We are in the middle of winter so it's fun to see some snowman families!
Here are a couple of photos looking back to December.
Family pickleball in Kansas.
Christmas tree photos at the McClellans
Sarah did this paint by number!
Darryl received the gift of a BYU Men's Volleyball game in January!
Camille celebrated her birthday!
We loved talking to her on Face Time!
Sister Melanchuk finishing up in Costanza!
And then on to Esperanza!
And before too long there will be another Sister Melanchuk!
Amelia was called to serve in the Honduras Tegucigalpa mission.
A dear friend of ours passed away
and we were so happy to be able to attend her funeral.
We met together with she and her husband and two other couples almost every Monday night for twelve years!
I thought her funeral was especially nice. Besides an excellent eulogy, three of her children gave well prepared talks on these subjects:
( I say "well prepared" because sometimes family speakers at funerals ramble and repeat.)
Legacy of Talent
Legacy of Friendship
Legacy of Faith
Afterwards I told Grandpa that the funeral really reflected well our friend, Judy.
The Shafers have been busy having lots of fun!
Joshua is telling his parents that he got selected
for an internship in Japan this summer!
Here is a little bit about it:
(It's a good thing he studied Japanese all through high school!)
"The purpose of Global English Camp is to bring English to life for Japanese high school students and build their confidence in speaking it through engaging conversations with native speakers. Whilst students in Japan begin learning English from the third grade, they rarely have the chance to learn it outside of a school lesson setting - their time with you is a special, unique experience. As English proficiency is a requirement for getting into top Japanese universities, too, their time with you can be key to their future success in more ways than one. Overall, this program will require you to fly to Japan for at least five weeks, facilitate discussions with a different group of Japanese high school students each week, and be prepared for the realities of living in Japan."
Bethany competing with her Davis Academic League team:
The final results:
Sarah got her picture taken with AJ Dybansta, 6'9"!!
Daniel got to go to a Jazz game with his parents as a birthday gift!
And last but not least: A family dinner at the Bangerters!
I was so excited that over twenty members of our family were gathering in Highland to have dinner with Howard and Lissa, three of their children
and several of their grandchildren.
I was hoping for pictures.
Within about 15 minutes my text message dinged 7 times.
Wow, I thought, I can't wait to see 7 photos of the get together.
But instead here is the photo I received from 7 different people in our family:😂
Credit goes to Bethany for taking it! Thanks!!
A couple of other pictures came in much later:
I don't know about you but I've been reading a lot and sleeping a lot in January!
Winter is the time for study, you know, and the colder it is,
the more studious we are."--Henry David Thoreau
"All us flowers sleep in winter." --Flower the Skunk, Bambi
Seeing Nathaniel always cheers me up!
"In winter we lead a more inward life.
Our hearts are warm and cheery, like cottages under drifts..."
--Henry David Thoreau
