Snowman and Festivities

(December 2nd, 2023)

I love it when we have our ward party early in the season. Then I don't have to worry about it overlapping with other events. (December can be quite the crazy month.) This year, they wanted to have a talent show for part of the entertainment. Talent night means the Cazier's are signing up, no questions asked. We never know what we are doing, but we are doing something.

We threw out plenty of ideas, but on the trip to Idaho for Thanksgiving, Snowman by Sia came on my playlist and I knew that was the one we needed to sing for talent night. 

June was going to be out of town, but we gave jobs to everyone else. We all had singing parts, and Tyler was going to play the marimba and Beau was playing the piano. 

I wish there were more acts that night. Our ward didn't really get into it. There were only three or so numbers before us. Unfortunately, Beau's shift was running late that night and wasn't there when it was our turn. 

The final part of the evening was supposed to be The Nativity performed by the youth, so I begged them to go before us. (I would have felt worse ending the evening on a less spiritual note, but Santa was scheduled to come at the very end of the evening and that would have burst the Jesus bubble anyway.)

The kids did a great job with the nativity. It was a simple production with two narrators and the kids acting out the scenes onstage. Daisy was one of the narrators. She did an amazing job. She is really good at reading out loud. Her kids will be very lucky. Pearl was a cute shepherd and Ivory played the piano for all the songs. (I guess the kids on stage did sing, although they did not speak.)

It was a very nice production and the youth did a great job. The highlights for me were Annie as the donkey and Spencer as the star. Classic.

Then it was our turn whether we were ready or not. We weren't. Beau still wasn't there, but the show must go on. It would have sounded better with the piano, but Tyler carried it just fine with the marimba. Check it out.

It was a really fun evening. Everyone really enjoyed our number. Chelsea Stringer in particular said she wanted to be adopted into our family. She loves to sing and something like this would be right up her alley. (She did sing a song during the nativity, which was beautiful.) I'll have to remember to invite her next time. She could only make us sound better. Just a couple more selfies from the evening. Taylor came to watch the number. (He is officially Ivory's boyfriend as of a week or so ago :)

It was a really fun Christmas party. But I always enjoy when the Cazier's perform. 

Ultimate Christmas Cards

(December 3rd, 2023)

Tyler makes the Christmas card for his place of work every year. It has become quite the tradition. He too me to his office one evening and showed me how people display their cards at their desks to show how long they've worked there. Cool huh?

I'm not sure I got the card on here from last year? (It may be in a chatbook somewhere) I figured I could put it on here again. This is the 2022 card.

This year was quite fancy and funny. It is awesome how well some of these looks go together and how creepy other ones are. See if you can kind Tyler in each card.

I wonder what they will do when Tyler is gone. Christmas will never be the same there.

Santa's Book Workshop

(End of November-ish, 2023)

I've had so much fun decorating the library this year (and technically last) because I've had so much help. Emily is a staple in the library. I've basically turned most of the decorating over to her. She does my signs and helps me think of ideas. It's been fun to have extra help, and she is cheaper than Beau. :)

Beau still came and did an elf for me. I loved her little packing elf. Actually, the elf wasn't so little. She was big enough that she didn't fit in the laminator and I had to cut her in two. Don't worry, you can't tell. Let's give you the big picture first. My idea was to make a little book workshop where the elves are packing up the books and getting them ready for Christmas. Can you see the vision?

Pretty fun, huh? Let's look at the details. Yes, the elf was halved in the middle, but her tutu hides it well.

I was very proud of my little door to the sleigh. Just like at the airport.

I'm also proud of my work-worked corners. Those took a bit to make, but I love the feel it gave.

These signs were supposed to look sort of homemade. I wish Emily was making signs back then...they would have been much better.

More presents on the way.

The library is still hosting the National Junior Honor Society on a regular basis. They are such a great group of kids. We did card decorating first thing in December. And we also wrapped up our Needs drive. I was super impressed with all the stuff the kids collected. They ran everything. They made posters, and advertised in classrooms and picked up donations. We got over 1,000 items. Not too shabby. Like I said, really great students.

Okay, back to decor. Emily made me a sign on the message board out front. Yes, she forgot the 'c' in Grinch, but it was so cute regardless. It took her a bit of time to get it done. One evening while it was waiting to be finished, some parents used the library and let their kids run wild. I came in the next morning to find kids had taken off the tops of several markers and scribbled on the message board. The markers were ruined and Emily had to redo much of the sign. I don't get mad often, but I was furious. Also, I felt like my space was violated. I'd like to smack those parents. 

Phew, got that out of my system. I had some fun decorations on my desk. The hedgehogs had to stay of course. They just got there. So I got them a tiny tree and wrapped dice as presents for them. 

