White Christmas 2016

We got a wet vac

and three sump pumps,

(plus a son to install them)

for Christmas

 The Esplin Soup Town Sibling Christmas Party

 What did we serve?

Soup.

Then we called Shirley in Cedar City;

DeLoy and Grace in Goleta;

and Jerry in St. George

to sing

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

off-key to them.

Everyone knows Esplins can't sing

and we proved it.

 We're not too old to play

 Telestrations

 Ed & Amy went to the Star Wars movie then joined us

 Carol's car impersonating Rudolph

 The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round

 Amy accused us of thinking we were riding in a school bus.

Front of the bus: Verla and Carol.

Middle: Juanita and Lynn

Back: Jeanette and DeRay

The Christmas Eve

Turkey dinner

with Carol and Melissa

 It was only 550 pieces

and they got it together before it snowed.

 Pancake loves Melissa.

 Woman Power

 The Snowiest Christmas in 100 years.

 No one I know has experienced this

much snow on Christmas day.

Not even Sylvia (1920) or Aunt Mar (1921).

1916
Mama would have been 13; Daddy 12.
DeRay's parents 4 years old.

 Fruit Heights is the City of Good Neighbors.

 Unknown neighbor plowing our driveway 9 AM

Known neighbor, Ed Denny, in background.

 The cats got a can opener for Christmas.

 Rudolph, you might disappear.

 Our weather gauge.

2:30 PM

Ed Denny is blowing our driveway again.

 After church, Amy and I head for the hollow.
Ed decided we weren't going to church
because it was only one hour.
Lame.
We talked him into going.
All he could talk about the rest of the day
was how much he loves Heavenly Father and Jesus
and this Ward.

  

Amy says I can't take good pictures.

How come the pictures I take of her

are so much better

than the ones she takes of me?

 

  

  

A robin.

 Our sideyard.

DeRay blew our driveway and sidewalks again

around 6 PM.

 It snowed all night and all day.

And blessed us with this

sunset on Christmas night.

Highlight of Christmas Day
was when Brent, Jan, and Family called;
and Brooke and Family;
and Carol and Verla.

Monday we celebrated

Brooke's and Amy's birthdays

Newborn Brooke December 1971

Brooke  6 or 7 years old

Amy 6 months in crocheted dress her mother wore
and grandmother crocheted.
Below: Amy in another crocheted dress
her mother wore and grandmother made.

We talked about Isaak's birthday.

Isaak is serving an ASL mission in Tucson, AZ
His mother arranged for the Ward Mission leader
to serve him his favorite dinner on Christmas morn.
Steak, of course. And potato salad, German style.

The shepherds with Santa. Elder Hugh on right.

Where's the snow, Elders?

Newborn Isaak with Grandma.

Brooke was born on December 21,

Isaak on Christmas day,

and Amy on December 30.

So much to Celebrate!

Enchanting New Year's Eve 

 New Year's Morn

The Wake-Up Call

So I wake up in the middle of the night with a swollen lip and numbness.

Am I having a stroke?

DeRay checks the computer to learn the signs.
Call DeLoy, he'll know.

After fretting for an hour or two,

We finally decide it’s an allergic reaction to something.

It’s actually lasted all day and feels very strange.

During the night’s darkness,

I thought how quickly things can change.

Christmas wouldn’t matter.

Cleaning the house would have to wait.

I don’t need to worry about dinner for the Esplin siblings.

Or the program on Christmas day.

No Christmas Eve party with Carol and Melissa;

Or dinner with Brooke’s family on his birthday.

What will Eddy do without me?

Who will take him swimming and play games with him?

Floss his teeth, and re-brush his hair?

Put lotion on chapped hands?

Who will fix the meals, clean the house and do the laundry?

What if I’m an invalid and a burden?

I desperately want to stick around;

keep things as they were.

Go to the gym.

Do my exercises.

Print my journal.

Sometimes it’s cleansing to face the inevitable.

Sure makes every second, minute, hour, and day count.

Gratitude fills my heart for being able to do the things

I want and need to do and for everything I have.

Wake up, Jacob.

 For the first few years after we were married,

DeRay called me John Jacob McCormick Jr.

I don’t know why.

I had forgotten it until I wrote

“Wake up, Jacob.”

Not Again

We’re gettin’ a new bigger wet vac for Christmas

Mommy and Daddy, Amy, Brooke, and Karlton are mad.

Rain/snow water flooding into the basement

Ain’t nuttin’ but BAD.

amy barely got the new foam pads laid

from the September flood; we prayed.

Rain all day Saturday on top of snow

Two sump pumps faulty

Wouldn’t you know?

Amy awoke at 3 in the morning

She tried to awaken me

“It’s time to start bailing!”

She tried to awaken me

“I can’t keep up

Water’s flowing too fast

Hurry! Hurry! I’m outclassed”

She tried to awaken me.

Seven hours we wet vacced and dumped

If only the sumps had pumped

Water spouting from everywhere.

Allow us to whine ‘cause it’s so unfair.

“Please may we borrow your big wet vac?”

We can’t keep up. Everything’s out of whack.

RaJean and Alan stayed for more than two hours

Frantically fighting before water devours.

Brooke & Karlton bought a new sump pump

The old ones go straight to the dump.

Except for the one kind Alan revived.

Without good neighbors we may not have survived.

(Years ago,

RaJean spent all day cleaning up beet juice, exacting no fee

When the pressure cooker exploded, burning me.)

We’re doing laundry, drying things out

We’re hungry and tired; ready for a drought.

The sad end of this Christmas song -

Come on sing along -

We’re getting a wet vac for Christmas

And two water alarms

‘cause flooding ain’t nuttin’ but bad.

And we’re mad.

Oh yes, DeRay is conveniently out of town

Leaving us alone to drown.

Three sump pumps later, 

DeRay and Brooke finally got a system 

that moves the water away from the house.

Pipe with holes to drain water. 

End of pipe where water drains on lawn. 

This is our view of the mountains

the day I took the pictures of the pipes.

Normal view.