February Fun

The hustle and bustle of the traditional, end-of-year holidays have passed, but that doesn't mean we stop celebrating life! 90% of the time life is the same-old-thing week in and week out. The boys have school, Jeff goes to work, I baby-sit the grandkids, we both manage the daily schedules, household responsibilities, and church callings, etc., but when there's an opportunity to celebrate something or gather family around, we embrace it. This past weekend was just such a weekend. Danny attended his penultimate high school dance. I can't believe we're at this stage! Since the fall, we have been silently recognizing that in a year from now, life will be drastically different for him. That can be both exhilarating and terrifying. He has recently completed his mission papers, which will be submitted later this week. In a few weeks, he will receive a call to serve the Lord at some unknown location and some unknown date. But, for now, we'll live in the present and enjoy these last childhood/teenage milestones. For this dance, he chose to have a smaller group - just him and his date, Riley, and his buddy, Luke, with his date, Adri. For their "day" date, they went to Deseret Industries last night and picked out outfits for each other then went bowling and grabbed some ice cream. Tonight, after pictures, they headed to dinner at Strap Tank then to the dance. After the dance, they came back to our house for games and snacks. 

Sunday, February 12, was Super Bowl LVII. We don't follow any particular team. Heck, we don't really start paying attention to any of the games until the playoffs. I actually really enjoy watching football, but I can't say I'm an expert or a die-hard fan. I simply enjoy it...but for Super Bowl, we celebrate! As in year's passed, I construct a menu around the iconic foods of the city or states the teams are representing. This year, the Kansas City Chiefs played the Philadelphia Eagles. For KC, I did BBQ shredded beef with Mac and cheese. In homage to Philadelphia, we had Philly cheesesteak sliders with UTZ chips (a brand of chips from Pennsylvania). For dessert, we had a soda float bar (the soda float was invented in Philadelphia) and ice cream cones (the official state dessert of Missouri). Even though I love the food, the best part was having a house full of family and friends. Yes...it takes a lot of time to plan and prepare a gathering of 20+ people. Yes...sometimes it's stressful and mildly frustrating when all that work seems to go unnoticed. And yes...it's still worth it every time. (Oh...and in case you're wondering...the Chiefs won 38-35. It was a great game!)

This cute boy lost that tooth right before the game. He's growing up too fast!