My Happy

This picture made it onto our Christmas card, but I also wanted to post it here because it makes me so happy. I sure love these guys!

My Favorite Day

Savannah has a reputation. She gets pretty excited about things she participates in and is frequently saying, "This was the best day (or week) of my life." We also hear things like, "This is the best book I've ever read!" or "This is my new favorite movie!" on a regular basis. She's definitely not living in the past, but embraces each new experience and squeezes all the goodness out of it so she can hold onto it and savor it until the next experience/book/movie comes along.

In light of this tendency, my mom sent her this:

Isn't that sweet? And I think it fits Savannah pretty well. It reminds me of my mission prep teacher at BYU, George Durrant. When asked how he was, he would always say, "It's my best day so far!"

A great way to look at life, for sure! :)

Cool Clouds

I love clouds. If I posted pictures of clouds every time I think they are cool or unique or photo worthy, I'd have at least three cloud posts a week! My kids think I'm crazy and roll their eyes each time I say, "Ooh, look at those clouds!" But I can't help it. I love them. So here you go - the clouds that were outside my window about 30 minutes ago. Kind of makes you want to say, "Ooh, look at those clouds!" :)

Dimple: Sadie's Pet Rock

I've mentioned before how sweet Sadie is to her pets. Well, she's done it again.

Meet Dimple: the most spoiled pet rock ever.

Sadie made several little outfits for Dimple. There are p.j.'s, travel clothes, dresses, ordinary clothes, and costumes.

Sadie made a bag to keep Dimple's things in, complete with a little pocket inside for Dimple to ride in.

I'm telling you, this girl thinks of everything. She'll make a great mommy someday!

Honors All-State Choir

Sam and Savannah spent the last three days in Peoria where they participated in the Honors All-State Choir. Savannah did not want to go. Right up to the last minute, she was not excited. Boy howdy, has she ever changed her tune! Both had a great time, but Savannah LOVED it!! She said it was like EFY, only everyone could sing! She reconnected with a couple of old friends and made many new ones. She literally cried when it was over.

Our family drove up for their big concert. Wow! It was amazing! I'm not surprised, considering the choir was made up of the very best high school juniors and seniors in the state, but it even surpassed my expectations. The honors band and the honors orchestra performed at the same concert. The best part was when all three groups joined together to perform "Battle Hymn of the Republic." It was awesome! It was the same arrangement sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and performed every bit as well.

I wish we had been allowed to video tape the concert. I'd love to share some of my favorites. And I wish things hadn't been so crazy trying to find everyone afterwards that I forgot to take pictures. I wish you could have been there!

Reminiscent of Rexburg

Rexburg, Idaho - Imagesource

My first two years of college were spent in Rexburg, Idaho at Ricks College (now BYU-Idaho). Most people not-so-jokingly refer to Rexburg as Iceberg because it is one of the coldest places on earth, second only to Antarctica.

I woke up to the radio every morning and I would lay there listening to the weather as they reported negative temperatures and then they would start in on the school closings. As they read through what seemed like every single school in the surrounding area, I would hope beyond hope that they would say "Ricks College" as they rattled through their list.

Never.

Not once in my entire two years did Ricks College close. Not even the day that it was -68º with the wind chill. I am not making this up. Instead, I had to drag myself out of my warm bed, bundle up in as many layers as possible and then walk through every single building on campus so I wouldn't freeze to death on my way to my 8:00 class that was literally in the farthest building from my apartment.

It makes me cold just thinking about it!

So when the phone rang tonight with an automated message from our school superintendent informing us that "due to extremely cold temperatures" there will be no school tomorrow, I had a little flashback to my Rexburg days. I kind of wanted to say, "Neener neener neener!" but that's rather childish so I'll just say, "Yes!! No school!! Snow day #5. We've now maxed out the school calendar and any snow days after this are FREE so bring it on!"

Ahem.

Tomorrow will be a great day! :)


As a side note, Sam found out the other day that he's been accepted to BYU-Idaho in good old Rexburg, Idaho. I really loved my time at Ricks, despite the cold, but if Sam decides to accept, I won't be visiting in the winter!

