So, is it winter or summer?

As temperatures skyrocketed to a high of 50 this week I began to wonder what winter thought it was doing and why it decided to play a game of cat and mouse with summer. Every day is a unique surprise here in Rexburg. One day you better have earmuffs or you will be hurting by the time you get where you're going, the next you shed all the extra layers and curse the ones you can't politely get off in public. However, what do I have to complain about, I can still drive without the cold fear gripping my stomach as I come over the hill and hope I can stop in time for my turn. Plus I don't have any cute winter clothes :)

Jason was home all week with Alisa this week and I pretty much wasn't. Between tests and projects and everything else I haven't been able to be home half of my normal time. I guess it was a real blessing that he got laid off because I don't know what I would have done without him here. Alisabeth on the other hand is angry when I leave and takes a while to be comforted by dad.
Here is one of his newest tactics for combatting the tears. She was really tired here, but it shows her sweet nature really well. He has also gone out in the mudfields a lot with Alisabeth and watched her enjoy the quiet and nature. He said she just sits and watchs that world.
She has also begun to really enjoy books. Whenever we go for a carride we hand her her baby einstein colors and shapes book and she'll spend the whole trip flipping through the pages and looking at the pictures. She has also gotten to the point where she understands us, and it able to communicate finally. I've been trying to teach her hungry since she was born and she just recently started pointing to her mouth when she wants to eat or drink. She also mimics the sing-song "All done" or "Thank you" that we use with her all the time. It's amazing to watch her growth.

We also had a neat experience this week. As we were in the kitchen preparing dinner or something then all of a sudden our kitchen lit up with this pure orange light. It was so neat. We ran outside almost too late and snapped a few shots, but they don't do justice to the sunset.
You can't really tell from these photos, but the day was beyond overcast. It was dark all day and then just at sunset the sun broke through as you can see here and just lit up everything in it's path. Against the DARK blue/grey sky it was quite a sight. Everything was clear and crisp. I thought it was breathtakingly beautiful.

Jason has been spending a lot of his time on a new hobby/project which I can't mention here because of some Christmas presents that might result, but which is beyond cool. For those of you that know what he's been up to you'll be interested to know that he's completed his first piece and has almost completed his second. He's even invented a few modifications which have helped him go faster and more accurate. I'm pretty proud of him, even if it is just a hobby he's really enjoying it and he's working hard on it to learn and do well with the skill.

On a completely seperate note I just got back from a Relay for Life University training down in Pocatello. I am going to be the Data committee chairperson (and was originally supposed to be the accounting chairperson). We got there thinking accounting only to realize about 3/4 of the way through that the person above us in the chain of command didn't exist, and the other branch that we are supposed to work with doesn't exist either. Thus the three of us diversified and each took on another position. :) I got the data entry position because of my level of excel skills. The spreadsheet they use to keep track of their info is pretty intense ranging about twelve pages with lots of built in macros. It's crazy complicated.
For those of you that don't know what the Relay for Life is, it is the American Cancer Society's major fundraising event. Companies who want to participate (and individuals or families or groups) sign up and get sponsered and then do a 24 hour walk in rememberance of those who have died from cancer and to raise money for cancer research and development. Rexburg hit an alltime high last year of 20,000 gross income so we're looking forward to trying to meet or beat that number this year.
I am really excited. This is the 25th anniversary of the Relay for Life and so it's a pretty big year for them. They have invited us to do things on the 25th of each month so that we can keep it in our minds and invite others to keep it in theirs too. There was a lot of rah-rah at the meeting, and for those of you that know me, it doesn't usually effect me like they want it to, but I definitely have a more invested mentality than I did going into it. I am excited to participate and do my best to control the funds and spend wisely so that we can make this year a sucess.