November 2025

November started out with a bang! The first Saturday we fit in a swim meet, baptism, dance photos, getting Ellie ready for a dance, and two birthday parties. I didn't get home until 1:30am the next morning.

Ellie went to her first school dance. She went with a boy named Davin George, who had never been to a dance before either even though he was a senior. It was Sadie's which is a dress up dance, so she asked him in "Anne of Green Gables" style. She ended up having a great time, which I love. They didn't actually stay at the dance that long, but that wasn't the point I guess. We did pictures, then they had homemade dumplings that they had made the night before at her friend Siqi's house. Then it was the dance and then a movie night. She didn't get home until pretty late too. 

Ellie: Sadie's was so fun! I went with Mori and her boyfriend and Sophia and her date. It was super stressful the whole month before to plan it, but the day itself was way fun. I loved picking out my dress and a fun theme. Davin was super nice, and right now we have a couple of classes together and are friends. The dumplings for dinner were delightful, and Stardust afterwards was such a good movie! The dance was fun, too, but not as much. The DJs the school hires never play very fun dancing music, but there were a couple of good songs. I love the pictures I have from it.

I (Kylee) took their dance photos. It is the first time I had taken dance photos before, and I definitely called Patti for all the tips. I think they turned out nice, and Ellie's friends told her their favorite part of the date was taking the photos. The only funny moment was when Mori's boyfriend tried to give me advice for the photos. I don't think they are together anymore. 

Holland went to Sophie's 11th birthday party that day. Erica went all out with a Harry Potter birthday. Holland ended up staying the night because she always asks, and Erica is the nicest. Holland went to church with them the next day, and Erica sent me the photo of them in the purple dresses. 

John and Darcy went to McKenzie Armstrong's belated 40th birthday party that evening. I met up with them after the dance photos. McKenzie went all out and rented a venue. It also coincided with Armstrong family lore where an Archbishop cursed their family 500 years ago. Duel party. 

The next day I taught a gospel doctrine lesson on D&C 124. It was so great to deep dive into the scriptures and look at the original sources. I spent a lot of time on the history of that time, and I felt like it went well. One funny thing was how Joseph Smith just went up to the White House and knocked on the door, asking to meet with the president. We had just gone to DC and the security around the White House was intense. 

It was a warmer fall so I did a lot of biking in November basically all of the places I could think of--up the canyon, down to Mapleton, out to the airport, and more. I loved pushing my body in this new way. One scary day though, I almost saw someone get hit by a train. I carried my bike over the overpass and as I was riding away, I heard a ton of train honks. Then I hear a bunch of sirens not too much later. When I was heading back, the whole area was closed with police tape, and as I was carrying my bike over the overpass, I looked down and saw a body shaped lump under a white cloth on the tracks. I later found out via the news that the man was younger than I was. So sad and kinda freaky. I am so glad I didn't actually see it. 

We spent one Saturday cleaning out all of the flower beds. Ellie and Miriam were at a swim meet (Miriam got 2 PRs!), and Holland and Darcy were actually very helpful. It was an adorable time playing in the leaves afterwards. They are cuties. I just love playing with my kids, even just silly moments pretending they are food and I am going to eat them. So many giggles. The end of season yard work is a lot but it made me glad we weren't building a pool this year. We dug up dahlia tubers (it didn't work to over winter them inside. How can they be too dry and also molding?) 

That night we had a campfire and s'mores (minus the graham crackers), which was surprisingly delightful. 

Date night this month was awesome. Fat Daddies with John - buffalo cauliflower, fat daddies pizza, and garden of eatin. Uptown Cheapskate with Miriam - so many good finds! 

John gave a talk in church about the most recent talk by Elder Uchtdorf. He did such a good job, and I was proud of him. It was funny because all three speakers in the meeting selected what talk they wanted to speak about and everyone happened to pick the same talk. His main takeaways were that progress is slow and that's okay. God helps us, but it takes effort. That evening Ellie and I went to her friend Elizabeth's Acting Up fireside. It was lovely and touching to hear the songs and messages about Christ, and Ellie is super fun to go with. 

