Tiffany and Abigail had arrived in Utah to work on some videos to promote the home school conference while we were still in MB. We drove up to CV early on Sunday morning and were able to attend church with them and have dinner with the Campbells. We really wanted to spend some time with them as they are going south for Thanksgiving.
Abigail was THRILLED that we got snow before Thanksgiving. We were fortunate to drive to Idaho and back mostly between storms.
Abigail helped me make Thanksgiving treats to share. It was fun working together.
I was VERY pleased that Abigail and Korinne were willing to get up before 5 a.m. to be in line at the temple for baptisms well before the 5:30 opening! It was cold but they braved the weather and the early hour to serve others in God's temple! I was happy to drive them and observe their service.
We also celebrated Abigail's birthday although it was well after the fact. Korinne celebrated her birthday in California so she just opened her card when she returned.
Tuesday afternoon Steve drove to SL to pick up Shawn at the airport. It was a happy reunion when they returned safely.
On our way to Rexburg on Wednesday, we stopped by my sister's. Jackie had made many gingerbread houses for her grandchildren to decorate the next day.
She also practiced her upcoming Christmas piano solo for us. It was beautiful. Her determination and practice are really paying off.
We enjoyed less than 24 hours with the Marcums in Rexburg but it was fun nevertheless.
Heather and Aaron have been working long hours to get their updated railing complete before Thanksgiving as there will be little ones running around. Heather is hosting Aaron's family and students from the ward for Thanksgiving dinner this year--34 people expected.
We went out to see their beautiful property along the river. It holds a dream of having a house there someday!
We love these two beautiful sisters - Tiffany and Heather pose in the snowy cold where a house will be someday.
We enjoyed supper together on Wednesday night. It's always a busy time in Rexburg.
The next morning we packed up and drove to Blackfoot to join Steve's sister, Kathy and her family for our traditional Thanksgiving gathering. We were so happy the Salters were with us.
Shawn had to help these girls lift their snowballs onto their snowman. He poses with Abigail, and Logan and Jake's daughters.
Parker, Dustin's son, kept challenging his uncles to a wrestling match. After some trash talking, Jake and Dustin gladly showed their superiority. That wasn't the end of it, however. Parker kept it up all day. It was hysterical.
As usual the food and Kathy's homemade chocolates were FANTASTIC! Thanks Brent and Kathy for another great Thanksgiving feast.
We drove back to CV Thanksgiving night and we were so glad to arrive before another big snow dump. You can see it was well on it's way. We ended the week with about 19" of snow.
Shawn, Tiffany and Abigail put their youthful muscles to work and cleared our driveway and the Campbells. Thanks guys!
Later on Friday, we hit the matinee of Frozen II at the local theatre and then enjoyed our leftovers.
Saturday morning, we packed up and headed to SL. We stopped for a terrific lunch at Maddox so Shawn could experience one of our favorite restaurants. We arrived in Murray in time for the Scrooge II spoof at the Desert Star Theatre. We enjoyed the laughs and the music. Thanks, Shawn, for that fun experience.
That evening we went to Temple Square to enjoy the beautiful lights and nativity displays! Lovely!
The next morning, we attended sacrament meeting at a local ward and then dropped Shawn off at the airport for his return flight. Their were hundreds of weather delays across the county, but Shawn's flight was direct to Dallas so he made it home late that evening so he could go to work the next morning. Thanks for coming, Shawn!
Monday was a busy day for us as Steve and I had physicals with our WJ doctor. Steve didn't love getting his earwax cleaned out but now he can hear me better. Ha! This visit was required before his upcoming surgery at the end of December. The doctor says he is good for the surgery on Dec. 30th
Tiffany and Abigail decorated a ginger bread house before Tiff and I went to a special hair appointment with our long-time hair dresser, Jana.
Abigail is putting makeup on Tiffany before they do a video shoot for the homeschool conference.
We enjoyed a fun dinner at a local Greek diner in Murray which is a favorite of Tiffany's.
All too soon, it was time to take Tif and Abigail to the airport early on Tuesday, Dec. 2nd for their return to Texas. Tiffany was happy to leave the snow behind. Abigail not so much.
I had a very sweet visit from our new Relief Society presidency on Wednesday. They are diligently trying to visit each sister in our ward. They are delightful and I wish them well in their huge assignments.
Thursday I had an endoscopy to open my throat since I have experienced occasional difficulty swallowing. That night Steve attended our ward party while I rested. Saturday, we attended one of Jameson's basketball games. It's fun to watch him develop his skills.
Sunday, we were excited to drive to North Ogden to hear our missionary friends, the Olsen's, report their mission. It was fun to hear their Missouri stories and reconnect with some other couples and young missionaries who had served in our mission.
We drove back to CV to host dinner that evening for Campbell's and Hayden Earl, another one of our young missionary friends who served in Missouri.
When Hayden doesn't join us, AJ wants to know where "our missionary" is.
