Snow!

 Last Sunday we got over two feet of snow. Last night we got about a foot.

Today was the day all kids in our district finally got to go back to full day in person school. Parents all through the district rejoiced. And, thanks to this wonderful development, homeschool moms rejoiced because we got sledding hill to ourselves, with all fresh snow.

It was wet snow so the kids got pretty wet, but the still had a blast. Here's hoping, though, that this is our last time sledding for the season. I'm ready for hiking season!

Birthdays!

Ben's Birthday celebrations last year were in complete quarantine- almost exactly a year ago it all started. This year was slightly better. Perhaps next year we can go to an actual restaurant!

We celebrated Mac and Ben's Birthdays with his family yesterday- Ann spoiled both of them and really went all out, and it was wonderful. Ben's parents got him a meat thermometer for grilling and Beth and DJ got him Community Season 2 (this is Ben's absolutely favorite show ever) and a really nice pair of wool socks.

Then today, the girls woke up early and make Ben waffles before he went downstairs to work.

The girls and I did our absolute best to make him a Baby Yoda cake. This is what it was supposed to look like:

Here is what it actually looked like:

But, we had a ton of fun making it, and in reality- that's the true goal of all of this. Who cares if we fail? We are learning and improving and having a good time with it. And, the girls get so proud and excited about their handiwork. Bonus: We learned that Baby Yoda tastes really good.

My parents got him bbq sauce and a grilling cookbook, which goes along perfectly with the gift from his parents! Time for Ben to start grilling!

I got him horseback riding- he has wanted to take us all on a guided horseback riding trip, so I bought us a package to go in June.

And then, this is funny. The Relief Society is celebrating their Birthday, and so my ward RS put together a little quiz game. I came in 2nd place, so tonight the RS President brought over my gift- Happy Birthday candles and banner! I had to laugh because Ben felt like I was trying to steal his Birthday, while I just laughed.

Modern Miracles

 I am feeling immense gratitude lately for scientific miracles.

Health Gratitude Post 1/2: Ben and I were blessed to get our first vaccine yesterday. What a miracle! I believe in God, I believe in science, I believe in miracles, and I believe that when we fasted and prayed last April for relief from the pandemic, God blessed us with this vaccine. It is truly a modern miracle! I feel like crying with relief that there is hope because of this vaccine, and I marvel at the good people volunteering their time to distribute it, at the scientists who developed it, and the blessing we have to live in such a time as this to witness the miracles of God unfold!

Here's a sweet message from the President of my faith, who was a world renown heart surgeon before becoming a full time leader of my Church.

**I am SOOOOO grateful, but yikes- my arm is really, really sore! Like I couldn't sleep last night sore! Time for Tylenol and a hot pad to try and help ease the pain. But to be clear, I will GLADLY take a sore arm to help save the world!

From President Nelson: "With approval from our physician, my wife, Wendy, and I were vaccinated today against COVID-19. We are very grateful. This was the first week either of us was eligible to receive the vaccine. We are thankful for the countless doctors, scientists, researchers, manufacturers, government leaders, and others who have performed the grueling work required to make this vaccine available. We have prayed often for this literal godsend.

As a former surgeon and medical researcher, I know something of the effort needed to accomplish such a remarkable feat. Producing a safe, effective vaccine in less than a year is nothing short of miraculous. I was a young surgeon when, in 1953, Dr. Jonas Salk announced that he had developed a vaccine against the cruel and crippling disease of polio. I then watched the dramatic impact that vaccine had on eradicating polio as most people around the world were vaccinated.

For generations,

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

has donated considerable resources to making vaccinations available for people in developing countries. Vaccinations have helped to eliminate diseases such as diphtheria and smallpox. My professional and ecclesiastical experiences convince me that vaccinations administered by competent medical professionals protect health and preserve life.

Receiving the vaccine today was part of our personal efforts to be good global citizens in helping to eliminate COVID-19 from the world."

Here is how we were able to get the vaccine. It's nothing short of a miracle:

Basically, it's the hunger games to get the vaccine. You either need to know somebody or be tech savvy or be just lucky. We were lucky.

Our vaccine group, 1B4, opens on Friday. We are relatively high on the list, but I knew it would likely still be a few weeks before we get the vaccine.

Last week I had an OBGYN appointment. While there, I asked my doctor if there were ever leftover vaccines and if I could get on a list if there was. She said, "yes" and that often they will come downstairs and ask people if they want leftover vaccines. She suggested I go upstairs and ask, so I did. I was told they don't have a list and the best thing I could do was to show up between 4:30-5 each day to see if there were any no shows and extra vaccines.

