Not the best year for my sis.....

....as her husband died last July, big adjustment and she fell down some stairs at her friends house and hurt her shoulder which she had operated on in February.  I moved in with her for 2 weeks to help her recover and she has done a really great job of it and she learned a lot about patience.  Dr. Randy Clark did the surgery and it was a little weird as I know him as the little boy that lived in my neighborhood and played with my boys but he's all grown up now and a very excellent orthopedic surgeon here.  It's so fun to see what these little kids all grew up to be.  In our neighborhood alone we have, I think 6 veterinarians, a dentist and a doctor or two plus other degrees that are just as important but not quite as prestigious.  I'm very proud of the Morningside Park kids.  Didn't know what they would all amount to but they are all doing very well and representing.  Great place to raise kids.
I kept busy while taking care of Joyce with my new hobby,  Amigurumi (編みぐるみ, lit. crocheted or knitted stuffed toy) is the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small, stuffed yarn creatures. The word is a portmanteau of the Japanese words ami, meaning crocheted or knitted, and nuigurumi, meaning stuffed doll.^[1] In the West they are called amigurumi, which are the original phonetics of 編みぐるみ in Japanese language.^[2] Amigurumi vary in size and there are no restrictions about size or look.^[3] While the art of amigurumi has been known in Japan for several decades, the craft first started appealing to the masses in other countries, especially in the West, in 2003.^[4] By 2006, amigurumi were reported to be some of the most popular items on Etsy, an online craft marketplace, where they typically sold for $10 to $100.^[4] Since then, popularity has continued to increase.^[5]

Here are some of the bears I have made. I'm trying to do one for each of my grandkids for their birthday. I'm sure they might think they are silly but I want them to all have something I have made before I die which I hope will be a long ways away because I'm so happy and healthy and enjoying Pine Valley life. There was a time I told Scott to come get me when I turned 60 but I'm sure glad he didn't because I married Randy and we are really good together.  Whoever may read this, let me know what color of bear you want and I'll be "beary" happy to make you one.

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Speaking of Randy, he lives here now, spent the day getting a new Utah driver's license and the cars registered here. He will soon start looking for work but it sure is nice to have him finally here.  We love to drive around this area and check things out.  This is the overflow at the Baker Res. Dam.

 This is a picture of the spillway. The water is starting to melt off the mountain and it should be a stellar year for water. 

I got ambitious today and jellied up the three quarts of juice I had in the freezer and got 21 little jars of beautiful jelly. Now this really sparks joy as they all set up just beautifully.....and speaking of things that spark joy (that term is from Marie Kondo and her tiddying up book) my family.  We had reason (Mae's birthday and Traci's invitation) to celebrate and I loved every minute of it. 

 It was so fun to celebrate Mae. She is such a little bright spot in all of our lives. All girl.....but  not really. With 4 brothers, she's a little bit boy but mostly girl.

It was a beautiful day to sit and chat and watch the kids run around.

 Lux and Kix were in town so it was fun to have them celebrate with us as well as Mason, Mandy, Miller and McKay.

 Mason brought his toys and let everyone have a turn at "hovering" (not even sure what this is called) but it was really cool. 

I love taking the little ones to Pizza Factory where they make them a pizza of their age.

 She ate the whole thing.....

 Cutest little four year old.....

I need to add a "Mae-ism" here for posterity.  The other day she needed to go potty and likes me to come with her for some reason and usually I do but this day I didn't want to get out of my chair so I told her to call me when she is through and she said....."but I don't have a phone".  More catch up to come but bye for now.

March Madness.....

....and I'm not talking about basketball.  It's been snowing like crazy for the last two days. We needed to get Randy moved here so he drove his paint van down on Sunday then we drove the Kia and the trailer back to Cali on Monday and then the Kia with the loaded trailer back on Tues. We had to stop three different times to cover up the load but the last tarp made it home and it's now parked in our driveway attached to the Kia and we're pretty much snowed in. That was three straight days of Highway 50 for Randy. We popped in a book on tape, the Gary Sinese biography which entertained us the whole way back. It was a good listen. Anyway, the state of Pine Valley right now on the day after the first day of Spring is snowy.

 I always have a large pile of snow on my front porch but here you can see the new layer as well as the other porch.

I'm writing this post in the afternoon of the day after the first day of Spring and I think the sun is finally coming out.  The blue sky looks beautiful as a background of the snow.

Maybe this will be the last for a while, just enough sun to melt a few berms from my yard would be good. But I have to say I still love it here.  Four years ago when I made the decision to sell my house and my cabin and buy this, my mom said it would be a big mistake (and her voice is always in my brain) and I'm sure there were others who thought I was crazy especially Randy's family.  Sometimes I get lonely (no more, Randy is here) and I want to be with my family but the minute I'm with them I want to be home. I often wonder when I will know I've made a mistake and what I will do if that time ever comes but for now, I love it here.  I'm comfortable here. I love all four seasons. I even love the snow. It gives me pause to slow life down a bit and just watch. I love that my birds that still come in the winter. I love that the fire keeps me warm and I just love that I feel "at home" here.  I think I'm fine for a while.  The people here are lovely, but I'm up high on the mountain, with only the birds and turkeys as my neighbors so let's just say, I'm not here for the people. The brethren keep my place cleaned off so I'm not snowed in and for that I am grateful but I think I'd be fine spending the whole winter here snowed in.   I think you get the picture.  I'm where I belong and count my blessings daily.

This is the view from in front of Joyce's home. I stayed with her for a couple of weeks helping her recoup from her shoulder surgery. I really enjoyed my time with her and was glad I could help. The background of the Pine Valley mountain is always captivating and especially on this day when all the colors were so vivid (not so much in this picture but in reality).  It just made my heart sing to know I live up there. Joyce has recovered well. She still has a ways to go but I can go down and help her whenever she needs me.