Winter Anniversary Photos

Back in October when we celebrated our anniversary, we didn't take photos. We were a bit busy and then Robyn said we should take some in the snow in wintertime. I thought that wasn't a bad idea, but as we kept procrastinating, snowy pictures looked better and better. (At least it would look like we had a good reason to wait so long to take pictures.) 

When we passed our actual anniversary in December, it was clear that the pictures needed to happen soon. But weather isn't always as cooperative as you'd like it to be. There wasn't any heavy snowfall predicated and there was no snow left on the ground from our small flurries, so we headed to the canyon. 

It was perfect. Cold and crisp and beautiful. Robyn was great to hike around in the snow and take pictures for us. There were actually a lot of people in the canyon. We saw one couple taking a dip in the icy river!? Most of the time we had our location to ourselves. 

We only edit one picture for our wall. The others have some glare on Tyler's glasses or on the picture frame. That is fine. You get the idea. Enjoy our lovely winter anniversary photoshoot.

That last one was pretty good. But we went with this next one for the wall. What a cute couple we still are after 21 years.

Poets Who Didn't Know Its

Robyn gave a fun lesson in FHE the other night. She talked about making goals and developing talents. Then she had us all write some poems. She gave us words and we created. The first set of words were all colors. Here is what we came up with.

MY BLUE HAIKU

This is a haiku
about the color sky blue
it looks good with white

by Daisy (blue)

WHITE

Glitter shining
Winter blinding
Calming clean
Smiling beam

Angel wings
Diamond rings
Wedding dress
Silver tress

Flimsy note
Freshly Washed Coat
Divine and true
Toilet paper tissue

by Robyn (white)

GET SUCKED IN

Get Sucked In…
To a close chess game
Or a sizzling pan
Or a star filled sky
Or a project plan.

Get Sucked In…
To a mystery book
Or the glint in his eye
Or the open road
Or the reason why.

Get Sucked In…
To a thick blanket
Or a TV screen
Or a pounding beat
Or the best sports team.

Get Sucked In…
To something you love.
Try something new.
Live in the moment.
Keep being you.

by June (black)

RED

Rewarding
Exciting
Dainty

by Pearl (red)

THE BUTTERFLY

Flapping, flying, day and night
Fluttering by, bringing delight
Not a spot of pink in sight
Nothing will disturb its flight

Looking up the sun shines white
Making everything seem so bright
Small but strong and with its might
With a glimpse, makes a day right

Almost perfect but not quite
Almost there, just off a slight
Inside your soul it sparks a light
The butterfly, floating by

by Ivory (pink)

AT THE END

So precious that one might sell his soul
Or fight a war against men from afar
The cost of hoarding can take its toll
The damage of greed leaves a nasty scar

Who determines the worth of a stone
You can’t eat it or shelter yourself from the rain
Yet a treasure that glitters is surely know
To bring your pleasure and lessen your pain

Hold it close even though it is cold
You can buy more friends, I am told
And when beauty fades and you are old,
Your one true love will remain...yes, gold.

by Maleen (gold)

YELLOW

"The Big yellow one's the sun!"
He exclaimed as he ran the rounds.
"The Big yellow one's the sun!"
His enthusiasm knows no bounds.

The sun warms us all
Gives us light for hours and hours
Only dimming slightly in the fall
and sometimes behind cloudy showers.

Yellow's on flowers, bananas, and lemons.
It's great for mustard and signs, and fun.
Hats and towels and certain melons.
"The Big yellow one's the sun!"

by Tyler (yellow)

Then we were given new words. These weren't colors, but could be anything. Ready for the next round?

UNTITLED

White
Icy
North Pole
Threatening
Elegant
Remote

by Daisy (winter)

AN ARCTIC CHILL

An Arctic chill blasts through your coat
You're cold, depressed and turning blue
You feel a tightness close your throat
You feel yourself slip away
It's sad. I know. But true.

by Daisy (winter)

UNTITLED

A haze of mysterious syrupy
possibility hands in the air
just to be wasted
Tank tops and fireworks for
parties with balloons, so much
eaten but little tasted
Blinding lights and pumping music
starry camping trips, spas and
day trips just because
Dripping exhaustion and 
intoxicating highs, boredom, freedom
slipping into time's gaping jaws
Wishing and waiting, crying
because you never thought it'd
end even though you always knew it would
Savoring the flavor and
toasting familiar bittersweet newness
Drinking in every sip
because you know you should

by Robyn (summer)

THE FALL

When autumn arrives,
The leaves let go.
They fall to the ground;
They drop to the snow.

