February 2019

February is LOVE month!!! These first two pictures represent just two of the many reasons I LOVE JOSH: He changes the oil in our cars and takes good care of their mechanical needs, and he's a fantastic cook--he's the best meat cooker in either of our families, and we love when he grills or slow cooks our dinners!

We invited the Phil and Darcy over for the Superbowl this year. We also invited a man we'd met at church named Daniel. The teams were the Patriots (Ammon's team) and the Rams. We weren't really invested in either of the teams (Ammon was at college for the game or he would've been!), so we just talked with our company, laughed at the commercials, and ate good food while we watched the game. The Patriots won 13-3, so Josh ended up winning the "Guess the Final Score" game to take the prized bag of chocolate.

Chinese New Year was February 5. My students made a Chinese dragon, and we took it on parade through the school while the other 2nd grade class carried Lions and played noisy instruments. It was fun!

I took my friend Alex to go get pedicures also on February 5, as a treat for her finishing chemotherapy. I took her to the Evans School in Rexburg because I heard you didn't need to make appointments. I raced over after school to meet Alex there, but unfortunately we got there too late in the day for a full pedicure (I thought they closed at 7, but apparently they close at 5), so they just painted our toenails only. I was kind of disappointed that they didn't even use gel polish, they just applied the regular kind. Alex didn't feel up to going out afterwards, but I was glad she was feeling up to even going out at all. I'm so glad she's done with chemotherapy and that it was a successful treatment for her!

Ammon wore his new birthday suit (literally, haha!) for a career fair at U of I at the beginning of February. He looks so handsome!

We hadn't received much snow in Salmon this winter, but in February, we really started to get the precipitation we'd been hoping for!! It was so pretty!

I watched the show "Tidying Up with Marie Kondo" on Netflix, and was inspired to get an early start on the deep-cleaning that I do in Spring. I cleaned out my closet in Salmon one afternoon and took out a bag of garbage of old shoes and stained clothes, and another bag to Rags and Wags of clothing to donate. It felt so good to use my shelves above my clothing racks better and free up some of the floor space.   

I wish I'd taken a "Before" shot, but I didn't think of it. 

I moved on to the dining room next. I went through some of our food storage, and moved some of the shelves around so that it opened up the space around the table better. I put the small shelf next to the rotating shelf, and it fits that space perfectly! I also moved some of the decorative pieces on the wall around and put up a new hanging shelf I bought from my friend Hailey's store (not pictured below). Hanging up the shelf inspired me to move around some other pictures on walls in the house, and to get rid of some of the decorations that I had on my fridge and sell some of my kitchen gadgets that I don't use. 

This is the "After" shot--No "Before" shot again...

Next on my list was the boxed toys under the boys' beds, but I only made it through two boxes of legos. I sorted larger sets, and ended up throwing a whole bag away with giant missing pieces. I sorted the rest and took them to my classroom, and my students have LOVED playing with them during inside recesses and free time. 

Josh started getting into the whole deep-cleaning thing after watching me, and actually tackled some of the shoes, shirts, and hats in his closet. He even put the clothes on the bed to sort them, per the KonMari method states to do! [Side note: He has the BIGGEST closet in our house, because he has the MOST clothes of any of us!!!] I was really proud of him for throwing some away, and donating a big bag to charity. His closet is in much better shape now, too! 

Jonah and Micah had a science project where they had to build a diagram of an element. It had to include protons, neutrons, and electrons with a nucleus. They both had their own ideas, and used things around the house to build their model. They did a good job!

Micah used pipe cleaners, a squishy ball, blue tape, and pieces of food. 

Jonah used a hanger, pipe cleaners, bouncy balls, and tape. 

Jonah and Micah attended the Stake Youth Formal dance. The theme was Alice in Wonderland. It was decorated beautifully, and the boys had a good time eating dinner and dancing with their friends. They were even kind and stayed late to help take the tent frame down and clean up afterwards. While they were gone, Josh and I went out to dinner with our friends Amanda & Ryan and Jen & Dallin at Bertram's.

They are so handsome! 

btw, the pictures behind them are some that I re-arranged

while I was deep-cleaning the house. 

