CHS Preference--2015 style!

Most of the day on Saturday was centered around getting Jena ready and off to her Preference related activities.

They had a day date to Classic skating where they were having so much fun they decided to play an extra 30 minutes.  They skated and played around and had a blast according to Gareth, Jena's date.

Then they went home and got cleaned up and dressed up.  It is amazing how beautiful they all are--

Jena and Gareth
she is the shortest and he is the tallest of the group

 They met at the Legacy Park in Syracuse for these pictures along with several other groups.  Jena knew lots of the girls when we arrived.  It was fun to see her comfortable and welcomed by her peers even those not in her group.

The FUNNY picture

And another one!

Jena and Kate
They are good friends.

The boys stare in the distance --it's a thing, apparently.

Fun flowers

And kisses from the girls!

They had dinner catered at one of the girl's homes, went to the dance in Ogden (which was awesome according to Jena and the others who went), and then went to Kate's house and played Headbandz (how do you spell that?) and Catch Phrase.  Jena got home just after mid-night, happy and content with her evening.

So fun on Facebook to watch all of the pictures of the kids being posted by their parents long before the dance even ended.  I loved talking to the teens at Church today and commenting on their dresses or ties or whatever.  It does make it feel like family as we share these things together.  Of course, Jena loved people complimenting her as well .

Oh, the high school days.........

Valentine's Day 2015

We are pretty low key about these holidays although I did decorate everyone's door during the night and gave them their favorite treat (those who live at home) and sent little gifts to the other kids.

Jena's door

 Gary and I headed out to dinner.  I didn't know where we were going and was surprised when he turned into the Carl's Junior parking lot---as I really don't care for Carl's Jr AND it was Valentine's Day after all.  We had talked about not going anywhere major since it was going to be crowded due to the holiday, but I was thinking Carl's Jr. was a bit too far down the list of preferred places.

He laughed as I reacted to Carl's Jr. and then headed back through the parking lot and parked by a strip mall.  We had dinner at a ma and pa type of place--Hibachi House which is a Japanese Grill.  It was perfect and the food was great.

And Gary was very proud of himself!  We will definitely go there again.

Grandchild Day

Austen and Niki-
the spoon feels good on his gums.

 Wednesday is the day that I watch Scarlett and I am always wishing Niki was there, too.  Tosha sent me a number of pictures of Niki so I am sharing them.


I am sure that Niki will be thrilled that I posted this
picture in our family blog when he is older.
Tosha said one day he found his nostril and kept
sticking his finger in there.  The next day and since,
he hasn't done that--she is glad.

 I decided to post this picture of Scarlett with my hat on since Niki was wearing his dad's hat.  Today we went and visited Great-grandma Hall where Scarlett mastered climbing up the one stair in her sunken living room.  This is a task all Hall grandchildren and now great-grandchildren learn early. Scarlett figured it out quickly.  However she is too little to figure out the coming down the one stairs, but she will have more practice.

Beautiful Tuesday

and actually all of this week.  The weather continues to be blue skies and awesome clouds with mild temps.  My tulips and other spring flowers are starting to pop out of the ground even though I am warning them it is much too early and a frost will certainly come.

Tuesday was a great day as Jena and I headed up to Snowbasin for her ski lesson and we got some great pictures along the way.

It is striking how little snow there is at Snowbasin.  Without the ability to manufacture snow, I doubt there would be any skiing at all up there.  As it is, there might just be a couple of more weeks when skiing will even be open.  These mild days are killing the snow.

Flags at the entrance

This is a small field where they introduce
first concepts of skis and snowboard.
They have helped mother nature a bit
with the snow.

Jena enjoyed skiing and did Becker which is a much steeper and long run than she has done this season so far.  She did great according to her teacher and they had fun singing Mary Poppins songs on the ski lifts.

We had to get gas so we stopped at a station in Morgan Green where Austen is from so we sent this picture to him to see if he could guess where we were.  He did!

On the way home the skies were amazing with some many types of clouds.  There is a spot going down Hwy. 193 to the west that I try to always notice the view.  It is a quirky thing I have.  There are certain spots that I try to not miss enjoying as I am driving or walking or whatever--each time.  No matter my mood or where I am going.  They serve to lift my spirit, cause me to slow down, or to remind myself how awesome life is.  Spots like the Provo Temple when trying through Utah county, two hilltops in Salt Lake where I once saw an amazing reflection of a sunset across the valley, you get the idea--they are all over the place.  This spot is one and so this time I asked Jena to take some pictures as we were driving down that specific spot--



Antelope Island
I took this picture to the southwest
while stopped at a stop light.
Hard to see in the picture but
you can see the island and the lake plus the sky.
At all times of the day, it is beautiful.

I once mentioned this spot in a lesson and several other women commented that they knew exactly the spot I meant because they too try to enjoy it each time.  That was awesome to know.

I loved the layers of clouds to the south--rows and rows of white, grey or in-between types of clouds.

The picture taking didn't end after we got home.  I took a couple of pictures when I got to school at the Utah State University-Kaysville campus later that evening.

Our building--where I am most Tuesday nights

 View to the southwest--the side of the building is on the right.

Sharing these pictures of clouds reminded me a statement I heard once from a LDS artist.  She was encouraging us to have art in our homes which uplifts and touches us.  Then she said, "Above the piles and clutter of life, a piece of art can still be seen and remind of important things."

I think that is what God did too.  He filled the skies and the earth and the oceans with amazing and beautiful things so that above the piles and clutter of life, we can look up (and around and down) and be renewed.  It's a good habit to have.  I love clouds!