Singing

Ben had the opportunity to perform at Abravanel Hall  down in Salt Lake City yesterday. Kids from high schools in Northern Utah were selected to be in the Honor Choir. Ben was selected as a tenor 1 from his school. They've practiced 2-3 times in the last couple of weeks and then performed yesterday.
I wasn't able to attend because of work ( sadness) but DJ and the girls went and said it was really good.

This is what it looks like out our living room window today. It's been warmer this week and we've lost quite a bit of snow but look! here it comes again :)

I thought I would share little snapshots of the living room

 I found these trees at Lowes after Christmas for $2.00 ( originally $16.00). I thought they would be nice for winter decorating. They make my heart happy!

I love the reflection of the cross in the plate.

These skates belonged to one of my aunts when she was 12. She is now 73 or 74.

Oh, I was going to share a Ben story real quick. He was at Panda Express the other night with some other choir kids. Some of the girls were singing "Phantom of the Opera". Ben then sang it in falsetto. Everyone in the restaurant applauded for him which surprised him. I really wish I could have been a fly on the wall!

He does sing in the shower quite often and I love it!

~JanMarie

Memories :)

We braved the cold temperatures while we were in South Dakota. We went to the cemetery just down the street from DJ's parents house.

Our first son, Joshua Cole, is buried there. He was stillborn in 1995. It's hard to believe he would have been 17 this New Years Eve.

 

Ben, Heather & Dani

DJ & I

Our front yard yesterday

We woke up to -3* this morning. COLD! Our normal highs for the winter are high 20's to low 30's.

I got an unexpected Christmas bonus from work. It was a very nice surprise. I bought the Epson V600 Photo Scanner with that bonus. 

 Both sides of my mom and dads families have lots of pictures, letters and documents that have been handed down over the generations.  What a gift!

I'm helping them get it all organized. With this new scanner it's going to get done a lot quicker!

My goal is to get everything scanned and organized into folders so I can make CD's for all my siblings and their kids. 

Dani is helping me and we got a lot of items scanned the last 2 days. It's so much fun to read letters and imagine what life was like so many years ago!

~JanMarie

Snow and Other Lovely Things :)

We finally got a decent snow storm! 
The storm rolled in Thursday and dumped over a foot of snow in most areas along the Wasatch front. 

Dani turned her little bug around coming home through the canyon but thankfully there was no traffic close to her. It shook her up a bit. She came to the house and after a cup of tea we fixed dinner for everyone. DJ picked Heather up from work. Ben got a ride home from play practice. 

It was an unexpected evening of all of us being together and I loved every minute of it!
It was such a wonderful feeling to know everyone was out of the storm safe and warm :) It snowed Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The girls spent the weekend with us since the snowplows blocked the entrance to their apartment complex.

The Christmas lights got buried.

DJ and Ben kept our driveway and part of the street cleared using the ATV.

I love this picture! I was standing on the front porch so my camera wouldn't get wet. That's the maple tree in our front yard. I think the snow flakes look so neat.

Ben plowing the street. We bought the plow for the Sportsman several years ago and it sure comes in handy!

Max was so happy to have Heather home for the weekend. He was snuggled in her lap. His hair is out of control :)

This little guy melts my heart every day. 

Ice out the back door.

It has been abnormally cold here but I'm not complaining ~ It kills the bugs and keeps the snow around :)

Today our high was 8*

~JanMarie

A Well Loved Hobby

Some people have hobbies and then some people have HOBBIES! 

DJ's Aunt Jo has a rather large hobby that we were able to see while home for Christmas. We have seen it before but it's never looked so good as it does in its new room. 

It's a Christmas village that she has been collecting for a very long time. It's a lot of fun to look at. So I thought I'd let you peek in too!

This stays up year round. DJ's mom sewed the table skirts and one or both of his uncles made the tables I believe.

Love this! She rolled the tires in paint so it would look like muddy tracks.

Isn't this fun?

 

So sweet.

Farm life

Jo explaining something about the village.

Ready to go

One of my favorites :)

I hope you enjoyed a little peek at Jo's hobby. It's amazing all the work she has put into it.

Have a wonderful day :)

~JanMarie

Christmas in South Dakota

17 years is a long time ~ That's how long it had been since all the kids and grandkids on DJ's side had been together for Christmas. 

I can only imagine how happy it made my MIL's heart to have us all home this year! It was a wonderful visit ~ Full of laughter, stories (mostly of DJ and his 3 brothers when they were growing up :), way to much food, games and just being together. 

We drove straight through ~ About 18 hrs. or so. Ben serenaded us with his singing :)

Not to far from DJ's hometown in north east South Dakota. Farming country.

My MIL and I working in the kitchen Christmas Eve day. The cooking and cleanup got done quickly with people pitching in to help.
My MIL did a fantastic job of having everything organized so it was easy to put the meals together and keep people fed :)

DJ and Dani

Hoff and I ~ Not sure what those pathetic faces were for......?

Grandma and Grandpa with the grandkids ( 2 were missing)

Mom and Dad with the original 5 :)

Adding in the spouses ~ Except Nancy's husband, Jim, wasn't there yet.

Everyone piled together ~ Was so good to get these pictures taken.

Dave, DJ, Nancy, Shorty and Dale

Opening gifts on Christmas Eve since not everyone would be there the next morning.
Ben, as the youngest, got to hand out the gifts.

I just had to show you the tiger meat. Yes, it is raw ground beef with onions and different seasonings in it. You eat it with crackers. It's very popular in that area and can be found in the local grocery store. It's not as bad as you might think.

Two dads and their sons playing cards with a grandpa looking on :)

Jenga ~ it makes you hold your breath and pray that you aren't the one who makes it all come tumbling down.

Phew!

Balancing on one block........

Go Loo!  (look at Shorty and DJ in the background anxiously watching their kids)

Ben sends them tumbling!

It takes precise movement.

Dani and Nancy bundled up in Grandpa and Grandma's coats. They went down the street to collect dinner plates we had used at my MIL's sisters house the night before.

Not very Christmasy looking, right?  
My FIL starting making sausage along time ago. 
We love it and almost always make some to take back home with us.
This batch is a mixture of beef and pork.

Nancy, Dan, DJ and Dale set up in the basement.

These hands (my FIL) have made countless lbs. of sausage over the years! 
He does a fabulous job!


I think the warmest it got while we were there was 9*. 
I remember my first winter there, 20 years ago. My MIL said it was  -80* with the wind chill factor! I remember looking at her like "what does that even mean?" It means no matter how bundled up you are that wind blows right through and it's COLD!!

Stay warm :)

~JanMarie