Whirled Peas

Lewis fed the fish and counted the snails for the last time this morning.

While emptying the dishwasher, I smiled when I put away two new mugs.  Both were gifts, one to me, and one from me.

Adele and Will walked to church with me after breakfast.  I asked them to set out the hymnals, but Will was immediately nabbed to help with the sacrament.  Adele, bless her heart, cheerfully placed hymnals for over 100 people, all by herself.

We had French Dip for lunch today.  Jacob and Melanie made the sandwiches.

This was a delicious meal.

Carolyn put Grandma Katharine's Apple Danish in the oven.

We had a wonderful week with Steve's family, but at this point they were packed and ready to go. I love watching the cousins interact comfortably with their aunts and uncles.

Before they departed, Dave reminded me that I needed to take a picture of Lewis "in jail," which is what we call his favorite spot.  The acoustics in the stairwell are excellent, and Lewis sings the theme song to Bob the Builder at the top of his lungs.  But not when I'm holding a camera.

While some of our group made the trip to the airport, Nate worked on his pinball skills.

This is not as easy as it sounds.

Since beds had suddenly become available, we played a version of musical chairs, so to speak.  While helping me change sheets, Julia found something wonderful to try on.

Nate helped deflate some air beds.  This is actually a fun job, or at least it was until Mom showed Nate where the automatic deflate button is.

Turns out Jacob knew all along about that button.  He was using the extra time to work on his own pinball skills.

When the airport crew returned, we enjoyed the Danish.  Spectacular is the word that is coming to mind.

Will made a joke about Papa's humor, along the lines that he was surprised at how funny he was.  I think it was compliment.  We may never know his true intent.

With our New Year's Eve festivities beginning, part of our group watched one of Papa's favorite movies.

Nate and I watched several Star Trek episodes together.  He is so much fun, and I got to put my feet up.  Well, that was my intent.

Both groups took frequent breaks all evening.  Julia and I had the opportunity to play our favorite game.  We beat the sun, which was better than we did yesterday.

Dave put together a light meal of summer sausage, cheese and crackers.  If you think it looks like we were having a lot of fun together, you would be correct.

We watched midnight pass in Greenland, and then Newfoundland.  When New York celebrated, we did, too.  

We talked about New Year's resolutions.

This was not a serious conversation.

Nate focused on his ice cream.  He's that kind of guy.

Melanie taught Julia what a resolution is.

Matt decided he was going to replace the peace sign with three fingers.

As in World Threes.

Saturday is a Special Day

Many people slept in this  morning.  Kyle and I got tired of waiting, so we had a pre-breakfast of cookies and milk. 

The bagel dough was ready by the time these two adorable helpers came upstairs.

Camille taught Julia how to shape the bagels.

Adele woke up and asked if she could help.

While I worked with Julia and Adele, Camille took over boiling the bagels.

Then she put the egg white wash on the cooked bagels.

While the bagels baked, the girls played a game of Hoot Owl Hoot.

Kyle had time to build a marble track.

The sun began to rise.

Finally, the bagels were ready to eat!

Julia and Adele accompanied me on a few quick errands.  We got a cookie.

Later in the morning, a group of us went to the Escher exhibit at BYU.  I asked and got permission to take this picture with my cell phone.

After the museum, we explored.

We spent time inside and outside.

Melanie, Dave and Carolyn got lost.  We pretended we'd found them.

Lewis caught a ride.

The vortex cannon is one of my favorite things.

We took turns being the target.  My camera and I shot back.

Steve successfully explained the Foucault pendulum to me.  If you ask, I'll explain it to you.

The little kids thought rides were fun.

Aunt Janet was the preferred choice.

Carolyn and Nate helped me make chicken pot pie for dinner.  It smelled delicious.

This needed to bake for almost an hour.  During that time Will and Dave watched a movie Carolyn made of our week together.

Jacob climbed up into the attic to help Papa with a home repair.

Steve and some of his peeps played Commander.

Adele asked for pool lessons.

Finally, dinner was ready.  We had two of these pans, and it was a big hit!

Kyle had thirds.  So did Nate.

After dinner, Matt found the sweet spot in my entry hall and sang a selection from Hamilton for us.

After a fun, delicious day, we had a new fan join us for Star Trek tonight!