Just the 6 of us

So today I remembered I had a blog.  The boys were fighting (as usual) over something that happened years ago, we just couldn't remember what year exactly.  I had a lightbulb moment and said "Hey! lets check my blog!"  We found the answer (I was right, again) and then we spent the next hour reading old blog posts.  It was heaven.  I have seriously been slacking.  It has been over a year since I've been on here.  So many changes have come our way and if I die (due to all my kids' arguing) my boys might want to come on here and see what I have to say.  Usually it's yelling and cursing but I'll try to keep it clean for this post.

So where to start?  I feel like I have to make a 10 page post to catch up.  But who has the time for that?  Obviously not me, hence the reason I haven't blogged in over a year.  So I'll give a quick recap of what's happened at the Wright house the last 12 months.

Nate is still running like crazy.  Work, coaching kids, church callings.  Lather, rinse, repeat.  He's like a fine wine and gets better with age.  I'm getting old and he stays the same. It's not fair.

Melanie (me!)  finally said goodbye to Taco Time for good.  I've spent so many years of my life there I didn't know if I knew how to survive outside of the taco environment.  But my old body (and nerves) were running pretty ragged working my buns off there and I knew it was time for something different.  So Stephanie decided she would LOVE to work with me and helped me get a job at the Farm Service Agency where she works.  Right now it's only a temporary position because that's how the government works.  Maybe it will turn permanent, maybe not.  I like to live on the edge and not have job security.  So we'll see what happens there.

Dilon is 16 and has had approximately 36 girlfriends at this point in life.  I love it.  He dropped all sports except wrestling and is fully committed to it.  He has come so far with it and I'm super proud.  He was varsity for most of the year this year.  He made it to State, didn't place but is now determined to place his Senior year next year.   I just threw up in my mouth a little typing senior.  How?!?  How is that even possible?

Grifin who is 14, grew about 5 feet this past year and has a voice that is deeper than Nates.  He has become my most laid back kid. He loves hanging out with himself, dinnertime, binge watching Netflix, and having perfect attendance at school.  He's one of a kind and I wouldn't trade him for the world.

Dax. My sweet little 10 year old Dax, is going to be the death of me ( I mean that in a very loving way).  He's too smart for his own good and knows how to push every button I have.  He thinks it's hilarious. Nate thinks it's hilarious.  I think him and Nate better watch their backs.  Dax is the President of the lighthouse leaders this year at school.  He is a friend to all and I hear nothing but good about him.  

Baylor is definitely the baby.  His older brothers love to torture him.  He loves to scream at the top of his lungs.  It's a good time for all.  He turned 8 in September and was baptized by Dilon.  It was awesome. Dax and I were his witnesses which was a new change in the church so the timing on that was fantastic.  He's the perfect caboose for our party of 6.

The last few weeks have been interesting to say the least.  The world was hit with Covid-19 and all of our lives were turned upside down.  We have been asked to stay home and social distance as much as possible to stop the spread of this dirty virus no one seems to know anything about. It has become fatal for so many people.  Especially in heavily populated areas.  Mostly New York where Mike and Amanda and their kids are.  They literally stay in their tiny apartment all day long and have been for a few weeks now.  It's scary.  I'm grateful we haven't gotten hit as bad here.

Church has been canceled for several weeks. President Nelson said 6 months ago that conference in April  2020 would be unforgettable.  Well, it was last week and it was unforgettable.  There was no one in attendance because of Covid.  It wasn't allowed. So families all over the world watched in the comfort of their own homes.  Together.  With no other distractions because the world has basically come to a halt.

School was also canceled, probably for the rest of the year but we're not certain yet.  My heart breaks for the seniors who are missing all of their lasts.  Dilon, whose Junior Prom was canceled.  Athletes whose season got cut short.  Dax who may not have a 5th grade graduation.  Students and teachers and friends who didn't get to say goodbye.  It's hard.

Adults have been told to work from home as much as possible.  Nate is considered an essential worker so he still goes to work every other day.  I am fortunate enough to be able to telework from home AND homeschool 4 boys (who don't seem to appreciate their new teacher) at the same time.  The days are loooong, but we're surviving.   I am so grateful Nate and I still have jobs and income coming in because so many other people have lost theirs.

This whole mess has been so eye-opening and there's so much more I want to say about it but this post has gone on long enough.  I do think it's Gods way of telling everyone to slow down and remember what is important in life.  We also had a 5.7 earthquake in Utah a couple of weeks ago so everyone is a bit on edge.  Signs of the times? Maybe.  I say bring it on.  I'm ready for Jesus to come back.
I do have to say as crazy as it has been, I have loved this time with my family.  Just us.  No worldly distractions. With all the bad that has come at us so far this year, I will focus on that. On them.  My family.  Just the 6 of us.

Christmas 2018

It's crazy another year has come and gone.  Christmas was a blur.  In fact, the entire month of December was. My head is still spinning.

