Skiing with Grandma!

Today was a cold (7 degrees, brrrr!), but glorious day at Bogus Basin. I went alone (yes, alone, but it's fine. I like it. Not as much as when I'm skiing with Kirt, but I like it.). As I was riding up, alone, on the ski lift, I heard a little voice calling, "Grandma? Grandma!" I looked down, and watched a little girl in a purple coat skiing towards her grandma's outstretched arms. I smiled. That's you and me in a few years, Reesie!

I also rode up the lift with an older, talkative gentleman. He told me he's been skiing Bogus since 1943. He graduated from Boise High in 1948. I had to ask. "Does that mean you're...78?" "Yep," he replied. "I tell all my friends that this (Bogus Basin) is the fountain of youth."

Let's see...when I'm 78, I'll be skiing with Reese, who will be 19 by then.

Look Who's Back on the Mountain!

It's Kirt, and he's looking great! Since that fateful day last April, I've wondered if this would ever happen again! We skiied together today, and it was so much fun! No falls, great turns, decent snow! An amazing thing happened today...

...at the end of our skiing day, Kirt said he was ready to go back to the car, and I said, for once, "I'm going to take one more run!" (Usually it's me that goes for the car!)

I'm not looking too bad. Can you see the whooshes of snow behind my skiis?

Skiing was marvelous today. Boise has been locked in an inversion all week, (that's Boise you can't see underneath all those clouds!) with a high of about 32 degrees. Bogus was 39 degrees! When we hit the treeline today, the fog was gone, and we saw the sun! The SUN! We actually had to unzip our coats!

cool runnings...

this is a view of my street, and my shoveled sidewalk.

this is a view of another home, not shoveled at all, and garbage cans placed smack in the middle of the sidewalk.

Another view of my nicely shoveled sidewalk, with recycling placed nicely to the egde, allowing pedestrians a place to actually walk.

Today was a running day. And garbage day. As you can tell, we've had snow in Boise. It was supposed to get warmer yesterday, and the snow did turn to rain, but not enough to melt anything, so running today was a bit of a challenge. I only fell once, and had a nice core workout trying to stay upright. Even with the challenges, it beats going to the gym. Despite the various badly placed trash recepticles, garbage day is one of the most interesting days to run. It's fascinating to see what others have put outside, and the amount. Even with a houseful this past summer, we typically put out just one can, and that's not even full. The single person living near to me, who sometimes has a child visiting, puts out three every single week. My recycling represents two weeks worth, and that after a major cleaning out.

My thanks to all of you who shovel your snowy sidewalks and put your trash to the edge, allowing others to USE the sidewalk.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAKE!

January 2nd is Jake's 26th Birthday! We want to wish him a Happy Birthday!

We are so proud of him.

The tree pictured is a white pine tree; a type Lorrie found somewhere in its mature state, and loved it because it has soft needles and is open and airy. So, she had Jacob dig a large hole in 2002 to plant it before he left on his mission. That way, she could watch the tree grow, knowing her son was also growing in so many ways down in another country where she could not hug him for two years. Instead, she nurtured the tree, which has become known affectionately by the family as "JAKE, THE TREE." Not to be confused with "Jake, the person." In its early years, the tree looked rather pathetic, and spindly; not quite unlike what we all think of as Charlie Brown's Christmas tree. But, as you can see, "Jake, the Tree" has begun to take shape, grow tall, and fill in with maturity and wisdom. It is somewhat representative of "Jake, the person," as we celebrate his birth. Son and tree will only get better with age.

(Sorry, this turned out more "sappy" than I had planned.)

New Year's Resolution

Lorrie and I spent our time off for New Years, cleaning and organizing and sending things to Deseret Industries. After 10 years in this house, we felt the need to simplify. Note the before and after shots of our pantry and mud room. We have hung more artwork, and next: The Dreaded Freezer!

A Christmas Surprise!

Sometimes, it is hard to surprise Lorrie for Christmas. Not this year! She hinted that she wanted 6 green Buffalo mugs (Buffalo China is unique, but not manufactured any longer). Mackenzie told Lorrie back in November she found the 6GBMs at an estate sale, and it would be nice if I got them for her for her birthday. But, when I found out Kenzie was planning to give Lorrie 2 white BMs, I bought the green ones, but told Lorrie nothing. They showed up on M&M's website as sold, so Lorrie was bummed I didn't move fast enough. She was surprised when she got the white ones, and loved them. But everytime we used them this past month, I would bemoan the fact everytime when they were in the dishwasher that we couldn't have hot chocolate in our mugs, because they were dirty. Lorrie would then give me a hard time about missing the opportunity to buy the 6 GBMs, and I just snickered to myself like Snoopy. Needless to say, the foundation was laid for the mother of all surprises, when she opened her final present on Christmas morning. (See above.) This was better (and cheaper) than those commercials with the new cars with ribbons on them in the driveway.

Flamethrower!

I'm sure many of you got a chuckle out of reading our Christmas family newsletter (WHAT? you didn't read the newsletter? Too bad if you didn't, it was written by Malorie this year, it was short and amusing!). I'll refer specifically to the line that read, "Kirt and Lorrie are now half a century old. They celebrated their golden birthday by taking a trip for McCall and purchasing a vacuum."

Normally, that wouldn't be a newsworthy item...NORMALLY! But this wasn't a normal situation. Here what happened. On November 8, I was vacuuming the downstairs, getting it ready for the 30 people we were having over for a little social. We have a central vac, and for years, the power in the powerhead just cuts out, but then starts right back up again, because the little plug in thingy isn't QUITE making the connection. On this particular day, right as I was finishing, a ONE FOOT FLAME shot out, scaring me and causing the damage you see in the above pictures. I had the presence of mind NOT to drop the powerhead on the carpet, although I will admit that I blew on it twice.

So, on our way to McCall, we stopped to see if this one could be repaired. Our friends at Coltrin Central Vac got quite the kick out of seeing it, and talked us into buying a new one, instead, which we did, happily. That's the story.

Christmas Quilt

This is a photo of the Christmas Quilt I finished in November. It was designed by my friend and neighbor, Carol, who is also a member of my quilting group. Several of us made the quilt, and, as always, it's fun to see the individual interpretation of the blocks making up the quilt. Mine is made up entirely of green and red scraps, none of them "Christmas" fabrics. (and for you Old Town Pewter fans, that is my soup tureen doing double duty as a pot for my poinsettia!)

There are five different trees, and these are two of my favorites.

This is a paper-pieced quilt (VERY small pieces of fabric!), and worth every stitch in the fabric! This quilt is currently gracing my front hallway, and bring Christmas cheer to me every time I come up the stairs or in the door! Merry Christmas to you!