January 21...officially designated as the most depressing day of the year....it's true...I saw it on the news!  And I totally agree...especially with the terrible cold weather we have been living in.  I could really feel myself falling into a funk.

I was able to find the remedy for it though and it came in the form of my three dear sisters.

They came down to spend the day together and to celebrate my birthday.  What a wonderful day!

We wanted to get through the rest of the home movies so we could see which ones we wanted to put on the DVD, but decided to watch the two videos we made years ago from some of the home movies so we didn't duplicate what we already had. These movies are so fun to watch...probably just for us girls (Kelley sat through a bunch last night...he's a trooper!) but they sure open up the flood gates on the memories.  They took a lot of movies of Christmas, Birthdays, Easter, their beautiful yard, and of fun things we would do.  Reminded me of how much fun we would have with just the simple things ...playing in the irrigation water, jumping in a pile of leaves, swinging on a swing daddy made for us by throwing a rope over a branch in the tall tree, sledding down the lane next to our house, roller skating up and down the drive way, or a picnic in the canyon.  Looking back at our growing up years, I'm sure filled with gratitude and love for my parents...they created a happy home filled with love, faith and security. They would go out of their way to make it fun for us...making a slip and slide on the lawn...poor lawn!  finding old inner tubes for us to float down the canal or slide in the snow on, letting us ride on the sides of the old dodge, filling up the swimming pool with WARM water for us and hooking up the old slippery slide to it,  hanging a swing down by the garage so we could jump off daddy's truck and sail out over the road...I could go on and on...they gave us a wonderful life.

 

We were admiring all the snowflakes Leslie had made on her tree when we were up there last month so she surprised us each with this beautiful snowflake to put on our tree next year.  That's a treasure!

Brenda gave me this DVD...that will be great to use with yw lessons.  So thoughtful!

Leslie gave me this cute bag.  Really needed a new one for my church bag.  Love it!

and....these awesome texting gloves!  Haaaa!  how cool is that?

Teina gave me this beautiful orchid.  It's so perfect and covered with blooms, it hardly looks real! 

Wow along with their sweet cards, and Brenda's delicious pumpkin roll, I was surely spoiled. 

 

So grateful for my sisters and love them so much.  This day was so nice for me...totally cheered me up to spend this time with them.  Wish we could be together more often.  It was enough to get through this most depressing day and the rest of January with a happy heart.

For our combined activity last week we went ice skating at cottonwood Hts.  

We had a ton of kids show up  so it was pretty wild. 

When we got up to the ice skating rink, the parking lot was packed...really, not one parking spot left.  Bad sign.  So I dropped the girls off at the door and went to look for a place to park. (made up my own parking spot in front of a big dumpster  HA! I was expecting a ticket but then thought who would be crazy enough to be out giving parking tickets  in this sub zero temperature? ...seriously so cold right now...big stupid ugly gross inversion (they call this one the mother of all inversions) has settled in on us again.  So bad it's really making people sick.  Kelley has been coughing and sneezing but he doesn't have a cold.  It makes my throat burn and my eyes run to be out in it...and the cold has just been the worst ever.  Yesterday, I saw it was 12 below in Logan!  Not as cold here but in the single digits and only gets up to about 20 for the high.  I sure do hate the cold.  I was telling Kelley the other day, that if I didn't love the people here so much, I would say 'lets move somewhere warm!'

I'm grateful Kelley hasn't had to work out in it this year.  Really, no one should be out in this.  I'm paranoid of forgetting to let Lizzy back in after she goes potty.  She's not a barker or a whiner, she just curls up on her bed and waits for me to let her back in, so I worry about forgetting...kind of ocd...double check before I go to bed, then wake up in the night and have to check to make sure she's in again. 