One thing I've learned the older I get is how fantastic my kids are. I enjoyed them home on the break. I didn't want them to go back. I know I've said it a thousand times but I'm going to keep saying it: Time PLEASE stop!

I'm not ready for these boys of mine to leave the nest any time soon. I mean there are days they are on the brink of putting me in the looney bin.  They fight and yell and make all kinds of bodily noises, but they love and laugh and say the perfect thing right at my breaking point.    

Anyway, I got a bit sidetracked there.  Back to Christmas.  I'm not a fan.  I hate the worldliness of it.  I hate how Jesus is not the reason for the season for so many people.  There's too much crazy, too much money spent, and  too much competition.  Quite honestly I'm glad that part is over.  My heart breaks for the kids who get so little and have to hear all about the insane amounts of presents some of their peers get.  

We try to keep it fairly simple.  A few things from Santa and 4 presents from mom and dad. 

This year they came in the form of snowmen

Then of course there is the obligatory sit on the couch and pose with your mom and dad pics

Then I made Nate pose with me and he loved every second of it.

Can I just give a shout out to him.  He's down 100 lbs. from last Christmas.  

That's my man!

And of course I made the kids pose for more pics too. 

^^One of these things is not like the others.^^

 Nate is trying to figure out what he did wrong as a parent to end up with a Ute fan. 

Free agency, honey.  That's why we're all here.  No matter how much we dislike the decisions our kids may make at times, they still have their free agency. 

And can I just say I love how proud Baylor is to wear red when the rest of the house is rocking blue.  Stay strong, little buddy.  In all aspects of life. 

I have no idea how I didn't get any pictures of Christmas Eve with my family.  Oops.

Christmas Day with the Wright clan is always fun. And loud.  But mostly fun.  

It was strange not having Scott and Karen there for the first time ever.  They're off serving the Lord in Arizona.  Everyone needs a little Jesus in their life.  We're super proud of them and their example. 

Our family has been incredibly blessed this year and I am so extremely grateful.  

Now is it Spring yet???

Halloween 2018

Well it's only a couple of weeks late but hey I'm actually blogging so give this gal some credit.  

Halloween this year was kind of sad.  We're old.  Nate and I that is.  Our kids are moving on and it totally stinks.  

Dilon worked on Halloween and when he did show up at home he was there for a whopping 5 minutes before he took off for a corn maze with friends.  

I did make him stop and pose for a picture with Baylor, he was thrilled about it

Grif spent the night at home handing out candy.  

He had a very eventful night.  

Dax actually went with me and Baylor to the trunk or treat but he ditched us as soon as we got there to go with friends.  What the heck happened to me being his BFF?!?  

 We didn't see him again for the next 3 hours.  Huge shout out to the dad who took 4 nine year olds trick-or-treating.

Baylor was my main man for the night.  

1 kid. 

I was down to one kid on Halloween. We made the most of it and partied hard until 7:00!  

 Stephanie and her clan saved the day and met us at Grandma Taco's house so Kennedy could take Baylor around and actually have another kid to go door-to-door with.

It has been 2 week and I still have a plethora of candy sitting in my house.  Strange considering the fact that I live here. At what point do I get to say forget it and throw it all away?  

Here's to enjoying these holidays with the littles who still want to hang with me. 

These days are going to be gone before I know it.

Fall Break 2018

Not to mention any names but a certain father-in-law of mine made me feel a tad bit guilty about giving up on my blog.  I know I should be keeping up on it better, so much happens around here.  But because so much happens around here I can't keep up.  It's a vicious cycle.  So here's to hoping I'll start doing a better job at it again.

Fall break did not disappoint this year.  We decided to take a little road trip to see the before mentioned in-laws who are serving a mission in Kingman, AZ.

But first, a pit stop in Vegas, baby!  What the hizzle were we thinking?  Vegas is not the place for 4 boys.  Scantily clad women everywhere.  At one point we passed a lady with just 2 pieces  of tape placed strategically over her chest. And drunk people. So many drunk people.  Baylor had one guy walk by him and say: "how's it going, little f***er?".  Great.  Baylor gave him knuckles and kept on walking without a care in the world.

^^this looks like a tender picture with Dilon and Baylor holding hands right?
Nope.They were being naughty and running off so this was their punishment.
 Also, how much have you missed my blurry pictures???

See ya later Vegas, now off to the Hoover Dam to meet up with Nate's parents.
We've missed them!
Hoover Dam was much cooler to see than I thought it would be.  I was petrified and dizzy. So dizzy.  Bay felt the same and made sure he kept his distance. 

 ^I showed Nate this picture and it took him a few seconds to recognize himself.
Losing 100 lbs. can do that to a person.  Can I just say--hello, hot stuff.

 

We got our kicks on Route 66

And did a little exploring around Kingman.

Elvis was in the building

I think the kids would love any vacation that included a pool.  Me, not so much. 

Last but not least we made our way to Lake Havasu to see the London Bridge.  

