Was It A Typical January?

January 6 was a big day for us.  My primary teaching partner and I took 8 members of our class to the local Pizza Pie Cafe to celebrate each of them reading the entire Book of Mormon during 2016.  We were so pleased that these kids and three others who couldn't attend that night, accomplished this wonderful challenge.  Way to go, class members!  The three who couldn't make it, were given gift cards to attend later.

It was also Jameson's 5th birthday.  Hilary took him to a local jump house along with about 5 of his best buddies.  He loved it.  He arrived promptly the next morning to pick up his birthday gift from us.

Hilary made special cupcakes for his party.  Here he shares one with grandpa!  Jameson really is getting big and he is growing up!

Throughout January and February it has continued to snow in our area so you will see a few photos of the seemingly endless snow.

We have had to bundle up for most of our walks.  We are extra careful when it is icy and slippery.  We have skipped the outside walks on really bad days.

One day when the temperature warmed up at the SL home, Steve climbed out on the roof from the bedroom window to clean leaves out of the gutter.  The rain and snow were freezing and dripping on the porch causing a dangerous situation.  We are glad that is over.  I think next year, we will pay someone to clean those in the fall.

The second week of January, I finally got my hair cut.  It was driving me crazy.  I went for a new, shorter style.  I also treated myself to a much needed pedicure.  Steve doesn't like it when my rough heals tear at the sheets on our bed.  Now I'm looking fresh and new for the new year.

Xander's birthday was on the 10th.  We couldn't be with him to celebrate but we love that little guy and his enthusiasm.  Here he is standing on the palettes of grass that are to be installed in the yard of their new home.  

On the 12th, we attended the annual dinner sponsored by the builder of our home for his clients.  Utah State's mascot was willing to pose with anyone, including me.

It was a very nice dinner and a lot of prizes were given away.  Adam won a free standing mixer.  Now the kids can easily make cookies.  Nice!

 On Sunday the 15th, Steve and I drove all the way to St. George after church.  That is one of the advantages of early church times.  Steve had arranged to work in Cedar City on Monday, and I had a walk through inspection Monday night with buyers purchasing a home there.
All the way to Cedar City, we enjoyed the snow covered landscape.  As we were approaching the southern city, I marveled at the contrast between the snow covered mountains in the background and the red rock hills nearby.  It was breathtaking.

 I worked in the hotel room while Steve worked in Cedar with a salesman.  When he finished, we were able to take a walk near our hotel.  You can see the snow covered peaks in the background of this photos.

 It turned out to be a very good thing that we attended the walkthrough.  The sellers mistakenly took the laundry room sink and the refrigerator, both of which were included in the contract.  I was able to get the situation corrected for my buyers.  I was happy I could help, Adam's sister and her husband.

While Steve was in Cedar City, he was able to photograph the new temple being built there.  It reminds me of the Nauvoo temple.

 Steve and I watched the concert the night before the 2017 Presidential Inauguration so that we could see the Piano Guys perform.  We love the Piano Guys.  We enjoyed the patriotic presentations and loved hearing the Tabernacle Choir sing at the Inauguration ceremony on the 20th.  We dropped off pumpkin bread to neighbors who had recently had surgery before we left town for ID.  Everyone was watching the inauguration and the parade festivities.  Our neighbors are all pretty happy that Crooked Clinton didn't win the election for president.

 We arrived at Heather's just in time for a quick birthday brownie and song before they needed to leave to drive to UT to catch a plane for a warm birthday getaway and celebration for Heather.
They had scheduled us a year ago to stay with the kids, chauffeur, etc. and they were so ready for a little honeymoon vacation to the Caribbean.

On Saturday, we encouraged the kids to do their chores, practicing, etc.  Brinley, Jantzen and Anna all work cleaning at Aaron's office on Saturday so Brinley took them to do that cleaning.  

Our big activity of the day was Quinn's basketball game.  It was so fun to watch him warm up, dribble and shoot.  Once the game started, it was serious business for him.  He loves basketball.

Here is part of his fan gallery.

I checked with each of the kids and they all agreed that it would be fun to invite my sister, Jackie and her husband Val to dinner on Sunday after church so we did.  Jackie is always a lot of fun.  She is a fabulous photographer and she brought her camera so she spent some time photographing some of the snow and icicles.  Then I pointed out one of Jantzen's creations and she took a picture of it too.

Jackie brought these homemade pickled vegetables to share with us for dinner.  We all loved them!

This jar was spicier since it had been canned with a jalapeño pepper in it.  Val ate the pepper, but except for tasting the cauliflower which he assured me wasn't spicy, we left the jar for Aaron.  Val said adding a peeled, hardboiled egg for a couple of days was really tasty.  I added it, fully intending to share it with Aaron when he arrived back home.  I forgot, however, so Aaron got to enjoy it himself.  He said it was tasty.

Here is Jantzen's "two forks suspended on a toothpick" trick.  He did it on the rim of a glass too and we allowed it space so it stayed put for several days.  Wow!

After dinner most of us went to the music room to hear some of the kids perform for Jackie.