I don't know how the chickens survive.  They must have super insulated feathers cause they are just happy as a clam out there.  Kelley put heat light in their little house, but when it's on, there is a light on...so the chickens think it's still day and don't go to bed!  Ha!  They are out wandering around the chicken run in the middle of the night! It's funny too cause their egg production hasn't slowed down at all in the cold.  They are still giving about 10 eggs every day. Their water feeder froze right up too, so Kelley got one that is heated and it's worked really well.  I guess we shouldn't fuss so much...when I think about it, daddy didn't have any fancy heaters and our chickens survived the winter in Cache Valley...now that's cold.)

Anyway, back to the skating...when we all got in there, it looked like every other youth group had had the same idea that night.  That place was packed.  But once they got their skates on and got out of that crowded  area and onto the ice, it wasn't bad.  It was cool to watch the ones that could skate go take the hands of ones that were struggling and try to help them learn.

After watching for a bit, Stacey, Bonnie and I couldn't resist and went and put on some skates. 

I felt like I was 12 again!  It was fun!!! 

 

Flashback
Last night I was making some popcorn balls for the basketball team...I looked up from making the caramel and this sight instantly took me back 40 years.
Coming into the kitchen and seeing mum and daddy sitting at the kitchen table doing the crossword puzzle after a hard day of work was a regular occurrence and an image that's embedded in my mind. Mum would pop a batch of corn in the electric fry pan...little oil in the bottom, pour in the corn...keep it moving so it doesn't burn...then dump it on the kitchen table.  The butter dish sits next to the corn for dipping. Not sure why they never melted the butter and poured it over the popcorn....they probably wanted to choose their own level of butteryness.  Mum was always watching her figure and daddy loved real butter.  He used to cuss the margarine and low fat foods she would try to get him to eat. 
Anyway,  for some reason, I always felt good and safe when I saw them sitting there together.  They would laugh and talk about the day and I knew they loved each other.
That's a memory I will keep close to my heart forever.

Some simple but sweet things that have warmed my heart these last few days...
Flowers from my honey...so cheerful and pretty!  That really brightened my day.  He's always doing nice things like that for me. Just little thoughtful things ..like driving right up to the door of where ever we go and letting me out so I don't have to walk far in the snow or cold. 
I appreciate how hard he works to support our family.  He's been over at the shop in west valley pretty much all day and into the night every day last week, trying to get the building done so the new renters can move in.  I went over and watched him paint the other night for a while. He is kind of a perfectionist when it comes to painting.  He is teaching KC a lot while he's been over there working with him.  This is good stuff to know...but I'm pretty sure KC is glad he is not going into construction for his career.
I got a text from Camille the other day that just filled my heart.  One of those moments when I just had to stop and thank the Lord for this sweet little grand daughter and for her good parents that are teaching her to always turn to her Heavenly Father. 
Camille wrote this...
"Rose got out today when I went to pick up Liv from school.  when we got home she was gone.  Liv had a complete melt down.  We searched the neighborhood for her and couldn't find her so we came home to get in the car and Liv wanted to say a prayer.  We did and when we pulled out off our street, we saw a guy and two kids walking around with her looking for her owner. Liv is my hero."
I think Camille is my hero.  She has had a hard week. A good friend of hers took her own life.  Such a sad story.  This was a vibrant young woman with two little kids the same age as Liv and Sam.  A while ago, she was in a freak bicycle accident that left her paralyzed  from the waist down.  She seemed to be handling it OK.  Camille had been going there every week and helping her out and cleaning her house and had no idea she was this sad. She got a call from Bev last Saturday, telling her what had happened and was so shocked and saddened. Come to find out this woman had some pretty bad  problems even before she became paralyzed. My heart aches for this family. I am thankful for the example Camille is to me of reaching out to, loving and caring for those around her.
Sunday was a real nice day. Started out with Stake conference.  We have been practicing as a stake choir to sing a few numbers.  This one "I know my Redeemer lives" (a version I had never heard before) was just amazing.  Had a hard time getting through it the words are so beautiful.  Anyway, we left when conference was half over to go listen to KC talk in his YSA ward.  We got there a little late so I was glad to find two seats next to Candice.  KC was the last speaker and had about a half hour to fill.  He has been working on this talk for several weeks so I knew he was well prepared.  He gave his talk on missionary work and it was pretty amazing.  He talked about how important it is to never give up on people and how one person can change someones life.  He told the parables of the shepherd who leaves the 99 to find the one lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, and the parable of the prodigal son and how they all relate to helping those who have fallen away to come back.  Then he talked about repentance and how the Lord is waiting with open arms to welcome us back into the fold.  The spirit was strong and his message was powerful. 
He's kind of a special kid.  Sure feel blessed to get to be his mom.
Got to spend the afternoon snuggling on the couch with Candice.  Love to sit and visit with her, catching up on what's going on in each others lives. She always brightens up my day!   It's so cold outside...we decided to get the fire going. I chopped some kindling...ha!  that's pretty funny to see me try to hit the log!  Candice got the paper all crumpled and ready and in a few minutes, we had a nice crackling fire.  We can do stuff! It felt so good and warmed us clear through.