This appointment happened to be about 25 minutes away, so it's a little far for me to drive to every day. But, there is an office about 3 minutes from my house distributing the vaccine, so I figured I would go in and ask them as well.

I had the kids with me, but I stopped at the facility and told the girls, "I'll be right back. This will just be a few minutes." It was only 2:30, so I was just planning to run in to ask if I could even come each to check for extras.

I went in and asked the lady, and I was being super super nice, and she said, "Let me text my head nurse to see if there's any extra." I was like, "I don't need it now- I can come back later," and she said, "oh, no, let me text. Have a seat." There was nobody else getting a vaccine at this time. A couple minutes later she said, "Come and back, we have an extra!" I couldn't believe it and almost started crying right there! The relief. The joy. All the feelings- it's just a miracle.

I decided to be greedy and ask if there was one more for my husband. THEY DID! I called Ben and was like, "Get down here right this second! They have a vaccine for you!" He raced down and also got the vaccine. I can't even believe it. I'm still in shock! We go back in 3 weeks for our second dose, then one week after that we will be 95% safe from Covid! It is an absolute miracle, and I am overwhelmed with absolute gratitude that we were able to get the vaccine. That the vaccine even exists! I'm so, so, so happy!

And my arm is so, so, so sore!

Health gratitude post 2/2: I just finished reading this book, about a 32-year-old woman with Chron's Disease. I have Ulcerative Colitis, which is very similar. As she described her pain and feelings that she would die, I knew exactly how she felt.

Unlike her, however, I was diagnosed relatively quickly. As of today, I have never been hospitalized for my illness and I have not yet required any major surgeries.

I realized reading this book how lucky I am- lucky that I have excellent health care thanks to Ben's job (and angry at our system of health care that requires a good job to have access to said care,** but that's another story and today I'm focusing on gratitude), grateful for an excellent doctor who is very proactive in ensuring that I don't go into another flare, so incredibly grateful to live in a time of miraculous scientific research and access to life giving drugs to keep me in remission, and just so incredibly grateful that for right now, today, I am healthy and strong and can live a wonderful life. I know it can easily be taken away- I could end up with a stricture and be hospitalized tomorrow- but for today, I'm grateful for all the things mentioned above. What a wonderful time to be alive!

OK, I'll stop being sappy for today. #gratitude

**thankfully, the ACA does help with this.

Leprechaun Trap

Camille set out a leprechaun trap last night, and wouldn't you know it- the little buggard Brutus (so named by Camille) came. He didn't get caught, and instead made a mess!

He left gold coins and streamers all over! He also turned pictures and even Baby Yoda upside down.

And, I know it's gross, but he even used our bathroom! That little rascal!

Camille didn't trap him, but she did have fun trying.

We also got another Yum Box- this time from Germany! Woo-hoo! This is always a favorite day when we get to open our Yum Box!

The Great Chocolate Chip Cookie Quest

 In January, I realized this was going to be a long, dark winter due to Covid. I thought, "maybe the girls and I could make a few recipes and try to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe." I shared that thought on FB, and suddenly friends and family who I haven't talked to in YEARS, from all over the country, started sending me recipes. Many people expressed how they couldn't wait for our results.

So, me being me, I decided to use those recipes and make this a bigger thing. Ben helped me put together a bracket with 12 different recipes (an idea from a FB friend), and for 8 weeks the girls and I baked and baked and baked. Honestly, we got sick of chocolate chip cookies. Please don't bake us any anytime soon. We reached out to friends to be judges- we were able to make this a community thing. I figured, "if something as simple as chocolate chip cookies can spread joy during Covid, why not?"

After baking

24 batches totaling,

1,202 cookies

using

12 recipes

from

6 different states,

and going through

32 pounds of flour,

26 pounds of sugar,

21 bags of chocolate chips, and

12 lbs of butter,

With...

29 different families judging...

We finally got our winner!

And, the winner of the 2021 Great Chocolate Chip Cookie Quest is

.....

.....

.....

Kelli's Chocolate Chip Cookies!

For the record, while this recipe did come from my cousin Dennis, it is identical to the one that we have been baking since before I was married. I did always think they were the best CCC, and now after all of this hard work, I can know that it is true.

A couple of friends sent me this article about baking the perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. Obviously, in the end it all comes down to preference. Do you like doughy? Chewy? Coconut? Whatever it is, if you can dream it, you can bake it!

This article takes a basic recipe (which is almost the exact recipe that WON our cookie quest-which goes to show that when it comes right down to it, most people in our competition prefer a basic chocolate chip cookie) and tells you how to dress it up to your taste.

