Snowmageddon 2015

As Sarah had mentioned in a previous post, Lubbock, Texas is a location of the "not so much snow" variety.  A fact that brings me no end of joy.  I HATE snow.  With a raging passion that dwarfs the fire of 10,000 suns.  Now, even in Lubbock, we get SOME snow.  Usually, what this means is that the ground is covered in a quarter- to a half-inch of "white stuff", then the temperature goes up to something like 60 degrees Farenheit, and it is all melted by 12:00 PM that same day.  I can't tell you how gratifying that is to me.

Now you might ask what happened during my childhood that scarred me for life and made me hate winter so much?  The answer: absolutely nothing.  As a kid, I loved snow.  The problem came when I grew older and, well, bigger.  My circulation got worse, and it became ridiculously easy for my fingers and toes to get cold regardless of how many layers or the kind of protection I put over them.  Once cold, it takes an inordinate amount of time for them to warm up again, so I tend to avoid them getting cold in the first place.  That means, when winter comes, I figuratively get out the wooden stakes, crosses, and garlic and hide behind a rushing river.

This past winter we had planned to take a vacation to a slightly different climate over the break between Christmas and New Year.  For the first time since we have been in Lubbock, I did not need to be physically present during year-end inventory at work, so some friends of ours invited us to head north to visit a resort property they had a time-share at in Oklahoma.  We had planned to leave yesterday.  As usual, the best-laid plans of mice and men...

We were greeted with this:

This morning, the sight that welcomed me as I opened my front door was an extremely ominous one:

The views down either direction of our street.  And yes, that IS our van parked next to that snow bank.

Yes, that snow bank gets up to half the height of our front window...

...and the one in the back is every bit as big.

If you're looking for sizes for reference, we parked our kids in the highest part of the drift and told them to find the ground.

Then there's poor Shadow's house...

But like most kids, Meagan and Jacob were excited at the prospect of playing in the snow, and got their gear on to head outside.

Jacob can be seen making the obligatory snow angel.

The kids had a great time playing outside and I was glad for them from inside my warm house.  As for me and my body, however, we will dread the clearing of the snow from the driveway because we still need to get on the road to the afore-mentioned vacation - two days late.

- Josh                  

Merry Christmas to all...

Christmas.  One of our favorite times of year.  Since we made the decision to cut back on our gift giving (and even change the types of gifts we give), our Christmases have become much more about family and celebration of Christ's birth than they used to be.  There is a different feel in the house around the holidays.  We have not gotten away from "mainstream" gifts entirely, but it's definitely an improvement in my mind.

One of the great things about being in a house, rather than an apartment, is the ability to have room to put up our "big tree".  We can use all our ornaments (with all the memories that come rushing back as we put them up) and putting them on becomes a family affair where we can remember events and times in the past.

As is typical, the opening of presents entirely too early in the morning is every kid's favorite time at Christmas.

This might just be my favorite picture from this Christmas.  Jacob worked his way through an introductory (middle school aged) Chemistry workbook this past semester and really enjoyed learning about the elements and basic chemical principles and concepts.  Sarah and I decided to move him into basic chemistry and figured the best way to do it would be to get him an introductory chemistry set.  He was just a little excited...

So next semester, I will be working with him on going through the experiments.  At the same time, I will be teaching him how to keep a proper lab notebook since Jacob wants to be a professional scientist when he grows up (cosmologist, but they need to keep good notes too...) 

Here are his other presents.  Since he has been into The Legend of Zelda so much lately, we found a fleece throw with the Hyrulian crest on it as well as Skyward Sword for the Wii U.  We also got him a new book.  He got really excited about Brandon Mull's Fablehaven series, so we bought him the first book in the same author's Five Kingdoms series.

Meagan has fairly recently discovered Anime (which would make my friends Dana and Seth proud), and her favorites are Sword Art Online and Fairy Tail, of which she obsesses more over Fairy Tail.  So we got her a couple of seasons of the show on DVD, a pullover with the show's logo on it, and a key chain with one of the main characters.  For her book, we got her the next book in one of her favorite series, the Warriors series by Erin Hunter.

The kids each got new winter coats as well.  Yes, we live in Texas, but both of their coats have lasted for MANY years and it was time to replace them.  You never know when Lubbock might be under a Blizzard Warning...  like now.

Our family was also blessed to receive a DVD put out by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints filled with short videos depicting the life and doings of Jesus Christ as described in the New Testament.  This will be great to watch with our kids, and I expect that we will have many Family Home Evening discussions about them starting in the near future.

I am blessed beyond measure with a wife who knows me.  This Christmas, she purchased One Eternal Round by Hugh Nibley, a book on different aspects of one of the Facsimiles from the Book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price that has been the subject of much discussion since it was interpreted by Joseph Smith Jr.  She also purchased a hand-made, leather-bound journal with dragon inscription (because dragons are freaking awesome), and a coiled dragon-shaped pen to go with it.

And Sarah?  Sarah got a new (for us) van with all kinds of really awesome features that she wanted so that we didn't have to worry quite so bad about the "health" of our old van while she shuttles kids to piano, clogging, tennis (practice and tournaments that are an hour or more away), and the occasional field trip.

We have been so blessed this year, and while we have had our setbacks, we have had our share of triumphs to go with them.  We are so fortunate to have a place to live, food on our table, and comforts in our lives.  These things are not, ultimately, important in the long run, nor are they the reason we celebrate this Christmas season.

