Fun Dalton photos: Lydia's Seussical Musical and some yummy looking Valentine Food.
Fynlee happy to serve you!
We appreciated hosting Joseph, Eliza and children, plus James, Sage and McKay for the weekend of President's Day. When they all arrived we had very little snow. Our lawn was mostly clear in the back as you can observe in the video later by the hot tub, the grass is bare. They all were able to enjoy skiing in Cokeville on that sunny Monday, where there was enough snow. Eliza, her three youngest and I stayed home.
The next day, after the Rexburg people left, we got a few inches of snow. That morning, the adults went to the temple for a sealing session while Hyrum managed everything. When we returned home, everyone was in the yard playing in the new snow. Later that afternoon they went sledding in Grover Park. I stayed home with Wesley, who woke up soon after they left. But he was good as gold.
The next morning Hyrum went with his dad and grandpa to do baptisms at the temple. They brought home donuts for everyone.
There was plenty of indoor play happening, reading and creating. Emmaline designed an ingenious interactive book.
Mazer liked floating his paper boat.
One night we made individual homemade pizzas. And of course we had ice cream cones. Hyrum helped me make homemade cookie dough ice cream. We learned some tips for future improvement.
More snow fell on Wednesday also enabling another sledding time in Grover Park. I did watch Wesley again, and again, he was so good. He did get some outdoor time here in the yard and seemed to enjoy the snow. (See the video for his taste testing!)
A video of their Winter Break. So fun!
Myron and Mark were baptized together February 22. Such sweet boys!
I was impressed with the specific counsel given to each boy in their confirmation blessings. Mark was blessed to remember what his mother has taught about getting fresh starts after mistakes. Myron was blessed to continue to be happy, to play and learn and keep doing what he's been doing.
The last bit of January 2026 we traveled to Utah again to watch Ethan at the district wrestling tournament. The tournament was in Riverton Friday and Saturday, January 30th and 31st.
We arrived Thursday evening in time to have a tour of Olson's greenhouse in Salem. Esther showed us around and explained several things. It's a huge operation just there. Then when you think about all the other locations, it's pretty massive.
Esther suggested a place for dinner called Crust Club. We each had an individual chicken pot pie pocket we took to go and ate at her home. She gave us the grand tour of the townhouse. The living room was recently cutely decorated by Chrystal. It inspired me to think about ways I can better decorate our home. We were highly impressed with the closet Esther organized with new drawers and shelves. It's skillfully made.
We did use the time to visit some other family as well. Friday morning before the tournament started, we went to see EksAyn and Patty. They served us some lunch. We had a very nice visit. EksAyn moves slowly. His health is declining somewhat. However, he was so cheerful and positive about so many blessings.
It was quite the contrast to our visit with Kathy. She has had some health setbacks and feels quite hopeless. She cried a lot during our visit. I think that's a regular occurrence for her. She may need some help for depression, but she's not very willing to hear opinions she doesn't like. We took her a hamburger and visited for about an hour or so.
At Fast and Testimony meeting at church that Sunday Nicolina, Cora, and Mary all bore their testimonies. Nicolina talked about fathers. She said Scott's good influence helped Ethan with his wrestling season. She compared Scott's high fives and hugs to how our Heavenly Father feels about us. He always has a high five or a hug depending on our need.
I attended Primary and enjoyed watching Scott Tanner as primary chorister. He has amazing energy! All the kids are excited to learn from him.
Nicolina served a yummy dinner of lamb roast. Their new every Sunday dinner tradition is chocolate Bundt cake. Esther and Becca came for dinner too.
Sunday afternoon we visited my brother Scott. Gayle was napping, so we didn't see her. Her health is very delicate. We brought Scott two pint jars of chili sauce. He says that takes him instantly home to taste, or smell that chili sauce. He was planning to cook some steak later that day and was looking forward to tasting it then.
That evening I accompanied Nicolina to her book group at her next door neighbor's home. It's a group focused on improving marriage by studying the book The Empowered Wife. About eight ladies were there. There was some good comments and I learned too.
The tournament for Ethan did not have as high of results as we hoped. He did not place but the next week at JV State he did amazing! (More on that when I get to February 2026). I did ask him as we were walking in the parking lot between matches to get some snacks from the car what he likes about wrestling. He talked about mental toughness, visualizing goals, not giving up. I said those will be good skills for your mission. He said they are good skills for life. He's also learned how much he can push his body and how important it is not to be a couch potato.
