Dubious - doubtful, uncertain, questionable, and unreliable. Around the first of the month, we got about 3-4 in. of wet snow and then more light snow on Christmas Day with rain in-between. We had days where we weren't wearing coats, just light jackets, and days that were REALLY cold! We just never really knew what to expect and what would happen most days.
We bought a new snowblower two years ago and have hardly needed to use it. Dale gets all excited with 2-3 inches now so he can pull it out. Those boys love their toys, and have got to use them.
On the bright side though, the mountains were getting snow when we weren't. Not a ton, but enough to give us a good start and keep us in pretty good shape for the summer. A hidden blessing, for us fair-weather people, right?
With the lack of a lot of snow it has helped with the construction of homes, and it hasn't really stopped the work being done on the Smithfield Temple where construction started on June 18, 2022. It's coming along and they are estimating the completion date to be in early to mid - 2025. That's not too far away!! We can see it lit up at night now, and before we know it, we'll be able to serve in it. What a blessing it will be for our area.
We started off the month by taking Langston to the Fun Park and out to eat at Mo' Betta's. We were having so much that we forgot to take any pictures. But trust me, we put a smile on Langston's face, and we all had a good time.
We were able to catch some of the USU Aggie basketball games. They played Wyoming, UT Tech, South Florida State (Matt went to that one with Dale), and won all of those games! They played UC San Diego and ended up with their first loss, but it was a good game. This new coach and the players are doing AWESOME!! Our local guy, Mason Falslev, from Benson is playing really well, and making a name for himself. Go Aggies!!
Dales still serving and learning the ropes by being an Asst. Recorder in the temple, and I served in the Logan Temples Youth Center and helped a cute family of 3 have a special day. An acquaintance of theirs had a daughter who got into drugs and was in and out of jail so much that she had her daughter taken away from her. The parents of this gal knew this couple was thinking about adopting, so they asked them if they'd want to take their grand-daughter into their home and they did, so she was sealed to them. The older kids were so cute with their new sister. Very touching to know the story behind this and the love that was shown. The grand-parents to the little girl felt it best to keep their grand-daughter out of their family dynamics, due to the mom's life situation, but in good care. Blessings all around.
Dale and I also got in an endowment session this month as a way to give the gift of obtaining celestial glory for one of our ancestors.
I ushered for "The Nutcracker" ballet again, and for a men's trio, "Gentri", that has great harmony. I also ushered for "Mannheim Steamroller" and Pickleville Theaters - "Juanito Bandito and the Shootout at Jingle Junction". It was a busy month at the Eccles.
Dale and I were invited to go to the American Festival Chorus' Christmas Concert with Matt and Savannah Shaw as the guest artists, at the Daines Concert Hall on the USU campus, by Floyd and Alison Griffiths. We went to dinner at Stonefire Pizza before the concert with them to make it a nice evening. All were great shows and truly got me into the Christmas feels.
Dale and Amie's boy, Langston, took advantage of one of the warmer days and went fishing at First Dam by the mouth of Logan Canyon. Sadly, Dale out fished Langston (he never caught a fish), so they didn't take any pictures, but memories were made.
We joined up with Andrew, Lindsay and their family and met the Mallory's, and the Hassell's at Garrett and Zandra's house in Mountain Green for dinner and then went to Morgan's Live Nativity. With it being our second time to experience this, it was still a pretty neat experience for all. The kids loved the live animals, Horses, goats, and sheep. They had a live camel and donkey as well. A good way to help us remember the real meaning of Christmas and get in some family time before Christmas.
Dale and I helped move the Cache Valley Humanitarian Center out of the Conservice space we were occupying in the Wasatch Management building in south Logan to the old elementary school in River Heights. All of my siblings went to elementary school in this building, so it tells you how old it is. We are glad to have a more permanent place for the CVHC though, and it will work out fine. We're using three rooms; the gym for making the sleeping mats, a classroom (my 6th grade room) for the quilting, and another classroom (my 4th grade room) for the assembly room to do up hygiene kits and back to school backpacks, as well as to use as a conference room.
Talk about a step back in time...the colors of the walls, and the tile in the bathrooms are still the same!! They did put some carpet in the gym, and put some dividers in some of the rooms as well. By the time we got everything put in order, it ended up looking pretty good. Next month we'll be back in business.
Dale and I were also able to watch the Hassell kids for a bit while dad and mom were in Minnesota with family for an NFL football game of the Minnesota Vikings. While we were watching June and Brooks, we took them to see the Zoo Lights of Willow Parks "Zootah" so we could do Nora's birthday date to celebrate her 8th birthday. It was pretty cold, but we bundled up and all had a good time. We ate at Big J's in Richmond so Nora could have her favorite french fries and then went to the zoo. The animals weren't really active but seeing the lights made up for it. Happy Birthday Nora! We love you!
We took the kids back to South Weber to stay at their house for a couple of days so that June could go to her gymnastics class, dance class, and pre-school. We even had a day that was so nice that we took the kids on a walk around the neighborhood. Those kids are so cute, but so busy. We were glad we could help out though.
With Andrew a part owner of Stonefire Pizza he wanted to do something fun for the holidays at the restaurant. So.... he asked Dale and I if we'd be Mr. & Mrs. Santa for a night. Dale was a bit hesitant, but once we got the red suit on him, he came to life. They set up a room that had a winter scene backdrop and let anyone that wanted to, get a picture with Santa or both of us. I think we looked pretty good, don't you?
