Merry Christmas 2019

Wow! It's been a great year! Savannah returned from her mission in July; Spencer in October. We drove to Utah for Thanksgiving so that we could get a family picture before Sterling left on his mission on December 18. We haven't been together for the holidays since 2016 so I'm glad we made the effort to all be together, however briefly. I sure love these guys.



I've done a lot of hand lettering this past year. I love to doodle various sayings and words. This was the back of our Christmas card. I wrote it in pencil on white paper, smudged it a bit, then scanned it and reversed the colors. I love how it looks just like chalk on a chalkboard!

We have a lot to look forward to in 2020. Let's make it our best year so far!

Class of 2019

Sterling just finished his junior year of high school. He also just graduated with the class of 2019. Somehow, a year earlier than planned, I find myself with another graduate in the family.

I have to hand it to him. Last November Sterling told me he didn't think he could do another year of high school, and then he set out to find a way to finish early. We have several students at our high school who graduate a semester early, but Sterling wanted more than that. He wanted to be done this school year.

The principal wasn't against it, but frankly told him that he didn't have the authority to change policy, specifically the part of the policy that said a student had to attend for at least seven semesters, so he sent Sterling to the superintendent. Thankfully, the superintendent was on board. The district leaders had been discussing a competency-based pilot program they were hoping the school board would approve. Removing the seven semester requirement was a perfectly natural companion to this, and both passed with the school board's full approval. Now the policy simply reads that students must meet all graduation requirements. At that point it was up to Sterling to comply.

It was a crazy semester at times as Sterling had not only his eight regular classes at school, but also four online independent study classes to complete along with a few other requirements. But he did it and he did it well. He graduated on Friday with high honors.

Congratulations, Sterling! We can't wait to see what your bright future holds.

Reppin' the Y

It's no secret that we're big BYU fans. Jeff and I graduated from Brigham Young University. Sam is currently a student there and Savannah will be back in the fall. Spencer will start in January, and if all goes well, Sterling will start in January, too. We are "Reppin' the Y" from our dining room table to our wardrobe choices - Sterling wears a BYU shirt to school at least 3 days a week - and I hope we're Reppin' the Y in our conduct as well.

This graduation speech at BYU by one who is not a member of our faith and who never actually attended BYU gives new meaning to "Reppin' the Y." I love what Honorary Doctorate Arthur C. Brooks says about his behavior when sporting a BYU briefcase. But listen further because his talk is powerful as he discusses anger vs. contempt, how differing viewpoints is not a bad thing, and how we can learn to "disagree better." It was well worth twelve minutes of my day!

Arctic Blast

I know, "Arctic Blast" sounds like a flavor of minty gum, but it's what we have to thank for a day off of school and work today. And we got the call just before lunch today that the kids will be off tomorrow as well. Yay! (But Jeff will be back to work in the morning.)

I haven't seen temperatures like this since my first year at Ricks College in the winter of 1988-89. I don't remember the exact numbers, but the RealFeel was in the negative 60's a time or two. For real. My roommate and I would lay in bed in the morning and listen to the radio as they listed off all the schools that were cancelled day after day. Never once did they say "Ricks College." To avoid freezing to death, I would walk through every single building on my way to my 8:00 a.m. class which was all the way across campus. It was brutal.

Anyway.

Here's a screenshot from my weather app this morning that shows our lowest actual temperature for the day (-12º). The RealFeel got down to -38º, but Sterling's phone showed -44º at one point. We have certain rooms in our hundred-year-old house that we are pretty much avoiding because they are freezing. Thankfully, for the most part we've been safe, warm and happy today. :)

Looking ahead, the forecast says we should hit an unseasonably warm 60º on Monday. If the RealFeel matches that, it will feel almost 100º warmer than today. What a difference a week makes!

Overheard

Sterling: Alexa, definition of P-H-A-T.

Alexa: As a noun, 'phat' is usually defined as: fat. As an adjective, 'phat' is usually defined as: great; wonderful; terrific.

Sterling: I have the phattest mom in the whole world!

(See what I put up with around here?) ;)