Family Newsletter 2019 - Ya Boi!

So here we are at the end of another busy, amazing year.  How was yours? In pondering how to give the best snapshot of our year as well as a glimpse into our current lives, I decided to pose the question: If you could use one word or phrase to describe each person’s year, what would it be? And here’s the Tea . . .  (Warning!  Being surrounded by constant teenage slang may have affected the lingo in this letter.)

Chris - Geo-Baching is such an L. Geographic Bachelor-ing is a term used in the military when the service member lives in a different location than his family.  For the first 5 months of 2019, Chris was in Afghanistan finishing up a yearlong assignment.  After a brief reunion (Yay Mudrun, Yellowstone, & Visiting Family in Utah!), we moved him into an apartment in Alabama so he could attend Air War College and earn his 3^rd Master’s Degree.  He really “took the L” so that Aly didn’t have to move for her senior year and Lise didn’t have to attend 3 high schools.  And although we really miss seeing Dad during the week, we are so grateful to see him every weekend.

Stacy – Keeping it 100. Young Women’s activities every week? Check. Temple Trips? Stake Activities?  Check. Check.  Volunteering in the Library and Mentoring at the elementary school?  Check!  Picking out new carpet after a pipe burst, re-landscaping the front yard, getting a full house generator installed, and pretty much Marie-Kondo-ing the entire house?  CHECK! (And thanks to Chris for helping to buy a kid car and sodding the front yard.)  Oh, and for fun she had a couple Girls’ weekends, and danced in a parade & at a performance of Women at the Well.   Just keepin’ it real, people.

Aly (18) – #CollegeGoals.  Aly’s entire year has been focused on jumping into the next stage – college!  In January she decided that she wanted to skip her senior year by graduating early in December ’19 and starting college in January ’20.  In order to accomplish this, she has been doing dual enrollment at the community college this fall for both high school and college credit,  taking an institute class to complete her seminary graduation requirements, and working like a mad woman 20 – 30 hours/week at Pounder’s Hawaiian Grill & babysitting.  At first, this was very hard for Stacy to accept, but Aly was accepted to BYU (Woot, woot!) and is just raring to go.  We’re proud of her.  Of course, she did have a few childhood things to cross off her bucket list before entering adulthood:  going on Trek and to Palmyra with the youth in the stake, getting her wisdom teeth removed, getting her 1^st speeding ticket, getting in her 1st car accident, and running her 1st 1/2 marathon!   YOLO!

Lise (15) is the G.O.A.T. at being a teenager. In addition to sharing the Trek and Palmyra experience with Aly, Lise does Color Guard with the Marching Band, volunteers at the community library, cruises around town with her learner’s permit, stays up way too late doing homework, wakes up way too early for early morning seminary, and likes to hang out with friends on weekends.  Another bonus was when the orthodontist yeeted off her braces.  Lit.

Kate (12) – Just over here Low Key growing up.  Kate is growing up – literally!  She has grown around 12” over the past year and a half and is now around 5’ tall.  She was one of the lucky ones to get bumped up into the youth program early and is crushing it by earning her Young Womanhood Medallion in 1 year.  Go Kater!  She’s also enjoying dancing in parades and performing with Drama Kids.

Kylie (9) – Where are my Peeps?  Kylie can’t even without friends.  Whether seeing them at the high school football games, activity days, playdates while sisters are at practice, or just having pool parties all summer, she’s not happy unless there are friends in her near future. Kylie is also rockin’ it as the shortest person in 4^th grade and enjoys getting to use her natural flair for the dramatic at Drama Kids.

Well, that's us.  Sending love to you and yours.  Keep Slayin' it people!  Love, The O'Gwin Family

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas (in Utah) (December 2019)

It had been many years, but since we would be dropping Aly off to begin college in January, we decided to bring the whole family and do Christmas in Utah. 

Kylie was super excited to fly on an airplane.  Last time she flew she was 3 years old and didn't remember it (which also happened to be the flight she threw up on me, I believe.)  But I'll tell you what - flying with older children is a dream.  Everyone can carry their own backpack full of stuff, bring a book or whatever, they can each go into their own bathroom stall (a major bonus!) and all you've got to do is provide some fruit & crackers to keep everybody's blood sugar up and you're set!

And it's a good thing we had some good travelers because our flight didn't get in until 12:30 am and we didn't get to sleep until 2 am (3 am Florida time).  But we made it!  Just in time for Christmas Eve and all the festivities.

So we had the scrumptious Christmas Eve dinner with Steak, Sarah Salad, Creamy Potatoes & Peas, Spicy Rolls & Grape Juice - yum, yum, yum!  There was also homemade ice cream and cherry cheesecake for dessert. 

It was really fun to be together with everybody!

Tiffany made sugar cookies with the younger kids - It was a mess and they had a blast!  We also had fun trying out all of grandpa's new games like foosball, air hockey, and table shuffleboard.  And of course, there were a ton of board games going on upstairs.

Christmas morning was nice - nobody woke up too early. 😅  Santa just brought some treats to fill up people's stockings and a $25 gift card to Amazon.  He really came through for us on not making us overpack our suitcases! 😉

The girls got a little extra something from grandpa - a water bottle, Perlers, a card game, and a laundry bag.  Gotta love it.

Christmas afternoon we headed down to Sarah and Andy's for Christmas dinner with them.  Another super scrumptious meal!  We also did a white elephant gift exchange while we were there and -oh boy! - was it a doozy.   Anything from a hairy belly fanny pack to a poop smelling candle to a fart bomb to deodorant to a cat hair crafting book to an awkward family photo game.  Let's just say there were lots and lots of potty humor gifts involved.  And everybody was loving it.

