We were given season passes to Park City this year and it has brought some great times for the boys and Richard. I think that getting into a winter sport is a Good Idea in Utah so you don’t sit around and get pasty and bored. Mark has even gone a couple of times. His skis are the cutest thing.
Richard has worked hard to teach the little boys and they are really improving. We’ll post some video sometime.
Our Timothy is TEN, goes to Webelos, skiis, reads all of the time, plays piano smashingly, and continues to melt my heart every day.
Perhaps my favorite thing about Timothy these days is the way he greets me when I pick him up at school. No matter what, he’ll give me the biggest smile and hug, right in front of his friends, even if they are talking to him.
Without words, he says, “Excuse me, but I see my mom and I always give her a hug. Your story will just have to wait until tomorrow.” He gives me a hug and all of his attention shifts from his friends to me and Mark as we walk down the hill together.
I am incredibly proud of Timothy. He has made all of the transitions of the past 6 months with courage and smiles and unabashed hugs.
We gathered in the auditorium of Daniel’s school this week to surprise the winners of the Patriot of the Month award. There was a boy and girl from each grade selected and their parents were invited to write a short introduction to their child to be read at the assembly.
This is what we wrote about Daniel:
After the assembly, he got to skip class and eat muffins with the principal and parents. Good job, Daniel!
Here is the church building which we watched being built during our last year in Sahuarita. It was completed about a month after we moved away. Paige was able to attend a meeting there on Sunday. She said it was gorgeous inside. How nice to have Paige home with us again, although I am sure she came back with mixed emotions, leaving her friend and entering the inversion.
I’ve started rehearsals for a Broadway musical review. I’m playing the violin for “Tradition!” from Fiddler on the Roof and I’m singing “Trouble” from The Music Man. It’s all about the hats for me. I will be dressed as a boy for the Fiddler number. They almost let me be a mama, but they decided that it just doesn’t fit to have a mama perched up high on stage, fiddling.
Our lives are packed with good things to do.
Daniel is going on the Klondike Derby this weekend. This means he will be camping in the snow. It’s a rite of passage here. Pass the anxiety meds for the mother, please.
If the weather permits, Mark will go skiing for the first time this weekend.
Timothy and Daniel will also go skiing.
I will stay home and sip hot cocoa, which is all I ever want to do. I will also be revisiting the book, Tevye the Dairyman and the Railroad Stories near the fireplace. These are some of the compensating joys for living in the cold.
Oh, boy. It’s been a busy week. You name it, we’ve done it. I even babysat for my neighbors who have 3 month old quadruplets.
Paige begins a huge adventure this afternoon, but she has a fever. She could use your prayers. Thank you.
Happy Friday!
Post update: Paige felt much better after a lot of rest and your thoughtful prayers. She flew to Tucson for the weekend as a birthday surprise for her best friend.
These photos are evidence of many years of dance. The daily and weekly sacrifices that Paige makes to be a dancer are enormous. Paige is graceful and she is strong. We are so proud of her. It’s not easy joining such a tight-knit studio in the middle of Nutcracker rehearsals. She did a beautiful job.
Both sets of grandparents were able to come to the performance! Thank you! Thank you!
*Photo by Matt Smith Photography. Used by permission.
It’s Nutcracker week at our house. Here are some photos from Paige’s dress rehearsal.
My mom took the boys on a quick, impromptu tour of Temple Square since she had an appointment downtown.
True, the lights are beautiful, but as my Mom explains, the real beauty is the temple.
Mark really liked the scale model of the interior of the temple that they found in the visitor’s center.
The big photos were taken by Timothy. He was proud of this photo of the Christus statue.
Thanks, Grandma, for taking them to Temple Square! It was Timothy and Mark’s first trip to see the lights and probably the first trip that Daniel can remember since he was only two years old when he first saw them.
I’ve a feeling we’re not in Arizona anymore.
We woke up to snow two mornings this week. I’m enjoying the novelty and the sparkly white background outside my windows.
Our leaves aren’t down and the snow will melt soon, but what a fun afternoon we had.
