We had our own few days of winter this month. A wonderful snowstorm dumped valuable snow on Mt. Graham and even on the Gila's. The left picture is from Darlene Taylor. I just loved the tropical palm trees silhouetted against the snowy mountain.The Gila's were covered too. This was on the way to the Temple.
These pictures were taken from Rachel's house at various times during the month. She has the perfect vantage for a spectacular view. The one on the top left is of two cloud banks rising and lowering to meet each other.
I think the snowstorm took some wildlife by surprise! This is Mary's picture from when their family went to play in the snow on the mountain.
Our January birthdays are warm and loving, to make up for January's cold weather.
Shad's birthday is January 4.
Connie's is January 14th.
Reygan turned 18 on the 20th.
Albert turned 16 on the 25th.
Julian turned 7 on the 29th.
And Victor turned 7 on the 29th.
I have really been careful about not taking too many pictures. I ordered a blog book of 2014, and since they only will do 1000 pictures per book, I had to order two volumes (at $150 each) and it still wasn't enough. I had to print December 2014 separately to glue into the back of volume 2!
Thomas and Jenn had us over to a dinner of stir fry as we started the New Year. Delicious! He's quite a chef.
Dad made a pretty good, if somewhat disgusting, drink of strawberries, apples, spinach, chia seeds, oatmeal, and assorted other ingredients, with the blender-type thing Jeremy gave us.
On the 4th, our family was responsible for ironing all the curtains and veils in the temple. We have that privilege once every 3 months. I was so sick that day with a horrible cold, so Rebecca took charge. She had been with me when I was trained, so she knew how to do it as well as I did. Dallin, Scott, Tyson and Thomas went along to help Dad take down and put up the newly washed and ironed curtains and Rachel and Rebecca and Sara ironed every single one of them. Mary came by for a while, but had to go home to take care of Alex so Tyson could go to work. Looking out the door is Brother Christensen, (6'4"), who came to help Dad hang curtains.
Jeremy and Ellie came to bring the things from Mesa that we got from Mother and Daddy...Thomas' hall tree, Mary's rocking chair, etc. They didn't stay long, but we had time to go to El Charro for dinner.
Because I was sick, I didn't get Christmas put away until well into January. I finally asked Thomas and Tyson to help me and they just did it all. They were so kind to do it. It is much less fun to put away Christmas than it is to get it out. Dad and I had to speak in church the 2nd week in January, so I talked about keeping Christmas with us all year long.
Putting Away
Christmas
It’s time to put away Chritmas;
Put it away ‘til next year,
The tinsel, the wreaths and the holly
All things that brought Christmas cheer.
But do I put away Christ with the holly?
Do I think of Him just once ayear?
Do I need nativities and carols
To remind me to keep Jesus near?
If I live as the Savior has taught
If I faithfully follow His light,
I’ll feel His spirit inside me
Just as much as on Christmas night.
Then I’ll never really put away Christmas;
It will stay in my heart all year long.
I’ll still feel the spirit of Christmas
As if I just heard a Christmas song.
We took Hyrum and Lindsay, one day after school, to Walmart to get their fingers sized for CTR rings. Hyrum's baptism was this month, Lindsay's in February and Soren's in March.
Then we had ice cream.
We decided we need another vehicle and Dad decided that it should be a pickup. We drove around a GMC from Johnson's Motors one day. He was sold. So we ordered one. We chose not to get another red car. The one we ordered is bronze, I think.
At Hyrum's baptism on the 16th.
Dad took a few minutes the next day to talk with Hyrum about how to feel the Holy Ghost.
We are getting granite counter tops! The man in the photo below is Gary, the guy who built our cabinets originally. He is shortening the counter top so that we have more room to get by the refrigerator.
Our granite.
We went to Mesa during a 5-day break from the Temple and had an opportunity to visit with most of the kids. We had lunch with Jeremy's kids while their parents were in NYC.
Then that night we ate with Esther's kids, except Bridger, who was at a practice, Brody, who was sick, and Shad who stayed home to take care of Brody. Esther is holding up a necklace that used to belong to Grandma in the 60's, and Marlie is wearing one that I got from Grandma but I know she never wore. She may have bought it as a gift or something, I don't know, but I gave it to Marlie for her birthday.
They came over the next day and Dad had Harrison change the batteries in our smoke alarm.
On Sunday, we went to Joel and Stephanie's ward at noon and then to Esther and Shad's ward at 2:00. We didn't get to see either one of them conduct their respective meeting. Joel's counselor conducted and Shad's was ward conference so the Stake president's counselor conducted. But Shad spoke and did a great job. Then we went to Joel's for lunch and had a fabulous dinner with them. It was so sweet to see Stetson and Lindsay be so happy.
This old picture came on Facebook and so I saved it. I love it. It is in front of Grandma Brinton's old house on E. 1st St. in Mesa. You can see Grandpa and Grandma in the back on the left. Grandma was pregnant with the twins. We were living in NC at this time, but had come home for Christmas. Grandpa and Grandma Brinton and Grandma Driggs are sitting in the chairs and Phil is standing behind Grandma Driggs. Jan is standing in front of Grandpa Brinton. I am sitting on the grass on the left, holding Lisa.
ABBREVIATED NEWS FROM AROUND THE FAMILY
I didn't beg for pictures this month, so I only have a few. That's good, I think.
