Sunday, March 4th, we got about a foot of snow. Most in our residential area could not get out to go to church, because driveways were filled in and entrances were blocked with piles of snow that were left by the city when clearing the roads. Sam went to a 7:00 a.m. meeting, but the men were excused half an hour later to return home and help with snow removal from driveways.
Using his tractor, Sam moved snow from sidewalks and driveways and got home just barely in time to leave for church at 11:00. Instead of our three-hour block of meetings, only sacrament meeting was held so families could return home to help with more snow removal.
Sunday Morning, March 4
A view in our backyard
Our front yard after Sam started clearing part of the driveway.
Sam leaving on the tractor
to clear snow from driveways in our neighborhood.
The snow and lower temperatures were welcomed,
both for the needed moisture
and also to slow down the fruit
trees from blooming too early.
By Monday,
March 12th, there were only a few small patches of snow left from where
the snow had been moved from driveways; and the temperature in the afternoon at
4:00 was 60 degrees. It felt like spring had arrived.
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BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS
March 10 (Saturday)
A family party celebrating my 80th birthday
on March 10th.
Beth had made a favorite oatmeal cake.
This was a bonus party,
since the big celebration was held at Christmas time
when family had planned the 80th celebration for Sam and me.
Ryan and Tani, Kyle, Brady and Kortney, and Todd and Beth's family
were here to celebrate with me and sing Happy Birthday.
The flowers are from Ryan and Tani
(I should have taken the photo before the big sunflower got droopy);
and the bunny plaque is from Beth and Todd
(who also gave me a book, E Is for Easter).
Celebrating on March 11
with a Family Dinner
featuring delicious homemade soups,
(chili, chicken noodle soup, and cream of potato soup)
Having my picture with Doug and Brynlee,
who also have birthdays in March.
Tyler also has a March birthday,
but he was in the sport court and missed the birthday photo op.
Tyler, Isaac, Joshua, Jacob, Ethan, and Trevor
Other family members with March birthdays who were not here:
Zack, Jeff, Maria, and Kristine.
Love and Happy Birthday to all those with March birthdays!
With my best friend.
Flowers from my sweetheart Sam
Rebecca, Gramma, Brynlee, and Anna
Haley, Sarah, Paul, Sadie, Megan, Corban, and Mason
Haley, Maggie, and Sadie
Jacob, Isaac, and Ethan
Todd, Beth, Shannon, and Corban
Megan and Sadie
Paul
Kortney and Brady added their lock to our marriage tree.
It has their name and date they were married: January 5, 2017.
This is a gift from Shannon and Doug's family,
and it is a nice addition to the half bath by the kitchen.
I appreciate all the cards and gifts I received.
We continue to enjoy the large framed wall map
with the pins marking where we have traveled
that was given to us in December
and is displayed in our study.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Celebrating with Friends
Some deer we saw on our drive in the canyon with Hal and Christie Smith
who celebrated my birthday with Sam and me on March 9th.
In addition to the canyon drive, we went to a movie, A Wrinkle in Time;
and they treated Sam and me to a nice meal at the Art City Trolley.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Passover Seder
with Empty Nesters
The tables are ready for this special event
held in our home on Monday, March 12.
Lori Cable, a friend of our daughter Beth,
had previously given a presentation to our Empty Nesters
about several Jewish holidays;
and we were pleased she returned for a Seder Service
celebrating the Jewish festival of Passover.
At each place setting was a Haggadah,
a Jewish text that set forth the order of the Passover Seder
and the responses for participants.
Those who came to enjoy Lori's Passover Seder with Sam and me:
Cheryl Anderson, Ross and Janene Baadsgaard,
Eugene and Sandra Cook, Lee Ellertson, Neil Larson, Guy and Leslie Probert,
Hal and Christy Smith, Jim and Trudy Sumsion, and Lori's daughter.
The Passover Seder is a ceremonial meal that marks the beginning of the observance of the Jewish spring holiday that includes a retelling of the story of the Jewish people's liberation from slavery in ancient Egypt. Those who celebrate use a Haggadah to lead them through the ceremonies of the Seder, which include singing, reading, drinking ceremonial wine (ours was grape juice), and discussing the symbolism of the foods arranged on a Seder plate.
Cheryl presenting Lori with flowers and card
expressing our appreciation for her presentation.
The ceremonial meal we had included:
A roasted shankbone, which was used only as a visual.
Three Matzahs, a special type of unleavened bread, which serves as a reminder of the hurry with which the Jews fled and thus did not have time to wait for any dough to rise.
Bitter herbs, with their bitterness symbolizes the bitterness of the enslavement in Egypt.
An egg, a symbol of the Festival of Sacrifice offered up in the Jerusalem Temple.
Maror, bitter herbs, a reminder of the bitterness of the Egyptian slavery.
Charoset, a traditional mixture of fruit, nuts, and other sweet ingredients and spices, which represent the mud bricks or mortar the Israelite slaves used in the building work in Egypt. (This was made by Cheryl using a traditional recipe and was very tasty.)
Lettuce (or another green herb) dipped into a dish of salt water before being eaten, which is symbolic of the coming of spring and the perpetual renewal of life.
Grape juice, the drinking of it by each participant at four points in the Seder Service symbolizes the fourfold promise of redemption found in Exodus 6:6-7: I will bring you (to me) . . . I will deliver you (from bondage, sin) . . . I will redeem you (atonement of Jesus Christ) . . . I will take you (adoption into Abrahamic Covenant)
Matzo ball soup (chosen for our group)
Afikomen (one of the three matzahs broken in half, wrapped in a napkin, and passed secretly from person to person until time to be revealed by the last person holding it (Janene Baadsgaard). The oldest patriarch present (Lee Ellertson) redeems it with an agreed upon gift (Lee accepted Janene's invitation to Family Home Evening). The remaining Afikomen was distributed to everyone else and eaten as the dessert.
Macaroon cookies (chocolate and plain)
Cup of Elijah, a place set at the table with a special goblet filled during the Seder. At a point in the service, the front door was opened to invite Elijah to enter.
Matzah, unleavened bread
Our granddaughter, Jenna (front row, 2nd from the right),