Kanyon turned 12!! I took him shopping with some of Grandma P's birthday money before the big day. He bought a new jacket with a waterproof exterior (which he has worn practically non-stop all spring), new socks, and his favorite chips. He was an excellent shopper, and got the best deal for the money; I was so proud of him! (more about his birthday in a separate post)

Sadly, Josh and I spent February 14 (Valentine's Day) apart from each other. He drove the high school ski bus to Lost Trail for the day, and I did my Valentine's class party. However, we did see each other the night before at District Basketball in South Fremont, which I was grateful for!

For one of the activities at the party, I did a "cupid's arrow" game.

I re-used some of the boxes from the Chinese New Year dragon. I cut heart-shaped

holes in it, covered them on the inside with tissue paper, and had the students

shoot little nerf guns at them for targets. It was harder than I thought it would be,

but some of the kids had never shot a nerf gun before (what?!!), so they had fun!

I brought the targets home to Salmon to let the boys try it out--they were a 

lot better at the small targets. Net year, my target holes will be MUCH larger!

The high school music department's Swing Night was on Saturday the 16th. There was a yummy taco dinner (that I was assigned to help bring food for) and lots of good music. Jonah played in the band; there was about 30 jazz songs, some instrumental and some with vocals. It was a fun date night! Josh and I ate, and danced to several of the songs before I accidentally pulled off a button in the middle of his shirt (it got caught in my shawl while he spun me around) and promptly decided to leave.

My friend Heather gave me this cute necklace for my

birthday, with a small "k". It's so pretty!

Josh took a Jeep ride up to Lover's Lookout one night to watch the sunset.

The last weekend in February it snowed a TON!!! It snowed on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. It snowed so much that Monday was a Snow Day from both West J and Salmon school districts.

I couldn't believe it when I saw the storm warming for

8-12 inches of snow!! But the white stuff just kept falling!

Saturday evening

Sunday morning on the way to church

Monday morning

Since it was a snow day, we played in the snow!!! It was our first, and BEST, sledding day all winter long!

Can we have a moment of silence for a cup I've owned for 35 years?!! It's been with me through my childhood, teenage years, college life, newly married life, and motherhood. It got a crack in it a few months ago, which just worsened to the point that I couldn't drink out of it without it dribbling down the front of me. This cup came with a picnic set of 4 that my parents owned, and my brothers each had their own specific color of cup that we all individually drank out of: there was also a blue, a green, and a yellow (I don't know who used the yellow, but the blue and green were Mick and Cody's). This has been my own individual cup for as long as I can remember. I sadly threw it away after I took these photos. Strangely, I miss it so much! I loved this plastic pink cup!

Kanyon's 3rd band concert of the year was at the end of February. Thankfully, Josh was able to attend, too. They had a dinner fundraiser with it, so we ate at tables in the ALC gym while the students played. It was nice. The kiddos ate afterwards while we cleaned up. Kanyon did a great job playing with the Jr. High beginning band!

January 2019

The first weekend of January, Josh and I went to Ogden to see our friends Amanda and Ryan be sealed in the temple. They were married last January the 5th, and now one year later, got to finally be sealed with each other! It was a momentous occasion and we were so happy for the opportunity to be in attendance! However, the day turned out differently than we had originally planned... The prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints announced earlier that week that some of the wording and elements of the temple ordinances had changed. Josh and I have NEVER seen the temple so busy, as a result of everyone wanting to know the changes! Josh drove down to Mud Lake on Friday night, and then on Saturday morning, Josh and I drove down to Ogden (Kanyon stayed in Mud Lake and played with some friends that day). We arrived at the temple at 12:30. Ryan and Amanda wanted to do an endowment session with their family and close friends before the sealing. We waited in line for two hours and FINALLY got into the 2:30 endowment session, and finished just in time for their 4:00 sealing appointment. The waiting lines for the endowment session extended from the waiting room into the hallway. It was absolutely crazy!!! Their sealing was beautiful, just beautiful. I was so glad to have witnessed the joyous event! Afterward, we all went to eat at the Union Grill. Josh and I had eaten there last year with John and his parents after Amanda and Ryan's reception, and were glad about going back--the food is superb!! We sat by Ryan and Amanda, and the meal was outstanding, of course, finished off by an exceptional bread pudding that we shared. On our way back to Mud Lake that night, we stopped by the Berube's house and visited with Ryan and Amanda for about an hour. We got back to my rental before Midnight, and had driven through a couple of snowstorms on the way. We went to church in Mud Lake on Sunday morning, but then our cars got stuck in my driveway after church, and we spent 45 minutes trying to get them out before driving home to Salmon. The following day, there was a snow day in Mud Lake due to all the drifting snow, and I was glad to have a day in Salmon since I hadn't been home all weekend. It had been an eventful weekend!

