Uncovered Treasures...

All the cleaning out, reorganizing, and decluttering has been accompanied by "So, that's where that was," or, "I had forgotten about that." One item was something Alice made in preschool (11/8/00)... ...her hand print. So, we took a picture, and it went into the garbage. I have a hard time throwing away things. Especially things that have an emotional tie.
Or things that are still functional.
So, you can guess that I have just way too much stuff.
*
We also found a sweatshirt that Grandma Mildred made.

I couldn't bring myself to throw it away--it went into Deborah's container and she'll have to decide what to do with it later.

Meet My Friends...

Meet my friends--Pusher and Lifter. We've hung out together a lot lately.
Since we became friends with Pusher, Kevin and I have found that it is best to do the driveway with just a couple of inches of snow, even if it means doing it multiple times during a snowstorm like today's (and yesterday's). With Pusher, it is quick work going from side to side across the driveway. Then Lifter is used to tidy up and throw the piles of snow left by Pusher.
It makes for a pretty good workout!

I found myself yesterday longing for one of those winters when no snow fell--like the winter after we moved into our house and there was no lawn, just bare dirt. That would have been a good time to have it covered with snow, but no--we had dirt tracked into the house all season long.

Now, the snow is piled as high as it can be so that if you throw another shovel-full, it just rolls back down onto the place you were trying to clear. So I have to carry each shovel-full several paces to a new spot on the lawn.
Is it really only Feb. 9? This winter has lasted a looong time already.

Youth at the Food Bank = A Ton of Fun!

This week's mutual activity was at the Food Bank. While we waited to sign in, someone discovered a large floor scale and the youth piled on--could they add up to 2000 lbs? Yes! A ton of youth. E. noticed I had my camera out, and decided she was going to be in evey shot.
I'm not sure how much work she actually got done...

but she achieved her goal!

We sorted donated items into categories and checked for expiration dates and seals.

I'm always amazed at how the youth can turn something like this into a fun time. The hot chocolate and cookies at the end also helps their great attitude.

But we have great youth!

The missionaries are coming...

We received the phone call a month ago, "would you be willing to house the missionaries again?"

Hmmm.

We want to help out, but how best to include them into our household?

We've decided to import bunkbeds and have them in the guest bedroom.

Which also happened to be my sewing room.

And the music practice room.

We've already moved the sewing desk into the TV room--that might be nice so I can have a movie on while doing sewing projects.

My challenge for today--take all the stuff I removed from the closet and under the bed and find "good" places for all this stuff.

I'm hoping I'll also be able to condense, organize, throw away, send things to Goodwill, and in short, make things even better.

Of course, in connection with this, I'm cleaning out and reorganizing nearly every closet and storage space in the entire house.
A great project for a snowy February day, don't you think?

Groundhog Day and Taxes

Happy Groundhog Day!

It snowed overnight and is still cloudy, so any groundhog here definitely did NOT see his shadow!

Would that mean only two more weeks of winter?

When has THAT ever happened? Spring, by February 16???

We'll be lucky if spring is here in 6 weeks, March 15.

And since it is now February, it is that wonderful, clean-out-all-the-financial-records-in-the-cubbyholes-in-the-desk time, in order to do...

TAXES!

Oh, one of my least favorite things to do!

But I purchased TurboTax yesterday, and within an hour, was almost done.

Almost done... because we haven't yet received the paperwork on investments.

Still, it was the quickest and most painless preparation yet of all the rest of it.

Good luck to the rest of you!

More daylight--better mood!

We had two weeks of fog, clouds, snow, rain, ice--everything except sunshine. When the sun rose this morning in a clear sky, I was surprised. The sun had definitely moved northward. At Christmas time, it rose on the south side of the water tower. Now it is back to where it was about Thanksgiving time. With more daylight I've had to adjust the timers for the electic candles in the windows.
It is about this time each year when I begin to feel hope--Spring will eventually come again.
But I try to imagine what a hot summer day feels like, and just cannot do it.
Maybe that's because it is -8 outside.

Maybe I Should Home-School?

Maybe I should home-school. At least the kids would have more regular hours.

Last week: Monday--MLK day, no school.

Tuesday--2-hour delay because of heavy fog.

Wednesday--dismissed at 11 a.m. because of freezing rain.

Thursday--a full day of school! Wow!

Friday--teacher work day--no school.

This week seems to be going the same way.

Monday--dismissed an hour early because of a blizzard.

Today--2-hour late start because of the drifts.

I'm actually getting used to the 5:30 a.m. automated phone call. E is in the shower and can't hear the phone. Kevin is on the treadmill, running, and can't hear the phone. I'm trying to sleep--and the phone wakes me up. Oh well. It's better than having to listen to the radio and hope to catch the school announcements!

Rain and 23 degrees

No picture, yet. Our school district is the only one in the area still in session, probably because even though it was forecast, the rain hadn't started yet. Until just a few minutes ago (9 a.m.). I hope they don't let school out at the height of slipperiness!

Galette des Rois

In France, there is a lovely tradition of serving an almond-flavored tort in January to celebrate the arrival of the Wise Men after the birth of the Savior.

