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Pre-Christmas 2023

The publish date on this will be January 2024, so I hope this doesn't confuse me when I put these posts into print.

December went by so fast! With darker days, I made a point to appreciate the sunrises we saw on the way to seminary each morning.

Brooklyn and Gavin provided some lovely holiday artwork.

We tried to appreciate our last few Sundays with church at noon. Attending at 9 a.m. during 2024 is going to be an adjustment. No matter what time church is, we struggle to be on time, and the drive home is always rife with conflict. I can't remember what Sean and Gavin fought about when I took this picture.
Andrew passed Mean Bob after four tries and is now an officially licensed driver.
I traveled to Monticello, Utah, to join my brother and sister in celebrating Mom and Dad's 50th wedding anniversary. We were able to surprise Mom, which is quite a big deal. She knew Daniel would visit but had yet to learn about Cathy and me. We waited for her at her eye appointment in Moab. When she walked into the waiting room, she was shocked.

She took us around town to meet her hairdresser and other friends.
When we planned to catch feral cats for neutering at the property the next day, we woke up to a decent snow dump. I was glad we could be there to shovel the drive.
We spent time sorting through bins and had a lot of fun discoveries
including a thick copper chain
Dad's .22 caliber pistol that he used to strap on his ankle.
And a bin full of empty Gatorade bottles!
Mom bought us matching hoodies at the visitor's center across the street, and on their anniversary, we wore them all over town while we did our chores. We even used our technology skills to take a timed picture of us.
Cathy figured out a way to get dad in there:
We went to a restaurant on the border of Colorado and Utah for the anniversary dinner to celebrate. Do you like the bar stools?

I always like snuggling Blackie when I visit. He drools, so it's gross, but he's so affectionate you must forgive him.
Cathy, Daniel, and I stopped by Logan and Emily's house on our way back to the airport. They fed us a delicious dinner of chili, cornbread, and orchata. We had a good time talking and laughing with them.
Cathy and I had to be at the airport at about the same time to head to our destinations, so we had a lovely breakfast together.

It was a good visit. I'll add an article I wrote for a Substack, Letters from the Nest, that I contribute to monthly.

In fact, I should add all of the articles I wrote for Letters from the Nest since they apply to our family and family life.

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