Lego $$

I had heard that this year there was going to be a shortage of Lego blocks. They couldn't make them fast enough to satisfy the demand for them. That was tragic news for my Lego-loving boys. So rather than trying to buy them a set before Christmas and battling every other boy/parent who had heard that news before Christmas, we waited until after Christmas to take them to the store to let them pick their own new set of Legos. That way they could take any money they received and combine it and get a really nice set as well. So thank you, Grandma and Grandpa Welch and Grandma B for the lego $$.

Charles and his new set

While we were in Provo/Orem after Christmas to see Grandma and Grandpa Welch we took the boys to Walmart to let them peruse the Lego aisle. It always takes quite a while for them to settle on what to buy. There are SO many sets they want and they want to be sure they get the one they want the most.

Soren and Megatron

Charles chose a Ninjago set, Soren got a Ironman/Hulk set and James chose a bat with a pumpkin. What? I don't know why he chose that one but it is cute. Not one I would have ever thought he'd pick.

James and his bat and pumpkin

We will be a Lego fan house forever. As much as I hate stepping on these things, I love the creativity and hours of play they provide for my kids. Not just the boys! Legos are Awesome!

Mormon Jesse tree

This is a fairly new Christmas tradition at our house. We use it as our daily Advent countdown. We call it a Mormon Jesse Tree. You can google Jesse tree to see what that means to the wider Christian world. This is a Mormon version. I found the list of symbols and scriptures and other info on the internet by doing a search for "Mormon Jesse Tree".

We used to have a traditional Santa advent calendar but since we were trying to put less emphasis on Santa, I got the the point where I didn't want to use it anymore. What I really wanted was a Nativity version or something that would be more Christ-centered. I ran across the idea of a Jesse Tree somewhere and thought I could try to tweak it to fit better with our beliefs, then thought maybe someone had already done that. Lo and behold, someone had and had shared their work on their blog.

Since it was close to Christmas when I found it, I hurriedly printed out the symbols with clipart and matted them. I also decided to just put them up on a wreath I already had instead of trying to find a branch. It worked fine and we enjoyed this way to lead in to Christmas, but I knew I wanted to do something cuter than printed cartoons on a wreath eventually.

So, here it is 3 or 4 years later and we have a mix of printed cartoons and felt symbols because the next year I thought it would be cute to make the daily symbols out of felt. I had NO idea how time-consuming and tedious that would be. As you can see I got disillusioned and gave that idea up. I still like the idea of something other than paper, but I don't know yet what it will be.

Maybe we will just have a hodgepodge forever, because you know, it really just doesn't matter. What really matters is what each symbol is representative of. Each piece represents a witness or type or shadow of Christ. From all the standard works. Each night as we open a little door on the Advent house and pull the symbol out we read the associated scriptures and the kids try to determine WHO the witness is and we review their story and how they are a witness or type or shadow of Christ. I thought it would get boring and they'd be uninterested after a couple of years, but they still enjoy it. Their answers are becoming more thoughtful and insightful. This is a great tradition that I think has proved itself and will be a keeper.

Our advent wreath.

Our advent house which houses the symbols. It was given to us and we used to put candy in the doors,
but this is a much better use for it. 

I'm so glad I decided to retire our Santa Advent calendar!

Our Christmas eCards 2015

Being my practical (lazy) self, I chose to do just a digital card this year. 

This is the official one that we sent to everyone on our email lists and put on the blog….

This is the one that made us smile! We each got to choose our face, hair and clothing and become a Lego Minifigure! Suits this Lego-loving family for sure!
*Check out everyone but especially Curtis! LOL!!

The Messiah

Every year, people in Blanding and Monticello get together and prepare and present The Messiah, by Handel. I think this year was the 38th annual presentation. We have gone only once before but Cambria, Curtis and I decided to attend again this year.

It is an amateur production of course, but I think they did a good job for people who are giving of their time to share this great work of music. I appreciate their efforts.

