January 2024 - A mild winter, made warm by friends and family and a cholecystectomy.

1/1 - Melissa celebrated the New Year by going out to lunch with Grandma Jack.  Her birthday is December 30th, so a lunch date to celebrate was in order. They went to Subway and enjoyed a good chat. 

1/2 - Another celebration!  Goodbye gallbladder!  Melissa had off and on again pain from her gallbladder for a year and didn't want to wait for it to become an emergency. She scheduled the surgery and I scheduled a week off of work.  Before the surgery we were told it would be about 45 minutes.  An hour and a half after she was wheeled back I was sitting in the waiting area telling myself, "If there was a serious complication, someone would have told me."  Then a few minutes later, the surgeon walked past me (heading back in to the OR area from the MedSurge floor) and said, "you're still out here?  We've been done for a while!"   Surgery started around 9 AM, and we didn't get home until almost 5.  Melissa didn't want to wake up and the recovery room staff didn't want to rush her to try standing and walking. Her oxygen levels were low, so she had to be sent home with oxygen. Thank goodness for Grandma Workman was able to watch the kids all day.  It took Melissa about a full week before she felt like she could watch the kids for hours at a time, so it was a good thing I took that much time off.  However, she did kick me out to the shop the last day I was home to give me a break.

1/5 - We tried to stay busy with school-type stuff while Melissa needed peace and space.  Here we are displaying the crystals we started growing on 1/3.  The kids helped mix chemicals and documented the process in their homeschool journals.  

1/7 - Sunday is an awesome day for a snow storm.  The kids enjoyed playing in a couple of inches before church. 

1/9 - With the New Year holiday, Melissa's surgery and my schedule moving to Wed-Sat I didn't go back to work until Wednesday the 10th.  Here Lilian is modeling the decorated basket we made in our South Africa atlas crate.  I don't believe it was meant as a hat, but she liked it that way.  

1/12 - Friday Melissa and the kids headed to the Law's farm for a homeschool gathering.  We didn't realize it, but Lily was getting sick.  I guess that is why she was resting by the fireplace while the kids played games. 

1/19 - By Friday the 19th, Melissa was ready to get back into nature.  We went for a hike and picnic above Bluff, UT.  Everyone collected some fun rocks, some for the tumbler and some for the yard.  Long before the kids we took Zoe hiking here a couple of times.  Goldie was lots more trouble, lots of wandering. 

1/22 - Water surface tension kiwi crate.  Quite a few fun experiments in this one, the maze was really challenging. 

While we were working on surface tension, Melissa was organizing her craft room.  Not because she wanted an organized craft room, but because she's decided to renovate this room.  Wall to wall 3 person desk, new overhead lights, new flooring, paint, etc. So this is a "before" photo. 

1/25 - Thursday. Melissa served as a youth Sunday school teacher for about 3 years.  She had a couple of different companions, but, more often than not, I subbed for her companion.  It was fun to teach together.  It was especially fun watching Melissa prep and present her lessons.  She taught 11-13 so she really got to know the kids over multiple years and it was fun to see her relationships with them.  That has come to an end, her new calling is as the activity days leader for girls.  She is over Hannah's group and their first meeting was lots of fun. 

1/26 - Grandma and Grandpa Aurich stopped by for a couple of days on their way back to Ohio to pick up their trailer. Friday they went to Edge of the Cedars State Park. 

Climbing up from the kiva. 

Posing with the grandkids to display our beautiful county. After their busy day we all went to dinner at a new BBQ place in Bluff.  We really enjoyed the food and played games together at home.  

1/31 - Wednesday became a busy day. Melissa took the kids to Cottonwood Wash for a winter exploration.  It was sunny and in the mid-fifties. It felt nice compared to the single digits at the beginning of the month.  There was ice on the ponds and mud in the holes.  Finn moved a huge tree branch all around the area.


It warmed up enough to drop the coats, for everyone but Emily, at least. 

The kids all really enjoyed spending the afternoon outside. 

Finn's first "activity day" event.  They did paper airplanes and some of the kids had a bubblegum bubble contest.  We don't chew gum, just because it is gross and kids get messy, so Finn doesn't know how to blow a bubble.  He said there were a couple other kids who didn't chew gum either.  How's this for a coincidence, Finn's activity day leaders are Michael and Terry Liechty. Michael is the older half-brother of my cub scout leader, Chris Liechty.  Small world, from Lindon in the early 90's to Blanding in 2024. 



 

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