Happy New Year!!! I agree with Jenn - this year has flown by! I truly have no idea where it went...
Christmas was pleasant, cozy, quiet and truly wonderful. We had a slow morning, waiting for Emma to come upstairs. Thank you all for your very kind, thoughtful gifts! We were terribly spoiled and are so grateful. We were delighted when the Mannings came around lunch time, and Thomas and Victoria came a little later. The Bellistons were thrilled with the Wackee Six game they got, so we had to play several rounds of that before the end of the day! We enjoyed watching Wesley on his new bike. He wasn't sure whether or not he liked sledding down our hill outside. It was quite an emotional thing for me to have music again in our home! Lauren played and Thomas and Emma and Dad sang around the piano. What a refreshing Christmas Day! We finished off the day watching "It's a Wonderful Life," which is such a great show.
(We tried to insert a video here, but it didn't work. We will try to get that figured out and get it posted sometime...)
It's a blessing that Thomas has his birthday right after Christmas, because that brought Harts from Idaho and Bellistons from Provo! We missed the Flakes and Nilssons terribly for a fettucini alfredo lunch, complete with ice cream cakes made especially for Thomas by Emma. All of the Bellistons (Joe's and T's families) left in the afternoon, but Harts stayed and played for a couple of days. Elise helped me re-hang family photos, for which I was extremely grateful.
Dad and I are back to just us and Chester at home. Dad finished organizing his stuff in the office and we hung the large world map he bought. We delivered more Christmas bread, attended a wedding reception for Brad Ashcroft, and Dad went to a YSA multi-stake New Year's dance on Saturday.
My dad seemed to quite enjoy the pictures and videos that we sent for the 12 days of Christmas. Thank you for your contributions - I really appreciate it! I plan to stay in more frequent contact with him in the coming year.
We are making plans for what to put on our Vision Boards :) This coming year promises to be a great one! I'm excited to see what it brings... Any predictions??!!
Sunday, December 31, 2017
Flake Fun
31 Dec 2017 - Can you believe this year is already over? It sure has sped by. In looking back, it has been a pretty good year with a couple of job changes, some neat trips, and lots of happy memories.
We had a great Christmas and spent most of the day at Randy and Dona's with the family. The weather was gorgeous and fairly warm. (As nice as it was, we need moisture so I keep hoping for some snow soon). The weekend before we were down in the Mesa at a family Christmas party. We also went to a professional hockey game which was quite the experience. I've never had much interest but it was an opportunity and we took it. The funny thing about hockey is that it is just a bunch of chaos! The Arizona Coyotes ended up winning 2-3 in overtime.
We lost another fish (Arthur) so we are down to 5 inside fish. It looks like one of our molly fish could be pregnant so we might have baby fish soon. All 5 of our outside fish seem to be fine. They only come out when it is nice and sunny and all of the ice on the tank melts.
Hope that everyone has a great new year celebration and that this week is the best yet! Love you all and can't wait to see you sometime soon!
We had a great Christmas and spent most of the day at Randy and Dona's with the family. The weather was gorgeous and fairly warm. (As nice as it was, we need moisture so I keep hoping for some snow soon). The weekend before we were down in the Mesa at a family Christmas party. We also went to a professional hockey game which was quite the experience. I've never had much interest but it was an opportunity and we took it. The funny thing about hockey is that it is just a bunch of chaos! The Arizona Coyotes ended up winning 2-3 in overtime.
We lost another fish (Arthur) so we are down to 5 inside fish. It looks like one of our molly fish could be pregnant so we might have baby fish soon. All 5 of our outside fish seem to be fine. They only come out when it is nice and sunny and all of the ice on the tank melts.
Hope that everyone has a great new year celebration and that this week is the best yet! Love you all and can't wait to see you sometime soon!
Sunday, December 17, 2017
Hart Happenings
It seemed like a really short week up here! Peter is so excited for Christmas and keeps a careful countdown with our various advent calendars.
We enjoyed a ward party, the premier of the new Star Wars movie, Ian went sledding with some friends, we helped the young men and women stock the Bishop's storehouse shelves, and did a lot of shoveling due to the recent snowfall.
The most exciting thing to happen was the collapse of our Christmas tree. Saturday morning we were all engaged in various projects throughout the house when all of a sudden here was a tremendous crash! Our 15 foot tree had tipped over! Ornaments went flying, our presents got soaked, it was a big mess. We got everything mopped up and the tree stable again, but we are all still holding our breaths and tip-toeing around it.
