January Jaunts

We brought in the New Year by having the Mallory's over for food, games, and fun. We all survived another year without getting COVID and that definitely was worth celebrating! We hope the new year brings new opportunities as we move ahead.

On New Year's Day we went to our friends, the Bullens for dinner, games, and visiting to celebrate new beginnings. We've got this!!

The Guild Mortgage Company that Danica & Jason work at, held a family, friends, and customers appreciation night and hosted the Movie "Spider-man: No Way Home" in a couple of movie theatres in Ogden. They gave everyone a box of popcorn and bottle of water. Dale and I went to the movie with Andrew, Lindsay and the kids. I'm not a big Marvel Comics movie goer, but I enjoyed this show.  Sometimes it goes to show that it's not what you know, but who you know that gets you these types of outings. Thanks to the "Hassell Free" Team for inviting us.

Dale and I watched Titan & Eloise at our house and their house so Andrew and Lindsay could take Nora and Arwyn to Disneyland.  I'm sure Lindsay was just as happy about it as the girls were to go because she loves Disneyland! 

We had fun with the kids and learned a new Pokeman card game thanks to Titan. We also got them to school on time every day! Quite a feat when we stayed at our house. I hope they had as much fun with us as we did with them.

Dale got in some fishing with our nephew, Adam Petersen, but he got skunked and didn't bring any home, just the memory of a good time. He also went out with our neighbor Dave Rayfield, and Marlo Stephens at Bear Lake off Rock Pile on the south side of the lake in Marlo's boat. Well, they all had a blast! Dale was all smiles all caught fish.

He also went elk hunting with Andrew (who drew out on a cow hunt), a few times, because the hunt ended the middle of this this month. They got lucky and were able to go with Steve Stokes, who owns some land up Smithfield Canyon. He took them up the mountain on a Razor with snow treads, but they only saw the bull elk that they couldn't shoot because Andrew had a cow permit. That's my kind of hunting. 

Dale and I went and got a Booster shot for COVID because of a new strain that's come out called Omicron, and it seems to be spreading a lot faster than the first wave. 

Here's an up-date on what's been going on with COVID in the state and our area up until the end of the month. ,,..

An average of over 7,300 new COVID-19 cases a day were included in the Utah Health Department (UDOH) report of new coronavirus infections from the three-day weekend. It breaks down to 10,610 new cases Friday, 6,850 Saturday and 4,549 Sunday. The total — 21,970 — includes 405 new cases in Cache, Box Elder and Rich counties.

There have been almost 848,000 positive cases in Utah since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.

There are 33 new COVID deaths included in the new report. During the 22 months of the pandemic 4,063 Utahns have lost their lives to the virus and that includes 201 deaths in northern Utah.

Statewide there are 738 people hospitalized with COVID-19, down from 765 on Friday. There are 194 patients in intensive care, which is 19 fewer than Friday. Total hospitalizations in Utah since the start of the pandemic is 30,375.

The number of Utahns fully vaccinated is over 1.93 million which is more than 59 percent of the state’s population. There were 16,519 people vaccinated statewide since Friday and over 4.76 million vaccines have been administered since the start of the pandemic.

There were 39,891 Utahns tested since Friday and over 4.7 million people have been tested and over 8.7 million total tests have been administered the last 22 months.

Since the start of the pandemic the northern Utah case count has grown to 46,694; 33,526 of those have been detected in Cache County which accounts for 71 percent of the district’s cases. Within the district 1,820 people have been hospitalized.

Utah’s new rolling seven-day average for positive tests has grown to 9,677 a day. That figure had never been over 3,400 until the omicron variant went through Utah this month.

The new seven-day rolling average for percent positivity of “people over people” is 44.2 percent as is the rolling seven-day average for percent positivity of “tests over tests” is 30.1percent.

Dale & I cheered on Jaxson in some of his basketball games and also served at the cannery for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saint's welfare services. Dale packed the cases and I got to make sure that the can had the labels on them right. The item they had canned was tomato sauce. After that stint I definitely don't ever want to do line work. It got a bit crazy at times and my eyes were so tired after from seeing cans pass by for 4 hours while standing there. Twice a year is good for me. 

On the label it says, "Lovingly Distributed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saings for your benefit". Pretty cool.

Dale and I got to go to the USU vs Wyoming and USU vs Bosie Men's Basketball games at the stadium. Both were great games, but we came out with a loss on both of them. Our student body goes all out to help cheer the team on too. It's things like that and some fun half time shows like the "Dancing Grannies" that make a loss a little easier.

We also were able to serve others by going to the temple and doing an endowment session. The man that Dale proxied for was Joseph Whyte, born in Eyam, Derbyshire, England in 1590. He is on my dad's ancestral line. Pretty neat, huh? 

Amie and I hosted a Baby Shower for Danica and baby June at our house. We invited Aunts and cousins from both sides of the family. The theme was "We're Souper excited to celebrate the upcoming arrival of baby June". We had a soup bar, salad, crackers, cookies, and cupcakes. Amie did up some fun activities and we all had a good time visiting.

She got a lot of nice things, I had a real soft and cuddly blanket made up for baby June, along with a pillow for decoration, and a mini comfort banket made up out of the material Danica picked for her blanket. I didn't want to tackle that blanket because of the fabric that was picked out. My sewing skills need a little more work to pull that kind of a blanket off. 

Danica sent me this picture from Baby June's room to show me how the blanket fits in with it because we never got many pictures during the shower. I'm sure June's going to love her room, and her blanket.