Inside is a porcelain figure, and whoever gets it puts on a crown and is the king or queen.

With the encouragement of Deborah, I made one for a small gathering of friends. It was simple to make, using puff pastry and marzipan, and delicious! I didn't have a small porcelain figure to put in it, so used a dry bean instead.

Kevin got the piece with the bean.

The next time I make it, I want to try using phyllo dough

so I can brush on some butter between layers--Kevin said he missed that.
Anything for my sweetheart!

Jack Frost has Come to Stay...

For three straight days we've had fog. It even caused a 2-hour delay in school this morning. I've seen hoar-frost on some mornings before, but it is usually gone by afternoon. This has had three days to grow and grow. We have spotlights shining up through the front trees, which look nice enough with bare branches in the winter, but with the frost, the effect is magical!

Since it is just a bit below freezing, wonderful crystals have formed on just about everything,
turning the world into a fairy wonderland!

The house really looks like a mountain cottage, since it is only in the mountains that I've seen such frostiness!

I've always wondered why people used to have their Christmas trees "flocked". It didn't seem natural to me, but now I understand.

Celebrating on New Year's Day!

We loved waking up to a new year while staying with R and J in Colorado,

and enjoying a breakfast of blueberry pancakes...

cooked by a very capable dad/daughter duo!
Afterwards, what better to do with a pair of granddaughters than to cuddle up in Grammy's lap, in the new blanket from Aunt Terry, and listen to a story by Grandpa!

And then we had to get in the car and "enjoy" the next 11 hours traveling home.

We arrived in Iowa along with arctic cold. It was nice to have the heat come on and warm up the house. But the next morning, with -20 outside, the heat had stopped.

So had the water heater, and even the gas fireplace wouldn't work!

Evidently, this was a gas-delivery problem,

so the utility company was called, the worker came promptly

and had to replace a valve that had failed. I felt sorry for him having to work out in that cold.

I'm SO glad we returned when we did, so the problem could be taken care of, instead of returning a day later to a stone-cold house and frozen water pipes!

The Smile is Still There...

...with the help of tylenol. It has been uncomfortable, but fortunately, phase I involves only the top teeth. Later phases will include the bottom teeth, and very probably, early extraction of the wisdom teeth as they are pressing, in an unusual way, on the regular molars. Alice even made it through a viola lesson yesterday afternoon. Now, that is courage!

Goodbye, Old Smile!

At 10:30 this morning, Alice gets braces. She's more than a bit freaked out by this, and is anticipating the pain and discomfort. I'm hoping it will be better than she fears.
So, goodbye old Alice smile.
Goodbye caramel and gum (at least as far as Alice is concerned) for the next two years.
As a last hurrah, we made caramel popcorn last night for a Sunday Night treat, just for her.
Hello, "brace smile"!

Dec 26--Visiting a Train

My mother had been wanting us to go see this model train set-up, done by one of her friends. We made time the day after Christmas. A and E were not too happy about going, until we got there. There was a pair of friendly farm dogs to entertain.

Then, there was a flock of turkeys to greet us.

I'd never been up close when one gobbled, or fanned his tail feathers, before!

Then, of course, there was the model train house. This guy (a former Navy submarine commander--he was the first to command a sub under the North Pole), has gone all out--no expense spared, no details left out!

The room was full, with details like skiers on a mountain, or a wedding in process at a church that the train traveled by. We oohed and aahed, along with several other visitors. It was a very magical, delightful setup!

We were all glad we'd made the time to see this. Who knew such a set-up would be in tiny Lincoln, Idaho?

Broom Hockey for a Mutual Activity

The three brooms came home in good shape--that's a first!

Usually one or more gets broken.

The difference this time? Elley had an emergency room visit. She leaned down to untangle her broom with someone else's just as another young woman took a shot at the wiffle ball.

Result? A split chin and sore jaw joint!

One of the YM leaders is a doctor, another is an EMT. They checked her chin and agreed, "she'll need a stitch or two." I thought so too. The split looked deep, and gaped open. The emergency room doc saw it differently. (And curiously, by then it didn't look so deep.) He just cleaned it up, put some glue on either side so the tape wouldn't come off, taped it and sent us home. We were only there 15 minutes.

As we were checking out, I asked what the charge would be--we have a high deductible for our insurance and will end up paying for it anyway. The clerk didn't know. And she had all our information, including our insurance company, even before we registered. The EM nurse had asked for Elley's name and birthdate, and that was all they needed. So, in the future, if I want to get medical treatment and pay for it myself, I'll need to go to location where I've never been treated before. In light of the current health care debate, this might be necessary.

In my opinion, the greatest problem with the high cost of health care is that there is no price list for services. We can't look at the prices and say, is this split chin worth a $1000 EM room visit? What if we elect for the $250 bandage instead of the stitches?

What if hospital B does this same procedure for 25% less?

If it were my car, I'd be sure to know what the prices were before getting new tires, etc. It is slightly different with our health, but I think our decisions would be better if we knew the actual cost of things (and the cost wasn't inflated to cover those people who don't pay for their care).