We have enjoyed our new challenge. We've replaced one meal every day with a salad. There have been some truly delicious ones. Here is a link to our favorite:
https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/thai-quinoa-salad.html
I decreased the amount of quinoa because I wanted to have lettuce be the base for the salad, so I added some romaine lettuce and didn't use basil because I didn't have any fresh stuff, but YUMMY!
Ruth has been really nice to let me come over and work on some Christmas surprises at her house. She talked Alex into doing a presentation about Christmas in Canada for the kiddos, which was really fun. Afterward we all enjoyed some delicious poutine (of course)! The kids did a fun Christmas tree craft and then Ruth and I cut some evergreen out of the yard and made beautiful wreaths. Very festive!
We made Christmas bread and delivered it all day on Friday. Such a fun tradition!
The boys also made cute bookmarks to give to their favorite librarians. We love those ladies!
It was a great week!
We enjoyed a ward party, the premier of the new Star Wars movie, Ian went sledding with some friends, we helped the young men and women stock the Bishop's storehouse shelves, and did a lot of shoveling due to the recent snowfall.
The most exciting thing to happen was the collapse of our Christmas tree. Saturday morning we were all engaged in various projects throughout the house when all of a sudden here was a tremendous crash! Our 15 foot tree had tipped over! Ornaments went flying, our presents got soaked, it was a big mess. We got everything mopped up and the tree stable again, but we are all still holding our breaths and tip-toeing around it.
We have enjoyed our new challenge. We've replaced one meal every day with a salad. There have been some truly delicious ones. Here is a link to our favorite:
https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/thai-quinoa-salad.html
I decreased the amount of quinoa because I wanted to have lettuce be the base for the salad, so I added some romaine lettuce and didn't use basil because I didn't have any fresh stuff, but YUMMY!
Ruth has been really nice to let me come over and work on some Christmas surprises at her house. She talked Alex into doing a presentation about Christmas in Canada for the kiddos, which was really fun. Afterward we all enjoyed some delicious poutine (of course)! The kids did a fun Christmas tree craft and then Ruth and I cut some evergreen out of the yard and made beautiful wreaths. Very festive!
We made Christmas bread and delivered it all day on Friday. Such a fun tradition!
The boys also made cute bookmarks to give to their favorite librarians. We love those ladies!
It was a great week!
Hyde Park Highlights
Greetings from the Land of the Great Inversion.... It has been a gray few weeks, but the sun actually shone yesterday and today, which really lifts the spirits and gives hope! I can see the mountains this afternoon - a great blessing!
In an effort to enjoy the Christmas season, which we are finding is a little more difficult without excited, happy little ones about, we have been attending community events. We have seen the Four Seasons production of White Christmas, Craig Jessop's choir and orchestra Christmas concert, with the trio, Gentri, and several of the concert series at the Logan Tabernacle. They have all been very good, especially the Westminster Bell Choir, which was exceptional! We took Emma and her roommate with us and we all enjoyed it, then went to Aggie Ice Cream for hot chocolate afterward. The tuba fest that we attended last night was rather painful. We couldn't make it through to the end. They confessed to having practiced just once, at 4:00 p.m. the day of the concert. We did learn some interesting things about the instruments, however, the tuba, euphonium and baritone...
Since our last post, Dad has changed a bishopric, hosted a Stake Christmas concert (at which we both spoke and Emma sang with her ward choir), attended the funeral for a previous bishop he released due to cancer and the needed treatments, and made several trips to Springville to work with Grandpa to get some old family slides labeled. We enjoyed reading the book Jacob T. Marley while driving back and forth. It's a great read if you need another Christmas book!
I have thoroughly enjoyed sending my dad the 12 days of Christmas with information and pictures/videos of your families. He seems to like getting them and especially likes all of the blonde hair. I think he has absolutely no idea how many descendants he has. Thank you for making the effort to get those sent to me. It means a lot to me even if my dad isn't as excited about it as I am.
Tonight we are off to visit some ailing neighbors and then to the Messiah at the Tabernacle. We hope to see some of you in the next week or two. If anyone wants to come celebrate Thomas' birthday, they will be in town from the 23rd to the 29th. Let us know if you happen to be in the area so we can have food and lodging ready for you! Love you all and Merry Christmas!!
