoying married life
and all the adventures it brings. Alex
is quickly learning patience as he has to share his new wife with Ethan, since Ethan’s
new favorite person is Kelsie and he can’t get enough of her. Alex is trying to sport a mullet. Gross!!
For some reason boys actually think the new hairstyles these days are
attractive. So, you can see Kelsie is
having to practice her patience skills as well by not taking the scissors to
his hair on accident. Really, they are
great for each other and we are so happy for the new addition to our
family. And speaking of new additions, thank
goodness for me that Ethan now has someone else to ask why they don’t have a
baby. He keeps asking me for a baby
brother or sister. Sorry bud, that ship
sailed years ago. So, I am not a grandma
yet, even though all the gray hair might make you wonder, but someday I will be
and that will be exciting. Then, Mike will
officially be able to say that I ski like an old granny and be 100% right.
I am officially a full-time
college student. Boy is it
horrible!! JK. It keeps me very busy, but has been very
rewarding. It’s pretty sad when the
highlight of my month is going to Wal-Mart, because I don’t get out much. I pretty much sit at the computer in my
jammies all day and am lucky if I get to shower once a week. I am studying Marriage and Family Relations,
so hopefully I can offer my kids discounted therapy when I am done, due to all
the time I have been neglecting them. Through
all the tears (and guessing) I was able to get all A’s. I hope my sanity can hold up the next two
years until I am done. I can do the
happy dance because, I succeeded with my news years resolution this year. It was to exercise twice and I did it three
times, so I guess I am good for next year as well. What a relief-- now I won’t be so
stressed. I also am taking to heart
having my 72-hour kit ready and with easy access. What’s easier access than wearing it? I have decided that the extra 10 pounds I gained
last year serve a good purpose and I will just keep them.
So, this summer I kissed a
moose, other than Mike-hee hee. Mike and
I were in Alaska at a reindeer farm.
Surprisingly, I decided to do as the guide told me and put a few leaves
in my mouth, lean over and offer them to a moose behind a fence. It reached for them without hesitating. The picture looks like the moose planted a
good one on me, however, thank goodness it only touched my nose. I guess I got lucky it didn’t sneeze in my
face. I now proudly sleep in my shirt
that says “I kissed a moose in Alaska”.
The adventures didn’t end in Alaska.
Mike and I were driving and a huge bull moose crossed the road. Mike pulled over so we could see it and take a
breathtaking, once in a lifetime picture.
Quickly, I pulled out the camera to take the video. It wasn’t till the moose was out of sight that
I went to rewatch the video and see the pictures. Darn, the camera had a malfunction and we
have nothing to show for it. Ok, as Mike puts it more accurately, I had an
equipment malfunction. I thought I had
turned the camera on to video and I had actually turned it off. He still hasn’t let me live that down. Later we saw a mom and baby moose on the side
of the road and I was able to redeem myself.
Everyone is always hoping to see a bear in Alaska. Well, to be honest it’s not that great when
the bear actually comes bounding down a mountain full speed and you have to run
for your life. They tell you not to run,
but I couldn’t help it. To be honest,
only people who have never actually had a bear running at them tell you not to
run. Easier said than done- honestly, my
legs took on a mind of their own and wouldn’t stop. Luckily, all ended well and the story is now
exciting that we were probably 200 feet from a running grizzly bear. (Mike tells me the distance gets shorter
every time I retell the story. But, it
was super close and could have been to us in less than 10 seconds had it wanted
to.) Once we were safe, Mike turned
around to get some good pictures as it crossed a river. I kept my distance and was happy when my legs
finally stopped shaking.
Mike is staying busy with
work. He hasn’t been doing much
traveling this year. It has been both
good and bad. Good that he can do more
things on my honey-do list and bad because he doesn’t want to do more things on
my honey-do list. He built a shed in our
backyard this year. It will double as
his second home when he doesn’t do the things on my honey do list and I get mad
at him. He has learned some new skills
this year that his is proud of (eyes rolling)- putting in a new garbage
disposal after Adam filled it full of potato peels and broke it, fixing the
water line on the back of the fridge and finally getting it right for the third
time, installing our new washer and dryer to save the installation fee (totally
not worth it) and choosing to build a fence in our pasture so he wouldn’t be
bored as much. (Ok, he did that so I
would quit bugging him.) And, he
hopefully will put it on his “let me learn this new skill list” to finally replace
the drain in our laundry room sink, hint hint.
All jokes aside, we have had a
great year. We have been very blessed
and have made many wonderful memories.
We look forward to the adventures that will come our way in 2019. May this Christmas season and the New Year
bring joy and happiness in your lives, as we carry the light of our Savior in
our hearts- for he is the reason for the season.
Love,
The
Lott family
