Quotes of the Week

"The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone, but the things you do for others remain as your legacy."
-- Kalu Kalu

"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are."
-- John Wooden

"Renew, release, let go. Yesterday's gone. There's nothing you can do to bring it back. You can't 'should've' done something. You can only DO something. Renew yourself. Release that
attachment. Today is a new day!"
-- Steve Maraboli

A Literal Ice Rink

I had some excitement today. Driving around town in a freezing rain storm was not the best idea. Anyone who didn't need to be out today shouldn't. I had to be out. It was treacherous.

Everything was a sheet of ice. The roads. The parking lots. The sidewalks. The driveways. All of it. No escaping it. I should have worn ice skates.

Although...I'm not sure ice skates would have worked to help me maneuver out of the slippery slope I found myself on once the car slid down the driveway and lodged itself into the snowbank next to the mailbox.

It was terrifying getting myself out of the car and traversing the ice going uphill trying to stay upright while inching myself toward the safety of the garage. So little ground to cover, so much ice to navigate.

Where were my crampons when I needed them?

Fortunately I made it from the car up to the less steep side of the driveway and plunged into the snow (avoiding the yellow snow of course) as a safety measure. Despite the depth of the snow and the extremely crusty, top layer, it provided much more traction for getting from the end of the driveway to the top of the driveway in safety.

WHEW!! I have never been so ecstatic to travel the relatively short distance from the mailbox to the garage in my life! Safety! No fractured skull or broken hip! I did it!

Once my heart calmed down and my body quit shaking at my near-death experience (yes, I envisioned myself slipping on the ice and sliding down under the car and not being able to get myself out and no one seeing me to rescue me and that would be the end of me), I came to my senses and tried to figure out my next plan of action.

Salt! That was the answer to my problem. Down to the water softener I went to collect containers full of salt. I threw it all out onto the driveway and watched each little pellet slide around on the ice.

Ah ha! A few minutes later I noticed the ice becoming thinner in spots. I grabbed the snow shovel and started pounding on the ice to break it up.

Soon I saw a beautiful sight--a good Samaritan walking up the street carrying an ice scraper. Bishop Cowley saw my plight and came to my rescue.

He had already scraped his own driveway, scraped Dickson's driveway (on right--notice Stewart's driveway on left is a sheet of ice) and scraped Winder's driveway earlier in the day.

He scraped our driveway. He scraped underneath the car to get some traction for the tire wheels. He urged me into the car. He cheered me on when the car moved forward and up into its spot in the garage. His wife  came up to help chip our ice. Thank goodness for wonderful neighbors!

After work, Glen was able to drive right up the steep side of the driveway to get his car into the garage. The sign of a job well done!

Quotes of the Week

"Sometimes when I'm talking, my words can't keep up with my thoughts. I wonder why we think faster than we speak... Probably so we can think twice!"
-- Bill Watterson

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning."
-- Albert Einstein

"No one rises above who he or she has been without first having fallen down. The best time -- in fact, the only time -- to make a real change in your life is in the moment of seeing the need for it. He who hesitates always gets lost in the hundred reasons why tomorrow is a better day to get started."
-- Guy Finley

Lake Effect Snowstorm

It's been snowing and snowing and snowing and snowing around here. Like for three days and nights straight. Turns out we got many inches more snow than some of the ski resorts. We have never had this much snow before on our back deck.

The grill is almost blended right into the white scenery.

The weathermen call it lake effect snow. We call it way too much snow for one snowstorm!!!

All we know is there was so much snow for Glen to deal with. He not only clears off all our snow, but has also been helping take care of the neighbor across the street from us who has recently had a hip replacement and needs the other hip replaced soon.

That's a lot of driveway for Glen to keep clean after he's already done our driveway. And Glen doesn't just stop with that neighbor. He helps the other neighbors as well.

He was never so happy to see blue sky once again.

We're hoping it means NO MORE SNOW!!! At least for a while to let his muscles recover from this storm.

Quotes of the Week

"Growing into your future with health and grace and beauty doesn't have to take all your time. It rather requires a dedication to caring for yourself as if you were rare and precious, which you are, and regarding all life around you as equally so, which it is."
-- Victoria Moran

 "Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for."
-- Epicurus

 "There's always going to be bad stuff out there. But here's the amazing thing -- light trumps darkness, every time. You stick a candle into the dark, but you can't stick the dark into the light."
-- Jodi Picoult

The Rest of the Christmas Holiday

Abe and Ben had big plans for some fun times while they were together. The fun included going to movies and going skiing/snowboarding. This is their happy faces knowing that in a couple of hours they would be on the slopes.

Their reward for a long day of skiing and Klarissa's reward for a long day of being housebound on a snowy day was take-out Mandarin. Before anyone starts salivating thinking they missed out on a delicious meal--it was a big disappointment. I made the mistake of trying to order some of it dairy-free and gluten-free (to accommodate my new food restrictions) and the results were disastrous!! Sorry again, family!!

