Driving into cache valley is like entering the twilight zone. Everything is coated with frost.

This is what you see looking out mom's kitchen window...

When I walked out to get in the car, they stood and looked at me for a second, then skedaddled over the fence.

Saturday was our big candy making birthday celebrating day. We woke up to a pretty good amount of snow coming down. I was wondering if my sisters would be able to make it through the canyon. I called Teina to ask her about the hair color for moms hair and she said she didn't know if she would be able to make it. She doesn't like to drive even when it's a nice day, so I didn't think she would try and brave the bad weather.

I colored mom's hair and she watched me make some caramels. Then I got us both a spoon and we sat on the couch and cleaned out the pan. That was a good batch!
Brenda showed up a while later and Leslie too. We turned on some Christmas music and got busy on our candies. Brenda did some chocolate pretzels and a new treat that was really tasty. Leslie made some cherry-0-lets and peanut clusters. Leslie gets mom all set up so she can do the peanut clusters. I made some toffee corn pops and dipped the caramels in chocolate. The toffee corn pops turned out kind of a weird texture, but they tasted good.
Everything else turned out really good. We made up a bunch of plates for all the ladies that come to mom's to help take care of her, and one for her home teachers and for Deloy and DeLois.

Then we had some lunch (I made some potato cheese soup and rolls) and mom seemed to like it. We all sang Happy Birthday and mom blew out her candles.

Then we had mom open her presents. She is about the sweetest lady you could ever know. She makes a big fuss over each of our presents and is just really grateful for everything.

We got all the rest of the candies divided up, put together the "Christmas sacks", made a few plans for Christmas day, and then Brenda and Leslie had to go.

That's always one of my favorite days!
Mom and I watched the Jazz game and ate grilled cheese sandwiches, then she said she was ready for bed. I had decided to stay overnight because it was still snowing and I didn't want to drive through the canyon on a dark snowy night. I figured I would just get up early and get on my way home. I had arranged for the home health to come in because I had to be home for choir at 10:30.

I couldn't sleep very well that night...woke up about 1:00 and read till about 4:00. Then I was afraid I wouldn't wake up in time to get home for church, so I set the alarm on my phone for six.

Then I must have dozed off because the next thing I know I can hear mom calling me from downstairs...Paula, Paula! I thought I must be dreaming because the light was on in the hallway, and I knew I hadn't left it on. So I laid there for a minute. Then I hear her call again. This time I hop up and run downstairs and find her sitting there on the couch watching TV. I looked at the clock...6:00! I was just like

"mom! did you come turn on the light in the hallway?" and what are you doing up at 6:00? She never wakes up till about eight or so. She said she had been up and been to the bathroom, then thought I needed to get up so she came out and turned on the light in the hallway. Really? The night before, I had to practically carry her just the few steps to the bathroom! She was really perky though, and her mind was clear, so I just thanked her for waking me up. I went and got my things together, and noticed my phone. The alarm never went off. If mom hadn't woke me up, I'd have probably slept till 8:00! I think I was the recipient of a little Christmas miracle that morning!

I got mom all situated, gave her a big love and was on my way. I stopped off at Teina's and left her a plate of the treats we had made, then made it home in time to get ready and make it to our choir practice.

The choir sang some beautiful numbers and we had a real nice Christmas program. I taught the lesson in YW and it went pretty well. I had made them each a white Christmas stocking and talked to them about giving gifts to Jesus. I read a story that was a pretty tough one to get through, but it went good. It was so nice to have Candice there, and Kelley came in too.

There was a sweet spirit there. Sure do love those girls and the ladies that I serve with too!