JANUARY BROUGHT SNOW - ARIA'S 1ST BIRTHDAY - SNOW - MISSION MIRACLES - SNOW - A NEW PRESIDENT - AND MORE SNOW.

The thrown snow on the
 bank is as tall as Paul

January has been a month of snow. It started when we were in Oregon for Christmas and has continued most of January.  We have 20 inches of snow on our deck and the side of our driveway is piled so high with snow, Paul can no longer throw it up high enough with the snow blower. Though it's beautiful, it is a bit of a pain to keep the driveway and walkways cleared. It should be good for our summer water supply so we won't complain.  The skiers are loving it for sure.






January 9 was Aria's first birthday.  We celebrated it with Todd and Kailee when they came up for Sunday dinner the day before.  She was so cute except when we set a lit candle on her high chair. Before we could blow it out, Aria reached for the flame and burnt her fingers. After that she was a little hesitant to try the cake but, once she tasted it, she loved it. It is so fun to watch her progress each week as she learns to walk and talk. She is now chattering all the time although we have no idea what she is saying, except for No, No as she waves her finger back and forth. 

The big news for the month was the inauguration of our new president, Donald Trump. His victory stunned the whole nation and will continue to be a sore spot for the democrats as they are as upset about Hillary Clinton's loss as we were with Barack Obama's win 8 and 4 years ago. They are just much more vocal to the point of protesting everything he will do - even on his inauguration day - breaking windows of local businesses in downtown Washington DC.  So sad. We are thrilled as we were hating the direction our country was going under the former administration and know that, at least, President Trump will appoint conservative judges to the supreme court and will improve our image around the world as well as strengthen our relationships with our allies. Hopefully he can fulfill his promise to bring jobs to America for the many who have been out of work for too long.

Most of the rest of the month was spent doing missionary work. We go out most every night on teaching appointments. We are teaching the ward mission plan to several members of the 15th ward and love getting know these people and feeling of the tremendous missionary spirit in this ward. We also have several missionary discussions we are teaching and love preparing for these discussion and giving them to these people we have come to love. One of the couples we are teaching, the Kinseys, gave us a container of chili and homemade bread at one of our teaching appointments. So sweet.


Lately our Tuesday nights have been filled with canceled appointment so we've had to scramble at the last minute to fill our night. A couple of weeks ago, our appointments both canceled so we decided to visit a Sister Hoopes in the Wild Mare Ward. She was very welcoming and we spent at least 45 minutes getting to know her. She wants the elders and ourselves to teach her daughter the missionary discussions so she can chose for herself about becoming active in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We look forward to that happening.  
We noticed that the Hoopes' driveway was totally covered in several inches of snow so we asked if we could arrange for the elders to come shovel her out.  She was so thrilled as she had felt almost trapped in her home - not being able to get the trash can to the street or her car close enough to the garage to get her wheelchair bound mother into the car. The elders couldn't get to it until Thursday so Paul went over Wednesday morning and shoveled the side of the driveway that would allow her to get the trash out and to park the car closer to the garage.  She and her daughter were so appreciative. The next day the elders shoveled that other end of her circular driveway making access to her home much easier.  

We had to say good bye to Elder Rues this month and hello to Elder Hernandez.  We were sad to see Elder Rues leave after only one transfer but Elder Abbot, his companion, was called to be a trainer for Elder Hernandez.  We will enjoy this companionship for at least 12 weeks as that is how long it takes to train a new elder. We especially enjoy our weekly lunches with the elders. They spend about an hour with us eating and visiting. They always leave us with a message which we really enjoy.  

Each week we report our numbers to our district leader and also to our Assistants to the President, Elder and Sister Brown. To the Brown's we always include a mission miracle. One of our miracles was our experience with Sister Hoopes - that on a whim we decided to visit her and found she really needed us.  Another miracle happened while we were at District meeting. Our district leader said he had a name for us to go visit. As he started giving us the name we immediately recognized it as the couple we had already visited and had asked to be assigned their home teachers. We felt we could have more of an impact in their lives as home teacher rather than missionaries. We know all that was inspired of the Lord. Another miracle was the increase number of teaching appointments that came our way after going to the temple with that purpose in our hearts. We love looking for these mission miracles which we are promised will happen.


Toward the end of the month, we had Mitch Davis over for dinner.  Michelle is out of town for a couple a months to escape the winter blues so we had promised Mitch we would have him to dinner. He came on a Sunday evening in the midst of a big snow storm. He was coming from the airport and we kept having to postpone dinner til almost 6 in order for him to make it to our home. Luckily Todd and Kailee hadn't come up because of the snow.  We had a good time with Mitch as we always do.

Todd and Dad demolishing
the wood work in
theater room

Jon removing the logs
from the wall in the
basement

On the last weekend of the month we spent the day down in Highland helping Jon and Mindi with a remodel of a home they are planning on moving into and renovating to sell this summer. It meant carrying garbage up to the dumpster, pulling down beams from the ceiling, and stripping the walls of logs and wood trim. There is a lot still to do but our little effort was very much appreciated.  We also took Braydon and Clark out to dinner and then to the BYU basketball game with us. That freed up Jon and Mindi to work a little latter into the evening on their home.  

Fun time with Braydon and Clark at the BYU basketball game

 And then there's Aria - so cute and growing up so fast.

Even brushing her own teeth.