2019 is off to a great start! On New Years Day I took the two big kids ice skating! I haven't been ice skating for 17 years and I was a little rusty. I think I had to go around the rink 4 times near the wall before I was able to find my inner Elsa ice powers and skate more confidently. Rebecah didn't enjoy the skating because she was too afraid to leave the wall. One point I was holding her hand and we tried to go around someone and she panicked and pulled us both down! Kimball improved a lot during our 2 hours on the ice. I just hope it isn't 17 years before I go skating again! While we were skating, Joseph took the 3 little ones to McDonald's to play at the Play Place. We don't eat out very often so having Joseph order a box of chicken nuggets left a big impression on Edie. When we pass McDonald's now she lets me know I can buy chicken nuggets there.
The 7th was Rebecah's 9th birthday. Most kids love their birthday, but Rebecah REALLY loves her birthday. She has her menu for breakfast and dinner planned months in advance.
Rebecah was very good about including the little ones and she even let them open some of the smaller presents.
Rebecah didn't even know what was in the big box in the above picture,
but this just shows how she plays up the drama.
For her dessert, Rebecah requested "brownie bombe" It is a chocolaty bombe of deliciousness. It is layers of brownie, chocolate ice cream, fudge sauce, and chocolate whipped cream, and nuts. It's yummy and she was pleased with her dessert. It might become an annual treat for her.
I took Rebecah and a friend of her choice out to breakfast one Saturday. I was a little disappointed that of all the places I suggested Rebecah picked Dunkin Donuts, but she loved her breakfast.
The 17th was the 20th anniversary of my dad's death. A few years ago Joseph started buying me flowers to honor this day. It's sweet of him and it's the only time I get flowers. (I'm not the type of woman who needs flowers regularly to feel loved, but once a year it's fun.) I also made my dad's favorite dessert...clem's cake.
I discovered this month that I have Raynaud's syndrome. I always have cold hands in the wintertime and when my fingers would tingle or hurt mildly, I figured it was nerve compression, since I have nerve problems anyway. One night I actually looked at my fingers and this is what I discovered. I have probably had 5 flare ups this month. It's such a recent discovery that I'm still learning what triggers an episode. Raynaud's is when the blood vessels are constricted, usually in the hands, and the fingers turn white or blue and once the circulation returns the fingers turn a bright red and may hurt from an increase in blood flow. This typically happens during cold weather, frequently when driving. Stress can also trigger a flare up. It affects women more than men, but I discovered that my Grandpa Z, my two uncles, my mom and one of my sisters has it so there must be a genetic trait somewhere for it.
With the changes to age groups for youth in our Church, Kimball was able to be ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood to the office of Deacon. He can now help pass the sacrament in addition to a few other duties. He is excited about this new phase of his church experience.
We had a big snow storm come through the third weekend in January and we had about 12 inches of snow fall. Church was canceled and over the last few weeks Joseph and the kids have built this snow fort/cave with the snow from the driveway. There are two doors and they roasted hot dogs in it. These two pictures show the two different entrances.
Minnesota Trip to Celebrate Grandpa Zimmerman
Grandpa Zimmerman died on January 3rd. As sad as I was at Grandpa's death he lived an amazing life and positively influenced many people. I was so glad I could make the trip to Rochester to spend time with family as we remembered, honored and celebrated Grandpa.
Miriam and I both had a layover in the Chicago airport and even though the
airport is HUGE we were able to meet up for a few minutes.
My cousin Matt made a beautiful box to hold the flag that my grandma received for Grandpa's military service.
Mom at the Cemetery.
It was cold in Rochester, with temps below zero in the mornings when we were there. I can honestly say that I wasn't freezing when we were outside here. The sun was shining and I didn't even feel the need to bundle like I expected. (I was far colder waiting for Joseph to pick me up from the airport when I arrived back home than I was at any point on my trip. It was "hurt your face" cold when I got back to Syracuse. I'm know Minnesota has really cold days and I was just glad the Polar Vortex was the week after the memorial service.)
My wonderful extended family! I really love them!!!
Miriam, Kristin and I were able to share a hotel room and have a great time together. Laura came just for the Memorial service, but we forgot to snap a picture with her. I wish all of my sisters could have been there.
Friday evening there was a visitation with various pictures displayed representing Grandpa's life.
These are all of the Zimmerman grandchildren that came for the weekend. We were missing 1 Arizona cousin and then 4 of my sisters. I feel so comfortable with my cousins even though I don't see them very often.
Sweet Grandpa made this little decoration and it hangs outside Grandma's apartment! The little owl is made from a stone.
There was the Cemetery Service and an evening visitation Friday evening. On Saturday we had the Memorial Service. It was wonderful. I loved hearing about Grandpa's life and it made me want to be more like him. When my kids are all in school I hope to be able to start volunteering at the schools or in the community more. I want to be remembered the way we and the Rochester community will remember Grandpa. Grandma and Grandpa have both volunteered for years in their community. What wonderful examples to me.
Grandma Z and me.
Mom, Grandma and me.
Adding in the sisters...
More couch pictures!!
Here is the entire family minus Laura at the church after the luncheon.
I had a wonderful trip. We had multiple family dinners and we sat around and talked shared memories and made new memories. I learned about brown fat and walked hundreds of stairs with Kristin. My grandma lives on the 9th floor of her building and two days in a row Kristin and I walked from the 9th floor to the 22nd floor to the group meeting rooms. We were rather winded when we reached the 22nd floor! A highlight of the trip was the final gift from Grandpa. He worked with a writing friend of his to write one last book for the family with words of wisdom from his life. It was a surprise to everyone including Grandma! It is a book that I will treasure in addition to the other short books he has sent over the years. I'm glad I have some of his stories in writing so I can share them with my children and grandchildren.
We all left to return home on Sunday. I was supposed to arrive in Syracuse shortly before noon. We got a text in the middle of the night saying that the flight Kristin and I were taking to Chicago had been delayed until noon. We used that extra time to visit with Grandma. When we got to the airport we learned we were delayed further and ultimately our flight out of Rochester was canceled and all flights out of Rochester were canceled or full. Not pleasant news! Anyway, the airline put Kristin and me on a shuttle to Minneapolis so we could fly out of the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport. My flight was the first to leave at 3:25. Our shuttle picked us up about 2:00 and we were 15 minutes down the road when the shuttle driver had to turn around for more passengers. I was starting to sweat wondering if I would make my 3:25 flight and if I missed it if there would be other flights home that day. On the way to Minneapolis I received notification that my 3:25 flight had been delayed 37 minutes. Those 37 minutes were a tender mercy from the Lord and an answer to prayer. I got through security and to my gate with just enough time to use the bathroom and tell Kristin good-bye. It was probably my worst experience flying, but the silver lining was that I was delayed with my sister and it enabled us to spend more time together. It had been 8 years since we had seen each other. I finally made it home about 11:00 Sunday night without further delays.
The kids and Joseph really missed me while I was gone and they
were so happy to see me Monday morning!!
