Snow, a Dog and Good Music

The best kind of snowflakes: by a toasty fire!
These snowflakes decorated the big fireplace
in the lodge, at Mandy's wedding

Hello, and Happy Sunday!
I'm very happy to look outside and see grass on the front lawn. We have had some balmy days in the 50's this week, so almost all of the snow is gone!

Blast from the Past:
Kara, Dec 2013

I see that this Tuesday night, we are supposed to get 5-8 inches of snow. Of course, that is when Frank will be in NYC. So Kara and I will get to shovel Wednesday morning. Here is a "Kara shoveling" photo from 5 years ago.

DOGGY HOTEL. Kara has signed up to be a 'pet-sitter' on rover.com. It's an app that matches up pet owners with dog-walkers, or people who will otherwise take care of their pets. We have "Chrissy" here this week, a Jack Russell Terrier. She's a foster dog, in between owners since her elderly owner has moved, and can't take care of her anymore. The foster lady left for a week, and Kara is taking care of Chrissy for those 7 days. She focuses on food 24/7, and has to be blocked from trash cans. She is agile.

7-day guest: this is an
Internet photo, but I COULD have taken this
picture. Chrissy looks exactly like this.

We left dinner leftovers on the table, then turned our backs to view a 1-minute video on youtube. When we turned back around, she was ON the dining table, helping herself to our leftovers.

(Frank thought that would be his lunch on Monday, but suddenly he decided he'd have something else...)

The lady left us with a caged enclosure that Chrissy can stay in when nobody is home. And surprisingly, she does not shed. (I thought all dogs shed.)

GREAT SOUNDTRACK. I've been listening to music from The Greatest Showman on youtube. What a fun collection of songs! I found out that Hugh Jackman, whose passion is theater, singing and dancing, is going on a one-man tour this year, performing songs from The Greatest Showman and other musicals he's been in. (He was in Les Mis; THAT has an awesome soundtrack, too :))

WARMER TEMPERATURES. I am refreshing my Spanish skills in the car, with the Pimsleur language system, available in MP3 format from the library. I checked it out on my phone.

In April/May, at the end of the BYU semester, we'll take the fam on a cruise that is all in Spanish. It starts in Panama, goes to Colombia, then 3 islands but I can't remember all 3 islands. Aruba and Curacao are the ones I remember.

But before that, I get to spend some warmer days in Tucson, visiting Arizona family! A week from Wednesday I'll go visit Mom for about 5 days. I know, it's not balmy Hawaii, but definitely a nice change of scenery from the New England Arctic North. I'll be there Feb 20-25th.

Here is a hummingbird I photographed last time I was in Tucson. Hope these guys are still around! :)

NEW FRIENDS TO SUPPORT. Frank has been asked to work with the Spanish-speaking members of the church in our area. The group is small, so they overlap with our congregation for classes like Sunday School and youth classes. Then they have their own Sacrament Meeting afterwards. Both Frank and I will go to their Sacrament Meeting, to support and provide some more consistent numbers. (I still co-teach my Primary class, 8- and 9-year olds.)

David got to go to Texas for a friend's wedding this weekend...and it was cold in Texas! Insulting, yes, but I'm sure the ceremony was beautiful.

Hope your weekend has been refreshing, and you are ready for Monday!

Love, Kari