New Year 2016!

For the second year in a row, we woke up early on New Year's Day and drove to Idaho to spend it with family.  It's such a great time to visit - maybe it will become a tradition!

We arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's house in the early afternoon.  Shawn and Kristi both brought their families over and we had a great day. We visited, the kids rode Terry's 4-wheeler pulling a sled (in below-freezing temps), we ate a ton of food, and even played a game!  Gee's don't play games so this was a big deal!  It's so comfortable and easy with David's family.  Time flew by and suddenly everyone was going home.

Shame on me for not taking any pictures of all the fun!  In my defense, I still wasn't perfectly healthy.  There were so many times that I thought to myself, "That would make a darling picture," but I was too tired to get up and find my camera.

In the evening, once the boys were in bed, Alison and Nicole put on a little concert for Grandma and Grandpa.  They each played a song on the piano and sang a tune or two.  It was fun for them to be in the spotlight for a minute.  Then, they went downstairs and David and I spent the evening quietly chatting with his parents.  It was wonderful.  Except that one of the things we chatted about was how horrible our van was sounding.  David and his dad didn't think it would make it home to Utah.

The next morning, David and his dad took the van into a shop.  Then we all went to Isaac's baptism.  That's right, I said ISAAC!!!  You know, my little nephew who was like, three years old the other day! Man!  I'm getting old!  Or at least the people around me are.

Isaac's baptism was so great.  He was beaming with excitement.  His primary teacher got up and gave the sweetest most personal talk about how wonderful he is and how proud she was of him.  Then his bishop got up and did the same thing.  They really made him feel special.  It was nice to be there with so many family members and to be able to take part in that sacred event.  Afterwards, we all went to Kristi's house, where she treated us to a huge, delicious meal.

Cute picture of Isaac and his dad from Kristi's Facebook post.

By then, we had heard from the auto shop.  Things weren't looking good for our van.  There was no way it was going to be road-ready for a day or two, and the bill would be just shy of $1500.  Happy new year to us!!!  We were so blessed that David's parents bailed us out!  They happened to be driving to Utah for a wedding reception right then, so they drove our three oldest children with them and dropped them off at our home.  David, the little boys, and I borrowed Grandpa Gee's pick up truck.  We loaded it up with all our luggage and came home about an hour behind the first group.  I drove the pick up for a whole week, until David and his dad met up in McCammon the following Saturday and exchanged vehicles.  It's pretty fun to drive a big ol' truck - until you have to park in a tight space.  I think I looked pretty cool and the kids certainly loved it!

Doesn't Grandpa's truck make David look manly?!?!

What a beginning to 2016!  When our dishwasher broke a week later, I was starting to get worried.  Oh well - who needs money anyways, right?  In essentials, we are very rich!





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