Texas is Warmer...

 and I am enjoying that aspect of my visit but that is not why I came.  I came while Steve is in Phoenix working for the next month.  I watched for a great price on an airline ticket to Texas and found one.  Unfortunately for Steve, the weather in Texas has been much warmer than the weather in Phoenix.
Friday morning, after we dropped Abigail off at school, Tiffany and I went to Guenther House for breakfast.  They are famous for their waffles, pancakes, etc.  It is a family flour mill started in 1851. They have since added a restaurant and museum and gift shop.

 After browsing in the gift shop and purchasing a few of their yummy mixes, we strolled down the nearby historic district especially the renown King William Street. Here Tiffany stands in front of Abigail's friend's house.

 We also enjoyed our afternoon at the Livestock Show & Rodeo.  We didn't attend the rodeo this year but just enjoyed the exhibits and festivities of the stock show. 

 Abigail loved the petting zoo and posing with the characters.  We got a kick out of this sheep that consistently allowed goats to stand up on its back.  Abigail loved brushing the llamas, wallabies, sheep, goats and deer.  The pigs wouldn't stay still and the deer kept trying to eat her skirt.

 We got a laugh out of the pig races.  Our pig was the red one in last place.  Our pigs did NOT race well.  They were distracted by other things.

 Abigail loves her piano lessons and I love listening to her play.  We both love music.

Put a little love in your heart...

While my sweetheart was gone most of the week, I still had opportunity to fill my heart with love.  The first couple of days I worked hard for my clients, visited some neighbors and helped my brother, Greg, who was very ill.  Early Wednesday morning, I left for Idaho to visit Heather, Aaron and the kids.  The long drive up and back enabled me to listen to some spiritually uplifting cd's and get ideas for my upcoming Relief Society lesson.  The weather was cooperative so I was able to make the drive without incident.  My intended visit was to be filled with making and decorating valentine cookies, hearing the kids musical accomplishments and just plan fun! I got to see my sister, Jackie, for a minute too and give her a valentine's hug.  Thanks for meeting me at the gas station, Jackie. You fill my heart with love too!

Anna is really doing homework on the computer.

Everyone helped with the cookies.  We made enough to share with their favorite church teachers.

Quinn loves making hats.  I am wearing one of his recent creations.

Jantzen plays the recorder like a professional.  I didn't know a recorder could play with a symphony orchestra.  I want him to give me lessons.

Elsie is doing her homework and practicing her writing skills.

The kids love music and there was a bit of dancing going on throughout our cookie baking.

Quinn loves his grandpa.  The first cookie he decorated was for Papa.  Then he picked out an equally appetizing one for me.  Thanks, Quinn.  You have a tender heart.

Elsie and Brinley practiced their gymnastic moves and stretches.  It was hard to take a picture of that.

Tanner is doing his science  homework on my computer.  These kids are so bright.

I loved my brief visit up north.  It is always fun to have a last minute surprise trip!  After I picked Steve up at the airport on Friday, we headed up to the second home.  Steve will be gone for the next month so we were eager to spend time there doing a few things.  He suggested that we paint the wall above the book case "chocolate" too.  He did and I love it. He painted a second coat on the kitchen beadboard.  Then we did a lot of touching up with the paint.  We mopped floors and cleaned up our painting mess.  Hooray.  We have put the paint away until we are ready to paint the basement.

We walked over to Hilary's to check on her basement project.  They are way ahead of us at this point.  Here are some closet shelves in her basement.

This is her exercise room.

Here are their new French doors.  Now they can move things in and out of their basement.

Here is a yummy cake that my visiting teaching lady gave me for valentines.  We shared it with the kids in Cache.  I'm supposed to take treats to her and she brought this yummy treat to me before I could.  She is a special lady. Thanks, Lois.

The following are some photos of the house without all the paint supplies.

I wanted to go to the barn.  It is the first time we've ventured out there in a couple of months.  I literally walked on top of 2 feet of snow.  Unfortunately, it will take us a long time to sort and clean out all of the stuff in the barn as you can see from the photo below.  We have a few treasures for a lot of people.

February - Let the Celebration Begin!

 Since my birthday falls near the beginning of the month of February, I like to celebrate throughout the entire month.  A couple of my celebrations have had to be postponed this year--my three friends with February birthdays have deferred to March for various reasons and my sibling lunch, changed to brunch was postponed too as both my brothers were sick.  My fabulous sister, Cathy, showed up to eat brunch with me.  She always gives me the most beautifully wrapped gifts. I tell her she doesn't need to put anything inside.  I just love to look at them.  I had to look at this one for a week just to enjoy its beauty before I finally saw the treasure inside.  Thanks, Cathy.  You are the best!!!

 Today, Steve and I worked on painting our recently installed beadboard in our second home. It's coming along nicely.

 That afternoon, our friend and handy helper, Mike and his wife, Eileen, showed up with the bookcases he is building for our bedroom.  He and Steve were able to install the parts he brought.  It will take him another trip to finish them up.  Eileen and I really enjoyed visiting and catching up with each other's families.  It has been a few years since we lived near each other- about 18,  I think.

 Mike's the worker bee.  Steve helped.  Here he is supervising with Eileen.

 The basement was sheetrocked this week.  Here are a couple of pictures of the family room.  One shows where the kitchenette will be and one shows the bathroom.  It's getting exciting.

 It snowed again yesterday and all day today.  It was treacherous driving home but we made it safely.  I'm so glad Steve is a prudent driver.  Cars whizzed past and then later we would see them on the side of the road facing the other direction.  Scarey!

This week with Steve in town, we hosted some of our friends for dinner.  This was a recent Relief Society presidency I served with.  We really clicked as friends and were sad to be released.  Our president, Cyndee is in the yellow.  On my right is Ka, the author of "Dancing on Broken Glass" and beside her is Pat.  We plan to keep our friendship renewed with a dinner every other month.  Our husbands are supportive of the idea so we have planned our next evening in April. We're the River Sisters and we have the cutest husbands.  We'll take a photo of them next time.