Friends, Folks, and Snowy Soaks

Leadore School District schedules their spring break in such an unusual way: instead of having a full week off like Salmon and West J both do, they split it into 2 small breaks. They have 2 days off the first week of March, and 2 days off surrounding the Easter holiday weekend. I didn't have to work on Wednesday or Thursday the first week of March as a result--but it was so weird having a "Spring Break" when it wasn't even spring yet! 

Josh had some cemetery training meetings in Idaho Falls that same week on Wednesday, so I drove down with him. The roads were pretty bad due to recent snow falls and wind blowing drifts across the road, especially from Sign City to Idaho Falls. We saw a few slide-offs on the freeway, but thankfully we made it to the meetings okay, just 15 minutes later than our intended arrival time due to the road conditions. I dropped him off at the meeting location, then I drove to Barnes & Noble across town and  sat & blogged for 2 hours, then I took myself out to lunch at CupBop, and went to a matinee at the movie theater. I picked him up right after his meetings ended that afternoon.

From there, we drove to Utah to visit my parents and spend the night with them. My mom had set the table with her finest china, and had made a lovely dinner of poppyseed chicken, salad, fruit, and rolls for us. It was nice! My dad was in a good mood, and we sat around the table (just the 4 of us), talking and laughing for quite some time. After dinner, mom played Scrabble with Josh and I on a giant board that Bryce and Tawna got her for Christmas. It was a nice, low-key evening. 

On Thursday morning, we drove to North Ogden to visit Amanda and Ryan. Amanda cut and colored my hair (it had been 3 months since I last got it done), and she trimmed the sides of Josh's hair too (leaving his curly locks in the back). Ryan wasn't feeling well: he contracted C. Dif again, so he had an upset stomach with diarrhea that week. He was on medication to help, but he stayed in bed the whole time we were there. We took Amanda out to lunch at Freddy's, and on the drive back to her house, she showed us where Ryan's parents were building a house and where her mom's new apartment is. It was so nice to spend some time one-on-one with her. Shortly after lunch, we said goodbye and Josh and I headed back to Idaho.

On Thursday evening, we had reservations at a commercial hot spring in southeast Idaho called Maple Grove. Northern Utah and Southern Idaho had gotten hammered with TONS of snow from recent snowstorms. They received so much snow that week alone that the 3-mile road to access Maple Grove was actually inaccessible on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thankfully, it was plowed on Thursday, but was only a single lane to get there. It could only be reached with a 4WD or AWD vehicle. Thankfully, we'd driven the Acadia, and with Josh's driving, we made it there okay. 

It was a lovely, small hot spring resort right along the Bear River and next to a mountain. It was absolutely beautiful and SO peaceful! The only people soaking were people staying in one of the 7 on-site lodging options. Winter accommodations there include 3 stone houses, 2 yurts, 1 cabin, and a trailer parking spot. We stayed in one of the stone houses, but had to park a little ways away due to the lack of plowing onsite. They let us use large sleds to carry stuff from our vehicle to the lodging. The room was SO nice and cozy, with gorgeous decorations, and had a little wood stove in it to keep us warm. The only downside was that the only bathroom onsite was at the lodge, which was a couple hundred yards away across narrow snow-packed trails from our lodging accommodations. 

The resort has 6 different soaking pools ranging in temperatures from 98 degrees to 108 degrees. We soaked in 3 of them while we were there, and soaked 3 different times: that afternoon, in the middle of the night, and the next morning. Even though the amount of people was limited, I met someone there that was originally from Tremonton who had my dad for a teacher when he was a teenager, and I know his older siblings, so that was a fun surprise. Another fun surprise was the appearance of wild turkeys that roam the place. We watched them walk around the snow-packed trails while we were soaking in the hot pools, which was a first!