I woke up with a cold one day but still made it to Holland's Veteran's Day assembly. She is adorable. I am so grateful for a body that heals from illness. I sometimes think negative thoughts about my body, but really it is amazing. Actually I was sick a lot in November. I think I had a version of the flu. 

I got a walking pad to go with the standing desk. The first one was a lemon and didn't work for more than an hour or two, so we went to a lot of effort to work with their customer service, but ultimately decided to return it because it wasn't working. We bought a different work, and it has worked great for months. We returned the first one in the most cobbled together box, but they gave us a a refund. 

We started our Taylor Swift dress up Sundays. Miriam's tightly curled hair was everything. I think I am going to do a whole post about that. 

Miriam's friend Alessia stayed at our house while her mom was out of town. I think it went well! We went to see them swim at a swim meet. I took Miriam and Alessia to the mall, and they had a great time buying jewelry. While they were there John and I went to two different bike shops and ended up buying a new dryer. Our dryer broke that afternoon. Then we took everyone to Cinnabon and to get everyone specialty cinnamon rolls. They were so fancy! 

Darcy got student of the month, and was recognized in an assembly. Ellie actually got student of the month too. Ellie laughed because she got it for a class that she doesn't really try hard in. 

We hosted the Deru Thanksgiving this year. We use our china and everything was so pretty and yummy. I loved it! John washed all the china, silver, and crystal. He is the best. We took a photo of the four of us sisters and sister in laws, and Patti had so much fun turning our photo into various versions with AI. 

The next day we set up Christmas! And the Jacobsons came to visit! They were in town because of a nephew leaving on a mission. They gave us a Christmas present that is a new game Jeff help develop - Fight 5. We love it. The next day we worked on the advent and garage storage. Man, I am definitely middle age to be excited about better functionality in our garage storage, but it was super needed. Darcy was so cute helping John with the screws for the first shelf. 

On the last day in November we had our first snow of the year. Darcy was so so excited about the start of the advent the next day. We had the funniest 5th Sunday meeting. Our kids just aren't shy. They all spoke up. They are just the cutest. Holland said gathering Israel is like making everyone a big family. Darcy told John, "We're not in Israel, we live in Utah." 

The cutest Anne of Green Gables.

Hunger games couple, Queen of hearts and the mad hatter, Gilbert and Anne. 

I picked some roses before a freeze one day. They are lovely.

Holland is actually the funniest/most alarming.

Quotes for the month:

D: Holland, we're not tenacious.

One day when I was sick and trying to take an afternoon nap, Darcy came in our room and told me how once when she was lost on our DC trip the Holy Ghost spoke to her out loud. She doesn't remember the exact words, but she replied out loud, "Okay, I will." And she followed the instructions to find us. I don't even remember her being lost! 

D: Mommy, can I start paying taxes? Or is it tithing? I have a paper and a coin I can give them. 

J (singing): You don't know you're beautiful!

D: Yes I do.

While John was exercising: 

D: He must exercise at the gym a lot because I can see his muscles. 

J: His muscles are almost as big as mine. 

D: (Gives John an appraising look and says nothing)

J: Do you like the Christmas lights?

D: Not particularly

J: Why does my phone want me to translate it to English? 

D: Joseph Smith knows how to do that! 

November raspberry crop before a freeze! 

I was a biking machine before I got sick. 

One of Miriam’s special finds on our date. (We didn’t buy this!)

Cutest kids in the leaves.

We love Fat Daddy’s!

A portrait of mommy from Darcy.

She loves the tiny scriptures

Veteran’s Day assembly

Darcy spent the Fall working on riding a pedal bike. She worked so hard on it!

