January: BY BJORN

After Miriam’s entry last month I don’t know that I can ever write something quite as cute or memorable or hilarious. I still laugh out loud every time I read that.

We had a very nice trip to Rexburg over the long holiday weekend in January. The kids never want to leave, and I think if it could work out logistically with going to school and everything, that Auriana would love to live at Grandma and Grandpa’s. Maybe she’ll get her wish when she goes to college. Thank you to everyone who was willing to go along with my craving for Florence’s chocolates. My taste buds loved it, but not my ever-increasing spare tire. ☺

Isaac just finished his Science Fair project and did a great job. He decided to do it on how fast different fibers burn and so we had fun gathering different types of cloth and paper and burning them in the garage – timing each one. With Becky’s help he put together a great display and impressed his teacher and the judges.

Isaac and Natalie are both playing basketball right now and having a great time. Natalie is a great player and scores several baskets each game. Because he’s grown so much lately, Isaac is one of the two tallest guys on his team and is making the adjustment to being a “big man” and playing under the basket and having to set screens and play a little differently than he’s used to. He had at least 3 blocked shots and forced several other turnovers, along with a couple of great fade-away shots and tons of rebounds in his game yesterday. I’m glad he puts up with his dad’s constant “advice.”

Natalie just started an Irish Dancing class in Provo and absolutely loves it. She’s really catching on quickly and its fun to see her prance around the floor in the Riverdance style. She baked some Snickerdoodles the other day and they came out perfectly. She’s taking after her cookie-baking dad.

Auriana cooked me some amazingly delicious lasagna the other day as her “gift of love” from Christmas. She is becoming quite the good cook. I have also recently enjoyed the fun email correspondences we have with each other. Her fun personality really comes out in what she writes.

The other day Enoch, Miriam, and Ellie pushed the slide up against the opened ping pong table and decided it was fun to run up the slide and across the table. Things were going great until they all got on the table at once and it suddenly folded in half and they got their legs stuck. I wasn’t home, but Becky reported that as soon as she freed them and was hoping that they had learned their lesson, that Ellie ran right up the slide and onto the table again. Have any of you heard Bill Cosby talk about his children having brain damage? Case in point. ☺ Yesterday I went down and saw Ellie standing on the top part of the slide debating whether to jump the 4 feet down to the ground. She’s our little fearless bundle of energy. Yesterday she did this little dance in the living room that had us all laughing as she put so much emotion and shoulder and head movements into her routine. Its amazing how young they pick up on those things, but she’s particularly good at hamming it up.

I think out of all our children, that Enoch is enjoying the extra space in our new Suburban the most. We haven’t heard much growling from the back seat at all lately. ☺ It’s hard to believe we’re now cruising around in a “Mormon-mobile” but the extra space is definitely nice. When I was packing for our trip to Rexburg I got everything in the back and it wasn’t even up to the top of the headrests, so I yelled out to Becky, “it’s not full, bring more stuff!” But everything was in, so I actually got to see out the back window for once.

Becky is enjoying her somewhat reduced responsibilities as a Sunbeam teacher now that she has a teaching partner and only has to teach every other week. She’s making the adjustment well to having to sit still during Gospel Doctrine and Relief Society, though I’m sure she still gets the urge to have a quick treat or turn around and kneel on the floor and color a picture every once in a while. ☺ She also enjoys helping out in the kids’ school classes on a regular basis as well as serving as the Treasurer of the parent board at Auriana’s school.

I’m in the middle of organizing and running the Cultural Arts Education for Adults workshop with the Arts Council. It’s a 6-week workshop with a bunch of visual, performing, and literary arts classes for adults. We’ve had a great response this time around with enrollment jumping from 85 up to about 120. I really enjoy going around to the different classes and seeing people learning a skill or further developing their talents. We hold a showcase at the end where they all display or perform what they have learned or created. Since I have recently learned to play a simple bass guitar accompaniment with the Pendleton family band (Auriana, Isaac, Natalie, and I actually have a blast playing together), I decided to join in with the Folk/Bluegrass class and will be able to perform a number or two with that group at the end of February. I have enjoyed being president of the Arts Council and was voted in for another 3-year term – basically because no one else is willing to do the job. ☺ Work is a bit slower lately. It’s always a bit slower in January, but if it doesn’t pick up soon I may be coming to some of you for a loan. ☺

I can’t wait until the 2nd annual Pendleton brothers’ snowmobile trip to the cabin on the weekend of the 20th. We did some things this past summer to winterize the cabin so it should be a much easier and warmer experience. And now that I know where to stop and unload the machines, I should be free of scary jackknife experiences and skidding down the hill out of control. ☺