The kids did a great job and then Jackie joined in the fun.  She had brought some music that she played a duet to accompany their choir for Christmas.

First she and Elsie played a duet and then she and I attempted to re-create the Christmas performance.  Ha!  My latent skills were not fully up to the task, but we were able to play some of it correctly and we eventually got through the piece with a lot of stops, corrections and laughs.  It was fun to play with my sister who has been working very hard as a mature adult to learn to play the piano.  She has accomplished a lot and has my total admiration.

After our piano fun, Jackie and Val decided they had better get started for home since it was snowing AGAIN.  We wished them well and gathered everyone together for family home evening.  Anna and Elsie had prepared a very nice, inspiring and motivational lesson.  It was a very impressive presentation.

 Their family routine is to have inspirational reading and prayer every morning at 7 a.m. sharp.  Then they gather again for family prayer before going to bed in the evening.  They are very faithful with this spiritual commitment and I think that it really adds to the spirit of their home.  Either that, or the kids were on their "super behavior" mode as everyone helped and got along very well.

 Monday morning Grandpa started in on his project which was painting the hallway to the master bedroom.  He is happy when he is able to complete a project.  I helped with the taping and edging but he did all the roller work for both coats of paint.  We thought it turned out well and we liked the results.

 I spent a lot of time cooking.  I like to create fond memories of warm comfort food.  It's one way I can show my family that I love them.  Here's a photo of the German pancakes for breakfast.

 Steve had to climb on the 4-wheeler and push snow several times.  Jantzen also scraped snow once.
It snowed on and off most of the week.  Steve usually scraped off about 5 inches off at a time.

 I believe it was Tuesday that Jantzen was supposed to play a basketball game in BLKFT.  Steve planned to drive down and watch the game and visit his sister.  The night before it snowed 20" in BLKFT so school and the game were cancelled.  There wasn't near that much snow where we were so it was business as usual.  The snow storm allowed us to fit in our reward night at the local Pizza Pie Cafe.  The "M" kids had all read the Book of Mormon together in 2016 so once again we had an all you can eat pizza, pasta, salad and dessert.

 This was the only time we could fit this into the schedule and have everybody there.  We had one hour before the girls had to go to Young Women's.  We were surely happy the snow storm 50 miles south of us made this possible.

 The kids picked this spot under the Case sign on purpose.

 We did get to watch Jantzen play basketball a couple of nights later in the local gym.  Their team didn't win, but Jantzen played well and we really enjoyed watching him.  He has a nice shot and he does exceptionally well at defense.

 Anna had an indoor soccer game and practice while we were there.  She also had piano lessons and is participating in ski night on Friday nights.  She kept a pretty busy schedule.

 Brinkley works at least three times a week at Aaron's office.  One morning she came down to breakfast dressed in a black gown and she looked gorgeous.  She said it was picture day for the orchestra.  She is a beautiful young lady who is busy with school, orchestra, work, young women's and friends.  She did an excellent job of driving herself and occasionally Jantzen and Anna on the snowy roads.  One night she and her friend played their violins and piano in the music room for a couple of hours.  We loved that!

 Elsie and Quinn got along well.  I enjoyed reading the book "Pollyanna" with them.  We weren't able to completely finish it, but we found the old movie at the library and watched it on Friday night with popcorn anyway.  I love the message it teaching to be grateful and look for the best in each situation.

 These two were busy with piano lessons, sports, activity day, and Elsie's Act It Out group.  We also went to the library so there was plenty to read and they did extra math each day after school.
They were also eager to do a sewing project and Elsie got out the sewing machine to let me know they were serious.  So one afternoon, I cut out fabric and we made pillows together.  They loved this project and especially their soft, fluffy results.

 Crepes and pancakes were a big hit for breakfast.  Most evenings they ate what I fixed without complaint.  Jantzen asked Grandpa if I always cooked nice meals like that.  I try to cook them for my children and grandchildren.  I hope that I am creating pleasant family memories.

 The week went by quickly and before you know it, Heather and Aaron had returned to the cold, snowy winter from the warm, sunny Caribbean.  They arrived just in time for Quinn's basketball game on Saturday.  They took this photo of us with the kids just before we packed up to leave.  Pretty soon everyone will be taller than me.  Oh well! Such is life sometimes.

We had a fun time with our grandkids.  They are amazing and we love them.

 We arrived back in CV late Saturday afternoon.  We knew it had snowed 20-25" during our week-long absence and we were dreading the fact that our driveway would need to be cleared.  Boy were we surprised.  Angels disguised as our wonderful neighbors, including Adam and Britton, had taken turns clearing our driveway six different times during our absence. What a wonderful blessing to us!  Steve did have to dig out our mailbox so that the postal carrier would deliver our mail.  That was quite a job itself!  We have had 71" of snow since about December 20.

On Tuesday night, Jan. 31st, we were able to meet up with some of our friends from WJ that we hardly ever get to see.  We hung out at the Olive Garden Restaurant until they practically asked us to leave.  We three sisters served in a R.S. presidency together 5 years ago.  We are committed to keeping our friendship current.  I love these "River Sisters."  It was a fun evening!