Weekend

 Happy New Year.  So far my singular resolution is not to buy into my weather app’s house of lies.

On Saturday, my dad and I (he is a fellow weather watcher), discovered that 14 inches of snow were predicted!

Our kids were coming in Adam’s Subaru and we had our van, which is great for hauling all the things and not as great in the snow.  Adam took the van to Wells to leave it there and rode back with the kids.

We only got a couple of inches of snow.

Yesterday a similar amount of snow was predicted for Utah County.  They got about 5-6 inches.

So you can see why my New Years resolution is important.  Also, like Olivia pointed out, it is attainable.

We have had a wonderful weekend here.  Aside from the occasional mouse (bleck!), it feels like paradise.  

I love being in this still and beautiful place steeped with so many memories.  I love spending time with my parents and siblings and their families.  I love how relaxing it is.  Friday I cleaned the bathrooms and swept and vacuumed the floors and it didn’t take very long at all because 1) the house is pretty small and 2) we don’t have much stuff.  So that was all my chores accomplished.  All that was left was visiting family, reading and doing a little cross-stitch.

With a dose of gazing out the window at the snow.

If I had been home, I would have had a to do list, likely with columns.  

So I am grateful for the restraint an almost empty house provides.

Here is the new chair Adam and Emma gave me for Christmas.  Mark gave me the clock and I framed the little chalkboard with driftwood from Mukilteo beach.

It is a lovely little spot to sit.

I love the communal spirit here.  My parents take care of us with dinner invitations and snow plowing and turning on the heat. Robert loaned us duct tape to seal up the dryer duct more completely (maybe where the mice are entering?) and he and Nikki delivered a chair my mom loaned us when she found out I had a new chair.  She wanted Adam to have one too.  Edgar stuck a bag of ice melt on our back porch, just because he thought we would need it and he stuck some mouse traps in the back of our car when we were all at Marianne’s last night.

Saturday night we convened at Marianne’s.  She is the party girl with the party house.  It was so fun to be there with everyone.  We played games and ate splendid food and just enjoyed ourselves.  I almost stayed until midnight, I was having that much fun.  Adam and Mark and I all left a little early and Robert brought Emma over later.

On Sunday, we went to church in Wells.  It feels like I am related to half the people there and the other half are complete strangers (with a few exceptions).  It is very familiar and I look for the people who are long gone in the spots where they always used to sit.  By their lives, or in actual lessons in Sunday school, primary or seminary classes, they taught me how I wanted to live.  You can’t repay that gift.

In the afternoon, Emma and Mark drove back to Utah and Adam and I stayed put.  I would continue this dream forever if I could.

Being with my sisters is like an ongoing party where you don’t have to dress up or try to impress anyone.  We rub each others’ shoulders because we all have the same back and we laugh a lot and share food.

I taught them Mexican Train last night except I forgot about half the rules and when Adam came over after talking to Edgar, he righted the ship.  Out of the group:  my mom, Adam, Olivia, Marianne, Carolina and Robert (Edgar and my dad visited in the other room while we played), I came in dead last.  By a lot.

Today, the spell breaks and we are going back to Utah.  I am back at school tomorrow.  Onward.