Month: February 2017

  • Three Months in One Fell Swoop

    Even though much has happened since I blogged last, I've decided to focus on the past three months with a photo dump and an attempt to catch up.

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    Our boys and my sister's boys love to spend time together and we were having trouble finding a weekend that worked for us to get together, so we finally decided to do a field trip together at the Monocacy Battlefield near Frederick Maryland. We had plenty of time for visiting as well as learning.

    In December we began thinking about our planned trip to New Mexico for Christmas. Since this trip would mark the fifth anniversary of Dad's death, I found myself working through quite a few emotions. On Christmas Sunday we drove out to the mission for church and before the service, we stopped at the cemetery

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    It was a cold morning, and as I stood by Dad's grave, I could see the home where I was raised, the school where I taught until I got married, and the church where I first responded to the call of the gospel and where Dean and I were married almost 23 years ago.

    We snapped a photo in front of the church before going inside for worship. Even though it's been remodeled, the sign over the door has the same message that it had I was a kid.

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    As the song service began, I found myself almost unable to sing as memories and emotions overcame me. We sang "Joy to the World" - a Christmas song that always reminds me of dad because of his strong bass voice. Jeremy, who carries Dad's name as his middle name, sat next to me and sang the bass part in both English and Navajo songs.

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    The rest of the day was spent at my mother's house where we enjoyed family, food and fellowship. Since our trips to New Mexico usually happen every other year, I had lots of catching up to do with all of my great neices.

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    Throughout the week, we had something going on every day. Jeremy showed off his beard (which has since dissapeared.)

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    JJ was more than pleased when Jonathan gave him antlers for his room.

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    My brother helped all three boys to make knives in his well-equipped workshop.

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    They were more than pleased with the results.

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    Mid-week, we drove up to Colorado to visit Dean's sister and her family and took a side trip to Four Corners. After watching several groups try different goofy poses, our family opted for something more formal, but they were in four states.

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    The Colorado cousins seemed pleased to have their Virginia cousins for an overnight visit.

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    And JJ was thrilled to drive a 4-wheeler even though it seemed too cold for such an activity.

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    The boys had several excursions around town with Dean, while I spent time with Mom working on projects. And all too soon it was time to head east again.

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    We came home to a house that was half packed and a realtor that was working furiously to get a close date for us. With lots of prayer and her hard work, we finally watched our home of 13 years loaded up and we said good bye to our home in the country.

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    After being homeless overnight, we moved into our new home near town and the unpacking began.

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    We're still not settled in, but my sister and her family came for a weekend and helped with some painting. Now the kitchen is all one color instead of mostly yellow with one turquoise wall.

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    When the boys came down with the flu, I took advantage of the down-time to fix the clock I'd inherited from my grandparents.

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    And just because I like the picture. The boys enjoy dressing up and have added bow ties to their wardrobes.

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    We still have boxes to unpack, but each day we settle in a little bit more and find another reason for enjoying our new home. We are thankful to be closer to many of our activities and are eager to see how that will work out in gas savings. What began as a dream and a prayer last spring is now our reality and we have much to be thankful for.