Valentine's and Other Good Stuff

February's been full of all kinds of things at our house. 

Valentine's Day brought our annual (note, once a year) family candlelight dinner.

Everyone behaved amazingly well, Olivia ate more than I think she
ever has in her life, and no one spilled their red juice on the white tablecloth!
See this rose? That was my Valentine's gift from Alex, who made it in his welding class. 

Pretty sweet!

We have discovered that this boy LOVES piano - who knew?
I started giving him lessons a few weeks ago and he can't stop playing. 

 He and I are both super proud of him.

Leah's team is officially undefeated for their season.  Great job girls!

Leah had a great final game with 11 points, (one 3-pointer) and uncounted steals and a great stuff!

We are still buried in the snow which will not be melting anytime soon with these sub-zero temps, so we made the best of it and created these indoor snowmen in homeschool.

My Dad

 Some of my kids never got to know my Dad, as he passed away in 2010, but I hope I can still help them learn who their Grandpa Israelsen was, and what he meant to me.

 

One of my greatest memories is of my Dad's hands.  He had the most masculine, hard-working hands with huge fingers, that were stronger than anyone else's, in my eyes, yet so tender they could give the best bear hugs!

 

 My Dad was the most tough, yet gentle, kind, sweet cowboy you ever met!

 

 

I thought it was only appropriate when we were visiting Grandma Israelsen this past fall that we take some Grandpa Israelsen cowboy hat photos with the kids.

  They wear them well, truly their Grandpa's posterity. And no, these are not all the hats he owned!

 

My Dad was a naval officer in World War II.  He married my Mom in 1944.

 

This is them along the way,

 

and this is them 65 years later....
 



 And this is the result of their marriage... yep, that's an even dozen, and I'm happy to be the youngest.

You probably didn't even realize that's my cute Mom there in the middle.

 

 

Because of my Dad's love for his country, it was only fitting that he had a hearse like this,

 

 

a patriotic funeral complete with a 21 gun salute,

 

and the release of hundreds of red, white and blue balloons by all of his posterity.

 

 

Grandma insisted that everyone be given a flag to remember him by.

You can imagine that was a lot of flags!

 

One of my Dad's favorite things was getting visits from his children and grandchildren. 

 

Visiting Grandpa was the best! 

We will never forget the traditional birthday spats, with one to grow on.

 

Ria ria runka was his version of the Norwegian nursery rhyme. 

The kids never tired of bouncing on his knee as he sang it to them.

And of course, the kids were always 'full of frog hair,' according to Grandpa. He used to pull it out of their ears at every opportunity. 

Oh, and don't forget how he could pull quarters from behind the grandkid's ears.

Grandpa also loved to let the little ones feel his whiskers, which always resulted in uncontrolled laughter.

 

Dad always had a twinkle in his eye - he loved jokes, both to tell and to play on people, a characteristic he passed on to many of his posterity. 

 He was always surrounded by kids, who were usually entranced by his stories, or laughing at his jokes. 

 

What a great man my Dad was. 
He left an amazing legacy, a very large posterity, and cherished memories for all of us to remember.

I'm so grateful that my parents were sealed in the Logan LDS temple, giving us the assurance that we can all be together again as a family after this life. 

Can't wait to see you again Dad!

 

Love the Best

We had a really neat talk in church recently, and the part that stuck with me was this:

Love the best about the people you work with,

Love the best about the people at church,

Love the best about your friends,

Love the best about your family.

 

This is the best!  Love these two!

 

Another best...ever!

 

 And although I don't always remember, I am trying to put this into practice in my life. 

Love the best! 

How can you have a negative attitude or thought about someone if you are looking for the best in them!  I believe this is how our Savior would want us to view those around us, and I hope that someday I will only be able to see the best, without having to try.
 

Now to try to love the best about my phone pictures...