My Birthday

I had a really nice birthday. It was on a Sunday which is my only complaint. On Saturday the 11th Dan made a delicious steak dinner and I had some friends over and we played games. It was really fun and nice. 

My actual birthday was great but there was a little drama at the end. I went to church and them my brothers came so we could car pool to Loralie's house. Dan had me open the present he got me.

 

My very own mumu!!! He felt like I needed my own since I borrowed my moms last summer. 

 

At Loralie's we played badminton and visited before dinner. It was Scottys birthday as well and he requested pizza and so that's what we had.

 Right after we started to eat we found out that there was an emergency in Oroville. The dam is full this year because of all the snow and for the first time in 47 years the emergency spillway was being used. As the DWR people watched it they noticed a lot of erosion was happening really fast and they feared the emergency spillway would break. So lots of Oroville was evacuated because officials believed it would break within the hour. My mom was on the evacuation list. All of a sudden we were all glued to the TV and it made for a long night.

The emergency spillway did not end up breaking but lots of damage was caused and Oroville was on careful watch for two weeks. School was canceled as officials tried to put a band aid on the dam. Here are some before, after and during pictures.

Before. The lake is so full. Such a great sight after years of drought.

 

After they started releasing water over the normal spillway some damage was seen.

 

Unfortunately there was not time to repair the damage because the lake was filling up so fast. They were forced to let water come down the spillway.

 

The water created a new path, this is not good. Even though water was being let out they couldn't keep up with how fast the lake was filling. For the first time in the history of Oroville dam the auxiliary spillway was used.

 

 

It looks pretty until you see all the erosion it is causing.

 

It completely wiped out the road. The auxiliary spillway was used for a couple of days until the water got low enough to stop flowing over the top.

After the lake got below the auxiliary spillway level they were still forced to let a lot of water out on the actual spillway because more storms were coming.

 

So much water. It is so powerful!

 

It is easy to see why so much damage was caused. Here are some pictures of the spillway now that they were able to stop the water from flowing.

 

 

 

I stole these pictures offline but it is easy to see why people are scared. There are billions of dollars of repairs that will now need to happen. The other really sad thing is that because the Feather River was so full lots of flooding happened down stream. Lots of damage was caused all over the state.

I have never watched the news as much as I did the two weeks following my birthday. It really has been a crazy situation and I don't even live there anymore.

January

Utah didn't see a lot of snow in December but we made up for it in January. Holy cow we had a ton of snow. I loved it and it made for a warmer January.

 

Andrew and I went sledding one night. We had so much fun. It was actually on a really cold night so we didn't last too long. I also realized I am a scaredy cat in my old age!

 

I love when it snows because Moki LOVES the snow. We snowshoed a ton in January and have loved every minute of it.

 

Amber and I went up the Provo River Trail. It was actually disappointing because we didn't realize that they plow the trail for runners in the winter. So we just walked on the slippery trail for a few miles.

 

Than, Erica and I went up to Tibblefork early one Saturday morning. Really early for me on a Saturday.

 

It was a beautiful day.

 

We chose a really steep trail up so coming down was an adventure.

 

So fun.

 

The moon was still up when we started. It was a good time.

Amber and I hiked the Alpine Loop on Human Rights Day. There was so much snow up there.

 

We went a little late and so the sun was down the whole four miles back to the car. We were freezing!

 

The Share the Road sign was completely buried. It was a beautiful day.

 

Another snow storm came and went and Amber and I hiked the loop up by big springs. There was so much snow. It was amazing.

 

We broke trail most the hike. 

 

Good times.

Amber and I also did the Y one Saturday. There wasn't any new snow and we had less time so we stayed close to home.

 

There was a ton of snow on the Y.

 

My co worker Hannah and I did the big sprig loop one Wednesday after work but it was dark and so I didn't document the trip. I snowshoed every Saturday in January, which was awesome.

I have been working out in a class three times a week. It's similar to crossfit but different. It has been really good for me. Anthony joined me in November and we have a good time.  

 

After workouts sometimes I cool off with snow angels in the road.

 

The class kicks my butt every time but I keep going back for more. I have gotten a lot stronger which is awesome.

