A MONTH OF TWOS - 2 TEMPLE EXPERIENCES, 2 BIRTHDAYS, AND 2 GYMNASTIC MEETS.

 Let's begin with the two temple experiences. On the 16th of the month, we went with Gary and Deon to the Lindon temple open house. We waited in line for about a half an hour then were taken into a tent for instructions. We were told that there was 175 stairs we would need to climb if we went on the walking tour. If we felt we couldn't do that then we would want to get in the elevator line where they would take us from floor to floor on the elevator. We opted to walk the stairs so we could get the full effect of the beauty of the temple. And beautiful it was!! There are two baptistries in the basement with the font areas done in pinks and blues. Different but beautiful. It was then up the first set of stairs to the main floor. We climbed another set of stairs to the chapel then another set of stairs to the endowment rooms. The sealing rooms were up another set of stairs. I counted the stairs and there were indeed 175. The celestial room was the most beautiful of all, as it should be. As you walk in, the first thing you notice is the amazing stain glass window featuring the Linden tree. We were tired by the time we retreated down all those stairs and got to our car but so worth the trip. This temple will probably be the temple we will go to until our Heber temple is completed.

The second temple experience came at the end of the month. We traveled to St. George to be with Julia when she received her endowments. We were so glad we could be there with her to celebrate this wonderful occasion. After the temple session, we all went to Ryan and Katie's home for dinner. They had brought in the pork salad makings from Costa Vida. It was delicious and easy for Katie and Ryan. Katie's parents, her two sisters, and her aunt were also in attendance. We left early the next morning so we could make it back to Heber for our Sacrament meeting. Andrea and Casey and Lydia joined us as they were in town for a workshop production of Hattie's Echo. Afterwards we had dinner and then they left to go back to Oregon.

Then there was the two birthdays - Kailee's and Olivia's. Kailee birthday is at the first of the month and she always wants a German Chocolate cake for her birthday cake. She also always wants Malibu chicken for her dinner. We had lots of people there on that Sunday to help her celebrate as Jon's high school friends, Brian Sherrick and Mark Moore were in town and joined us for dinner. We had 17 all totaled as Brian's son, who goes to the University of Utah, was there along with Jon and MIndi and Clark, Olivia, and Carly. It was a great day.

I failed to take a picture of Brian and Mark
but this is the vase Brian brought planted with
bulbed tulips. When they died I used the vase this way.
Mark brought sparkling cider and lots of candy.

 
Olivia's birthday is at the end of the month. She wanted applesauce cake for her birthday cake so I tried to make it look festive with candles and a happy birthday sign. She loved it as well as her tri tip and chicken dinner.

The two gymnastic meets were for Aria and Avery. We went to Aria's on the first day and she did really well. She has come a long way over the past year and an half. The next day was Avery's meet, She was doing so well until she touched the beam to prevent a fall and then forgot the rest of the mandatory routine. She was devasted when she got a 6.4 from the judges. She recovered and did a great floor routine and vault. She even medaled in a couple of events. They both had meets at the state tournaments and each got there 36s which is always the goal.

This picture was taken at the state meet as
I didn't get any good pictures at the meet we attended.

We had another fun thing happen this month. We got a call from Janet Rands wanting us to meet them and the Holdaways at Olive Garden for lunch one Saturday. Steve and Nancy Holdaway were in town for a funeral and wanted to get together with all their old friends that had moved to Utah. We hadn't seen them for years so it was good to catch up on all the news from Spokane and in their lives. Janet Harman was there, too, and it was good to see her again. 

Steve and Nancy

Bob is struggling with Parkinson's disease

After lunch, we met Ryan and Katie and Nathan at Leatherby's in Orem for some delicious ice cream. They were in town so Katie could help Julia find a temple dress and clothes for her mission. We were glad to meet them as we had all sorts of BYU things to give to Nathan. We had cards and posters and head bands and t-shirts that we had collected at the basketball games this season. He was thrilled.

I referred to Hattie's Echo earlier in this post. Charlotte and her team put on a 4 day workshop type performance to try and generate interest in getting this production on the big stage. We attended the performance on Thursday as we were leaving the next day for St. George and Julia's endowment session. Andrea and Casey and Lydia came in town on that Wednesday and stayed till Sunday after dinner. We were told that the  performance got better each night, getting standing ovations both Friday and Saturday nights. We were so happy for Charlotte as she has worked so hard on this production. This version is a complete rewrite from the previous ones we had seen. It was powerful with a message that needs to be heard. As of Saturday night there were several venues that were interested in putting this on their stage. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

This was taken after the show we attended. Belle, on
the right is explaining that the show is based on the life
of Charlotte's family. Todd was there to solicit donations.
He helped get this production this far because
of a substantial donation he made to the cause.

