The Check WAS in the Mail!

I can not believe it! I finally got a check from the insurance company to pay for a visit to the emergency room in October 2016! This was a comedy of errors that wasn't really very funny. Everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong!

1. The provider billed the wrong insurance company, which denied the claim.
2. Re-billed the correct insurance company. They approved the claim and sent the check to the wrong place.
3. The wrong place refunded the money to the wrong insurance company.
4. The wrong insurance company sent the money back. It got lost.
5. The wrong insurance company re-issued the refund.
6. I filled out a claim asking them to send me the check, rather than the wrong medical office.
7. I got a check in the mail today and finally paid my provider!

Each one of these steps took many months, and MANY phone calls! I have had this bill on my desktop for a year and a half! It will be nice to put this in a drawer and never look at it again!

Clementine First Birthday Party

We celebrated Clementine turning one yesterday! Brittany made a special orange cake (a play on Clementine's name). I made "Clementine" buttons for everyone. Mabel kept asking where her Mabel button was!

Clementine wasn't feeling terrific, but she was interested in watching what was going on. Brittany blew out her candle with help from Mabel!

Grandma Nuttall brought Zam and her baby to the party, and the Stevens family came with Calvin.

It was my sister, Barbara's real birthday, so we sang a song to her, as well!

Clementine wasn't much help opening presents, but she was very engaged as she watched the presents emerge from the pretty wrapping paper!

She was also very interested in Zam's baby, who is only 2 months old!

We had put together a child-sized obstacle course in our long basement hall, because Clementine loves climbing so much. It ended with a tunnel crawl and sliding into a playpen full of balls!

Clementine didn't participate, but Mabel and Calvin had a good time!

We might have had as much fun making the obstacle course as the kids had playing on it!

Here's a short video of the kids doing the obstacle course!

Snowy Day at McDonalds

We're finding snow most inconvenient! After a whole winter with no snow, we've had a few storms pass through this week. It was a little annoying when the roads were terrible Friday morning and we were scheduled to meet John at work at pick up the grandkids!

Fortunately, it was worth it! We waited out the snow at McDonald's! The first time Mabel and Clementine had gone there!

Mabel had lots of fun climbing on the animals and going down the slide and saying, "Grandpa, watch me!"

Clementine and I cuddled up together and had fun watching, too! By the time we finished playing we enjoyed driving on clear roads all the way home!

Trip Books are Finished!

I finished the itineraries and detailed account of the trip we're taking next month! It was a huge undertaking (85 pages long), and I'm excited to be done! I've learned so much about what we are going to see, and hope my books help our fellow travelers. Crystal is going with Ed and me, and we'll be joined by our friends the Sardonis, from Alpine.

We're going to see the Pyramids along the Nile, the Treasury at Petra in Jordan, and end up walking where Jesus walked in Israel!

If you want to join us virtually on the trip, just check out my blog starting March 9!

Snow!

Finally, it snowed! We've had a couple of dustings this winter, but this is the first real snow we've had! We got about a foot at our house Monday night!

What a change from Friday, when we had the girls out playing in the back yard!

Ed did all the hard work of cleaning the driveway yesterday! Thank heavens for a really good snow blower!

This morning Ed had to clean the driveway again, as we had another couple of inches of snow! Thank heavens for Ed!

At the same time as Ed was cleaning the driveway, he also vacuumed the house! He finally convinced me that we should buy a robot vacuum cleaner. We got the top of the line model by Neato, to make sure it was up to the task of our big house.

Ed loves it! It makes a map of the house and shows you where it has been. It raises the brushes on carpets and area rugs. It sends a text if it gets stuck, and beeps when its time to empty the bin! It is really amazing. It goes back to the charger to recharge when it gets low on power!

Now, if we could just get a robo-snow blower, we would have it made!

Sister Sewing Circle

Annette, Barbara and I had our first Sisters Sewing Circle Friday. Annette and Barbara are both quilters, so decided to get together to quilt once a month. They let me tag along and do odd jobs.

I worked on my quiet book and the banner for mom's 90th birthday parade. Annette asked Barbara to work on the elastic in her jacket, and she and Barbara both completed some quilt squares.

Barbara had made some scrumptious curry chicken sandwiches with a mandarin and beet salad!

It was fun seeing what tools Barbara uses as she's crafting! I ordered a new light table just like hers! Next month we'll work at Annette's house and see what new things we discover!

We're planning on April 6th in case Joan and Verlene want to join us!

The Couple that Crosses Words together Stays together

Ed and I enjoyed Valentine's day by doing the New York Times crossword together on our tablets. This is something we enjoy doing together every day, but on Valentine's day it was heart shaped, just for us! It doesn't get any better than that!

Galantine's Day

We had a Galantine's Day Party for RS on Tuesday! It was so fun hanging out with the ladies! Lorraine, especially!

After making some lavender sprigs we sat at the tables and did speed dating, which was a really great way to get to visit with a lot of people you wouldn't ordinarily get to visit with!

I was so jealous of the nice big gym we used at the Schwarz/ home! It looks like it would make a great pickleball court!

Congratulations Andy and Abigail Adams!

My niece, Abby, was married yesterday and got to change her name to Abigail Adams. How cool is that? She and Andy had a beautiful wedding in the Salt Lake City temple.The weather was clear, but cold and windy, which made the outdoor
picture taking quicker than normal!