In an effort to enjoy the Christmas season, which we are finding is a little more difficult without excited, happy little ones about, we have been attending community events. We have seen the Four Seasons production of White Christmas, Craig Jessop's choir and orchestra Christmas concert, with the trio, Gentri, and several of the concert series at the Logan Tabernacle. They have all been very good, especially the Westminster Bell Choir, which was exceptional! We took Emma and her roommate with us and we all enjoyed it, then went to Aggie Ice Cream for hot chocolate afterward. The tuba fest that we attended last night was rather painful. We couldn't make it through to the end. They confessed to having practiced just once, at 4:00 p.m. the day of the concert. We did learn some interesting things about the instruments, however, the tuba, euphonium and baritone...
Since our last post, Dad has changed a bishopric, hosted a Stake Christmas concert (at which we both spoke and Emma sang with her ward choir), attended the funeral for a previous bishop he released due to cancer and the needed treatments, and made several trips to Springville to work with Grandpa to get some old family slides labeled. We enjoyed reading the book Jacob T. Marley while driving back and forth. It's a great read if you need another Christmas book!
I have thoroughly enjoyed sending my dad the 12 days of Christmas with information and pictures/videos of your families. He seems to like getting them and especially likes all of the blonde hair. I think he has absolutely no idea how many descendants he has. Thank you for making the effort to get those sent to me. It means a lot to me even if my dad isn't as excited about it as I am.
Tonight we are off to visit some ailing neighbors and then to the Messiah at the Tabernacle. We hope to see some of you in the next week or two. If anyone wants to come celebrate Thomas' birthday, they will be in town from the 23rd to the 29th. Let us know if you happen to be in the area so we can have food and lodging ready for you! Love you all and Merry Christmas!!
Sunday, December 10, 2017
Hart Happenings
Feliz Navidad! I have that song stuck in my head right now. Ian learned that song on the ukulele and has been playing that and Mele Kalikimaka all day long. They are lovely, but I could use some good 'ol english Christmas!
I met with my book club for our annual Christmas breakfast this week. We were discussing a Tale of Two Cities. Guys! If you are looking for a book, try that one. It is so worth reading. One of those that I was kind of ambivalent about all the way through and then at the end I just lost my mind and loved everything about it. SOOOO GOOD!
We also attended the glass blowing open house that Ruth mentioned. We look forward to that every year. We watched him make globes with glass shards inside, and some miniature teardrop ornaments, and the kids got to pick some new ornaments for our tree. We took a couple of friends with us and had a really great time.
You have all heard about the falconer that comes and stays in one of our rental houses. Well, this year his wife spent some time out here too and we got to get to know her. They like to go out for pizza with us and we also went to see the light show they put up at one of the parks in town. They are such fun people and have really adopted our kids. They boys adore Fayed and Katie. They are from Florida and the way they rave about how beautiful the snow makes everything has really changed my perspective about it. It is quite lovely. We went on a little walk around the property a couple of days ago to check out all the tracks and to take stock of our yard in the winter. Jack noticed that the cold temperatures had cause the upper layer of snow to form some really good crystal formations. We taste tested it and it was super crunchy.
Oh! And we finally decided on a name for our property. We have been working on one since we moved in and never could quite settle on one. Well, Alex has been getting a word a day on his phone to try and improve his vocabulary. The other day he asked me if I had ever heard of the word Xanadu. I had, actually, because I am a word nerd, and plus I had just read Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem Kubla Kahn (it's a lovely poem) a few days prior and the opening line is:
In Xanadu did Kubla Kahn
A stately pleasure dome decree,
Where Alf, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
While we were discussing the definition of the word, Alex said, "hey, that would be a cool name for our property!" And I said, "you're so right!" And that was that. So, look up the definition and come visit Xanadu!
We participated in a fun community event on Thursday. One of the guys who runs the local bike and running shop here is a huge fan of Christmas and organizes this night light run. So people don all kinds of festive paraphernalia and run through one of the neighborhoods in town with the best Christmas lights. So we bundled up all the boys and went out in the 14 degree weather and ran/walked through this course that had been designated. It was so fun! Jack took off with his cousin and totally beat the rest of us. Peter got too cold and had to be rescued by Grandpa Hart in the van. It was so invigorating! And the boys all appreciated the hot chocolate at the end. So, we may have a new tradition!
