Dear Flammly,

January 8, 2023

Snowflake, Arizona

Dear Flammly,

This first week of 2023 has been a good one, and I am happy to have some time on this Fast Sunday to tell you about it. (It's amazing how much time is saved by not eating. . .maybe we should always not eat! jk lol)

New Year's day was quiet and simple. We went to church, then came home for snacks and a thoughtful Come, Follow Me discussion led by Exacto about how we learn and how we can know when we have found truth. He is such a good teacher! He really has a gift for engaging our interest and making us want to share our thoughts.

It was a gloomy, overcast several days. My sweet friend Danica brought over a bag of sunshine! She knows of my proneness to seasonal depression and was thinking of me. (Her husband keeps bees, and the honey is from them! So cool! And the little sun is citrus-scented. :)

We had our traditional black-eyed pea cornbread casserole (for good luck in the new year!) and collard spinach greens (for prosperity!) and started a game of Monopoly that went on till Thursday (Exacto was the only one with good luck and prosperity, haha).

Monday it was blowing snow. Exacto and Rosehips and I went on a short, frigid walk with his bow and arrows (so noble!). In the evening we had a nice FHE where we all shared stuff we were learning in our personal scripture study, then we watched How to Train Your Dragon 3 and had kettlecorn. I really liked that movie! I think it's my favorite of the three. 

Tuesday there was more snow and it was rainy/overcast all day and DC was back to work. Exacto and I still went running (woot woot!) and I went to a Young Women presidency meeting. Sushi for dinner, which we'd been craving ever since playing SushiGo! over the break. :) 

That evening Rosehips and I had a cozy Hallmark movie night at my cousin Kim's house. It was so fun! We watched Enchanted Christmas and they had set out a tv tray just for us (and one for them) so we all had easy access to yummy popcorn and lemonade. E showed us all his art work (he's so talented!) and we cracked up at C's constant replaying of the Pooh Bear song and it was really nice to just spend fun time together. Kim was always one of my favorites, growing up, and I love having her in my life again!

Wednesday the sun finally came back! We went to Five-Mile Draw to see if perhaps there would be thick enough ice for Rosehips to try out her new ice skates on, but alas, it was only sparse or thin. Exacto and Hummer explored the west side of the canyon while I talked to Fluffy and had a very happy conversation over videocall about his upcoming plans.

We had an afternoon activity for YW, since school hasn't resumed yet, and it was so fun! Just games and brainstorming for future activities, but those girls are a joy to be with and I loved getting to know some of the younger new ones better. 

Thursday we braved the chilly partly sunny day for a picnic at Pioneer Park. We brought the "wiggle sticks" along and Exacto, Hummer, and Rosehips did their amazing stuff on the basketball court (even attracting the attention of a couple walking their dog), then we read under the cottonwood trees by the stage. I'm reading Castle in the Air to them, trying to finish before Hummer heads back to school, and it is so fun! I am so glad they still want me to read to them! It's really one of my love languages. 

Friday there was another chipmunk sighting from the breakfast nook! We started eating in there because the regular table was being "monopolized" (heehee) and it's been fun to see how much wildlife we'd been missing. This chipmunk loves to perch on a particular rock and survey the landscape and he's there almost every time we have a meal. What is he looking for? 

That evening DC and I headed to the Valley for a Phoenix Symphony concert that Nana and Grandpa had invited us to. We were so excited to have the time together and to hear Mozart's 3rd violin concerto and to get more grapefruit! Alas, it was not to be. After stopping briefly in Payson to get fish and chips for dinner, we headed south on 87 for a mile or two, then were forced to pull over. The road was closed due to an accident about 6 hours earlier (shudder!). Any alternate route would have gotten us to symphony hall about when the concert was ending, so we turned around and headed home, with a small detour to get (very tall!) ice cream cones at McDonald's. :) It was disappointing to miss the concert and an opportunity to be with my parents, but we were really grateful to be safe and also to have all that time to talk and reconnect with each other!

