Marching toward Spring

This month has been a little slower pace - and lovely that way. We played outside a ton when the weather warmed up, and we made a snowman when it started snowing again. You never know what you're going to get in March! It was a fun month to just be outdoors after being inside for so many days. We also have enjoyed skiing. The whole family has gone a couple times, and Chad and I doubled with Carrie and Mason. I am learning spring skiing is great because of the warm weather. This weekend soccer starts, so bring on the spring sports.

We attended a magic show at the library, and Carson was so into it, he was called up first to help the magician. I think the magician liked his hearty laughs, his humor was exactly what Carson likes. Carson got so into the acts and magic, he actually started going up to the magician a few times later and had to be dragged back. Here he is about to be amazed as things start disappearing. What a fun day at the library! We were just expecting a storytime!

Carson did baseball at preschool sports in March. Here he is learning how to hit off the tee. He has talked about doing tee-ball all winter, and it was fun to see him try it out. He also knew a few of the boys in this session. His friends Miles, Chase and Mason joined him. What fun.

Carson, Kate and I went to the aquarium to see their new exhibit. We had a lot of fun exploring it, but we were most excited to see the penguins. Unfortunately, because of low funding, the penguins were never added to the exhibit. So, we felt a little sad after hurrying through it only to find out the "big finale" wasn't there. The kids did like the turtles, snakes, and cool fish, however.

Audrey had a oral report in school called the "Great Brain Report" in which she could pick a topic and research it. Then she chose how to present what she learned it to the class. Along with me and the kids, she invited Grandma and Chad to come - and they did! She had quite a cheering section in the back. She did it on the Solar System, and she did a model, made planet pictures and posters and showed parts of a movie. She also insisted on handing out treats. She did terrific, and she still gets excited to learn about space.

Carson's preschool class went on a field trip to visit the grocery store Macey's. Kate and I tagged along and had a good time. They spoiled the kids by giving them ice cream cones, cookies and candies. It was neat to go into the fridge and freezers, in the bakery and look out the windows from the shoplifting prevention floor. It was a very fun trip. What a relief to be out on field trips again after the long winter break.

Fantastic February

Okay, I already did our Disneyland Edition, so now it is time to record our regular comings and goings in February.

This is a picture of Kate and I from the Draper Temple during the open house. You can see a beautiful view of the Salt Lake Valley from the temple. With the new Draper Temple, our family has had lots of opportunities to serve and tour the new temple. I helped on one of the VIP days and got a guided tour. Then in February, Carson, Kate and I took our neighbor on a self-guided tour. It was a neat spiritual experience to be there with the kids. They were so reverent and our friend, Pam, thought it was the most beautiful building she has ever seen. Then that same night, Chad, Audrey and I toured it with a couple Chad knows from work. The chaos of the busy tours at night distracted a little from the quiet reverence we had felt during the day, but of course, it was still wonderful to be there. I especially LOVED the beautiful murals! We have another opportunity to help with the open house in March. And, Chad has had a few more friends ask to go through with us. What a neat thing!!!

Carson's preschool got to tour the Sweet's Candy Factory here in SLC. That is a very cool tour, because you walk down on the floor and watch the machines making the candy. Then, you get to taste a piece of what they were making. The cinnamon bear room smelled fantastic, but the chocolate room was to die for! What a fun sweet field trip. Here are Carson and his friend Ben putting on "candy maker hats" to get ready for the tour.

Okay, I already wrote about our trip to California, but some of the best parts were seeing the family and friends. We got to hang out with Nicole, Andy and Maren for an entire day, plus see Nicole a few times in addition. It was fun to see their cute house and meet their friends and neighbors. Their neighborhood was awesome, and we really enjoyed the walk we took to the little Whittier College a block away from their house. Here is the Hall family on our walk.

Another day trip we made was to the beach. We just acted like it was summer and enjoyed the sand and waves. Nicole joined us with cute Maren. When I took this picture of Maren, I said "smile", and she did! She loves to have her picture taken. Beaches are good for the soul (especially in winter).

