The drought is over

This has been the rainiest year in California.  There have been weeks where the rain lasted for three days, stopped for three days, and then rained some more.  Our worst storm was happened over a weekend.  Church was interrupted by the buzzing of phones, flashing a flash flood warning.  We ended church, ran home, and found the entire back patio covered by 2-3 inches of water.  Meanwhile, the jacuzzi was completely overflowing into the patio, adding to the issue.  Joseph called the boys and they got busy paddling out the water.  David was quite annoyed that I stopped to take a picture in the middle of the crisis!!

A few days later, David went up to Big Bear Mountain for one week at science camp!  The same storm that flooded us out left several feet of snow for the 5th graders to enjoy.  David had a blast evidenced by how sang his camp songs all day and talked nonstop about the food.  He even got to share the gospel with one of the counselors.  Great job, David!

I hope they call me on a mission.. by James

Funnies

snaggle tooth Ruth...goodbye baby teeth!


Emmy.. or should I say, Pinocchio?... attached this wrapper to her nose and wore it around for most of the day


Went downstairs one morning and found Pilot like this (thanks to Emmy).  He didn't seem to mind.  The two things this dog craves most are attention and comfort!


Emmy will sit forever in front of books.  She "reads" her own prose, which is usually a sing, song mix of stories and rhymes.  Very cute!

Growing Girls

Ruth and Emmy are at such cute ages.  Ruth is growing in self confidence and Emmy is growing in the desire for independence (which is often a source of frustration!).  My favorite thing about these two is their growing relationship.  They really love each other.  Ruth is especially patient with Emmy and will often read books to her, play her choice of imaginary game, and share her toys.  Emmy really loves Ruth for it.

Goodbye to Momo

Grandma died peacefully Friday January 6.  Her funeral was the following Saturday, January 14.  In her will, she designated funds to provide the accommodations for those traveling to her funeral.  It was wonderful to meet so many distant relatives and share our common memories of grandma.  She was a strong, faithful, determined woman.  Perhaps my favorite memory of her was during my courtship with Joseph.  On our visits, she always had an apple pie from Costo waiting for us and fully expected Joseph to eat atleast half!  When Joseph proposed to me at the St. George Temple, Joseph gave her the assignment to have flowers waiting for us at the top of a designated staircase.  I think she watched the whole event from her car.  It was such a blessing to have time with momo before she died.  Emmy especially seemed to bond with her and would crawl up on her lap and show her different dolls and toys.  The girls were very impressed with how tenderly Pam would feed and wheel Momo off to bed each night.

Snow!!

Zion National Park

Hurricane is only a short drive to Zion National Park and lucky for us, was a great place to see the snow.  Fortunately, we were prepared with our snow gear and the kids had a blast throwing snow, eating snow, and listening to the crunch their boots made as we walked along the icy trails.  Grandpa was a great tour guide.

Hurricane UT

We spent New Years with Pam and Dave and Momo (Great Grandma Lundeen) in Hurricane UT.  For an outdoor enthusiast, Hurricane is a dream location.  It is full of ruins, dinosaur tracks, national parks, and geological treasures.  Our first day, Dave took us jeeping to mine our own Selenite and for a visit to the local Petroglyphs.  Amazing to think of the civilization that lived here hundreds of years ago.. in such a desolate place.