Valentine's Month

Pretty much ever since New Years Day Rebecca has been plotting and scheming and preparing for Valentines Day.  (now that it's over, she's moved on to our anniversary).  She gets super excited about most holidays but especially ones where she gets to prove how much she loves me (in case i forget or something). A few weeks ago she put up a flyer advertising the Be Mine Valentine Ball and then left a cryptic puzzle-style note in my car inviting me to it.  It was like in high school, where you asked out people to dances in fun, elaborate ways.  So, in addition to the "Ball", there was also a whole day's worth of pre-dance activities.  Here's the summary of the day's events with the clues/notes that I found along the way.

Here are some other photos of the events/gifts.

 

Snowshoeing!

A week ago on Saturday we were able to go snowshoeing with my brothers. My grandparents generously tended Austin for us while we drove up Little Cottonwood Canyon and meet up with Allan, Katie, and Ben. We tried snowshoeing up the Red Pine Lake Trail, though we definitely didn't have time to make it all the way to the lake. I don't know if we would have made it in any case; the trail became a bit more difficult to follow the further we went. Since we had never been in the area before, I am not entirely sure if we were on the trail or not.

Either way, we were very grateful that there was enough snow there to go. Plus, it was really beautiful! A fog kept coming in and out as we went, creating some particularly dramatic effects. The beauty of this earth fills me with joy, and I feel so fortunate for opportunities to get out in the mountains and into nature like this. (I just wish I had thought to take more pictures of us, and not just the landscape.)

I am also really grateful my brothers enjoy doing things like this with us. It is nice to have people to go with, and it is fun to spend time with my siblings.

I also thought I would share these pictures of a few late Christmas gifts I made my family. These were made by quilling, a method that involves winding thin strips of paper up in rolls and then shaping those rolls. I haven't done a lot of quilling, so I learned a lot as I went with these:

Uncle Bob

Our new year started out on a bit of a somber note as we attended the funeral of my Great Uncle Bob. His first wife, my Aunt Jan, the twin sister of my grandma, passed away while I was still attending BYU. They were identical twins, and I sometimes got them mixed up when we were all together. I have many fond memories of spending time with Uncle Bob as a child on his motor boat. I also remember swimming in his indoor pool in the basement of his house. He was really nice to invite us to do fun things with them.

Uncle Bob & Aunt Jan

We left before someone decided to take this picture of everyone

From Christmas & New Years

Nate had the entire week between Christmas and New Years off from work, which was really nice for all of us. We relaxed and home and did some more things with family. We had my family and Nate's sister Melissa's family over one evening for dinner. Since we had Melissa's family for Christmas this year, we gave them their gifts while they were over.

They also received a couple handmade gifts from us. The younger kids got a puzzle like the one we made Austin, and there was a more complex tree puzzle for everyone else in the family.

We spent New Years Eve hanging out with Nate's family (or at least parts of his family that were here in Northern Utah). Then on New Years Day we tried snowshoeing again. We were so happy that there was more snow! We headed up Battle Creek Canyon a little ways.

The Sunday after Christmas was Austin's last Sunday in nursery. Now he is a Sunbeam. It is quite an adjustment for kids to go from nursery to primary. The first couple weeks he cried a lot when we left him with his new class, and during singing time his first week there he made a run for nursery. He had a few primary leaders chasing him out the door.