Colleen and Dave

Ed and I had lunch with Colleen and Dave Saxey yesterday. I forgot to take their picture, so I thought I'd post this picture of them in 1975 (?) at what looks like a wedding shower or engagement party. Not only is Colleen from Billings (my hometown), but she was also my roommate at BYU when she met and fell in love with her boss on the landscaping crew!

They haven't changed a bit in 40 years! It was fun catching up with them. It's nice to be close to old friends again!

I realize I don't know everyone in these pictures! Maybe they were friends of Dave and Colleen from work!

If anyone can name them all, I will be mightily impressed!

Winding Down

We took it easy yesterday, even watching a movie before noon! Ed and Crystal and I enjoyed trying out a 3D movie in our basement (thanks to John).

I was trying to recuperate from my therapy, which hasn't been going well, so I had a heating pad on my back and two ice packs on my hand. The therapy threw my back out and made my fingers swell up!

It was fun watching the Force Awakens in 3D and having a farewell tribute to Carrie Fisher!

I didn't get a picture of Nancy and Joe Sienecki (a friend of Ed's from college), who visited us in the afternoon! They were in town from California and it was fun seeing them!

In the evening we stopped at the Tower Deli  at Thanksgiving Point for dessert with the Nuttalls before saying goodbye to Crystal, who had a 10 p.m. flight back to Denver. The party is officially over now!

We're looking forward with a degree of trepidation to what 2017 hold for us!

Backstage at the Museum

We took Crystal down to the Monte Bean Museum this afternoon, where Brittany works. Crystal worked there when she was in college, so was interested in seeing the changes. We got to go behind the scenes and pet some stuffed animals!

The museum is not only much larger than it was 5 years ago, but it was also decked out for the holidays, which made it fun.

We went out to dinner with Brittany and John at Malawi pizza. Brittany was hoping this was the last picture she'd have to smile for!

Crystal is leaving tomorrow night, and then the party will be over! We're sad about that!

But, happily, Mabel will still be with us, and we're looking forward to another baby Nuttall joining us in February! That should be enough to keep us entertained!

It's a Wrap!

Whistling Prairie finished recording yesterday in the nick of time, as Amanda and Nolan flew home at 7:30 this morning! We did 9 songs in time segments carved out of of the 5 days we were all together!

Mabel was very helpful in the mornings. She played the tambourine with us on one song.

On another song she played the kazoo (We don't know how she learned to make the kazoo noise all by herself!). We tried to do the actual recording in the afternoon when she was down for her nap!

I had fun this year, playing pennywhistle, recorder, hammered dulcimer and a lot of rhythm instruments. Nolan and John played a lot of guitar and banjo. John ended up putting a band-aid on his finger to keep it from hurting so much!

In the evening Brittany and John went to a Nuttall cousins party and the rest of us went to Braza Grill, a Brazilian steak house to celebrate! We ate a lot of red meat and came home and fell asleep watching an episode of Brokenwood on Acorn TV! Good times!

Matching Fractures

Mabel had a little accident yesterday and suffered a buckle fracture of the ulna and radius. I put my brace back on to show that we had matching arms now!

After the initial trauma, which convinced her parents to take her to the hospital and have a x-ray done, she perked right up again. Amanda and Crystal consoled her when she got home.

Ed got to hold her during the caroling. The break was a result of a little rough-housing, and did NOT involve falling off a very scary rocking horse!

She gets her splint off in two weeks, and probably will not need therapy!

Brady Family Caroling Party

We hosted a caroling party for those of the Brady family who could make it last night. This included my sister Annette and 3 of her children's families, my sister Barbara and her entire family, my brother Jon's family (minus John who was either in Hong Kong or Pittsburg) as well as Grandma Brady and the Bush family.

We had several people sing songs for us, then we joined in all singing together.

Here are a few pictures from a very fun evening!

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B4PHprXwhBt3UGtycmQydnpMNFU?usp=sharing

Christmas Day

We celebrated Christmas Day in the evening this year. We started out with 10:30 church, where the girls got to sing a number. Brittany and John also went to 1 p.m. church in their ward, so it was a busy day!

While we waited to have dinner together, Crystal and Nolan assembled a car Brittany had left for Mabel.

Amanda perfected the art of making spritz cookies with her new machine!

Ed shoveled us out of 5 inches of snow that fell overnight. It was beautiful, if not inconvenient!

