December 2008!

Well, we made it through our first semester here in Logan. Hooray!!!! However, we are now well into winter. Boooo!!!! (At least that’s how I feel. Ben is loving the thousands upon thousands of inches of snow we have gotten so far – I might be exaggerating a tad) It’s true, it is freezing here. Literally freezing! It got down to about -6 degrees last night. Walking from the car to the doors of the church in 7 degrees in a skirt and heels is not fun! I try to go out as little as possible and when I’m inside I’m bundled up in a hoodie and knee high socks and usually have a blanket wrapped around my shoulders. Perhaps Logan wasn’t the best choice for me. I will say though that this valley is absolutely gorgeous! This is lucky because the beauty makes up for the cold. Driving to work a few weeks ago at 8 am in -4 degrees I crested the hill by the University that overlooks the valley. There was a low fog at the base of the west mountains. The snow covered, monumental formation seemed to rise straight out of the thick haze. Ice encased every tree in sight, and the lighted temple stood majestically on a hill. In that moment I was almost grateful for the winter weather because it had created such beauty….then I got out of my car in the parking lot and wished that such beauty could be created in the warmth of the sun! I hear that we should finally be able to see the ground again sometime in March. Here’s hoping spring comes much, much sooner! Like I said, Ben is loving all this snow. He has gone ice fishing quiet a few times with his friend Jason. I swear that boy is going to give me a heart attack before the season is over. I’m convinced he is going to fall in the water and we will find him as an icicle on the bottom of Tony Grove Lake. He has a great time though and has caught the most colorful rainbow trout he has ever seen (and that’s saying a lot as his dad is a guide on the river in Arkansas which if full of rainbow trout. He has seen more than his share in his lifetime!).

As I said we have made it through our first semester here. If I ever see another algebraic function in my life I think I will cry! I passed the class and will never, ever look back! Even though this past semester was absolutely horrible for me I am really excited about the upcoming one. I’ll be taking an intro. to computers class (which I’ve been told is cake), and a children’s literature class which I’m hoping will give me an idea of whether or not I would enjoy writing children’s books. The books that we will be reading over the semester include “The Giver”, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, “A Wrinkle in Time”, “Maniac McGee”, “The Golden Compass” and a few others that I didn’t read as a child (probably because they are newer). I’m so excited! I get to read fiction books all semester. What a perfect class! Ben did very well in his classes this semester. He said shortly after finals that he feels he made the right decision in picking civil engineering as his major because he really enjoyed his classes and made very good grades without a whole lot of effort. He starts school again tomorrow and will be taking Calculus, Engineering Drafting, Business Ethics, and Family Finance. Everyone wish him luck!

As usual, I have posted some pictures. Lots of them are of Maddie since she is (in her own words) “a star”. We also took some pictures of Sardine Canyon as we drove through shortly before Christmas. Then there are a few pictures of Maddie on Christmas morning, a couple of Ben and Maddie hanging out in the igloo that Ben spent 4 hours making on Christmas afternoon. Christmas night a huge snow storm hit, dumping over half a foot of snow on top of the 6 or so inches that were on the ground already. I woke up on December 26^th and took some pictures from inside the house, and then that afternoon we bundled Maddie up and took her sledding. I was suffering from the beginnings of the worst sickness I’ve ever, ever had so it was all I could do to muster up the energy to take pictures so you will see Maddie and Ben but not me. There are a couple videos of them sledding as well as three pictures in there that have a story. In the first picture Maddie is handing Ben a handful of snow with which she said, “Daddy, will you make me a snowball so I can throw it at you?” Ben obliged and in the second picture you will see him forming the snowball. The third picture shows Ben standing with his arms stretched out ready for the blow and Maddie, snowball in hand, getting ready to nail him. What you don’t see is the snowball whizzing past Ben about a foot to the left of his body. She needs a little work on her pitching skills!

I guess since I’ve updated everyone on me and Ben I had better write a little something about Maddie. She is still the epitome of a girl. She has been wearing her church dress all day which is a very elaborate, poufy, and sequenced dress. It looks like something a little girl would wear to a wedding so of course she loves it. She would wear it every day if I let her. She has decided that she wants to grow out her hair and it is getting pretty long. It hangs down a little past her shoulders now. We took her the other day to get a haircut for the first time since she was about a year old (living in Missouri, Ben’s sister always cut it for her since she was a hairstylist). She sat in that chair and chatted with the girl like she was a little woman. She went on and on about what she got for Christmas and I can’t even remember what else. She has also started making jokes. I will say, she needs a little work on her humor but at least she tries. Today we were looking in the garage for a heater for her playroom since it gets quite cold in there and she said, “How about we use sheeps?” I replied, “Sheeps?!?” and to that she shrugged her shoulders as she laughed and said “Well, I’m just kidding. It was a joke!” She is a silly, crazy little girl and we couldn’t live without her!!!!

We hope you are all as happy and healthy as we are! We love and miss you! xoxo

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Make a Smilebox slideshow