Happy New Year! 2023 began with settling in, back at home, in Texas. After our holiday travels we really enjoyed some down time! We also enjoyed our last few days with Eve before she went back to BYU. Here we are playing Castle Panic which is a lot of fun!
Eve and Christian enjoyed painting together.
The cats seemed to miss us and the kids always love to snuggle them!
I finally got around to hanging family pictures. Eve helped me which was so nice! Finishing this empowered me to finish hanging all the wall items that hadn't been hung since we moved in. Hooray!
With the warmer weather we finally got to visit Palo Duro Canyon. It is the second biggest canyon, next to the Grand Canyon.
It was nice to soak up the sun and explore a new place.
On the way home we also stopped at Cadillac Ranch. The amount of spray paint on the cars was noteworthy!
We also got to watch a movie and eat banana splits.
Eve headed back to school on Jan 7th. She's had some ups and some downs, including nose bleeds from the dry weather. Also, January can often feel long and dreary when the sun isn't out. But she keeps herself busy and now has added a cleaning job on weeknights to help her save for her upcoming study abroad. She will be going to New Zealand, Fiji and some other places to study in the Spring.
Sterling and Sheri have both joined the track team and practice after school most days. They have also started rehearsing for their school play. Sterling is the main lead and will also have to use sign language for all his lines. His character is not deaf but his "wife, son, and in laws" are. Sheri also got a few parts including a long monologue. They will compete with their play in March.
This month Sheri got to perform with the All Region Band. It was a positive experience for her.
For MLK day I decided to try making sourdough bagels. They turned out GREAT! I have enjoyed making all kinds of sourdough breads, crackers, and muffins in the past month or two.
The rest of this month I have been visiting nonprofit organizations with my Stake Communications Director (Lani) to introduce myself to them as the Just Serve Coordinator and to update our projects on Just Serve. We have met with Catholic Charities, Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House, the Guymon homeless day shelter, and the High Plains Food Bank. It is so cool to meet people doing such amazing work!
I also finished my training for substitute teaching in the schools and started substituting a couple days a week. I enjoy getting to know the faculty and kids at the schools and enjoy dipping my toes back into the "working world." It has also helped me consider future career paths that would still allow me to be home with the kids and develop myself in new ways.
The final interesting thing about January is that the kids got a snow day. They enjoyed time to rest and be with friends. Here is Christian with his snow pants on.
Happy January!
