One of the Weirdest Winters of All-Time

Our winter this year has had a bit of bi-polarity.  It snows super heavy and then it gets super sunny and melts all of the mountains of insane snow and then it rains for days on end and the sun never shines and then it snows again super heavy and the cycle....continues...it has sucked my will to live...seriously. 

Here are some fun times from the winter of 2016.

Parker walking home from school with her buddy, Lucas.  So cute!

Who heard of a winter when the day after a snow storm it's so warm you can sit without coats in lawn chairs?

Adventures in Academic Conferencing

I'm not sure I would classify this as a classic get-away for a married couple.  Technically it was just Mark and I flying somewhere,  just the two of us, without kids (which is the first time in a really, really long time--I think the last time was when we went to Mississippi to visit his Uncle Jim when he was the mission president of Mark's mission, but I digress...)  Anyway, it had been a really long time, so we were kind of giddy about it.  However, the giddyness was definitely over-shadowed by some major nerves and all manner of anxiety.  The purpose for our trip was for an academic conference.

Last semester as part of our research paper, we had to shop our ideas to some conferences or publications.  I found a conference at Clemson University that seemed to be in line with my research topic and went for it...how bad could it be?  I was accepted just before Christmas, and after securing funding through CMU, accepted my invitation to present after the new year.  I was funded by CMU, and Mark has a continuing education fund with his college, so he was funded by Delta.  We figured we'd make a "get-away" of it.  So we did!

We had planned on having Riley come and stay with the girls for the weekend, but wouldn't you know it we got slammed with the worst winter storm of all time the day before our travel plans were set.  So, we had to cancel on Riley (who was buried in snow in East Lansing worse than we were in Midland), and took our chances driving down to Detroit with all three girls in tow.  If we made it, we'd leave them with the Griswolds.  If we didn't, we'd stay over at Grandpa's and go back home the next day.  Well, we made it.  Barely.  It was a white, blizzardy nightmare.

They were happy to be dropped off with cousins, and we were on our way!!

We got into Greensville, South Carolina later that evening, and rented a car to drive to Clemson which was about 45 minutes away.  We found an old favorite to stop for our dinner.

The next day was the "Margins: Rhetoric in the Digital Now" conference.  We got there plenty early, and were greeted by friendly conference organizers.  Most everyone there were graduate students and much younger than us, but it was still a warm and encouraging environment.  I realized that I had forgotten my script for my presentation so I had to ask one of the organizers to print it off for me.  After looking it over, I realized it was an old version, so I had to have her print it off a second time!  So embarrassing!  Anyway, after I got my script things went fine.  I had to read it verbatim, so I wouldn't get side-tracked or nervous, but overall it went well.  Even the question segment at the end wasn't nearly as bad as I had imagined.  I did it!!

After the presentations, there was a lunch provided. Mark and I sat with different people and got to know the college and programs better. It was a good opportunity.  I made a pretty dumb mistake and ate a chocolate-covered biscotti after lunch and realized that it was mostly almonds and so my mouth started getting itchy.  I decided to take a Benadryl just to be safe.  We went into the next session of the conference, which was actually really interesting, but the Benadryl started kicking in and I could barely keep my eyes open.  We left early and ended up just driving around.  We got pop and chips and saw the campus/town.  We decided to get dinner early and drove out to an authentic bbq restaurant called "The Smoking Pig" which had been recommended to us by some of the conference-goers.  It was fabulous!!

We also hit up a movie after dinner called "Risen."  It was good.  By that time, I was exhausted...both from the Benadryl and from my adrenalin crash after all my anxiety was released, so we called it a night.

We had to leave super early Saturday morning to make our flight back, just to realize I had messed up the reservation and were lucky enough to make another flight, although we had to pay for another whole ticket as a penalty!!  UGH!!  I hate when stuff like that happens.  Anyway, the important thing is we got home...early...and were able to get the girls and all was good.  But still...curse you Southwest.

We spent some time with my Dad helping him out that afternoon, and then we finally made it back to Midland later that night.  We were buried in snow and shocked we had made it out when we did.

Parker made this snowman with Maryn with some of the leftover snow after a couple days of being home (which is why it doesn't look nearly as bad as it did).  Meet our one and only snowman for the winter of 2016.

