Snow

Snow Day in Beaver, Utah

This is the day after the biggest snow storm in 61 years.  It left a total of 19 inches on the ground and I can just imagine double that in the mountains.  We took a ride down the Greenville lane and only got stuck once.  We had some good Samaratins to help push us out.  It was so beautiful, but very cold. 

Trip to NC

 This picture was taken through the window of the airport at JFK Airport.  We had a 4 hour layover there.

Trip to North Carolina

Kelsey kids Dec 2015

 We learned that the "L" tree growing in their back yard was formed by Indians many, many years ago when they bent the newly planted tree into an "L" shape to mark a path in the woods.  There aren't too many of them left.  You are really blessed if you have an "L" tree on your property.

Kelsey kids Dec 2015

We spent a joyous Christmas at the Kelsey home in North Carolina.  Our grandkids had grown quite a bit since we last saw them.  Here are a few pictures of Kennedy (12), Tristan (9) and Jack (7). 

Finished Product

When we “finished” Hogwarts, Joe said “wouldn’t this be great with real Christmas lights”.  Hypothetically, I agreed but didn’t think the observation was going to lead to action.  Honestly, I was skeptical.  I didn’t want to risk knocking off decorations in an attempt to string lights over the house.  Unbeknownst to me, Mandy and Joe looked on the internet for miniature lights.  Apparently, the progression of choices went like this…Joe, “should we go with a 6’ string or the longest, 19’.  Mandy, “19’".  Joe, “should we go white lights or multi-colored”.  Mandy, “Colored’.  Joe, “Shall we go with blinking lights or constant lights?”  Mandy, “blinking”.  Lights were ordered on the spot and arrived at our doorstep just a few days later.  When the lights arrived, Mandy immediately opened the package.  Kristin joined Mandy and me in the dining room and we evaluated where we should put the lights.  There were two choices.  Place the lights around the bottom.  This choice would avoid the risk of knocking off candies from the structures.  The other choice was to string the lights like you would on a house.  I voted for the rocks.  Kristin leaned toward decorating the structures.  Mandy was adamant, let’s decorate the structures.  Fine, let me experiment to see what it looks like.  I started to string the lights and before we knew it, we were advancing the lights around the entire house and the last light was in perfect position.  There was enough lead wire that goes to the battery box to place the box at the bottom of the rocks.  I suggested we hide the battery box by crafting a Christmas tree over the top.  The tree idea worked perfectly.  I’m sure you know how Kristin makes Christmas trees, melted marsh mellows, green food coloring and corn flakes.  After Kristin finished shaping the tree, Mandy said “do another one, that tree looks lonely”.  Kristin added another tree.  Then Mandy said to add some more to make the forbidden forest.  

Lights

The Forbidden Forest