I feel like I'm rambling. And it is getting late.
Sure love you all. Hope all is well!
I met with my book club for our annual Christmas breakfast this week. We were discussing a Tale of Two Cities. Guys! If you are looking for a book, try that one. It is so worth reading. One of those that I was kind of ambivalent about all the way through and then at the end I just lost my mind and loved everything about it. SOOOO GOOD!
We also attended the glass blowing open house that Ruth mentioned. We look forward to that every year. We watched him make globes with glass shards inside, and some miniature teardrop ornaments, and the kids got to pick some new ornaments for our tree. We took a couple of friends with us and had a really great time.
You have all heard about the falconer that comes and stays in one of our rental houses. Well, this year his wife spent some time out here too and we got to get to know her. They like to go out for pizza with us and we also went to see the light show they put up at one of the parks in town. They are such fun people and have really adopted our kids. They boys adore Fayed and Katie. They are from Florida and the way they rave about how beautiful the snow makes everything has really changed my perspective about it. It is quite lovely. We went on a little walk around the property a couple of days ago to check out all the tracks and to take stock of our yard in the winter. Jack noticed that the cold temperatures had cause the upper layer of snow to form some really good crystal formations. We taste tested it and it was super crunchy.
Oh! And we finally decided on a name for our property. We have been working on one since we moved in and never could quite settle on one. Well, Alex has been getting a word a day on his phone to try and improve his vocabulary. The other day he asked me if I had ever heard of the word Xanadu. I had, actually, because I am a word nerd, and plus I had just read Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem Kubla Kahn (it's a lovely poem) a few days prior and the opening line is:
In Xanadu did Kubla Kahn
A stately pleasure dome decree,
Where Alf, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
While we were discussing the definition of the word, Alex said, "hey, that would be a cool name for our property!" And I said, "you're so right!" And that was that. So, look up the definition and come visit Xanadu!
We participated in a fun community event on Thursday. One of the guys who runs the local bike and running shop here is a huge fan of Christmas and organizes this night light run. So people don all kinds of festive paraphernalia and run through one of the neighborhoods in town with the best Christmas lights. So we bundled up all the boys and went out in the 14 degree weather and ran/walked through this course that had been designated. It was so fun! Jack took off with his cousin and totally beat the rest of us. Peter got too cold and had to be rescued by Grandpa Hart in the van. It was so invigorating! And the boys all appreciated the hot chocolate at the end. So, we may have a new tradition!
I feel like I'm rambling. And it is getting late.
Sure love you all. Hope all is well!
Flake Fun
The weather in Snowflake has turned cold, but usually only after the sun has gone down. Otherwise it is normally nice and sunny.
Scott is liking his new job and he is working with some great people. It is a much smaller office so he is getting to do a little bit of everything. It keeps things interesting.
We have spent the last several weekends helping another cousin build her house. Yesterday was spent putting up the roof trusses.
Let's see, what else...that is about all that I can think of. Hope everyone has a great week! Love you all!
Scott is liking his new job and he is working with some great people. It is a much smaller office so he is getting to do a little bit of everything. It keeps things interesting.
We have spent the last several weekends helping another cousin build her house. Yesterday was spent putting up the roof trusses.
Let's see, what else...that is about all that I can think of. Hope everyone has a great week! Love you all!
...And Loving It
K so this week was dead week at the university. I nailed my philosophy comprehensive final with a 30/30 or 100%. Killing it. I just hope I manage to scrape by with at least a C in Chemistry.......
So yesterday was pretty much the funnest day of the year so far. Nicole (Collie), my roommate, and I decided to go to SLC with some friends to see the lights. We rounded up Alex, Zac, Zack, Landon, Loren, Romney, Tess, and Cambria. It was a blast. Alex, Zac, Romney, Cambria, Collie and I all stuffed ourselves into Alex's car and belted good ol' 2000 songs on the way down. We met the rest of them down there. Collie and I made up a fun game called PDA punch. Basically whenever we saw anyone holding hands or kissing, we'd yell "they're in love" and whack each other in the arm. Not even kidding she's got bruises and my right arm is dead. College does things to people, everybody. We really went ham when we saw a proposal in front of the Temple. It was actually the cutest thing I've ever seen. Then we went back to our apartment and watched a movie. Zac fell asleep on one of our kitchen stools, lost his balance and was launched headfirst into our couch. We laughed for a solid ten minutes! I felt kinda bad because he had a headache after but he was a good sport and just kinda fell asleep on the floor after.... poor guy ;) Collie, Cambria and I were just laughing our heads off at him.