I watched Emerson and Andrew one Thursday night while their parents went to Mary Poppins at BYU. We had a good time.

 

And they destroyed my house!

 

We built a sweet rocket fort.

 

It was a fun night.

At school I am playing badminton with my ninth graders. It's the first time I have ever taught it and it is so fun. The girls love it and I have loved it. 

 

We can set up eight courts at one time and so we can get lots of people playing at one time.

I have been coaching basketball again. It has been fun to be back. Man coaching takes up so much time and energy!

We only won one game but these girls improved so much. I had a few girls that had never even played before. Seeing them improve is always the best.

After living in my house for eight years I finally hung pictures and curtains in my bedroom.  I also got some winter bedding to switch up the look. It's been a fun change!

 

January flew by. I am excited for a couple weeks off from after school commitments before track starts.

Christmas 2016

Christmas happened. It's amazing how life just continues to move forward even though you want it to just go back to how it used to be. One of the blessings with having a few children in our family is that Christmas must go on, even if it is just for them.

 Sam and Amanda have started the tradition with their family that they open all their presents on Christmas Eve. Since they were at my parents house we did their traditions. It was really fun to gather and open Christmas presents on Christmas Eve.

Christmas was hard for me. It was really hard in 2015 as well. I just didn't feel like celebrating. That was one of the hardest days for me personally while we were in California. I loved that it was on a Sunday. Oroville first and third ward had a lovely Christmas program and it was nice to spend a couple hours focused on the Savior on Christmas.

After church we made a yummy dinner. Ben and Katie and family came to Oroville. We spent the day hanging out and playing games. It was a really nice day.

Monday we went to my Aunt Virginia's in Redding for a couple of hours. We played games and visited with all of our extended family.

 Trying to pass time in the car.

 I feel so blessed to have these wonderful people in my life. We are missing a couple of people here but these people are just so fun to be around.

 The rest of the week we hung out at my parents. We played lots of games. Tried to entertain crazy kids. We spent a day doing yard work and just enjoyed being with family.

Hi Katelyn!

 Katelyn and Andrew in their Christmas PJ's.

 Aaron and Jacklyn got exploding kittens and imploding kittens for Christmas. That made for a lot of laughs one night.

The cone of shame!!!!

 Dan really focusing.

 Jacklyn did not love the cone of shame:)

 Braxton just loves Moki so much.

 Olivia said she needed some one on one time with me. She was so tired of all the boys. We made a Walmart run and I loved spending time with just her. I can't believe how grown up she is these days.

Working in the yard was so great. It always sounds terrible but once we all got out there we were able to get so much done to help make my moms life a little easier as she will now be responsible for all that property.

 The kids got in on the action as well.

 My dad would have loved to have been a part of a day doing yard work as a family. It's like his dream come true.

I took this little monster to the store with me one day. I can't remember why I got stuck with him, but I am sure his parents enjoyed the break. He was actually really great!!!

 Katie Lowry Call opened her parents house for all the Oroville crew to come hang out. I love seeing these people when I get the chance.

 It was a nice evening of visiting with friends.

This is my Dad's brother Pete. He stopped by the house one day. We had a really nice visit. He told me a story I had never heard about my dad.

 Pete is just 11 months younger than my dad. As soon as he was old enough he enlisted in the army and was sent to Vietnam. He flew and worked on Helicopters there. When his two years were up he considered coming home but then he heard my dad was going to enlist in the marines. He then chose to re-enlist and stay in Vietnam so my dad would never have to see the war zone. They are the only two boys in the family and since he was already in Vietnam he knew that would keep my dad safe. What a sacrifice? He said my dad was so mad at him. Mainly because he did it without ever talking to my dad. I know my dad would not have wanted him to make that sacrifice for him. As my fathers daughter I am grateful to Pete for this sacrifice. I know it was not easy to be there and I am thankful for his example of sacrifices we should make for our family members.

Coming home and going back to work was hard but it has been really nice to get back into a routine. I loved celebrating my Dad. I am grateful that I will always have so many wonderful memories of him. Christmas was hard but it was also great to reflect on how precious the gift of the atonement really is in each of our lives.