January 2: On our last day of Christmas vacation, Josh and I processed the elk that Ammon shot on New Year' Eve. Josh was the meat cutter, and I was the meat grinder and packager. It took us 6 hours of working together; and we produced 42 lb of burger, 17 roasts, and 7 steaks!
January 3: I started student teaching!
January 5: It was 26 degrees below zero, so school got cancelled for the day. It was so cold, my car's battery refused to start! Thankfully, Josh managed to get it running but froze his butt off in the process!
January 6: I had a Dr. appointment in the morning, and then Josh and I drove to Idaho Falls to have lunch with the Whall family who was visiting from England as they dropped off their daughter Eve to BYU-I. It was a lovely meal at Stockman's. Afterwards, we drove back to Salmon that evening to watch Ammon's basketball game--he was a starter for the game, which was an exciting surprise!
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| The French Onion Soup at Stockman's was delicious! |
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| Esther, Amanda, and Eve Whall |
January 7: Josh drove the bus for Ammon's away basketball game at American Falls.The team was going to watch an ISU game after their basketball game ended, but coach said it would be best if they drove home instead because it was snowing down by Pocatello and the roads were terrible! After they stopped for dinner, they drove through a snowstorm almost the entire way home. We had reached negative 25 degrees that day in Salmon; it was so cold that they cancelled church in Stanley the next day. We'd had plans to go to cousin Aaron's mission farewell, but they ended up postponing it due to the cancelled church.
January 8: Josh got his first kidney stone! It was on Sunday night, and the pain hit him so quick and so severe, we didn't know what was going on. He threw up multiple times, and the pain wasn't going away, so I drove him to the e.r. He got some x-rays and a CT scan, and we then realized it was a kidney stone. Thankfully, the e.r. wasn't too busy, and we were only there a couple of hours before it passed. I've never seen him in so much pain in my life; it was rather scary. I'm glad they gave him Dilaudid; it helped him immensely and he was able to relax until the kidney stone passed.
January 9: We received 2 more inches of snow, bringing the total to 18 inches of snowfall this winter! It was a delayed start, but then when Josh went to drive his bus route, and came upon an avalanche at 12 mile that closed the road between Salmon and Elk Bend, school ended up being cancelled. Josh began shoveling the snow off the rooftop later that afternoon after we heard about the roof caving in on the building at the fairground, and the boys helped him by shoveling it off the deck.
January 10: We got 3 more inches of snow!! In all my years of living in Salmon, I've never seen the river have an ice jam all the way back to Shoup Bridge, but it happened this year! It's just another testament to the long, cold, dreary winter we experienced!
January 11: Ammon's 17th birthday! We received 1.5 more inches of snowfall that morning. Ammon had a home basketball game scheduled that evening, but we found out that afternoon that it was cancelled due to the snowfall. I had plans to have a bunch of posters held up in the crowd to celebrate his birthday, but that wasn't an option anymore. We thought we would be gone all evening to the ball games, so I didn't have his birthday meal made, either. Instead, we just had his birthday dessert that night: he chose tapioca pudding with ice cream!
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| Ammon stopped by my classroom during the day, and he looked so handsome all dressed up in preparation for the ball game. |
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| When I went to pick up Kanyon from scouts, the boys were actively trying to break 'fossilized' items out of the plaster of paris molds they'd created the previous week. He got a miniature bone and some plants out of his. He has some really fun leaders, for which I am so grateful! |
January 12: Ammon had an away basketball game at Firth. Josh drove the bus for it again. I couldn't go because I couldn't take any more time off school. I was only allowed 3 absences during my 12 weeks of student teaching, and since school closures count as an absence, I'd already had 2 days off and couldn't afford to take another day.
January 13: Jonah and Micah had a home basketball game that afternoon, and Josh was one of the refs for it. They did a good job. Although they lost the game, their team kept their spirits up and the boys played their best. Josh and I hosted Ammon's team dinner with JJ's mom at the high school after the team practice.
January 14: Ammon had another home basektball game against North Fremont. Although their team lost, he had an awesome game!
