Highlights from January

Doug's grandpa passed away a few weeks ago, and Doug drove out to California with his sisters to attend the funeral. Even though the death of a loved one is sad, it was such a great opportunity to bond with family. He had such a great time traveling with his sisters - sharing stories, talking about their grandpa, and just being together. It was a miracle that everyone was able to adjust their lives for a few days to travel to California. It was such a special experience for everyone.

Doug loved making friends with his nieces and nephew that were there!

Being alone for three days was a little lonely (we haven't spent many nights apart from each other in a while), but thankfully most of the time I was busy working, and I did find some time to bake some scrumptious brownie cookies. This was my best batch yet!

Doug's parents drove the casket to Cache Valley for the burial. Doug's dad got "one last road trip" with his dad. It was a special and hard experience. The burial services were wonderful. I'm glad I was able to be attend a part of the services and to hear some tender memories of grandpa Rod shared by his children.

A few more random highlights from the last month:

Our adoption books are finished! One of my talented sisters offered to help us make books about us to keep at our local LDS Family Services. She did such a wonderful job designing it and representing us well. We are so grateful for the awesome support that we've received from our family members as we pursue adoption.

Here we are enjoying an Aggie basketball game. The game was held so late that we almost didn't go since we had work the next morning, but it was pretty fun (even though we didn't win).

I got a bread maker for Christmas, and I've gotten to try a couple loaves. I've wanted a bread maker for a few years, so needless to say I am excited about having one. The tops of the loaves have sunk, so I'll need to tweak the recipe a bit. Regardless of the shape, though, they've still turned out yummy.

Enjoying a fresh slice of bread with huckleberry jam. Yum!

Doug has been trying to get me to try sushi for a couple years. I wasn't too excited about it, but I finally decided to be brave and try it. I really liked the things that were already cooked, but I think it's going to take me a while to get used to raw seafood! It was a memorable experience :)

I've spent a lot of time playing the piano lately. I accompany for the primary and ward choir. It's fun and I love to lend my talents to help serve, but it's been quite a bit of work. I've gotten better with accompanying, which is good since I'm used to doing solos. I've also been getting more comfortable playing in front of people and glossing over my mistakes more gracefully. It's such a good learning experience for me.

I love a good sunset. I was able to catch this short-lived sunset one evening after work. This was taken from our deck in our backyard. I'll admit that winter can seem gloomy at times, but for the most part I think it's beautiful.