Daddy Daughter Sock-Hop

This year, the theme was a 1950's Sock-Hop. We all had a great time! So glad that the girls get to have these fun memories with their Dad!

Avery's cute group of friends from church/school

Dad is proving he is still taller than his daughter

Daddy and Parker

Dad and Maryn, photo-bombed by some girl...

Valentine's Day 2016

Mark got each of the girls a bouquet of her own flowers that reminded him of her, along with a box of chocolates.

(Avery deleted her pic before I had a chance to upload it...ahhh, life with a teenager!)

I made everyone a yummy pot roast dinner with brownie ice cream sundaes for dessert, along with a card for the ones I love!

I have to admit that I was having a hard time leading up to this Valentine's Day.  My Mom and Laurie both were always so good about sending us cards and I have been feeling really sorry for myself and my girls not having their loving influence in our lives anymore.  I know they are with us in spirit, but it's these tangible memories that are so hard to live without.  Anyway, my Dad must have been inspired because he found my Mom's stash of Mary Engelbreit cards and sent us a valentine this year.  I was so grateful for the gesture of love.  It brought everything back into perspective for me and made my Valentines extra special.  Thanks Dad!

Parker's Timeline Project and other Artistic Ventures

Parker had an assignment for her kindergarten class to complete a timeline of her life. The only criteria were to include three major events: birth, something in between, and the present.  Pretty simple, right?  Sure!  No problem!!  I started going through the files of pictures, and whoa!  The memories and nostalgia of it all was a little overwhelming!  How could I possibly break her life into 3 major events?!?  The more I dug through our photos and started reminiscing, the bigger the project became.  It was hard to narrow it down!!  I know it was waaaay more than she needed to have, but it was such a FUN project to get involved in together.  It took a tiny bit of the guilt over the fact that she doesn't have a baby book away (AAAHHHH, the shame, the horror!!) and helped me to catch a new appreciation and perspective for this sweet girl of mine. 

She is one in a million!  Love her!!

Here are a few pieces from her "winter collection!!" Anyone who knows me well knows that I love the seasonal/holiday decor in my house.  I have loved how Parker helps keep me decorated with plenty of seasonal themed art for my door and fridge.

Each month, her teacher has them "write the room" with the different seasonal things going on.  I love these!!  I'm not sure if you can see it really well, but her drawing and writing are both coming along really well.

A Good Day

We took a trip to visit Grandpa and go to the temple in January and celebrate Addie and Mark's birthdays. It was so nice to be able to get away from our regular routine and lift our spirits. 

This big 3 year old girl loves her some ketchup!!

I am always struck at how closely I feel Mom's spirit when I visit Dad now.  I have no doubt they still have similar conversations to the ones they had before, and that he can still hear her calling down the stairs to him to remind him to run to the post office or come upstairs and EAT!  Haha!  Something as simple as putting up her seasonal decorations or even throwing in a load of laundry makes me feel closer to her, and I am grateful for the memories I am able to have of her while I am there and how it lifts my spirit each time.

We had some time on Saturday to go and visit the cemetery.  We had a good conversation while we were there.  It was really good for me and I think it was for Dad too.  

In particular, I am grateful for the time I get to spend with DAD now.  I didn't always get the same one-on-one experiences with Dad that I did with Mom while we would make these weekend visits, and so now I feel like we are able to really develop and cultivate our relationship which has given me a new appreciation and realization of Heavenly Father's plan.  This time with him is a gift.  It's meant for a divine purpose.  It will help strengthen our relationship so that it CAN and WILL last throughout the eternities.  I am grateful for the spirit whispering to my soul these simple truths.  Or maybe it's Mom nudging us all in the direction that we need to go...onward and upward...together...until we reach our final "seats" in heaven where there will be "No Empty Chairs."
 It was a good day.  

Mark's Forty-Second Birthday

This guy just keeps getting better with age...

It doesn't take much to make his happy either. 

As long as he's got his girls to come home to...

Some good books to read...

And something chocolately and sweet baked with love...

He's a happy guy. 
And we are oh, so grateful for him!!  Happy birthday MSB, here's to another great year!