In February we were kept busy getting ready for volleyball tournaments (one canceled, one not), basketball games (which were played even when Hubby had to drive our boy an hour in the snow in sub-zero temperatures), and a dance performance in hopes of being able to compete in March.
The second two basketball games I got to watch Danny play instead of sitting at home on Zoom and it was soooo much better! We did have to watch Kate play via Facebook Live and that platform and the fact they stay on their side of the court was easier to enjoy when not able to be there yourself. Since Michelle's performance was just the two hip hop teams at her dance studio, both Hubby and I got to attend while my mom kindly offered to babysit. Now that's definitely my preferred way to watch.
When not taking children to practices and classes and tutoring we ended up fixing a lot of things around the house -- mostly things that the dogs had ruined. We replaced blinds in the dinning room and used those parts and extra parts from Amazon to fix the blinds in the living room. After the dogs had totally demolished the picnic table their leads had been attached to, I ordered IKEA furniture to match what we had on the front porch and was able to put the sofa together while Hubby was at work and the children were at school (but Hubby had to help me with the tilting chair and storage bench). It is wonderful to sit out there in the sunshine on a nicer day! I painted the play house in the basement and touched up the blue paint around that floor of the house. For Valentine's Day Hubby and I spent that entire Saturday replacing the toilet and painting our main floor bathroom. True love right there! Spending all day in a tiny space together. lol.
Before
After
Before and after on the door which is the same color as the play house now
Fixed blinds and Maisie helping me test out the new outdoor furniture (and after Michelle helped me put the new rug out once it was delivered)
How to celebrate Valentine's Day when you've known each other for almost half of your lives.
We had a special Stake Conference because our Stake President is moving away and got to enjoy not only hearing the released and newly called leaders and wives called but also got to hear from Elder Marcus Nash over Zoom. His message of the Savior was exactly why I love continuing to hear about the Gospel even though I have been listening for decades. He shared about the widow of Nain and how the Savior walked 30 miles in one day in order to reach her in time. He spoke of faithful members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Africa making difficult choices and being grateful to choose their own path instead the path of others or what was considered "safe" like getting married even if you don't know how you will make it financially. Elder Nash quoted James E. Faust saying to, "Take no counsel from your fears." I absolutely loved it and am grateful for the technology that allowed our entire Stake and leaders from the 70 to be together and feel the love of God and promptings of the Holy Ghost while taking proper precautions to do our part to keep others more at risk a little safer.
We had a blast celebrating Maisie and Piper's 2nd birthday near the end of February. My mom brought Piper over for the dogs to eat a cream cheese and milk bone cake (made by Michelle) and the humans to eat ice cream (made by Danny) and for the two dogs to play together for a while. As we were getting ready we kept saying "Grandma Karyl and Piper" and Maisie would get excited every time we said Piper so we decided that my mom and her dog together will now be referred to as Karper. It works!
When it was Natalie's turn for a date with me she did not want the usual go out to eat or go shopping. Instead, she really wanted to go to Disneyland. Since that's not an option right now, when she said she wanted to go to the mountains, off to Rocky Mountain National Park we went! She also let Michelle come along and I think she was happy to have someone else along besides just boring old mom. (: It was beautiful and much more crowded than we expected. We were able to find parking where the Trail Ridge Road was shut down and realized we really need to invest in snow shoes, not just good winter boots! Before heading home we stopped for lunch and taffy and a glass blowing demonstration. It was so great to see glass blowing in real life after watching Blown Away on Netflix. And toasty warm after walking around in the snow as well!
See you next year, February. It's been grand!
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