January-February Fun

March is here!  I don't know what the weather is like in your neck of the woods, but the past couple of days in Salt Lake have been positively balmy.  Believe it or not, most of the snow has finally melted from our front lawn.  Our north-facing home is often the last frozen holdout in our neighborhood.

With spring on the way, it's time to hurry up and blog more about winter.  It took a while for the winter storms to hit this year.  Just as we started to get nervous abut too little precipitation, the snow arrived with a vengeance.

Jason always gets excited when it snows because, skiing!   We enjoyed a couple of perfect powder days up at Brighton.  Here's Eli with Jason (not that you can really tell with all the layers.

Here's Jason again with Justin during a bluebird day at the resort.

For the most part, skiing with the whole family has been great this year since everyone is comfortable and capable on the mountain.  Even so, a little bribery can go along way in encouraging happy attitudes.  (Not that there is anything "little" about these cookies from Chip.)

Other Wheeler household happenings: Talia has been crocheting like crazy!

This baby yoda is the cutest.  Yay Mandalorian!

Of course, it's this guy who sold like crazy on her Etsy shop.

After the inauguration, this Bernie Sanders meme went viral...

...and her creativity took off.  

If you are interested in seeing any of her other projects, here's a link to her Etsy shop, Hooked on Yarn by Talia.  I think she's going to put some Among Us characters on there later this week.  Apparently Jason and I are "soooo old" for not knowing what that meant until recently.

With a new school quarter underway, Talia is back in her art class as well.  It's always fun to to see the things they create from home.  Her teacher, Ms. Delfin, does an amazing job with these kids.

Speaking of which, remember this piece?  We just found out that it received an Award of Excellence in 2D art at the state level of PTA Reflections.  Congratulations, sweet girl!

As for our fun Eli, our growing guy has been joyfully helping us consume whatever comes out of the kitchen.

He spent an entire day constructing this k'nex tower and managed to carefully engineer it so that all the components funcion--a first for us.

Outside the house, he's enjoyed constructing an epic snow fort.  I've really enjoyed all his help shoveling the walks as well.

He's also really enjoying being a part of Young Men's.  Here he is at the top of the U during a combined youth activity.

Beautiful views of the city.

They also explored the old lime kiln nearby.  So fun!

On a different day, the youth went night sledding at Lindsey Gardens.

Gotta love the donuts!

One of the perks of being the bishop's kid is that occasionally Annika gets to tag along for Youth Activities as well.  Here she is making cards for a Valentine's "heart attack."

Other news about Annika. She's taking online guitar lessons through the Mundi project. Some weeks are more successful than others, but we are persisting.

She gets gunk stuck in her hair...  (I hired Brooklyn to sort this mess out for me.)

....and she's missing a lot of teeth.

Still, she has a heart full of love.  Note how Scarlet Witch ranks just below animals and just above God.  Has anybody else's family been obsessed with Wanda Vision?  Annika's fixation with the Scarlet Witch predates the show by quite a bit, so she loves having other people suddenly interested as well.

As for Brooklyn, this gal is super busy between school, cello, Ultimate, and church responsibilities.  Still, she enjoys baking whenever she can.  These scones were delicious, but once a year decadent.

In fact, it was Brooklyn who planned and prepared Cupid's Crazy Cafe this Valentine's Day!  (By the way, do you like her cute haircut?)

The menu was tastier than ever before.  Stuffed pasta shells, caprese salad, lemon granitas, fruit salad, green salad, and homemade palmiers, all disguised as hugging, kissing, loving, and so forth.

Jason helped serve, so for the first time ever I just sat back and enjoyed.  Wow, did I feel loved!

Bon Appetit!

Well-done, Buttermilk!  Thanks for bringing so many smiles to our family.

As for Daddy Jason, he's been mighty busy of late as well.  (That's a major understatement.)  With two full-time employees retiring/moving on, the work load has been overwhelming.  He is so very grateful to have a great new staff.

As far as I can tell, they have a lot of fun in the office, and are knocking off projects as well.

When not in the office, Jason is busy teaching a spring studio class as adjunct faculty at the U of U.  Their latest design project reconceptualized the big box store, and literally had to involve a cardboard box.

In terms of real projects, construction is finally underway for the Phoenix Services project Jason designed in Clearfield, Utah.  This facility will offer services and support for those with brain injuries.

Church responsibilities also keep Jason hopping.  Time consuming as it can be, I think he enjoys the chance to really know and serve those in our neighborhood.

It also brings some lovely, unique opportunities, like the chance to marry this beautiful couple.  While not of our faith, they chose to "elope" in a Mormon chapel rather than throw a big celebration in the middle of a pandemic.

The service was tiny but special: the couple, two friends, Jason, plus Brooklyn and Talia who provided some music.

Even though I wasn't there in person, it is inspiring to see the joy on their faces.  It takes a lot of faith to get married these days, especially during a pandemic.  I'm happy for their courage in making a lifetime commitment, and thankful for my own beautiful marriage.

As for myself, I've spent a lot of time like this--books, notes, and computer spread out in front of me as I try my best to keep up with school.  

I confess, the house and the kids have gone neglected.  Dinner often looks this.  Okay, usually not quite  like this.  I unintentionally ordered extra-extra-large 23" from Pi Pizzeria.  The kids were thrilled.

Thankfully this week is Spring Break at SLCC, so I'm hoping to do some major catch-up, especially with the house.  I'm grateful for how supportive my family has been of all this crazy schooling.  They roll their eyes and indulge me as I prattle on about anatomy and biology.  After all, I used to go for a walk and see a tree.

Now I see branching veins, arteries, or even trabeculae.

Despite all of the craziness, we still try to make time to have fun as a family.  Like the melting snow, our season with kids at home is limited.  Enjoy it while it lasts!

Life is a glorious balancing act.

It's okay when you fall.

On Superbowl Sunday, we think Settlers makes for the best game night.

Plus when in doubt, a photo scavenger hunt through downtown Salt Lake makes for some great fun on  a Friday night.

I like the analogy of how this pandemic is giving us a meaningful pause to strengthen the foundations of our lives.

Top it off with some J-Dawgs, and life really is good.