February 29

 This was one of those years when February has an extra day. We did a couple of things that were unusual, for our normal schedule. Mike gave Ron tickets to a Spurs game for that night. Ron and Daniel went to that game and the Spurs won. I took Ashley and the kids out for dinner at Jason's Deli. I gave Hailey a new sewing machine, so that she can learn how to sew some small projects that she wants to do. Audrey did an unusual post on Facebook about a song called "Little Blue" by Jacob Collier. I wanted to share a picture from that and what she wrote. 

 Little Blue for you may be someone different than she is for me. But for me, she is my Soft & Sure (as painted by Colby Sanford) now hanging in my home. She is me as I mother my three incredible boys. She is my daughter Eve. She is my mother Debora. She is Mary mother of God.

Little blue, be my shelter

Be my cradle, be my womb

Be my boat, be my river

Be the stillness of the moon

If I could, I'd go with you

To a place I never knew

In your eyes, so dark and open

There’s a light that leads me back to you

Little blue, be my anchor

Be my light, my compass star

Be my darkness, be my danger

Be the strings of my guitar

Little blue (Little blue), how I love you (How I love you)

Somethin' strong and somethin' true

In your arms (In your arms), so dear and gentle

There's a home that leads me back to you

Don't be afraid of the dark, in your heart

You're gonna find a way

To carry the weight of the world on your shoulders

You're gonna find a way

Don’t be afraid of the light, it's alright

You're gonna find your way

To carry the weight of the world on your shoulders

You're gonna find your way home

Happy Valentines Day

 I was so focused on the birthday party for Ron, that I didn't take very many pictures of my Valentine decorations. I put them out so that we would have both Valentines and birthday decor for the party. Here are a few pictures that are mine, one from Alison and then several from Ashley. 

Surprise Birthday Celebration

 Sometime, early in January, I realized that Ron's birthday in February was number 70. I decided that we needed a celebration for that event 😉😎 I got in touch with Mike and Annie right away to see if there was any chance that they could come. We decided that the party would be on Saturday, Feb.10 because almost everyone was busy on the 17th and the 10th was good for everyone. Annie was already going to be in LA that morning to go to the temple with Savannah. Mike and Carrie could get a flight pretty easily on Southwest with a buddy pass. Alison needed some help, since they had just spent a lot of money on their Christmas trip. Audrey had "miles" that could be used to get a ticket for Alison. Sooo... all of the planning began. I also wanted to invite Dayleys, Simmons, and Goodenoughs. I spent time working on a few decorations and table set up. We gave out food assignments and airport pickups. Mike and Carrie would arrive on Friday afternoon and leave on Sunday afternoon. Alison's original plan was to get here Friday evening, but because of a "glitch" with her ticket, she arrived Saturday afternoon. And Annie arrived Saturday afternoon. Annie's schedule made me the most nervous because it would be tight for her to go to the temple and then get to the airport. Luckily, all of the flights were good and stayed on time. On Wednesday, Feb.7th, I told Ron that Mike and Carrie were coming for a quick weekend trip. On Friday morning, he asked me a few questions about that... but didn't think it was strange. We took them out for dinner on Friday evening to Olive Garden. The plan for Saturday afternoon, to get Ron out of the house was for the "guys" (Daniel, Sam, and Mike) to take him to lunch and then go to Andersons and play Pinocle. Audrey did the two airport runs to get Alison and Annie. Ashley came over and helped decorate and Carrie was here to help too, she frosted a small cake. The main dessert was cherry pie, but I wanted a small cake to put two candles in. Everything turned out perfect and yes... he was surprised. Dinner was all of his favorite food and favorite friends and favorite kids- lol. I gave Audrey a bunch of old pictures and she put together a fun video, that we showed after dinner and before dessert. (I am going to make a small birthday book out of those pictures, too.) I was pretty stressed out getting everything ready for that party and keeping it a secret. Remember, I am a "detail" person, so I had tons of details to worry about. And luckily Ron doesn't pay very close attention to what I am doing around here. He didn't even know that I made three pie crusts and a cake, one morning. lol. I slept much better after it was all over. 😉😚The other side benefit of Mike and Carrie coming, is now they have been to our house and know a little of our life here. And I think it was a good little weekend getaway for Annie and Alison.

January Snowmen

 Here is my normal January snowmen post. At least this year we had some cold weather, making the snowmen a little more practical and in season.

Happy New Year

 Simms had left the day after Christmas, but Christiansens were still here for New Years. Jaden left to go out to Utah, to go to school. Emmy and Mason went to the temple for the first time. After Christiansens went home, it took us awhile to adjust to "just us" and "just boring" again, but with a house to clean up and laundry to do- lol. I doubt that Elder Simms had any birthday celebration. (I included a Christmas pic of him and another fun pic. He met another Elder that was from a family the Annie and Alex knew when they lived in Houston.) Ryan celebrated his birthday, with friend party. That pretty much covers January. 😉