Arizona Visiting the Catmulls, Dec 21 - 31, 2014

Anna and Shawn are living in Glendale while Shawn goes to Midwestern Medical school.  They are enjoying the climate and their apartment so far.  Cindy, Meg and I had a good time with Iva and Charlie, 2 years and one year old. We spent two days going to Disneyland, only a five hour drive.  We also saw the Desert Botanical gardens, the Mesa Temple Christmas lights,  and had lots of fun with meals, parks and just being together.

Around the pool and getting ready for Church:

The Mesa Temple grounds lights:

Cindy, Meg and Iva Catmull, age 2.

At the park:

At the Botanical Garden:

At Shawn's school:                                               

 The new Phoenix Temple:                                     

At the Library:

At Disneyland:

We were there on Christmas Day, very busy with long lines.  We had fun overall!

Moving on to Christmas

We had the senior Iversons here for Thanksgiving.  Josh, his dad Steve and I went hunting on Saturday. The ducks didn't cooperate much but one nice flock of geese came in near the end.  I missed of course, but luckily they didn't.  Just after hunting ended several flocks of geese came flying in; about ten minutes too late, great to see them so close.

We are going to Arizona for Christmas, so just a few decorations for us.  The Iversons put up their tree Sunday and it looked very good.  Such a great family time, remembering the birth of our Savior. Last week we read in Luke, chapter one about the Angel Gabriel announcing John the Baptist to Zacharias and Elizabeth and the upcoming pregnancy to Mary, and that she would be the mother of the promised Savior.  What a talk Elizabeth and Mary must have had during their visit!

Iva and Charlie are back to Arizona, they are loving the activities there.  The picture from the library was too good to pass up.

Thanksgiving and the snow is gone, life is good.

Our snow lasted about one week, luckily the temperatures rose, our inversion cleared and we saw the sun.  We have had a nice Thanksgiving with the Iversons from Utah and our usual cast of characters.

Our barn cats wanting in the house. Gives
you that "we're being watched"
feeling.

Even the goat's energy leaped when the warmth returned.

Our sunsets have shifted to the south, and to 5:15 pm.

Our Temple is underway!
It seemed to take a long time since it was announced, but the Meridian Temple in Eagle is under construction.  So far there is nothing to see but dirt piles and a large hole.  The kids can take rocks from the site as mementos.

Addie Calder, Morgan, Levi and  Jimmy Taylor

Sign on the visitors trailer.

No wonder we are thankful,

Liz and Levi getting ready.

The visiting Iversons, good traditional Thanksgiving
foods, and Sparkling grape juice. What could
be nicer?

Cindy, Margaret, Allison and Grandma Erdeen.

First Snow and the Catmulls Visit

On Thursday, 13 Nov 2014, it began to snow in the mid-morning, while we were in the Temple. Getting home at noon wasn't bad, but the snow continued for about 8 inches worth. Then it turned cold so all the wet snow and packed snow turned to ice.  It took a few days to get warm enough to melt, but now it has.

The snow:

Melting the driveway...slowly.

Going out in the Snow:

Ready to feed the goats.

Iva 2 years 4 months.

Other things we did:

Riding the escalator at the mall, for fun.

Snuggle time with Charlie, 13 months.

Riding the rocking horse at China Palace.

Getting ready for Church.

Iva

Oct 22 - Oct 28, Delaware and the Sookhoos!!

We had a great trip to Delaware, strategically situated right on Halloween week.  We had good weather too.  The kids are all fun, such good personalities.

Luke will be two in November, but he thinks
he can do anything his big brother and sisters do. 

Drew and Leah are four, they like doing art and
go to pre-school this year.

Drew had the class pet, a stuffed elephant
named Elmer this week.

Milborn Orchards.

We had a good day playing with baby goats, tunnels and pumpkins.  Apple Cider doughnuts topped it off.

Feeding the baby goats.

Kate with Zack, Leah Drew and Luke.

Cindy and Luke cruising the tunnels.

Zack is a sweet 8 month old.

Costumes:

Three Elsa's and Batman and an Incredible. 

Rexburg for Meg Visit and the Piano Guys

We had a quick trip on a Friday to Saturday, Oct 20-21,  to see Meg and also a Piano Guys concert.  Carrie and Allison had a nice tour of the campus of BYU-Idaho.  We swam in the pool and had a nice time.  The concert was very good, as usual.  Meg didn't have to work too much either.

The Iverson's with the Piano Guys, those are not my fingers on Allison.