I've been thinking about something DC shared this morning in our family scripture study. He mentioned that several people in the Matthew 1 and Luke 1-2 are told by angels to "fear not", and asked what things we are afraid of or anxious about. I shared a few things. I tend to get anxious whenever asked or assigned to do something like give a talk or a lesson -- even teaching piano lessons gives me anxiety sometimes. My biggest fears tend to be related to family members, their safety, the possible results of choices they're making, etc. You, my beloved children, are the source of my greatest joy and so also my greatest concerns! 

Then he shared these two scriptures:

2 Timothy 1:7 

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind

and

Doctrine and Covenants 122:9

Fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever.

And so, fear not. Fear is not from God, and He will be with you, giving you power, love, and a sound mind.

Love,

Mommy

gip

Michelle

good things and what I learned - { september }

Swallow Ridge at the Beginning of September

cheesy iPhone pictures – I’ll try to get some with my big girl camera next time

What I Learned:

~ Drywall likes to go before stucco, but roofers like to go after stucco. But. . . .drywall can’t go before roofers because of the threat of rain damage. This creates a fun little catch-22 that gets subs irritated with you. I learned to just choose what seemed best to me, and darn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.

~ Check all your windows with code requirements BEFORE ordering! Our inspector found 5 windows that have to be replaced with tempered glass, costing us more than $1000. 

~ It’s okay to have to reschedule people. And then reschedule them again. And then again. I was feeling like a major annoyance to my roofers – and maybe I am – but I am paying them quite a lot of money, and it is not my fault that other trades are taking longer than we thought they would. Now I try to just cheerfully call and update them. “Yes, it looks like it will actually be in another decade or so. Sorry about that!”

.

.

~ This house still feels like an albatross when I think of the money involved. It is really hard not to get into the If-Only trap of thinking. But since I am saying what I learned . . . . I would definitely do more research on who should draw up plans. An architect would have been a much better choice for us and saved us lots of money, way more than what we “saved” by hiring a draftsman. Oh, well. Since we are ending up with a bigger, fancier house than we had set out to build, it helps me to think more of the comfort we will be able to provide to our family and visitors as well as the years of happy memories I hope we will make here. I also like thinking of all the blood, sweat, and tears we will be putting into it ourselves once drywall is done. It makes me feel all pioneerish and awesome.

.

.

Good Things That Happened with Swallow Ridge in September:

~ Rough-in was completed for our hydronic baseboard heaters, our electrical, and our plumbing.

~ We scored a cooktop and dishwasher that will work well in our kitchen on Craigslist for $225! For both!

~ The roofers came back and fixed the dry-in with cap nails so that hopefully it doesn’t start blowing off again. I was grateful for the individualized help we received from a friend of my parents, who has retired from roofing but is expert in that field and who came and watched, making sure it got done right.

~ My mom has been a huge help translating for our stucco guy and me. Her Spanish is amazing and she is friendly to boot!, so not only are we able to communicate but she makes it fun.

.

check out that Cutie in the sunset light – can’t wait to sit on our front porch together :)

~ Most of the first layer of stucco is on! Woot! It took most of the month for two workers (only :() to install the lath. But once they started putting the cement on it seemed to go much faster.

.

.

~ My parents have some old, but solid wood salvage cabinets in storage that they are willing to give us. I will need to clean them well and refinish them but I am so happy about the money saved on cabinets. Woohoo!

~ All the exterior doors were installed without anyone getting hurt (see August’s post when it comes for an injury story). Also I never have to work with that sub again, which is a relief (just one of those personal things – some personalities are more pleasant to work with than others!).

.

the result of much communication between me and multiple framers – woot!

~ Our electric company has been on the ball. They got our design approved and all the easement paperwork to us. They’re waiting on us now to get the trenching done and conduit laid (can you believe they leave that up to the homeowners? yikes). Power is scheduled to be connected on 11/4.

~ Framers came back and fixed many of the little problems still hanging on, also got it all set for drywall. They even did some of the blocking for our kitchen cabinets for free.

.

looking up at that sweet chimney chase

~ Trenching was completed on the last day of September. Our backyard looks like a war zone, but it was a huge blessing that an excavator was enough to get through the solid rock – we didn’t need to use a hammer hoe, which would have cost more than double. Now what to do with the stacks of boulders sitting on what is supposed to be our backyard lawn!? lol

trench through the backyard

.