I think we may do it again next year. Seeing kids light up was worth it for me.
Amie & Matt's youngest, Mazin, had his birthday on Christmas Eve. We got in his birthday date a couple of days early. He too wanted to go to Fun Park, but he wanted to eat at Pizza Pie Cafe, so that's what we did for his date. Happy Birthday Mazin!
Our Christmas Eve was spent at Andrew and Lindsay's house with them and the Mallory's. We had a nice ham dinner, visited, and watched a Christmas video. Christmas morning, we woke up to a dusting of snow on the ground to give us that wintry Christmas feel. We slept in, had breakfast, read from Luke 2 about Christ's birth, put our baby Jesus in the manger (a tradition we started with the kids when they were little) and then we opened our gifts. It's a bit different without kids to add that excitement, but we were treated well. One special gift was one that Jaxson had given us with a letter. It was a plate from the area he has been serving in. He bought it before he came to UT and wrote the letter while on the plane. Very thoughtful and touching. Then we went to Mallory's for dinner, visiting and games. Andrew's family joined us for that as well. It was a nice day.
The cabin overlooked the lake and while there it snowed off and on. The day we left it was a beautiful blue sky and sunny. No one had to deal with really bad roads in their travel, which
was nice.
We played minute-to-win it games, ate, did some sledding (I stayed behind to greet Andrew's group), played video games and card games, ate, and did some ice fishing on the Laketown reservoir (I stayed behind with the little one). Mazin got the first bite, but his fish got off and Jorie caught the first fish and then Langston, Dale and Garrett caught some fish as well.
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We did some karaoke, played more minute-to-win it games, chilled some, and some went to the Sauna and hot tub at Ideal Beach (our cabin had access to it) and used that as well as some of the kids braved the cold and took the "Polar Plunge" challenge from Nate. He said he'd pay any kid $10 if they took the plunge. I was surprised at how many of the kids took him up on it. I did NOT even consider doing that. BURR!!! We didn't get any skiing in due to the snow not being that great, so we made our own fun, and all had a good time.
I sure love this crazy bunch of ours!!
For New Years Eve we went to dinner at Stonefire and then to the movie "Wicked" with our friends the Griffiths to bring in the New Year. It's been a good year of time spent with family and friends where memories were made. Bring on 2025!!
It was great being able to spend some time with Nate and Diana, they needed to break away from their growing patient clientele and their remodeling work on their house for a bit. They've been staying VERY busy trying to juggle it all and are VERY grateful that Dr. Hansen has another Doctor in the office that can help cover for him if needed at times.
Nate's work with ARS (Advanced Restoration Services) while he was in college is paying off, he's been using some of the things he learned in his remodel efforts. It's coming along, but I'm not sure what Lili, their dog thinks of this whole thing. I'm sure when it's all done, she'll feel at home again.
The Mallory's have Kennlyn, Langston, Mazin playing basketball to keep them out of trouble. They are all doing pretty well with their teams too. We were able to catch a few of their games.
Amie has also taken over running the ski school at Cherry Peak to add to her busy schedule.
With Mazin's birthday falling on Christmas Eve they've made it a tradition to go bowling as a family to celebrate, so that's what we did. We grabbed some lunch at Raising Canes and then went bowling. Out of the Mallory's, Andrew's crew, and Dale and I, none of us are really great bowlers, but we all had fun. Happy Birthday Mazin!!
Because we spent Christmas Day with the Mallory's we were able to be in on the Face Time call that Elder Mallory made to the family. It was great to see him live and be able to visit with him. He looks great and is in good spirits. This made for a great way to end our Christmas day.
Highlights from Elder Mallory's letters: Elder Mallory and his companion took a 4 1/2 hour ride into Xalapa so that Jaxson could get his green card, but was about 3/4 of the way there and he got a text saying that his appointment got cancelled and that he'd have to go back next week. Well, they got to Xalapa and went and ate and then went to the APs house. They ended up staying another night there because they had a zone conference the next day. So they had a 3 day P-day basically. He said Zone Conference was really good. The main focus was on baptism and how they should be inviting everybody because it is the first step to Celestial Glory. After their meeting they had a Christmas dinner and a gift exchange, then watched the movie "Escape From Germany", which we've seen and is a really good movie.
When he got back to his area, they had an investigator get his baptism interview done so he could get baptized that next Sunday. The cool thing was that Fabian, the kid that was getting baptized, brought a friend with him to church on Sunday, and he said he really enjoyed it. Maybe another possible investigator?
Elder Mallory did finally get his green card, but also got sick for a couple of days. Then they weren't able to baptize Fabin on Sunday, due to the Christmas holiday. They wanted people to be able to spend the time with his family. They did get their friend Eliseo committed on a date for baptism though.
Jaxson also used the guitar he bought for himself soon after he arrived on his mission and had taught himself how to play Silent Night. He played and sang that song in sacrament meeting for their Christmas program.
He made the comment that even though most of the people in his area are Catholic and that they don't have the same beliefs as we do in our religion that it was beautiful to see their Christmas spirit and their belief in Christ.
Garrett and Zandra celebrated their 13th anniversary. Here's to many more! The also got in some skiing from the early snow fall.
President Biden met with President Elect Trump in the White House to discuss matters with the change that will be happening next month. This was the first time since Trump was voted out of office to meet with President Biden.
Here’s to a year of bright opportunities, cherished memories, and unwavering happiness.
