Moving Back into Routine

The holidays are receding in our mental rearview mirrors, and we are re-establishing all our regular routines and comings and goings around here. The college kids have left us. And I'm back to waking up at 6 or 6:30 to get the day going. Older kids heading off into the cold and dark at 7 or 7:20 (depending on if they are taking the bus or driving). Younger kids heading out between 8 and 9 (depending on if they've got before-school piano/orchestra or not). 

I've taken down the last of the Christmas lights (I left them up for several extra weeks simply to prolong the amount of time of more light in the house. There are just never enough lights in the evenings for me). And Mike, whose hours--during the last several months of 2024--were actually quite a bit lighter than they have ever been before, is back to being gone for 13 or so hours a day. Which, especially during the dark months, always feels very heavy for me. Why is having him gone so hard on me? I don't even know for sure. But it always is. But, January. Return to routine and normal. Not that things have settled into ordinary without a few hiccups and extra demands and big happenings (all the college kids back for Hansie's baptism for one--which I'll write about later). We've had propane tanks run dry, and kids sick and throwing up, unexpected reasons to run down to Ogden, days off for the high school and the middle school during parent-teacher conferences, meetings with our builder and with the county over green belt stuff, etc.

(Of course, maybe all of those departures from the day-to-day sorts of things are the routine and ordinary.)

In any case, a few photos that have just been floating about--homeless--for the last several weeks. 

Penny before Sadie's

The first set of photos with my new lens on my camera. Not good lighting or anything. Just excited to click the shutter closed! And there Anders, Daisy ... and Shasta were. 

Little friend when we had to do a tiny report for school about a "community helper" of her choice. (I may have heavily influenced her towards one that we already had a costume for.)

Crazy hair day. Starling, Mette and Summer all had snowmen buns.

These hoodlums helped Mike build a trough for the steers' hay.

Gaming. ...

Doing Abe's trick of hitting the top of a glass bottle half full of water in just such a way that the bottom blows off. Still none of us can do it but Abe. 

Abe's third year of ice-climbing in Ouray with friends. 

The moon setting Monday morning. 

Goldie's last transfer she's the Sister Training Leader over a district that a friend from our old Pleasant View ward is serving in. Small world!