Happy New Year!

 We are back in Utah and I woke up to a rainy day that I wish was snowy.  We have had a mild winter and I'm not sad about that, but at the same time, I do like snow.  Especially when I am cozy inside.

Yesterday we packed up and got the house ready to be gone.  Having Braeden there was a boon.  He added 1/3 more manpower to loading the car.  It shouldn't surprise me, but I see those boys that I used to carry around heft the biggest boxes or a big fully loaded cooler like it's nothing, and I'm a little amazed.  But also grateful.

We left Adam and Mark to finish winterizing and Braeden and QE and I went to visit my parents.  We helped them take down a few Christmas decorations and visited and my mom read QE some stories and nursery rhymes.

We said good-bye, which is never not ever easy.  Adam and Braeden and QE headed west and Mark and I headed east.

I was happy to be with Mark.  He had been sick while we were in Nevada, fighting off a head cold.  Also he willingly (gratefully?) cedes all attention to Braeden, our resident extrovert.  Mark is only too happy to fade into the background.

I had a full drive of Mark time though and I appreciated it.  He had made a playlist and it was good.  He had songs from the 70s, 80s and 90s and I only vetoed one song (Alice In Chains).  We talked about our hopes and dreams for the new year.  We stopped at Del Taco in Wendover which is an exciting new development.  It is a great gluten free option for a roadtrip and we are over the moon when we find one of those!  We traded driving and it wasn't terrifying (just like my boys being these big strong men, driving with my children and it isn't terrifying still takes me by surprise a little).  

We stopped at Winco for party supplies.  Mark unloaded the car and I started putting stuff away.  After a little rest, I started taking decorations off the little tree.  I called down to Mark and he brought up all the bins.  Usually I take down Christmas in one Herculean exhausting session, but I know I need to pace myself this year.  After the little tree, I started assembling all the food for our night.  Emma came and we ate and caught up on the week.  Then we played games and between rounds I set a timer and we would take decorations off the big tree for five minutes.  After the timer, we'd go back to the game.  It took several rounds, but we finally finished.

The kids were willing to do more, but I was done.  As is my custom, I let the new year turn without me witnessing it.  Braeden told me that Anna said in Russia (where she served her mission) they say that whatever you are doing at the New Year is what you'll be doing that year.

I was asleep.

Today I'm intending to work more on the Christmas decorations--and I think I will likely finish since the trees are done.  Late this afternoon, we'll pick up Adam and I'll be happy to have him back.  I think he'll be happy to have missed the boxing up of Christmas.