January 2019 in Review

Welcome 2019!

After a lovely Christmas break, Brinley packed up and moved into The Lodge housing complex after deciding to do an override and attend Winter Semester.  She enjoyed her time at Sommerset student housing (Fall Semester) but was not able to renew her contract.  No problem - she was up for another adventure with a completely new set of roomies.

Thor - gray, Ginger - calico

We had cats for two months.  And probably two months too long (ha-ha).  It was quite the ordeal placing Thor and Ginger in a new home (aka - animal shelter) but hopefully, they are happy wherever they ended up.  The sole purpose of welcoming them into the family was to keep the voles from destroying our grass as we were told they were excellent mousers.  We soon discovered they didn't seem up for the task but we're guessing their scent chased away a few critters.  We are not cat people.

Aaron was set apart as Bishop of the YSA 23rd Ward on Sunday, January 6, 2019.  His call came in December and it was an enlightening and humbling process to be part of.  The responsibilities are tremendous but the students already love him and the Lord is blessing our family.

Nice to have Tanner, G-ma and G-pa P able to drive up and join us for the day. 

Bro. Hurst - 1st Counselor, Aaron - Bishop, Bro. Denney - 2nd Counselor

 There's something special about this but I can't remember what - I'll have to ask Elsie.

A quick glance at this schedule shows how we spent our evenings during December, January and February.  We attended A LOT of basketball games between Anna's playing on the girl's freshman team and Jantzen's playing on the boy's JV team.  Too bad they make you pay for every game $$!!

Tanyss, Heather, Katie, Shelly

I love these amazing women!  Three of us in the Henry's Fork Stake YW Presidency have January birthdays so we managed to find a Saturday morning to celebrate at breakfast together.

Quinn - cooperation activity at Pack Night

The kids look forward to Aaron taking them to the annual Beaver Mountain ski trip in UT.  Lots of fresh snow made for a delightful evening of skiing.  Anna tried out snowboarding for the first time and of course, loves it.  Ainsley came along to teach her the ropes - these two make quite the comical pair.  Aaron spent time with Quinn and Elsie - their skills continue to improve.  Elsie participated in ski school (4 weeks) this winter and really enjoyed skiing with her friends.

Anna - first time to snowboard and loved it.

Quinn - riding the ski lift

Aaron with Quinn and Elsie

Quinn, Aaron, Elsie

Elsie on ski lift.

Ainsley & Anna on their boards.

Brent & Kathy with Tominaga's at basketball game.

Meanwhile, I stayed home to attend Jantzen's basketball game against Blackfoot.  And look who I ran into?  It was loads of fun to chat and watch the game together.  I dare say Aunt Kathy knew nearly every person in that gymnasium.  After driving home that evening, I sensed a tickle in my throat which panned out to be a fun bout with influenza.  I spent the weekend in bed but felt better by Monday, January 21 (even though I completely lost my voice).

It was a brutal winter in the sickness department in our community.  The school district even had to cancel school because of the number of children absent due to the outbreak.  Fortunately, we took precautions and our stints were short-lived.

The kids didn't have school on my birthday due to MLK holiday but I wasn't up to doing a whole lot so it was a chill kind of day.  Aaron and I celebrated the following weekend with a quick getaway (love those free companion tickets).  

Happy 46th Birthday Heather!

Mini-Klondike bars for the birthday treat.

Anna received her YW Medallion though not at New Beginnings since she was at a basketball game. Members of the Stake YW Presidency attend these so Elsie joined me for our ward's event.  Between ward conferences, New Beginnings, and starting TREK preparations, there was plenty going on this winter within the stake to keep us very busy.

Elsie's dance team performed during half-time at a Ririe basketball game January 24.  I was so impressed!  The girls did an awesome job and had a lot of fun with the routine.

Elsie - back row, second from left

Aaron and I flew into Portland, Oregon on Friday (Jan. 25) for our weekend getaway and passed through the small town of Elsie en route to Seaside, OR.

Months ago Aaron was contacted by WorldMark about a promo entitled "party weekends" where they offer substantially discounted stays at specific resorts AND include a few very nice meals (free).  He was thinking ahead (to my birthday) when he booked it as this provided a nice opportunity for us to check out an Oregon coast resort (since they are hard to schedule).  We did have to socialize with other guests at dinner and attend an 'owner update' workshop but occasionally it's good to hear what's going on so it was a win-win for all.

We packed as much as we could into our day of exploring and drove to Astoria, OR.  This quaint little town is located along the Columbia River and offers several interesting sites to explore.

Behind us you can see where the Columbia River meets up with the Pacific Ocean.  The state of Washington is the body of land across the river.  It was a remarkably clear day and all the locals kept commenting on the amazing weather during our weekend in Oregon.  It usually rains every single day in January and we didn't feel a drop.  We were very thankful to leave the winterland of home for some milder weather and sunshine.

The Astoria Column "is an artful summary of the triumphs, conflicts and turning points of the American frontier..." (Lewis & Clark expedition) and is the final, crowning monument in a series of 12 historical markers erected in the early 1900's between St. Paul, MN and Astoria, OR.  Aaron and I were delighted with the incredible panoramic views after climbing the spiral staircase (164 steps) to the top of the column.  We were not expecting to see the majesty of Mt. St. Helen's and Mt. Rainier (both volcanoes on the Washington side) from this vantage point but 'got lucky' on this day.  We could also see where the Lewis & Clark River joins up with Youngs River which flows to the mouth of the Columbia River - all of which flow into the Pacific Ocean.  

Cold & windy at the top but beautiful.

Wooden gillnet boat on display at Pier 39.  Cool name!

We drove by the Flavel House Museum, spotted movie locations of the school filmed in "Kindergarten Cop" and the house in "Goonies".  We explored the Hanthorn Cannery Museum at Pier 39 where the canning industry boomed in the late 1800's.  The Bumble Bee brand became famous throughout the world as the demands for canned salmon and later tuna grew.  We enjoyed stepping back in time and seeing how they processed the salmon and tuna back in their 'glory days' of production along the Columbia River.

Brown 'logs' in the water are actually sea lions.

Hundreds of sea lions like to hang out in a particular area near a pier in Astoria.  Unfortunately, the road was closed so this was as close as we could get.  Even still, the noises made by that many sea lions was quite a raucous.

Astoria-Megler Bridge

We meandered across the Astoria-Megler Bridge into Washington where we explored the coastline for a bit before needing to return to the Oregon side.  We wanted to leave time to check out the South Jetty Observation Deck, Fort Stevens State Park and Peter Iredale's sunken ship before returning to Seaside for dinner.

The waves crashed along this jetty at impressive heights.  We thought the two surfers in wet suits nearby were slightly crazy.  We walked out to where the fresh water of the Columbia River meets up with the salt water of the Pacific Ocean.  Aaron tasted it - and it was definitely a mix of the two bodies of water.  It was fascinating to see the waters churning and confused as they collided.

Peter Iredale's shipwreck - everything has a story.

 We asked a funny older lady to take our picture and she insisted that we kiss - haha!

On Sunday we stayed in Seaside and attended the local ward.  It was a relaxing day at the condo as we worked on getting organized for 2019.  Loved my birthday present - thanks Aaron!

We flew back into SL on Monday and joined Tanner for a quick bite to eat en route for home.  He's currently living in Murray and working in SLC for the Pathway Program.  It's been an awesome internship for him thus far and he really appreciates being able to stay at G-ma and G-pa P's place.

There's a brief update for January 2019.  I think we've figured out a better way to handle the technological aspects of updating the blog so I'll get caught up sooner than later now.....