The reason we celebrate is because our elder brother, Jesus Christ, came to earth to offer us the chance to return home to our Heavenly Parents once again. He satisfied the demands of Justice and the Law and offered Mercy to all who would believe on Him, make sacred covenants, and follow His example, repenting and changing our hearts when we made mistakes. His matchless love enables us to become who we were always meant to be, and offers strength and hope in an increasingly sinful and dark world. We are ever grateful for His sacrifice, and as we celebrate His birth, we are grateful that He who was without sin chose to come and offer redemption to all of us who are not, for He was not forced to do so, but did it out of love for us, his brothers and sisters.

May each of us hold brightly in our hearts the love and hope of He who gives us cause to lift up our heads in gratitude and joy. Merry Christmas to each of you, our friends. Whether far or near, kindred by blood or kindred by deed, of our faith or not, we are grateful for every one of you. You are our eternal family, and for that, we are truly blessed.

- Josh                  

This is halloween..this is halloween.....halloween!!

Ahh Halloween, one of my favorite times each year. I enjoy seeing who everyone dresses up as, and all the creativity people have when decorating their homes. Usually, our kids dress up as their favorite character from either their favorite book or movie etc.. This year was no different. Jacob loves playing The Legend of Zelda, and his favorite person is Link. 

Meagan has always wanted to be Jack Skellington from Nightmare before Christmas, and this year we were able to make that dream come true.

 

This year we did things a little different than we normally do. It just so happened that our stake conference, for church, landed on the weekend of Halloween. So Josh attended the Saturday evening session, I stayed home to hand out candy, and the kids went around our neighborhood by themselves. I was a little nervous doing this but they are old enough to watch each other, and know how to stay safe. 

 

Everything went well, they had a blast, and got tons of candy.

 

Even our cat dressed up. I was amazed at how long he kept the hat on. He lasted about 3 minutes before trying desperately to get it off his head. At least I was able to get a picture. 

Happy Halloween to everyone!! 

- Sarah   

Love of Tennis

Meagan has found her calling in a few ways, and one of those ways is tennis. Practices and matches are the highlight of her week. She enjoys it so much, and works on her technique any chance she can. She is on the high school team this year and works hard to make her coach and teammates proud.

Getting action shots with my phone is extremely hard.

 

Whether it is singles or doubles she puts forth her best effort everytime.

 

We have been so proud of her determination and perseverance. This last Thanksgiving she had the chance to play with her aunt Elizabeth, and after they played she commented that she wasn't afraid of her fast balls this time, and that she had a blast learning from her. Elizabeth commented on how much she has improved since the last time they played in June. Even though tennis takes a chunk out of our week for practices and matches, I am so grateful she has this in her life. I am also amazed at the unity this team has. They are always there for you and whether you did great or made tons of mistakes, her teammates are always there to uplift her and encourage her. I love her tennis team.

- Sarah      

2015 Christmas Piano Recital

This year, both Meagan and Jacob took piano lessons.  Their teacher, a woman in our ward, is of the opinion that performances are an integral part of her teaching, so she holds regular recitals for her students to perform in public (along with all the nervousness and pressure that this generates).  The recital at the end of this semester was, predictably, Christmas-themed.  Both Meagan and Jacob did extremely well.  For Meagan, while not her first recital, it was certainly her largest.  For Jacob, it was his first.

Each of the kids did at least one solo piece, a duet, and played accompaniment for vocals (either a soloist or many voices).

 Meagan did a solo of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"...

...and another of Liebestraum (which, while not strictly Christmas-themed, was a classical piece she has worked hard on this semester).

Jacob's accompaniment was to Meagan singing "Go Tell it on the Mountain".

Their duet was Good King Wenceslas.

Because of technical difficulties (who knew that videos took up so much memory on a camera's SD card???), I did not get Jacob's solo or "We Three Kings", and Meagan's accompaniment to "Oh Come, All Ye Faithful" was cut short by about 2/3 of the song.

This is the whole group of students together after the recital.  They all were excellent (and Meagan got to spend more time with her friend Emma - thick as thieves, those two...) and both Sarah and I were impressed with how well they all did.

Here is another photo of just Meagan and Jacob with their teacher.  They really did make a lot of progress this semester.  I was pretty darn impressed with how far they went.  Both of them are learning to sight-read, a skill that I sadly never mastered (my piano playing likely would not have fizzled out the way it did if I had).  We are so blessed to have children that understand the value of good music in the home.

- Josh                     

Another semester of Clogging down...

Well, another semester of clogging has gone by.  This semester was twice-on-Tuesday classes for Meagan.  A Tuesday evening class with her friends (the Intermediate class) and a Tuesday morning private tutoring session with her instructor.  She takes to clogging like a duck to water.  If you watch her throughout the day, you'll catch her practicing her steps while doing chores or moving from one area of the house to the other.  

We love watching her and she is extremely invested in her dance.  The happiness you see when she is dancing is not a face, but the music and the beat as it affects her.  We're so pleased with her progress and her enthusiasm.

This is the dance that the intermediate class worked on this semester.

Last year, Meagan did this song as a solo for the Grace Lubbock Homeschool Association.  She reprises it this year, both faster and with much greater precision.

We love watching her and she is extremely invested in her dance.  The happiness you see when she is dancing is not a face, but the music and the beat as it affects her.  We're so pleased with her progress and her enthusiasm.  Here she is with the 3 classes in her teacher's studio (her teacher is the adult on the right of the picture - pink tie).

- Josh