January

This month has gone by in a flash. Joseph said the other day "I used to think that time went really slow. Now I think it goes fast, because weeks go quickly."  Very true. Although, at my age the YEARS go by quickly as well!

New Years Resolutions

This month we researched ad infinitum and finally chose a good quality home treadmill. I think we all will get use out of it, but Aubrey in particular really wanted to have a treadmill available. Over the last few weeks she has been really focusing on eating healthy and walking or running.  

I forgot to take a picture of this, but the shipping company delivered a huge box to our front walk, but wouldn't even put it on our porch out of the rain.  By the time Dan got home it was dark and he needed to prepare seminary, so he tipped it over onto the porch on its side and we hoped that no one would steal the very heavy machine overnight.  The next morning we broke open the box and laboriously wiggled the pieces inside. To get the main part of the treadmill upstairs we had to have two strong men come help equally strong Dan. It was so heavy and awkward, that we have decided that the treadmill stays with the house. If we move, it stays!

Super Shooting All Star

Joseph's basketball team all joined a local basketball gym for extra shooting and ball handling practice. It's a pretty cool place, with amazing measurement tools that give instant reports on the angle and speed of the shot and the minutest details about the handling of the ball. I've really seen improvement in all the boys as they have been doing the drills. And Joseph is really a great shot - he is a great asset to his team!

"So Sad to Be All Alone in the World" - Mrs. Meers

And then, there is theater. Aubrey finished rehearsals for her latest play, Thoroughly Modern Millie, in which she played the creepy and delightfully wicked Mrs. Meers. She did SO well, and stole the show again with her comic timing and singing! She received so many effusive compliments afterward. It was a fun weekend!

 Aubrey taking her bows.

 Some of her adoring fans, including friends from school and church. Oh, and her family, of course!

We're so proud of our amazing actress! Aubrey works very hard, and this particular role was one she didn't really want and was really nervous about (she was a pretty despicable character and had to adopt a "fake Chinese" accent), but she really magnified and ROCKED it!

Big changes for the church in Vancouver

And, last Sunday we were part of a huge meeting in a high school auditorium in which two stakes became three (and we lost two wards from our stake to the new stake, which actually makes my stake calling a little easier!).  There will be a lot of ripples from the new callings (three new stake presidencies, and our stake now needs new stake auxiliary presidencies in everything but Primary, 5 new high councilors, etc.  Two bishops also need to be replaced, including the one for our ward.)

This was our view from the very uncomfortable and rickety bleachers.

50 wonderful years

Yesterday was Dan's 50th BIRTHDAY! WOOHOO!  This is what he did for his exciting birthday . . . 

• woke up at 4:30 to get ready for Seminary
• came home and had breakfast in bed (his choice was egg burrito with grilled peppers and ham)
• went to work all day, where his employees had decorated his office.
  
• came home just as I was leaving to take Aubrey to a school theater performance
• got Joseph to Cub Scouts and then sat alone in the house working on music for the upcoming Yule Ball (which is tomorrow - this is the 8th and probably the final year of the Yule Ball since the people that organize it are now in the new stake. He has done the music every year, but since he was released this year as official stake deejay, the new deejay was supposed to do the Yule Ball. However, at the very last minute there was a lot of tumult and the organizers insisted that Dan come back to be the emcee.  It was slightly awkward, but all resolved and now he is frantically putting together playlists and buying all the supplies for running the dance portion (numbered necklaces and mints, etc.))  
  

Anyway, not a very exciting birthday for Dan. He didn't even get to open his super awesome presents until this morning because he was too tired by the time we got home from Aubrey's performance.  

A fun party is being planned for next Saturday, however.  Stay tuned for details!

Thanksgiving in Arizona

We enjoyed a week in the sun at the end of December. We stayed in a rental home with the Texas Porters and ate Thanksgiving at a church with all of the Porters.

We played in the park behind our rental house as often as possible!

The rental home didn't have enough couches and chairs for everyone, but did have a big pool table in the middle of the family room, which the boys loved.

 We stocked up on just about everything for Thanksgiving Dinner for 40 people and filled the freezer and fridge!

