Utah

A visit home was long overdue.  It had been a year and a half since I was last in Utah and even then, it was just a couple of days.  So when a really good price for a direct flight popped up we just had to jump on it.  Plus, we originally had 3 days off of school, so I figured they wouldn't miss too much...except all those days became make up days.  Oh well.  Anyway, we had a fantastic time and fit a lot in.

My kids love the airport, the plane, flying...they love it all.  Especially when we get picked up by the little go cart.  Good thing too, our gate was like a mile away.  And I think it saved us when I hopped back on to go find my missing ID that I must have dropped at security.  (I can never fly without a good story).

 Lily's first time flying...thrilled right?

 First things first, a trip down to Provo to have lunch at Brick Oven with my Grandma. 

 

 A quick drive by our first apartment. 

And then to her house for cupcakes, which were amazing.  I'm craving them right now.

Fun in the playroom.  Brings back so many memories.

 The next day we took the kiddos skiing.  It started off really warm and then quickly cooled off, then started snowing and hailing, and the kids kept going.  They were blocking their faces from getting pricked on the way down and each run I thought for sure they would be done, but then they'd get back on the lift for another one.

First time for me to ski with Tommy.  I love that little dude!

Lily and Luke.  Baby Luke is my brother's new boy, he is just 2 months younger than Lily and SUCH a cutie!

Ha ha ha!!  Love this!

 Our trip overlapped with Pop and Grammie's trip by a couple of days and we were able to get a lot of the Herway family together on Valentines Day.  We called it "Herway Love Day" (Seth/Heidi Natalie/Noel we missed you!)
We spent the morning at Classic Skate.  A throw back to my past, it has been YEARS.  I went here for a lot for birthday parties, church activities, etc.  Still just as great as ever and much improved.  I wish I could say the same thing about my roller skating skills.

 Cousins!

 This is "Scaychel" Scarlet and Rachel.  They were having a blast together.

 They even put on an entire Frozen production with singing and dancing.  I loved it!

Saturday was a fun filled day with a trip to the zoo.

A monster truck show for the boys (Tommy was in heaven!  He LOVES monster trucks)

 And a Valentine party that night

Plinko with prizes to be won

Then, an Olympic party complete with bobsled races

And relay races...good times!!

 We went to the Ice Castle in Midway.  It may have been the fact that it was Presidents Day, Monday night/Family Home Evening, or the fact that it was the last night it was open, or all of it combined but it was BUSY!  We waited about an hour in line to get in and it was crowded inside.  But I really enjoyed it nonetheless.  It was really cool.

 And my kids got to meet Elsa and Anna, they really liked that.

 The last day we were able to go skiing.  It had been a couple of years for me...crazy!  It was such a beautiful day too.

And one last adventure, back up to Midway for some sledding.  Kate almost didn't go but ended up LOVING it.  She could have gone all night long.

A few more random shots...Rachel and Avery

Tommy and Jack had some good times together.  One of my favorites, when they rocketed stuffed animals off the air mattress.

 

Sophie and Kate spent hours playing princesses, and when they weren't playing them, they were watching the movies.

 

 Kate and Ellia.  So good to finally MEET this girl!  Such a cutie and ball full of fun.

So good to spend time with family, see some old friends, see my kids play with their cousins.  Such a great trip!  The nice weather was an added bonus too.  Everything was awesome! :)

Frozen in the East

Elsa needs to give us a little love here in the East :)  What a winter it's been!  We were home bound again today because of an ice storm.  We had a snow day on Monday with about 8 inches of snow.  School was delayed yesterday and I'm not holding my breath for tomorrow with the freezing temperatures tonight.  We've had 4 1/2 days of school cancelled so far (so long spring break).  We have another snowstorm coming this weekend.  There are LOTS of people without power and I'm so grateful we still have ours.  There have been a lot of complaints about the weather.  It's been the coldest weather in 20+ years with several days in the single digits.  I was a little grumpy this morning about it but for the most part I have been really loving the snow and enjoying the time with my kids.

This was two days ago (I should have taken a picture of the same tree branch today covered in icicles and broken down...this morning I woke up to what sounded like popcorn popping with all the tree branches falling)

 It is seriously beautiful

  We built a pretty awesome igloo

Jake dug a hole through a giant snowball to make the tunnel entrance

 The kids thought it was the coolest thing ever

And here are some random happenings from this past month:

One of Rachel's New Year's resolutions was to learn to play the harmonica.  Within a couple of days she was playing like a pro.  She can play O Suzanna and Amazing Grace and a couple other songs.  Seriously amazing.

 

She never ceases to impress...this is a poem she wrote one day after church.

 

 I really love this girl

One day Tommy decided that his stuffed monkey was going to have a birthday.  He counted down for like 15 days for it.  He sure makes life fun!  He has such a big heart, is always first to share or give you the last piece of his treat.  He has been loving his daddy's bedtime stories and it is so fun to watch him listen as if he is in that world and he can retell them with practically every detail.

 He has taken an interest in football after watching the 49ers with Grandpa

Kate started a dance class!  She was super excited, but she sat in the front and watched for the entire first class, and almost the entire second class.  I was just about to throw in the towel.  I told her we needed to go and she then told me to go and then got up and participated and was all smiles after that.  She loves it and is super cute!

Statue of Liberty!

We have read lots of books with all our time indoors.  At least she was dressed...most days she never makes it out of her pjs :)

This three year old can sure whine, cry, and tantrum but she is a cute ball of fun too. 

Lily has found her toes!

She hasn't taken too much interest in toys yet...

because she LOVES her hands.  We may have our first thumb sucker, but she can't decide.

What is it about that smile?  It's so powerful!  It can melt any anger, frustration, sadness or worry away.  It says, "I love you Mommy and you make me happy."  I can't get enough of her!!

We've been trying to work on her rolling over skills.  She has done it twice in the last week, but how can she learn when she is being held all the time?

She is surviving the cold just fine :)

Another reason this has been a great winter so far is all the visitors we have had.  My dad came into town with a business trip he had out east

Grammie was here for a couple days on her layover out to Utah

and we made a fun trip to a children's museum

Our last visitor was Jeremy.  A mission companion of Jake's.  These three served/lived together for a while (I forgot where) and Bobby is now even in our ward.  Jeremy is from and lives in England.  My kids love his accent and he was a great playmate for them this weekend.

My kids have been spoiled with candy and chocolate.  They honestly don't know how good they have it.

Anyway, just a few more

I've lost track of how many times it has snowed, but it hasn't gotten old for these kids.

We have been playing LOTS of games too.

and (congrats for making it to the end) did you know that I only took a total of six pictures last January...ha, what a difference!