LOVE the SPIN

Still here

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 22:46:00 +0000

I always mean to blog but there's just no time. In July I went back to work, I'm the Marketing Director for a national franchise that has about 200 residential property management offices. It's a very intense job. Even better, in October, David got his dream job doing criminal defense at a small, well-respected firm in downtown SLC. It's busy and he has an intense schedule also. Kids are also busy, in school, doing after-school 4H club, Sophie's in a million plays and Ben is busy with trumpet and swimming. Noah and Lucy are just going with the flow--although our "flow" is more like the Snake River's rapids in June.

Why am I blogging mid-day at work when I have ten hours of work to fit in the next 72 minutes? Because our crazy hurricane-force winds yesterday were so exciting that Ben got on the news! It is only 3 seconds at :39

http://connect2utah.com/news-story/?nxd_id=185267

All is well here, no damage or lost trees for us, but a day or so without power, a fun sleepover at my mom's for everyone last night, and a lot of yard clean up to do tomorrow (balanced with whatever work I don't finish today). Love to family and friends far and near. Here is my advance apology for not sending out Christmas cards this year, again.

xoxoxo

Valerie

Milestones

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie) — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 17:04:00 +0000

My sweet Ben on his 12-year birthday and ordination day. First day of school pics for Oquirrh Mountain Charter School, including Lucy's first day at Kindergarten! Sophie and Noah are SO excited and loving it. Life is speeding up...

Sunday Update

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 00:32:00 +0000

You know it's been a long time since you blogged when you don't even recognize the Blogger interface when you log in.

I have exactly 23 minutes of silence before I need to head off to the first Utah Chamber Artists rehearsal of the season--the family is at my nephew Kadin's 17th birthday party. I remember watching Kadin overnight as a tiny baby when I was just a young know-nothing. I didn't know what to do with him and didn't understand why he wouldn't just sleep! I was 22. I can see now why the Lord had us wait another five years to have a baby of our own.

If I blink too fast I know my sweet Ben will be following in Kadin's footsteps. He passed the sacrament for the first time today and was ordained to the priesthood last Sunday, on his birthday. I'll send pictures from the phone in a minute. I have felt so proud of Ben and what he is becoming--so full of hard work and drive. He has started his own lawn mowing business this summer and has just been earning up a storm--often mowing lawns of houses wherein kids his own age are on the couch playing video games.

After last Sunday he woke up and went to his first scout camp for a week. He came home very weathered and happy--he caught a fish! I'm so grateful to good leaders and an especially good group of boys in this ward. He had a great time. I'm just so proud of him. He has a strong testimony and a serious approach to the gospel. He finished the Book of Mormon before he was ordained and had lots of long talks with his dad about what it means to hold the priesthood. It's exciting to have two priesthood holders in the home now.

David is working still on his own practice and is starting to emphasize working for lawyers more--he loves research and writing and he's had a few good opportunities come his way where he can do this kind of work more regularly.

Meanwhile, I am back in the workplace, I've been a month working for a fast-growing national property management franchise based out of Layton--it's a 25 year old company that needs help keeping up with how fast they are growing in this market of increasing rentals. I was hired by a new president who was brought in to turn everything around and prepare them to go global. I'm his right hand as the marketing director and am tasked with putting a lot of new programs in place, a lot of web-based franchise support. The good news is I don't have anything on my plate that I haven't done before, so even with the intense pace I don't have to worry about not knowing what I'm doing. And, at the same time, they've never hired well in the past, so my normal is their Quetzalcoatl. That's always a plus.

From the first day it was an intense, career-minded position. In the spirit of stability and paying off student loans and the house, I think I'll be working a long time, so I might as well claw my way up the ladder, right? They've never had a woman in management before, but my bosses like me and things are going well. I'm very grateful that David is so supportive and that we've been able to be such a team keeping the family going. Before I got this job I was working hard to build my freelance clientele, so for good or bad, that means I often come home from work, eat dinner, and then work until bed on side jobs.

I feel very calm about the kids, because we prayed for the right answer--oh did we pray!-- and this was the only real option that presented itself. I think the kids will do well in school and are happy simply because normality is being restored.

