Let it snow!

We got a very hefty snow storm early this morning (Jan. 18, 2012) - when we woke up we had about 8" out back and by the time we did our second cleaning of the driveway we're sure we had a least a foot.  We had to keep it clean because of the downward slope of the driveway - if there's too much snow and it melts fast, we have a garage full of water.  Anyway, most of the worksites were closed today and we spent a great deal of our day outside!

The "official" measurement early this morning - about 8" outside the back door.

A view from the driveway up the stairs

The accumulation of snow on top of the brick work on the side of the stairs

A very eerie feeling outside tonight - no cars going by and it's very quiet!  It's supposed to start raining tonight, with mixed snow, so we'll see what tomorrow brings!

Utah Weekend

Scott had a great time on the long weekend in Utah with his Mom.  They attended a funeral for a good friend, went to a BYU game at the Marriott Center, dinner at PF Changs, ran lots of errands, got Mom's car ready for the winter, and church on Sunday - - what a great weekend.  Here are some of the picture highlights:

Loved this picture of Mt. Rainier on the way to the airport

The moon over the Salt Lake City downtown

The moon over the Draper Temple

My fun rental car for the weekend

The funeral program for a dear friend and mentor

Mom holding our tickets to the BYU - Santa Clara game

The cheerleaders getting the student section going - not that they needed any help!

BYU player going in for a dunk

BYU's most consistent player - on the left side - his favorite spot to shoot from - you can see the ball at about the 7th row!

The score with 7.5 seconds to go - and the final score:)

The beautiful Mt. Timpanogos Temple with its name sake mountain in the background with a little snow on top!

I was rudely greeted at the Seattle airport...

and at the place where I parked my car.



It snowed most of the day here in Lacey - and for the next few days it's supposed to be "heavy snows" so it should be very interesting.

Had a wonderful time in Utah - thanks Mom!

Christmas 2011

Though we were home by ourselves this year, we certainly didn't feel alone! We enjoyed a marvelous Christmas spirit and were able to video chat with all of our children. Modern techology is fabulous isn't it? As we attended church today, we felt the love of our Savior and are so grateful for his birth, life, example, and atoning sacrifice. We gratefully acknolwedge Him as our Redeemer. Here are some pictures of our very enjoyable day.

New ornaments for this year

We Skyped with Megan and family before church - though the picture quality isn't great (us taking pictures of the computer screen) it was great to "be with them".  Megan helping Justin and Emma with their presents

Hyrum and Hunter had the "paper tearing" routine down much better than the twins!

Jeremy - the always good sport - trying on Hyrum's new sphere toy:)

After church we opened some of our presents before calling the other kids

Marcie showing off her new boots & new fleece

 Baby it's cold outside!

Scott with a new shirt, new razor and chocolate turtles

We received several "family picture calendars" which we love!

Some grand children sent some pottery cereal bowls - well for Grandpa it's for ice cream.

Next came a video chat with Joy and the kids in San Antonio - we got the kids but how in the world did we not get a picture of Joy?  Sorry about that!

Sunday afternoon in the state of Washington is early Monday morning in Bagram, Afghanistan.  We were grateful Zac took a few minutes to chat with us before beginning his new day!

We ended our video chatting day with the Morgantown Turner's - bless their hearts - they had traveled all day from Salt Lake and still made time to chat before Luke went to bed!

A new piano - Luke sized!

What a wonderful Christmas day - we had visits from several ward members, talked with relatives on the phone and enjoyed a marvelous spirit of peace and love.  May we all work hard to keep those feelings all year round!

Caroling, caroling through the snow!

Well not quite the snow part, but caroling yes:)  Last Sunday (Dec 18) we held our annual Christmas caroling activity.  This group of folks was put together 21 years ago with 3 families:  Cramer's, Stucki's, and us.  Over the years we've had very few caroling parties canceled - mostly because of snow, so it's something we really look forward to.  The Cramer's are in Switzerland this year serving the Lord as missionaries, and Sister Stucki is quite ill so they stayed in Yelm.  The Cramer's daughter Amy is living in their home and she hosted - as her folks were always willing to do - and we had a wonderful potluck dinner and then did some caroling in their neighborhood.  Marcie and I noted with interest that 21 years ago when these families united in song we were the youngest couple involved.  Our get together this year involved the children of the families and we were by far the oldest people there!!  What a change:)
After singing in the neighborhood, we drove to Yelm and sang with the Stucki family who had gathered there to be with Sister Stucki - we had a wonderful time and the spirit of Christmas was certainly there.  We didn't take many pictures but will share these few:

Gathering at the Cramer home for a wondeful meal and great visiting





A picture of the group outside before starting our caroling

Brother Stucki and two of his sons joined together in Yelm

Br. Stucki and his jolly manner on display

This caroling activity is one of our favorite events of the year - this one certainly didn't disappoint!  We love singing the hymns celebrating the birth and life of our Savior!

Christmas Trees!

Friday night we had the chance to attend the lighting of the Christmas tree in the rotunda at our state Capitol - and we also got to see the lights on the trees outside where our church youth group had strung them last Saturday - and they look great!!  Here's a picture of the 25' tree before lighting, then on "fire"; a picture up through the tree to the chandelier, and some pictures of the trees outside - see if you can see the moon through the tree on one of the pictures!

Then today (Saturday) we went to the Festival of Trees in Tacoma and had a blast.  We were most fascinated by the "toppers" on some trees and tried to capture some of those in the pictures.

Marcie with Colonel Cupcake

It's been a long time since we've been in downtown Tacoma - today was delightful.  We parked for free near the Tacoma Dome and took a free light rail train into town.  Quite a fun day!