And the snow keeps coming!

This was really a three-day celebration. Jeffery & Kristi joined us for dinner in Linda's honor, Tuesday evening, Jan 11, at the new Chinese restaurant, called Ying Yang's, that opened in Rexburg this last June. It was a most enjoyable meal and a fun time together!

Yesterday, Thurs, Jan 13, Terry took her for some shopping at a big mall in Idaho Falls.

This picture was taken just before we left for that outing in Idaho Falls yesterday.

Of all the gifts, flowers and good wishes she received, those which touched her heart the most were the expressions of love she received in person, or by email, letter and phone calls from her dear children and family. It really was a special day!

Without a doubt, the highlight of the birthday party was the singing of an original song, penned and performed that very evening by Jacob, Camilla and Laura. I believe it is entitled, "Your Gorgeous, All Natural Hair."

Some of it goes like this:

"Oh, Grandma dear, we love you so,

You make us feel so very good.

Oh, Grandma dear, we love you so, And your gorgeous, all natural hair.

Your eyes they shine with the grace of the very best and spacious jewels of Queen Elizabeth's crown.

Well, 70 is really fun, but we hope you make it to 71!"

Of course, before Linda would be allowed to blow out her "70" candles, she received a serenade of melodious Chapman voices in all possible tones, moods and harmonies - can you believe it?

On the far right, seated on the couch, is Melissa Whittaker, Liz's younger sister. The rest of this happy crew should all be immediately recognizable.

Jeffery & Kristi's dining room table started looking like a flower shop as flowers continued to arrive, in honor of Linda's birthday.

The beautiful bouquet on the left was placed inside the front door while no one was home. The card bore a sweet message to their mom from Rebecca and Ann in Arizona.

The 24 roses in the center vase came by express mail with a birthday greeting from the Amy & Gary Funk family in Mesa.

(The lonely little white rose is from Linda's husband, Terry)

January 12 is Linda's birthday. The flowers, cards and emails started early and just kept coming all day long.

Kristi baked and decorated a delicious chocolate cake. She and Jeffery adorned the living room with banners and balloons. The beautiful roses you see in this picture are from the Jeffery Chapman family.

After breakfast with her husband at Frontier Pies, Linda enjoyed three hours of personal grooming treatments at the Evans Beauty Academy, followed by an early dinner at Wingers and a big party with all of the Rexburg family that evening.

New Year's Day in Idaho!

This is a view to the north, from the front yard of Jeffery and Kristi's home on Hidden Valley Road on the east side of Rexburg.

The snow just keeps coming!

Right after the new year, Adele and Daniel stopped in for a brief visit and we noticed that Adele and her mother, Kristi, had each chosen similar wearing appearal for the day, without consulting each other. So, we insisted on a picture.

After the wedding they only took a short three-day honeymoon to Salt Lake as Daniel had to be back at school/work that next Monday, here in Rexburg, even though it was the holidays. They are comfortably settled in, already, in their two-bedroom apartment on the west side of town.

A delightful luncheon, prepared by Daniel's family, for the wedding party, took place after the photo shoot, down at the ward meetinghouse. But, my camera went dead and had to be re-charged and I have no pictures. A highlight of that luncheon was a barbershop quartet number, featuring Daniel and his father and two brothers. They are good!

The reception, held from 6 to 8 p.m., was a success! The hall looked beautiful! Despite the snow and wind, Ward members, family and friends turned out in good numbers to wish the couple well.

I had to include this picture of Adele during the reception, kneeling to accept a hug from one of the twin girls of the Beccerill family, members Adele's ward, who come from Mexico.

Adele's Aunt Amy took many, many pictures of the bride and groom and their family on this wedding day, both here on the BYU- Idaho campus and later at the reception.

Here, she has Adele seated, with her dear sisters, Anna, Laura and Camilla, and sister-in-law, Liz, as Jacob looks on.

Daniel is coming down the stairs, in the background.

Anticipating the severity of the weather, Adele's father, Jeffery, made arrangments for the wedding party to be admitted to the marvelous new cultural events center, just recently completed and dedicated on the BYU-Idaho campus.

