January 2022

January 2: Jonah was asked to conduct a stake youth fireside on the first Sunday evening of the new year. The guest speaker was author, storyteller, and podcast speaker Glenn Rawson, and unbeknownst to Jonah, it was being broadcast to about 15,000 people that evening. Josh and I also had no idea it was being broadcasted, and we started getting texts and messages from family members in Idaho and Utah that night who said they saw Jonah! One of our cousins from Utah sent us the link, and we watched our son conduct the meeting, which was so fun! He accidentally made one mistake at the start of the meeting and announced the prayer before the song, but then had to re-correct that it was the song before the prayer, and then when Brother Rawson began speaking, he told Jonah not to worry too much about it--he'd done similar things from the pulpit before. Jonah was so inspired by this fireside that he purchased a book by Glenn Rawson after the event online, too!

President Silcock, Jonah, Stake President Stokes, & Glenn Rawson

January 4: I drove down to Mud Lake after school for a surprise birthday for my friend Rosalba. It was her 45th birthday, and her daughters threw a surprise party for her at their house. It was SO good to see all my friends again; it had been too long! We celebrated Rosalba, ate dinner, she opened gifts, and since there were so many people in attendance, our dominoes group congregated to her living room (everyone else was in her dining room and kitchen), and we chatted, got caught up with everything going on in each other's lives, cried, and laughed. I love my friends!

January 9: The Priests of the YM in our ward sang in Sacrament for Elder Reeves' farewell. It was such a wonderful sight to see and hear! 

January 7-9: We got a BUNCH of snow over the weekend, which was our first major snowfall this winter season! It was very exciting! We went sledding down the hill by our house in some of our new Christmas sleds to celebrate on Sunday after church.

January 14: I went with my Mud Lake friends to Idaho Falls to celebrate Val's birthday. She loves the giant mud pie at The Sandpiper Restaurant, so we ate dinner there and she got her coveted dessert! 

Tanis gave me this awesome book of poetry as a late
Christmas gift called "All Along You Were Blooming"
by Morgan Harper Nichols. She said when she read this
poem that she knew this book was for me because 
this poem reminded her of me. I loved the book!
The timing of the gift was perfect, too. Several
of the poems' messages really spoke to me.

We had some very bitter cold nights and days in January, but the crystalized trees as a result of the freeze was a beautiful effect! 

January 15-16: We celebrated some of my best friends' birthdays this weekend. I went out to dinner at the Dusty Mule with Josh, Amanda & Ryan, Dallin & Jen, and John on Saturday night to celebrate Amanda's birthday. We had a fun time driving, chatting, eating out, and laughing together.  

On Sunday evening, Josh and I went over to the Jackson's house and played games and snacked to celebrate Darcy's birthday. We hadn't spent time with them in months, and we had such a great time together playing, laughing, eating, and singing!

January 24: Avery continued to have dinner and missionary discussions at our house on Monday nights throughout the month of January. It was delightful to have him in our home and we enjoyed the spirit that the missionaries brought! His baptism date was set for January 29. Micah was going to baptize him, Josh was going to confirm him, Jonah and I were going to give the talks, the missionaries were going to sing. We had it all scheduled, and we were really looking forward to it--especially Micah! However, the day before his baptism, it was cancelled due to Avery's grandma not wanting him to get baptized. We were disappointed, but we totally understood his reasoning. He still continued to come over to our house and meet with the missionaries on Monday nights, which we were grateful for.

This was the last discussion we had before the Sister on the 
lower right was transferred, so we took a group photo together.

January 25: Josh drove a Salmon girls basketball team bus to a game at West J, so he picked me up from school at Leadore and I went with him. I'd ordered a bunch of cookies from my friend Tiara for myself and as a gift to my family for Valentine's Day (she seriously makes the BEST cookies!) and she'd made these sweet labels on all of them with a a hot air balloon (my classroom theme) and a "We Miss You" message. It melted my heart! I volunteered to sing the National Anthem before the game started, and I saw and hugged a bunch of my previous students in the crowds. I sat by my friend Lidia and her family during the game, and then Tanis came and sat by us too. It was so much fun! I had a fantastic night!

January 26: Josh replaced wheel bearings in the front tires of the mini and fixed an oil leak while he had it torn apart, too. He's a handy man! I'm so grateful for his problem-solving, mechanical abilities! 

January 28: We had game night with the Hobbs' and Oswald's at David & Gina's house. Josh got there late because he drove a basketball bus to Ririe. We hadn't met together for cards night for a few months, and it was fun to re-connect and play and laugh and eat! We enjoy playing cards and are grateful for friends who feel the same!

January 30: We went to the Hilton's house on Sunday evening to celebrate Ryan's 50th birthday. We had ice cream, cookies, and root beer floats. There were a lot of friends there, and they have a large house, so it was nice that everyone fit comfortably. The kids played and watched movies in other rooms, and the adults sat around the kitchen/sitting room and talked. It was a pleasant night for all!

The sister missionaries came, too!