I'm always amazed when I listen to the music at all the parts and how it all fits together and I am amazed that one man could create all that and write it up so that people could play and sing all those parts. What a talent. 

Some of the songs are not my favorite but some of them I absolutely love. And I loved that we all got to stand up and sing on the Hallelujah chorus. Chills. 

I don't know if this will be an ongoing tradition or not. But I will be happy to go every once in a while and maybe I'll even get my brave face on and sing in it one year! Who knows?!?

Be careful what you wish for!

Wednesday, July 29, started out like any other day. Shiala and I were out and on our way back home we saw some cows on the road near our driveway. I saw Allie's truck there and knew they were her calves. We drove into our driveway and went up to see if we could help her get them back in the fence. She said she had called her mom and dad and was waiting for them to come help. We helped her keep them from wandering further. A cat came out of the bushes from the Forest Service workers' living area. The cat came up to the calves and decided it really liked one of them but hissed at the other one. we kept trying to shoo it away but it was very persistent. After Jim and Karla came up and got the calves moving back down the hill to the gate, the cat followed Shiala and I to my house. I kept trying to get rid of it, but it would NOT go away. In fact, it chased off my cats and took over the place like it owned it. I was at a loss as to what to do. At one point, I picked it up and chucked it but it came back.
Sadie came out and she said to me, "Mom, I think it's pregnant." and all of a sudden a light went off in my head. I had seen some fluid leaking from it's hind end and I had thought to myself what a fat cat it was.  Then I felt really bad, realizing that it was not only pregnant, but in labor. I quickly rounded up a cardboard box and an old towel and put it on the porch in the shade. She climbed in and lay there as we watched the contractions ripple through her sides.
By 5 pm she had given birth to 3 little clones of herself. All of them were mostly black with white on their faces and paws. She was an excellent mother, and I doubt this was her first delivery. She knew exactly what to do and never made a peep.
I was not too thrilled with the thought of having to find four cats homes. That is so hard for me, always wondering if they went to a good home or were abused. But I could not turn her and her kittens out. Our own cats would have killed the kittens, so the garage became the nursery for this new little family. The mother cat was so very attentive and loving. I fed her eggs and gave her lots of fresh air and time outside. We kept them in the garage until the middle of September.

look at that sweet little face

about one week old

eyes are open now and they are exploring their home

mama cat

because they are all the same color it's sure hard to see all the babies and make sure she's not lying on them.

James and his buddy

he liked playing with them while everyone else was at school

getting bigger

There are so many places to play and hide in our messy garage, they really liked the Washoe game

gotcha!

The kitten on the top is Fluffernutter, the only one we kept. 

The day after these pictures were taken we were down to one kitten. Charles came home from school and went to the garage to play with the kittens. He came running back in and said that the kittens were dead. I thought surely he was mistaken, but he was not. Two of the kittens had just curled up next to each other and died. They looked like they just fell asleep. I wracked my brain trying to figure out what they might have gotten into. I had had a box of various cans of stuff in there and there was some bug spray. I don't know if they licked it or if it was something else. I moved that box into a room where the last kitten could not get to it. I cried every time I thought about those poor babies. I had moved them into the garage to protect them and it hadn't worked, and in fact, might have been the cause of their deaths. I did take solace in the fact that I had two less kittens to find homes for. A month or so later, the mama cat just took off one day and has not come back. So we came out of the deal with one little female cat. We have tried to find another home for her but no one has been interested. She is a beautiful little longhaired cat and is a good mouser so I guess she's meant to be ours.

The moral of this story is to be careful what you wish for. It was not more than a week or ten days before the mama cat showed up that I had thought to myself that I wished all our cats weren't sterilized, as I thought it would be good for the boys to have a kitten experience. Curtis told me I had wasted my wishes and should have wished for a million $,$$$,$$$!

We are actually down to three cats because Orange Julius took off this summer and we have not seen him since. He probably picked the wrong tom to fight with. Callie was chased off by the mama cat and her own MamaLou. I hope she found a more hospitable home.

