January Jollity

January brought us our annual two, maybe three, weeks of winter.  It's February 1st today and already starting to feel spring-like.  Also, January, as compared to December, and even November 2012, was a relatively calm, peaceful, uneventful month.  Rather, I should say, semi-eventful month.  We actually did have some important events in DeWitt's farewell and Stephanie's dad's funeral.  And, of course, we had some important birthdays in January.  Shad, Connie, Reygan and Albert help us start the year with a bang.

Shad's birthday is on the 7th...Rebecca and Scott's anniversary (24th?) by the way.

Connie's birthday is on the 14th

Reygan turned 15 on the 20th

Albert turned 13 on the 25th

Henry is our own New Year baby...Thomas' family and Dad and I celebrated by watching the New York feed of the ball dropping...allowing us to go to bed a couple of hours early!

On the last day before the Christmas vacation was over, the kids had a sleepover at our house.  Notice all the good fruit for breakfast.  In the next picture, you'll see why.  These days we generally have fresh fruit in abundance at our house because Thomas has taken Jeremy's juicing program seriously.

Kirtlyn trying out her Christmas roller blades

Dad and I went to Mesa that week, to see Grandma and Grandpa, who, by the way are doing well.  We saw all the kids except Esther's who were sick with the flu.  So far, even though the flu has run rampant through our families, Dad and I have managed to avoid getting it.  (He did get a bad cough, though, later in the month, that he is still trying to overcome.) We came home on Saturday after seeing Docker's basketball game. Stephanie's dad, Denny Layton, died, after a long, valiant battle with cancer and his funeral was the Monday after we got home from Mesa. Joel and Stephanie had already gone to Thatcher to help prepare for her father's funeral, but Docker didn't want to miss his first game, so we stayed so he could play, then we brought him home with us.  He is really a good player.  I was impressed with his skills.  He is one of the 2 or 3 good players on his team.  

While we were there, Lindsay called to tell me her tooth was loose and she needed her tooth pillow post haste! She also said she wanted a dolphin on it, of all things.  I sewed it together by hand at the condo and painted the dolphin, hoping to have it done before her tooth fell out, but to no avail.  It came out before we got home, but she wouldn't put it under her pillow for the tooth fairy until I got home with her official tooth pillow.  Way to go, Lindsay.

Jeremy and Erika and their family came to town for the funeral and got together with  Rachel's family to eat at Casa.

The next day, they joined us and Rebecca's family and Mary's family and Thomas' family for Sunday night ice cream.

Maya experimenting with Thomas' stethoscope, while Erika, quickly becoming the family expert, looks on.

Monday was Denny Layton's funeral.  Joel made the program for it.  It was so classy and perfect.  Denny, as well as being Stephanie's dad was a good friend of ours.  He and Dad served together on the EAC board for several years and he was a good customer of Dad's at the bank.  He is one of the farmers for whom Dad had a lot of admiration and respect even before Joel and Stephanie met.

While we were in Mesa, Rebecca and Rachel took dozens of rolls and cinnamon rolls to Paula Layton's house, just so they and whoever visited would have plenty to eat.  And Jenn took a couple of batches of "candy bars disguised as cookies" (as Thomas calls them) as well.  We received a thank-you note from Paula, thanking us for our wonderful family.  They love and admire Joel, of course, and really appreciated the thoughtfulness of our children.

Joel and Levi were both casket bearers.

Three of his beloved women...his mother, his wife and one of his daughters, our Stephanie.

After the funeral, the next day, Stephanie and Joel and Levi dropped by to visit.

Polly is a starter on her 8th grade basketball team and she is really good.  I haven't been able to go to her games, except for one, but I was so impressed with how well she plays.  I took a lot of pictures at the game I attended, but none of them were as good as the one Lillian took, so I am putting in hers.

One Sunday, Josh came to dinner without Nicole, who was visiting family in Mesa. Rachel's kids cheered him up.

Dad has been having fun with his tractor.  He even plowed his "huge" garden with it, with Lindsay's encouragement.

We had a 100th day of school party, thanks to Mary, who found these crowns on sale.

This quarter, my assignment at the Temple has been as "official greeter" at 5:30 and in the baptistry from 6:00 to 7:00, so I have been able to see the kids as they have come to do baptisms and actually be with them in the baptistry.  Lillian and Polly came one week, then the next week Rylie and Isabel came. The very next Saturday, the 26th, Reygan's Young Women came to do baptisms and I was able to go and see her.  It was such a special experience to be with all of them.  On the day Reygan came, the regular baptizer asked DeWitt to sub for him, so he agreed, not even knowing that Reygan's group was going to be there.  So I got to see him too.  Of course, I didn't really get pictures on those days because I was working in the Temple, but I put in these that I had from previous visits. 

One day, Rachel went to pick up the twins from school and took Kirtlyn and Brianna and Lindsay with her.  The twins were so excited to see their cousins as they walked out of school.

The day before DeWitt's farewell, Esther and Shad and their family came. It is always so much fun to see cousins reconnecting.

All the couples went out to eat and left the kids at our house!

Harrison, enjoying my leftovers.