Lucy is going into kindergarten in a couple of weeks. She's scheduled to go to the local elementary mornings and a play school in the afternoons, but I'm hoping she'll end up getting the lottery into the charter school that Sophie and Noah have gotten into. As much as I love Capitol Hill, having them on the longer, normal school schedule and the whole free thing is what we need, and I really like this school--I can take them in on the way to work. They are so excited--they actually start school this Wednesday. Ben, of course, will stay at Capitol Hill and bus down there each day. We're going to try out two afternoon classes in addition here at the local Jr. High--trumpet and art.

David and I both got called into teaching--I'm in RS and he's in priesthood. We both had to teach the chastity lesson today. A good laugh was had by all.

That's us in a nutshell. I do hope to write just a bit more often on Sundays when I get a moment to breathe.

Love to all,

Valerie

Sanity in Rexburg

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie) — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 04:08:00 +0000

My aunt Dede worked her connections to get me a deal on a bus ticket to Rexburg to come visit for three days. She's truly a kindred spirit. Got a tour of the BYUI campus, went to a session at their beautiful temple with cousin Amy, met her son, cute second cousin Burton, and reveled in the big sky and open spaces of this sweet small town. I'll be back!

Lucy's Pre K Graduation

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie) — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 03:58:00 +0000

After two years of Miss Konadee, we will sure miss her!

Cousin Anna's Wedding and More Pond

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie) — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 03:56:00 +0000

David's Swearing In

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie) — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 03:51:00 +0000

David passed the Utah bar and was rewarded with some speechifying and solemn oaths.

Maybe if I post this between the others he won't notice I said anything about "the one who must not be named (on the blog)".

Hike to Farmington Pond

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie) — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 03:47:00 +0000

We walked from our house by the gorgeous Lagoon trail up to the pond. Takes about half hour. What a blessing to have this so close!

Tillin' Old School

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie) — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 03:15:00 +0000

Mothers Day

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie) — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 02:34:00 +0000

Sphere I - First "True" Computer?

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie) — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 00:51:00 +0000

I decided to sell my dad's first Sphere I--the first model of the first "true" PC according to Byte Magazine. I even put a website up with the system's history. Take a look if you are interested in that kind of thing: Vintage Computer Sphere I.

Impromptu Hike

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie) — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 21:22:00 +0000

Thanks to Megan for picking up my slack

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie) — Wed, 25 May 2011 03:21:00 +0000

Freshly copied from Megan's blog:

Begin forwarded message:

Wedding: Friday Evening at Val's

I wanted to find time in our schedule to see Val and her new house in Farmington. It's been a couple of years since we've seen our dear Pasadena friends! So after visiting Mom's grave, we drove even further north for our visit.

The house looks like a Pasadena craftsman (Google it and you'll see...) and is in a wonderful location. Of course, we took a tour while the kids got reacquainted. Katie and Sophie jumped on the trampoline (and I said my prayers that no arms would be broken) as we looked at the back yard.

Tom, Ben, and Daniel fed earthworms to the chickens. The soil was just gorgeous and rich!
They also fed the chickens and gathered lots of eggs.

Val pointed out that in a few years, most people won't know what ZCMI stands for or what it is. Her house still has a charcoal chute and lots of vintage charm.

We enjoyed a warm chili dinner complete with some of the best cornbread I've ever had and topped it with local honey. Perfectly yummy! After dinner, we decided to take a walk to the Lagoon trail. Spencer and I were happy to put in our 30 minutes of exercise and the kids enjoyed it, too...

That is, until little Lucy ran Daniel over with her bike. He tumbled to the sidewalk on his left arm (the 3rd fall of the trip) and just cried as he held it. This reaction was markedly different than his other falls. So, we trekked back to Val's house, put his splint on, and called the insurance's nurse line to see if we needed to take him for an x-ray. I was certain he'd broken it further. The tests she had us do indicated that we just needed to keep an eye on it and as he calmed down he relayed that he was really angry and frustrated that Lucy just ran him down. Anger I could handle. Broken arm would've been a different story. Needless to say, the splint stayed on for the rest of the trip. (And, of course he didn't fall after that!)