Happy National Popcorn Day!

We love our popcorn around here so when I heard that today was National Popcorn Day, I whipped up a super quick batch of Peppermint Popcorn that is surprisingly addicting! There's something about the buttery-salty-sweet-minty flavor combination that just works well and keeps everyone coming back for more.

Here's all you need:

And here's all you do:

• Pop one envelope of butter flavor microwave popcorn.
• Remove the unpopped kernels.
• Melt 2 oz. Almond Bark (one block) and stir into the popcorn until lightly coated.
• While Almond Bark is still "wet," sprinkle 2 Tbsp. (give or take) of finely crushed up candy canes (you can use starlight mint candies, too) over popcorn and stir to distribute. 

That's it! It takes all of about 10 minutes from start to finish. You'll be lucky if the popcorn lasts that long when you're through!

Happy Popcorn Day! :)

A Difference of 77º

Last Monday, the temperature with wind chill was -35º. 

Today the temperature with wind chill is 42º. 

That's 77º warmer. 

What a difference a week can make!

I'll do my best to make my next post about something other than the weather. Promise. :)

Shut Down

This snowy sunset was so pretty!

Wow. In the 13 years we have lived here, we've never seen anything quite like this! Following Sunday's big snowstorm, the winds picked up (30-40 mph gusts) and the temperatures plummeted.

It basically shut down our little corner of the world.

Many roads were closed, even major roads. The roads that were open were an ice covered mess.
The hospital and all area clinics were closed.
The mall was closed for 2 days.
Some banks were closed.
Several factories told their employees not to come in.
Our friends who live in the country lost power but couldn't go anywhere else because they couldn't get out of their driveway.
There was no mail or UPS delivery.

The sun actually looked like this - a big circle around it with small "suns" on either side. Pretty cool!

The kids Christmas break was supposed to end on Tuesday, but here it is Wednesday afternoon and they are still home. (Yay!)

Jeff and Sam had some snow fun after shoveling

We had a doctors appointment and a funeral on Monday. Both were changed to Tuesday. As we traveled, slowly, to the next town yesterday, we saw at least 18 abandoned vehicles in the ditch.

Yikes... As I was writing that last sentence, I suddenly heard a loud rushing sound. I ran downstairs to find water literally pouring in Jeff's office. The floor is drenched and I'm a little worried about his computer. I am so glad Jeff is home! He shut off the water and tore out a closet wall. He found the source - a broken pipe - and removed the soaked insulation. We've got quite a watery mess to clean up, but it could be a lot worse.

I should go help!

{Life is good!}

Awww, I {heart} U, too, Sam!

20 Years Ago Today

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My bonnie Scotland. Twenty years ago today I said goodbye. I can't believe so much time has passed. I think of you so often that it sometimes seems like yesterday. At other times I wonder if I was ever there. 

Someday I'll see you again! 

Cheerio.

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Staying In

The view from my dining room

We're in the middle of quite a storm! It's actually really beautiful outside. The snow has been falling steadily all day. The temperatures are starting to drop and the wind is picking up. Church was canceled, thankfully. I wouldn't want to be driving in these blizzard conditions, especially since that would mean driving our 12-passenger rear wheel drive van 12 miles to the next town. We started out at 33º this morning and the temperatures are supposed to keep dropping through the night. Tomorrow's high is forecast to be -11º. Yuck.

We knew the storm was coming so we have plenty of food, gas for the generator if we lose power, lots of games and good company. It could be worse!

Motivation

Savannah and her friend, Bekah, are starting off the new year with some healthy goals. Nothing earth shattering, but still some good habits to keep them thinking about what goes in their mouth and to make sure they are exercising more than what they get in their daily PE class. They had the above resolution written out, but hadn't come up with a consequence if they didn't follow through. Their friend Michael saw it when he was over the other day so he filled in the last bit:

If we don't, we have to shave our heads.

That would be motivation enough for me. Yikes!

Hope your New Year is off to a great start!