The kids worked so hard at swim team

Fanciest cinnamon rolls ever

Darcy got student of the month for trustworthiness

I loved our tablescape for Thanksgiving

Yummiest Thanksgiving

Patti used this photo and had a good time editing it with AI. It was a good laugh!

I think these were supposed to be Met Gala dresses.

Forever friends

Fancy tea party of sparkles

Washington DC Day 5

Georgetown Day! Loved going on the architecture tour. It was somewhat ridiculous because it included a lot of neighborhood gossip. But I guess that was part of the title of the tour. I don't know why I didn't expect it as much. 

I loved learning about colonial architecture. I think I took a video reiterating what I learned, but now I can't remember. One noteworthy moment was when the guide told us about the wall with it's own address. The owner is trying to gauge his neighbors because he won't repair the wall and won't sell it for cheap. 

My girls' favorite moment was when we saw the likely garden gate that Taylor Swift talks about in her song "Cruel Summer."  Apparently she was dating a guy whose family lived there, but by that point she had become too famous to attend any normal college party, so she'd sneak it to his college parties at that house. The kids were so great during this tour. The guide even mentioned how respectful and polite they were. 

One highlight was seeing the Old Stone House. This is the Old Stone House which is the oldest house in DC. Old Stone House sits on a plot of land that on early maps was marked as Lot #3, a property facing Bridge Street (now named M Street NW). It was first purchased by John Claggett in 1752 for one pound and ten shillings and then by John Boone in 1762 for the same amount. Both men forfeited Lot #3 due to a lack of "improvement" on the lot. A person wanting to keep the land they purchased had to “erect, build, and finish, thereon, one good and substantial house, that shall cover four hundred square feet of ground at least, “ with one brick or stone chimney." 

In 1764, Christopher and Rachael Layman traveled from Pennsylvania with their two sons to begin a new life in the growing port of George Town along the Potomac River. For one pound, ten shillings, they bought Lot #3, and soon began to improve the land. Unfortunately Christopher died in 1765, leaving the widowed Rachael to continue with construction on Lot #3.

Not much is known of what exactly was constructed on Lot #3 by Rachael Layman. For example, we do not know if the house had multiple stories or just a loft. We do know that the house is constructed of local blue fieldstone, quarried about two miles upriver, and solid oak boards, hewn with a pit saw. The backbreaking labor and skill of the builders is evident in the well-placed stones and evenly-laid ceiling beams. The marks left by the massive saw used to cut the ceiling beams can be seen in the room that may have housed the Layman family (the bookstore).The Laymans' simple house was functional: stone walls two to three feet thick and packed dirt floors protected the family from harsh weather, while low ceilings conserved heat from the hearth fire.

Georgetown's architecture is dominated by 18th and 19th-century styles, featuring predominantly brick Federal-style row houses, elegant Georgian homes, and Victorian mansions. Founded in 1751, the area boasts a historic, refined aesthetic with narrow, ornate row homes, prominent brick facades, and charming, compact wood-frame houses, along with stunning Romanesque Revival at Georgetown University.

After the architecture tour we had lunch at Georgetown University's green. It was delightful to sit down with some yummy food. It was hard to get a seats, but we got some eventually under some cool trees that were fun to explore. The kids were adorable playing together--climbing trees and laughing together. 

We headed to Tudor Place next which had a lot of artifacts from the Washington Family. I am glad we didn't miss that stop because Mt. Vernon was mostly under refurbishment, so we didn't get to see as much as we would have liked there. 

Tudor Place Historic House & Garden is a museum unlike any other in Washington, DC. A model of Federal-period architecture in the nation’s capital, Tudor Place was home to five generations of the Peter family, descendants of Martha Washington. Armistead Peter 3rd, the last and final owner, envisioned a gift to the nation—one that would celebrate the site’s association with George Washington and the founding family while honoring the fact that Tudor Place “was lived in and loved by generations of our family and in which they found great happiness.” Thomas and Martha Custis Peter (grand-daughter of Martha Washington) purchased Tudor Place in 1805. Completed in 1816, it was designed by William Thornton, architect of the first U.S. Capitol. The six generations of Peters who lived here were witnesses to a ceaseless parade of events that shaped the nation, including the burning of Washington in 1814, slavery, the Civil War, both World Wars and the Cold War. Tudor Place opened to the public in 1988.