We decided that we still wanted to walk the trail so we headed out again, this time sans bike. It was the perfect family walk and I loved it! Thomas commented on how green and lush it was. It's definitely a stark contrast to our barren desert!

Along the trail we saw bison, this elk (or whatever it is) and a baby deer nestled right there next to the fence.

On the way home, we walked by the building where the Primary was first organized.

We took our obligatory departing pictures and were happy to see David, Ben, and Noah as they returned from their time at the church Fathers & Sons activity they'd snuck off to. These boys have been friends since they were 18 months old.

Sophie and Katie didn't want to part especially when they remembered that they were exactly one year and 3 days apart in age.

We could've spent much longer catching up, but we knew we had a big day ahead of us and decided to head home.

--
Posted By Blogger to Hall Pass at 5/24/2011 06:16:00 PM

Lunch with Granny

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie) — Sun, 01 May 2011 15:59:00 +0000

This past week I went with my grandmother, mother, and my two oldest to lunch at Rumbis and got some sweet pictures. Can you believe this woman is 90? I love her dearly. My mom remembered that she last hugged her sister right outside the restaurant, a sad moment. Overall, a very nice time with Granny. (I promise I'll get to the house story eventually, just trying to catch up on pictures.)

Davis Creek Hike Waterfall I

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie) — Sun, 01 May 2011 15:54:00 +0000

When I went to get the link to this hike, I realize the header on all of the Farmington pages is a picture of the street I live on! How fun. The Davis Creek Hikes are just a quick drive up the hill. My choir friend told me I'd have to pass a "no tresspassing" sign to get to them, yet they are government maintained trails, so I guess that sign was posted by the people who live up the mountain. This was a short, steep hike of a half mile to the first waterfall. You head up the road just north of the cemetery on 200 East, then curve right as the road curves, follow it up past the unwelcoming sign and park in the pull-off area by the reservoir. Walk up past the trail marker right where the creek hits the road to the Davis Creek sign a few yards farther in the trees.

With kids 4-11, I didn't know if the little people would handle it well, but they did great, and I had them rest whenever they wanted to. The views back down were amazing, the trail was soft and covered in leaves and lined with yellow wildflowers. At the top there was one place I could straddle the stream and carry the kids across to the other side where there was a flat, grassy area and they could throw rocks in the waterfall to their heart's content. I'd like to take Ben up and do the longer hike to the second waterfall and another area called "Pretty Valley." Imagine how lovely this will be when there are actually leaves on the trees!

Farmington Bay Bird Refuge (Waterfowl Management Area)

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie) — Sun, 01 May 2011 15:39:00 +0000

The kids had Monday off after Easter and I decided it was time for a pre-summer preview of all the natural delights Farmington has to offer. Due to gas prices and frugality measures, this summer's plans include a hiking/biking schedule that covers Farmington's 100 miles of trails and hopefully a family pass to the Farmington City Pool a half a block away.

On Sunday night, my choir carpool friend told me about the Blue Herons nesting in Farmington Bay five minutes west of our house and a fantastic waterfall hike five minutes east of my house. I decided we'd do both. I started with a lecture on how if they fought and complained the whole time it would greatly sway whether and who I would take on various summer outings, so behavior was actually very good and everyone was rather pleasant.

Holy cow this place is beautiful. I felt so blessed to have it right next door. I didn't realize it was a freshwater area, since it is right on the edge of the Great Salt Lake. There were SO many birds there and it was so peaceful. We had the place, and the ranger, all to ourselves, so we got a private tutorial on the habitat and the kids were very engaged in the little displays in the visitor's center. We took a short trail out on one of the dikes and the bird chatter was loud and everywhere. It was a little chilly, but a very nice time. Apparently they have different birds at different times throughout the year--in March is geese and February is bald eagles. We will definitely have to make this a monthly thing.

My zoom on my iPhone is kind of lame.

Yellow-headed blackbird

Heron nesting poles. ("The people supply the poles, the birds supply the nests."

The view back towards our house.