Well, the other highlight of California was hooking up with the Kanes. We spent a day with them in Disneyland, and then that night, we had dinner at their house. While we were there, the girls staged a fashion show and we had fun watching them model to HSM soundtracks. It was fun to reconnect with friends (who just moved there from Utah in December). It was like they had never moved away. Listening to them talk about life there and experiencing the nicer weather, it made us wonder why we were living in Utah! Anyway, fun evening, very relaxing and enjoyable.

Well, the highlight of our return to Utah has been a trip to Backyard Adventures. We have wanted to go play for a long time, ever since Carson attended a birthday party there. But, this was my first time with the kids (Carson and Kate). Carson, since he loves dinosaurs, LOVED the dinosaur theme to the play areas. The slides and tunnels were fun for him to explore, and he didn't stop running the entire time we were there. Kate also had a blast, she wanted me to follow her lead through all of the toys and slides. She took me everywhere, and the smiles were the biggest on the bouncing toys.

Well life is getting back to normal, if still very busy. It is amazing how much there is to do when you get back from a trip! I am still enjoying these cute kids. Life is still pretty good.

The Disney Edition

Well, we finally made the trek to Disneyland last week. We have wanted to go for so long, and the time was finally right. Chad and I were so excited to share it with them. We started with a 3-day "park-hopper" pass and then before we even went the first day we upgraded it to a 4-day "park-hopper" pass, and after going 3 days, we added a 5th day. We joked that little 2-year old Kate probably thought her life had changed forever to become: wake up, hurry to Disneyland then play hard all day. All week, we had short lines and did several attractions 3-4 times. Some rides we did daily.

My highlight: It was very exciting for me to share the princesses with the girls. Both were ecstatic to meet Cinderella, especially. It took us a few tries to locate her, but we finally found her. When the girls met the other princesses, they had been quiet and shy, but they were bubbling with excitement for Cinderella. I overheard Audrey tell her "You're my very favorite princess", and Kate told her all about her clothes. It makes me think dreams really do come true!

Okay, I had a second rewarding moment - and I think Audrey liked it, also. Audrey got a chance to watch the High School Musical 3 show and parade, and even got invited to come dance on the "stage" with the performers. We really cheered her on. It was exciting to hear the songs and be part of the crowd. Audrey was a little surprised it wasn't the real cast from the movie, I think she wanted to meet the real Gabriella while we were there. It was still a fun show - and the DVD came out this week!

Okay, now for the kids' favorites.

Audrey's favorite ride by far was - Screamin' over California. We called it "Screamer" and did it a lot. Here she is with Chad, Screaming, of course! We took turns with her and she loved every minute of it, except one time they did it in the rain and the rain hurt! She also liked the Mulholand Madness (Wild Mouse!), and all of the coasters throughout the park. The only ride that was too much for her was the Hollywood Hotel - Carson and Audrey had nightmares and worries about that elevator ride all week.

Carson loves three Disney movies: Cars, Toy Story, and Finding Nemo. We got our pictures taken with Mater and Lightning McQueen, we did the Nemo Submarine ride twice, but hands down his favorites rides were the Toy Story Rides. There was one that had Buzz Lightyear and you needed to defeat Zorg by shooting the "Z's". And, the ride that opened the week before we arrived, Toy Story Mania. This one had the longest lines we stood in. It is a 3-D changing shooting game, very cool and fun for all ages. Carson was in heaven in the toy stores at the end of the games. He bought four toys while we were there, all of them Toy Story. Carson also liked Space Mountain a lot (so did I). He was heartbroken that he couldn't do the Indiana Jones Ride.

Well, what did cute little Kate do through all of this? Well, she could ride a surprising number of rides. She rode the Matterhorn twice (we said "go away big white monster"), and she suffered through "Pirates" three times. But, she loved a few rides. The Winnie the Pooh ride, the carousels, the "Golden Zephyr", Peter Pan and the Bugs' World rides. Some things made her nervous, like the interactive 3-D movies but she seemed to get more brave as the week wore on. She loved the princess and here she is on Ariel's carousel.

Chad, he was a kid, wanting to ride all the big rides with his kids. It was very fun to see.

