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!