Halloween

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie) — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 22:54:00 +0000

Sophie was a pirate, Noah was Batman with a sword, Lucy was a princess with an LED light-up dress, Ben was Zoro, or a Musketeer of some kind. Ben and Sophie even had a Halloween theme for their piano recital.

Noah is the batman on the center left.

Sophie and cousins Julianna and Audrey.

It kind of wigged me out to see my son with a mustache. Won't be long . . .

Also around this time, Ben had a belt testing and Lucy had a preschool program.

Lucy is in a purple coat near the middle.

I think I'm almost caught up. I just have to check my phone and David's phone.

Silly kids -- and cats

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie) — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 22:46:00 +0000

Fall time on the front porch.

I have a bizzare habit of taking pictures of my kids when they are asleep, particularly if there is a cat involved. Sometimes I turn the light on to get a better shot. It's funny to see how tolerant the cat is being a teddy bear. Also, the baby appears to have been put to bed as well.

Sophie and Lucy used to share a bed, but we can't fit a queen bed into my basement. (Getting the washer and dryer down there took five men and a vertical drop.) So, they're back in twin beds now.

Cookie pizzas! Hurry up and make memories, kids!

Noah's Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie) — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 22:25:00 +0000

My little guy is now 6.5 and here are his big six birthday pics. He is a little sweetie, still wears 5Ts and has the same, pinchable cheeks. He still loves playing with cars, riding his bike and just generally being friendly to everyone (until he starts throwing gleeful punches). For those of you familiar with Blue's Clues, I call him my little Green Puppy (the character who loves knocking down other's block towers just for the joy of it).

His favorite color is black, his favorite show is Oswald. His favorite family activity is family night, which I wouldn't have guessed based on his behavior on said nights. He is quite the monkey. Lucy is his best friend. The other day I was tucking him in and giving him the drill, "You're going to grow up and be a good man, right?"
"Yes."
"And a good daddy?"
"Yes."
"And a good husband?"
"Yes . . ."-- look of concern. "Mommy, who am I going to marry? Oh, I know. I'll marry Lucy." Mommy explains he can't marry Lucy, and the concern returns. I explain he won't have to worry about that for a while, but he ponders it until he decides on our new next door neighbor who is also six and is in his Kindergarten and Primary classes. Now content, he snuggles into the covers and closes his eyes. "I'll marry Elsa." Well, since they are going to grow up together, I'd better write it down, just to be sure.

Love you, sweet Noah!

Holding new cousin, Lucas

Right about this time, we got our In-N-Out at last, so we celebrated a little there

You can't tell from the pic, but it is packed and the whole Centerville Police Department seemed to be dedicated to the grand opening in directing traffic and the blocks of cars waiting for the drive-thru.

Sophie's Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie) — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 22:09:00 +0000

Sophie is now 9.5 and I've yet to post her birthday. What is shocking to me is how, just 6 months later, all the kids look so much younger in these pictures than they do right now. What is happening here? It's flying by so fast. Here's my gorgeous girl. She loves baking and jumping rope and she's finally getting into dolls a little bit. She's got a beautiful smile, is just as moody and dramatic as the day she was born. She has a lovely singing voice, is almost a deputy black belt in tae-kwon-do, and she's doing well at the piano.

She is a cautious person, and as a result, has already begun to mother me, a more free-wheeling soul. I took them on a short hike last night behind Lagoon (yes, buffalo and antelope live just three blocks from my house!) and until we got to the trail head a few blocks away, she was constantly questioning where we were going and whether I knew what we were doing, and maybe we should turn back... It all turned out in the end (with one short cut and going over a low fence).

I definitely will not have those children who don't realize they had fallible parents until they were adults. My kids learn that by about the time they can talk. But still, to be second guessed by someone a fraction of my age can get a little old. It's like when Lucy back-seat drives. :)

I feel lucky to be Sophie's mom. She has taught me a lot. The other day she asked for a little sister and said, "I think it would be fun, even though I'd have to give up my favorite thing, which is, of course, ATTENTION." We had to break the news it wasn't going to happen, but the good news is, more attention for her, and I know she needs it, especially at this critical time in her life. Love you, Sophie!

