Zeke's hair is wild!
As if there isn't enough going on at the Geertsen household, I decided to add one more little thing. I was in the office, and Kassidy was telling us that during her husbands lunch break that day, he and a co-worker had come across an abandoned litter of kittens in a field. They scooped them all up and were trying to find homes for them, which they easily did. Kassidy had two at her house, one they were keeping and the other for her sister-in-law. The problem was, her sister wanted to give the kitten to her kids for Christmas and needed someone to foster it until then. I knew my family would
love to foster a wee baby kitty. And I would love to have it
temporarily. It's a win-win situation! I told Kassidy I would do it- If for
sure this kitty would go by Christmas! She promised me her sis-in-law would take it.
We made plans for me to run by her house and get it that day. I went home and grabbed Zeke. I told him what we were doing on the way to Kassidy's. Of course, Zeke was giddy!
We walked in, and about died at these darling, teeny-tiny kitties! Oh my goodness! They were sooo new-born. We took the little gray female. We went to PetSmart and found some formula and other things she'd need. We were already in love!
Honestly, what is cuter than a baby kitty? Nothing! She is sooo sweet, and sleepy and we are all smitten.
Meanwhile, I keep working on these stripes!
And the grass is scrubbed!
Pedro returned home from his Mission to Florida!
I felt so emotional seeing him, and hearing how much he's grown. I sure love this kid, and I was so happy we were all able to give him our love!
Meanwhile, this little kitty.... As soon as someone walks in, the first thing asked is, "Where's little Kitty?" We didn't like to leave her home alone for long in the beginning, she can't even make it up or down the stairs. The kids would put her in their bathroom at night with her litter box and milk because just like any newborn, she'd wake through the night and meow. But we are all so impressed at how quickly she learned her litter box (for the most part) and is starting to play-play-play!
Her favorite spot to play is the shelf behind the couch. She loves these pine cones!
Ugh, she is just toooo cute!
There is so much to fill in Adren on! He can't believe we are fostering a kitty.
And he can't even wrap his brain around what is happening to his backyard!
And it's my Birthday! Big 50!
Jonny was kind and set up all the birthday trappings and got my favorite treats :)
After a big meeting at work, everyone sang to me and gave me a little cake.
This is me at 50! Life is so good. I went to a lovely, cozy dinner with my CRU. On my actual birthday, a Saturday, Jon, Paisley and I saw a matinee of Wicked. I booked some spa treatments in Draper. I had a very luxurious facial, teeth whitening and pedicure. It was so lovely, I think this may be my new birthday tradition. I came home to a slice of delicious white chocolate raspberry cake.
It's funny- in the months leading up to this birthday, I've felt ready to be 50! I've loved my 40's and I'm ready to see what the 50's hold in store. But on my actual day, I felt a bit emotional. I'm ready, but I'm also not as ready as I thought I was. 50 is quite the milestone to enter!
I loved my birthday shout-out from my Missionary! It was a big day for him as well!
I had to zoom in on this picture because Adren looks so handsome, and so much like Daddy!
Then I came upon some pictures of me in my youth. I remember these good times and good friends. I told my CRU this funny story that went along with these pictures:
Here I am, with my long hair waiting to go up to SLC to get my hair cut and dyed by my friend Jared. He is in hair school and has entered a competition and asked me to be his model. I thought,
Why not?Here I am after the competition with my super short hair. I did not love it.
Here's Jared telling me he's so sorry, he was too nervous and didn't follow the plan.
Here's to another 50! :)
Dance dress shopping has been so much fun with Paisley. Winter Formal is coming up so we ventured out to see what was out there.
We went up to South Town Mall to check out a super fancy dress shop. The dresses were priiiiiicy, but oh so pretty! It was fun to see them all on Paisley.
Jonny is heading out on a fun boys trip. Kitty was so happy and bouncy and curious what was going on.
Amidst all that is going on, I must get the house cheery and ready for the Holidays! Our home really shines when she is decked and glowing.
Decorating this year was so much work! It feels like such chaos to organize. My goodness. Getting everything cleaned, then all of the bins brought up and sorted, then decorated, then what isn't used sorted back into bins, then storing the bins, then cleaning everything again. Whew! It's a lot!
