Since my dog has cancer I have been trying to take all the pictures. She still looks so perfect so it is so weird that she is dying, also it is heartbreaking. We are trying to soak up all the days.
We had our family party on Christmas Eve! I started the morning with a hike up Rock Canyon with Moki. Then I came home and started making wassail. It is so yummy and makes the house smell so dang good.
Anthony has asked all of us to wear turtlenecks because of a joke he tried to pull on Brooke when they were first dating. So we all wore turtlenecks. It was great and Brooke loved it.
We had dinner around 5:30 and then we sang Christmas songs, read Luke 2 and opened presents. It was a fun evening.
I did not take enough pictures . . . boo! Hopefully I will get some from Caleb to add.
After opening presents and hanging out Sam's family left. Then all the adults played games until 11:30pm. Yikes, another late night. It was a great Christmas Eve.
Christmas morning we all went to Sam and Amanda's ward. The kids were singing four songs for the Christmas program. It was fun to fill the rows and support them. They had a very nice program.
After church Sam and Amanda headed to Idaho. Anthony invited everyone else to head to Brooke's house for lunch and games. That was really fun. We played a few games and had a yummy lunch before they needed to head to Brooke's parents house.
Mom and I headed to Loralie's after that. I was exhausted and wanted to take a nap. I tried unsuccesfully. Maple was barking like crazy. Finally I gave up and took Moki on a walk.
The three weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas are always hard. This year they were extremely hard. I don't know why but it felt so long and so hard. I had some really hard co-ed classes and so that probably added to the challenge. We are also making some changes at the school so I had a bunch of extra meeting and basketball. But man it seemed so long. I was so happy when we finally got to Christmas break.
Nancy and I were working no making quilts for Sam and Amanda's kids for Christmas so we were busy a few days doing lots of sewing. They turned out so cute. I am so glad we took the time to make them. I loved using old material and finding new material that matched all their personalities.
I had basketball over the break and had practice Monday - Thursday leading up to Christmas. We worked hard and scrimmaged a lot. It was really fun to get to play so much with my team. I was so tired everyday.
Monday the 19th was a rough day. I had a routine vaccination appointment with Moki. While there I asked them about her left ankle. She had been limping and it was swollen. I assumed it was arthritis. The vet felt her joint and told me it wasn't arthritis. She did some x-rays and confirmed what she thought Moki has bone cancer. The vet is pretty sure it is osteo-sarcoma. The tumor has already eaten away a lot of the bone in her leg. I was devastated, really shocked. It was super rough for a couple of days. They gave Moki 3-6 months to live. What the heck???? I cried the rest of the day. I now have the chance to just give Moki the best life ever for as long as I can. Honestly, I feel like I have tried to do that from the beginning. She has been the best hiking and travel buddy. Having a dog is hard but man this dog has been so easy to love, even when she does the dumbest things. She loves all the people I love and has just been the best. I am trying to soak up all my time with her.
My mom flew in on Tuesday of that week. That started lots of family visiting, late night game playing and eating tons of garbage. Let the Holidays begin!
Aunt Nancy turned 80 years old!!!! That seems so crazy. She is just the best and has been such a huge blessing in my life. She is a great example of unconditional love and I am so lucky to have her as an aunt. Katie Ricord and I threw her a birthday party. It was really well attended and super fun. I am so glad we did it.
And the photos Caleb sent me
November is always a blur. Basketball starts and I feel like I live my life at the school. I get to school in the dark, I leave in the dark and I am exhausted when I get home. Overall the month was great. Mom came out for Thanksgiving. I didn't take a single picture. It was great to have her here and spend so much time with family. We played lots of games and did lots of visiting.
Sam and Amanda's kids had their primary program. It was amazing. They only have 10-12 kids in their primary so they sang a ton of songs. They did such a good job and sounded great. I was so impressed at how well they knew the songs. Dan and Megan came to. Dan made faces at Audrey the entire time and she responded with funny faces. After church I asked her to show me some of her funny faces:) Man I love this age. I wish I had gotten a picture of all three kids.
How do you win the hearts of all the Brown's? Have the cutest niece ever perform in a dance recital. It was so fun to watch Audreys lit...
