"Dear Past, thanks for all the lessons. Dear future, I am ready."

It's always good to start a new year with some goals and perspective.  We each choose a word to focus on and hang those words in our kitchen cabinet.  I love the reminder of each of us individually and all of us collectively trying to get better and face what's ahead.  We had a stressful month with Brenna.  

At the end of our Winter Break, I took Brenna in to have a consultation with an oral surgeon to have her wisdom teeth removed.  When her panoramic x-rays came back, the surgeon requested we stay and do a follow up CT scan because it looked like her roots were growing around something on the bottom right side of her jaw.  After the scan came back, the doctor informed us Brenna had a tumor.  The tumor had been eating away the lower bones of her mandible and there was a hole where bone should be.  She hadn't had any pain and he said that was normal.  He'd had a patient before who had broken their jaw from eating a marshmallow unaware a growth had taken all bone in their jaw.  We needed to schedule a surgery to remove the tumor, test for cancer, do a possible bone graft and maybe remove teeth the tumor cells had corrupted all while getting the wisdom teeth extracted as well.  

That was not how we imagined our routine visit to go.  I left the office thinking what just happened.  We had discussed her recovery time, thankfully it wouldn't be much as long as the surgery would be all the treatment needed (depending on the tumor).  She worried about dance, of course and we knew she'd have to miss some basketball half times.  The doctor said he'd have our back-apparently he had experience with coaches who refused to excuse athletes.  One cheer coach wouldn't be flexible for one of his patients that cheered when she required brain surgery after a stunt in cheer sent her jaw into her brain.  Luckily, Brenna's coach was very understanding, despite the stress of last month.  

Surgery was scary but successful!  She slept with me the night before so I could wake her every 1-2 hrs to hydrate.  Unfortunately, Dave had to be in Mexico for work and I reassured him it would be ok to be gone, there was nothing he could do here. Grant was here very helpful and supportive and we would be alright til he could get home.  

 I sat and sat in the waiting room trying to distract myself from the worry, but that is hard! She was a champ.  The tumor peeled off nicely, I guess in layers and was full of bone bits and gunk.  We are so happy she didn't lose any teeth with it but she did have a painful bone graft...from cadavers of human and cow bone.  Not sure if she realizes that...we will keep that on the down low.  And we were home for recovery! Soft foods for a couple weeks, meds around the clock, and ice packs for this gal who felt like she was wasting her life.  She is not used to sitting around for days.  

She had lots of kind words and support-flowers, treats, legos, meals, all of which brightened her day and lessen the load.  Our follow up appointment for the biopsy hung over our head despite the smooth surgery.  The tumor was benign!  yay!  The doctor admitted he was more concerned than he let on because he didn't want to give us too much anxiety.  However, it is a tumor that has a high chance of regrowth.  So, we will be heading to the office for scans every six months and take it from there.  We are relieved and thankful for the outcome and know she may not be completely done with these procedures or dealing with it, but she can face whatever needs to be done.  Brenna takes things in stride and while she definitely felt a bit down or bored, she bounces up and meets her challenges like few I have seen before.  

We had to remind Harrison of these good life lessons as he watched his precious Rams play.  

He had been crafting to support,  cheering, rooting for them  

 with their fabulous season.  The game that would take them to the Super Bowl did not end how our football fan had wanted and he might have ended up like this...

The emotions of an avid sports fan.  It's a rough life.  Katelee has had the best time cheering on the Aggies- football and basketball.  She is living it up.  

And so we start another year different than expected, but taking who we have become and what we have gone through hoping to build a good reservoir of experiences to draw from to gather strength for what's ahead.  If there is anything I have learned from my now 45 years on the planet- is life doesn't unfold as planned, but we can be better through what is thrown at us and what we choose to focus on.  

Countdowns

Our gal Brenna is known for her countdowns.  Her phone has an app with various events that she clocks to the minute how much time left until they arrive.  

She didn't have a firm deadline on when her dance photos would come back, but we were very excited to see her sophomore year pictures.  

They came four months after they were taken and we love them!

