December Dazzle

 We didn't let COVID or the  freezing cold and snow slow us down too much this month. With a mask man-date going on in all of the stores, and social distancing encouraged and put in place for events, I was able to usher the show "Bright Star" at the Eccles theater. The Cache Valley Center for the Arts program did more "Random Acts" to give local artists a chance to shine on the stage. Dale and I got to go and see  "A Cowboy Christmas" which was part of the Random Acts series. It was good to see a live performance.

  

I was able to usher with my brother, Larry and his wife, Glee for one of the shows too. When we usher everyone in the theater is required to wear a mask and the patrons have their temperature taken as they walk in with this cool set up they have that reads the heat they're holding as they walk in. If they are too hot, then a light goes red. Pretty nifty, huh? So far, no one has been turned away.

Our local ski resort, Cherry Peak, hosted a couple of shows at the Eccles as well. One was with Jenny Oaks Baker and her kids, which was VERY good! The other one was with Ryan Shupe and his band, another GREAT show as well. A wonderful way to wash away the feel of a pandemic, and add some Christmas cheer to the month.

Dale and I were finally able to make our schedules work with Langston so we could take him on his Birthday Date. He chose to go to dinner at Panda Express and then to The Cache Valley Fun Park where we played the Arcade Games. We all had fun and he came home with quite a few prizes with his 391 tickets that he got from playing the games. He let dad and I play a few games with him too. What a fun date, thanks Langston for having a birthday!

I joined up with the "A Team" and started testing at the schools. We're still wearing makes and disinfecting after each test, but the kids have been staying in school and their reading scores are showing it. Way to go teachers and parents!!

We had a pretty cool thing happen that only happens every 800 years. We were able to witness the "Christmas Star" or "Star of Bethlehem" which is believed to be the same start that shone when Christ was born. It happened because the planets Saturn and Jupiter crossed past each other, it created a brighter than normal light in the sky. Those that had telescopes really got a great view because you could even see the rings that go around Saturn! It was pretty neat, and I feel that it happened at the perfect time to give the world hope and peace that all will be well during this pandemic time.

We warmed up enough to get some snow! Not a lot, but enough to get the ski resorts to open, and to make it look like Christmas. Then it got cold again, REAL cold again, like -7 degrees cold! BURR!

Dale and I entered our Married Student Wards Gingerbread contest by making a different type of gingerbread house. Our house won in our group, but we took us out of the contest because in all reality it wasn't a true gingerbread house. However, we had a fun time creating it and seeing all of the others that joined in on the wards Zoom parade of the Gingerbread houses.

It was a different Christmas for us this year because we didn't host any events at our house.  Dale and I met Amie, Matt and their kids at the North Logan Cemetery and put out Lumiere bags and sang some Christmas songs at Dale's dad's grave and then went to Logan Cemetery and put Lumiere bags by my dad and mom's grave and sang Christmas songs. It was really cold, so we didn't share memories at the graves like we normally do, but we did think of them in our hearts.

Dale's mom is staying in an Assisted Living place here in the valley. Maple Springs. We aren't able to have personal visits with her so we did up a twelve days of Christmas for her, and either dropped off a small gift or treat, called her, or sometimes were able to Facetime with her. I think it brightened up her holiday. I know Dale's brother also did something similar. We sure feel blessed to have her with us still. and hope that someday soon we will be able to visit her more.

 Dale and I spent Christmas Eve with Andrew, Lindsay, and their family. We had a nice dinner and than Andrew and Lindsay has up all open up some Christmas pajamas. They all matched too. We looked quite festive and were quite comfy. Titan planned a program and he, Eloise, Nora, and Arwyn all shared their talents. We sang some Christmas songs and then watched "Christ is Born". We visited and read the kids a Christmas story. Then the kids went to bed and Andrew, Lindsay, Dale and I visited and helped get things ready for morning. Then we went to bed with visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads. 💕

The kids woke up at 4:30, but luckily they went back to bed until it was around 6:30. That gave us at least 3 1/2 to 4 hours of sleep! Grandma Leslie came and we opened the gifts that Santa had brought. Nora was so excited about each gift that was handed to her. It was fun seeing the delight on the kids faces. Christmas mornings with kids are the best. We had a tasty breakfast and played with the kids and visited and then Dale and I headed home and opened the gifts that we'd given each other. Dale was a stinker and gave me a new laptop computer. It's suppose to work better for me so I can do up these blogs on it. I gave Dale a book to help him with talks, and a shirt and sweater. He got a couple of suits and a collapsible fly fishing rod earlier that we called part of his Christmas gift as well. 

