Christmas 2016

The fun began with a light looking trip with the Randalls the Monday before.  We visited the Desert Garden and the Town Square and then came back to the house for hot chocolate and donuts!  Such a fun evening!

Christmas Eve we partied two times.  Moss and Christie hosted a lunch at their beautiful new home in the afternoon.  We had yummy food that everyone brought to share, enjoyed a wonderful little Christmas concert from Brynnli and Tavin and then we got to open our gift from the gang...awesome tickets to the Tuacahn shows coming up this summer!  Thanks to all!  We are going to have lots of fun!

Later that evening we had a pretty low key Christmas Eve dinner with us, Grandma Kurtz and Moss, Christie and kids. A little before Christmas we got the exciting news that Moss and Christie are having another baby coming up in July of 2017!  So excited for that!

Christmas day we enjoyed going to church and then coming home and opening gifts with Grandma and Bean.  After that we traveled around from house to house visiting with the kids and giving them their gifts.

The Weavers came down from Cedar and dropped by to see us!

Next we visited Derek and kids!  I think his favorite gift was the waxing kit from Juge!

Moss, Christie and their kids were very excited about their See's certificate from Grandma Poulsen!

On to the Borrowmans!

After that Grandma was tired out, so we dropped her off and headed to Enoch to see the Randalls!

It was a wonderful Christmas Day!  Having it fall on Sunday made it extra special and gave us a bit more time to remember the real reason for all of the celebration...thanks be to God for the matchless gift of his divine son who made the plan of happiness possible.  Oh how we all missed Weed this Christmas time, but how immeasurably grateful we to know we will be with her again because of this gift from our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ.

Jay and Brynn and family shared this Christmas day in the snow picture with us since we couldn't actually be with them the day of.  We did get to enjoy them for a few days after Christmas and had a lot of fun puzzling, etc!

Pine Valley Fun - before and after Christmas!

Snow!  We have taken advantage of the close to home snow at Pine Valley and thoroughly enjoyed it. A couple of days before Christmas we had a little time on our hands and went up hoping there was enough snow to cc ski.  There was some, but not quite enough, so we just hiked the trail and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.  

The day after Christmas we decided to try again and brought Brynnli and Tavin along to try out cc skiing with us.  It was perfect!  We had such a fun time.  We found and empty porch at a lodge complete with a nice little table and chairs when we were done and enjoyed out hot chocolate and Cripsy Creme donuts there.  

A couple of days later we took Kaebri and her cute friend Bailey up to try it out.  The day was warm and the snow was melting but we still had plenty to ski in and it was another fun trip with more donuts and hot chocolate.  We have some pretty wonderful grand kids and it is fun to hang out with them!  They may get tired of our outdoor adventures some times, but they are good sports anyway!

Christmas tree harvesting with the Randall girls

Last year we revived the old tradition of going out to cut Christmas trees with Weed and kids.  It was such a fun time that we wanted to do it again this year.  The Randall girls were up for the adventure and shared their truck so we wouldn't get stuck!  (Brady had a bb game so he, Bryan and Joel missed the fun.)  We went to the same spot as last time and just like last time some people were stuck!  They already had help getting unstuck, so we just drove on down the road and went tree hunting.  It didn't take long to find two candidates. It was a lot easier bringing them down the slope after cutting than hiking up the slope to find them!  Here's the pics minus Aftonia!  She was cold and escaped into the truck ASAP after the cutting.  Our tree had a little bonus.  It had a nest in it.  It survived the cutting and ride home and became baby Jesus' manger.  We had some teary moments remembering our last year's outing and missing Weed, but thinking of Christmas and the wonderful gift of the savior it brought to us helps us feel so blessed and full of joy knowing Weed will be there to greet us after a while. 

December birthdays!

We started December off with birthdays - Brynnli #17, Noah #8, Paul #64 and Gaige #11.  Paul wanted me to go with him on a rock trip to Ashfork for his birthday. We had to leave the day of Brynnli's birthday before the cake and present part.  We stopped by to give our good wishes on our way out of town. What an amazing 1st grandchild she is.  Can't believe she's 17 already and such a beautiful young woman.  Love you buckets Brynnli!

Noah's is the day after Brynnli's and we missed being there in person for that one and had to do our birthday wishes over the phone.  Too bad too many things were happening right about then.  It looks like Noah had a happy #8.  Can't believe he and 3 other boy cousins are all turning 8 during a year's time.  We love you Noah.  Hope your day was as awesome as you!

