Journey in January

January. Ah, that frozen month of grey monotony, punctuated only by momentary breaks in the drudgery.

Nah, that wasn't this January at all.

 We built a fortress of boxes. Finally, a good way to reuse all that packing material from August!

 We sent Tyler off to India (again) to be welcomed with open arms and red chalk.

 We saw the campus of Rising Star Outreach through his camera lens,

 saw some of the medical work for the leprosy-affected,

 and fell in love with a bunch of cute kiddos.

Meanwhile, Sheridan ROCKED the 2nd grade Spelling Bee and took 3rd place! The last 3 kiddos went 13 rounds before anyone made a mistake--great job!

We did not love having Tyler gone. It stinks. I am a far, far grumpier mommy without my right-hand-man. But you know what? We did it. We learned to jump a car battery (again), juggled homework and baths and bedtimes (not to mention morning times) without Daddy, and we took care of business.

We were so much happier when Tyler was home, though!

 These are our happy faces.

 Boo! Ha ha, gotcha!

Anyway, Tyler got home just in time to see Miss Sheridan represent Clara Barton in a GATE activity. She spent all the first semester of school learning about Clara's life and legacy in founding the Red Cross in America after the Civil War. It was fun learning about "The Angel of the Battlefield" from Sheridan! It was also fun to make her a Clara Barton costume. Because, if you haven't noticed, I really like making costumes!

 Isn't she the cutest Clara Barton you've ever seen?!?

Well, the weather in January was actually gorgeous. Pleasant. Not-typical. We barely got any snow and what we did get didn't stick around. It was the mildest January I've even experienced in Utah.

Let's hear it for the park!

Let's also hear it for a kid who climbs. He loves butter and has buttered the counter once before. This time, he got caught buttering the spice cabinet (and the toaster oven, and the stove, and himself...). That is fennel butter, now. It is lovely on fish. Sigh. He is only crying because I asked him what he was doing. Then I took a picture of the guilt. Oh the shame!

Finally, after a long 10ish days as a solo mom, Tyler told me to get away from it all. So I snatched up the LAST ticket to BYU's Musical Theater production of "The Count of Monte Cristo." It was phenomenal. I actually didn't like how tidily everything wrapped up, but the sets and effects were awesome, the acting was stellar, and the music was amazing. Seriously, some of those students belong on Broadway. And I came home a much more-sane person. Hooray!