Maximum happiness and the coldest winter ever

While reading random blogs, Facebook posts, and click-bait links, I discovered that someone somewhere did a study concluding that happiness is maximized at 57 degrees as far as weather is concerned. I walk my kids to school most mornings, and this past winter has seemed to be colder than usual. Some mornings we were bundled in layers of clothing, jackets, scarves, hats, and gloves. After the polar vortex passed through, those 40-degree mornings didn't seem too cold to walk, so we did.

We got some freezing rain/snowish precipitation in January

Sometimes I would check the temperature on our way out or my way home, and sometimes not, but every time I found myself walking home in 56- or 57- or 58-degree weather, I couldn't help but smile about maximizing my happiness. I think it actually made me feel happier in the moment to be outside walking in cold weather. (Cold for Texas, people.) Nerdy, I know.

On a different note, potty-training during the coldest winter ever turned out to be interesting as well. Maybe it helped that it was cold, even with the heater on, in just underwear and a t-shirt. Elijah's favorite song from the movie Frozen is "Frozen Heart," the song sung by the ice cutters right at the beginning. He knows all the words, if making up sounds that make sense to his three-year-old mind count as knowing all the words. The last line is "Beware the frozen heart." I couldn't help making a slight modification in my mind as we were potty training...

Pirate underwear apparently makes everything better.

Elijah is so much shorter than the other kids were at his age that he still needs help, but for the most part potty training has been a success. We'll chalk it up to the cold weather and maximizing happiness, because a party at Baskin Robbins and a gigantic scoop of Rocky Road ice cream sure do make this big boy happy.

Homecoming

Last fall when I was making holiday plans, I asked my out-of-town sister if they were coming to Texas for Christmas. She said she wanted to come in February when our youngest brother got home from his mission instead. That sounded like a great idea to us, as well as a potential photo opportunity for my Dad and siblings since the last family photo we took was in 2011. My brother Mark was still on his mission. The last time we had a family picture made with everyone there was ten years ago.

Megan Kunz Photography

Once we found out when Matthew would be speaking in church, we started talking photographers, meals, and fun activities for the kids, and things kind of got out of hand developed into a full-blown family reunion. It was really fun to have aunts and uncles and cousins arrive over several days, so we started out slowly and then went into crowd control mode Saturday and Sunday.

Friday afternoon we met for a picnic lunch and a tour of the train museum at the Amtrak station in Temple, Texas. The push carts were a big hit.

Evan, Garin, Caleb, Jack

Ellen, Karen, Eva, Rose

Liam, Lucia, MaryEllen, Jill

Eva, Jill, Ellen, Claire, Hannah, Rose, MaryEllen, Karen, Lucia

Lots of cousins, who immediately got up when our tour guide started explaining why we don't play on railroad tracks. Good thing these don't actually go anywhere.

Another try for cousins in front of the locomotive. Lots of wiggles in this crowd of nine years old and younger.

Saturday we beat the rain and had a great family photo shoot at this park I didn't even know existed near Waco. Waterfall, stone quarry, cave, green grass, but not quite spring yet.

Artistic Images by Brigham Mayfield

Saturday afternoon we had a "talent" show for the grandchildren, featuring piano playing, dancing, jokes, tumbling, and lots of belting out "Let It Go" from the movie Frozen. We had dinner and surprise cookies for my brother William's birthday.

Sunday morning we all went to sacrament meeting together, and I remembered that I should probably think about how Primary was going to handle twenty visiting children. I had also gotten permission for my family to sing an arrangement of "Abide With Me, 'Tis Eventide." My best family memories growing up involve singing, so this was a highlight for me.

We loved spending our Spring Break with cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandpa. We loved being together to welcome Matthew home. Hopefully we won't have to wait another ten years to do it again!