February 2017

February was a good month...now lets see if I can remember it! I have been taking pictures of Catherine with some of her creations from preschool so we can see our fridge here and there. She has done some cute things and has loved preschool. For Valentines day we made cute cards for her party with preschool that said "Hoppy Valentine's Day" and had a toy hopping frog on it. It was cute. I can't recall what we did for Elsie I'll have to ask her. Valentines day was fun I made treasure hunts for Elsie, Catherine and Will. They loved following the clues, well the girls did! Will says I make them too hard for him but I like watching him think and search for the clues. It was fun.

Elsie did a research project in December and into January. Then in February they did a wax museum of the people they had chosen. She picked Janice Berenstain the co author and illustrator of the Berenstain Bears books. It was cute and she and her classmates did a great job. Elsie memorized her paragraph she wrote to say when her button was pushed but she was too nervous to not look down! 

February 6th would have been my sisters 40th birthday. On the 5th I finally finished the memory quilt I have been working on for 8 years! I love it and it felt good to get it finished. We have been using it in our living room quite a bit even though I did not think we would. I love it it has so many great memories in it! I miss Maude so much but this quilt helps me remember her and all that she loved and did. 

The last sort of sad thing that happened in February was Will's sister Julia moved far far away! Across an ocean to be exact! But we are excited for her new adventure and will have visits now and then. We have been video chatting too so that is good too.

January 2017

January was a good month. The new toys have not lost their magic yet and keep kids entertained still. We also had Will's sister and her family come visit everyone here too! Catherine does great doing puzzles. She got a few new ones for Christmas and loved putting them together both the 24 piece ones and the 48 or 50 something ones too. She does it all on her own! Julia Will's sister gave us a bunch of sprinkles and such because she was getting ready to move overseas. This inspired Elsie to make a cake and decorate it of course. Elsie got some perler beads for Christmas and then we got her a big tray to make them on. She and Adah made the parrot design this new tray came with. Catherine has been terrified by this rope bridge for a while but this was her first time across it and she did great!

We had a lot of fun With Charity and her two boys and husband! They came for a long weekend and we were able to do lots of fun stuff. It snowed a lot again and that Saturday they were there we crept along on the roads all over the place in order to hit all the fun spots. The highlights included the ice castle and the natural history museum. 

We have been making it to the library story time more often which has been fun for Catherine. Adah has also started a sewing block of the month class at a local quilt shop. She gets the fabric and pattern for four small new blocks each month and by the end of the year she will have enough blocks for a quilt! The only other thing going on is Will's new job. He and his dad, step mom and brother bought a business here! It is  a lot of work getting started and organizing things but it is going great. He is also working part time on his hotel job still so life has been a little crazy! But we are excited for the change and hopefully the opportunities it gives us.

Christmas 2016

Christmas was great! We basically did most of the usual things with a few adjustments from past years. Adah usually makes a yummy meal on Christmas Eve and we have Will's mom and siblings over. But this year we went out to eat at our favorite Chinese restaurant and then went to look at the lights down town. That is where we saw Sister Zeller, Adah's old Primary student. This might be a new tradition...even though Will hates traditions. We came home and read the Christmas story in Luke 2 and had the kids move the nativity around as we read. Then the kids got to open their (matching this year) Christmas pajamas and I believe one more gift of their choice. It was off to bed after that. 

Christmas morning was very white because it had snowed 8 or more inches over night. The only down side was the roads were a mess! The girls got up and snuggled for a bit while we waited for Grandma Flora to get ready since she spent the night. We did not wait long and started to open stocking and and presents too. Will's siblings came after awhile and it was a fun morning. The girls made it outside to play in the snow too. We had a big breakfast and then packed up to go to Will's dad's house. We opened presents there and and hung out at grandpas house and had a lovely dinner he prepared for us. We spent the night and enjoyed time with the family. It was relaxing and fun.

Decamber 2016

As always December was busy. With Church parties and Christmas fun we had a blast. We have been really having fun with our friends the Marlows who moved here from Hawaii last August and will only be here another year for school. We decorated cookies with the Marlows and on another occasion the girls decorated a ginger bread house too. On Christmas eve we went tubing with Will's cousin and his kids and wife. We dove up a canyon near us and there is so much snow to play in! It was so fun to see Sister Zeller who is serving a mission here since Adah taught her as a young kid in Primary! We just ran into her on a rainy Christmas eve night when looking at the lights. Then there is Christmas which deserves its own post...coming soon. We also mostly finished our guest bathroom which is so great. All that is left is a little calking and trim painting to do! We love it. So that is December in a nutshell.  

November 2016

In November we did a lot of fun things. Raking is part of every fall and so is playing in the leaves. Elsie saved up all her money and bought herself a new bike! She did a great job and has been enjoying her bike ever since. Catherine has finally conquered her fear of the rope bridge and Elsie had a duct tape day at school. We captured the first snow even though it did not last long. Then of course we entered the holiday season, which we kicked off with Thanksgiving and my birthday. Larry and Mary watched the girls and Will and I went on a hike. Will found it in a backpacking magazine but it was just a day hike. It was a hard climb with a lot of steep parts but we did it and got to see an amazing 360 degrees view at the top. Oh and there was a little bit of snow involved and I only had on sneakers! Needless to say I got hiking shoes for Christmas!