This and That in January 2025, Part 2!

I love these amaryllis plants that we buy in December

 and they bloom in January!

Julia celebrated her birthday with her whole family

 before she headed back to Illinois. 

Camille turned 15!

She got some Octopus curlers:

She got a kit to make these earrings:

She had fun using her new pan for baking:

And she bought some yarn to make

 a book snake for the books she read in 2024.  

Each color represents a book length and

 each section represents a book she read in the color of the yarn.

Sam got "lost" in the middle of Utah

 at the San Rafael Swell

 one weekend in January.

I have never heard of this place.

  It looks amazing.  More info below.

Peter's film got shown at this film festival

Sister Melanchuk is keeping busy.

I love all the pictures she sends.  Here are a few:

We got started on our Family Reunion 1,000 + piece puzzle.

Speaking of puzzles, I learned that the Perrys

 also participated in a puzzle contest last month.

It was sponsored by a family in their ward.

 Everyone started at exactly 4:00 p.m.

 They were the first ones to finish and text this picture as proof.

They received a $100 gift certificate to Leatherby's!

Caleb is enjoying wearing hats lately.

And he loves the snow!

Grandpa and I went on an outing to the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area 

which is an "approximately 16,000 acre haven for fish, waterfowl,

 shorebirds and wading birds, migratory birds,

 raptors, snakes, turtles, toads and bats."

We liked these birds with the long legs wading in the water

 and captured their image reflected in the water.

This was some kind of pelican-type bird.

There were lots of ducks

And there were LOTS of these white birds...

...off in the distance.

(The refuge is next to I-80 near Davis)

The Melanchuks were in a similar area at their shooting range

Amelia made some amazing things with planks:

Ready for the 4-ward combined nerf battle activity!

Weekly ride/outing for me as I am trying to stay isolated before surgery.

This may not be the most exciting place to go but for me it was a wonderful ride...

...and we continued driving around the area

 and eventually ended up here 

where we ate our hamburgers in the car!

We are making progress on the puzzle!

Grandpa made a special trip to Trader Joe's just to buy me some of these.

Love is in the air--it must be almost February!

This and That in January 2025, Part 1!

 

It's January and time to...

Some recent birthdays:

Josh celebrated the Big 5-0!

Zeus looks excited about it!

Penny turned 16! 

 She had a New Year's Eve/Birthday sleepover

 with these friends from Band.

Jeff celebrated another birthday with this Cranberry Orange Trifle.

He looks more astonished than excited!

And Daniel turned 16 as well!

A good time of year for crafts and hobbies.

Bethany is taking an art class and she made this:

Peter and Sam went to a family gingerbread house event.

This is Peter's:

This is Sam's:

Michael is making amazing things with planks!

Peter went to the Kansas Thespian Festival Thursday through Saturday 

with some of the drama club at Derby High School. 

He is the only one in purple.

Suzie made this quilt for Penny's birthday. 

She loves sharks!

Suzie teamed up with some ward friends

 to participate in this puzzle competition in Rose Hill.

They had fun and she thinks they came in 5th place.

Jacob and Lily have been doing Turbo Type

 and are getting VERY fast!

We had quite a few return "home" after the holidays:

Julia, Emma, Matthew, Katie, Elizabeth, Sam, and Hannah.

They are keeping in touch with their families!

New year and new opportunities at the temple.

David was ordained a priest and had

 his family with him for the first time he was able to baptize!

Thanks for coming over for dinner afterwards!

Daniel was ordained a priest, 

Michael was ordained a teacher

 and Nathaniel was ordained a deacon!

First time at the temple for Nathaniel

 where he did Confirmations and was a baptistry witness,

 and first time for Daniel to baptize.

We loved being with them in Chico this past Sunday!

Sunday Family Dinner in Clinton!

Eleanor moved into her own place and she got a cat!

This is Prometheus:

Looks like she is already growing!

Harrisons got professional family pictures taken.

These are some they are considering still with the watermarks.

And now a look at the McClellans Winter Break trip!

San Antonio temple:

A stop at the Alamo

The Alamo Bowl game

They happened to be coming out of their hotel

 and saw the team and Kalani board the bus to head to the game!

The River Walk in downtown San Antonio

A stop here in New Mexico:

And then a stop to see the sunrise over the Grand Canyon!

Then on to:

They got to spend time with Caleb!

He LOVES to slide!

And they got Elizabeth settled into her apartment:

They also attended the Kevin Young BYU basketball broadcast:

Featured player was Dawson Baker

And they got to meet Greg Wrubell:

Then the long drive home back to Kansas.

Look who is doing some of the driving!

It doesn't look too wintery in Santiago

 but Sister Melanchuk looks happy!

Enjoy some winter scenes for some of our family!

And now time for a January nap!