U4ia: BYU Spring Break

So Miranda came home from her mission a couple weeks early to have some surgery, but I have this great excuse to still write our family history down, since her novio is still on his mission in Paris, France for the next year. So until May 9, 2019, I'll still write a missionary letter for our blog posts. =)

You heard me right. This year BYU had a 5 day spring break! For one person.

K wait. I HAVE to show you an Inktober drawing that didn't make it in the letter in October. I think it got buried under a whole bunch of other uber important papers, and now here it is! This one is prompted by the word Star. I am so good. I especially love the nose of this person... or is it a bunny? hard to tell exactly what is driving this car.

And these pictures got completely missed from last Saturday. How?!?!? This sky had to be documented.

And my son drove himself to his friend's bday party. It was so cool to see him drive away in his manual truck. Independence! So happy for him.

And Daylight Savings time happened. This is the year that everyone is complaining so much about the loss of the hour of sleep. I can hardly believe how many conversations start with something about "catching up" and dragging and they can't stand it. Ha! So here's a meme:

Ok, finally we start this week! Monday, Sterling was so funny about a video we were watching of Boxers. He was intent the whole time... we know he misses Zeus; but he couldn't take his eyes off the screen, watching & listening to the dog do the same kinds of things Zeus did, especially the little bark/talk/whine he used to do to get small animals to trust him and accept him as a friend... kind of a little begging, talking conversation with them.

Also, so exciting that this all dropped. The First Presidency and Quorum of the 12 Apostles were all in Rome and have recorded tours and testimonies on the temple grounds. Such a historic moment in history!!!

On Tuesday, I went to my dad's shop to help my mom sort through some stuff and throw some obvious things away. When I drove up, I had to get a picture of his logo on the business park sign.

My dad kept everything useful. He still used my mom's trek bucket to keep things in; see the fabric & lace on the bucket? And I LOVE that he used the inside of the cabinet doors to test spray paint. I hope someone is keeping this cabinet in the family.

Miranda came home! She started out just coming for homework and a movie.

We went to How to Train Your Dragon 3. It was on par with the other ones, aka: epic. We love these movies.

Then Morgan & Derek & I went straight to a Trek Square Dance learning night at the Stake Center. Square dancing is fun once you start doing it!

And then the blizzard started. It started before midnight, keeping Miranda from leaving, and went through the next day... hard to tell from pictures how hard the wind was gusting and how low the visibility was... the cameras actually picking up a LOT more than it showed us in real life.

So Miranda looked ahead at her classes & labs and declared herself on Spring Break... not the usual sight out your window during spring break, but we weren't complaining!! Especially no complaints from the little dog, who was in permanent Happy Place.

Backing over the literally 3 foot high drift behind the garage door. Luckily all our vehicles (actually the van is the worst) handle the snow like virtual bosses.

Connor still went to Cub Scouts to the Hutchings Museum, exploring natural history.

And I went over to the HS for a choir tour parent meeting... it's getting real. Carlie & I will be in NYC in about a week! Here's her famous choir director Lois Johnson. Her resume and accomplishments are so vast. But she stays at Lone Peak because of her love of the children. The room is lines with plaques, awards & trophies from all over the world.

Thursday was my mom & my brother Grant's birthday. Scott & KelsiJo and Aaron & Kiri met us for dinner at Tokyo Steakhouse. The hibachi grill is so fun, and our chef was so entertaining and skilled. =)

He made Mom & Grant a "cake" for their bday... a rice cake.

Since it was Pi Day, we went back to our house for pie!

This is also the day that James came to live with us for 6 days, while his parents go out of town. Guess if they get to sleep really fast every night.

Friday morning I was SO PROUD of my LP kids. They got up early and went to the morningside that started at SIX FIFTEEN to see Jack Christianson speak.

On Friday, guess who came to play? Since he had such a good time with Zeus his last day, Hoss has been coming around more. We put water out for him, but poor guy. This is the evidence that Hoss is around. Sterling runs to the highest point in the house and sits with his fur on end and eyes wide. This is what keeps Sterling alive. =)

And then we had an adventurous night. Connor went with all his friends to Nathan's house to hang out,

While Miranda took this crew to the temple (Timp ended up actually being closed, so they were at Provo CC),

because Carlie had her Morp day date decorating their t-shirts before the dance.

Theme was Party in the USA, so they all quizzed & got their states and BAM:

Her friend Andrew Yazzie - best last name ever - was such a fungi. He said he was half mexican & half Navajo. Super cool.

After the uber fun dance (at which the other guy in the group did NOT DANCE. How do you even do that? Still on the dance floor and hands in pockets. Super awk.), they came back here and played games and had treats.

Saturday, my older kids came through for me. We went back to my dad's shop to clean it out. It has to be cleared out by April 1, so we're trying to sift through it, giving things away to family, trying to sell things with a lot of value. My kids went through with rags and cleaned the dust off everything they saw. Huge difference. Thank you so much. =)

Oh, and of course they worked on their album cover.

It's a thing.

Ah. My dad's shop. It holds so much nostalgia for us; not just because of the current shop, but all the tools and essence of it are the accumulation of our whole lives with him: a lot of the memorabilia (scroll saws, sanders, paint guns) are things my siblings have used with him for years back in Havasu.

Yes, a lot of our letters are taken up with news of the pets, but they are important to us. The pets are so funny together. They're missing their glue; we all miss him.

On Sunday, our family study included trying to lift something heavy by ourselves. Then lifting it with other people. The coffee table is NOT KIDDING AROUND. It is massively weighty. But with everyone doing their part, not too bad... just like life. Just like the gospel.