Mirror Lake

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie) — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 21:55:00 +0000

We were going to go with Anita and Bob and my mom up to Mirror Lake in late August so they could teach my kids to fish. We were sad to go without them, but it was beautiful up there. David was travelling and it was just my mom and I and the four kids, not all of which were helpful or cooperative at any given time. There was much more rain than I'd wish for, and I swore by the end I'd never do it again. But now, eight months later when I look at the pictures, it looks like it was a fun time. Maybe I could be duped into it in the future. We got to fish sitting on the same rock my grandpa did with my mom when she was a little girl. I just have to figure out how to make it work, but there's a chance I'd do it again.

Catching Up on Pics

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie) — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 16:15:00 +0000

When I went back to see where I needed to catch up on pictures, I found pictures from last August. I posted Christmas, but missed some important things before that, so brace yourself for a few posts.

Right after our Pioneer Days, my mom's only sibling, my Aunt Anita, very suddenly passed away. What a very sad thing that has been. I didn't see her very often, but am surprised at what a vacancy she's left in my life, and especially that of my sister-cousin, Kim, and sweet mom. I took some pictures of my family at the graveside. It was a windy day, as you can see. 'Til we meet again, dear aunt!

Virtual tour for faraway friends.

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie) — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 22:15:00 +0000

I've received many requests to post pictures of the new house, and things have finally settled enough to give me a little Sunday time. Before I do so, however, I wish to recognize that, if some months ago some good friend bought a cute little house in Farmington and posted pictures on their blog, I would have been happy but very pained and tearful that I thought I would never would actually own a house of my own for many years to come, if at all.

So I want to say that I know there are a few of you who may feel like I would have. You can choose to ignore this post and I won't be offended. But it is also evidence that you may be wrong about your future prospects! I must express the amazement and gratitude I feel at this miraculous and unexpected door that has opened in our lives, and I have better seen how the Lord has worked in us over the past very difficult ten years in a way he could not have if we had been blinded by success and comfort. The humility and awe we feel in being blessed with this little place has really made us into new people, in a way. Or vice versa, I'm not sure.

Anyway, I will post these pictures, and some kid pictures, and then, if there's time today, get to the whole story. Otherwise it may need to wait until next week.

I started putting pics into this post but it was unwieldy, so I took 20 minutes to set it up on a wix template where it looked better anyway: www.wix.com/hivalerie/Our-house.

More to come!

Run faster! Or not.

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie) — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 22:38:00 +0000

Mosiah 4:27:And see that all these things are done in wisdom and ^aorder; for it is not requisite that a man should run ^bfaster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.

Of course this scripture doesn't apply to me, and probably not to you. We have too much to do. Clearly this scripture was written before the 24-hour stresses of daily modern life evolved and now literally demand that we run, process and accomplish tasks as fast as our computers can—the robots set the pace. What I'm sure the scripture meant was, Do not run faster than the strength:

you wish you had
you once had, ten, twenty or thirty years ago.
you think you should have if only you would try harder
you imagine everyone else has
you would have if you had less stress and enough money
you had in that one instant where you were your strongest ever
your kids have
your delusional supermom fantasies lead you to believe you have
all those inspirational famous people appear to have
the robots.

This past week, during a little informal dieting support group I attend, I was told by others that I needed to slow down, take an occasional break, and maybe let up on some of the pressures I put on myself. It was even suggested that I stop stressing about diet stuff altogether for a little while. My knee-jerk response to this was to wave it off. I've done lots of things at once, I'm a veteran multi-tasker. After the past ten years of almost constant chaos, upheaval and stress, I can now look death in the face and laugh. Hah!

Plus, if I slowed down, it's possible that any burdens I took off myself would simply be replaced by the guilt of doing so. So, why bother?

But after more thought, I realized that, although trials do make us stronger, I'm at a weak point right now. I get tired, emotionally and physically, more often at this moment in my life, for whatever reason. Perhaps I did need to readjust my expectations. I don't think my schedule is that busy right now, honestly it feels like most of the pressure is actually coming from inside my own head (be better, faster, stronger!), but let's take a look.

