My Funny Valentine

I was at Fred Meyer today and bumped into a

Valentine display. I decided to look through them

and see if there was one that would be just right

for my "Valentine" this year. After quite a bit of

searching through the corny, the mushy, and the

totally disgusting, I found a really good one. All I

will have to do to make it just right is cross out

where it says "For My Wife" and put in

"For my Husband". That should be a simple fix.

Anyway, for some reason I thought about Pres.

and Sister Hinckley and what great "Valentines"

they were. I'm glad they're together again. I

doubt Alan and I will ever get this cute, but I

hope we'll always be "Valentines."

There Must Be 50 Ways to Leave Your Dentist

I've been going to the same dentist for over 25 years. He's looked down my throat. I've looked up his nose. I guess you could say we were close. And yet I think it's time to move on. I'm not sure how to tell him there is someone new. He's always been thorough, gentle, and a good one sided conversationalist. He seemed to know just what my gurgles, sputters, and guttural noises meant. But my nephew has started his own practice. I hear he's good and I want to support him. So, to my dentist of 25 years I'll just have to say... Thanks for the good times...the rubber dams... the goo in the throat for cap impressions... the root canals. But it's over and I want my x-rays back. Now if I can just get the courage to call him.

Batt Family Fun

Rebecca is home this weekend, so I'm learning to put pictures on the blog. Here are a few from the Batt Christmas Party. Better late than never, right?

Orange stick anybody?

Becca and Hannah with her sparkly pants from "The Package Man"

Stan and Ava

Logan (I think) showing off his punch face

Lydia, the little lady

How I Spent My Christmas Vacation

Christmas vacation whizzed by as usual. After Christmas our days usually went something like this: Got up late, did too little, snacked too much, play games, went to bed late so we could get up the next morning and do it all again. It was great while it lasted.

Favorite events during vacation were:

Geri and Jason's wedding, wedding dinner, and reception. The ceremony was nice, Geri and Jason were adorable, the food was tasty, and the reception was beautiful. The only thing that keeps me from giving the whole thing 5 stars was THE KISS. What was that? I think they call it a peck. I guess I was just expecting more from such a "head over heels" couple. Now that I think about it though, I'm probably glad I saw less than I expected rather than more than I wanted to see. Thanks guys. Let's hear it for the happy couple. Yay!

Rexburg Temple Open House:
It was beautiful, serene, tasteful, inspiring, and wonderful. I hope everybody goes and takes a friend. I did feel a little sorry for the youth that were putting booties over every one's shoes. It was cold in those tents and trying to put those booties on someone else was probably awkward enough let alone trying to do it in the cold. Hats off to the youth and all the volunteers up there.

Batt Family Party:
We all agreed it wasn't the same this year. We missed Nora and the pizza definitely wasn't Gary's, but at least we had a party. It was fun to see all the "out- of- staters" that were home for Christmas and see how much all the little kids had grown. I did get a few pictures, mostly of great grandkids that I will try to post. That might come later when Lee and Kim or Rebecca are around to help. Cassie, thanks for putting the slide show together. It is always fun to look at old pictures. Where did we get those glasses and those hairdos anyway?

Spaulding New Year's Party:
As always we had good food and fun. Turkey and dressing ala Fern and MaryLou, baked potaoes courtesy of Gary and Angie, spinach salad from Tanis, rolls by Ellen and Grace, and Aunt Naomi came through with the steamed pudding and sauce again. I don't really know who made all the other delicious stuff I ate, but thanks. Ted brought some old pictures that were fun to peruse. Uncle Bruce is making a copy of one of Grandpa and Grandma that everybody should try to get. They were quite young in the picture, but it reminds you of that famous picture , American Gothic. All they were missing was the pitchfork. They were so cute. It's no wonder we are all so good looking. Family members that were there filled us in on the missionaries that are out and other family members that weren't in attendance. Grandma and Grandpa would be happy that their family has so much love and concern for each other.

Favorite snacks this vacation were: "slush", mint M and M's, bean dip, and a few treats stolen from Geri and Jason's reception. Hey, I wasn't the only one that filled a cup with treats to take home. (At least I only took one cup, E. B. and T. F. )

Games played: Yahtzee, Catch Phrase, Mad Gab, ETC., Go Wacky and Moods. I'm taking Moods to D. I. It just wasn't our kind of game. Go Wacky was okay. We might give it another shot. They rest were fun even if we still haven't found anybody that can beat Russell at ETC.

The holidays were great and it's a little sad they are over. My friend, Sylvia, compared it to a box of chocolates. When you first open them the box is full and there are so many to choose from you think they'll last and last. But before you know it, you open the lid and find you are just riffling through all the empty brown papers. The chocolates are gone and so are the holidays. Oh well, we'll get a new box of chocolates next year. Happy New Year, everybody!