January
I've decided that having January in between December and February is a good idea. It becomes a "rest" for me. I don't think I took a single picture -- I know...that is truly amazing. We just stayed busy settling back into school and trying not to go crazy during the inversion and freezing temperatures. January always seems a little long, but it was a nice slow month which is OK.
The basketball season finally came to a close. Elliot and Clark each finished out Jr. Jazz with trophies and Madeleine's middle school team took second place in their regional tournament after a 9-1 season. We also managed to catch quite a few BYU basketball games on TV. Go, Cougars!
My baby turned 7 years old on Feb. 4th. Of course, he hates it when I tell people he's my baby, but I guess I can get away with it here. Somehow 7 just doesn't sound at all like a little kid anymore. It could make me a little sad, or on the other hand I could brag that all of my children can now shower unassisted, which makes me happy and could possibly make all my brothers and sisters jealous! Well, we celebrated Clark's birthday on the 5th so that Loren and Phillip could be here. They were coming up to go with their sisters to the Josh Groban concert that same night. (They all got tickets for Christmas.) So, Grandma and Grandpa came over and we had dinner and presents. The following Saturday we had Clark's "Finding Nemo" party. We had a lot of fun. The kids especially liked drawing on the mural!
Aunt Shirley says she is 39 again this year. Why we bother to have birthday parties for her I'm sure I don't know...just kidding. Pat and Wally put on a yummy dinner for all of us and we did presents and games -- just like a real birthday party. Shirley is a sweetheart and really doesn't ever get any older. She is always so appreciative and happy to have us love her...and we do!
I on the other hand continue to get older each year. I don't feel bad about it because I know everyone is getting older along with me. Somehow I find consolation in that. Truly, I am very grateful and appreciative to everyone for making this birthday such a nice one. We celebrated early on President's Day once again because Phillip and Loren could be here. Alan cooked me a "Bennetts" dinner and the kids all had very thoughtful gifts for me. I appreciate Alan for helping them with that. My actual birthday was on a Friday and Alan took me away on a surprise get-a-way. We went out to dinner, to the symphony, and spent the night at one of the Marriotts downtown. How nice to have kids old enough to take care of themselves. I think everyone should have a birthweek instead of a birthday -- way more fun!
Every year, the siblings in my family try to get together for an adult dinner at the Lion House. This year the only date available in February was on Valentine's Day. It worked out great as far as the husbands were concerned and Mark and Cherry did a great job planning it. My brother Matthew had sent us some letters my Mom had written to my Dad when they were dating and getting engaged. I got the idea that it would be fun to surprise the sibs with a copy of these as a valentine from us. So we scanned them all in and Phillip helped design the cover; "Love letters straight from the heart". Alan is so good at these family history projects and we have fun working on them together. It turned out to be a fun surprise that night. We had mailed one to Matt and Elasha up in Washington. We sure missed having them here that night, but I guess we need to get used to it as they are headed to Pittsburgh in June for 5 years. Hopefully they will stop here "on the way."
Loren and Phillip at BYU
We really miss having Phillip and Loren here with us -- occasionally we'll start to set the table for 8, only to discover that we only need 6 plates. But they are doing great at BYU, and we do get to see them once in a while. In February they came up for Clark's birthday and Presidents Day, and all the girls in the family met them at the Museum Cafe for lunch one day. If you want to see how life at BYU is going, take a look at Phillip's page, where he describes and shows his latest activities.