January 15: We {FINALLY} celebrated Ammon's birthday! We invited the Jackson's over for his birthday meal of chicken enchiladas and homemade salsa, watched a football game, and he opened up his gifts.
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| He requested mostly clothes and the goat case for his iPhone! |
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| I made him a peanut butter chocolate cheesecake and put the candles in the shape of #17! |
January 16: We ended up having school cancelled for the THIRD time since Christmas break, due to the extreme cold: it got down to negative 25 degrees. Since it was Martin Luther King Jr. Day anyway, it seemed alright to not have to go to school. For Ammon's 'family party' for his birthday this year, he requested that we go to dinner at Bertram's. Since we had extra time that day, we took advantage of it and went out to dinner. We took Hannah with us, and had a nice time! It's been a long time since we've taken the whole family to a nice, sit-down dinner!
January 17: Ammon and the twins both had basketball games at the same time! Ammon's was a home game, and Jonah and Micah's game was in Leadore. Josh and I tag-teamed: I watched Ammon's JV game while Josh watched the twins play in Leadore, then he hightailed it back to Salmon for Ammon's varsity game. The Jr. High team suffered a big loss, but fought hard throughout the game. The JV game was super close, and the team barely lost, and the Varsity game was another exciting, close game that ultimately we lost at the end.
January 18: Ammon had an away basketball game at West J. Josh drove the bus for it, but I was again unable to go. I originally thought I'd leave after school and drive down to it and make it for the varsity game to watch Ammon play, but then there was the issue of Kanyon needing a ride home from scouts and Jonah and Micah needing rides to/from basketball practice, so I decided to stay home. It was a VERY close game, and our team lost in overtime.
January 19: Jonah and Micah had their first ski day this year with the school. They had a great time, and enjoyed being up at Lost Trail with friends for the day.
January 20: The twins and Ammon both had basketball games (again)! This time, Jonah and Micah's team had a home game against Firth, and Ammon's team was at an away game in Ririe. Josh drove the bus for Ammon's team, so I stayed home and watched the twins play before driving to Rexburg to pick up Eve at her place on campus, taking her to dinner (for her birthday), and going to watch Ammon's games in Ririe that night. Unfortunately, during the game, Josh was mistakenly thrown out because of comments that the people behind him were saying. It was an eye-opening experience for Eve, who was attending her very first sporting event in the USA!
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| I took her to the grocery store after the game for a snack, and she chose the "Americone Dream" ice cream. Very fitting for her first birthday celebrated in the US! |
January 21: We received another 1/2" of snow. Ammon went snowboarding with friends that day, and said the snow was spectacular. Look who found a respite from the snow in our backyard under the trampoline! They basically slept under there for a full month!
January 25: If you were to say that our lives revolved around basketball in January, you'd be totally correct! Between the three older boys' games, my student teaching, and Josh's extra bus trips, our schedules were full! Jonah and Micah had another home game on the 25th, this time against Challis. It was their highest scoring game, to date and a VERY close match! It was an exciting game that our boys ultimately lost at the end.
January 26: The twins went skiing again with the school, and Josh was the driver so he got to spend the day skiing as well. There was several inches of new fresh powder so the conditions were excellent for skiing!
January 27: Jonah and Micah had an away game at Arco. Josh and I drove down together to it, which was so fun! Kanyon had his Pinewood Derby that evening, so we left after the 8th grade's first quarter and drove home to take Kanyon to his scouting event. The boys arrived home on the bus during the Pinewood Derby, so Josh picked them up from the school and brought them to the church until Kanyon's races were done. He did very well, and got 3rd place overall, and earned a neat little trophy! After the derby, I went to the movie with Darcy that night to treat her for her birthday.
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| Kanyon and Aidan both picked Salmon Savage colors with stripes for their Derby cars! |
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| This was an incredible movie! |
January 28: Josh bought some snow shoes and tried them out on the hill above his golf course. He loved the views! Although we got tired of the snow, it sure makes for some beautiful scenery! Ammon had a home game against Firth that night!!
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| A carved rock along the XC running trail above the golf course that Josh took a photo of as he was snowshoeing for the second time that week. |