Other than that, not much going on. Cross your fingers for my final for Chem tomorrow....... I'd love to just pass the class at this point.... But as my very good friend and brother in law has said, "chemistry is for the dogs."
None of us have boyfriends or girlfriends, so Romney, Collie and I decided to take a "couple" picture with three of us.
Girls from Left to right: Cambria, me, Collie. Boys left to right: Alex, Loren, Landon, Zac, and Romney.
.... I didn't know my phone was going to flash... but Romney and Collie look good!
Collie has this toothpaste charcoal stuff. It's chalky but doesn't taste like anything. We scared the ever living tar out of Elise when we walked into her room at midnight with black mouths. Apparently it whitens teeth but it only made my gums bleed so I'm not doing that again.....
So yesterday was pretty much the funnest day of the year so far. Nicole (Collie), my roommate, and I decided to go to SLC with some friends to see the lights. We rounded up Alex, Zac, Zack, Landon, Loren, Romney, Tess, and Cambria. It was a blast. Alex, Zac, Romney, Cambria, Collie and I all stuffed ourselves into Alex's car and belted good ol' 2000 songs on the way down. We met the rest of them down there. Collie and I made up a fun game called PDA punch. Basically whenever we saw anyone holding hands or kissing, we'd yell "they're in love" and whack each other in the arm. Not even kidding she's got bruises and my right arm is dead. College does things to people, everybody. We really went ham when we saw a proposal in front of the Temple. It was actually the cutest thing I've ever seen. Then we went back to our apartment and watched a movie. Zac fell asleep on one of our kitchen stools, lost his balance and was launched headfirst into our couch. We laughed for a solid ten minutes! I felt kinda bad because he had a headache after but he was a good sport and just kinda fell asleep on the floor after.... poor guy ;) Collie, Cambria and I were just laughing our heads off at him.
Other than that, not much going on. Cross your fingers for my final for Chem tomorrow....... I'd love to just pass the class at this point.... But as my very good friend and brother in law has said, "chemistry is for the dogs."
Nilsson News
Yes, I've been a blogger slacker. First of all, Emma my recommendation would be to make your mama happy. You'll get to be all grown up and independent for the rest of your life and it isn't always everything it's cracked up to be. Keep up is the loop though because we definitely want to be there for your call!!! It's so close!
I've been feeling so bad about sharing our germs with the little Belliston clan and I hope that we can still be on talking terms. I honestly had no idea that our kiddos were very sick, but I woke up to reality as soon as we got home. Everyone got sick and it stuck around forever! I think we are free and clear of germs for now. We've turned on hibernation mode since the temps have plummeted. Our donkeys are surviving but they look mighty cold with frosted whiskers and manes. Our thermometer this morning read -3 degrees when I went out to feed the animals. The frost makes the landscape look lovely and so winter wonderlandy! The other day when we were driving, the frost crystals were abundant and they must have been the cause for the huge rainbow halo we saw around the sun. It was incredible!
This week we had our ward Christmas party and it was very fun. Addy made some sugar cookies to take and ended up making about 90 of them! We will be decorating cookies for the next while I think. The primary kids sang and Emerson got to be a bell player. Our accompanist didn't show up so Addy stepped in and did a terrific job! Garrett wooed the crowd with his Bing Crosby "White Christmas." He got an applause mid song and was even able to add a little whistling. It was great! My kids seem to have an aversion to meeting Santa Clause and Eliza was especially a wreck and would not even go to the side of the room where he was sitting. It must be genetic because I think I had that same condition when I was little. Do you remember when he burst into our house saying ho, ho, ho without even knocking?! I think it was Dan Balls, but I remember being quite terrified of the jolly giant.
The kids are very excited about Christmas (minus the Santa Claus) and have been faithfully doing their advent calendar countdowns. We have been reading the Forgotten Carols each night while our candle burns down to a new dot. Yesterday, we went to visit the glass blower and each of the kids got to choose a unique ornament. Thank you Elise for introducing us to this new tradition. So fun!
