January 2021

On New Year's Day we did a tiny hike up to watch the first sunrise. It was too cloudy to see much, but we went anyway. Paul's cousin Wesley and his pup joined us too, so nice! 

Solace is always proposing to me. Sweet thing.

The Hunts convinced me to try out their sauna. It's not fir me, but it was a fun time to chat and have fun together anyway. 

We got a new kitten, she's actually 9 years old (now 10), and such a cuddle bug. She still doesn't love the other cats or the dog, but she LOVES all of us. 

Getting the new cat has made Swishy very jealous and extra clingy.

Sully drew me this picture of her, he says her meows mean she's asking to be petted. 

FaceTiming with my dad was a long standing tradition, and I miss it. He's such a story teller.

Paul reading stories and singing songs to the kids every night. 

I ran into Amy at Costco and she was buying more than would fit in her car, so I loaded everything up in mine and drove her home. We were shocked it all fit. 

The winter weather brought us lots of happy surprises, like this sundog! So cool!

More sledding and snow ball fights, which turned into treasure hunting when we found some empty bullet shells.

Check out this little rainbow. So lovely. 

Whiskey helping Lullaby to get her breakfast. Silly thing.

Matix got to spend some time with his friend Oakley from Big Island via zoom. They played Splatoon on the Switch together. I love technology for stuff like this. 

Walking to the hot springs, yes please. It was just cold enough to see the steam coming off the water. 

Snowing in the back yard! The kids wished it was more.

Out to breakfast with some friends. 

Talking about Venn Diagrams, and this came up and made me laugh.

Another funny Nathan Pyle joke, he's so good.

Hawken was exposed to a child at school with covid and he had to take off of school for 2 weeks or get a negative test and return. He wasn't thrilled, but got a negative test and got to go back to school. 

Ski day at Brighton with just Solace. He had so much fun, and we got to really focus on him and help him.

Lullaby's hair all braided up in a crown. Cute!

I went shopping on the wrong day, this was January, and no reason for it. So weird.

Bachelor night at my house, always a party.

Then in the morning Sully and I drank the rest of the sparkling cider in fancy glasses. He didn't love it much, so we switched his for eggnog. 

S'mores in the cold snow is way more fun! Watching the fire come through the snow is so cool! Then the kids scooped up as much of the snow as they could to build a huge wall. 

Lunch date with Amy.

Solace and Hawken spent their Christmas money on some Legos. 

We tried out another ski resort, Nordic Valley, and we loved it. The kids had a blast and really improved on their skills. Everyone ride the lift and tried the jumps.

Hawk, because he would be turning 12 in 2021, was allowed to get the Aaronic Priesthood at our church. This means he would be able to serve the sacrament on Sundays to the congregation. He was SO excited. Grandma Kim, Grandpa Louie, Grandma Stacy and Grandpa Lee were all able to zoom in and watch. 

His first Sunday serving the sacrament and he wanted to get there really early to make sure he knew just what to do and where to go. So cute. He and Matix were the only kids on the stand for the first 30 minutes. 

Trying to get better at cupcakes and buttercream flowers.  The kids loved eating them! 

Snow Baby gets herself in all these funny places, liked curled up inside a blanket. She's so tolerant of all the love she gets. 

This is how I woke up. Lovely.

Lullaby and her friend Sophia helped Paul plant the avocado seeds. 

More work on the hydroponic garden.

Hawk had Jonny sleepover.  We watched a movie, did a little scripture study, and lots of play time. He's such a good friend to Hawken.

I started physical therapy for my bad knee. It was injured a long time ago when I was robbed in Texas, and hurts every now and then again. With skiing more and more, it really started to get bad and PT helped lots, but was really painful. 

A week or two later, after his first test, he was exposed again and had to get another covid test. This one was more painful, as the test giver was a little more rough with the instruments. Poor thing. It was negative again, and he got to go back to school. 

Hawken got his ph testers for the water in his garden.

Solace and Paul went on a date to get frozen yogurt, and they didn't get any pictures because they were busy eating and chatting the whole time. 

This is always what my view looks like. He is always right there with me. If we didn't name him Swishy, he could have easily been Shadow. 

Grandpa Chuck sent a care package filled with Legos, and syrup (for Hawken and his waffle obsession). So sweet. 

Paul is still riding his bike in the cold weather. Snow on the ground, doesn't matter. Brrrr.

Our house got really cold one day, so after realizing the heater wasn't kicking on, I went to investigate. I figured out a little button needed to stay pushed in, but the door wasn't tight and the button wouldn't stay pushed. I built a little Lego contraption and FIXED it! I felt so proud that I sent Paul this picture. 

Date day, and dessert first. Always so fun.

I braided Matix's hair, as a joke, and realized how much he looks like Lullaby! 

The kids sledded down to school, because we got enough snow overnight. 

Lullaby got these notes all the time. I think it's such a good way to encourage good behavior. 

We got a few visitors from Big Island! The William, Sharon and Brady Pacheco came to visit us for a couple days and we had a great time! We played around the house mostly.  It was so nice to have them here. They are such good people!

More hair braids for Lullaby.  This time, not up over the top, just around the bottom.