Out with the old and all that ...

Dec. 28th was my 47th birthday. The 29th was our 24th anniversary. And the 1st was ... well, the New Year! (Welcome 2024.)

I like celebrating a new year of life for me, a new year of being married to Mike and the new calendar year beginning all as one big event, but I can't say I did a lot of thoughtful reminiscing about the old or pondering and planning for the new. Most of my birthday was spent in a state of packing and readying everything for a trip to the cabin (and then unpacking everything upon arrival at the cabin), and most of the New Year's celebrations were spent with both Mike and I feeling a bit sick but still trying for some bit of "Happy New Year!"ing with the kids.

Still, just a moment's pause to think about it all even just right now, as I type, does remind me that last year was quite a year for us. The packing and uprooting of all our lives and all that had been familiar to all of our children, the adjusting to new places and new people and new schools for all of our kids, our Goldie not only making the move with us but also leaving on her mission. It certainly wasn't nothing. That much is true. And it's remarkable that we lived through so much change when none of it was even known as we rang in the last new year. It's boggling to me whenever I've experienced a year of so much change to think back on year-ago-me and think, "And she knew none of this! Think of that! None of it!" Well. What an interesting business this living life is.

Anyway. From the birthday/anniversary/New Year's weekend (in a bit of a mixed order as I didn't take many pictures and have grabbed this assortment from the few I took mixed with ones from Mike and Daisy):

Snap circuits.

Mike took the kids sledding on one of the days when I was feeling the most unwell.

New Year's Eve is primarily a night of playing an assortment of games (and having root beer floats). (This year New Year's was also on a Sunday so we attended the Garden City visitor's ward--which was woefully unprepared for the enormous number of people that showed up. They said they set up 920 chairs, and there were still people standing everywhere anyone could stand!)

I mentioned these aren't in a tidy order. Here I am with the very fuzzy Wrangler blanket Mike gave me on my birthday. (It made the weekend up there much cozier to be sure.)

Mike and some of the kids wandered about Garden City one of the days while I went on a run in town (as the roads by the cabin were too icy). I found them again after by this bear.

There isn't much open in Garden City in the winter, but the kids did tend for Mike and I to go to dinner on our anniversary, and Mike did buy me an extra-large amount of chocolate covered raspberries as well as this lovely Beaver Mountain snow cap.

I love my kids laughing together.

After our game playing and root beer floats we drove into town to watch them light that year's giant Christmas tree on fire (no rules against burning pines in proper Sabbath-day observance I don't suppose :)).

A few of the kids even managed to nab the last of the free hot cocoa cups.

And that appears to be the end of the pictures. So happy 24 years to me and Mike (now officially married longer than we were single), happy nearly one billion years to me (how can I still think I'm relatively young when I'm nearly an old old woman?), and happy New Year! 

And with that a prompt adieu.