I hope you are all enjoying your lovely seasonal traditions. Keep drinking the hot cocoa and keep the music playing! Love you all!
I've been feeling so bad about sharing our germs with the little Belliston clan and I hope that we can still be on talking terms. I honestly had no idea that our kiddos were very sick, but I woke up to reality as soon as we got home. Everyone got sick and it stuck around forever! I think we are free and clear of germs for now. We've turned on hibernation mode since the temps have plummeted. Our donkeys are surviving but they look mighty cold with frosted whiskers and manes. Our thermometer this morning read -3 degrees when I went out to feed the animals. The frost makes the landscape look lovely and so winter wonderlandy! The other day when we were driving, the frost crystals were abundant and they must have been the cause for the huge rainbow halo we saw around the sun. It was incredible!
This week we had our ward Christmas party and it was very fun. Addy made some sugar cookies to take and ended up making about 90 of them! We will be decorating cookies for the next while I think. The primary kids sang and Emerson got to be a bell player. Our accompanist didn't show up so Addy stepped in and did a terrific job! Garrett wooed the crowd with his Bing Crosby "White Christmas." He got an applause mid song and was even able to add a little whistling. It was great! My kids seem to have an aversion to meeting Santa Clause and Eliza was especially a wreck and would not even go to the side of the room where he was sitting. It must be genetic because I think I had that same condition when I was little. Do you remember when he burst into our house saying ho, ho, ho without even knocking?! I think it was Dan Balls, but I remember being quite terrified of the jolly giant.
The kids are very excited about Christmas (minus the Santa Claus) and have been faithfully doing their advent calendar countdowns. We have been reading the Forgotten Carols each night while our candle burns down to a new dot. Yesterday, we went to visit the glass blower and each of the kids got to choose a unique ornament. Thank you Elise for introducing us to this new tradition. So fun!
I hope you are all enjoying your lovely seasonal traditions. Keep drinking the hot cocoa and keep the music playing! Love you all!
Sunday, December 3, 2017
...And Loving It
Hey familia. Not much going on here. Lots of tender mercies but not enough time to tell y'all about them. Mom and I are still in a tiff about my mission call. It's still coming to my apartment though ;) dad threatened to change it when he sent it out and I threatened him with the silent treatment. Probably not gonna work... Just one thing. My mission call will probably come around the 17 or the 22 of January and it'd be awesome if some of you could be here. Not necessary, but it's gonna be kind of boring with just dad, mom and I, so it would be fun to see you guys. We'd face time all of you, but only mom has the capacity to do that so we'd have to pick the favorite child here... Sounds intimidating doesn't it?? ;) haha jk jk. Hope you all have a great week. Love you guys.
Hart Happenings
Sitting here in front of a roaring fire while it gears up for snow outside, relaxing with a sick Ian and listening to Kurt Bestor. It must be Christmas time!
We were so sad to hear about the baptism postponement due to sickness at the Belliston residence. Hopefully everyone is on the mend. Keep us posted on the rescheduling! Also can't wait to hear about Joe's concert. Hooray for the euphonium! Makes me think of Annie Laurie.......
Speaking of concerts, Ian spent Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday rehearsing for his Christmas concert that took place on Saturday. Unfortunately, he lost his voice Friday morning, so he actually lip-synced everything at the concert. He probably would have been better at home in bed, but he was part of a small dance number that would have really been messed up by his absence so he stuck it out until the end and came home and collapsed. What a trooper!
Funny thing about Peter. Our favorite show is on again, so we have been watching Fixer Upper as a family on Tuesday nights and then we do it all over again when Ruth comes over on Wednesdays. So Peter has taken it into his bright little mind that our house needs some Fixer Upper love. He periodically will kick Jack, Ian, or myself out of our rooms, takes a before picture, proceed to "fixer-upper" things, and then has us come back for the big reveal and some after pictures. He is really good at tidying things up, but I have a hard time finding things after one of his episodes. I didn't respond really well yesterday when he decided to "fixer upper" the entryway coat closet. He managed to get everything out of the closet, but then found that he couldn't get it all back in by himself. I discovered him at the point of this realization, my way to the front door completely blocked by coats, shoes, boots, gloves, hats, etc....I might have yelled a little. He wanted me to take a picture anyway.