We went over to the Mallory's for a nice Christmas dinner and to visit and play games with them. It was a bit different not hosting anything at our house this year. but we did have Danica and Jason stay over night with us which gave the house that Christmas feel. Danica had painted a picture of our family and gave it to us as a gift. It was perfect!! How thoughtful and nice of her to do with when she's been so busy doing all of her art work and office work. We are a nice looking crew! We feel blessed to have most of the family living close to us.

The next day Dec. 26, 2020, we loaded up the truck, hooked up the trailer with the Razor on it and headed over the mountain to stay at a cabin by Bear Lake with the family. Nate, Garrett, Zandra, and their kids didn't join us, and we missed them, but we had a great weekend in a really nice cabin that was perfect for our bunch. It was close to ice fishing, which Dale, Jason, Danica, Matt, and the kids did in Laketown, UT, and had success. Amie and Kennlyn went sledding by the cabin and I got lunch ready to warm everyone up when they were ready to eat. Andrew's crew joined up with us after lunch.

We ate, played, ate, and played. The cabin we stayed at, The Lazy Bear, had a great game room in the basement with Skeeball, Foosball, Air Hockey, and a Shuffleboard type game. Besides that, there was a large dining table that we could play games at on the main floor. Fun times!  

Sunday morning, Dec. 27,2020, we all slept in some and woke up a some new snow on the ground, yeah!! After a yummy breakfast we had a family discussion on the word "Believe" and "Family". Garrett and Zandra, who weren't with us joined us via Zoom and were a part of it by singing the song "Noel" to us. It was a nice way to reflect on the the reason for the season, and the importance of family. 

We believe!!

Some of us were able to visit with Nate on the phone as well. He was in Washington and spent Christmas on the ski slopes and with his girlfriend, Diana, and her parents.

Most of the group went out and did some sledding after,  while dinner was cooking, and those that stayed, played games. We ate, a nice ham dinner with all the fixings, watched movies and played games.

 Monday morning. Dec. 28, 2020,  after breakfast we all helped pick up the cabin to have it ready for checking out and then we headed home. 

Time spent with family is what memories are made of. Treasured gifts of the heart. 💗💗💗

Dale and I celebrated New Year's Eve a day early by getting together with our friends, Floyd and Alison Griffiths. We went to their house in Cove, UT and ate dinner and played games and got caught up in the happenings of their family and ours with them. We need to get together more, they always teach us new fun games.

New Year's Eve Dale and I went over to Matt and Amie's house and had dinner and played games with them and one of Kennlyn's friends and her mom. Jaxson had a friend over as well, that joined in on some of the games. After it hit 12:00 am of January 1, 2021 we headed over to an open grassy area that was covered in snow and Matt and Dale put on a fireworks show for us from some fireworks they had left over from when they had sold them in July for the 4th and 24th. It was pretty fun, and a lot of people around the area had fireworks going off as well so we got a pretty good show!! Bring on 2021, we are ready for a new beginning!

The state of Washington got snow a lot sooner than we did, so Nate got in a fair amount of back country skiing with his buddies and resort skiing with his friends.

Nate and Diana put some lights on a tree in the forest one night when they were camping.

He and his girlfriend, Diana, decided to take a trip to Montana after Christmas to go skiing at Big Sky. On the drive there, they ran into more snow but his trusty van and Nate's driving skills kept them on the road. To take a break they stopped at the Weir Hot Springs along the way to soak their tired bones and warm up. Their plan was to go skiing at Big Sky on New Years day.

The Mallory's are full swing into basketball with Amie coaching Langston and Kennlyn's teams and Jaxson playing on the Ridgeline Riverhawks Freshman basketball team. 

Matt's still focused on helping the kids at Heritage Elementary have a good experience while in school and working with them and the faculty as the school's counselor. 

They made gingerbread houses for a family activity. With a little help from mom and dad for Langston and Mazin, They had a little contest, can you guess who won? I'd say they're all winners.

Where Mazin's birthday falls of Christmas Eve, they invited any family that could, to go bowling for his birthday. Amie made up a Lion Cake and we all had a great time! Any guess who the top score went to? We all had a great time. Happy BIrthday Mazin!