2015-Year in Review

Its the end of another year and the holidays are upon us. We wish you all a 

MERRY CHRISTMAS

and hope that the coming year is full of blessings and joy for you.

Thanks for being part of our circle of loved ones. We are blessed to know you.

Here is a quick recap of the events in the Welch house in 2015.

January-started out with a bang as Charles lost his first tooth. It was quite traumatic for him as he was using his teeth to pry apart Legos, which is a big no-no in our house. The tooth went flying and he thought he was in big trouble. After finding the tooth and being reassured he was not in trouble life resumed as normal. 

Soren celebrated his 9th birthday with his first ever birthday party with friends. Whew! It was a fast, loud and furious couple of hours. 

We began the cheapskate remodel of our kitchen by cleaning the cabinetry, adding beadboard wallpaper to the insets, and repainting the cabinets in two shades of gray. What a difference! 

The people in the house went in all different directions: to cheer/drill practice, basketball practice, scouts, mutual, drill competitions, school incentive trips and church meetings. 

February-There was a lot packed into this short month. Hannah had State Drill Team competition. Our team took 3rd place in 1A. They had given it their best, despite losing their best dancer to an injury. 

I got to help with the Valentine’s day party in Charles’ class. Kindergarten kids are just so cute!  

Curtis was in charge of the Klondike campout for scouts again this year. It is a lot of work for him, but he does a really good job making it fun for the boys. There was almost not enough snow. 

School events included the History Fair which was Sadie’s gig this year. How many more of these do we have to do??? We round out the month with Valentine’s Day and celebrating the birthday of our baby James, who turns 4.

March-Track practice started which occupied Curtis and Cambria every day after school. Cambria runs the 400 and 800 and relays. 

March is also the month of Prom. Cambria was asked in late Jan and found a dress online. It came by slow boat from China so we were happy to see it arrive before Prom! 

We also had a week long Spring Break. We decided to do our big family trip during this time since gas prices were so low. We chose to go to Idaho to see Jordan, Lindsey, Emerson and Montana. I know! Who goes to Idaho for Spring Break?? We did have a good time and it was good to see the boys in their elements. It was the first time for the kids to meet Emerson, who was 6 months old. We swam at the hotel, watched movies, ate good food, went to the SLC aquarium, and saw the really amazing Lego exhibit at Fashion Place Mall. The worst part of the trip was losing Soren at the mall for about 20-30 minutes. Such a sick feeling. Thankfully, he was fine and we found each other. 

Charles turned 6, he’s really growing up. 

The girls were involved in Region Solo & Ensemble as well as Region Drama. 

Idaho Falls-Snake River

April-Spring sports and school events are piling up. Lots of track meets in addition to Region Band and Choir. Cambria and Sadie are in choir and Sadie is still tooting an oboe in the band. 

We celebrated Easter and enjoyed General Conference. It’s our favorite weekend. 

Preparations for our Stake Trek are ramping up with square dancing lessons and gathering of supplies/costumes. 

We were thrilled to have Curtis’ sister, Nicole, and her family come to visit us for a couple of days. 

James had his first dentist visit. He was not a fan. 

We were excited to have our local ice cream place, the Shake Shack, open up for the season and enjoyed some cones and dilly bars. 

I also started a new part time job cleaning a vacation rental. Perfect job. I can take James and it’s only a few days a month.

May-AAAGGGHHHHH, hold-on-to-the-end-of-the-school-year time. We had region track, state track(Cambria placed 8th in the 400m), Cambria’s seminary graduation and High School Graduation, band/choir concerts, field trips and Field days, and WHEW. We made it. 

We also got to go north to Midway with the track team. Kids had a lot of fun at the Homestead Resort. While Curtis and Cambria were at the BYU Invitational the other kids and I got to visit our good friends Shaunna and Cami in Provo. :)

We also decided to throw a week of stomach flu in there for kicks! 8-P

Cambria left right after graduation to begin her summer job working for the Utah DNR at Bullfrog (Lake Powell).