It's time for Young women Basketball!  Aren't they cute?!

I've noticed in the years of watching stake sports that the 6th ward always seemed to have a winning team.  Now I can see why. We have lots of girls that like to play and several of them are really good!

We had a little practice Wednesday night, and I was so grateful that Tori would kind of take over and show the girls some drills and help new beehives.  We are still in the process of getting a coach.  We turned in a name weeks ago and the Bishop called her and she happily accepted the call.  We were chatting with her in Sunday school and she said ..."so all the games are on Wednesday night?"  I was like..."no, they are all on Saturday morning".  She said the Bishop hadn't mentioned that.  Oh dear.  we were back to square one.  So we thought of a few other people that could maybe do the job and I went and talked to the Bishop again.  Hopefully we will have a coach for next weeks game! 

We had a game Saturday, and I got to be their coach.  I was pretty nervous about it cause I don't know what I'm doing, but thanks to these amazing girls, it went really well!  We had 11 girls show up and they were all really great about taking turns playing.  The new beehives did a great job...including our sweet little handicapped one.  She ran and passed and shot just like all the other girls. It was pretty neat to watch her older sister with her.  She was watching out for her and encouraging her all the way. I was sure proud of all of them.

Wait for it....Yesssssss!  The clouds broke apart and there it was...the sun!  After over a week of ugly inversion, the wind started to blow Wednesday night.  It was really howling too!  Actually blew the big bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken right off the sign in Sandy!  I laid in bed and listened to it whipping around our house most of the night, but woke up to this sight...blue sky!  It was even kind of warm...in the 40's  anyway.  I was so excited!  It motivated me to  clean the garage, and put away a bunch of Christmas stuff that I have been procrastinating putting away cause I didn't want to even poke my nose out there in the cold.

 

 

 

The big ice berg in the pond even started to melt a little...

I knew it would be short lived though...just the warm before the storm.  The clouds moved back in Thursday afternoon and by that night, it was coming down pretty good.

Woke up to this...and it kept on coming. 

So much snow!  Wish Livy and Sam were here to play in the snow with me!

 

Now it's just turned freakishly cold...scary pipe busting, hurts to breath, car won't start,  "I DO want to wear pants to church!" cold.

 Friday afternoon, I noticed there was no water pressure.  I checked everywhere to see if water was running, but it wasn't.  I figured a pipe must have burst.  Kelley checked around at all the faucets where it could happen, but they were OK.  So he called Rick.  He came over and looked around and said it must be water pressure valve that needed to be replaced. 

So him and Kelley did that Saturday afternoon...not a pleasant job in this freezing cold. OK, try the water again...still just a dribble.  Dang. 

So then they started checking other options.  Turned off the stop and waste that goes to the sprinklers in the back yard and that fixed it.  A sprinkler pipe had burst.  There's a ice rink in the back yard now if anyone has the urge to skate.

Sick of it...

The last week or so has been pretty dreary around here.  Along with the let down of the holidays being over, we have this to look at every day....not nearly so pretty from down here either...just gray.