A Little Bit of Fun

We are in winter survival mode - and it hasn't been too hard. This January has been fairly mild with plenty of sunshine. Our favorite activity has been hitting the skiing slopes with Carson and Audrey. They are learning faster than me! Kate has loved going to MaKenna's house for babysitting so much, I don't know if we will be able to convince her to go skiing in a year or so. She may always prefer to play with toys instead. Here she is as pink as she can get. Kate always picks her own clothes, and that usually means pink from head to toe.

Audrey is displaying some toys from the Aquarium. She finally was able to purchase things from their gift shop and she had fun deciding what to get. The most interesting thing she got was a Triops kit. They are not all that cute, as you can tell, Chad calls them the T-rexs. They are interesting partly because the species has really been around since dinosaur times. The freeze dried eggs are just added to water, and in days we had 8 triops!

Carson had his turn for "Preschool Bear" in January. He had fun taking him to Preschool sports and the Library. It was fun to take their picture together at these fun places and put them in Preschool Bear's scrapbook. Carson is also learning to read and is doing GREAT! His just started the reading program and brought home his first two books. His writing is also coming along and he is loving art projects. I never thought the bundle of energy would sit still long enough to learn any of these things!

We went to the Planetarium with Julie and her kids on MLK day, since neither of our husbands had the day off. We had a great time learning about space. Audrey has even since chosen to do the solar system for her Great Brain Report in 1st Grade. The all-time favorite thing to do is play on Mars and the Moon. Here are all the kids up on the moon. I forget how cool the place is and it is free! I guess most people watch shows there, but we enjoy the exhibits.

We had a great day of Bouncing and Skating (and Jungle) at Classic Skating. When we were trying to decide what to do for MLK day, Chad mentioned he would like to go with us next time we went, so of course, we took him up on the offer. The kids played hard, and so did Chad. It was a lot of fun to watch them go crazy. This was Kate's first time to do it, and Carson and Audrey loved helping her out. Very cute!

Well, I guess we did find "a little bit of fun" in January!

December Joy

December was incredible! While we all had tons to get done, we enjoyed several fun things along the way. Audrey's class made gingerbread houses and I got to bring some icing and supervise the building of the houses. The houses are adorable, and Audrey loved it.

December was also a short dance recital for Audrey. She danced to "Chestnuts roasting on a open fire" and showed us their warm-ups and a few movements across the floor. She danced beautifully and it was fun to be part of her experience.

We got to visit Santa and put in our requests early this year.

As a family, we visiting the Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur Musuem. Here we are playing as a family around the water table. We always love it here, but Carson was especially excited to show it to dad again.

Christmas Eve:

We acted out the nativity it was adorable seeing the kids participate in the story. Later that evening we made chocolate chip cookies so that we could leave some for santa. The kids helped Chad write a note to Santa discussing coal and whether or not they would get coal or toys. We had a magical evening.

Christmas Day:

Audrey had a hard time sleeping through the night and she woke up at 5:00 am. She patiently waited in her room until the designated time to come out. We had grandma and grandpa come spend the morning with us. We did our stockings first, then opened presents. Favorite toys were:

Kate's new table and chair set,

Carson's dino cave,

and Audrey's Easy Bake.

Later, we had Brett's family join us for Christmas dinner. The food was great and we had a blast. What a wonderful day!

Around and About in November

We are still doing adventures often. Here are the kids at the Aquarium. We got to see them feed the sharks (a first for us), and we all enjoyed hearing that they will open a new wing in January. They already have almost all of the animals. Here the kids are at the coral reef play area which is always their favorite!

Carson was in preschool sports Basketball in November. He loved playing around and running. He is still working on the dribbling and shooting. It is fun to watch him have a good time.

We enjoyed the zoo free day in November - it was such a nice day that it was perfect. We saw lots of animals and enjoyed lunch there. We were joined by Julie and Jen and their kids. How fun to have friends and fun things to do.

Our Thanksgiving dinner was at Chad's parents house. It was such a lovely dinner, and we really enjoyed catching up with everyone. It was like old times, with a family flying in and everyone spending a couple nights all in the same house. With all the grandkids (I believe 13!), I am surprised we didn't go crazy, but it was actually just wonderful. We took family pictures, and here is a candid of some of the kids before the portraits were taken.