The month eases on out with Memorial Day doing our usual visit to the cemeteries to put flowers on our ancestor’s graves.

June-lots went on this month as well. No lazy days of summer here. Hannah and Sadie headed off to girls’ day camp. It’s only a day due to Trek coming up.  

Three days later we went to Bear Lake for the Mike and Ellen Welch Reunion. Third time must be the charm because this was the best time we've ever had at Bear Lake. (it is liberating to have no babies to worry about!) It was so nice to see almost all of Curtis’ siblings and their families. Wow! There are a lot of us now. 

The next week Curtis, Hannah and Sadie went to Wyoming to Martin’s Cove. They were there for 3 days, battling sun, allergies and mosquitoes. It sounded like in spite of all that, they had a good time. 

I decided to make a trek of my own, with my mom, to St. George to visit my sister and her kids. We enjoyed our time there, even though it’s hotter than _ _ _ _ there! The kids had fun at the Children’s Museum and Splash pad and eating mini gourmet donuts. 

Beaver Creek-Logan Canyon

July-Will it slow down? Don’t think so. We did a family hike to the House on Fire Ruin for the 4th this year. We had a lot of water this summer and it was still standing in pools in the wash and the wildflowers were amazing. 

The following week our family had the opportunity to be a part of the San Juan Pageant(church pageant). We got to portray a handcart family crossing the plains. We were supposed to do 3 shows, but the first one got rained out. It was an interesting experience but we were glad when it was over. 

The most anticipated event of the month was Hannah turning 16. She didn’t let us forget that it was coming up. Sadie also turned 14 this month. I do not have little girls anymore. :(

The craziest part of the month was the weather. It rained and rained and rained and hailed and thundered and even spawned a few funnel clouds. I never thought the first tornado I saw would be in Monticello. Who woulda thunk it?!? Pioneer Day was fun this year, with Kami, Shiala and Ford here to enjoy it with us. Parades are just so much more fun with little kids. 

We were also adopted by a cat in labor, who birthed 3 kittens within 4 hours of coming here. Be careful what you ‘wish’ for! I had thought a few weeks before how I wished the boys could have a kitten experience. Voila’! 

House on Fire Ruin Hike

August- Another month of special events. We spend the first weekend of the month in Bluff to celebrate Mom and Dad’s 50th anniversary. We had a lovely weekend having fun together. It was really nice to have Jordan, Lindsey and Emerson here for it. 

James got oriented for his preschool program through Waterford/Upstart.

 On the 15th we went to Salt Lake to be with Ford, Shiala and Kami as they were sealed as a family in the SLC Temple. Such a wonderful day and Kami was super adorable in her little white dress, saying hello to everyone. :) 

School started on the 13th. Hannah is a Jr, Sadie a Freshman, Soren in 3rd grade and Charles is a 1st grader, loving being at school all day. James began his preschool computer program and is very disciplined to do it first thing every morning. Hannah and Sadie get to go to the Utah Shakespearian Festival and see a couple of plays. 

The month ended with Curtis and I celebrating our 28th wedding anniversary. It is hard to believe it’s been that long. We’ve had a good life together :)

Barton Reunion-all the Barton grandkids except Montana, Corbin and Ariel.

September-September brought cooler air and colorful leaves. The weather stayed nice and there was a lot of playing out of doors and with the growing kittens. We took our yearly drive up to the top of the mountain before the snow falls. We are blessed to live in a beautiful place where mountains and canyons can be enjoyed easily. 

Cambria came home from Lake Powell to celebrate her 19th birthday. Somehow, my baby girl has become a lovely young woman.

We have no one participating in sports so it’s a relatively calm month. The girls support their friends in meets and games but don’t have practices and games themselves.

October-General Conference rings in the month. What a treat! 

