My Reading List

I decided that this year I was going to do some reading along with living life. This picture illustrates the books I have already chosen. I decided I would read 12 but I already have more than that. To these I have added: What She Left Behind, Wonder, and A Man Named Ove. I also have three Bednar books- Increase in Learning, Power to Become and Act in Doctrine that I want to get to as well. I already finished A Monster Calls and will probably finish the Enoch Letters tonight. Maybe, I'll just see how many books I can read this year!

Snow Caves

Yesterday afternoon I made a decision.

It was time to leave my computer area and get busy with some fun. 

Brittan, Corban and I all went out to build snow caves.

It took a while. 

After about 45 minutes Bri abandoned us.

She said her wrists were cold. 

Her wrists! 

Then Corban abandoned me.

I spent about two hours digging out my snow cave. 

then my friend Esther came over to help. 

She slept in it last night. 

I don't know how that went because this morning she is not out there. 

Either she left early or sometime in the middle of the night. 

It's a pretty awesome snow cave. 

And this morning I can tell I got a great arm workout. 

 

Families can be forever

One thing I love most about the gospel is that families can be together forever.
Even after this life families still have the chance to be forever.
I love that.
I love it because I love my family and want to be with them forever.
I love that Heavenly Father made a way even if people die before being sealed together.
Friday night Marissa, Dave, Matt and I sealed William and Betsey to their parents.
They both died young.
William was four.
Betsey was sixteen.
I knew about Betsey, even though I thought her name was Elinor, but William was found a few months ago.
I know of no one living that knew about him.
Now he has been remembered.
He was found.
He is now able to be with his mom and dad forever.
I love everything about that.
Everything. 

Almost Time

It's almost time!

We are about two weeks out before we start seeds.

I'm getting so excited. 

However, there is a LOT of work that has to happen before then.

We got a connex this winter, which is going to be our nursery, pack house, and storage place.

Last night we framed walls and Matt cut out the door so it has easy access to the greenhouse. 

The greenhouse is a mess. 

Everything just got thrown in there in the fall. 

Once we get the shelving up in the connex we'll be able to get things straightened up. 

Then celery, tomatoes, peppers and more will have their beginnings. 

I am so excited for this season. 

Our website in a work in progress but you can view it here:

https://harvestpointfarm.com/ 

California Sunshine

 One of my most favorite things in this world is Dallin's smile.

It's sunlight to me.

And when I get random texts with that smile,

it just makes my heart so happy that sometimes I cry.

He has been such a great blessing to Matt and I.

I know that he is a great blessing to the people of California.

I often wonder why Heavenly Father has blessed me so much with a son like Dallin Fox.

Sacrament meeting escapades

Sometimes it is hard to sit still in sacrament meeting. Although when I was loading these pictures I had immediate fears that my kids will not pay attention or even go after they leave home. I hope that is wrong. As for now, some Sunday's it is battle to be reverent. You'd think that because we are respectively 11,14,17, and 42 that it wouldn't be a problem. But we found a black string. And then we had to make different versions of eyebrows....

After sacrament we all helped out in the nursery. We found this absolutely terrifying doll. Someone needs to screen the nursery toys.

On a heartbroken note...
I found out this morning that yesterday one of my dearest friends, Meggan Catanzaro, husband passed away. Matt was only 33 years old. They have 5 kids, 11 and younger. I have struggled to try and stop crying all day. We talked for a little while. I will be in Utah on the 8th so I am going to go and be with her. My heart is just so broken for her.

Survived....barely

It appears we have made it through the worst.

The coldest I saw was -33, but my neighbor clocked it at -39.

The vehicles made angry sounds when we tried to start them.

I've been sitting at my desk with the space heater blowing on my frozen toes for days.

It's about -7 now and it is easier to breathe.

The forecast has lots of snow and no more negative temps.

The lows this week are 4,0,13,19,23 and 14.

The highs are 15,9,16,22,34, and 32.

I'll most looking forward to the day of low 23 high 34. 

I imagine it will feel like summer. 

Cold Snap

Yesterday it snowed
and snowed
and snowed.
I wondered if we would get out of the driveway this morning.
The world is beautiful outside now.
However, tomorrow morning it is supposed to be -25 and our high of the day is supposed to be -10.
I am hoping they are wrong.
I'm wondering if the boiler is going to be able to handle it.
I'm also wondering if I will get frostbite on my toes while I sleep.
I'll let you know if I survive.

Coming Home

Our trip was so carefree and smooth sailing.
Coming home was not.
In Denver our plane got delayed 7 times.
Then once we finally got on they didn't put us all together.
Brittan and I had to sit between two strange men each.
One of the guys I was sitting next to kept coughing and sneezing.
The other guy took full advantage of the free drinks that were offered because our flight was delayed.
Needless to say I was so glad to finally land in Anchorage.
Then I got a message from the neighbor to call immediately.
Our boiler had stopped working at some point and the house was frozen.
Solid.
Like the toilet bowls were huge ice containers.
It was -9 degrees when we pulled into the driveway.
We slept in a cold house that night because the heaters couldn't keep up.
The next morning I realized I probably got what the guy next to me had.
I'm finally starting to feel better.
It took two days to thaw the house which meant two days without running water.
We kept the space heaters and woodstove going to thaw out.
At one point the thermostat said it was 97 degrees in the house.
When the plumber came we had two broken pipes in my shower.
I also think the cats went rogue while we were gone.
The shower caddy was knocked over.
We also have a broken window in the kitchen.

The surprising part about all this?
It felt like no big deal.
Seriously.
I never felt frustrated or irritated about it.
In the big scheme of things it just felt like it would be fine and over all it didn't really matter.

I am glad to be home.
I still love Alaska.
The day after getting home I realized I talked to four of my friends and they had each texted me.
I felt loved.
Life is good.
It's actually more than good.
Life is great!

Day Ten: Last day smatterings

Today was our last day. I think everyone is pretty tired but I am so going to miss the smells of Florida this time of year. Tonight Matt, Corban and I went exploring and on the way back I heard tons of crickets and it made me so happy. The weather was awesome today. We went back to Universal and spent some more money at shops and got more butter beer. We also went on the Men in Black ride and saw Shaggy and Scooby. After that we headed back to the hotel and went swimming and watched TV for awhile. Then Matt, Corban and I went out. We took a cruise boat to Disney springs and then a horse drawn carriage to end the day. It was a lovely ending to our vacation.

Tomorrow we will be in airports and on planes all day. Then back to normal life.

Day Nine: Universal Studios- Harry Potter World

Today was a total blast. I liked Universal more than Disney actually.

Here are some of the highlights:
*Breakfast at Keke's when Brittan said- "My body can change hot cocoa into pee. That's pretty amazing."
*Going on the Jurassic Park ride three times in a row and getting totally wet.
*Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley were incredible- everything about them!
*Buying wands at Ollivanders
*Tasting Butter beer and eating at the Three Broomsticks
*Riding the Hogwarts Express and eating chocolate frogs
*Buying gifts in Weasley's Wizard Wheezes
*Riding the Hulk roller coaster
* Using our wands to make magic all over the park
* Drinking pumpkin juice and eating pumpkin pasties
*Seeing a fire breathing dragon

It was seriously so great.
Here is a ton of pictures-