January Happenings

 Putting all the Christmas decorations out in December is a LOT more fun than taking them all down in January.  Even though I have donated some decorations, I still have a ridiculous amount.  I can't blame it totally on my mother and her love for Christmas. I definitely take some of the credit or blame depending on how you look at it.  It have 33 boxes of decorations.  And I love every single one of them.

When they were all put away I relaxed with a delicious original Dr. Pepper that John and Monica gave me, put my feet up and enjoyed a bit of TV!

Almost every week since November of 2022, I've gone to the Family Search Center to work on scanning our 30 boxes of slides.  It has been a slow and frustrating process.  If the scanner is cooperating (and it hardly ever is) scanning 50 slides takes a bit more than 2 1/2 hours. The carousels average about 120 photos each.  For most of the year they have had 2 scanners so that made it faster.  

The center director was reluctant to tell me that they were getting a new super fast and efficient scanner.  I am just glad they got it before I was finished. 

It scans a slide every 4 seconds and is super easy to operate. 

That's 900 in a hour...well that isn't exactly right because it takes time to put them in and take them out of the carousel....but even 500 an hour is an amazing improvement!

Finishing my last 8 boxes will be a snap!

Pretty impressive huh?

The forecast keeps calling for snow.

And we have gotten a bit.

Saturday night we had several inches and the sun was shining bright on Sunday morning.

And the sky was so blue.

It was magical with the snow sparkling in the sun.

I love it and as always my mantra is

LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW!

A White Christmas

Well truthfully we didn't have a white Christmas but we had a white week after Christmas!  Even in my old age I just LOVE the snow but I do admit to  being more cautious as I walk on the snowy sidewalks.

Last year Mary said that Jackson was scared of the snow.  This year he overcame that fear and loved it like I do.  

Snowball fights were fun but with very specific rules.  #1 He could throw at anybody #2 Nobody could throw at him. #3 He could direct us as to exactly who we could hit....usually Mommy!  The boy is a bit bossy!  Runs in our family!

Jackson didn't shy away from all the work that a snow entails. 

From supervising Isabella filling the bird feeders so the 'birdies wouldn't be hungry'... 

To cleaning off Uncle Matt's car....

And helping Grandma shovel.....he participated in it all!

And even shoveled by himself.

I can say that he is definitely a snow loving boy now!

And our Bella is a snow princess. Her mantra like mine is, "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Valentines, Snow and Vaccines!

For the past couple of weeks,  I have been trying to get an appointment for a COVID-19 vaccine.  I checked clinics and pharmacies multiple times a day but never had any success.  Friday night about 10:30, I tried one more time and scored an appointment at the Fred Meyer Pharmacy!  Yeah!  Now I just hope that they don't run out of vaccine before then!

In other news, my prayers for snow finally were heard and we had a beautiful storm!  Why do I love the snow so much?  It is just so peaceful, well peaceful as long as I can stay home and watch it fall.

"I find myself mesmerized by the falling flakes again.  A snowfall is like a fresh start, or a cover for past problems. Sometimes both."

Favorite quote from a novel I just finished that was set in South Dakota. 

While Johnny and Monica enjoyed a Valentine's Day dinner out, George and I had fun entertaining Isabella.   Do Johnny and I look alike?  Facebook facial recognition software thinks so!  Every time Monica posts a photo of Johnny, I get an alert that she may have posted a photo of me.

Isabella and I had fun practicing cutting and gluing to make a Valentine for her Mommy and Daddy.

I think  they turned out pretty cute!  I tried to talk George into taking the one I made into work and hanging it in his cubicle but nothing doing there.

I do love my family to 'pieces'!

This was from last March in Dubai when we thought mask wearing was a novelty!  Little did we know that we wouldn't be leaving the house without a mask for months and months and months with no end in sight!

A last photo of my little Valentine and wild child Isabella enjoying the snow and a crazy sled ride!  She loves to go fast and has no fear!