February continued to be a lot of settling in. Though we were still adjusting from the move we had some very fun activities in February.
The month started out with little things like getting into our ministering assignments, having the missionaries over to visit, Eve joining swim team, a band concert for Sterling and Eve, a snow camp out for Sterling, stake youth activities, a game night with ward friends (Greshams) and a fun "cupcake war" Relief Society night.
This month I also started care giving for a sister in our ward 2-3 mornings per week. Roberta is 89 and in pretty good health. She lives in a retirement community with basic help such as housekeeping, a salon, a community center, a gym, and a cafe for meals. I am mostly there to help her with laundry, exercise, errands, and company. We enjoy our time together very much!
Christian's reading has really been taking off. Here is a little video.
Sheri learned all about the American Revolution and had a day where all the students got to participate in a historical retelling of the events. She played Phyllis Wheatley. She did a great job memorizing her part. All of the kids and parents learned a lot during this fun day.
On Valentine's Day we had the most beautiful rainbows ever!
We had heart shaped pizza and left for a president's day weekend trip since the kids had both Friday and Monday off of school. We traveled to Lake Tahoe where it was getting lots of snow. We are lucky that we went up Thursday night because the snow really started dumping after we got up there and there was a lot of traffic and congestion later on that weekend. We definitely needed chains to get where we needed to go. Once we got to the lodge (thanks to Matt's parents' time share points) we didn't do much driving around except when we came home on Saturday night. The traffic going the opposite direction was a nightmare. We were slow going, but made it safely thanks to avalanche control and Matt's stellar driving skills. Here is our day of skiing and our day of playing in the snow. It felt good to make some new memories and show the kids that there are many wonderful things to enjoy here in the California area.
The benefits of so much snow are that you have great powder, few people, and no wait time. The drawback is poor visibility, and cold, not to mention the wind. This was Christian's first time skiing and he was not a fan. It was tricky and he probably would have benefited from a bunny hill or mini ski school. The rest of the kids did great and Matt was great to encourage them to keep trying.
The lodge where we stayed also had a pool, hot tub, walleyball courts, and racquetball courts. We really enjoyed these together. Matt and the kids enjoyed jumping in the snow and then back in the hot tub.
Here we are sledding and eating snow.
Here is Eve as an Eskimo. :)
This trip also gave the kids a break from all the stress around school. We loved our time together!
The following weekend I was able to fly out to see my family for a few days. I loved seeing Joseph in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. He was hilarious! I also got to see Mary's dance studio (incredible), and Annie's choir, Kantori perform. The choir was heavenly and the organist was incredibly talented! The weekend inspired me to seek for excellence. So much talent in one weekend plus wonderful time with my family and personal reflection time is a great way to inspire and rejuvenate me! I love my family!
As always, when you return to your family you love them more than before because you have missed them. I love watching my kids play and have fun. Here they are at our neighborhood park. The warmer temperatures are very welcoming as well! :)
The final noteworthy event this month was the start of our kitchen renovation. We wanted to update our kitchen by painting the cabinets, installing new counter tops, installing new floors, hardware, sink and a new dishwasher. Here are our before and during pictures.
February and March were full of lots of decor decision making. We were happy that this renovation took way less time than our Ohio experience. Our end pictures will have to wait for another post.
In summation, we feel abundantly blessed. Life has plenty of challenges, but we have many blessings and feel grateful for the help we receive from God daily!
