Br-r-r-r-r-r-r-r!!!!!!!

We spent Saturday up at Targhee. They got about three feet of snow last week. It snowed most of the time we were there, but we didn't mind.



Parker took me on a new(for me) run up the Dreamcatcher lift. With all the fresh, deep snow, it was quite a workout. My legs were pretty burnt by the time we got down. Parker was very patient with this old, slow skier/mom. Hayden, Cameron and Jacob are improving every time we go. Jacob gets off the lift and takes off down the hill. He could care less if anybody is with him.





After a break for lunch and hot cocoa, we hit the slopes again. We all slept well that night! Sunday we had our interviews to get our recommends for the temple dedication. We are going to the 9 a.m. session that will be broadcast on February 3 to our Stake Center. It will be our only Sunday meeting on that day. Jacob is about three months shy of eight years old, so he won't be able to go. But he is very understanding.

The boys were blessed with an extra long holiday weekend. In addition to having Monday off for Human Rights Day, they also got to stay home on Tuesday. It was 20 below zero with a windchill factor of -35! I, on the other hand, did not get the day off. BYU-I never closes. It took trying three different vehicles to find one that wanted to run and wasn't buried under three feet of snow, to get to school. I had Parker drop me off and come pick me up when I was finished. Turnabout is fair play! He also was privileged to be in charge of his younger brothers while I was gone. No E.R. visits were required, so all in all, I'd say it was a good day! School was back in session today, although it was still very cold. It's supposed to warm up for the weekend (25 degrees) so Hayden and his scout troop won't freeze to death at the Klondike Derby.

Paul went to the doctor today to look at his PET scan results and to make sure the infection in his side has cleared up. His scan looked pretty good, just a couple spots lit up. The oral chemo should take care of them. His blood counts are all within normal ranges, so the antibiotics did their job. Dr. Hancock gave Paul a prescription for some medicine that should help with the neuropathy pain in his feet.

Everybody else is doing well. Jacob is going to be in his class musical. He will play the part of the Wombat King. Parker and Hayden just got home from church ball. They won 35-33. Cameron is learning French in his Discovery class. Tyler got a haircut. The rest of the boys need one. They are getting rather shaggy, Paul included. Maybe we'll wait until it gets a little warmer. They could use the extra insulation to protect against frostbite!

"Your mom goes to college..."

Well, the anticipation is always worse than the reality. I started back to college after a twenty-three year hiatus. Thankfully, I'm not older than my professors. I am easing back into academia slowly, just two classes this semester. I'm enjoying them both. I start my day with Book of Mormon and finish with a bit of Shakespeare. I haven't been offered a senior citizen discount at the bookstore, so I guess I don't look too old. I'm looking forward to a midwinter thaw, since the cold, windy walk from the parking lot brings tears to my eyes every morning. Welcome to Rexburg!


We had a nice visit with Lynn and Carol and family last week. They came for the temple open house. Before they left for home, Lynn took Carol for a spin on Paul's snow machine.
You can tell by the grin on her face that she's hooked (ha ha ha!)


We also saw Cathy and Brian and their family when they came to the open house on Tuesday. As luck would have it, our kids were home because school had been cancelled. So Cameron and Brandon got to play together.

Paul is making good progress with his recovery and rehabilitation. He is working full time so he comes home pretty tired. But he is feeling much better than he was even a month ago. The rest of the family are well and look forward to Saturdays so we can go skiing. We're hoping for good roads and blue skies. If not, then we'll settle for halfway decent roads and anything but tornados. We may try and sneak in a few runs on Monday, too, since there's no school! If any of you would like to join us, come on up!

Happy New Year!

We thought a day at Grand Targhee would be a perfect way to start the new year. Apparently, so did half the free world! Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating, but there were alot of people. Fortunately, it's a big resort with fast lifts, so the lines weren't too long. We all had a great time. Hayden decided to ski instead of snowboard this time and had some major equipment failure...that's what happens when your boots are nearly twice as old as you are...but Mom came to the rescue with the belt off her ski pants. Problem solved! We also learned that the cat track isn't alot of fun with beginning skiers who have a hard time keeping their momentum going up the hills. Paul was pretty tired after dragging Jacob most of the way. We'll save that run for a time when Jacob has a bit more experience. The weather was perfect, blue skies and not terribly cold and best of all, no wind. Parker enjoyed it so much, he turned around and went back again yesterday with his friends. I think he's single-handedly trying to make sure we get our money's worth from our family pass! He's been seven times already.

The boys were able to drag themselves...with some assistance... out of bed and catch the bus for school this morning. Tomorrow might be a different story, since we changed the day and time for our Rexburg Temple Open House tickets to tonight at 9:30 p.m. It'll be late by the time we're finished, but it's worth the sacrifice. If any of you would like tickets, they've opened more spots for most weekdays. Go to www.lds.org/reservations for information. We hope the New Year has started well for you. If any of you are planning on attending the Open House, give us a call. We'd love to see you!