Thursday evening soak

Friday morning soak amidst the snowfall

On Friday morning, it continued to snow again, and the resort didn't have access to a plow. Josh drove like a boss on the 2 inches of fresh snow on the steep, narrow, snow-covered road that leads to/from the resort, and blazed a trail for the people after us who were getting ready to leave, but who were freaking out about the drive (all of which were from Salt Lake--one couple had gotten their truck stuck the previous day when we were checking in and one lady was in a big Sprinter van and she couldn't back up without help). After we got back to the highway, the roads were considerably better coming home on Friday than they had been on our trip down on Wednesday. It was a great way to spend my "first" Spring Break: visiting my parents, seeing my best friend, and spending time with the love of my life soaking in some amazing hot springs while snow fell around us! 

February 2023 Randoms

WEEK 1: 

Monday was super cold. It was -21 degrees in Salmon and -24 in Leadore plus an added wind chill there. Salmon schools were delayed for 2 hours that morning and Leadore, along with almost all schools in Southeast Idaho, were closed that day, and many again on Tuesday due to severe cold temps and blowing, drifting snow. Highway 28 from Leadore to Mud Lake was closed most of the day on Sunday and into Monday, too. 

I took this photo over Gilmore the next week--it was crazy how
high the snow was piled to the west of the highway!

WEEK 2: 

The Waste Management Pro Golf Tournament was held in Phoenix. Ammon was able to go to it a few times over the week, since he lives in Scottsdale. He was also there on Sunday, one of the broadcasted days, and we watched for him on TV, but we never spotted him. His favorite moment was watching Rickie Fowler getting a hole-in-one, and spending some time with cousin KC Franson at the fun tournament. 

Golf cousins Ammon & KC

The crowd behind the 18th tee for the last group on Sunday.

Tony Finau's tee-off. Funny comparison
between him & the volunteer!

The spot where Xander Schauffele's drive
landed, which was SO close to Ammon.

Ammon almost got hit by Dylan Frittelli's
drive. It bounced off the cart path and into
the snack/beer cart, but he still made birdie!

The highlight of the week for Ammon
was seeing Rickie's hole in one!

                

The final day of the Waste Management Open was also the same day as the Superbowl, which also happened to be located in the Phoenix area, too! It's crazy that two major pro events were held in the same city on the same weekend! We ended up not hosting a Superbowl party this year; it was the quietest Superbowl we've had for a decade or more! Josh made bacon-wrapped lil' smokies, and I made ham-wrapped pickles. I made some cookies, and Josh heated up some cheese for chips. We sat and watched the game together, and occasionally Kanyon would poke his head in the room whenever he grabbed more food. It was a great game with the Kansas City Chiefs beating the Philadelphia Eagle 38-35. Rihanna did the half time show, and Josh and I both enjoyed it immensely. 

WEEK 3:

We found out how much we owed in taxes this year. It was an unbelievable new record for us, and we were both shocked at the amount. As a result of changing child tax credits and new tax laws and my summer driving job not withholding ANY this year for the first time, we owed a whopping $5,220!!! Needless to say, the news both upset and depressed Josh and I all week!

In other noteworthy depressing and interesting news, my car's odometer hit all 2's one day, which I suppose was fitting since it was in the 2nd month of the year! I'm grateful this car is still running because we can't afford a new one at the moment!

WEEK 4: 

On Sunday we had the missionaries over for dinner. We'd been in charge of coordinating their meals for February, and they said we did the best that they'd had as far as lining up meals and communicating with them. They said, "Why can't everyone just do it like the Tolman's?" which was a nice compliment. We enjoy having them over and feeding them since we hope that's what others would do for our sons serving missions. Elder DeHart taught us a fun object lesson after dinner. He had Kanyon draw a picture of our family, then he went around the room and had us each say a sin. With every sin named, he scribbled on the picture in red ink. At the end, he used a lighter to burn off the red ink and restored the picture, comparing it to the process of repentance and the power of the Atonement. It was a cool lesson, and we especially liked Kanyon's depiction of our family--each person in the picture had an item to help represent them!

