Saying Goodbye to 2023 on 12/31/23

It's 123123. Or 12/31/23. Fun way to go out this year. Jeremy and I took a nap (excuse the hair) and woke up in order to snap a photo at 1:23pm. Thanks, Jeremy, for setting an alarm. Smart thinking.

I was also able to get a picture with Lucky during that same minute.

An hour later I was able to wish my brother Happy 1:23 on 12/31/23 since he lives in Oregon. Tee Hee. Fun stuff.

Other things we did on this last day of 2023. New Year's Nachos! And board games. And some video games.

We also discussed "Come, Follow Me" curriculum for 2024. "The Book of Mormon." I'm so happy about that. I've talked to several people at church who are also excited we'll be studying that this coming year... starting tomorrow!

I've been telling my children for a while and I know these things from personal experience and the Spirit, studying the Book of Mormon every day makes a difference in your life. It really does. Don't believe me? Try it. It won't solve all your problems but it will bring you closer to Jesus Christ. That makes things bearable. It's worth it.

Goodbye, 2023.

Bison Day 2023

We missed out on going to Antelope Island for Bison Day last year so we made sure to do it this year on November 4.

At one point while we were driving around, I said, "See those over there. Those are pronghorns. They're what the island is named for. Pronghorn Island."

We also saw a coyote running around then watched as it got closer and closer to a group of pronghorns. We were able to see the point when they noticed the coyote and decided to move somewhere else. Heh Heh. Nature's cool, man. 

We brought along our bison plushie and we did see lots of bison on the island. 

Jeremy got a kick out of all the birds on the backs of the bison.

We also saw deer so we got all three of the "Home on the Range" animals this trip.

I had Jet saying Hi to the bison statue in the visitor's center and while we were at the ranch, I thought, "Bye, son," as my boys walked away from where I was.

I love Antelope Island. It is such a beautiful place, a wonderful place to see and experience nature and I'm so happy when I can share that with the family I love.

Service With a Smile

Since today is Tick Tock Day and Still Need To Do Day, I'll put another family picture up before the end of the year. We went to the Giving Machine again this year. We were so busy before Christmas but made time to do it a couple days ago. It was again a good opportunity to do service and have another family picture taken while we were at it.

We donated two chickens and a game night for a family. When we got home, we watched the Studio C sketch about the Giving Machine... and chickens.

The Day After Halloween Is NOT Christmas

November 1 was Vinegar Day. I thought of all the people who were bitter that others immediately put up decorations the day after Halloween. Vinegar. I get it. What about Thanksgiving? What about Pizza With the Works Except Anchovies Day?

November 2 was Plan Your Epitaph Day.

Me: What could we have for dinner that's poisonous?

Jeremy: Tomatoes. They're from the nightshade family.

Me: Ah ha. 

I had a grilled tomato and mozzarella cheese sandwich for lunch. For dinner we had tomatoes and we had cream we needed to finish up after making Ogre Stew one day. I tell you, Ogre Stew is craveworthy.

I tried a recipe from Shelf Cooking 101 and made substitutions as necessary because that's what shelf cooking is about. It was Tomato Cream Sauce.

November 3 was Sandwich Day. Besides eating sandwiches at home, we went to a Fall Festival and chili cookoff at our church building.

There were also games for the kids to play to win toys and candy.

Goodbye, Bridal Veil Falls

Jet and I said goodbye to Bridal Veil Falls a few days before the end of October (it's tradition). As you may have noticed from one of my pictures on my Frankenstein post, they did open the lower area and road for a while, so we did get a chance to go down there a few times, including walking to the waterfall.

Here are a few pictures since my last post about Bridal Veil Falls (on July 21, 2023) showing how much it's changed in a few months.

 

First time driving down since they opened the road back up (beginning of August). Here's both from the viewpoint and from the lower road:

Beginning of September:

A few days later:

 

End of September (right up to the waterfall):

The beginning of October:

 

Goodbye, Bridal Veil Falls. Hope to see you the beginning of May.

Jr. Jr.'s Birthday

Back to catching up on October.

I don't know how it came up but Jr. Jr. decided to tell people he was turning 14 on his birthday. He turned 13. He had 13 candles on his cake in the shape of a '14.' That kid.

When he opened his present he said, "Thanks, Dad. Finally. Physical proof that the world is full of candy."

There was a "world box" filled with candy and a note to tell him where he could find his actual present (besides the candy).

Merry Christmas from the Telfords

Our balloon Christmas tree was built completely by our children.

The kids got pajamas to wear last night and enjoyed them. Jet recognized his right away.

Jr. sewed a stocking in sewing class and let Jet use it for his stocking this year.

Today was fun and it was nice to spend such a good time with our family. I love them all so much.

Merry Christmas from the Telfords

 

Halloween 2023

We don't have time to do a fun Halloween themed dinner on Halloween anymore so this year we had a Halloween themed dinner a few days before. October 29 was National Oatmeal Day. Jr. and Jeremy helped me to figure out what we should make and what the food should be called. Bonemeal muffins, Baba Yaga's chicken legs, alfraidy sauce worms (pastaaaaagh!), and shredded lettuce with a costume... I mean dressing, scream soda to drink and batberry cobbler (blackberry cobbler) for dessert.

Here's what happened on actual Halloween. 

Jr. Jr. hadn't decided what costume to wear as of the night before Halloween. Jeremy had made balloons for Dia de Muertos at Thanksgiving Point again so he suggested he could use one of the puppets that was still in good shape. 

Jr. Jr. liked that idea and managed to maneuver around his school like that. Of course I dropped him off and picked him up for there was no way he was going to fit that thing on the bus.

Jr. was the happy mask salesman from Majora's mask. We were up late the night before and got up early Halloween morning to work on his costume. He did the sewing that needed to be done by himself. 

Lucky was a dementor from Harry Potter. He likes to do costumes inspired by his teacher's classrooms if he can. 

 

Jet and I bundled up to watch Lucky in the elementary Halloween school parade. They did it outside this year. The marching band from the high school up the street walked over to provide music for the parade. They led the parade through the school then continued to play in one spot while the rest of the students walked around for everyone to see. That was fun.

 

Trick or treating around our neighborhood went well (except I slowed everyone down because I like to talk).

The next morning I felt like a genius. I emptied Jet's Halloween bucket and put all the toys and activity items back in it along with just a few pieces of candy. 

When he found the bucket, he did not go straight for the candy as it was not an overwhelming amount. He played with other items first. Woohoo.