It was inside this grand facility that we were permitted to take wedding pictures, following the Temple services.

This is Daniel's family, the Johnson's. His father and mother are standing next to the newlyweds and three brothers and a sister and a sister-in law and a young neice and nephew, surround them. Another brother, also on a mission, is not present. the family home is in Idaho Falls.

Wednesday, Dec 29, dawned cold, snowy and windy, but it could not place a chill upon the beauty and blessing of the sealing of Adele and Daniel in the holy temple. It was a most sacred and memorable moment to be seated with parents, grandparents and other close family and friends in Sealing Room 5 on the upper floor of the Rexburg Temple and to witness this eternal marriage ceremony pronounced upon this splendid young man and woman.

This photo was taken just as the happy bride and groom exited the front doors of the temple to be greeted by the waiting crowd of family and friends. Adele's grandmother Chapman is on the left, clapping her hands. Daniel's younger brother, still in service as a full-time missionary, holds the door open for them.

It should be noted that along with everything that would happen on Adele's wedding day, a moment was taken for her mother Kristi to stop and open gifts from her family, for Dec 29 is Kristi's birthday!

Going from left to right are Liz and Jacob, then Adele's grandmother Ann Fraughton, Anna, next to her mom, Kristi, then Laura seated on the floor, then Adele's aunt Amy (Kristi's younger sister and the official wedding photographer - mostly hidden on the couch), and finally, Ed Fraughton, Adele's grandfather.

Tuesday evening, the day before the wedding, the preparations in the cultural hall continue, with Kristi and her crew working on the decorations for tables, chairs and displays throughout the room. A nice wedding reception doesn't have to cost an enormous sum of money, but it does require lots of work and planning, and help from friends and family.

Adele's twin brother Jacob and his wife Liz are seated in the forground, helping with the decorations for the arch where the bride and groom with be standing to greet their guests during the reception.

Acting on instructions from the mother of the bride (our dear daughter-in-law, Kristi), Jeffery and his son Jacob and Grandpa Chapman set to work on the creation of a false ceiling in the Mill Hollow Ward meetinghouse cultural hall, where the wedding reception was to take place.

We rigged a line through the basketball hoops at both ends of the hall and then measured and cut these swaths of white plastic table covering material in long, 70 ft lengths, which we then hoisted and drapped across the hall, side to side, along with strings of mini-lights. It went so well, we were surprised and quite pleased with ourselves! Kristi gave it her approval and then followed up with her crew of women and girls, to give the hall all the many final touches that would create a winter scene in blue and white for the reception the following evening, Wednesday, Dec 29.

This snow sculpture is located on the northwest corner of Main St and First West, at Broulin's Market in downtown Rexburg. With temperatures that seem determined to stay below freezing it seems likely that it will be there until springtime.

On our way over to take some things to Adele and Daniel's new apartment on the west side of Rexburg, we stopped for a picture of this home, so grandly decorated with Christmas lights and displays. The snow made it all the more beautiful!

A little later, the same day, Sunday, Dec 26, our son Jeffery, returned home from his long day of service as counselor in the bishopric of a Single Adult ward, and, joined also by Adele and Daniel, we continued to enjoy a glad reunion with our Rexburg family. Anna, Laura, Kristi and Camilla are seated on Jeffery's left as he shares a story with us.

We arrived in Rexburg on Sunday afternoon, Dec 26, bearing gifts, which Linda delighted in sharing with our grandchildren soon after our arrival.

Here you see Anna in her new knit cap and scarf, and Laura, her older sister, seated around thge dining room table, enjoying these little surprises from their grandmother.

Christmas day found us on the open road, headed toward Idaho. We decided to leave a day early so we could be of more help to Jeffery, Kristi and family as they prepare for their daugher Adele's marriage to Daniel Johnson. Adele and Daniel will be married in the Rexburg Temple on Dec 29. We are looking forward to being with them for that happy occasion.

This picture was taken on Christmas day as we headed north from Flagstaff, Arizona on US 89, out across the vast, open reaches of the Navaho nation and the plateau lands of northern Arizona.