National Bird Day 2026

Yesterday, January 5, was National Bird Day.

I got out for my morning walk... with more lights than last time. Instead of listening to music, I listened to and looked at some birds.

I watched the movie, "The Big Year," while washing dishes and making dinner. I love that movie. For dinner we had chicken tortilla soup because chickens are birds and I have no problem eating them.

Jet wanted to get a picture of his food, too. Love him.

Nichole drew a barn swallow to celebrate. I just love to see her use art to celebrate holidays. 

Oh, and funny thing. I was looking up info about birding in certain counties in Utah (getting ready for this year's UCB challenge) and I clicked on a question to be answered, "What is the rarest bird in Utah?"

The AI Overview talked about how rarity can vary but it mentioned the brambling that we saw in March of 2024. It mentioned a couple other rare birds that I have not seen. Then it said this:

"Rarity depends on location and timing, with birds like the Yellow-billed Loon or Black-capped Chickadee also making rare appearances in specific counties."

I laughed so much when I saw that. While it's true that I've only seen a Yellow-billed Loon once (December of 2020), I don't think I would EVER call Black-capped Chickadees rare. In fact, I was hearing them on my walk yesterday morning and easily recognized their sound because I've heard them sooooo many times.

Let this be a lesson to you. AI Overview isn't always correct. Also... birds are cool. 

 

Happy Birthday, Utah!

Yesterday, January 4, was Utah's 130th Birthday.

It was also National Trivia Day and National Spaghetti Day. I asked Jeremy some Utah trivia. Some people ate pasta.

I took a long nap but I made sure to say Happy Birthday to Utah. 

Daddy, Look

Jet: My brain powers up things and even Christmas lights.

Happy Birthday, J.R.R. Tolkien

It's J.R.R. Tolkien's birthday (January 3). It's a Saturday.

Yes, we can have a Lord of the Rings marathon. 

Science Fiction Day 2026

It's Science Fiction Day, January 2.

I went out for my first morning walk of the year this morning and listened to Doctor Who music while I was walking. About half the lights were out at the park, though, so it wasn't as pleasant of a walk. I'm not sure if it was the weather or not but Jeremy said on his way to work this morning, the fog was thick as pea soup. He made it safely, though.

I've been menu planning while watching episodes of Doctor Who today as well. Enjoying celebrating Science Fiction Day.

 

Yesterday was kind of a laid back day. I got a new set of scriptures for Christmas so I started the New Year the right way with my scripture study.

Yesterday afternoon, we introduced the family to Seeking Persephone because they sent a link for the digital copy of the movie on New Year's Eve. Woohoo! It was fun to watch it as a family. 

 

The Beginning of 2026

Happy New Year!

I was so tired by the time I finished my blog post yesterday but it was only half an hour until midnight so I stayed up long enough to toast the new year with the family with sparkling cider then the kids stayed up soooo late and Jeremy and I went to bed.

About 5 o'clock in the morning, Jet finally went to bed (unless he fell asleep in the living room earlier. I don't know. I slept with instructions for the older kids to watch after him. So I guess he finally went to his bed at 5 o'clock in the morning). 

 

I heard this from him, "Mom, go back to sleep."

He said it several times. 

My reaction? "What? Go back to sleep? Oh, thank you for waking me up in order to tell me to go back to sleep."

Oh, I love my kids so much. 

The End of 2025

Yesterday, December 30, was Mercer Mayer's Birthday. We read some Mercer Mayer books. 

For dinner we had carbonara for Bacon Day.

Sweet Jeremy brought roses home for me.

Today, I got out for my last morning walk of the year because... today is New Year's Eve.

Later I was "making guacamole. Making guacamole" for our New Year's nachos. 

Jeremy got some writing in and had hot chocolate in the composition mug. How fun.

Now I'm too tired to write anymore myself so I'll see you next year. Or you'll see me next year since this is my blog.

Happy New Year!