Weekend + happy new year

I am beginning this post on a Sunday afternoon at the Home Place.  The winter sunlight is low and fading.  Mark has quiet jazz playing on the speaker and Adam and Mark are making gf Chex Mix for our New Year's Eve party. 

We came here Saturday.  We brought our Christmas gifts that Adam and I bought each other for here.  One of my gifts was a bookshelf.  I told Mark that I'd make a deal with him:  if he built the shelf, I would make his bed.

Emma helped me and it took less than 3 minutes to make his bed.

The bookshelf was a little wonky (which happens sometimes with IKEA stuff) and Mark struggled for about an hour, which is not normal for that kid who is a whiz with an Allen wrench and IKEA instructions.

I said, "Thank you for making my bookshelf!"

He said, "Well, you made my bed...."

I love the bookshelf.  It is mostly empty but it lends a homey feeling I didn't know was missing.

Emma built some IKEA chairs.  We are giving her the chairs that we have here which were my grandma's.  They will look good in her new apartment.

Emma said, "Why am I doing this and I also made beds?"

I said, "Because you are getting two free chairs."

She realized that was a good trade.

We went visiting after dinner at my parents' house.  Ammon's family, Olivia and Edgar and Marianne and Robert and some of their family were all there.  

Location, location, location.

***

I am back early in the New Year.  I'm the only one awake, which is kind of my favorite.  Except I didn't get enough sleep, which isn't anyone's favorite.

Back to my recap of events:  Lili spoke in church and it was wonderful.  She's always been as good as gold and I love to see the growth and conversion she experienced.  She is not a loud talker and the microphone was a little low.  My dad got up towards the beginning of the talk and adjusted the microphone to the delight of all of his grandchildren.  Lili didn't miss a beat, she said, "Thank you Grandpa," and went right on speaking.

We had Costa Rican food at Olivia and Edgar's after church.  It was good food and fun to sit around visiting with everyone.

We came back to the Home Place and some napped and Mark read and we played a few games.  Mark is a binge reader.  He rarely reads, but then he decides to read and it is about all he does. 

Around 8:00 we went over to Marianne's for the New Year's Eve party.  That is 9:00 mountain time and I never go anywhere at 9:00 PM except to bed.

I was having enough fun that I didn't notice how tired I was for awhile.

We had an abundance of delicious food and we played the bowl game which was delightful and at one point I thought maybe would send me into the next life because I was laughing so hard.

Also, it turns out Hyrum and Carolina thought I was younger than Olivia.  Olivia said, "She's a grandma!" I said they just noticed the pecking order.  I would have zero success bossing her around, but she can boss me around.

After the bowl game we played the game where you write a sentence, pass it on, the next person illustrates your sentence, folds over the original sentence, passes it on, the next person writes a caption of your picture, etc.

That also ended up very entertaining with lots of statements about who loves who, Thelma and Olivia wishing they were as curvy as Marianne, and Tabor being maligned.

I'm convinced any time you get that many family members in the same room, you're going to have a wild time.

I hit my wall about thirty minutes before we actually left.  Emma tried to convince me to stay, it was 11:30, but I was tired and beyond.

Also, once you stop staying up for the New Year, you realize it really isn't that important to your life.  At least that is my experience.

Today we have our ladies' holiday brunch at Olivia's which is always a highlight.  Then we will have to pack up and leave which I never want to do.  I want to stay here forever.  I mean, I have a bookshelf and everything now.