We ended the trip by going to sacrament meeting at a small branch in a small AZ town that I can't remember the name of. 

 It's good to know the church is true wherever you are. 

(is anyone else besides me a little teary-eyed that Dilon is now taller than me? Grif is getting real close too.)

Thanks for the fun getaway Scott and Karen. 

Also, I'm going to just remember that the trip was as fantastic as the pictures show it to be and forget all about the fighting/crying/laughing/yelling car ride that took too many hours.

I do NOT heart Mexico

My blog has definitely been neglected lately because life is crazy. But sometimes life is just crazy enough you have to take the time to blog about it.

So Nate and I took a little adventure to Mexico last week. What did we do? Something fun and exciting you ask? Not quite.  

Nate decided to change his life and opted to have weight loss surgery:

-No this post is not about that (we'll save that for a rainy day).

-No the decision to do it was not made lightly. Trust me, we have heard from plenty of people why they thought he shouldn't do it. Don't judge us, we won't judge you (probably).

 All went well with the surgery and I survived my outing for a street taco so win/win.

I have never seen Nate sleep so much in my entire life.
Daaayyyyysssss. The man slept for days.
 Anyway, he finally woke up enough for us to return to the beautiful U.S of A.  So off to the airport we go.  We were in Tijuana (again, stop judging) and flying in and out of San Diego.  Our hotel was probably about a 15 minute drive to the boarder (Mexico side). It took us 2 hours.  Holy traffic, man.  Two depressing hours of people standing outside your car window wanting you to buy their authentic Mexican goods. Anything from tacos to tiaras. They offered it all. As we were waiting for our turn to cross the boarder we are asking our driver if she has ever seen anything crazy there.  She has lived there her whole life and crossed countless times.  Not one issue for her.  Nothing.  Leave it to the Wright's to make it a first for her. 

Finally we hit the boarder, hand the lady our passports and expect to go on our merry way.  She scans mine, all clear. A+ gold star student here. She scans Nate's looks at him and says:

 "Nathan......do you have something you need to take care of in Gerogia?" 

"Nope, never been to Georgia before."

"Uh huh, follow the yellow line, sir."

We got taken out of the 2 hour wait to cross the boarder and had to follow the yellow line.  Not the yellow line. Anything but the yellow line.  

I see a little bit of fear in the drivers eyes and start to get a little concerned.

We pull aside.  

Several agents look at Nate, look at a computer screen. Look at Nate, look at a computer screen....lather, rinse, repeat.  Multiple agents, multiple looks. 

They come ask us several questions and at this point I'm wishing I would have put on a double layer of deodorant for the day. 

Then they say the words I never thought I would hear in my life time.  "Nathan we have to arrest you and take you in for questioning."  Excuse me?!?  What am I supposed to do?  I need more deodorant so bad at this point.  

Nate steps out of the car and gets cuffs slapped on his wrists.  Careful fellas, he just had half his stomach cut away, lets not hurt him please. 

So off he goes.  Will I ever see my husband again? Should I wait for the father of my children or head for the airport to get the hell out of there.

I opted to choose the "wright" (ha, see what I did there?) and stay behind with my man.  

At this point I'm sure days have passed.   

The driver and I have been asked to exit the vehicle and they bring in the dogs. All clear!

Finally, an hour later,  he emerges from the depths of hell.  Hallelujah.  I know, I just know, I heard angels singing. 

Handcuffs - check

Fingerprints - check 

Body search - check

Ankle chained to a metal table - check, check

Handcuffs and ankle chains on Saturday, Bishop suit on Sunday.  That's normal, right?

Apparently there is a Nathan Wright in Georgia who is wanted and must look similar to my man. 

I can't tell you the relief it was to get on that airplane and head for home sweet home.
 The biggest downside to all of this....I didn't think to hurry and snap a pic of him getting hauled off in handcuffs.  That could have come in real handy at some point in time.

Never again Mexico.  Never, ever again.

Happy Love Day

Valentine's Day this year was a heart breaker for this mom.  

Half of my boys, half of them, decided they needed to get a girl a "real" valentine.  

Should I be more concerned about my 14 year old who has a girlfriend, or the 6 year old? If it's starting at 6 what's going to be happening when he's a teenager???  

 Dilon actually chickened out with the flowers because, "nobody gives girls flowers at school, mom!"  Okay then. You're wrong kid, but whatever.  She still got a bear and candy so that's good enough.  Grandma Taco got the flowers instead. 

Baylor picked the perfect 6 year old present.  A chocolate shark that says you're Jawsome (that there is hilarious).  

She brought him back a Valentine and I forgot to get a quick pic but it was so dang cute. 

Then there's this kid

According to Grif, "ain't nobody got time for that" when it comes to Valentine's Day and girls.

It's only a matter of time before Dax realizes girls are cute, but not as cute as him.

Then my man scored major points bringing me home my favorite treat (oh who am I kdding, I have a billion favorite treats)

and 5 minutes later.....

Happy Love Day!