They had their reception at the Lodge at Traverse Mountain, which was a beautiful place with lots of mountain views through the windows. My sister, Barbara, had put a lot of hard work into the reception, and it all paid off!

They served hot soup and rolls for dinner. Abby's brother, Eli, was a big help with the food as well as with the program later. He did a lot to get the party rolling!

The great selection of cookies didn't hurt, either!

Crystal came out from Denver for the wedding, and we were glad she did! Brittany and John were lucky to leave the kids with John's parents, so they could enjoy the reception uninterrupted!

My sister, Verlene (far right), also drove out with Crystal, so we had all five sisters at the wedding, and my mom, too! It was like a family reunion!

The evening ended up with a contra dance, which was terrific. I couldn't get any pictures that weren't blurry, as the action was moving so fast!

Thanks to Abby for picking such a fun activity at her wedding, and thanks to Andy for being such a good sport and going along with it! Abby had a special dancing dress just for the dancing, so she wouldn't trip on her wedding train!

After we were completely tuckered out from dancing we got to slow down with a fun 'hat dance' where the person with the hat gets to choose their sashay partner and the leftover person gets to wear the hat! I got to wear the hat, and Crystal got to sashay!

A special thanks to Bishop Shippen who took time out of his Saturday morning to meet me at the church and give me a temple recommend. I realized just as we were leaving for the temple that mine had expired in December! Not only did Bishop Shippen meet me at the church, but he talked President Heiner into meeting us at the church to finish the recommend! If they hadn't done that for me I would have missed out on a special portion of a very wonderful day! Thanks for making it happen!

Measuring Up

Last week Ed and I went to look at the trailer we're borrowing for the 24th of July parade this summer. It is 8x18 feet, with 18 inch sides and a 26 inch gate in the back. It's going to be perfect! Now we have to figure out how to decorate it and attach seats for 9 nonagenarians!

In the afternoon we had our second pickleball lesson from our pro, Eric Gertler. He's a great teacher, and is working hard to get us to start hitting the ball correctly. I'm also learning a lot about where to position myself in a game!

The most amazing thing about this shot is it's the beginning of February, no snow and 55 degrees out! I feel bad about the lack of moisture, but we're having the best winter ever!

West with the Night

The Alpine Book club reviewed West with the Night by Beryl Markham on Thursday. It was an interesting story about a woman bush pilot in Africa in the 30's. She also was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic solo from east to west. I was glad I read the story, but didn't enjoy the writing style. It felt uneven and verbose at times. Metaphors stacked upon metaphors! It was, however, a great discussion led by Gina. I keep forgetting to get a group picture, but Maureen is good-natured to have her picture taken with me after I drop her off at home! 

Quilting on the Gym Floor

We had a nice time visiting with the ladies at our ward humanitarian project yesterday. We sewed quilts together to be quilted in March at the Stake humanitarian event. Jane and I live across the street from each other, but rarely have this much time to talk (except during Sacrament meeting), so it was fun to be able to catch up! And we also felt good about ourselves afterwards!

Button Making!

I ordered a button machine from American Button Machines last week. The ultimate purpose was to make buttons for the Alpine Nature Center. But, once I got it I found lots of reasons to make buttons. I made a video of the first button I made. It was for the Daughters of the American Revolution, a replica of a button they wore in 1917! I'm hoping to win the New Button Maker of the Month award from ABM!



Once I got started I couldn't stop. I made several more buttons that same day! I made an Alpine Nature Center button as well as one for my mother's upcoming 90th birthday celebration! Designing and creating buttons turned out to be fun and stress free. Every button turned out perfect!

Super Sunday!

We watched the Super Bowl yesterday with the Nuttalls, including Brittany and John's family and John's parents. We had assigned teams to root for since we really didn't have any skin in the game! (Sadly, my team lost!)

Mabel and Clementine really like football, and they especially liked eating in the family room!

We had a great snack-like dinner. Brittany went all out and made cauliflower buffalo wings (no chicken)!

She also made a practice cake she is trying out for Clementine's birthday (coming up soon). It was so delicious, with candied orange rinds on top!

We made our own half time show, practicing  Il est né, le divin Enfant with Marti and Ellis. Since they both speak (and sing) in French we thought it would be fun to record them on this French Christmas carol. Marti even played the ukulele while she sang!

It was a kindler and gentler version of a Whistling Prairie rehearsal! We didn't want to scare them off!

Happy Birthday Calvin!

Calvin turned two in January, and we went to his birthday party Saturday!. He's my sister Barbara's grandson, and Lacy is now expecting baby number two!

Calvin really enjoyed opening presents, and had lots of helpers, too!

Clementine was really excited when she found grandpa on the love sack! That little girl loves her grandpa! (The feeling is mutual, too!)

The family fun will continue next week, as my niece, Abby is marrying Andy on Saturday! We're so happy for them!

Pinyon Rats Go Off the Page

The Pinyon Rats are trying to do our songs by memory. We found out it's a lot more fun when we're not looking at the music! It's fun to watch Brittany and John interact while they're playing.

Even Ed can play and smile when he knows the song really well!

We had a little granddaughter time before band. Clementine was climbing in her car seat and rocking it!

Mabel was really sweet to Grandpa and let him read her a whole bunch of books before bedtime!