My list probably looks a lot like most people's in my stage of life. If I do everything I'm supposed to do in a day, it looks like this:

Feed people (3x)
Dishes
Laundry
Daily job (M-Kitchen, T-Bathrooms, W-Living Areas, H-Bedrooms, F-Van/yard)
Scriptures (usually done by audio while multitasking)
Check Bills/finances
Prayer (2x+) (usually in the shower--multitasking again)
Track/plan food
Kid shuffling: Homework, chores, piano practice, Activity Days, scouts, piano, tae kwon do
Music Practice: voice (U admission auditions 2/27), learn UCA music, piano proficiency exam prep, children's choir prep
Exercise
Kid love: Cuddle and talk with kids, not about homework, chores or piano
Husband time
Service (VT, temple, trying to listen to the Spirit about who/what needs me, etc.)
Try to make some money
Journal/Write
Quiet meditation (Hah. This generally doubles as "sleep.")

No surprise, I don't often get to the things toward the bottom of the daily list, the things that make me and my family more happy, sane and less stressed financially. When I focus on the business of home and family and getting the absolute necessities taken care of, when I finally get to my own shower and am ready to at last get to work on the rest, it's about 11:30 p.m. and I crash.

Also, if my mind just revolts, and I sit down to rest or think in a quiet place for a minute, which is happening involuntarily more and more these days, there is always something that theoretically should be filling that time. No vacancies in the schedule allowed.

I know this is almost a universal problem with women in my place in life. I know we are supposed to simplify, yet my family and home need almost constant attention, I've felt direction from the Lord on the path I'm taking with music even though that takes time. I just can't see quite where I'm supposed to cut.

Then again, what's not on my list, but takes a ton of my time and mental energy, is fruitless, tail-chasing anxiety, wall-staring panic, and Tetris-playing despair. Somehow, I never book enough time in the day to allow for these time hogs.

President Uchdorf said on this great talk on the subject:

Let’s be honest; it’s rather easy to be busy. We all can think up a list of tasks that will overwhelm our schedules. Some might even think that their self-worth depends on the length of their to-do list. They flood the open spaces in their time with lists of meetings and minutia—even during times of stress and fatigue. Because they unnecessarily complicate their lives, they often feel increased frustration, diminished joy, and too little sense of meaning in their lives.

It is said that any virtue when taken to an extreme can become a vice. Overscheduling our days would certainly qualify for this. There comes a point where milestones can become millstones and ambitions, albatrosses around our necks...

...My dear brothers and sisters, we would do well to slow down a little, proceed at the optimum speed for our circumstances, focus on the significant, lift up our eyes, and truly see the things that matter most. Let us be mindful of the foundational precepts our Heavenly Father has given to His children that will establish the basis of a rich and fruitful mortal life with promises of eternal happiness.

In that same talk, President Uchdorf said that our relationships with God, our family, our fellowman, and ourselves, are the top priorities. The first task of the first priority, our relationship with God, was, in fact, quiet meditation, the neglected item at the bottom of my list:

Quietly focusing on daily personal prayer and scripture study...these will be some wise investments of our time and efforts to draw closer to our Heavenly Father. Let us heed the invitation in Psalms: “Be still, and know that I am God.”

So, as I approach these last two husbandless weeks of bar prep and stress, I am going to make a commitment to myself to a sort of mental/spiritual/physical refocus, not with a longer to-do list, but by making the last first, beginning each day with quiet prayer and study to get inspiration for the day. Maybe that would help me minimize the unscheduled time-hogs (anxiety, panic, despair) by replacing all that paralyzing fear with some faith. And I think I'll put some kid love time before the kid shuffling time each day.

The Creator of the universe manages everything in order and love, so it only makes sense that as I face my own to-do list each morning, that I consult with Him first.

Last of the Christmas pix

noreply@blogger.com (Valerie) — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 23:29:00 +0000

It seemed Santa was everywhere we went. The children's choir sang at the Nutcracker and there were many choir rehearsals for myself as well. Lots and lots of jammie time with the kitties while school was out . . .