My sister Joan stopped by with three of her children and serenaded us with Brady pipe bells. They're on their way to Standing Rock to stand in solidarity with the Sioux tribe. it was fun to hear what they are up to.

Mabel loved her new car! She found it before she was supposed to and did not want to leave it!

She did NOT like the rocking horse grandma and grandpa gave here, especially after Amanda showed her that pressing it's ear would make it neigh loudly. She was terrified of it!

Fortunately, she developed a sort of truce with the horse later, and even learned to ride it!

Christmas Eve Day

It was fun to have the whole family together on Christmas Eve morning. Even Mabel was there in her Christmas jammies!

We spent several hours working on our new arrangements for next year's Christmas CD.

It is always fun and challenging trying to figure out what instruments to use for each song. There is going to be plenty of accordion, for sure!

Mabel liked wandering around, but would occasionally stop and play with some blocks. She was pretty cute!

We took a few snack breaks, and had fun making hot chocolate in our new Keurig machine.

The girls went over their song for church again.

While they were practicing I got to read a book to Mabel!

In the evening we all went to Brittany and John's ward Christmas Eve Program at their church. Brittany had put together the program and John sang a beautiful solo on O Holy Night. It rained pretty hard in the afternoon and evening, which was strange for Christmas Eve, but it sure made travel easier!

Makin' Beautiful Music

Whistling Prairie gathered yesterday morning in our new music room and started working on our Christmas music. Nolan ended up taking up the slack and playing a lot of guitar. I happily played pennywhistle, hammered dulcimer and shaker instead!

We had kielbasa, pasta and veggies for dinner, with plenty of cooks to do the chopping!

We went to see Luminaria at Thanksgiving point in the evening. It was a fantastic light display, ending with a beautiful garden with statues depicting Christ's ministry.

To cap it off, we celebrated my faux-birthday (so as not to get lost in the excitement of Christmas). I was too overcome to blow out all my candles. I hope that doesn't really mean my wish won't come true!

The Fun Begins

Crystal arrived Wednesday night and the party started! Brittany came over the next day and helped us put together the Whistling Prairie Christmas music.

Amanda and Nolan arrived after lunch and the girls took time to practice Christmas Day in the Morning, which they're singing for our Sacrament meeting on Sunday.

In the evening we went up to see the beautiful lights at temple square.

We got to hear a choir singing in the assembly hall, an organist play in the tabernacle, and lastly, we got to sit and relax all alone inside the conference center!

Home Improvements

We had a storm door and railings installed yesterday--just in time to help our Christmas guests safely make it up the front steps in case of ice! We're excited to have a storm door where we could leave the front door open to let the afternoon sun in, as well as having a screen to let the air flow through in the spring and fall!

Ed also bought me a vanity for my bedroom closet and wired it for lights and for the hair dryer and curling iron. I'm so happy to have a place to sit while I'm drying my hair again!

Lots of early Christmas surprises!

Birthday Lunch with the Nortons

We renewed a tradition with the Nortons of going out to celebrate Chuck and my birthdays. He's Christmas Eve and I'm Christmas day. When we lived in California we used to celebrate together! It's nice to pick up where we left off--except in Utah now!

We enjoyed a late lunch at Thai Village in American Fork. The food was great, and the company even better!

Wrist Therapy

I started therapy on my broken wrist last week, but keep forgetting to take a picture. The hand massage has felt particularly good in getting some blood flow in my swollen fingers. This is some kind of electrical stimulation that is interesting in a pins and needles sort of way.

I have made some progress, but it is little baby steps. I can pick up a dinner plate now, but I can not play the guitar yet!

A Visit from the Stephens

We were so lucky to have Kaylene and John stop by yesterday to see us. I know our Baltimore friends are so busy with family when they're in Utah, so we felt happy they carved out a few hours to spend with us! Just seeing Kaylene's smiling face makes me think all is right with the world!

It was fun showing them our new house. And even more fun catching up on their lives and the lives of their children. Now that Lynsey and her husband are in Salt Lake maybe we'll get to see them more often!

Mabel loves Chistmas

Brittany and John brought Mabel over tonight. It is so much fun just watching her. She loves the Christmas trees and is very gentle with the ornaments. Her joyful expressions are priceless! Ed and I could be entertained by her all night. We look forward to seeing her more in the next couple of weeks when we enjoy the holidays with the family. Crystal, Amanda and Nolan are flying in on Wednesday and Thursday. We can't wait!