She loved the football games-dancing at halftime and pregame.  The team has done a couple of assembly performances, which has also been great.  They also had to participate in an eating challenge as part of the school's Christmas fundraiser.  It was ELF themed- base of spaghetti with so many different toppings people paid them to eat.  Brenna snarfed it like a hero.  She busted through it like it ain't no thing and then told me the nastiest topping was 'horse cheddar sauce'.  I wasn't sure if she meant horseradish but turns out it was worchestershire.  

While Thanksgiving was not one of the countdowns on Brenna's phone, there was a show countdown that released the day before Thanksgiving- Stranger Things.  These epic episodes hadn't had a new season for years and for nearly a year before the release the countdown was present for her.  She threw a Stranger Things themed watch party with us for the first released episodes.  It was pretty cool.  There were streamers and music when you walked down into the basement (upside down).  Pictures were all over the walls and the vibe was set.  We had Caleb and Adri stay the night to watch with us, since we would be heading to our family Thanksgiving dinner the next day, it worked out perfectly.  

We had a great Petrick family fun year- food, movies and pies...just how we like it.  The next countdown was fast approaching- Christmas.  But, before the holiday arrived, we had fun moments in between.   Brenna went to Winter's Ball with our neighbor Cole.  These two used to be bitter enemies growing up, so it gave us a chuckle seeing them head to a dance together.   For the first time ever, a few people took a glance at this photo and thought it was the other McArthur sister.  Brenna and Katelee have rarely, if ever been described as looking a like, so it was fun to see a brief similarity.  

The lighting contributed since her hair by the tree doesn't look as red.  She had a great time and looked fab! 

We were counting down the days for Katelee to come home and spend time with us!  (even though her plans mostly would include snowboarding when she was visiting).  We didn't want to wait too long and needed to show her siblings her apartment, so we took an evening and did a drop in enjoying the Aggie life.  

Brenna had a fun trip planned with Dave as a countdown item as well!  NEW YORK! 

 Dave took Grant and Katelee when they turned 16 and with Brenna's upcoming birthday, they started chatting about potentially taking the trip a little early so she could experience the city during the holidays and see the Rockettes!  Wahoo! 

 We thought she was able to miss a couple of days of dance a year...nope.  She can have a couple of tardies for dance company, but no absences unless it's a wedding/funeral/pre-arranged reason.  We discovered this when Brenna let her coach know about the trip and how she would miss the last morning before the winter break and Brenna was informed that she could miss, but she would be dropped a full letter grade or be removed from an upcoming dance performance.  Brenna called me devastated.  She could not, would not drop a grade and hated to think of missing one of the half times.  I was kind of floored because the day she'd be missing was a party, but hey, I don't make the calls.  Dave switched their flights and rearranged their whole trip so she didn't miss that morning for the party...which ended up being a kidnapping in the wee hours of the morning.  I was texted before hand and gave the senior dance captain directions for how to get in to our house and where Brenna slept. Well, that girl ended up getting strep and wouldn't be there, so when the girls came at 4am they had to rely on other information....Dave had worked so late at the office to get his business in order before they left for the Big Apple.  Upon coming home at 3 am, he unlocked our front door for the dance co girls, and he decided to sleep in our empty bedroom that Brenna used to sleep in.  She moved to the basement when Katelee left for Utah State.  So, the girls came into our dark home and one of them thinking Brenna's room was upstairs (because it used to be) led the entourage in to the room that held this man on his C-Pap machine.

They quickly realized that was not their dance teammate and proceeded to open every door upstairs- the laundry room, Harrison's bedroom door (which he addressed to me in the morning over breakfast wondering why people were coming into his room in the middle of the night), as well as the master bedroom where I slept with an eye mask and no pajamas, just my holy garments.  The girls were all I am sure traumatized...almost us much as us...before they found Brenna in the basement.  Good thing we didn't let Brenna miss that for NY!  oh boy. 

 

The party was attended and then Dave and Brenna headed out to the east coast where they had a great time. 

Statue of Liberty, Rockettes, 9/11 Memorial, Empire State Building, Times Square all the fun during all the festivities.  