Swallow Ridge at the End of September

Rocky Mountain National Park, raspberry tarts, and other delights

A couple of weekends ago we spent the day at RMNP. We live only about an hour away, and I wish it were even closer! It is so, so lovely.

Many of these photos were taken from the car (apologies!) but I think they still show the beauty of autumn beginning to unfold here.

.

We hiked in an area called “Hidden Valley” and went really, really high. It was surprisingly cold – there was frost on the ground.

  .

We met up with DC’s mom and brother’s family there, and had a wonderful day. I wish we could have spent about a week up there!

.

I was curious to see the highest stretch of road in the park (and Bear Lake and the other lower areas were super crowded) so we headed up to the tundra at 12000ft+.

I was amazed at how barren and windy it was at the top, almost like another planet. But then see the lakes up there? So gorgeous!

We came back down to near Bear Lake and had a picnic at a lovely spot near a stream. .

All the campgrounds within an hour of the park were completely full. So the boys camped in our backyard!

.

Grandma with B&D’s children.

.

I think we must be related! :)

.

Rosebud and S.

.

Mom Baker made us a fabulous Sunday dinner, of course with ice cream for dessert!

.

Rosebud and I found a farm in town with you-pick raspberries. We had a wonderful time and came home with 3 pounds (for $9!). Rosebud’s request was to make raspberry tarts, just like Amelia Bedelia. They turned out super yummy. I can see why Amelia Bedelia is always forgiven for her mistakes when she hands these out. :)

.

We still try to take a weekly family photo by the temple. I’m hoping to do a time-lapse video of the progress. . .that would be super neat.

.

My amateur attempt at capturing the super-lunar eclipse last Sunday. It looked so much cooler in real life!

Um, I’m back.

I would apologize for the extended absence from this virtual home of mine, but I do have good reasons! Maybe I will be able to fill in the blanks sometime. Anyway here are some recent photos! :)

A quintessential summer photo of our Rosebud.

The Angel Moroni statue was placed on the Fort Collins temple from about 8 – 9 am on August 26, 2015, and we were there to watch! A once-in-a-lifetime experience that I hope we always remember.

 

.

 

.

.

.

 

The following were taken at Back to School night.

.

Fluffy is attending there as a 9th grader, Hummer in 6th grade, and Rosebud in Kindergarten.

.

I love this sign below on the backboard – definitely gives the flavor of the school! :)

 

.

Rosebud’s Kindergarten classroom. (Pix to follow of the first day of school and this sweetheart in her ridiculously adorable uniform.)

.

Hummer will be studying the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations.

  .

DC had a birthday, and we celebrated for days!

.

.

Our newest niece with her mom – she was born in Italy this summer!

.

The birthday boy! (He’s turning more than 3 :).

.

We had a wonderful evening with DC’s siblings and their kids.

.

This photo is very sweet of my niece and her daddy, but doesn’t do justice to the cray-cray puppy Hazel. :)

.

We had another party at home, too, because chocolate cheesecake.

.

I normally don’t love photobombing even if it’s unintentional, but Hummer’s face in this one just cracks me up. .

DC’s birthday wish for us to go all together to the Denver Temple and then to the free day at the Denver Art Museum. We got up real early. . .

.

. . . .and had a lovely time at the temple. (Thanks to Exacto for watching the younger ones for us!)

 .

Next up was the art museum. DC and Hummer had never been there before. The rest of us enjoyed showing off our favorites, like we had made them ourselves. :)

We LOVE this Bierstadt painting of Estes Park. So gorgeous!

Btw, DC was gone for 11 weeks this summer doing a Level II Fieldwork assignment in Prescott, AZ. It was amazing how much easier life felt when he returned! You can tell from these photos that Rosebud was really happy to have her Daddy back.

.

A couple of my favorite new finds. . .

This next piece really inspired me. See the bear cub at her feet? Tough mommy!

The Buddhist art was spectacular!