We started January off on a very sour note. Phin woke up New Years Day very early in the morning with the stomach flu. Our year commenced with a game of would you rather...the options....help Phin take a bath or clean up throw-up. Seth very wisely picked the bath and I started cleaning up Phin's room. I was extremely grateful that we have a washer and dryer so I could clean up the yuckiness pronto. We spent the rest of the day lounging and getting lots of cuddles. Seth snuck away for a few hours to attend his Uncle and Aunt's annual New Years Day Party.
The next day we were all feeling much better and headed to our nephew/cousin Ben's baptism. We had talked to Phin quite a bit about how Ben was going to get baptized and get the most important gift he would ever receive, the Holy Ghost. Throughout January whenever Phin saw Ben's photo on a Christmas card he would say "Ben baptized."
Another highlight of the day was meeting sweet Harvey.
On Monday, January 4th I decided I would start strong with my New Years Resolution of being more fit. I loaded the kids up and headed to gym to walk around the track. Not long after we got there the day became anything but routine. On one of our laps around the track I saw a woman pick up a chair and start to move it towards the railing. At the time I thought it was weird...but honestly people do weird things at the gym. By the time we got back around to that same spot on the track everything had changed. The woman had jumped from the third floor track to the concrete entryway below. Another patron had seen the whole thing happen and was crumbled on the track in a panic attack. I was very shaken up but didn't want Phin to realize what had happened. I was able to put my jacket over the side of the stroller as we exited the building. I realized that a great tender mercy had occurred with us not witnessing the actual jump. My thoughts were consumed with the event through the rest of the day. I wondered if I could have done something...if I could have smiled, asked a question or changed the events of the day in anyway.
We experienced more of the joys associated with home-ownership in January. Our furnace stopped working the first week in January. The heat would turn on but would turn off before it was up to our set temperature. Our house hovered in the low 60s until we got someone to come and take a look. He made a few adjustments and the furnace started to work better. The previous owners didn't change the filter often so there was so much lint and debris in the furnace that the air had a hard time blowing through which caused the furnace to overheat and turn off. The furnace was also 20 years old which is pretty old for a furnace. So we decided to make an major upgrade and get a new furnace. We also had the coil for the AC replaced and will replace the compressor in the Spring. If you come and visit us...we just may give you a tour of the new furnace...it is easily the most expensive item in our house. The new furnace produces so much condensation that we needed a pump to pump the condensation out of the house. It has been so cold that the pipe on the outside of the house froze...so the pump filled up and then had a safety measure that turned the furnace off. I had to empty the pump every couple of hours to keep the furnace running until we could get our HVAC guy back out to troubleshoot the problem. He insulated the pipe outside and now we have consistent heat. We are knocking on wood that our furnace problem is now solved...and that we don't have another major home expense anytime soon.
Another New Years Resolution was to go on more dates. Our first in January was for the adult session of our Stake Conference. We hired a babysitter for Phin and took Millie along with us. It was nice to sit for a couple of hours and not have to tell someone to sit down, to listen quietly,etc. Millie slept the whole time which was wonderful.
We got to watch our Clemson Tigers play in the championship game. We watched up at Nona and Papa's house. I was adventurous and made homemade egg rolls and an Asian dish that we enjoyed before the game. Everytime we have watched any sporting event since the beginning of December Phin shouts "Go Tigers" even if no Tigers are playing.
Our second date in January was to Seth's company party on January 15th. The party was held at The Little America. Seth received an award...Most Advanced Employee for 2015. It was nice to see him receive some recognition for all of his hard work. Many people described him as an EXCEL guru throughout the night.
We joined Beth, Eliza and Lily at The Leonardo on January 16th. We didn't see the Mummies exhibit but we had a great time visiting all of the other exhibits. Beth made a cool bridge out of giant Legos that Phin loved crawling through.
I was really surprised at how kid friendly and hands on the museum was. It was fun to have Seth with us to play right along with Phin.
I was called as a Relief Society Instructor in December and taught my first lesson on January 17th. I have often heard teachers say that as they have studied the lesson it seemed to be tailored perfectly to their present circumstances and this lesson was definitely that way for me. The lesson was Jesus Christ Our Only Way to Hope and Joy. I am so excited to learn more about President Howard W. Hunter and to draw closer to my Savior as I prepare lessons.
Seth had to work on Martin Luther King Day. My mom was watching four of my cute nephews and invited us to join them at McDonalds for lunch. Phin enjoyed the french fries and running around with his cute cousins.
I came to the quick realization that I am ready for winter to be over when I slipped on the ice on January 19th. I was dropping Phin and Millie off at my parent's before heading to work when the fall happened. I grabbed all of the bags (diaper, gym, potty,etc) that I had to take in and told Phin to watch me as I headed to the door. Just as I rounded the corner from their driveway to the walkway to the door I slipped. I banged my left wrist pretty bad and the bags I was carrying flung up and hit me in the face. I don't have any leave left at work so I toughed out the day before heading to InstaCare later in the night. Fortunately I just sprained my wrist but I was sure sore for a few days. I still feel like I don't have full mobility back but I am working hard to get back to my pre-fall state.
Seth's High School friends had an informal reunion on January 20th. Sarah organized a dinner to celebrate Preston's birthday. We also got to visit with Adam and Spencer. It was a fun night...and we hope to have more of these reunions in the future.
Sarah was down from Idaho for a few days and Millie and Phin got to hang out with Kate and Harvey. I love these pictures of cousin tummy time.
One day we were out at Market Square and Phin saw a Paw Patrol hat. I let him hold it thinking it would keep him entertained while we shopped. Nona was out there with Andrew and James and they loved the hat too. So before we left we had a hat for Phin, Andrew, James and Aaron.
Isn't this the cutest picture ever of four cousins in their hats? My mom didn't even pose this photo...they just naturally sat down that way.
Seth and Phin built our first snowman in our very own yard. When I asked how the building went Seth commented that Phin wasn't a very hard worker. I think Phin preferred to play with the sticks that ended up being the snowman's arms. Phin sure loved the snowman and every day as we drive away from the house he says "bye snowman" and "bye house." He has also commented as the snowman has melted "snowman melting."
One Friday we picked Aaron up from Nona's house and went down to the City Creek Food Court to play. Aaron was such a sweetheart and kept asking me to take pictures of him.
The last weekend in January we headed up to Hyde Park to play in the snow. We drove up Friday night and Millie was able to get some good cuddles from her Granddad.
We woke up Saturday to a winter wonderland.
After Seth cleared the driveway we headed out on a snowshoe adventure along the nearby canal.
The snow was absolutely perfect and I loved how pretty the trees looked all covered in the snow.
Millie did great on her first snowshoe trip. She ended up falling asleep before we turned back.
It was so fun to spend time with Tawnya, Granddad, Jamie, Beth and Philip.
One of my first memories of Tawnya was a snowshoe trip that included a snowball fight. I realized then how fun and playful Tawnya happens to be. This trip she was playing with Phin and accidentally hit him in the face with a snowball...he was not happy. She was sweet and handed him some snow which he immediately threw right in her face as he smiled and laughed.
Honestly the trip was perfection!
Jamie and Jotham's kids were our heroes for the weekend and watched Phin and Millie while we did a session at the Logan Temple. The last time we did a session was a couple of weeks before Millie was born. My new years resolution was for just one date a month...and I ended up getting three. Thank you Hatch Family!
Phin had a great time hanging out with his cousins while we were gone. He was quite obsessed with their fish net. He tends to turn all toys into hats and this net was perfect.
Cache Valley was a wonderful way to end January.