Finally!  Christmas Eve arrived and Harrison was sick.  Boo...  One thing Covid did give us was an awareness of keeping masks on hand.  So, he donned a mask and we forced him to wear it most of the evening.  It was hilarious when we were reading the nativity for the little cousins to act out, we passed it around to him take a verse.  He started to read and everyone died because his voice was so Darth Vader the Chainsmoker-esque we ripped the holy words out of his hand and skipped him.  

Sadly, he didn't get to participate in the play, which was unfortunate since cute Warren and Alan were in town from NY.  But Brenna represented the family well and embraced the idea of all eyes on her when the angel appeared.  

Harrison had felt a bit left out during our Stranger Things watching party at Thanksgiving.  He kept creeping down the stairs to get a peep.  When Stranger Things had originally aired he was a wee child and way too young to watch it.  So, every following season I just told him it was too scary and he couldn't watch it.  We decided to let him catch up to the new season after Thanksgiving so he would be ready Christmas Day to watch the next batch of episodes that would be released at 6pm.  The kid accomplished it and quickly became obsessed.  

I guess at some point I have to realize that my baby is no longer a baby.  We had another year of our traditional Christmas morning...waking up the kids, reading a little scripture message and taking turns opening gifts

after the kids go through their stockings.  

I feel so lucky we had another year with all four. 

We had our special quiche breakfast with donuts and fruit, played a few new games and watched the next few episodes of Stranger Things that evening.  

A Christmas all together- the very best kind. 

The weekend after the holiday Dave and I decided to get away for the night and put our built-in babysitter, Katelee to use.  We went to Park City and being the amazing sister she is, she took Harrison and Brenna sledding.  

The snow thus far has been pretty abysmal this season, but Katelee couldn't be near her mountains and at least not try to get a feel for some powder.  She is an outdoors woman through and through. 

New Years Eve was down to this little crew: 

But we are so super fun.  The countdown for that night wasn't overly loud, but it was still meaningful.  As we went down from 10...9...8...7...6...5...we celebrated the arrival of a new year-2026! I never had it in my phone, I never really thought about it, but countdowns can happen without the anticipation Miss Brenna has.  It is so fun to have something to look forward to and to have in sight, but it is also exciting to have things almost sneak up on you, like a little boy now almost a teenager.  Whether we plan the events and look forward to them or just get surprised by their arrival, I hope in 2026 we can live in each moment and be present.  It is a gift to be here and we will enjoy it! 

Fittin it All In

October is always a fav around here and this year we tried to fit in all the fun ever...

Brenna had a weekend away with her school dance team competing at the Shakespeare Festival.  Their dance was incredible and slightly frightening.  But they nailed it.  

They rode scooters all around campus and had the greatest time.  The next weekend was quite the excursion for Dave and our two youngest.  

Our ward has been prepping and talking up the grand goal of a temple walk from the Draper temple to the SLC temple.  They provided a few days through the last months to take some long walks so the day of the event no one would perish.  Did my family prepare much?  No, but they were champions none the less.  

I kept getting picture updates like this from Brenna.  That was early in the morning when they were all smiles and energy.  I did hear back from all the advisors that Brenna was the hype girl and neither of the McArthur children ever complained once.  

I picked up lunch for the whole crew at a Chick Fil A near Sugarhouse Park and was able to get updates and witness people hobbling about.  It was where I learned that Harrison ran to each pit stop, jogging the entire last route.  I have been pushing a track team ever since.  He was apparently a big leader of the group.  It was so fun to watch (and not have to walk the whole thing!)  I followed them from Sugarhouse to the end.  Dave was the caboose making sure no child left behind was enforced and no one fell to the ground and never got up.  It was a fabulous accomplishment that resulted in blisters, endorphins, bonding and achievement!  Yay for all them! 

Brenna still had some cheering at football games- loving the Friday night lights at home.  Here she is with all the sophomores on the squad, just loving life.  

College football seems to dominate our television and much of Harrison's conversations and creative time.  

He is no casual fan, dressing up for each game (and making me don the attire as well) This is all quite fun when the team is doing well,

 but we do have to brace ourselves when there is a loss.  