Casey and the actor who played Casey in the production.

One of the hit songs of the productions was
about a big pink elephant in the room, hence
this picture with Maggie, Allison, and Lydia.

Basketball season officially ended this month. At the last game, the seniors were recognized with Richie Sauders getting a standing ovation for his contribution to BYU basketball over the years. We played Iowa State and were able to pull out a victory which was unexpected. The team went on to play in the big 12 tournament and the NCAA tournament but didn't play as well as we all wanted them to. When Richie Saunders went down with a torn ACL the season went sideways. He was the leader of the team, for sure.

Head bands handed out in honor of Richie.

The students stormed the court when we won 
the last game of the season. Iowa State was ranked
7th in the nation.

A.J. Dybanska will be missed next season

One last darling picture.. Lincoln is obsessed with Harry Potter. Todd reads a chapter to him and the girls every night. When they finish one of the books they can watch the movie. Lincoln loves everything Harry Potter so one Sunday he came downstairs dressed like Harry Potter.

Love this boy!!!

TEMPLE, MOISTURE, AND MISSION CALL - BLESSINGS IN THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY

 As a community of members of the church, we have been praying for our temple to be able to restart and for needed moisture. We were asked to fast for these things and the Lord heard our prayers and recognized our fasting. Shortly after our fast, we got word that the temple construction could begin again. The Utah Supreme Court ruled that the church could go ahead with construction even though there is still a law suit pending its legality. With the idea that the building would be torn down if the ruling went against the church, the judge said that construction could start again. The church must feel pretty confident that they will win the law suit as construction vehicles can be seen working at the temple site. This is a blessing from the Lord as any further delay would mean millions of dollars added to the construction costs and our temple would not be a reality for many years to come. We pass by the site almost everyday and love seeing the gates opened and people working.

We also fasted and prayed for moisture. This has been one of the driest winters in Utah ever with very little snow falling. Our snow pack is at record lows and the fear of no water for the summer months was real. At our HOA meeting, we were told to expect limited water for our lawns and that an almost dead lawn is slightly alive.  Our prayers for moisture were answered with snow falling in Heber so that means the mountains got several inches. The next week, we had rain and the forecast for the first week of March should bring more moisture. Another answer to prayer and fasting.

We got upward to 8 inches over a three day period

Another great thing that happened this month was that our granddaughter, Lydia, received her mission call. She attended one semester of college at BYU Idaho before returning home to get her wisdom teeth out and then to submit her mission papers. With that finally accomplished, she was anxiously awaiting her call. It finally came at a time when she was home alone as her parents were on a cruise. She couldn't wait for them to get home before opening it so she did so over Facetime with her parents. She has been called to the Arizona Gilbert mission and leaves the first part of April. That is an unusually fast turn around but she is so excited. She will make an incredible missionary. We are so proud of the beautiful women she has become and for her desire to serve the Lord.

Basketball would be the next item to discuss this month. The basketball team was performing well and the prospects of a high seed in the tournaments was looking good. It all changed just minutes into one of the first games in February. Richie Saunders, one of three main players and the leader of the team, tore his ACL and would be out for the season. Since the injury to Richie, the team has lost most of their games with the rest of the season looking pretty bleak. We knew Richie was important to the team but we had no idea he was the motivation behind the winning season they were having. He has been missed terribly.

On a more positive note, at the game on February 14, Jimmer Fredette was honored as they retired his jersey. It is now hanging in the Marriot Center with only 4 others that have received that distinction. When we got to the arena that day, they were handing Jimmer cards and each seat had a jersey bearing the number 32, Jimmer's number. We were able to find medium jerseys to take home for Nathan and Grace who are avid BYU basketball fans.

The arena with all the white jerseys on the seats.

 

Paul donned his shirt during the game

Fredette's many trophies

Jimmer accepting this honor

His jersey hanging in the Marriot Center

We attended one of Aria's gymnastic meets this month. She is doing quite well at level 6. She moved up from level 4 this season. At the meet, she mastered her beam which was a great accomplishment for her as she had fallen off the beam at all her other meets. Speaking of other meets, Kailee and Todd have had to travel to California and Washington state for those meets with Aria. Gymnastic is quite a commitment for the family. It will only get worse as Avery is loving gymnastics, too.  We haven't seen one of her meets yet, but we did see videos and she is looking good, too. 

On a side note: We went to see the movie Melania. It was a depiction of the 20 days leading up to President Trump's inauguration as the 47th president of the United States. It was amazing to see all that the incoming first lady has to do in preparation for all the events that take place on that day. She is such a beautiful and accomplished first lady. We loved the movie that critics said was terrible. We think those critics must have been suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome.

