Christmas Gig at the Monte L. Bean Museum

Last Friday we all got a free dinner for performing at the Bean Museum. Brittany has been teaching a mammals lab there, so is still an employee, and she volunteered our services.

The Pinyon Rats had a great time playing there, with the fake fish in the background. It was their office Christmas party, catered by Molly's. Yum.

We had a fin time singing the 12 days of Christmas at the museum:
12 lichens drying
11 purple penstomon
10 leopards leaping
9 students sorting
8 Mormon crickets
7 dabbling ducks
6 Packer paintings
5 ivory tusks
4 free-tail bats
3 fake fish
a 2-headed snake
and a liger in a glass case.

Afterwards we had a sleep-over at Brittany and John's house. We stayed up late and watched three episodes of the third season of The Expanse. One of us may have fallen asleep in the middle of episode 2. But it was a great day!

Suessical, the Musical

Monday night we went to the Hale Centre Theater and saw Seussical the Musical! The costumes and staging were fantastic! We loved it! This was the last show in the season that we purchased at the beginning of the year. It's been great to have a reason to get out planned in advance!

We also enjoyed dinner at the Wave Cafe across from the light rail station. It was good food and great conversation! We're happy we signed up for season tickets and had the excuse to get together throughout the year!

My WBC was 11.77 today, slightly up again. We're hoping it is because I had a cold this week. I'm feeling better and we always hope the next blood draw is better!

Alpine Cove Christmas Party and Porter 50th wedding anniversary

Ed and I had a good time at our ward Christmas party on Saturday. It was nice, but strange, not to have been involved in it in any way except attending! They had a great Cafe Rio style meal! We also enjoyed the entertainment by several of our friends and band members!

We also enjoyed popping in on my cousin Dwight and his wife Trena, who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. It made me happy for them, but sad for me, wondering if there is any possibility that Ed and I could make it to 50. That would be 12 more years! We're giving it our best try!

Grandview 13th Ward Christmas Party

Santa came to the Christmas Party at Brittany's ward Friday night. Mabel and Clementine fit right into the decor.

The ward had a catering fail (do not order from BYU food serevices), and the food did not materialize. So, they punted and went out and bought pizzas!

Fortunately, the Pinyon Rats were there to entertain the ravenous crowd while they waited for the food to arrive. We did Mr. Grinch, Go Tell it on the Mountain, the First Noel, Pine Cones and Holly Berries with It's Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas and Jingle Bells/Holiday Blessing. It was lots of fun!

I'm feeling good and enjoying the season!

Christmas fun and Music

I just had to post this picture because Clementine had such a great smile. She and Mabel have been over a lot lately so we can practice music with Brittany.

We had to sneak in a little practice while we were cooking. Brittany brought her dulcimer in the kitchen!

Ed entertained the kids a little with the new Harry Potter train under the Christmas tree.

Skimmy rested in the guitar case last week while we practiced at Brittany's house on Thursday.

The Pinyan Rats are all ready for our two gigs this season! It's been fun having a purpose in our practice!

Hair and blood labs

I'm impressed with my beautiful new hair! I love running my fingers through it. It is also nice now that it's winter to have a little protection from the cold.

It is funny to see how swirly the top is. No wonder my hair never laid right. I think I'm a hurricane of cowlicks on top! The sides are very straight!

My labs yesterday were great. My WBC was down to 6.77 and platelets were up to 25. Both good numbers. The expensive drug I'm on seems to be working. I called the drug company, Pfizer, to see if we could get a discount on it. They don't give any assistance on anyone whose income is over 84K per year. That is pretty interesting, as the drug is $13,500 per month. Hopefully, in another month or two I'll be in remission and can get my stem cell transplant!

Goodbye, Arizona!

We went to Jersey Mike's in Tucson on Saturday to take the Jerseyans back to their roots. The Jersey boys, Tom, John and Ed, all agreed it wasn't like being at home. The servers were much too nice!

In the afternoon we had a fun time sitting around and talking! Heather's Mom joined us, as well as their dog, Charlie.

I wanted to hold the baby, but I came down with a cold, so decided to protect the newborn from my germs!

We left town at about 4 to get a head start on our drive home. We got as far as Flagstaff, where we got a hotel. They had plenty of snow along the way, but the roads were just fine. It was nice to know we only had 8 more hours to drive on Sunday!