The BYU quarterback is named Bear so Harrison made his own little mascot to cheer with when he was cheering from our living room.  

This bear has been thrown when BYU is causing Harrison distress-good thing he has his protective gear.  

Hanging on to some of our spooky traditions- 

Harrison and I had a good time searching for the witches at Gardner Village.  

And we all partook of frightening food.  Legit, I was uneasy eating the bag (chicken) wings and I made them.  I just couldn't do it and don't think I can ever serve those again.  

We smooshed in some at home Fall Break fun 

at the pumpkin patch and Harrisons buddies took him to a fall farm playland area

and we still might be discovering corn kernels in his clothes...and body.  

We love that our school district takes a whole week for Fall Break and Dave has been yearning for the ocean, so we hit the road California bound.  We first stopped in Las Vegas and were mesmerized by the outside of the Sphere we could see from our hotel room.  The next morning I was pumped to go to Death Valley.  I was insistent if we were going to meet Dave's ocean needs we were going to meet my National Park needs and stop at the hottest place in North America.    

The entrance to the land was pretty impressive.  We were ready for our day of hikes

 only to discover that due to the floods and the government shut down and stripping of forest workers, we couldn't go to 99% of the places I had mapped out.  So we drove out of our way to witness the entrance only.  Sigh.  The drive through was actually fascinating so someday we might return.  Lesson learned to check the park updates before heading out.  

We did make it to the west coast for some beach time,

sunsets over the water, 

bike riding (and fighting)

and fun.  We were able to go to the Newport Temple

which was a highlight.

And we made another attempt to cross of a National Park from the bucket list.  Katelee had the most incredible time exploring the Channel Islands in the summer so we thought we'd also check them out.  While she got off and swam through the kelp forests and walked along the ridges, we thought we could at least see the pods of dolphins she experienced but we'd just stay in a boat.  

The ride was nice, the dolphins did not show up so it was another miss for National Parks this trip.  We did get to view the islands completely covered in birds (and poop) so fellow boat passengers that were avian lovers were most likely loving it.  I was not a fan of the flocks.  We did see sea lions and got some fresh sea air, so yay for that.  

 

The Santa Monica Pier gave us some people watching opportunities and exposure.

Feeling lucky to spend time together and get Dave's longing for the ocean met.  Missed our other kiddos, but college and adulting are now real for them.  

We made it home for Halloween and Harrison exhibited his artistic inclinations with a pumpkin totem.  

Grant spent Halloween representing his tv obsession Attack on Titan 

with Hailie.  I was just impressed Hailie got Grant to dress up.  I guess it helps that he thinks he is a scout on the show and the request came from Hailie, not his mother.  

Katelee is never one to back away from a chance to dress up and/or take pictures.  Her and her friends loved the excuse to do that.  The girls dressed up as genies one night.  

And then at another party, the guys and gals channeled their (my) Harry Potter dreams and represented characters from the beloved story.  

There were some pretty funny photos Katelee sent.  She was Bellatrix.  

Costumes this year for Halloween were on point for our youngins.  Brenna had to pick a costume with her "homie" on the dance company and they had everyone on the team rolling when they showed up...

They spent the day running through the high school halls making everyone laugh.  She was looking cute for the night when she went to a party with friends though...

Sometimes she does 'bug' me, but she was an adorable butterfly with her ladybug and bee friends.  

And, it Harrisons last Halloween party!  Just gonna dump this picture and see if he can be spotted...

For years this ginger has been longing to have a leprechaun costume.  This is the year all his dreams came true.  

I went to his class party and he went around at night with his neighborhood friends.  

Everytime I looked at him I chuckled.  This costume is quite large so he could be sporting that for years to come.  

As we sat at our last Elementary Parade all I kept thinking this is the peak.  There is the cutest leprechaun performing Thriller before my very eyes.  I've had years and years of watching the most adorable princesses, superheroes, spooky haunts walk by.  There couldn't be a better way to finish it off than a bearded ginger coming at me.  It will always be a Halloween to remember.