Whenever you jump,
You come back to the ground.
All of the rain
Slips from the clouds.

The biker falls,
He skins his knees.
The storms sink ships,
The loggers fell trees.

Towers have crumbled,
Cities have burned.
Wars have been fought—
Has anyone learned?

Are we all meant
To stumble and fall?
Do we all break?
Can no one stand tall?

The answer is yes,
But not till the end.
All those who fall
Can stand up again.

When you are weak,
When you feel small,
When you have faith
in nothing at all,

If you can't make it,
Reach up for the hand
Of the Father who guides you,
For He has a plan.

He'll help you up,
Put you back on your feet.
Remind you that you
Aren't so easy to beat.

Remember these words:
The fall happens fast.
Your troubles may hurt you
But no hardship lasts. 

 by June Cazier (fall)

A COLOR

I once tried to buy a color for only a dollar.
But what I didn’t know was that it was half a dollar to buy a color.
But then I found watercolor for no dollar.
Then I realized a color was not a dollar, or even a half dollar, but the real color was much smaller than a dollar, but was found only within your COLOR-ful heart.

by Pearl (color)

THE AQUARIUM

Shimmering colors, reflecting lights:
Deep blues and bright whites.
People stand saying oohs and ahs,
Unsuccessfully searching for flaws.

The silent sounds that you can hear,
The voices around, so far yet so near,
Disturbing the peace you so easily see
As if it were you, under the sea.

Passing slowly through the water,
Not in any rush.
The eyes, reflecting back peoples’ faces
Bring a quiet hush.

The glass is so clear,
It feels so real.
But you’re glad that it’s there
So you aren’t their next meal.

Pictures snapping, lights flashing,
Peeking over others’ heads.
All the colors, all the beauty,
Wishing the trip would never end.

But it’s time to go home,
Time to climb into bed
And visit the ocean again,
In your head.

by Ivory (aquarium)

NIGHTTIME

Sleep

Dream

Rest from all the lights that gleam

Forage

Prey

Or in your little burrows stay

Party

Drink

You’re stupider than you might think

Work 

Toil

Doctors burn the midnight oil

Gaming

Insane

There’s always just one more campaign

Cuddle

Kiss

But your curfew can’t be missed

Sprout

Grow

Mushrooms come from down below

Think

Read

Ideas that will plant the seed

Snooze

Doze

Wear some socks that warm your toes

Murder 

Steal

Your grievances are truly real

Glimmer

Shine

Stars never sleep and that’s just fine

Study

Rest

Tomorrow you can pass that test

Release

Drain The nighttime will recharge your brain

by Maleen (nighttime)

There you have it. Some poetry straight from our brains. Tyler only had one since he was he wrote it later when he came back from the pet ER with Nova. But you guessed it, that is a story for another day...

December Chatbook 2020

I still have some loose ends from December, but I'm not going to let them hold me back. The goal is to move forward and be current. December was an interesting month. It is always busy, but it was also different with Covid and quarantine. Luckily, that was all clumped at the end of the month. 

But let's jump into the hodge podge. It is hard to believe it was less than a month ago. Time sure is a strange mistress.

At work, I often decorate the calendar. I don't think I've ever remembered to take a picture of it. Until now. I really like having Wednesdays off from school. It is nice to have the kids home and it leaves a nice symmetrical spot on the calendar.

Tyler and I celebrated a strange holiday. It was my BEEN-A-CAZIER-LONGER-THAN-A-DARGAN day. I have spent more of my life with Tyler than without now. That is good, because I can't imagine life without him. We went and shared a pizza at Blaze. Yumminess. 

Camo is not just for the army. These girls look so cute. Tyler would walk by and say, "Girls, you have to wear shirts!" (Dad jokes...)

We washed a batch of shoes, but the laces didn't wash very well. So the girls came up with some other options for laces. Ribbon actually works pretty well. And looks pretty festive.