Our contractor and friend, Trent had been over to our house before the decorating. Then he popped back over right when I finished. He couldn't believe the transformation that to him, was no time at all.
Little Kitty is living her best life in all the garland and lights.
Once my house was decked, it was time to deck the office! I brought our slim pencil tree which worked perfect in front of the column.
Between my old ratty garland and some fresh stems from Trader Joe's, the entry swag looked and smelled gorgeous!
It's a cheery entrance for all and a fun surprise for everyone Monday morning.
Then I had the idea to make these big snowflakes and hang them from the ceiling. I brought in all the supplies and everyone in the office took an hour break and we made them together. They turned out cute!
I finally got my act together and finished making these frames for these prints. It was nice to get them out of our garage, and fill in this big wall space. They look so pretty!
These are pictures of some gorgeous tree's outside one of the orphanages.
The backroom is constantly being moved around for various activities. I found a leather ottoman on fb marketplace for
freee. I recovered it with some leftover fabric I had and brought it to the office. It's nice to put your feet up while working. I took this pic to ponder on ways I can make this work better for us.
I love this shot of Adren in the Joseph Smith home, doing his work in upstate New York!
Happy Holidays to all!
More dress hunting!
Little Kitty continues to be just as adorable and curious as ever. She
has brought such an excitement and joy to the house. We are all just
beyond obsessed with everything about her!
She scrambles up my legs onto the table while I work. Often, during meetings she's climbing up my back, onto my shoulders and then jumping all over my laptop. Everyone from work loves it when they get a glimpse of her!
This is our winter view of the yard. There is progress being made! There are crews here every day, it seems like so much work! They are building forms, moving dirt around, re-positioning underground tubes, then down into our crawl space for drilling through the concrete wall etc. Then they cover everything up with tarps and come out the next day. It doesn't appear that much is happening, yet the workers seems so busy all day. I was emptying out under the stairs every few days so people could get down to the crawl space area, which is no small chore. I finally got rid of and re-homed almost everything in that closet and it is nice to have it all emptied out.
This Christmas
is Little Kitty!
Winter Formal has arrived and Paisley looked
stunning.Even down to the snowflake diamond hair clips. She truly looked like a winter princess.
Our 2024 tree is a beaut!
I was sitting next to it reading and enjoying listening to Little Kitty play in it. It got quiet and I wondered if she wandered off. Then I spotted her:
She fell asleep half way up the tree, draped over a branch!
Matt and Abby had some extra tickets for the MoTab Christmas special. We have attended this before and knew it was extra special. Jon got home from work and we headed up to SLC to meet them for dinner before the show. We gave ourselves an extra 45 minutes knowing the weekend traffic downtown would likely be extra heavy. Well, we should have left 2 hours earlier! I don't think we ever went faster than 40mph on the freeway, it was stop and go the whole way. Of course downtown at Christmastime is extra busy. We popped into the restaurant we were to meet Matt and Abby at the tail-end of their meal. We ended up ordering something small and splitting their meal with them! Then we all walked over to the tabernacle.
It was a beautiful program. The decor and lighting was spectacular, and of course the MoTab live is amazing. I was just as entertained watching one of the camera men. He was climbing all over those stairs in a squatting position while hefting that big camera on his shoulder. I imagine his quads were burning! It was great night, I was so glad we were able to go!
He-he... Can you tell what we are all bonkers about? I bring Little Kitty up onto my bed and get her to calm down by rubbing her. She starts purring and gets so sleepy.
I chuckled at Jon's get-up for his nightly walk. I also chuckled that he couldn't stop playing with kitty to go on said walk. I keep telling everyone- This
isn't our cat! Remember, we are giving her away at Christmas, so keep that in mind...
I just can't believe these holiday views! Not much yard space is left, but I don't mind one bit. Under these tarps are trenches and pipes for heating and electrical. I must say, I am tired of the view of the tarps! But they keep the ground warm for the concrete coming.
I can't believe this dream is actually happening! I am so grateful for a sunny and dry winter so far! I know we always need the moisture, but just this one time, I'm hoping the snow stays away until it's framed!
Eeeeeeee!!!
