The text I sent Craig this morning.

So . . .

I caught my first mouse. 

🐁 

I headed out to get the garbage can from the curb. I was careful. 

I stepped on the sidewalk, or so I thought. It was a sheet of ice. I tried my hardest to recover, but I went down. 

Not really hard, but in a spectacular fashion. A sweet gentleman in a cowboy hat with gray hair was driving by and he pulled over to see if I was okay. 

By the time he got out of the truck I was on my feet talking my self out of running away in embarrassment. 

How was your morning?

I picked up these bad boy mouse traps yesterday. First day and we caught one. 

Josh came home for Christmas

The dog went nuts. She was so excited. She wouldn’t stay away from him. She wore herself out and ended up just needing to touch him. 

We stayed up and talked til after 1 in the morning. Since it was already Christmas, I had him open his wrapped gifts. 

I found these and had to get them. 

I think they are funny. He says he loves them. 

He asked me to do his hair for church the next day. 

I was super excited. 

The dog still won’t leave him alone. 

Next to our little tree. It’s still cute though. 

Profile picture. 

All the curls in back. 

Man. I think he is so handsome. He can still charm me with just one smile. 

The best part about Christmas. 

Vision Clinic Christmas Party

The Jones’s took us to a Lindsey Sterling concert for Christmas. 

!!!!!

I was so excited. We traveled to Idaho Falls and went shopping before. There were four of us in my car. Wendy, Bren, and Terry. I drove. 

These ladies are my work buddies. We giggle and have fun together. 

After shopping, I found three pairs of shoes to wear in the jungle, we met for dinner. 

We had yummy Mexican food. We were a pretty big group. 

Then we stopped quick at the hotel and made it to the venue. A stadium where they play hockey. We were sitting on the side. 

I have not been to many concerts before. But Lindsey puts on a great show. She is very active on the stage. Her and her violin dance and move all over. Her dancers were great. Her personality shone through. She was funny, clever, and extremely talented. We had so much fun. 

Not all of us. Terry is hiding in there somewhere. 

The Joneses ended up a little bit away from us. 

A fun Saturday. We woke up and headed home for Sunday at home. I made it to church. 

Christmas Party for Craig

Craig’s work party was at the bowling alley, same as last year. People gathered to bowl and have fun together. 

He works at a shop. The majority of the employees are men. Men at a bowling alley means intense competition. Craig played to warm up. He hadn’t played since the previous year. It showed. He has never bowled so poorly. His knee hurts a lot and he was adjusting his throw. 

Not even one full game in the competition started. Everybody that wanted to put in $10.00. The boss, Jim Bob, matched the pot. People were way into it and the pot ended up to be over $600.00. Some people put in more than 10.00. 

I am not a good bowler. If fact I was worse than normal, so I didn’t put in. 

Jim Bob had started the trash talking that morning. He said he might not win like last year but he wouldn’t loose to a Russet. (Craig went to Shelley High School and their mascot was a russet potato-honestly the worse mascot ever.)

So Craig dug out his old lettermen jacket and played up the challenge. Jim Bob noticed that Craig was in the lead. He stopped the game and took a microphone and challenged Craig again. Trying to get in Craig’s head. They’ve golfed for over a year together and he has seen Craig choke. Craig laughed, rubbed the big red S on his jacket and continued playing. I thought it was a dirty trick. But it energized Craig - not what Jim

Bob wanted. 

Craig ended up winning. Just over $600.00. That covered our yellow fever cost. 

Some were trying to go double or nothing. I said no and we went home feeling incredibly blessed. 

Craig wearing his jacket standing by Jim Bob and the lady that won the last frame. 

Weather

Craig and I are in Idaho. It is cold here. I took a picture of snow a while back. 

It is beautiful is a freezing kind of way. 

Near the same time in my gallery, Boaz sent this picture. 

This is beautiful in a summer kind of way. 

So not only is Boaz in a different day he is also in a different country, a different hemisphere, and he is in a different season. 

Last stabbing

This past week we had our last shots. 

I had four. 

Second MMR, second Hepatitis (I’ll have the third one after the mission), yellow fever, and the flu. 

Craig had three shots. His second hep, the yellow fever and the flu. 

The yellow fever shot is super expensive. $215 ish each. Not covered by insurance. We were a bit surprised, but what do you do? It was required.

Today Craig was feeling a bit tired. He thinks it’s a reaction from the shots. Hopefully he’ll feel better tomorrow. 

Temple trip

Craig and I have tried to make the trip to the temple at least once a month. 

I think it was our last trip we headed to attend with one of his high school friend and his family. 

We saw three moose on the way. 

These two fine fellows and another one a little down the road. (Now that I think about it, this picture was last month. Too bad, I’m keeping it in this post.)

I have been worried about our health. We are doing good, but if anything happens we will have to reevaluate our plans. 

I considered what answers I wanted from our temple trip. Our health was a concern. When I was remembering the promise from the Word of Wisdom, I felt the heavy comfort of Heaven. We would have health through our mission. My throat thickened and tears pricked. 

I was grateful for an answer. 

Modern day miracle

This right here is a miracle. September 20, 2022

Boaz is in the Philippines, Thea is in Hawaii, Josh is in Utah and we are in Idaho. When I was on my mission, I would have died for something like this. September 27, 2022

Josh told me I needed to let everyone know when I wanted to take a picture so we could all smile. October 4, 2022

Some pictures are better than others. October 12, 2022

Our weekly talks have been a blessing. October 23, 2022

We have gotten closer and more involved as a family.  October 30, 2022

We look forward to Sunday nights ( Monday mornings for Boaz) each week. November 6, 2022

He calls us from tomorrow. He’s 14 hours ahead of mountain time. November 13, 2022

The first time Alex made an appearance. November 20, 2022

He hangs out in the background. Even if he isn’t in the frame. November 27, 2022

We are so grateful. December 4, 2022

Thea didn’t make it until after Josh had to leave. December 11, 2022 

A true friend

Terry and I met at work. She has worked for over 30 years at the Vision Clinic. When I first met her she was so quiet. She had taken five years off to care for her husband.  He passed from cancer just over a year ago. She needed to get out of the house and to reconnect with life so she came back to work. 

Now I can’t even remember her being quiet. Well obviously I can, but she isn’t quiet around me anymore. Which I am so grateful for. We giggle our way through the work day when she is working. She works two days a week. She knows so much. I’m glad I’ve had the time to get to know her and work with her. 

She just had cataract surgery. Which means that her prescription was no longer good. Trying to see with the old glasses was driving her crazy. She also has prism, so her eyes were trying to make her sick. She was trying out different options to block one eye. 

We laughed all day over her troubles. She is wonderful that way. Looking to find the joy in life. Her sense of humor meets with mine. 

I will miss her. I’m so blessed to have her as a friend.