A Pretty

Here is a picture that I took of my Valentines Day roses.  David got me a dozen yellow roses then added 4 red ones for each of the girls.  A very pretty bouquet.  He got them for me the Friday afternoon before Valentines Day.  By Saturday the yellow ones had already bloomed.  By Sunday they were wilting.  I changed the water and they didn't perk up.  On Monday the red ones were druping.  So on Valentines Day I returned them, not the best day to do so.  They gave me a replacement and then lectured me on what I could have done better.  We will not be going there again.  This flower is actually from the second bouquet.

Big spaces!

First of all I would like to say that Callie has been a great sport with all of this.  She resently got an expander just like George did six months ago.  It has been expanding her jaw which then created space and it happened to be between her two front teeth.  Callie has had such a great sense of humor about it all and her friends have been nice.  I imagined her coming home crying everyday.  Once she gets her braces on that will be fixed.

Liza counting in Spanish

David's mom was in town for the baptism of our niece Maizy(David's brother, Matt's oldest daughter).  We were excited to spend a little time with her.  She was able to come with us to the Cubscout Blue and Gold banquet Saturday night.  George recieved his Arrow of Light that night.  George is excited to be working on merit badges with the 11 year old scouts now. 

Our 3 days and 2 nights without power

It started snowing on Saturday the 14th in the evening.  The next day I had a meeting at the church at 10am.  One of the young women that was supposed to be there texted me and said she wasn't coming because she didn't feel comfortable driving in the snow.  Around here its no joke.  People just don't know how to drive in it because they don't get it much.  Well, I told her that I would drive her.  I have 4 wheel drive and have driven in more snow than this.  I called the other 2 leaders and asked if they were okay about driving.  One from Utah and the other from Idaho, after laughing a bit said yes.  We met and saw that the snow was melting on the roads.  Went home and found out church was cut short.  We just had sacrament meeting. 

On Monday the kids didn't have school for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  I think it snowed just a little but the cold temperatures froze the wetness and snow from the day before.  Tuesday they had a delayed start.  That night it started snowing some more.  Wednesday school was canceled with more snow coming.  Monday night began David's journeys of delivering people to and from his facility in our suburban.  You got to have CNA's and nurses.  From Monday to Friday he drove about 1000 miles.  It was a long week for him.

Anyway, Wednesdays snow turned to sleet on Thursday.  The power went out at 10am.  We, thankfully, have a gas fireplace in the family room and a gas hot water heater.  The kids spent their nights all in the family room.  They thought it was a party.  I was thankful to see the sun come up each morning.  Before the sunset each night I would have the kids hurry and clean while we still had daylight.  It was a good incentive.  They had fun playing outside, doing puzzles, playing with Lego's, reading, and playing games.  What a concept!  We don't have any of our camping things here, they are in storage in Utah still, so we boiled water on Carson's scout Sterno stove.  We had lots of sandwiches, ramen, fruit, chips, and snacky foods.  Friday night we realized Costco had power so ventured out to get a cake for Callie's birthday and some pizza.  I know this seems like a lot of silly details but I'm kind of journaling the experience so forgive me.  :) 

We got our power back Saturday night at 7.  About 6 hours before that some great friends(Amanda and James Barnes)(Amanda is from the Buckey, AZ area and hung out with my cousin Dewight and Uncle Roger helped her prep for the temple), who had regained their power earlier, brought us their generator to plug in our freezer and fridge.  Okay, we plugged in the TV and DVD player too.We didn't lose any food.  We kept some stuff in the snow outside.

We didn't get our internet back until Monday.  All in all, it was a great learning experience.

Where did January go?

I have totally missed January with blogging but I have made it to the gym 3 times a week every week in January.  Except for the the Wednesday and Friday when we had no power.  That is for another blog entry.

January is a big birthday month for our family.  David turned 39, Callie 13, and George 11. 

 Here is George's cake.  He had 3 friends come over for his party.  They went swimming at the YMCA afterwards. 

 Callie also went swimming at the YMCA with her friends after little party.  Our power was actually out that day.  It was a fun day.

 This is David's cake that Callie made him.  It was yummy.

 David showing off his gum the kids bought him.  He got more than one pack.  I still remember in Kentucky, when we gave my dad a bunch of gum for Christmas.  I was five so that was so exciting for me.

This has nothing to do with birthdays but I wanted to share.  I was taking pictures of Liza and Lucy wanted to be a part of it.  After I took this first picture I talked to her about how she needs to let her chapped lips heal.  She had the idea that we could take more pictures and she would hide it.  It was funny to see the poses she came up with.