The girls always like to get dressed crazy while we're at Andy and Sarah's as well.  Don't ask me why. 

Once Christmas was over, we got to spend the next few days just hanging out having fun.  There was a pretty intense round of the candy bar game with all the kids.  So much fun and so much sugar!

The adults got to go out on their Sibling dinner.  We went to this restaurant past Draper up the canyon which was pretty cool - The Ridge.  The fog really added to the ambiance of the place.

We also took a new set of family pictures for my dad to hang above his mantle.  What a good looking crew!

Love the picture with all the grandkids, and of course we had to have the classic funny picture!

I was also able to sneak away for breakfast with my friend who happened to be visiting in Utah at the same time.  It's a small world!

Before we came out on the trip, we had asked the girls for some ideas of what they would like to do while we were there.  One of them was to go to temple square and do baptisms for the dead.  So, we headed downtown, but since it was 2 days before the Salt Lake temple was going to close for 4 YEARS, there was a 4 hour wait to do baptisms.  Instead, we walked around the grounds looking at the Christmas decor.  (We never made it back to the lights - sorry Aly! - I was too sick to make it)  Then we headed down to the Jordan River temple and did baptisms.  It was so awesome to get to participate in these ordinances as a family.  I loved getting to be a witness with my daughter while watching Chris baptize another one of our daughters. One of the highlights of the trip. 

Another daughter wanted to go see where High School Musical was filmed.  The school itself was closed for the holidays, but the outside was pretty cool as well.

And another daughter (or two) wanted to go ice skating.  I loved how Kate and Kylie purposefully chose matching sleeveless coat outfits just for the occasion.

The girls had a great time.  They were a little tentative at first, but then they really took off!  Camren joined us as well, which was cool.  I was also happy that Chris would ice-skate with us.  It's not really his thing, but he did really well with minimum falling.

My Dad even got out on the ice.  Kate was the strongest skater (maybe because we call her Kate the Skate? 😋) and tried to help him out, but unfortunately he took a nasty spill and was done.  I was just glad he didn't break anything!  

Overall it was a smashing success.  The girls had a really great time.  We could barely get a couple of them to come off the ice!

Another fun treat was going to dinner and to see "Seussical the Musical" at the Hale Theater with Marilyn and the Andy O'Gwin crew.  The special effects of this play were amazing.  I love plays!  And, funny story, one of the highlights of the show actually ended up being when they had technical difficulties and the crowd started doing the wave.  Love it.  The girls also got the chance to spend the night with their cousins, which is always super fun.  And Chris and I got to go to the temple with Marilyn, which is always a treat.  Just loving all the downtime to hang out with family!!

The kids playing "Awkward Family Photos" the game.  Classic.

A couple things not shown - while Lise, Kate, and Kylie were with the O'Gwin's, Chris, Aly, and I went to see the new Star Wars Movie.  Woot, woot.  We were able to see Sean & Missy & their crew at a family dinner.  Always love catching up with those guys.  We also kinda sorta started rewatching all the marvel movies with our new Disney+ subscription.  The girls also went to have a sleepover at the Warren's house.  Lots of fun with cousins and lots of just hanging out.  That is what chillin' over the holidays is all about.

And, last but not least, New Year's Eve!  We played it low key with a bunch of games,  7 layer dip, movies, and banging pots and pans!  Happy 2020 Everybody!  We made it!!!

It is always so great when we get together with family.  I love, love, love to see my kids having fun with their cousins and me and Chris getting to hang out with siblings.  Good stuff!

AND!  We did actually get a little bit of snow.  At least, enough for Lise to make a small snowman.  Success!!

But, all good things must eventually come to an end.  Goodbye Utah!  Until next time!!!

BTW, the flight home was a redeye and Kate and Kylie ended up pulling an ALL NIGHTER watching movies!!!  Seriously?!?  What is up with these kids.  We ended up paying for it later, but at least they made the most of the trip till the last second possible!!

Pre Christmas Christmas (Dec 2019)

Before we headed out to Utah, we decided to have our own family Christmas at home.  (Less stuff to transport in suitcases, and some stuff was actually needed for the trip!)   The funny thing about these pictures is that we had decided to open presents on the Sunday before we left, after church.  But even though we'd just gotten home from church, the kids swore they couldn't open presents unless they were in their PJs.  So there they are.   Here are some of the highlights . . .

Books for Kate, always a good option.

Aly got a T-shirt quilt with shirts from her middle school and high school cross country, track, girls camp, triathlon, HEFY/EFY, Pounders, and even Tropical Smoothie.  Here's to the memories!!

Chris also outfitted Aly with some outdoor supplies like a Gerber tool, pocket knife, headlamp, etc.  That guy's always trying to keep his family safe.  Love him for it.  

Aly and Lise also got new, heavy-duty coats.  Remember what I said about the practical gift thing?  Lise needed to give all the snow gear a once over before taking it to Utah.  It became very apparent that our children grew up in the south when Lise didn't know whether to put her snow pants over or tucked into her boots . . . 

Lise made bank this year with a new laptop (which she paid 1/2 for).  But nothing, nothing could compare to . . . 

. . . the Bob Ross Calendar!! 😂

Kylie was all about the Elves & Dragon Legos this year.  I wonder how many more years I'm going to have before that kid is out of toys. 😥

Chris and I both got some shoes (we're both used to the adult practical presents by now) and then we also got a hammock and a new DVD player for the family.

Oh, and I can't forget this homemade necklace and card from Kylie.  Super sweet that she made it all by herself.