Josh helped referee boys' junior high basketball games on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. It was a lot in one week, but they were really needing help, and Josh is both a good sport to help out and he likes the opportunity to work out, so he agreed. During the Salmon game against Firth on Monday, one of the coaches kept stomping and yelling at the refs, and Josh finally told the 8th grade coach, "I'll referee, and you can coach, or else you can spend the rest of the game in the locker room!" and thankfully the coach simmered down after that! Josh is a good ref; I enjoy watching him on the court and I know the athletic program and members of the community are grateful that he provides this service, too. 

It's a Jolly Holiday on Lover's Day

 (For some reason, I've got that "Jolly Holiday" song from Mary Poppins in my head right now--hence the blog post title.  "When Mary holds your hand, you feel so grand, your heart starts beatin' like a big brass band. Oh, it's a jolly holiday with Mary, no wonder that it's Mary that we love!" And since this post includes a brass band and talk about a day of love, I feel that it's very fitting as the title!)

Valentine's was just the pick-me-up I needed during a time when I was feeling pretty low due to events that were happening at work. I have loved Valentine's ever since Josh proposed to me on that day 25 years ago! And this year, the holiday got stretched out over 10 days, rather than one, which delighted me! 

First of all, Josh and I had a Valentines Retreat the weekend before the holiday, when we dropped off Kanyon for his birthday weekend at a friend's house near Idaho Falls. We stayed 2 nights at a hotel in Pocatello. On Saturday, we drove to Preston to pick up one of Kanyon's birthday gifts, stopping on the way at the "Chicken Soup" Hot Springs in Lava Hot Springs. We love soaking in hot springs, especially new ones, like this one was for us. Our soak didn't last more than 30 minutes, but it was still rejuvenating! After we picked up his gift in Preston, we shopped at the D.I. there and ate lunch at a hometown Mexican restaurant. When we got back to Pocatello, we walked around a cool bookstore in Old Town before returning to our hotel for the night. It was a lovely, relaxing day.

I liked this sign in Old Town Pocatello on
our walk to the quaint bookstore across from it.

Valentine's Day was on Tuesday, and I got multiple fun surprises that morning. The first surprise was from Josh. When I got up for work, I found this surprise basket of chocolates for me on the table. The attached note said, "Happy Valentine's Day to the "sweetest" wife I know!"

My next surprise was when I arrived at school. My classroom door had been decorated since I'd left it the previous afternoon, and there was a heart-shaped note next to it that read, "Mrs. Tolman, Can you find 8 hidden hearts in your classroom?" I immediately went on the search for them in my classroom, and as I was looking, I found other treasures left for me, too! 2 of the mothers in my class had done all this without my knowing, and it really warmed my heart, especially since I'd been struggling with some things going on at school at the time. It was so thoughtful of them, and put a smile on my face all day!

As a teacher, I also love celebrating this holiday. We made Valentines containers the previous day, using old ice cream buckets I had, and that morning, the students passed out their goodies and we had a party that afternoon, too! It's always a fun day in an elementary classroom, and my students spoiled me as well! I felt so loved!

The high school band's "Swing Night" was the Friday following Valentines on the 17th. It was the same day as Kanyon's district wrestling tournament, so he had a very busy day. Josh got to the music event a little late, as he stayed to watch Kanyon's teammates in the finals round of wrestling, but after he got there, we stayed to the end of Swing Night (some years we've left early), and we had a great time! The band sounded great, the lineup of soloists was entertaining, and the food was nice. We danced a few songs together (Josh is a wonderful dancer and I always enjoy dancing with him) and Kanyon even surprised us by dancing a few times with a friend (the first time she asked him, and then he asked her).

The Relief Society/Elders Quorum had a joint activity the week after Valentine's with a nice dinner and a Family Feud style game about love that Stacie Oliverson created. We sat at the same table as Lexi Schroeder, Ryan & Tiana Hilton, and Leslie & David Deschaine (all of whom became our teammates). We had SO much fun that night and laughed a ton! And our team was the winner, which is always an added bonus! ;) This was my favorite church activity of the year!