NATHAN AND SHAUNA
This is a Singles Ward New Year's Activity with Joshua.
Josh's diploma.
Bethany and Palmer are getting ready to move to Glendale for Dental School. We are so excited to have them closer. They will still be far enough away that we won't see them often, but maybe once in a while, anyway. They are coming in July, I think, and they already have a house. Jeremy and Erika walked through it for them, so they are prepared.
JOEL AND STEPHANIE
Stetson and Lindsay missed the flight to the Bahamas for their honeymoon because their flight from Phoenix was late, so the airline put them up in a hotel in Atlanta before they got to their destination.
After they got home, they came to the Gila Valley Temple with Levi and a friend. She is a girl from Esther's ward who was leaving on her mission to Hawaii! By the way, I saw a video on Facebook where 6 sister missionaries were interviewed by a newscaster, and Lindsay was one of them!
She's stronger than she looks!
DANIEL AND CONNIE
Homemade igloos!
The wilderness house
Porter and Alta are proud to announce that they are having a GIRL!
Albert's "Connie Cake" representing a Colorado personalized license plate in honor of his 16th birthday.
An amazing "Connie Cake for Julian and Victor's birthday. Cars and trains.
REBECCA AND SCOTT
Happy Anniversary to the Evanses
Happy Anniversary to the Evanses
DeWitt had a snowboarding accident. He broke his collarbone and sprained his wrist, I think. Maybe a broken rib too. He looks pretty happy in the ER, though. I think he was enjoying the presence of a pretty girl as much as the painkillers.
Polly had a pretty traumatic January. For some reason, her basketball coach had started picking on her the last few months and criticizing her and benching her, causing her to be really stressed and not able to play her best. Whenever she made a mistake he took her right out of the game, but would let other players make mistakes over and over, and he would yell at her while she was on the floor. So she was constantly on guard and nervous, which, of course, affected her playing ability...vicious circle. She decided she had had enough, so she quit basketball, just before finals, and told the coach that she wanted to concentrate on tennis. She didn't complain to him or blame him or anything. She was very calm, mature and yet firm. "I just want to concentrate on tennis," she told him. Another girl quit, too, however, and she let him have it. She wasn't taking the higher road that Polly took. I'm proud of Polly, but I have to say I'm glad someone told him "how the cow ate the cabbage," to quote Dad.
Here she is, helping Rachel teach the twins to play tennis.
Allison and Taylor are getting their house "baby ready."
Dallin and Sara got to enjoy the record-breaking blizzard that hit the east coast.
This wonderful winter wonderland is so picturesque that I had to post it. This is their town after the blizzard.
JEREMY AND ERIKA
The Biggs kids went on a Temple Trek. They hiked seven miles from their ward to the Gilbert Temple. Reygan took the selfie, and you can see Tayte in the background.
Jeremy and Erika took a dream trip to NYC when Erika had some time off and obviously had a fabulous time. Notice the little blue bag :-)
RACHEL AND TONY
Rachel has received a call to be the Nursery Coordinator at the Temple. That means that she will be responsible for the children who are brought to the Temple to be sealed to their parents. She will care for them, dress them and take them in to the sealing room and wait there for them. She has a committee to help, including her sisters, Rebecca, Jenn and Mary, and a couple of sisters in Pima.
Rachel has been teaching her kids to play tennis.
Luke practicing his violin on the tennis court, waiting for his turn.
Rachel has become quite in demand as a wedding decorator. This is for the Cluff's reception.
ESTHER AND SHAD
Brody at soccer practice.
Harrison is enjoying driving his family around town.
Miss Esther's All Stars Preschool
THOMAS AND JENN
Hyrum's baptism day.
The whole group.
On MLK day, Thomas and Jenn took their family to the Air and Space Museum in Tucson. They invited us to go, but Dad declined. We had to open at the Temple the next day and have to rest the day before! :-}
Jenn has been called to work in Cub Scouts.
She was also asked to speak at Homemaking about finding our way home to Heavenly Father in spite of the difficulties along our way.
MARY AND TYSON
Look familiar, all you mothers of former toddlers?
Mary and Tyson took their kids up the mountain to enjoy the cold?!
Mary helped Rachel decorate.
Congratulations! Second place in the Bears' division.
OUR MISSIONARIES
Daynen in Brazil.
Hannah in Hawaii. She has been transferred. She is no longer in Honolulu, but in Kaneohe, wherever that is :-}
Saying goodbye
She had a little scare and had to go to the hospital, but she is ok now.
Lillian in the Philippines, doing her laundry.
SOMETHING TO MAKE YOU SMILE
This funny face made me think of each one of you. You all did the same thing as babies.
How sad...How true!
I admit I felt a little sad at not putting in more pictures of each of your family activities. I hope it was enough. I know there will be some months when we will have a ton, like family reunions, Christmas, etc., so I will have to be careful on other months. By the way, I am in charge of the Hiatt reunion this year. It will be July 29-31. Please put it in your calendar and plan around it if you can. If you can't I understand. It will probably be our Biggs reunion too. We have scheduled some time at the cabin for our own personal family use. So far, we have 3 weeks scheduled that we can use and will schedule 2 more. So, when we get it all arranged, I will send you the calendar and you can see when it belongs to us. We love you all so very much and hope you have a wonderful February. Leap year!
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