Scouts started back up for Soren, with Pack and den meetings. He is working on getting his Bear badge. 

Curtis, Cambria and Kassie headed to Idaho on the 2nd weekend on a quick trip to pick up the car Cambria bought from her brother, and to get a washer since ours konked out. It was supposed to be a quick up and back trip, but it turned into a 5 day adventure when the brakes on the Suburban went out on our way home. Thankfully we had only gotten as far as Idaho Falls, so we left the vehicle at a repair shop and Jordan rescued us. After a laughably hard time getting the right parts the car was fixed and we made it home. The fact that I only packed a clean shirt and socks made it even more fun! Thank heavens there was a Deseret Book/Distribution in Rexburg so I could purchase new underwear. ;)

The weather continued rainy and unseasonably warm. It is so strange to get gully-washers on my birthday rather than snow. Curtis and I added a new digit to our ages. 

Hannah became a legally licensed driver. Watch out world! 

Charles lost more teeth, working on his All-I-Want-For-Christmas-Is-My-Two-Front-Teeth look. 

We went to the Harvest Festival and did some trick-or-treating around the neighborhood with Kami to bring the month to a close.

November-A month of much to be thankful for. Sadie was presented her Young Womanhood medallion in Sacrament Meeting, after completing her Personal Progress in YW. She was very motivated to complete it and really pushed herself to get it done. We were very pleased with her efforts. 

Charles placed 5th out of all the 1st graders in the Sugar Run at school. I think he surprised himself and me. 

We finally got our first good snowstorm. James went out and jumped on the trampoline covered in snow for his PE. The first snowfall is always so much fun!

I decided it was time for a change and chopped several inches off my hair. Then I wondered why I always seem to cut my hair at the beginning of winter. 

Hannah participated in the school play. She had been attending practices since Sept and it was fun to see what they’ve been working on. I’m happy my kids have discovered the fun of drama. 

We began to declutter, purge and rearrange rooms in preparation to host Thanksgiving. We finally got the kitchen walls painted and can can almost call the kitchen remodel done.

We celebrated Thanksgiving here with Mom, Karla’s family, Wendy’s family and all the Monticello Welches. As always there was more than enough food and pie. We all waddled away from the table. Then we all traveled to Price to be at the wedding of my mom on Nov 28. She was blessed to find a very nice man who makes her very happy. We are so happy that they have each other to spend time with and don’t have to be alone anymore. It was a very special day. 

December-Now December is here…We’ve gone to our Ward Party (in Bethlehem), had several Wii bowling tournaments, decorated for Christmas, attended a Band/Choir concert that the girls took part in, read our nightly scripture advent as well as some fun Christmas stories. We have also had a lovely new snowfall and have been enjoying playing in it and sledding at school. The shopping is done and we are looking forward to relaxing and enjoying the season. 

We are so thankful for the reason we celebrate at this time of year. We are so blessed to know of our Savior and what He did for all of us. We pray that the peace and joy of the season may fill your homes and lives. We wish you the merriest of Christmases. 

Love, 

The Welch family

Curtis, Kassie, Cambria, Hannah, Sadie, Soren, Charles, James

San Juan Pageant 

Ponderize Nov 22-Dec 13

Psalms 27:1

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

I'm afraid my ponderizing has gotten derailed a bit in the last couple of weeks. I think I've had this scripture on my fridge for three weeks. It's short and not very complicated so I haven't focused on memorizing it because it seems easy...

I do love this scripture and it ties in so nicely with my favorite hymn, The Lord is my Light. That hymn has been my favorite from my teen years. I think at first the lovely chorus is what drew me to the song. I love singing it. But over the years I have come to love the words as well. 

I realized a few years ago that "Light" seemed to be my thing. I looked at my house and noticed how many of my decorations were actually means of light...candles, lanterns, pictures of Christ. I even wanted to name James, Lucy, had he been a girl, and Lucy means light. I also at one point, when homeschooling my kids, was trying to figure out what my 'mission' was. What was I here to do, particular to me? I had a dream in which I was told to 'teach them about the light!' As a mother, church teacher, neighbor, I believe I need to share Christ's light, formally or informally. 

