SNOW, SNOW, AND MORE SNOW!!!!!! A BLESSING FROM HEAVEN FOR SURE

 On January 1, we woke up to 12 inches of snow. It continued to snow for the rest of the day and the next day for an official amount in Heber of 26 inches. January 1 was on Sunday. We worried that we would not be able to get out of our street as the plows hadn't come to plow us out when we were ready to leave for church. We called our dear neighbor who has a big truck and asked if they could take us. They had already left but came back for us. They said they almost got stuck so our smaller vehicle would never had been able to get us to church. We were the first ones at church. Others trickled in but, at the time church was to start at 9:00, the chapel was only about a third full. The bishop delayed the start of church for 15 minutes until more people could arrive. At the end of church, he announced that there would be no second hour and that we should all go home and help dig each other out. Another dear friend, Guy Blaine, came down to help Paul with the then 14 inches of snow. By the time Paul got to shovel our deck there was 17 1/2 inches. It snowed another 7 inches during the night so we were buried. As Paul was shoveling us out, he hurt his back and so for the next week he was in pain. It didn't help that we had to take the Christmas things down which meant hauling several totes down to the basement. It has continued to snow quite a bit this month and is a definite blessing from the Lord. At the end of the month, we still had at least 2 1/2 feet in our backyard. Our largest pots are completely covered. An amazing amount of snow.

Taken late New Year's eve

Early on New Year's day

At the time church was to start. 
Several members couldn't get out of their driveways
so attendance was skimpy even when we finally started church.

This doesn't look like much snow where Paul
is snow blowing but this was his second pass down
the driveway. The snow blower couldn't handle
that amount of snow all at once.

Shoveling the now 17 inches on the deck and
still snowing.

It's beautiful but lots of work

The temple reopened at the first of the year after being closed for cleaning. We worked our Friday shift and also the Tuesday shift as we had committed to sub for Keith and Kellee Gordon. It had snowed on Monday night so the trip down the canyon was interesting. A snow plow covered our car with snow at one point and then a car passed us further down the canyon and threw water on us so heavy we couldn't see. The real kicker of our trip to work in the temple was when Paul accidentally ran over a rock and our tire went flat. Several tender mercies attended us that morning, though. One - the tire didn't go flat until we were out of the canyon and on level ground where there was a wide shoulder onto which we could stop the car. Two - Paul tried to get the lug nuts off the wheel but couldn't budge them no matter how hard he tried. We were about to call USAA for a tow when a nice younger man stopped to help us. Three - He couldn't get the lug nuts off either but said he had a tool at his home that would work. He just lived a couple of blocks away. He was back in no time and, with his breaker bar, got the lug bolts off and the spare tire on. Four - about the time the spare was going on, another nice man stopped and offered to put the flat, but heavy, tire in the back of our car for us. It was so dirty that if Paul and I would have had to put in in the back of our car, we would have been filthy. Five - It had stopped raining by the time we got out of the canyon and started changing the tire so we didn't get wet. Six - we were only about 15 minutes late for our shift. I got to the prayer meeting room just as the sisters were dismissing and Paul got to his assignment at the veil with time to spare. We were being looked after, for sure.

The nice man who stopped and helped us

The breaker bar tool that finally helped get the
lug nuts loose. We have since purchased one for
our car just in case we have another flat tire.

It was Aria's birthday on Monday, the 9th. We planned to celebrate her birthday up in Heber on the following Sunday. I spent the week creating a Barbie cake which I promptly froze so it would keep until Sunday. We found some Barbie presents for Aria and were all ready for her celebration. On Sunday, I called Todd to tell him to check with us before they came up to Heber for dinner as the canyon was closed for avalanche control. He proceeded to tell us that he was in major pain and could hardly move. He didn't know what had happened but when he had gotten up in the morning his lower back hurt so much that Kailee had to help him walk. We told him that we would bring dinner and the birthday celebration to them in Lehi. Once the canyon opened. packed up the car with birthday presents, the Barbie cake, and dinner and drove to their home. We found Todd on the couch in lots of pain even after taking a muscle relaxer and pain medication. He could hardly make it to the dinner table to eat. Aria was thrilled with her Barbie cake and Barbie presents. Side Note: After we got home that evening, Kailee text us to to tell us that Aria and Avery were in the toy room setting up a Barbie birthday party and trying to make a miniature Barbie cake with playdough. So darling.