For New Year's Eve the Mallory's went to a friends house that had made an ice rink in their backyard and played ice hockey for awhile before we joined up with them to bring in the new year. Looks pretty fun, huh? Tells you how cold it's been here the last few weeks doesn't it? Freezing!!

Happy Birthday Nora!! We celebrated last month before Andrew left for his tour, but we can't forget who turned 4 years old this month!! 

Eloise had her Christmas Dance recital at Sky View High School and I was able to go and met Grandma Leslie and Lindsay there to watch El shine. We all had to wear masks, and the recital was split into two shows, with the younger group going first. It made for a shorter program, but it was nice and Eloise did awesome! I was glad I could go watch her build on her talents.

Dale took Andrew to Salt Lake where he had Lasix surgery done on his eyes so that doesn't have to wear glasses. Everything went well, but for the recovery he had to wear some fancy glasses and lay low for a day which was a trick for Andrew to do, but he did it, and has 20/15 (even better than 20/20) vision now. It's better than he had before, so he can see clearly now and loves it!

We had Andrew and the kids over to eat with us when Lindsay was visiting her sister and mom in Bonner's Ferry, ID as an early Christmas gift. The girls loved putting on the Santa hat and elf slippers I have out. I think they could be great Santa helpers someday.

Andrew and Lindsay were able to get a match for adopting another baby. This will give them five kids, and they can't be more excited. We're pretty excited for them and wish them the best. 

Garrett and Zandra got all settled into their new home and were able to close on both the sell of their old home and the purchase of their new one. What a nice gift for them, a new house to make a home, for Christmas! 

With their new backyard having a perfect sledding hill and being only 10 min. away from the ski resort Powder Mountain, they're set to have a great winter season at their new house. We wish them the best as well.

Garrett posted this on his Facebook page......

It's been a long time coming but I finally found the right partner to bring onto my team! Welcome

Jared Elizares

to the team!!! Jared comes from a background in financial services and underwriting and will be a great asset to have. He enjoys spending quality time with his wife and kids, traveling, and playing the drums!With 2020 wrapping up, we're looking forward to wrapping up the year and also to next year and to helping as many families and individuals accomplish their home ownership goals as possible. #Wevegotyourback #AcademyMortgage #ATeam

Zandra had the kids help in the kitchen and they made their gingerbread house from scratch. No cheating with graham crackers with them. The kids love to help mom cook and create. Fun times! 😋

For Danica and Jason it was good that they could stay home more because Danica's custom painted wooden Christmas ornaments and pictures of families in front of their homes kept her plenty busy with work. The did make time to spend time with family though and they got to put their own custom wooden painted ornament on the Ogden Christmas tree with some of Jason's family. They went on a 15 min. walk up a trail and added their family ornaments to the tree. It's a tradition that Jason's family does. Pretty cool, huh?

They took a little get-away and went to St. George for some new scenery when it got real cold here so they could enjoy the sun and get in a few rounds of golf while staying at Jason's dad's condo. Seeing this picture while it was 13 degrees here made me pretty jealous.

They also got in some skiing at Powder Mountain a few times, however the lines were quite long so they didn't get many runs down the hill. It was nice to get out and enjoy the sun and snow though, so it was worth it.

The Hassell's didn't do a Christmas card, but I told Danica that she should of with this picture they had taken of them. Maybe they can use it next year?

This month brought Utah to a total of 1,235 deaths related to COVID, with 46 of those coming from the Bear River Health District area, We had 26 deaths in Box Elder county, and 20 in Cache County. On a brighter note though, a vaccine was approved and Utah was able to allocate and administer 20,417 vaccines to healthcare workers statewide. By the end of the month teachers were beginning to get the vaccine. The time that our country was able to come up with a vaccine to help with the virus was a miracle. Usually these types of things take at least a couple of years. 

Our government also approved another stimulus bill. Income is based on your 2019 adjusted gross income (AGI). Individuals earning under $75,000 and heads of households under $112,500 typically qualify for the full $600 stimulus payment. Those married and filing jointly or surviving spouses earning under $150,000 usually qualify for a $1,200 payment. It is because of the pandemic, even though the unemployment rate is starting to drop, and the stock market is going up .A lot of people are still struggling. I just hope that our grandkids can afford all the taxes that will be put on them to make up for all this help we've been given. 

2020 has been quite the year with ups and downs in a lot of ways.  One thing I do know is that the sun may go down today, but it will come up again tomorrow. I sure hope it's a sign that 2021 will be brighter.

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