Josh captured this sunset on the drive down to Mud Lake on Friday night.

Ogden temple

The group that came to the sealing

Hannah was a little late for the photo (which by the way was freezing outside!)

so we took another one!

The happy couple

Since I wasn't in the group photo (as a result of taking the picture), we did a 

selfie at the restaurant afterwards instead. 

I highly recommend their bread pudding!

Josh listed the suburban for sale in January, after we got back from our vacation. It was the last family vacation with Ammon that we'll probably have for a long time, and we decided we no longer needed it, as our new family size of 5 can fit into my car. We were basically only using the suburban for driving to church on Sundays and for going on vacations, so it was time to let it go. It's been a good vehicle for us, and we were sad to see it go, but we knew it was no longer a necessity in our family. He sold it a few weeks later for $4000.

I went out with my Mud Lake friends on Tuesday the 8th to celebrate the birthdays of two of the ladies in our group. We had a raucous good time at Outback Steak House. We ate, laughed, and Val and Rosalba opened gifts. We drove around afterwards, and went to a couple of stores. I love hanging out with the women in our "dominoes" group!

I took Eve out for her birthday on Tuesday the 15th. I took her to the ice palace at Labelle Lake near Rigby. It was so cool (literally AND figuratively!). The team from Frozen was there that night, too:  Elsa and Anna serenaded Eve with a birthday song, and we saw Olaf walking around. We rode the horse-drawn hay ride to a sledding hill. It was SUPER slick and we went down it 3 times, the last time we both got some bruises, and we laughed hilariously! We had a good time!

 

I signed up Kanyon for a Ski Idaho pass this winter: a highly-discounted benefit for 6th grade students to ski twice anywhere in the state for less than $20 total. I took Kanyon and the twins skiing to Lost Trail on January 19, for Kanyon to use the first pass. I signed him up for a snowboard lesson while the twins went skiing. I actually didn't go skiing with them--I stayed behind in the lodge. It was cold and windy and I happily stayed inside and read! After Kanyon's lesson, he went with the twins on two runs before we went home. Kanyon has been trying to learn to snowboard for several years now, and he hasn't been loving it, so I told him after this season, if he really didn't want to go anymore, that I wouldn't make him. The instructor said he did a good job, but he struggled with doing a couple of the runs after the lesson ended. I was grateful for the twins' willingness to go with him!

That night, after we got back from the ski hill, I went to a drag queen comedy show at one of the bars in Salmon with my friend John. This queen right here was our favorite! Some of the other comedians were just okay, and a couple were funny, but she was the best of the show (as well as being the only drag queen)!

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has had multiple changes this January: including wording in the temple ordinances, a time change of Sunday worship from 3 hours to 2 hours, and the change in YM/YW age advancements. Now the youth can move up to the next level class in January of the year in which they will turn 12, 14, and 16. That means Kanyon got to move up to the YM Deacon class at the beginning of January (he would've otherwise had to wait until his birthday in February to advance from primary) and Jonah and Micah got to advance to the Priests class in January rather than waiting until September. Josh ordained them to their new priesthood offices on Sunday, January 20. In the coming weeks, Jonah and Micah blessed the sacrament for the first time with Josh having the honor of sitting by them and helping them, and Kanyon began passing the sacrament for the first time, too. These were some pretty exciting changes in our family!