You need to ignore how weird Pearl's neck looks in this picture and instead focus on her swirl of hair at the base of her neck. Why does hair decided to grow in a swirl?

Speaking of Pearl, she is getting really good at all her tumbling skills. I like that she takes videos of herself. Her back walkover is looking sharp.

This picture was when June, Daisy, and I went to see Ivory dance. It was clearly edited by Daisy after the fact. I can understand Daisy seeing herself as an angel and me as the devil, but why is June half and half? She is clearly an angel too. All my kids are. (She says with hardly any sarcasm.)

I got my Duolingo stats for the year. Apparently I spent over 50 hours learning a language. Not bad. Although you would think I would be better than I am at Spanish at this point. But I'm happy with my slow progress. 

A lady in my neighborhood turned 80. They asked me to make signs to put up outside her house. It worked pretty well. People honked at her house all day. 

Robyn asked for me to paint her nails. I did my best at decorating them. It is hard to use toothpicks and nail polish, but I think you can tell what I was going for...hopefully.

The voodoo doll got into the season. I did the outfit and Daisy did the hat and all the cotton. I love how fluffy it looks.

I haven't been the best about neighbor gifts for many years. Mostly we do our newsletter which takes lots of time and a fair bit of money. (I'm not sure people think it is a great 'gift', but you get what you get...) Kandis, however got a really cute gift for our family. She is so awesome. We didn't get to carol this year, and that makes me sad. Maybe we'll do some valentine caroling. That could be a thing.

Eddy was up to all his usual antics. He sometimes forgot to move and younger children helped him find a new spot. He is a patient elf who never makes a mess. I adore him.

Pearl chose the new ornament for this year. She made Dad touch it before he could see it. Not because it was a poison dart frog, but because it was covered in glitter and Dad hates glitter. My children are so nice.

I got this ornament from Tom at work. He and his wife made tiny masks for the tree. What a great ornament for 2020.

My shoe tree is starting to get crowded. I may need to get a bigger tree someday. I bet Tyler is thrilled to hear that.

June broke a dish in half with her bare hands. She told me there was a crack running through it and that she could break it in two. I didn't believe her. Guess she showed me.

June and I gave blood and got really cute shirts from the red cross. Then we had to call back the next day and tell them that our blood was possibly infected. (I've never had to call them before.) We also called back ten days later to tell them that we tested negative. I wonder if they already chucked our blood?

Grandma came after Christmas, but it was a little strange. We were still in quarantine, so she sat outside the window and watched us open gifts. Seriously, this Christmas was one for the books. Ivory was in the basement, so we also brought the computer so Grandma could see Ivory.

Some more fun henna, although we've learned that it shows up better on some people and in some places. For instance, Robyn's upper arms don't hold the color at all. It seems to disappear almost immediately.

I realize this is stupid, but I colored a year's worth of daily Happy Color pictures. Translated that means that I wasted a LOT of time on my phone, but I did get the fancy unicorn award finally. And yes, I'm proud of that.

Nova still find soft things to rest upon. It doesn't seem to matter if she ends up in a weird position. The softness is the key.

Christina called and told us there was a live nativity over in her neighborhood with sheep and camels. But she told us just as they were taking everything down. The kids still went over and saw a few animals before they were gone.

Ivory made bread for a friend who was in quarantine. After mixing, rising, and rolling out the dough, she noticed something weird in the corner. I pulled it out. It was a button that was left in the flour after the button game. How did she not notice it during the process of making bread?? So funny. But we caught it before it was baked, so no one ate a button.

We had a lot of down time in isolation. That led to a lot of this. Which is fine especially when everyone is getting along.

Down in quarantine, Ivory's foxes were multiplying. She made the yellow one first and that seemed normal until she did the orange one. Why is the first one yellow?

Upstairs, we played games and did puzzles. Virginia got us a 2,000 piece puzzle. We are still working on it.

Robyn got to hang out with her percussion peeps earlier in the month. They had a movie night and went out for food on another occasion. Knowing how to play a multitude of instruments makes you part of a unique group.

Cute selfie of Robyn. I love her wavy locks.

Speaking of locks, here's one of Ivory. I think this was the day before she escaped from the basement. That is a fleek bun.

That's all for December folks. And to all a good night.