The garden and the collections are as rich and interesting as the home itself. A focal point is the collection of numerous objects that belonged to George and Martha Washington, making Tudor Place the largest public depository of objects belonging to the first Presidential family outside of Mount Vernon. The decorations included four chair-cushions embroidered by Martha Washington in 1801 "executed upon coarse canvas in a design of shells, done in brown and yellow wools, the highlights being flecked in gold-colored silk" as well as a decorative cover for a bed whose trimmings also were embroidered by Martha Washington.

After Tudor Place, we walked down to the Georgetown Waterfront. We had planned on renting kayaks and paddling around the Potomac, but like a lot of planned activities for this trip, it didn't work out. It was too windy that day, so the company contacted us and told us they couldn't allow any kayaks out that afternoon. 

We still enjoyed going down to the waterfront and walking along the path there. There were sites to be seen including the Kennedy Center for the Art and the Frances Scott Key Bridge. On the way back home we ran into some missionaries. It was fun to see so many missionaries in DC. 

Our Georgetown guide was a fun one. She talked a lot about the old money and new money of Georgetown. We even ran into a grumpy woman who the guide later told us was clearly old money. She wanted to know what company the guide was from, and she told the woman some generic name. It was kind of funny.

Chesapeake And Ohio Canal  or the C&O Canal follows the Potomac

Love the colors, but definitely not 'old money' approved

Our family and the guide

Old Stone House

I just loved the architecture of this house

Taylor Swift's gate

A decorated stoop - the guide made a joke that people who didn't do it very well did a Trader Joe's decorating job. This made me laugh--in my tax bracket Trader Joe's is nice. 

This is where JFK lived when he got elected to the presidency.

The Kennedys leaving to go to the presidential inauguration.

This alley house wasn't a true spite house because it led to a basement, but I still thought it was interesting. 

This is the largest manicured tree. It really begs the question why, but I guess people can spend their money how they'd like.

The Georgetown people hate this dumpster. Something we really heard a lot about was how much pride the historic Georgetown people took in things looking perfect.

Georgetown University campus is anchored by the historic, Victorian Gothic-style Healy Hall (1879)

The biggest offense to Georgetown's perfect image are these life sized Transformers. It is quite the stoop statement.

This tulip poplar at Tudor Place is a Millennium Landmark Tree and is over 200 years old. The beehives at the bottom were buzzing.

We loved the Tudor Place's Gardens.

 

1919 Pierce-Arrow Roadster Model 48-B5 During the early 1900s, the Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company manufactured some of the most luxurious and powerful cars on the American market. The Peter family owned at least five, including this six-cylinder roadster that could carry four passengers. Pierce-Arrow built the engine and chassis, but Armistead Peter 3rd commissioned Brewster & Company of New York to manufacture the body according to his specifications. Brewster incorporated bell-shaped headlights and a new seat and steering wheel design from Rolls Royce to accommodate Peter's height. The total cost was $8,482.70, a fortune for a car in 1919 when the Ford Model-T sold for $300. Armistead Peter 3rd kept this roadster running or in storage from the time of its purchase in 1919 until his death in 1983, driving it a total of 37,000-miles.

American Holly Tree with our Holly.

Tudor Place owners and their connection to Martha Washington

We went on a tour of Tudor Place, and it was lovely to be told the things like at an actual museum. 

Historic kitchen

The woman who grew up at Tudor Place.

We got some pastries after the Tudor Place tour. They were delightful, and it was the cutest little place.

The C&O Canal was under construction in some areas.

We were pros at the metro system. I love being able to use the public transport system.