Sunday, the 27th was DeWitt's farewell.  It was an outstanding program, featuring talks by Lillian, Scott and DeWitt, and a musical number by the youth in their ward.  I have to say that DeWitt sounded like a returned missionary instead of one just getting ready to leave.

Everyone wanted to get pictures with the man of the hour.

Rebecca prepared an amazing feast.  There were several Evans families there as well as several Biggs families, but there was plenty of delicious food for everyone.

All the cousins had fun exploring Rebecca and Scott's huge house...

...and back yard.

NEWS FROM AROUND THE FAMILY
Thomas and Jenn went to visit their good friend, Ryan Russell.

Shad's annual birthday family picture

Esther and Shad took their family on a hike on MLK day. She had gone on one with her Young Women and found it to be tough and grueling, so decided it would be good for her family too!

Rachel took the twins out to their back yard on a nice cloudy day and took these beautiful pictures.

On MLK day, it was so cold, so they got in the 100+degree hot tub

The weekend before, they were playing in the snow on the mountain.

Brianna is getting ready for her baptism.  Her mom found this pretty dress on sale, but it didn't have sleeves, so she had me make a little bolero to go with it.  

Ok. This is quite a story. Do you remember the picture of Jared a couple of months ago, in his bath with his blankie? He is more attached to it than ever, but once in a while, he gets frustrated and throws it.  Well, today (28th) he threw it out of the basket at Walmart and Mary didn't know about it until she got home.  Rachel had to go into town to get her kids, so she said she would go to Walmart and look for it.  She walked everywhere Mary told her she had been, carefully looking under every bank of shelves and didn't find it anywhere.  She decided she would just have to ask a clerk to keep an eye out for it and went on back to the toy section to do some shopping. On her way out of the store, when she wasn't even looking for it any more, she just happened to glance at this display.  It didn't register at first, but it rated a second glance.  "Wow! Could that be it?" she thought. Amazing.  She grabbed it and brought it here. Jared's going to be so happy.  He doesn't know what a close call he had.

The Evanses went on a field trip to Gila Box, and could recognize the very spot where the temple mural was painted.

They celebrated New Year's Eve before Allison had to leave for Idaho.

They went to their old tennis stomping grounds, Gene Autry Tennis Courts, for a tournament that Lillian and Polly played in.  They both did very well, following in the Evans tradition.  Here they are with their two favorite coaches.

Lillian and Rylie and some friends having a nerd gun war.

Daynen "hard at work" at Harkins.

Reygan, celebrating her birthday at Mi Amigos

Albert's pineapple birthday cake.  Another one of Connie's amazing cake creations. I wonder if she made one for her own birthday.

Hannah with her best friends from her ward...it's being realigned and they will no longer be in the same ward. They are sad.

Hannah and her choir buddies, going to a show choir production.

The "West Connection" show choir.  They are going to be in Branson for the national competition in April!

OUR STUDENTS
Lillian and Allison on a field trip to Gila Box

Allison, outside her apartment, in the snow last night (the 27th) Notice how she wore a jacket in Arizona and shorts and t-shirt in Idaho!

Devynne and her friend at the Creamery where Devynne has gone back to work since she got home from Florida.

Devynne and her roommates at a CES fireside at which President Uchtdorf spoke.

Also with her ticket loot. She and her roommates arranged a fun group date at this place.

Nicole won an award for writing one of the three best English research papers at EAC! Way to go, Nicole!

Although they had not been able to attend the reunion, we wanted them to be sure to know they are still part of the "Biggs League."

Okay, Bethany's pictures speak for themselves, don't they?  His name is Palmer Jeppeson and they are in love. He lives in Omaha and is in pre-dentistry. He just got back from serving a mission in New Zealand.

OUR MISSIONARIES

Dallin and the famous asada

Dallin asked for "Mormon stuff" for the kids, so Rebecca sent Spanish CTR rings. The kids loved them.

With new converts

Stetson with some investigators...I'm guessing they are not members (?)

With new members, I think, Eduardo and Olliana

DeWitt is learning to cook by fixing family meals.

He crocheted this beanie and attached beard.  I don't know if it ever gets cold enough in Mendoza to wear something like this.  In his mouth is his crochet hook.

This is the program from his farewell.

So, in the absence of any photos of Levi preparing for his mission, I stole these from Instagram...thinking maybe he is preparing for his mission by lining up girls who will write to him (?) He will be too far away for cookies, I think...maybe not.

SOMETHING TO SMILE ABOUT

Poor, tired, little Maya fell asleep with her princess dress on and her boots...on the wrong foot, exhausted from a day of being the boss.

We've had our three weeks of winter this month, complete with wind and rain and COLD.  Some days it was even colder than Omaha or Colorado! But yesterday, it started warming up a little and we were blessed with this inspiring vision.

I hope January was as great a month for you as it was for us.  We love seeing pictures of the things you are doing and sharing them on the blog with the rest of the family. I know it is a little annoying (maybe to some, a lot annoying) for me to bug you to send pictures, but this is important to me and to all those who check the blog.  When I make this into a blog book, it becomes my journal and it's nice to have all of you represented.  I love you all so much.  You'll never know how much you mean to me...well, maybe those of you who are parents are beginning to understand how much I love you.  May February be a wonderful month for each one of you and may you have many picture-taking opportunities!!!