In regards to our competition, if you like big, doughy Crumbl like cookies, LeVain Bakery cookies are for you. If you like traditional, Kelli's cookies. Browned butter coconut has a yummy coconut flavor, Mrs. Field's and Best Ever a more nutty flavor. For soft cookies, use the Pudding  or Soft CCC. For something fancy, Jacques or Alton Brown.

Have fun baking!

Here is our competition bracket:

https://docs.google.com/.../15bO0ZIhpf3pwx9j5oDaj.../edit...

And, here's the article for tips to make YOUR perfect recipe:

https://www.tasteofhome.com/.../perfect-chocolate.../...

KABLAMO and The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

 Audra and Claire have been reading The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe for their writing this year. They finished reading it so we decided to watch the movie.

Before that, the girls put together a "Choose Your Own Adventure" in Narnia. It was so cute, and they did such a great job with it.

You start by going through the wardrobe, and then you roll the dice to see where you go.

The first two times I won and made it out of Narnia, but the third time I was turned into stone.

Then, the big news of this past week was preparing for Snomageddon, or "KABLAMO" as my favorite weather person likes to call it.

It was predicted we would get anywhere from 2-5 feet of snow Friday night into Saturday.

We woke up Saturday morning to.....nothing. Dry as a bone. It was very disappointing. We make caramel sticky buns in anticipation that snow might eventually come, but I was beginning to doubt.

But then, we woke up this morning to over a foot of snow, and it has snowed all day long. Church was canceled- even the Zoom lessons, I'm not sure why. We were kind-of glad, though, because we reverted back to the same church sacrament we did all through quarantine before we started meeting in person again. 

It is supposed to snow all night tonight as well, so I think we will have close to 3 feet by the time this is all said and done. It came late, but it definitely came.

The girls went outside and played "Narnia." These girls are awesome! They are so creative and never have any trouble coming up with some kind of game to play with each other.

The snow easily goes up to Audra's knees. It really is quite the storm! I'm not sure when we will be able to leave our house again, we will have to wait until the plows come through. Thankfully, though, we were totally prepared and have no plans, so we are fine.

Also, we really don't need to worry about the power going out- thank goodness! The power lines are underground and everything is very well insulated- we know how to do winter here, and I'm very grateful for that.

Cookies!

 It was about a year ago that the world came crashing down.

Last March was so hard- it was bitter cold, we couldn't leave the house, everything was scary and everyone on edge. 

As we entered this winter, I knew I couldn't endure another depressing state like what we felt last March/April, and I was really worried.

So, for fun, I told the girls we would try to perfect the chocolate chip cookie.

I casually mentioned this on Facebook, and suddenly people from all across the country were sending me recipes- friends I haven't talked to in years. It was amazing that people cared so much about a silly cookie.

But, I also realized that for whatever reason it made people happy and brought people together for something fun.

I decided we would make it a contest. Some friends suggested making a cookie bracket. I'm not tech savvy, but Ben made it for us.

Here's the bracket, with recipes included:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15bO0ZIhpf3pwx9j5oDajqJluJQJW1t0NTX43XBRybpc/edit#gid=0

We started with 12 recipes. Each week, the girls and I make the recipes for the week. Then, we deliver cookies to multiple families along with a scoring sheet for judging. The families send us their results, we calculate the scores, and announce the winners.

This week was our second round of semi-finals. In two weeks we will have the finals.

It has turned out to be a nice distraction, and we have brought a lot of smiles to families in our area. It turns out, our own original recipe that we have been making for years may be the overall winner. Which would be hilarious. 

Either way, I'm glad we have been able to bring joy to others.

Here's some of our cookie creations. For the record, we are all a little sick of chocolate chip cookies:

Court Jesters

 Today the girls made some minstrel shoes. We did this several years ago when we were also studying The Middle Ages, but it was nice that this time they did all themselves.

Now the girls are tinkling all over the house. I have asked them if they wanted to put together a minstrel show, but so far they haven't decided on that yet.

A Perfect Day For Ben's Dream

Ben desperately wants us to be a biking family. For months he has been planning a specific trek for us- to start at Aspen Grove and bike to downtown Littleton to get donuts at his favorite donut shop- combining two of his favorite things into one.

Today, the weather was finally good enough for us to give it a go- and it was perfect! I am not a biker, but even I admit it was fantastic. 

We decided to add lunch into our plans and ate at one of our favorite pizza places. Since there was plenty of room on the patio, we sat and ate at the restaurant. It was the first time we have eaten as a family a restaurant in almost a year, and it was wonderful. As Ben said, "Today felt like normal." And it really did!