We had a great trip to Ashfork other than the motel being a little crazy (the bathtub faucet didn't work, so we had to take our showers in another room) and Jacob Lake being out of hot chocolate!   We did find time to celebrate the birthday the actual day too.  It was a crazy busy Sunday evening, so we ended up with a quiet cheesecake eating/present opening celebration with just Supe available to join us.  But in some ways, it was even better than if everyone had come over.  Paul called each family to thank them for the gifts and was able to visit with them even better that way than if they had all been here at the house at the same time!  Thanks to all!  He loves the jacket and we will both enjoy the movie gift card!  And he loves you most of all!

Gaige was up next on the 13th and he turned 11!  We actually got to join him for brownies and ice cream, singing and blowing out candles!  It doesn't seem that long ago when Gaige was a really tiny baby who came along just in time for Christmas.  Now he's an amazing, half way grown up kid!  We love you Gaige.  You make watching sports really exciting!

November catch up time

And now I will try to catch up for November.  It was another very full month.  I started the month off with a kindergarten field trip to Staheli Farms.  It was a fun time for the kids to learn about what a farm provides for us. This was the first year I joined them for the field trip.

And I did make it to Koen's baptism!  Paul and I both got to attend and it was wonderful.  Afterwards we went to the Lillywhite/Borrowman family picnic to celebrate the event! 

And then it was time to celebrate with Eliza for #4!  Such a cutie!

More things to celebrate included Ryan's birthday and Jay being made a high priest.  Didn't get a picture of Jay, but Clara was looking so cute we got some of her!  Happy #41 Ryan and congratz to Jay.

Another fun thing we did in November was to take Flat Stanley to Kodachrome State Park.  Madi sent him to us from her school class and we sent him back to her along with the story of his travels with us.  We had already decided to go to Kodachrome for our anniversary and Stanley fit right in with our plans. It was a fun trip after we got over the fact that it was very cold and we had forgotten the tent!  The wind died down and we ended up staying warm and cozy in our sleeping bags.  We had a really fun day exploring the park the next day and the weather was so perfect for visiting this very hot in the summer park.  We saw lots of beautiful things, did a nice hike and enjoyed a scenic drive home.  Happy # 42 anniversary!  

Another day we celebrated more with a bike ride in Snow Canyon!  We just celebrated over and over! We have enjoyed sharing this wonderful 42 year adventure together!

One morning we woke up to rain!  That meant Paul couldn't go to work until it stopped, so we took advantage of it for some fun with Trigg.  We picked him up and then headed out to Snow Canyon.  It stopped raining just as we arrived, but we were in time to catch a waterfall still running!  So pretty and a nice little adventure to share with Trigg!

We added one more special event to this already crazy month.  On the 17th I went to Roundtable where I and 4 other friends received our Wood Badge beads for completing out tickets.  I have mixed feelings about this.  I was signed up to go to this in April and almost backed out after Weed's passing. But Paul was going as staff and other friends were going also, so I decided to attend.  It was a fun learning experience and I loved the people that were in my patrol and so many others that were there. I'm not sure I feel like I earned the beads though.  I felt pretty overwhelmed at the time and set ticket goals that weren't as hard as they could have been.  Also, I have been feeling sort of burned out on scouting after 7 years in the same calling.  But I am glad I went and I hope I did some good in all of those 7 years and more that I have served in scouting.  I will always remember the crazy Bill and Ted's most excellent Journey to Excellence skit our patrol put together!  It was a hoot!

Another special school activity this month is our annual Thanksgiving "Feast" with Mrs. Hunter's class.  Such cute little pilgrims and Indians.

We had our own Thanksgiving feast with 40 people.  We were so happy that it was a beautiful day out because finding a place for everyone to sit inside was pretty hard with so many!  Lots of the kids didn't seem to mind eating outside.

We got everyone in this shot except Bean.  He was otherwise engaged at the time unfortunately.  What a wonderful family we have.  So thankful for each one.  Of course we missed our Weed being with us.  Everyone went all out making rolls this year.  She always did it before and everyone seemed to want to make sure it was covered for her. The after dinner walk to the duck pond helped things settle so we could find room for pie!

Zion's birthday almost got lost in all of the other festivities, but we got it in there!  Happy #3 ZP!

One of the days after Thanksgiving we had a fun outing to White Rocks at Snow Canyon.  The sun, sand and rocks were a great combination!

