Knit Together

Grandma taught Phoebe how to knit hats using this loom. Phoebe has happily been telling anyone who will listen that she loves to knit. When we talked about Grandma going home soon Phoebe said, "No! I don't want Grandma to leave! She taught me how to knit!"

The Rainbow Fish

I went to Phoebe's parent/teacher conference today and was pleased to learn that Phoebe is still a delightful and intelligent student. In addition to all the lovely things I heard, I got to check out Phoebe's contribution to the school art show. Apparently the first graders made fish.

Giant Photobombing

Off-roading Grandma

Peter went on a Boy Scout campout this weekend to the Priesthood Restoration site. While we were discussing those plans, I realized that the visitor's center was new enough that Grandma hadn't been. So on Saturday morning we drove up. We arrived shortly before the scouts left and said a quick hello to Peter before he carried on with his plans.

There was quite a bit of snow and lots of walking outside, so we were concerned about how Grandma would get around. Thankfully, they had a special off-roading Jazzy, which meant Grandma traveled in style. The helpful senior missionary couple that gave us a tour were thoroughly impressed with Grandma's get-up-and-go.

We had to remind Sophie to give Grandma a wide space to drive so as to avoid any vehicle pedestrian collisions.

The air was cold, but we moved briskly enough that we didn't get too chilly between buildings.

Here's Grandma in Emma Smith's father Isaac Hale's home.

It was a wonderful adventure and just the right length of time. We got back to town a few minutes after the scouts so we were able to retrieve our exhausted Peter from the church.

My favorite part of the day was when the sister missionary asked the kids if they had a favorite scripture from the Book of Mormon. They recited our family scripture, Moroni 7:45, from memory. I hadn't realized they had it all memorized and hearing them made my heart happy.

The Tater Tot Warriors

Thankfully, though our power was out on Saturday, the electricity was still on at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. We had been planning this visit to the science museum for weeks, it worked out well that we needed to be out of the house anyway that day. My brother Jordan and his new bride Leah drove up from Maryland and met us for a fun day.

The kids loved this climbing net meant to teach about the connections in the brain.

Cooper, Leah, Jordan and Sophie all snagged a picture with Mr. Franklin himself.

Bryan was amused that all the kids wanted to try the Virtual Reality headsets at the museum, even though he has one they could use at home.

Look! Proof we were there!

I spent most of my time visiting and not much of it taking pictures. Jordan and Leah had to leave early to get Leah to work on-time. Thankfully we got this picture before they left. Thanks for coming to see us guys!

After that we spent some time learning about (and climbing around) the heart.

And then we studied simple machines. This was one of my favorite exhibits.

We finally made it to the main museum attraction for the day: the traveling display of the world famous Terracotta Warriors from China. Or, as Cooper called them, the tater tot warriors. This was the penultimate day of the exhibit and we were pleased that we'd gotten some of the last tickets available. At three-hundred pounds each, they were quite impressive to behold.

This is what two-thirds of a selfie looks like. Sorry Phoebe...

Did you hear about the guy who attended a private party at the Franklin Institute and decided to take one of the warriors thumbs as a souvenir? Notice that this warrior is missing a thumb? I don't know if it's the same statute, but I do wonder.

The kids tried their hands at building their own warriors.

Grandma really loved seeing the warriors. Cooper was less enthusiastic. This is the best facial expression I could get out of him. The next day he started running a fever, so this may have been germ-induced grumpiness.

The detail was amazing, especially considering they're all more than two thousand years old. The statues, not the museum patrons.

We're so happy we took the time to see the warriors, but even happier that we made time to see Uncle Jordan and Aunt Leah.

The Most Important Work

This Doctor Makes House Calls

We had our second snow day of the week today. We were supposed to get a massive storm, and many people over in New Jersey got the foot of snow that was predicted. But it kind of skirted us and we only got a few inches. I'm not complaining though, we still all stayed home and the power didn't even go out this time, both wins in my book.

Cooper finally caught the flu that most of us already had. He's definitely been sick since Sunday and was possibly coming down with it on Saturday. Yesterday, when Peter and Phoebe went to school, Cooper stayed home. He's benefited from these two snow days since he would have needed to take them as sick days anyway.

This morning Cooper was convalescing on the couch when  Dr. Sophie came to take care of him. She was such an attentive caretaker that Cooper finally had to shoo her off.

It Grows When You Share It

Last night for Family Home Evening we had our own family testimony meeting. We talked about what a testimony is and about the structure. We emphasized a focus on the Savior and on being succinct. Then we each bore our testimonies.

It may be my favorite FHE we've ever had. The Spirit was strong and sweet and I know that I'm not the only one who felt it. I'd like to do this again soon.

Bomb Cyclone

Today I am thankful for heat and electricity. We were without both for more than twenty-four hours this weekend thanks to the "bomb cyclone" nor'easter that hit most of this coast on Friday. Wild and ferocious winds whipped snow and tree limbs to the ground and helped knock out power to half a million people.

Our power flickered on and off at least a dozen times on Friday morning, and I began to think we would be spared from the predicted power outages since it kept coming back on. Then, around 1PM, the power went out and stayed out. We read books and played imagination games and completed as much homework as we could. We ate tuna sandwiches for dinner by the last rays of sunlight coming through the windows and got ready for bed by flashlight.

We all gradually added more layers as the temperature inside the house dropped. My California Grandma was wrapped up like the little match girl by the time we all headed to sleep at 9 o'clock. To keep us warm Bryan slept with the boys in their big bed and the girls slept with me in mine. I covered Grandma with so many blankets that she had to push some off in the night.

This is what snuggling with your sister for warmth under several blankets looks like.

Good news, when we woke up at 6:30 the next morning the temperature inside the house had only dropped down to 57 degrees, a chilly but still safe number. We shivered and chattered and got ourselves out of the house and into Philadelphia in search of a museum that still had electricity and warmth.

The original estimate was that we wouldn't get power back on until Wednesday. Wednesday seemed like it was a long way away. We even booked a hotel starting Sunday night, just in case the power didn't come back on. Thankfully, mid-afternoon on Saturday I got a text from my neighbor telling me that the power was back on. It took us several more hours to finish our adventure and get back home, but when we walked into a warm house, I almost cried from relief.

I've been thankful ever since for simple things like overhead lights in the bathroom and the ability to watch a movie as a family in our living room. As of church yesterday, there were still at least twenty families without power and enough school personal stuck on closed roads that school was canceled for today. I have been saying prayers of gratitude for power and the people that worked hard to bring it back to us.

The Rocket

Cooper earned his Bear in Cub Scouts and joined the Webelos just a bit shy of his birthday. I'm one of the leaders for that group, so it's been fun having him with me for the last few weeks. We've been working on the science pin, so last week we built rockets and this week we launched them.

There are three Webelos and they were joined by parents and siblings for the launch. This is Cooper's second attempt. His first one got pretty high, but the second went so far up that I lost sight of it. When the camera comes down, the siblings are all visible trying to catch the falling rocket in the distance.