We went with some of our homeschool friends on a field trip to the local power plant. It was absolutely fascinating! They have this really great hands on room where kids can try to ride a bike and pedal fast enough to generate the amount of electricity it takes to power a light bulb or charge and cell phone, they could play with snap circuits or identify electrical hazards in a rooms. The tour guide was really engaging and good at explaining something that is pretty much like magic to me and I really had no idea about. They also took us on a tour of the plant and we got to see the big turbine they have underneath the river that generates the electricity we use in Idaho Falls. The boys thought that was pretty awesome.
The Family History Center here is hosting culture nights this month where they highlight the Christmas traditions from a few countries. We went on Thursday night and we heard from a lady from Moldova, one from Venezuela, and a gal who brought stuff to share from New Zealand. We then got to sample traditional foods from those countries and look at some of the items they brought to show. Jack had a hard time understanding the thick accents but it was really interesting and fun.
It was fun to have mom come up unexpectedly for Ian's concert. We got to go to the mall with them and the Nilssons which was an adventure. We sure appreciate all the effort that Mom and Dad go to to support their rapidly expanding family! I know it keeps you guys busy and it means a lot to us!
We've had a good time recently raiding our yard for greenery, pinecones, and pretty red branches to decorate the house with. We found our Christmas tree in our front yard and cut it down last Sunday. It looked a lot smaller outside! Thank goodness for a vaulted ceiling!
Hope you're all staying cozy and warm these days and enjoying the Light the World campaign. Christmas is wonderful!
We were so sad to hear about the baptism postponement due to sickness at the Belliston residence. Hopefully everyone is on the mend. Keep us posted on the rescheduling! Also can't wait to hear about Joe's concert. Hooray for the euphonium! Makes me think of Annie Laurie.......
Speaking of concerts, Ian spent Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday rehearsing for his Christmas concert that took place on Saturday. Unfortunately, he lost his voice Friday morning, so he actually lip-synced everything at the concert. He probably would have been better at home in bed, but he was part of a small dance number that would have really been messed up by his absence so he stuck it out until the end and came home and collapsed. What a trooper!
Funny thing about Peter. Our favorite show is on again, so we have been watching Fixer Upper as a family on Tuesday nights and then we do it all over again when Ruth comes over on Wednesdays. So Peter has taken it into his bright little mind that our house needs some Fixer Upper love. He periodically will kick Jack, Ian, or myself out of our rooms, takes a before picture, proceed to "fixer-upper" things, and then has us come back for the big reveal and some after pictures. He is really good at tidying things up, but I have a hard time finding things after one of his episodes. I didn't respond really well yesterday when he decided to "fixer upper" the entryway coat closet. He managed to get everything out of the closet, but then found that he couldn't get it all back in by himself. I discovered him at the point of this realization, my way to the front door completely blocked by coats, shoes, boots, gloves, hats, etc....I might have yelled a little. He wanted me to take a picture anyway.
We went with some of our homeschool friends on a field trip to the local power plant. It was absolutely fascinating! They have this really great hands on room where kids can try to ride a bike and pedal fast enough to generate the amount of electricity it takes to power a light bulb or charge and cell phone, they could play with snap circuits or identify electrical hazards in a rooms. The tour guide was really engaging and good at explaining something that is pretty much like magic to me and I really had no idea about. They also took us on a tour of the plant and we got to see the big turbine they have underneath the river that generates the electricity we use in Idaho Falls. The boys thought that was pretty awesome.
The Family History Center here is hosting culture nights this month where they highlight the Christmas traditions from a few countries. We went on Thursday night and we heard from a lady from Moldova, one from Venezuela, and a gal who brought stuff to share from New Zealand. We then got to sample traditional foods from those countries and look at some of the items they brought to show. Jack had a hard time understanding the thick accents but it was really interesting and fun.
It was fun to have mom come up unexpectedly for Ian's concert. We got to go to the mall with them and the Nilssons which was an adventure. We sure appreciate all the effort that Mom and Dad go to to support their rapidly expanding family! I know it keeps you guys busy and it means a lot to us!
We've had a good time recently raiding our yard for greenery, pinecones, and pretty red branches to decorate the house with. We found our Christmas tree in our front yard and cut it down last Sunday. It looked a lot smaller outside! Thank goodness for a vaulted ceiling!
Hope you're all staying cozy and warm these days and enjoying the Light the World campaign. Christmas is wonderful!
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