Unfortunately I did not get photos of our extra family visits. I need to be more aware. I did snap a few of some Tanner kids. I also include here Ethan's match that I recorded on my phone. The other matches were on Nicolina's phone.
This is the match I recorded. I'm not sure I have it completely in sequence. but enjoy!
A few other January activities.
Glen et al, went hunting January 1st. A photo of their results.
Joseph worked on a swing set in his yard. He said this, "Chopped a tree down onto our swing set. I was aiming that direction. Started the rebuild yesterday."
Sage's Birthday Jan 29th
James said "She's the CEO of the business she's running for IBC for BYU Idaho. It's a 9 credit class that business majors take. She's been super busy so she's working out the knots and we got buffalo wild wings for dinner.
Our 2026 started off quietly. We went to bed early New Year's Eve. We were invited to Lance and Janadene Skinner's house to play games, but since we both felt a little under the weather and also our temple shift was the 2nd, we decided to just start off the new year well rested.
It was a different Christmas break without very much snow. No snow at all on Christmas. Snow fell the next day and even more the next. In the first couple of weeks temperatures ranged from melting to below zero. Our yard stayed covered with at least 6 ins or so.
January 10th we traveled to Idaho Falls. We did a little shopping with real stores! After we made our way to Rexburg for dinner with James and Sage, Chrystal, McKay, Cody, and Kira. We were surprised a little bit when John and his three oldest children showed up. I think James knew they were coming but we didn't so it was a great surprise. We brought lasagna and some cookies. James and Sage served garlic bread and salad.
Several of us tried the green golf putting strip that Sage got for James's Christmas gift. The BYU basketball game also played in the background.
Kira slipped out to do some studying. She had spent the day snowboarding with friends. Cody and McKay left to work out, so glad they could have some brother bonding time. Chrystal, John and kiddos and we, all went to Colin and Jean's to spend the night. Grandma was there too so it was nice to visit with her.
The next morning Jean fed us a yummy breakfast and we all got ready to go to church in Rigby for McKay's meeting. When we walked in it was such a treat to see Nicolina and six of her seven children there. Kira came again. Sven and Bobbi and David and Lynda with Maggie were also there. Plus some Sugar City friends who love McKay, Cody and Chrystal. Another treat to see Rob Robinson whose ward also meets in that same building.
James had gotten up early Sunday morning to put a roast in the Crock-Pot. He and Sage had dinner ready for everyone who could come. It was a very yummy roast! Dad and I felt very grateful for the opportunity of being around family. It gave us such a boost!
January is also a month full of wrestling. We feel blessed with the technology to watch Ethan and Zayne. Some videos of some favorite matches.
ETHAN
ZAYNE
We feel inspired by the toughness and resilience of these young men. Wrestling is a tough sport. Both of these grandsons work hard and persevere. We're very proud of them.
A new year brought a new job for Esther. These are her words from the Better Together chat on WhatsApp. "So some news from me. I started a new job this week! End of an era for Ultradent. I stocked up on toothpaste and said by to my people there. Monday I started as a safety coordinator at Olson's greenhouse gardens! They supply the plants for Home Depot, Walmart and somc Costcos here in the west. This week was a lot of getting familiar with people and systems. I am the first and currently the sole safety professional here so there's a lot of work to do. I'll cover all 4 sites in Ut, Co, Az, and ID so there's some travel involved."
First Day on the new job!
She traveled on the company plane to AZ to observe the company site there.
Again we feel inspired by amazing children/grandchildren with Esther's courage and her intelligence as she goes forward in this new path.
We traveled to Garland, Jan 23 after our temple shift. We spent the night at John's and Heather's. They were gracious enough to give us their bed. The next morning, we hoped to give John and Heather some "date" time while Jane was napping. They went to a gym to work out and planned on a local restaurant for breakfast after. When the arrived at the restaurant they were told there was no more sausage or bacon, and hey! isn't that what breakfast is for? So they just came back home.
We had fun playing with the children. I especially enjoyed some games with Samantha. She seemed to warm up to me better than ever. We played Don't Break the Ice, Old Maid, and Go Fish.
Later that morning we got ready for McKaylee's and Joe's wedding in Brigham City. It was a beautiful time. So much family came. Nine of Grandma's twelve children and spouses were there. Cute boys of Brennin and Janessa were the ring security. I'll have to let the photos tell the stories because I'm running out of steam right now.
All the Erickson side that were there in this last photo.
