MARCH 2022

March slipped right by so full of activities.

We braved the cold as much as we could to get outside walking different places.  This is by the s shore of Utah Lake.

We finally got to take some FYA to do baptisms at the Payson Temple and that was a really special activity.

Carole fell and broke her right arm, which really made life difficult all month long!  We were able to find her this power chair that she could operate using a hand controller with her left hand.  That is where she slept for several weeks.

I do not usually have photos of me with my students, but while I was helping both my AM and PM classes make their COW in school, a Mom took some pics for me.

Creating a cow is an annual delight.

We have really enjoyed seeing Bald Eagles all over this winter.

We went on an outing in Provo Canyon specifically looking for this bird, the American Dipper, which we found a lot of.  It is really fun to watch diving into the water in search of food.

And our backyard birds are also colorful and fun to watch.  We have a lot of Lesser Goldfinches in our crabapple trees.

We have had tons of Red-tailed Hawks in our area as well and got this great shot of one landing.

Some birds are considered "Rare" at certain times of the year or in certain geographic locations.  This Blue-winged Teal was considered rare for this time of year out by the airport dike.

We got to help celebrate Dad's 94th Birthday this year thanks to a party hosted by Carolyn at their home.  We had cake and pie and time to share some characteristics of Dad that we all love and appreciate!

Here he is with his birthday cake compliments of weekly BINGO.

And wearing his new birthday cap honoring a favorite TV show called "Gunsmoke."

And some more of our favorite birthday celebrators.

Scott and I hiked Rock Canyon this month...thankfully we brought our ice crampons for our shoes, it was icy and slushy most of the way up.

We spotted the Canyon Wren we had been trying to see several times before.

And using the recorded songs of birds on a phone app, I was able to catch the interest of this Ruby-crowned Kinglet and get it to actually raise up the ruby crown which you usually do not see at all.

We always love a bright blue Woodhouse Scrub Jay too!

Scott left for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil towards the end of the month.  He was covering the Temple Dedication there.

He got to see a very busy city of the world.

And some very busy beaches of the world.

Of course, he got out bird-watching as much as he could.

This is a Brown Booby.

This is a "Masked Water Tyrant"

This is a Cattle Tyrant...so many tyrants there!

Here is the Magnificent Frigatebird.

This is a Gray-cowled Wood Rail, not nearly as dull as our Virginia Rails here in the US.

A Southern Lapwing.

Red-necked Tanager was amazingly colorful!

And this crazy one is a Squirrel Cuckoo with a extra, long tail!

Meanwhile, I was back home taking care of business like signing with Bree and Elliot on their NEW HOME!!!

It was so exciting!

We immediately got to work cleaning and getting ready for them to move in...and made a long list of little things to do to make it their very own space!

We are so happy for them!

Later that week, I headed down to St George for my Power Board meetings and then Scott flew down and we met up with his brothers Aaron and Mitch to do some birding.

I got this shot of a delightful Greater Roadrunner with our old, smaller lens camera...a miracle!

It looks like he is smiling!

And this Rock Wren.

And when Scott joined us, he shot this great one of a Long-billed Curlew that was randomly at the Sand Hollow Reservoir in the area.

On our way to Lytle Ranch the next day, we saw the traditional Loggerhead Shrike.

The Black-chinned Hummingbird

And a really nice shot of the Ash-throated Flycatcher.

BYU owns this Preserve way out by the border of Nevada and it has some unique wildlife that we just have to go see once a year.
 

FEBRUARY 2022

February we started out by going to New Jersey to babysit for Jenna and Ty's kids while they went to Hawaii.

This meant we took over as support for a million basketball games and practices while we were there over a week.

Saturday morning was chore Plinko.  Klay got vacuuming...notice his tissue for one of his many bloody noses.

Cassidy got fingermarks and chairs... 

Bennett got the bathroom...

and Carter made his bed and did the other bathroom.

Whew...jobs done!

Grandpa's job was to be silly with the kids!

The boys are both on a city team and a travel team.  This is Bennett's city game.

This is Carter on his city team.

I had lots of help cooking.  Cassidy was mostly excited about licking the beaters!

Got the kids valentines at Target and had them write all the names on them.

A little food art inspired by Saxton Freymann's books.  A dolphin and an octopus!

All the kids were helping us look for birds.  The Red-breasted Woodpecker is a NJ native and we could see it right near the Jensen yard.

The Black Vultures were everywhere!

White-breasted Nuthatches.

Northern Cardinals.

White-throated Sparrows.

At Big Brook Park on a long walk.

Out at Sandy Hook by the beach.

Bennett wanted to do some goals for his Achievement Days so we made some homemade macaroni and cheese that was delicious!!

Silly Cassidy with gloves on her feet!

Family photo at one of Bennett's basketball games.

We had a great time...and came home exhausted from trying to keep up with the busy lives that Jenna and Ty have!

When we got home, we found this packet of pictures drawn by Brooklyn, Evan and Mackenzie!  Now they are framed on our wall!

Such great artists!

Heard a pretty bird song one morning and looked out to see our Say's Phoebe sitting on the plant hook out front...very early in the season to return!

Aaron took us birding up to Alta for the Great Backyard Bird Count.

We saw lots of cool Clark's Nutcrackers...

Some pretty great birders...

Our birding team.

And the bird we went to find, the Black-crowned Rosy Finch.  So pretty!

At Big Cottonwood Park we did not see tons of birds, but we did see tons of Red Foxes!  They were running all over the place!

Dinosaur days at preschool!  Making plaster prints of our "claws"

And we have seen tons of Bald Eagles this month at many of the places we go out to walk!

We saw 11 in one outing at Skipper Bay and often see them near the dike.

I liked how close you can see the white eyes of this eagle.

Great month for family and if I had pictures, it was also filled with MORE HOUSE HUNTING with Bree and Elliot!  And, it was also the month they were finally accepted on an offer to buy a house!

We live in very crazy times financially, but feel so blessed to have a great family, good health, the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives and a place to live that we love.