The day after Thanksgiving, our family was joined by Brad, BJ and Max at a skiing trip at Alta. It was very fun to ski with the kids. Audrey remembered how to do it quickly and did quite well. Carson got a little nervous, but he really enjoyed hot chocolate and chocolate cookies at the lodge. He says that he is willing to go again this Saturday! Here are Carson and Audrey at the lodge playing around.

Saturday after Thanksgiving, Audrey and her friend Rylee got to see High School Musical 3, AT LAST! We all went and had fun. When we returned home, it was fun to see our Christmas lights turned on and our tree shining.

On the last day of November, we went to temple square and saw the lights and visited the nativity. It was really nice to get such a beautiful start to the Christmas season. Now we have the spirit of Christmas. What a fun time of year.

Squeezing All the Juice out of October

Well, we have had beautiful weather and it has been a lot of fun enjoying fall. We have given Kate the nick-name "Cuddly" and she really is adorable right now. It is funny to hear even Carson's friend call her "Kate Cuddly". What a little sweet-heart.

Chad ran the St George Marathon this year and he did terrific. The day was actually rainy, but he had a PR (personal record) and was all smiles after the marathon. He even claimed that he wasn't hurting. (Hmmm, that was never the case for me, did he really run it?) We are proud of you, Chad.

After the marathon, we all took a trip to the Dixie Rock. This was our first time climbing on the rocks, even though it has been an family tradition in Chad's family for years. Here I am with the kids at the top of the word "Dixie". We really enjoyed climbing around and exploring the cool wind carved rock formations.

This month was a month of field trips for Carson's preschool class. Here we are at the corn maze we visited. We also went to the fire station (twice since the first time they had to leave for a call) and had the Halloween party. It has been especially fun for me this year because Kate and I have joined his class on all their field trips. I have had a satisfying time being able to go on the field trips with him.

We went to the witch festival during UEA break. We brought along two of Audrey's friends and they loved posing with the cool witches. As much as the kids loved spotting the witches, everyone's FAVORITE part was eating fudge! During UEA break, we also visited Aunt Jen and Julie at an Orem park for a few hours on a beautiful day. On Monday of the break, Audrey insisted that we take her to the Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur Museum, since she had missed out while she was in school in September. Here are all the kids getting a Dino Ride.

Our family took a fall hike up Little Cottonwood Canyon by Alta Ski Resort. It led to Catherine Pass and Lake Catherine in the Big Cottonwood Canyon. It was a nice hike, and the beautiful snowy lake was very rewarding to see. We were climbing on South facing slopes, so not much snow for us, but the view looked very wintry.

This was the last month for Fall Soccer, and here is Audrey getting her trophy from her dad, the coach. We are very proud of these girls. They are first graders playing mostly second grade teams, but still they were very competitive. We can't wait until next year!
Let the Halloween festivities begin! Here are all the grand kids at Grandma's pumpkin party! Every one was so cute in costume. We were all so excited to go. The kids look forward to this annual tradition more than any other. Of course, there were fun games, treats and toys. FUN! Here is Kate with two of her cousins who were also princesses. Kate followed her cousin Romy around all night. Every where Romy went, Kate was right with her. I think she thought the princesses should be together. How cute for her to start getting to know her cousin.

The week of Halloween, the kids had other fun things to do. Audrey got to wear her costume to dance, the younger two wore costumes to story time, and both Carson and Audrey had class parties which I was able to help out with. It was fun to see the parades and play games.

Finally, it is Halloween night. Audrey is Gabriella from High School Musical, Carson is Batman, and Kate is Cinderella. We have had a paper chain to help count the days. I was being begged to make it for a week or two and finally 50 days before Halloween, I put one up. One agonizing day after another passed until it was finally Halloween! Halloween night we trick-or-treated in our neighborhood, getting spooked out by several houses' decorations. After getting much too big of a haul, we came home and called it a night. Then, its only 365 days until the next Halloween. (the chain is NOT going up until it gets down to the 50's again!)

What a fun and magical time it is with these special kids and husband. We are so blessed.