Temple Sessions and Kimball-isms

My old friends and I have decided to save the first Friday every month as a play date, otherwise we'd never see each other. It has been soooo nice to see them more regularly and have girl time. We also decided that we'd go to the temple once a month or every other month as our schedules allow, and on this cold January day we all went to do sealings. Chris brought several family names and it was really special to be there with her for that.

Left to right: Julie Ramos, me, Chris Frazier, and Jean Gene

Kimball was able to do a baptism session with the Brimhall's, our old neighbors. When he got home I asked how it went and he said, "My jumpsuit was so small that when I moved my shoulders, it felt like I was being neutered!"

Dad was asking Kimball which twin was which in his deacon's quorum and Kimball said, "You can tell by counting their zits!'
 

More January Happenings

This winter has been unusually warm with very little rain or snow and it is ALWAYS overcast. It drives me crazy, I need sunlight! About this time every year I always ask myself why we're not snowbirds yet. The kids and I decided to tie dye some t-shirts to beat the winter blues and they turned out really great! 

One morning I checked on Ezra to see if he was awake yet and I found him sleeping like this - his head totally off the bed.

This toothless cutie lost three teeth in one week!

Kimball hasn't been sleeping great lately so one night he came down to sit by me and fell alseep looking like a baby with his hands curled up by his face.

Ezra's invention - a cannon/bullet holder.

Cora got student of the month!

 

Nate Bargatze!!!

As soon as I heard Nate Bargatze was in town I immediately got tickets to see him.  We had fantastic seats and ended up going with 4 other friends and it was such a fantastic night! We never stopped laughing and our cheeks hurt by the end of the evening, definitely a show to remember!!

 

An Unusual Weekend

One Friday in the middle of January we woke up to a cold house and discovered that the furnace stopped working. Luckily I was able to get a repairman there quickly, but unluckily we had to replace the whole furnace. Since it was Friday we had to wait until Monday to get the new furnace installed......sigh.......this is not how I was expecting our weekend to go. We decided the best plan was to just stay at the bnb for a few days until we had heat again. Blessing #1 the furnace didn't die the week before when temperatures were -15 and blessing #2 we had a bnb not being utilized.

After school we packed up our bags and headed to the hockey game as planned and stayed at the bnb for four nights. I went back home every day to prepare dinner and continue chores as usual, but brought dinner back to the bnb where we all enjoyed it, followed by games or a movie. The kids absolutely loved it! They thought it was like a mini vacation.

Murphy just chilling at the bnb.

Dad and Kimball catching up on homework.

Cora, Ezra, and I playing games.

 

During the hockey game that Friday we captured on video our employee who had been stealing money from us. We had been trying for a few weeks to figure out who it was and ultimately set up cameras. Lance had to deal with all of that aftermath which was not fun.

The day we got home from the bnb I was getting food from the garage freezer and discovered water running down the garage wall. Lance cut away the wood and sheetrock to figure out where it was coming from, and I had to hire and after-hours plumber to come fix that which turned out to be the pipe where the two upstairs toilets connect together. There's a huge 10 foot long hole in my garage that needs to be fixed. We also discovered the leak was improperly fixed from the previous homeowner so there was black mold everywhere - along the wood, sheetrock, insulation, etc. Gross! I'm still waiting for my handyman guy to come fix that gaping hole.

While at the bnb we found the bathroom sink leaks a tiny bit when water is running. We still have to replace that sink. Ugh.

So it was an expensive weekend and a bit frustrating but everything worked out just fine in the end. One of those times when so much goes wrong that you just have to laugh and count your blessings.

Random January Photos

Cora thought this was the best prank, "Mom, come quick, the toilet is smoking!" It always makes me laugh.

After school about 4:00 I couldn't find Cora. I found her fast asleep with her hand still bookmarking her page.

Have you seen a cuter way to spell Grandma Julie?!

Johnny is still cold all the time so Donna crocheted him a full face mask, haha.

I was heading into the office one morning about 8:30 am and the wind was just whipping so fast, it was frigid outside. As I got onto the interstate, I saw this little old lady with wind-blown hair with her thumb in the air. Now, Lance has had several scary encounters with hitchhikers so I'm not prone to stop and help. But this particular morning I didn't even think about it, I just saw her in the freezing wind and immediately pulled over. Her hands were so cold she couldn't open the door and asked for a ride to Post Falls or CDA. On the way I found out she walks everywhere and doesn't have a car, she either stays in a motel or with friends and she used to be a nurse when she was younger. Her kids and grandkids don't speak to her, and her husband died some years ago. She told me she's 80 years old which I couldn't believe because her mind was very sharp with a great memory. I told her about my own children and family and when I got into Post Falls she asked me to drop her off at a gas station. I asked if she'd had any breakfast and the only cash I had was $6. She took it and said she'd pray for my sweet babies.

While putting her seat belt on I took her picture just in case anything happened to me, and in case she was a missing person. It was such an odd encounter because given her age I thought maybe she had dementia and didn't know where she was, maybe she wandered off from an assisted living place, maybe she was hurt, etc. But after our conversation I learned she just has a different way of living and was a very intelligent woman! I was just happy to get her out of the cold.

 

Cox Legacy

John: "So I have a second cousin, Judy King who has visited my dad's cousin June Zimmerman in NC, and she keeps finding photos I have never seen before. These are a couple of classic looking photos of your great grandfather, George Cox. I have the squirrel rifle that's in the photo. The girl in the photo is Maude Smith, my grandfather's second wife. They married in 1918. These have been colorized."

George Cox is the squirrel hunter on the left.

Another photo of George Cox, Lance's great grandfather. What a handsome man!

This is a colorized photo of baby John and his father, Thomas Franklin Cox.