Because Danica was coming up for the shower, she came a day early and Kennlyn, Danica and I kidnapped Amie for a sleepover and shopping day to celebrate Amie's birthday. Amie got a cute pant outfit and a dress, and we tried out a new restaurant in town, Kokito's Mexican Grill, it was pretty tasty. In the morning we all got the house and food ready for the shower. The extra help was greatly appreciated.....many hands make light work.

A couple of weeks later, the Hassell's headed back over the mountain and joined up with the Mallory's, Andrew & Lindsay, and Dale & I for dinner at Fredrico's Pizza and the Plain White T's Concert that was at Eccles theater. This was our Christmas gift to the married kids that could make it. Garrett & Zandra were in Florida, so that's why they went on the Heber Train Ride with us and the kids last month.

The concert was sold out, and it was LOUD! The crowd on the main floor stood for most of the concert and we joined in on the dancing and singing. It was a fun concert for most of us, but the noise was pretty loud.

Nate's been MIA on the slopes and in the mountains this month due to all he and Diana have been doing to get his new office up and running by the end of the month --Dr. Hall, the Doctor he's been renting space from hasn't been very helpful with the matter either.  Let's just say that Nate is SO ready to be out and on his own!! 

I know he'd rather be outside, and that the rock-climbing gym is helping some, but it just doesn't cut it for the real deal. I'm sure he's dreaming of being in the mountains on the slopes or tied to a rope daily. Hang in there Nate, you've got this.... the end is near!!

Amie turned 37 years old this month!! Wow!! Happy Birthday Amie!!! You know how to stay young.

Amie got asked to be over the ski instructor scheduling at Cherry Peak as well as to stay as an instructor. She's called on Dale a few times to help her fill spots she hasn't been able to fill. It's been a good deal for both of them. When Amie takes the kids with her Dale's gone and skied with them and all have had a good time.

The kids are keeping their parents plenty busy with Jaxson playing Sophomore Basketball, Kennlyn playing indoor soccer, Langston playing basketball and indoor soccer, and Mazin playing indoor soccer. 

Matt's still working as the counselor for Heritage Elementary in Nibley and he's also helping with an online class out of Idaho as well. I think he's got his juggling of work, kids, church calling, and being a husband and dad down pretty good.

Happy Birthday Lindsay!! At 34 she's still rockin' it!! We celebrated with them by having her signature cheesecake at their house and visiting. 

For her celebration Andrew took Lindsay and their two youngest kids, Nora and Arwyn, to Disneyland. They got a flight out of Ogden, UT on a newer airline, Avelo Airlines. They only fly into Burbank, CA once a week but it worked for Andrew and Lindsay and was a lot less to fly than drive. They rented a car and got to Anaheim, CA for some fun in the sun. 

The girls were old enough to truly enjoy Disneyland. The new Star Wars attractions were a hit for all, and seeing Mickey & Minnie Mouse topped it all off. 

Andrew and Lindsay got busy and laid a tile floor in their bathroom and then Andrew put in some tile half-way up the wall and put in a sink and vanity in their washroom in preparation to put their house up for sale when the one being built gets done. Looks like they know what they're doing.

The house being built has a roof and the rooms are getting framed in. It's coming along pretty good considering all of the shortages or long waits for building supplies lately. 

   

I think it's safe to say that their dog, Toby, is fitting in well with the family, and he's growing too!

                                                     

Garrett moved into a new office. He's in a room with a view now!! I bet that made his day. Looks pretty nice compared to his old office. 

For a boy's night out, Garrett met up with his friend Mike McKnight, and they went to the "Monster Jam". I'm pretty sure all the boys had a great time. 

Garrett also attended a two-day Academy Mortgage Leadership Summit. Here's what he said about it on his Facehook post: Feeling lucky today to be on the Academy Mortgage team. Spent the last 2 days at the Academy Mortgage Leadership Summit and feel so blessed to be with a company that believes in and invests so much in its people.

Learned from, was inspired by, and mingled with some AMAZING people from around the country. Yesterday we all took a few hours and together made over 50,000 meals to be delivered around the world. It was a blast!

Excited for the year ahead! #AcademyMortgage #IveGotYourBack #leadershipsummit2022

The Hassell's left the cold and went to the Rose Bowl game in California. The University of Utah football team played Ohio State. Utah was leading most of the game, but they lost in a close one with a score of 45-48. What a memorable trip for them. Here's what Danica had to say about it on her Facebook post:

Rose Bowl with the boys!

Not a bad way to kick off the new year at all.

Coming along on this trip I never thought that I would be going to the game and I was just going to hang back at the hotel and catch up on reading "What to Expect When Expecting"... then last night Jason surprised me with a ticket!! Even without the win - it was an amazing game!!

Danica drew the lines on the wall and Jason did the painting on Baby June's nursery room wall. It looks pretty awesome. Jason also put the crib together. Good practice for times ahead for this soon to be dad don't you think?

They spent some time in St. George to get in some dirt biking, Razor riding, and sunshine and then flew to California for an early birthday celebration for Jason and his brother Jordan. Most of his family joined in on the fun. Danica was a good sport and put in a lot of steps. I'm sure she slept well every night. What a trooper!! 

Before heading back home they went to a Motocross race in Anaheim, CA to top off the trip. Baby June and Danica survived with a smile too. Fun Times!! I'd say the Hassell's know how to celebrate birthdays. 

I'm sure coming back to Utah wasn't easy because we've had some pretty cold days this month. In our area the temperature got into the low teens in the day and single digits at night for a while. Whoever invented to furnace deserve a huge hug on days like this.

This was one of the warmer days!!! Yep, I pretty much froze my butt of most of the month, but we didn't let that stop us from getting out and doing things.