I liked all the fun details in the library. There was the calendar.

And the side display with a tree made entirely by Emily. She even made little ornaments of all the library friends. You may not be able to see, but all the hedgehogs are on there, along with the axolotl, the mini octopus and the cute frog Emily made. (Dill, Kumquat, and Dieter)

It wouldn't be complete without a regular Christmas tree. The gnomes come out every year since they are the only fun decorations I have in the library. Maybe I'll branch out some other year.

Merry Christmas everyone. A little late...or REALLY early.

November Chatbook 2023

Hey guys, it's a chatbook. Let's see what weirdness we encountered last November. 

Let's start with a Sunday Selfie!

Tyler and I got to go see a preview of Elf since Greg was playing Buddy's dad. It was really cute. And Greg's a natural at being grumpy. ;)

Pearl got this picture as I left the doctor's office one day. I think it's beautiful.

June and I went to see The Secret Garden at BYU. I really love the music from that play. They did a fantastic job and I think it was a first for June. (This isn't related, but I got my PR on the mini that night and I've never been able to beat it since.)

Beau's hair is getting long enough to braid, sort of. It sure is cute. The purple and extra colors are slowly fading. 

The night before we left for Idaho, Beau, June, and I attended a wedding of a friend. We are thrilled for Liz and it was a fun girl's night out.

Always nice to spot wildlife out there. One might say deer are more rare than Dalmatians, but honestly, I've saw way more deer in 2023 than Dalmatians.

Lovely evening. Beau has been doing her thang, delivering mail and being a boss and looking adorable in the process.

Did you know that Frank can balance on a Band-Aid? 

I really like Tyler's reading glasses. Or maybe I just think he's cute when he's reading in general. 

The piano is going almost all the time around here. I can't imagine how the silence will overwhelm me when the girls are gone. I just take it for granted that a melody will be going in the background. (Literally, right now Daisy is playing Can You Feel the Love Tonight on the piano.)

Not sure why I added this photo except that I love to see Tyler playing games with the girls. And you can't tell, but the potatoes au gratin in the background had four different kinds of potato including sweet potatoes and it was delicious.

Skaters.

Tyler got some swag from his speaking lab workshop class thing. It wasn't that exciting, but seeing him on the path to speaking is.

Ah yes. We cleaned up June's extra room so Granny V could visit and Beau moved in a hot minute later. Now I can't really find the floor, but this is proof that it was clean for a moment.

Temple buddies!! June finished up work at the Provo temple last month and now she's hoping to move over to the Orem temple. I would love to work with her on Friday nights, so I'm hoping it works out. She isn't exactly in the boundaries, but I here Orem is going to let BYU students help out.

Who wore it better? Gotta love matching with your district.

I don't think I will ever get tired of clouds and mountains and Utah. I love this state. Yes, even the stupid snow.

Beau and June eating dinner, like they frequently did before Beau moved back home. They still eat together, but usually it is here.

When we moved the round table out of the back bedroom, someone rolled it in front of Ivory's door, much like the tomb. I think she was surprised to be blockaded in her room when she woke up.

June continues to love her job at the MTC. She barely switched from nights to afternoons in the new year and I'm excited to see her more in the evenings. 

This is quite the creative selfie. Pearl is so pretty. She did her own photo shoot and it's adorable.

Daisy finally got a new phone which is so great for her. One of her first photos was of her and her bestest friend Liberty. I'm already lamenting that I'm going to have to check another phone for chatbook pics, but better more photos than a lack thereof.

Um...Ivory took ceramics first semester. She made some of the weirdest things I've ever seen. Take this piece for instance. It is a severed finger. A GIANT severed finger. Don't ask why? I have no idea.

Ivory cut her hair!! It seems like forever now and so normal to see her with her cute layers. I really love it.

Ivory adores Maisie Peters. Even I know some of her music since Ivory plays it for me. After she cut her hair, she thought she looks a little more like her. So she recreated Maisie's album cover. Not going to lie, the resemblance is noticeable.

Ivory is learning to adult and be independent. She ended up attending a Women's conference all on her own. She had a great time and met a lot of fun people. She's really growing up.

Ceramics may not be her thing, but I have loved the stuff coming out of Ivory's baking and pastry class. The little loaves from Thanksgiving weren't the first batch. After Ivory made them the first time, I've insisted she make them frequently. Delicious. And her cakes and other goodies have been amazing. Maybe I'm biased, but I can't eat the pottery.

Last pic. We got the tree up at the end of November. It might be Nova's favorite time of year since she thinks it's wonderful we put down a blanket for her in two rooms. Sure, we call them tree skirts, but she knows better.

That's all from November. It feels like quite a while ago. Time keeps skipping along.