And to add insult to injury, we get to hear about the temperatures in Park City being a balmy 36 degrees!  If you get above the layer of haze, the sun is shining!  We have had very cold temps here since Christmas...the kind of cold that makes you think twice about going out....do I really have to? ( I would seriously hibernate if I could...I've been huddling under grandmas electric blanket (it's awesome!) to keep warm cause we can't have a fire in the fireplace)   OK...we need food. I will go.  So I bundle up with layers, scarf, heavy coat, gloves and boots.  I seriously don't care what I look like.  Then when I go outside, it's like breathing a cloud of gunk. It makes my throat scratchy and my eyes burn.  It really gets  me down to not see the sun too.  I don't know how people who live in rainy climates do it.  It's pretty amazing how having a sunny day changes your whole attitude. Oh well, I guess that's the price we pay for living in this beautiful valley.  Praying for a storm to come in and move that bad stuff out so we can see it. 

On the way home from Arizona... (actually this one was on the way there...Candice flew home on Christmas day)  There was a lot of sleeping involved both ways though.  Sorry dear,  I wasn't a very good navigator....That's a whole other story I better not get into.

Leaving Arizona...felt kind of chilly in the early morning...probably 55.  The closer we got to Utah, the colder it got.  By the time we got to Beaver, the snow storm was full blown upon us.  The roads were terrible...wrecks all over the place... we had to go about 30 mph for about two hours.  That did not make the ride home seem shorter.  Felt so bad for Kelley to have to drive in it. 

We listened to a book on CD called Killing Kennedy that Candice gave Kelley for Christmas all the way home.  It was real interesting.  Made me realize how much history I never learned.

New years day...went to see Hobbit movie, then to Cafe Rio.  Fun day!

On my birthday...favorite fancy place to eat?  PF Changs.  We had to wait a long time to get in, but spent the time watching animal videos on Candice's phone. 

Had a real nice Birthday...went to the temple with KC and Kelley to do initiatory for some family names.  The Jordan River temple had been closed for about a month, I thought just for cleaning, but when I went in to the dressing room, saw it had been completely remodeled.  It was so beautiful!  The waiting room to do initiatory looks a lot like the celestial room!  Very beautiful with big comfy chairs and couches.  That whole area has been redone and is really nice.

I was surprised to see so many people there.  We thought we would be the only ones crazy enough to go out on this freezing cold morning...seriously has been so cold the past week.  Icky inversion so we can't have a fire.

KC loading up my new crochet hook holder that Camille sent me.  I have a lot of crochet hooks.

( A lot of those were mum's)

Playing Phase 10 with these guys is a hoot.

This is Candice's face after she found out that the fruit jelly thing she just ate had gelatin in it.  

Sure do love these guys!  KC and Candice made me the cutest card with Haiku's they had made up for my Birthday...so funny and sweet!   I was totally impressed that they remembered from high school how to do a haiku!  This really meant the world to me! 

Moms are like fruit pies
Deliciously sweet and warm
Smells like cinnamon.

Mom you are so cool:
Crochet, baking, wrapping gifts,
Plus other talents.

Gracious, kind mother
I'm so lucky to be yours
You have nice small feet.

Mom, it's your birthday
You still look so young and vibrant
What are you? forty?

I'm a lucky mom.

A few more pictures from our visit to Arizona...

We went to this cute Italian restaurant one night.  The people who owned it were great.  There were only a few people there so we got great service.  The lady was real friendly and was talking to us in her loud Italian accent about her grandsons.  "They are a hurricane! My grand daughters...they sit so nice...the boys...they are a hurricane!  She was getting right up in Sam's face talking to him and I thought he would be afraid of her, but he was just laughing. 

Candice got the kids some cool old fashioned games from World Market.  Rhyming Domino's, pick up stix ( these were neat little tools...shovel, rake, ladder) and a cool kaleidoscope.

Sam won the contest of how many gummy bears you can fit in your mouth...new world record for a two year old...15!