I only have one meme for this month but it is a good one.

NEW YEAR BRINGS TWO VISITS FROM THE WESTOVERS AND THREE BIRTHDAYS

This month, we were privilege to have two visits from Andrea and Casey. The first visit was so they could babysit their grandson, Arthur, while Maggie went to New York for an illustrator's conference. Because they needed to be at Maggie and Kacey's home by 7 each morning, they rented a home close by in Provo. As a result, we didn't see much of them. We did invite them to come to lunch with us at The Pizza Factory one afternoon after Paul and I attended a temple session. Charlotte, Allison and Lydia came too. Lydia had come to Utah with her parents so she could visit a few of the temples here. She had just recently receive her endowment. She made an appointment for the session we were to be in so she could be with us. We got into an earlier session so she ended up alone in the temple but loved it still. 

The next visit of the Westover's came at the end of the month.  This time, Andrea and Casey pulled a huge trailer filled with a blow up laser tag arena in it. They had sold it to a man in Pleasanton and came to deliver it to him. This time they stayed with us so we got some quality visiting time with them. They stayed till Sunday after dinner so we were able to celebrate both Andrea and Allison's birthdays that day. I had made Hostess cupcakes that week so they each had a plate of them for their birthday cake.

Aria had a birthday this month and she wanted a Labubu cake so that's what I made her. Labubus are a small stuffed creature that is all the rage with the young girls right now. Kailee was able to find two Labubu's for us to give Aria for her present that would stay up here to play with when they come to visit. I decided to make clothes for the dolls. I made two different styles of dresses and a pair of overalls for each of the two dolls. The project would have been much easier if my machine would have been working right. As a result, I had to do a lot of hand sewing to finish them. Aria was thrilled with her cake and her dolls and their clothes.

The Labubu cake

One of the two dress styles I made for each doll

The overalls

The Westovers were here when we celebrated Aria's birthday so we had quite a crowd to share in the festivities.

Avery having fun with the costume box

Lately, Paul has been concerned about where we will be buried when that time comes. He thinks it's important to secure burial plots before we die so there would be one less thing the family had to worry about. We looked into plots in the Heber City cemetery but then thought about the possibility of being buried in the Pleasant Grove Cemetery. One afternoon, we went down there to check it out and loved an area that would be opening up in the Spring. We decided Pleasant Grove would be a logical final resting place for us as both of Paul's parents are buried there and it would also be much easier for our children in Utah to visit the graves with them being on that side of the mountain. (We laugh about the fact that not long ago we were excited to look at plots of ground to build a new home but now we are looking at plots to be buried in.) While at the cemetery we checked out the grave sites of one of Paul's high school buddies as well as his grandmother.

Deon and I attended the bridal shower for Bryce and Alexia. Bryce is Don and Dana's youngest son who finally found his eternal companion. They will be married civilly first and then travel to Rome, Italy to be sealed in the Rome temple. We gave them a framed picture of the Rome temple with their names and sealing date on it. Paul and Gary drove down to Alpine with us and then picked us up so we could make it to the BYU vs Utah basketball game. It was a full day and a great one since BYU won.

.

This is the picture that was in a beautiful white frame.
We had ordered it custom made from Deseret Book
and it came in just the day before the shower.

There are two more things to report that were special this month. The first was the kindness of the manager/owner of our  local Jersey Mike's sandwich shop. We went there one Saturday afternoon for lunch. We always order 2 kids meals which consist of small ham sandwiches, a drink and a cookie or chips. The people know us there as it's our favorite place to have lunch. As we were finishing our lunch that day, the owner came over and gave us a sack with two more sandwiches in it to take home. He had included the ham and cheese and, in a separate container, lettuce, onion, tomatoes, and jalapeno peppers - just exactly what we order when we come in. When asked why, he said he just loves to give back. Such a kind thing to do for us. 

The last special event was attending the movie, "Standout, the Ben Kjar Story." We found out about this movie in a Facebook post from a friend in our ward. It turns out that this Ben is her brother-in-law, married to her twin sister.  There were a couple of special showings that very day at the Ideal theater. We decided to go to the first showing in the afternoon and were so glad we did. It was a documentary of Ben's life. He was born with a rare condition where the skull does not grow properly causing deformity of the head. The story was of his many surgeries and his battle to win even when facing much prejudice. Through it all, he became an All American wrestler. It was a great movie and made even greater with a visit at the end from Ben, himself. He spoke to the audience, which consisted of the wrestling team from Wasatch High. What a motivation for all of us to face difficulties with courage and faith.

This is Ben talking to the audience

Ben shaking hands and taking pictures
with those from the audience as we left.

And that's it for the month of January.