Monday we were back to SL to deliver the Broker Network Sub For Santa to Adoptex and to join our missionary friends, the Larsens, Briggs and Forsyths for dinner. We love getting together with these couples.
We all currently have some health challenges but we manage to work around them to have dinner about once a month. Dave is recovering well but slowly from a tricky ankle/foot surgery that has him on a scooter for several months.
We spent the rest of the week in CV where we attended a pre-surgery class for Steve, and I was able to attend a temple session with the ward R.S. sisters.
Saturday, the 14th was Jameson's last basketball game with this team for the season.
Monday, the 16th we drove back to SL for a closing with one of my clients that Wendy has been helping with the sale and purchase of a home. It was fun to congratulate them. Our main reason however, was the meet Tanner for dinner on his 22nd birthday. He is filling in for a couple of weeks during the holidays at Pathways and we didn't want him to be alone on his birthday. Happy Birthday, Tanner.
We drove back after dinner to CV as Steve had an early pre-op appointment with his surgeon. They had adjusted the schedule several times but we managed to fit it in before driving up to Rexburg.
We planned to celebrate Anna's 16th birthday and attend Anna's basketball game that night and Jantzen's the next night. We have enjoyed watching our grandchildren play basketball this year.
It was a bit of a late night by the time we watched the game, celebrated the birthday and Anna and her friend, Kennedy, prepared Anna's invitation to a girl-ask-boy dance coming up in February! Exciting!
Jantzen is a member of the varsity team but is often asked to help out the JV team too. We got to watch two of his basketball games on Wednesday.
Elsie and Quinn helped me bake Christmas gingerbread cookies.
We drove back to CV on Thursday so we could watch Jenna's dance concert and Britton's choral performance. I was hoping to catch both but by the time I reached Ridgeline, the folks were leaving as it had ended.
We were able to attend the big event at Ridgeline on Friday morning where the male studentbody officers got their heads shaved as a reward for the school reaching its sub for santa fundraising goal of $10,000. Below are the before, during and after photos.
That evening we attended a delightful piano concert with Jenna and Korinne among the accomplished performers. Korinne had her part totally memorized and never looked up once.
In between concerts and activities of the grandkids, Steve is diligently working to set up his new (Merry Christmas!) desktop computer. It has been a HUGE challenge for him especially since he is so eager to get it running and so patient. As of this morning, Dec. 27th, I think he finally has it going and has decided to keep it rather than returning it.
Another frustration we had was that our pre-lit tree had the top half of the lights go out so after several days, I decided to remove the lights and add another string. We had no idea what a mess and challenge that would be. It took a bit more time, patience and the use of a wire cutter than we could have imagined. Mission accomplished.
Saturday, Britton's executive council did a lot of shopping for their 13 Sub for Santa families. They exceeded their goal and raised $15,000. Amazing! We cleared out fridge and freezer space to keep the food until it could be delivered on Monday night.
Saturday, we made another quick trip to SL. We dropped off some gifts and did a Costco and Winco run before attending Century Equipment's Christmas Party/50 Anniversary in business. Steve thoroughly enjoyed connecting with so many friends from his 41 years of being involved with Century. Below we pose with Tammy and Ryan May, the current CEO of Century.
On Monday the 23rd, Jameson, AJ and I tackled the project of baking gingerbread cookies for Santa.
Before we finished the baking process, we had flour and powdered sugar all over the boys and the kitchen. I think the boys had fun. They surely enjoyed putting sprinkles abundantly on the frosted cookies. We tried not to eat too much of the sugar ourselves but they were surely sugared up and had a lot of cookies for Santa!
Tuesday morning I took AJ and Jameson to the movie, Frozen II, while Steve continued to tackle his computer issues. The boys were wonderfully well-behaved and we were able to finish the movie without incident. MISSION Accomplished!
The Campbell family joined us on Christmas Eve as we enjoyed our reuben sandwiches and the usual trimmings. The boys were overwhelmed by all the festivities and sugar so we weren't successful in acting out the Nativity. The boys were hauled home and put to bed. Hilary also needed to get to bed as she was teaching Chinese students early on Christmas morning. Jenna stayed back and watched a Hallmark movie with us.
Christmas morning at the Campbell's was full of excitement, wrapping paper and a traditional breakfast ring.
Steve continued to struggle with the computer while I ducked out and attended the movie, Little Women, with Hilary, Korinne and Jenna. We enjoyed the movie very much and Steve did an excellent job of putting the prepared ham in the oven so it would be ready for our Christmas dinner that afternoon. We had a wonderful dinner at Campbells which included Adam's fabulous homemade rolls and layered jello salad.
We were so blessed to Facetime with Tiffany, Taylor, McKay and Liberty's families which allowed us to enjoy connecting with all of our children throughout the Christmas celebration. We feel very blessed.
Here is a photo of the Marcum family Facetiming with Brinley on Christmas Day!
We are so thankful for this opportunity to celebrate the Savior's birthday and are grateful for His life, example and atonement in our behalf.
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