This is the crazed-Abe look. He and Ben were not very happy that my special order caused them to wait 45 minutes at the restaurant. Double sorry once again for that little inconvenience!

Abe chillin' with the babe.

Some little people came up to chill with Abe, Klarissa and Newland.

Caroline loved getting Newland to smile.

Well, let's face it--maybe Brooke didn't really care all that much about Abe, Klarissa or Newland. Her mind was on coloring a picture.

This particular day--two days after Christmas--was a red-letter day for me. It was the day I got to hold Newland. I was finally feeling much better and my coughing was much improved. I felt strong and able to watch the little guy while his parents were off playing.

Here's this baby's beautiful mother. Klarissa was getting ready to go on a fun outing with her family. Too bad Abe had to do some work and ended up not being able to go with them.

Haley was back from her Christmas vacation in New York with her family. Ben enlisted the help of several cute girls to get his favorite chocolate/Oreo ice cream made.

Brooke's job was to fill the bucket with snow since we didn't have enough ice for the ice cream mixer.

Abe playing with Rebecca's kids.

Who likes Papa John's pizza??????

Sarah's family also wanted in on some of the fun with her brothers.

It was a real treat for us to go to "Music and the Spoken Word" Sunday morning. We got there so early we had our choice of up-front seats. What a great way to start the Sabbath day.

Here we are having Sunday dinner.

Notice Abe and Klarissa eating in the quarantine area.

The reason is Klarissa and Newland were trying to avoid all the sickness everyone else in the family had been getting since I started it all off. Abe should have been on the sick table with the rest of the family.

Jeff's phone kept Eli happy while the adults were playing a game.

Another thing that kept Eli entertained for a long time was wearing the army guys' bucket on his head. So funny and so cute. He even wanted it on when watching the popcorn pop.

The end of December had come which meant the end of Abe, Klarissa and Newland's visit here with us.

So long cute family. Thanks for coming. We love you! Happy New Year! See you again soon...we hope!!!

Christmas Day

Just for the record--this was our best Christmas EVER!! The reason is we all slept in. There were no little children in this house necessitating an early rising. Well, there was a baby...Newland...but he wasn't aware it was Christmas and he didn't have an agenda of needing to be up super early so he could open up all his Christmas presents before the crack of dawn.

When Ben finally moseyed down to the kitchen for breakfast, he was happy to see Santa had gifted the Thomas household with the traditional little cereals.

Glen wanted to try his hand at a different version of prime rib for Christmas dinner. Last one was covered in rock salt. This one was covered in herbs and seasonings. Yes--that is Glen actually chopping up fresh thyme. He was quite the meat chef. Thankfully, we had so many leftovers from the night before that I didn't even have to make anything to go along with it.

I was finally starting to feel the second 10-day round of antibiotic kicking in to fight off the pneumonia. That many days of being so sick definitely took its toll on me. I was feeling much better on Christmas than the day before, so things were definitely looking up!

Here are Abe, Klarissa, Newland and Ben ready to open gifts.

Rebecca and Sarah's families had done their stockings and Santa gifts at their own homes and joined us here at 11 a.m. to open presents together. Brooke was super anxious to show us what she had gotten. Looks like a My Little Pony extravaganza for her.

Let's just say we may have heard the Ponyville ferris wheel music at least a thousand times that day.

Poor Carson was sporting a cut eye. We were happy it didn't need stitches.

Abe kept the little people entertained for a few minutes with his car antics.

Caroline was having a great time lounging on the couch eating her little cereal while we had family pictures taken by the Christmas tree.

We were missing Jacob in this sibling picture.

Time for the presents!!!

We had the best idea ever!! We fed the little kids lunch at noon and then when the prime rib was done cooking in the mid afternoon, we were able to have an adult dinner while the kids napped or played with their new toys. It was perfect!

Brooke and Caroline talked Glen into playing Candy Land with them.

Mom and Dad arrived on the scene in time for dinner...or so they thought... Dinner was delayed quite a bit because it was taking the prime rib much longer to cook than the recipe suggested.

It was a good time for Mom and Dad to open their gifts. Look! We have matching gifts... Let the tradition of going to see plays at Hale Centre Theatre continue!

Sarah and Rebecca not only gave us updated photos of their families, they gave photos to their grandparents as well.

While waiting for the prime rib to cook, we all congregated in the living room to read the story of the birth of Christ. Here are Dallas and Rebecca cuddling on the couch. They were thinking about their anniversary the next day.

Dad was ecstatic when Abe loaded all his ward's phone numbers into his new cell phone. Dad's trying hard to become a cell phone enthusiast.

Dad was chosen to be the one to read from the Bible.

During the reading, Carson was eyeing Caroline's new baby doll. She was trying to distract him with the rattle.

When she wasn't looking, he went in for the grab.

   Dinner finally is served. And boy was it worth the wait! YUM!! Great job, Chef Glen!!!!

Finished up the evening with a rousing game of cards. (Notice Brooke takes the importance of wearing a helmet very seriously.)

The end of a very lovely Christmas day.