Josh's sister Tiffany gave our family a 1000 piece puzzle of the Nativity for Christmas. It was a rather difficult puzzle with lots of dark colored pieces. The boys started on it on Christmas day. Ammon's friend Madi worked on it when she came to Ammon's birthday party. I continued to work on it every weekend when I came home from school in January, and finally finished it on the evening of Sunday the 20th! It felt good to finish it!

This is my friend Alex Barton. We first met when she lived in Salmon for many months a few years ago. She'd since moved away to Missouri, but moved back to Idaho this past summer after she discovered she had ovarian cancer.  She (thankfully) was under her parents' health insurance plan and this is where her medical care would be covered. I've visited with her from October to December at her home and her parents' home while she underwent chemotherapy. Sometimes the visits were weekly, sometimes they were monthly, sometimes we went out, and sometimes we didn't, based on how she was feeling. She finished chemotherapy in January, and she was feeling good enough to go out on this particular night in Rexburg. We went out to Chinese and saw a movie. I've enjoyed spending time with her again! It really helped me during the dark, depressing months of winter to have someone to see and something to do!

The Salmon girls basketball team's Senior Night was on Friday, January 25 against West J. I made it back to Salmon in time to watch Jonah play in the Savage band and watch Micah sing the National Anthem with the Legacy Choir. I love watching my kids use their talents!

Josh and I went to Lolo Hot Springs overnight on Saturday for a relaxing weekend getaway. It was the first time we'd been there. We had a super relaxing time--there was no TV channels in our tiny room, so we checked out DVD's and watched them, and read books, and soaked in the indoor tubs. There was a restaurant next to our hotel, and we ate there on Saturday night. We had a good time! We would totally go there again!

Our Family Home Evening plan for this year (it changes each year based on the inspiration I feel that we need) is to have Josh and I take turns teaching lessons out of the new Come Follow Me plan for families. The boys will rotate between helping us teach a lesson, making dessert, or picking the game. We mostly have FHE on Sunday nights during the school year, before Kanyon and I head back to Mud Lake for the week. After Josh and I got home from Lolo Hot Springs, we had our Family Home Evening, and concluded the evening with the dessert and game. Kanyon picked the game "Boggle". Josh and I have both always been competitive when playing games for as long as we've been married! On this particular night, we actually TIED while playing--which was very momentous, because Josh usually schools me when we play this game, but he hates losing if I win, so I felt like we both won in this case! It was worth documenting...

January 28: Josh hiked up S Hill to get a view of the golf course. 

On Tuesday January 29, Josh went for a Jeep drive and a hike up Briney Creek. His bus route goes to Elk Bend and back every school day, and he'd passed by this spot every day along his drive and wondered where it lead. Finally, he decided he would go check it out!

He passed by some mountain lion tracks

A view of the Salmon River along his hike

Beautiful view of the distant mountains

Cool rock formation

I love the beauty that he captures so well!

This is as far as the jeep went. 

On the night of the 29th, I got to see Wylie start for the West Jefferson boys basketball team. Wylie's sister is my friend and a 1st grade teacher at the school I work at, and his mom is one of Kanyon's 6th grade teachers. Wylie has Down's Syndrome, and just turned 21, which means at the end of the semester in January, he would no longer be able to enroll in high school. Wylie is very athletic, and has wanted to be a starter for the West J boys basketball team, and he was able to do so on this particular game. It was incredible! He warmed up with the team, and played the first 3 minutes with his younger twin brothers who are also on the team and another set of twins that are family friends of his. Wylie was the star: he fouled, made several field goals, and a couple of free throws. All of his teammates, the other team's players, and the refs made sure that he accomplished his dream. It was so cool! I couldn't stop crying and cheering during his play time! There was a huge crowd in the audience: lots of people had come just to support Wylie. I was incredibly glad to be in attendance, and witness such an awesome event. When he was ready to be taken out of the game and put on the bench, they started the game over: both the time and the score. But those first 3 minutes were truly memorable and the best part of the game! 

I started out the month's summary with a great photo by Josh, and I'm gonna end it the same way: he captured this gorgeous sunset from Lover's Lookout on the last day of January: