January 2014...so far

We started off the month being able to visit with Nancy and Brandon and their family, who came up to take David to BYU Idaho and visit relatives at the same time.  Here's a shot of them at the beach near Monterey, CA on a family reunion last summer.


Nice clan!

Next, Nana and Papa had the little girls over on 1/11 and got to play in the snow with them.  Here are some brief video clips of the fun.  Remember to click on the lower right to expand to full screen to see them better.

Somehow both girls and papa fit on a small toboggan and made it down our small backyard hill.

Avril had a pretend ice cream ball on a stick, but McKel didn't manage to lick it in time!

The snow was not right for making snow angels, but Avril tried it anyway.

McKel was pretending she had ice cream, and it's cute hearing her say it.

We then went across the street to the hill in the Lambs' yard.

 Of course nana is taking the pictures, so she's not in any of them.

 Maybe I'm still not light enough!

 
 Right between the two large cottonwood trees, with our fence as a back, made a perfect resting place.

 
 Avril getting some rest too.

 Next are some photos of Gayle's season appropriate decorations - now that we'll be coming upon the Valentine time of year.

 Our autumn, Christmas, and now Valentine's tree.  No sense taking it down all the time.

 

More decorations - these next to our front door.

 
 For the New Year we've started eating even healthier that we were before.  Gayle made me a protein/fruit/vegetable smoothy to accompany my Talapia (with almonds), fresh Brussels sprouts, and romaine lettuce wraps with apples, yogurt, peanut butter, chicken breast, walnuts, and grapes.

 Kelli Mortensen (Alex's wife), the daughter-in-law of our good friends Brent and Margaret, with Alicia.  The occasion was a baby shower for Kelli.

 And in conclusion, here's a mother-daughter photo in our living room.