The finished cake - two cake mixes and
4 1/2 recipes of frosting later

Already for the birthday celebration at our home
before it had to be moved to Lehi

Todd trying to make it to the dinner table

Presents first......

...then the cake

Interesting thing about that cake - When it was finally unthawed on Sunday morning, it started to settle so I had to repair the bodice and skirt with extra frosting. By the time we got it to Lehi in the car, it had settled even more so that the white crumb coat was showing in places. Aria didn't know it wasn't perfect but I did. 

The Friday before this, Ryan texted us to see if he could spend the night with us. He had been in Medford, Oregon for some business meetings and decided to come straight to Utah so he could watch Julia in a dance competition in Ogden on Saturday. Heber was only an hour out of his way so he spent Friday night with us. I fixed him breakfast Saturday morning while he shoveled our deck for us. He had to leave for Ogden around 11 o'clock so it was a quick visit but so fun that he would drop in on us for a short stay. We love that he and his family are in St. George. We get to see them much more often than when they were in Oregon.

This was a lot of work as the snow had thawed
and refrozen so it had to be scrapped off the deck floor.

While Ryan was here, we watched the replay of the Gonzaga/BYU basketball game that had been played that Thursday in Provo. BYU was leading by 10 points at the 6 minute mark but let the lead slip away in the last seconds of the game and they lost by 1 point. Sad but that's pretty typical of this year's team. The atmosphere at the Marriot center was amazing, though. Always a fun game in which to be in attendance.

Hearing from the Fullers that Costco didn't have eggs, I got concerned about having enough eggs so I went to Smith's to get some. I had to pay $4.45 for a dozen.  Later in the week, I went to Walmart, thinking the price would be cheaper. Eggs were only a few cents cheaper. I bought 18 eggs for $7.50. Highway robbery at its finest. We are told that there was a bird flu which killed many chickens hence the increase in the price of eggs. I loved this meme when I saw it on Facebook.

Note the mask!!!!

On a sad note - A dear friend and neighbor passed away this month. Rod Wade had been struggling with his health since he contacted COVID early on. He's a sheep farmer and was in pretty good health until then. He just kept slowing down until he finally couldn't even make it to church. He ended up dying of pneumonia. We attended the viewing the night before the funeral and it was packed.  We stood in line for an hour and a half before we got to express our condolences  to Carol, his wife. Their family of 13 children is huge - 192 persons thus far. The funeral was wonderfully honest and refreshing. He will be missed, especially by Kailee. She loves sheep so every March when the new little lambs are old enough to hold, she and Todd would ask Rod if they could come see the little lambs. He was always so accommodating.

This month, we have been busy planning another ward activity. This time it will be an adult progressive dinner party to be held on Saturday, February 11. Of course, it will be a Valentine theme. We held a planning meeting with our committee and then assigned them to call the ward members for an RSVP.  They all came through marvelously so that the last day of January, Paul and I could assign the ward members to host families.  A dinner of lasagna will be at the host's home and then everyone will 'progress' to the church for a dessert buffet. We're planning to have cream filled crepes and cheesecakes with cherry and strawberry toppings, tuxedo cakes, red velvet mini cupcakes, and thumbprint cookies for the buffet. We have also arranged for a live band to come play and entertain us. The lead singer of the band is in our ward. Hopefully it will all come about as we have envision it.

The simple centerpieces for the tables at the church

Ryan and Katie were able to move into their new home at the end of this month.  It's been a long process for them but their home is finally done. We so excited for them to finally be able to settle into St. George in their dream home. We will be going down there and be able to see it at the end of February.

That's it for what has happened this month and I only have one meme. It's an important message for us to remember in these difficult time.