There have been a number of talks recently about the subject of light. There are lots of aspects of light but I've been thinking about light and salvation, as referenced in the scripture I've been pondering. I've never liked the dark. I always feel uneasy in the dark. And I'm amazed at how little light it takes to push back the dark. Darkness CANNOT defeat light. Light always wins, even if it's only a little light. Christ is the Light. He will conquer the darkness. The darkness cannot win. As I choose to follow and share his light, darkness is driven away from me and I can bask in the warmth and peace of His light. Because of Him and his gift of the atonement and salvation I do not need to fear the darkness. If I choose light, I choose the winning team. I do not need to be afraid of anyone or anything with Him as my light. 

Welch Bowlfest

Since we rearranged the addition again, the kids have rediscovered the Wii and have been playing it quite a bit. James often plays it while everyone else is at school and has become quite good at bowling. He and Charles challenged the rest of us to a bowling match, so on Saturday, after everyone got their work done, we had a bowling party. (It's a lot cheaper bowling on the Wii!)

Dad said that he would buy a candy for anyone who could beat his score. That got everyone excited and competitive.

Dad showing off his technique

didn't seem to work very well though

those waiting for their turn kept themselves occupied with other games...

Charles' technique. What he calls "straighting it". It actually worked quite a bit of the time for him.

Of course, Hannah's technique would look like dancing.

Sadie has a mean curve to her technique

looks like it wasn't effective this time...

I try to use the same technique I learned when I was in 4th grade and learned to bowl at our local bowling alley.
Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

When all was said and done, everyone had earned a candy, courtesy of Dad. He doesn't practice enough! ;) We all went to the store and got a sweet treat, although the best part was playing together and having a lot of fun as a family!

Night in Bethlehem-Monticello 1st Ward Christmas party 2015

Hannah and Kami heading to Bethelehem

This year we as a Relief Society Presidency decided to buck tradition a bit. That's pretty brave because things in Monticello are not changed often. "We've always done it that way."
We discussed how we could make our ward Christmas party more Christ-centered and less "Eat and Run". The tradition has been to put up all the banquet tables in the Stake Center and then starting on the 1st Tuesday in Dec and for the next 3 days all the wards in town have their Ward Christmas party. It's efficient. I'll give it that. But it was also not very exciting or looked forward to. I don't like to bad mouth the way the church does things, but since we got rid of the Activities Chair calling, it seems like our ward social get-togethers have been lackluster. It's all about food, eating and that's it. Not much attempt at a program or meaning behind what we're doing. And I get it. The ward council is in charge of those things. They are all the Quorum and auxiliary leaders and have enough on their plates as is. They don't need to take on planning and pulling off a fancy party.
So we took it over. With permission. We formed a committee involving lots of other sisters in the ward, each over a certain portion of the planning/prep. We decided we'd like to do a Bethlehem themed dinner party. And it all came together wonderfully. We ended up rearranging the tables and putting up tents and the Primary did a program of the Nativity + music for us.
The food was fabulous. Not quite the roast beef the bishop likes, but it was good and there was oodles. The decorating was awesome. It looked really good in the cultural hall.
The nativity was so cute. Charles did awesome as Joseph, until he let Mary fall off her donkey! I hope everyone enjoyed it and will want to do it again some time in the future. Sometimes traditions need to be changed.

directional sign decor

the line at the food market tents...

Poor Kami was too tired to enjoy our Israeli supper. She's such a sweet little girl!

we had meatballs, deviled eggs, pita, hummus, bagels, fruit, veggies and apple cake!

guess we were part of the 'senior crowd' as we opted to sit at a table rather than on the floor

The Primary depicted the Nativity for us all

Charles (in blue) was Joseph, and Soren (in brown with a turban) was a wise man.