Snow Day, Part II

After letting the girls sleep in an extra hour, we got started. They were as excited as I was to see how this would work out. Would the paint be too orange? As we started out, I had to hope it would darken at least a bit as it dried!
And it did. We all just LOVE the look. The carpet matches better. The furniture matches. And it looks so cozy and inviting. I took this with the flash, so the color isn't quite true. I still need to get the buttery-yellow paint for the 4th wall--the one with the sofa. I would have gone today, but there was a reason school was out--we have a ground blizzard going on and if no-visibility weren't bad enough, the roads are really slippery as well. with an occasional drift. So, after I get the paint, If that doesn't produce the effect we want, we still have a whole gallon of the terra cotta to experiment with!

Snow Day Today

The automated phone call came at 5:30 a.m,

"due to weather conditions, there will be no school today".

Hmmm.

I've got the paint, and the rollers, and now I've got the manpower, or rather, girl-power.

This is the picture of the TV room a few minutes ago. I'm hoping there will be a vastly different picture by the end of the day!

Christmas in Idaho

For the past 3 months, we looked forward to going to Idaho for Christmas. It's the off-year, meaning the year when the married kids visit the in-laws. So it was going to be just Kevin, me, and the girls here for Christmas. And they don't think that we're too much fun.

Then, with Kevin's father passing away, we were worried about his mom being alone for the holidays, and there were a number of little projects he could do. (And he just loves to get projects done!)

Combine that with being able to be with our extended family, and suddenly, driving west for the 5th time this year didn't seem so bad.

There was not a lot of snow until the day before we left--unlike two years ago when battling the snow in the lane was such a challenge. Still, the winter dawn was beautiful.We didn't have a huge pile of gifts either. We decided to take everything with us since the girls' major presents were quite small (an ipod doesn't take much room!).
Grandma Beth's real tree smelled so good. One sniff brought such a rush of memories--childhood Christmases, favorite toys, magical anticipations--all rolled up into the best thoughts about Christmas. We enjoyed putting together a puzzle and watching a movie, after one of Grandma Beth's famous egg-fried potatoes-bacon-and-hot cocoa brunches.

But first, on Christmas morning, Grandma Bailey had hot rolls and egg nog for some nourishment before we opened presents. I think that one of the pictures of her that will always be etched in my mind is with her at her kitchen stove, producing some new goodness to tempt anyone staying with her. (We enjoyed apple turnovers, banana shakes, lots of rolls, as well as regular meals).

Christmas always brings such special memories--my favorite time of the year!

December 22--a birthday party!

It was great being with the gang to help celebrate Terry's and Lisa's birthdays. As usual, the gathering was at Kim & Ida's--they are such great hosts. The gathering was even larger than usual since so many out-of-town family members were there for Dad's funeral. We celebrated a day early (actual birthday on the 23rd) while Jeannine's family was still here.
And, as usual, Mom looks pretty good! Hard to believe she is 90 years old!

One really fun thing was that Will, at which ever house he was visiting, built several snowmen. Maybe it is because in his home town of Las Vegas, snow doesn't happen that much. Too me, it didn't seem like there was enough snow, but somehow he managed. And the others liked to join in.

At Kim's house, there were a pair of snowmen at the corner of the yard to welcome visitors. It was always a happy sight as we drove into their driveway.
And then of course, Elley couldn't resist the photo op with a cool tree.

We enjoyed shopping with Jeannine--she and I ended up buying identical sweaters. Now I can think of her whenever I wear mine.

December 21--my father's funeral

Exactly 3 months after Kevin's father was laid to rest, my own father was buried. We were fortunate that it wasn't snowing. It wasn't bitterly cold, though it was cold enough. Blankets, mittens, hats and heavy coats were put to use. Although we had known this day was coming--had known it since last March when Dad fell and broke his hip, still this was so final. Over the summer and fall, Dad had begun to lose the ability to recognize family members. His Alzheimer's was progressing. His hip didn't heal and he was confined to his bed or a reclining wheel chair. After Thanksgiving he seemed to lose his will to live. Even his beloved tapioca pudding became hated. He slept more. He awoke less. Until he wouldn't wake up even to eat or drink. And then he didn't wake up again.
The funeral was beautiful; healing; peaceful; comforting. We laughed and cried as memories of Dad were shared. He had his flaws (like not being able to complete a sentence without some kind of expletive), but it was good to focus on the good he accomplished by his life.
Like serving during World War II.
Like being a loving brother and son.
Raising two families.
Instilling a love of fishing, hunting, & camping in his children.
Living a decent life.
Oddly, I feel closer to my dad now that he has moved to the next life. He had never been out to Iowa to see where we lived, but now he can see it. I also am more accepting of who he is and the limitations he had.

The military honors were so impressive--particularly the haunting melody of Taps. It was the most beautiful bugeling I'd ever heard.

I'm so grateful for the comforting knowledge that this life is not the end, and that there is a plan for our salvation and eternal life.

And I'm so grateful for the family bonding that comes during times like these.
The pallbearers were grandsons: James, Shane, Chad, Justin, Sean, Derek, Ryan, and Jeff.