Another fun outing over the holiday (other than being way crowded and losing Tahlia for a little bit) was a visit to the new All Abilities Park.

We also stopped by to let people see Weed's finished/installed headstone.  It was hard, but good to see the beautiful stone that Derek helped design to honor the wonderful wife and mother that she was. There will always be these pockets of grief that come up and smack you in the heart.  Oh how we all love and miss her.  Can't wait to see her again!  I think the thing I was most thankful for this Thanksgiving was knowing that through our Heavenly Father's plan we can look forward to that wonderful day of reunion with her.

Crazy busy month of October!

I am once again behind, but it has been such a busy month I just haven't been able to keep up with it all!  I'm just going to start where I left off after the Webelos Day Hike.  The next thing to enjoy was Jay, Brynn and girls coming down to have a 40th birthday unparty for Jay. He's not into being the center of attention and didn't want a big bash with a lot of trouble.  We tried to accommodate his wishes by having a bring your own lunch and something to share gathering at a local park.  Brynn brought the cake and ice cream. It was a nice afternoon of visiting and eating.  The kids had fun playing in the park with the cousins.  Relaxed and no fuss was what he wanted the pretty much what he got.  I was so relaxed, I forgot his present!  Happy 40th Jay!  We love you!

Next in the line up was my trip to visit my Mom the 14-20th.  Janet and Tony were out of town, so their grandson, Ian Toomey, and I were there with Mom. We had such a relaxed time.  We ate pumpkin pie and Taco Bell until we couldn't hold any more, visited, watched old movies, and found our way where we needed to go using my phone's navigation tool. It was just good to spend time. Mom is going to be 95 in December and as I left I felt a pang of melancholy wondering if this might be the last time I had to spend with her.  The only problem with the visit was that I got sick as soon as I arrived with a bad cold.  I don't know who was taking care of who!  

I was sorry to miss Koen's #8 birthday, but also relieved that I had done better than I had for Jay's birthday and had the present already bought so Paul could wrap it up and do the partying for both of us.  I will get to attend Koen's baptism and I am glad for that!  We love you Koen!

The Saturday after I got home Paul and I were both ready to get out and try to catch the end of Fall. Pine Valley didn't disappoint.  We did the waterfall hike and cooked lunch over a fire for a picnic!  It was so refreshing and relaxing.  How I love Fall!

Next up is Tasia - she turned the wonderful age 12!  Now she gets to leave Primary and join the YW! Sort of makes me sad to think that Weed would have been so happy to be with here there, but no crying for birthdays.  Tasia has grown up so much and blossomed into a pretty young lady.  So proud of her.  Happy Birthday Tasia.  We love you!  We all came over and surprised her a day early!

For our date we decided we needed to try a little more Fall.  We hiked the little trail between Brookside and Baker Lake. So pretty.  Not much Fall left, but still so nice.  

Next on the list of fun things was helping out at the climbing wall at Cub Day Camp.  I have now been released after 7 years in Stake Primary over Cub Scouting.  It was starting to feel like a change was needed.  I will miss it in a lot of ways.  I have met and become friends with so many wonderful Cub Scout leaders over the years.  I'm feeling a little lost, but also excited as Paul and I start serving at a YSA Ward.  So far, other than stressing out over speaking in sacrament meeting, it has been fun. These are some really great young adults (I just want to call them kids).  So Cub Day Camp at the climbing wall was my last hurrah...but I'm keeping my yellow shirt just in case!  I made it up the wall one last time!  Paul was there to help me out after the poor high councilman wore out after helping out at Friday's session.  Hope he wasn't permanently damaged.  

Halloween...it kind of crept up on me and I was pretty bah humbug about it.  Paul and I did go to a fun YSA FHE Halloween party the Monday before, but none of us got around to doing a family Halloween party this year.  Just wasn't up to finding the time and energy.  But the I did get pics of everyone at least.  I also helped out at school with the 3 class, 60 kid party.  Trigg got to attend as one of our class and seemed to have a lot of fun.  

The Borrowman kids and Brenden and Eliza.  

Smiths and Randalls

Weavers

Lillywhite girls and Jay

That pretty well wraps up the month of October!  It was a great month.  I missed Weed for Halloween.  She and Derek were always dressed so fun as a couple.  It was hard not to have her paint my cat face for the school party.  That may be some of the reason why we just didn't push a family party.  We will always miss her for the holidays.  So thankful for a testimony that sustains us.