Early Morning Awake Up Call

 My heart still beats a bit erractically even thinking about it. The shock of coming out of a deep sleep to a blaring alarm screeching Fire! Fire! Fire! is never how you want to wake up. Especially at 1:30 am. My first thought was I couldn't smell smoke, but I was also still half asleep, my brain groggy. Greg jumped out of bed, quicker on the uptake than me. He rushed out of our room to find Kate standing right there. That girl is quick! She made it upstairs in seconds!

A few moments later, Enoch was standing in the kitchen asking what was going on. Greg was rushing around the house looking for a fire, Enoch and Kate were trying to find the detector that was going off (turns out it was all of them since they are connected), and I was running down to Guard's room because we hadn't seem him yet. He was curled up in bed, the blankets pulled over his head, and his hands covering his ears. Yeah, afterward we had the talk about what to do when the fire alarm goes off!

Soon we all gathered in the kitchen, realizing that there wasn't a fire, but a faulty battery. It did take us quite awile to figure out how to turn on the alarm. We finally realized it was the detector just outside the master bedroom and we had to rip it off the ceiling and forcably remove the battery. It wasn't easy. The next day, Greg replaced all the batteries in the dectactors with fresh ones. Hopefully, we have another seven years before we go through that again!

Ice Skating In Lehi

 Lehi is really coming up in the world - we now have an ice skating rink! It's small, it's temporary, it's full of divets, but it's ours and we couldn't wait to try it out. Thankfully we had a friend who organize a skate party with a bunch of homeschool friends. I didn't know that this party was on the last day the rink was open, so we were doubly blessed to snag a spot and go.

Kate loves ice skating and has been a decent amount. It showed. She glided over the ice and built up some speed (not a lot, it really was small and crowded). But, she always had a smile on her face.

Guard had never been ice skating before and it showed. In the beginning, he hugged the edges with his hand always on the fence. It didn't take long before he ventured out into the rink and had a great time. Before we left, he was pretty comfortable on the skates and was quite steady.

It was such a fun afternoon! We are hoping that Lehi has an ice skating rink next year!

New Shocks for the Jeep

 We love our Jeep! Greg loves his Jeep! Our family loves our Jeep!

But man, they are money pits!

That's okay; it has given us so many fun times together as a family. Plus, Greg never asks for much, so I'm coming to terms with the money being spent on this car.

For Christmas, Greg got new shocks for the Jeep. He and Gavin decided they could tackle this project on their own. I'm not sure in the beginning they realized what it would involve, but they did it! It took about seven hours longer than they thought, a few new tools midway through, and having to make adjustments to the instructions for it to work on our specific Jeep, but they did it!

Saturday morning, they started and completed the back and some of the front by midnight. They were hardy, working in the cold garage and dealing with frustrating setbacks.

Monday afternoon, Gavin came back down and they finished the front. Greg and Gavin both enjoy cars, but they haven't really taken on big projects with repairs and improvements. This was a pretty big project. Greg watched a lot of YouTube videos and they tweaked and adjusted when bars needed to be shaved off and things didn't fit quite right. They were happy to be done and I hope they are proud of their work. I'm proud of them! 

We can't wait for some awesome off-roading this spring!

Randall Family Christmas Party

 It has not been a tradition to have a Randall Christmas party every year. Usually we do something, but Grandpa and Grandma have been on missions for so many Christmases, that we haven't developed a good tradition. This year we had a party though and it was wonderful!

We started with an easy dinner of Costco alfredo and chicken pot pie. Easy and yummy! Easier still for me to pick up a gluten-free, dairy-free frozen chicken pot pie for Kate. Dinner was full of conservation and sharing; it was wonderful.

After, the younger kids (Marcus, Guard, Lucy, and Milo) played upstairs while the adults visited. It was so fun to catch up with everyone and have some quality family time. After a bit, Grandma called us together for a fun craft. At the Christmas Devotional a few weeks earlier, Elder Gong told the story of his wife making clothespin ornaments for Christmas. We made our own ornaments and the kids had so much fun with it!

After ornaments, we did stockings. Grandma and Grandpa went all out this year and all the kids were thrilled with their presents. Enoch favorite present was a wooden puzzle globe, Kate loved her art dice, and Guard was super excited with his electronic bank.

It was great night and we can't wait to do it again next year!

Bethlehem Dinner

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is our Bethlehem dinner. We always have it on December 17th, eight days before Christmas Eve. We prepare food that would have been eaten by Jesus and his family (or, as Greg says, if Bethlehem had a Costco!). We eat fish, lentils, crackers, cheese, flat bread, grapes, dates, nuts, figs, cucumbers, oranges, and persimmons. It is truly one of our favorite meals - so much good food!

We eat by candlelight on the floor. Some of us are adventurous and finish our meal with our fingers, as per custom. We talk, laugh, and share our favorite stories of Christ.

After dinner, we celebrate our first night of Fowler Hannukah. It is such a special night to remember Jesus and his birth.

Our Sweet Coal

 Coa's birthday was a few weeks ago. She turned 12. I can't believe she is 12! She is starting to show her age a bit - more gray hairs, shaky back legs, grumpy attitude, possible hearing loss (or maybe just more grumpy attitude?), but she is still our sweet girl. She actually lays on her dog bed occasionally, which makes me happy and sad at the same time. Happy because she has her own soft spot, but sad because I know it is because she is getting older, is slowing down, and wants more comfort.

Border Collies and Aussie Shepherds are very much heirachical dogs. They know where they fit in the family and they know who the Alpha males are. Greg is her highest Alpha, with Gavin followed closed behind. When Coal came to our family, Enoch was six. He wasn't old enough or had enough power to be an Alpha. Because of that, Enoch's and Coal's relationship has always looked a bit different. Enoch is Coal's safe person, they one she goes to for comfort, tummy rubs, and 'good girls'. And Coal loves to lick Enoch's feet! And he lets her! 

They have such a sweet relationship! I'm so happy that Coal has Enoch, especially now that she needs some pampering. Enoch makes sure she is fed, watered, and loved everyday. She is lucky to have him. We are blessed to have them both!

Enoch and the Temple

This is one the those days, those best days, that you wait for, work for, pray for, and when it comes it is even better than you imagined it would be.

Enoch received his endowments today and it was glorious! 

He was ready. Not only did he study and prepare, he has lived the life, and made the choices to be granted the priviledge for continued learning and blessings. The spirit was strong with him after the session. I could see his curious mind spinning, absorbing all he could. It seemed as if things long forgotten were clicking back into place and he had complete peace of wholness in his spirit; like knowing who he was after a lapse of memory.

Heavenly Father has gifted him a pure heart, one without guile and anger. It is a rare gift. As I have watched Enoch prepare for this day, I have recognized a spiritual maturity than he has kept tucked away. As his mom, I have felt it from him, but now he knows it himself and that is powerful. He is at the beginning of his journey of understanding himself and how he can be more, be what God needs him to be, through the covenants of the temple.