 Sadly, our plans to swim every day in our awesome heated pool went awry when, on the FIRST full day of our trip Jeffrey split his head open while playing with cousins (and required staples in the head) and Joseph got a nasty spider bite at the same time. By the morning after the bite, Joseph's ankle was blistering, oozing, and swelling. He wasn't really in pain, but wasn't able to wear shoes the entire week, including for family pictures. Good thing we were in warm Arizona!

 We looked up info on spider bites and determined that we would take the "watch and wait" approach. As the week went on, the leg continued to swell and look quite terrible. 

We finally took him to Instacare on Thanksgiving Day after we decided that a bacterial cellulitis had set it. We were right, and he was put on a very strong antibiotic, which finally turned the tide. 

We had Dave take some pictures of our family. We used the small hill behind the rental house as our backdrop and timed it for the perfect light, an hour before sunset.

Sadly, most of the pictures are like this, where everyone is in focus except for Aubrey.  

 But some worked out.

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Celebrating Dad

The second weekend in September my siblings and I gathered in Utah to celebrate our Dad's 70th birthday.

We all met in Emigration Canyon at Ruth's Diner for a relaxing and delicious brunch outside on the patio.




























Then, Ali and Kara and I visited Bailey, Brandon, and Angela at BYU before heading to the cabin in Heber.  It was so fun to see my kids!

While at the cabin in Heber we did a lot of relaxing and relishing the rare opportunity to be together. Dad had set the itinerary for the weekend. We hiked to Danger Bridge and tiptoed around in the cold mountain water. We sat on the deck and looked at the magnificent view while we talked and ate. We laughed a lot and stayed up late visiting.

On Saturday night we picked up Cafe Rio and ate it while we watched a free concert at the Homestead Resort in Midway.

On Sunday morning Mom prepared a delicious brunch for us to eat before we all left for home.

I gave Dad this plaque, which Bailey and I had found in San Diego. It immediately reminded me of what Dad always says: "Life is good and God is good."  

It was such a privilege to spend a weekend celebrating my Dad, who embodies so many amazing qualities.  Here are just a few:
Optimistic
Intelligent and continual learner
Hard worker
Faithful
Service-oriented (serving others and serving God)
Love for family
Great listener 

I try every day to embrace his example in my own life.

Catching up . . . September, October and November

On September 17th Joseph received his Webelos badge.  Go Joseph!

And Joseph tried to teach me chess, just as Dan, Brandon, and Aubrey have tried in the past. It didn't go well. 

Aubrey and I went to see a musical she was very excited about (we both agreed that there were some cool parts and some good music, but overall it was a very strange and somewhat inappropriate show!)

October brought lots of soccer games,

 some in the pouring, windy, freezing cold rain.


















Sports are never cancelled for rain in Washington, of course!

We enjoyed a wonderful General Conference, with lots of relaxed listening and note taking (Joseph took notes on Dan's computer this time), plus plenty of puzzle doing and decadent food eating. We invited Hunter, one of our Trek family kids, to join us for Conference.

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Finishing up 2015

We were so happy that Bailey came home on Friday, December 18th!  Dan and I left his work Christmas party early to pick her our wonderful oldest daughter at the airport. When she walked into the house after being gone since August (home for a short break in August, but she started college last June), she was ecstatic about so many things.  Our carpet, a full refrigerator stocked with food, fresh fruit on the counter, her really big bed, her own room . . . .

It wasn't long before the Bailey-inspired selfies of the kids began.

The next day Aubrey had a special advanced vocal recital, during which four of her vocal teacher's "senior" students performed multiple numbers. She and her friend Emma also sang backups for her teacher Sara (who played and sang a song she had written).  Aubrey sounded absolutely beautiful!

 Between every number the girls changed their outfit somewhat, just like professionals.

The duet "Marry the Man Today" with Emma was HILARIOUS!

Joseph missed the concert because he went with Kartchners to his last basketball game of the season. We were so sad we missed watching him! He was instrumental in helping his team win the game, including making the winning free shot just before the end of the game!

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