Firehouse

We took a tour of a local firehouse yesterday with my Mom’s club and it was so much fun. Isabelle really enjoyed getting a chance to climb up into the trucks and see what the inside was like. She sat in the front seat and was “driving” while a nice fireman held Bear so that I could get a quick picture.

I think that all the kids had a ton of fun and so did the Moms. Some of the older kids really got a kick out of seeing the fireman get all dressed up and ready to fight a fire. We learned all about fire safety at home and what the firemen do to help people who are in need. Hopefully we will never need their help, but it is nice to know that they are close by to help if need be.

Girl Scout Cookies

Ben is a super “Girl Scout,” he sold 64 boxes of GS cookies his first day on the job. Way to go Ben! As a favor to a family friend, Ben took a cookie sheet up to work to ask his people to buy cookies. I told him his goal was 100 boxes, he’s almost there, hee, hee. I think he still has a few more people to ask so I’m sure he’ll meet “his” goal.

Saturday night it snowed while we were all sleeping, which is nice, because hopefully the next day you can drive places. After naps in the afternoon and before dinner on Sunday we took the kids to a near by hill and went sledding. It was so much fun! Isabelle really got into it once some other kids came to sled as well. Ben was not sure who had more fun me or her. Barrett even went down with Mom and Dad, and loved every minute of it. We just need to work on Isabelle being able to carry the sled up the hill by herself. Along with finding a pair of gloves that will stay on her little hands so they don’t get cold.

Right now we just try to keep her hands out of the snow so that they stay warmer longer. So Ben suggests that she put her hands in her coat pockets to help keep them warm. Great in theory, but not so good when you are trying to walk up the side of a hill. As a two year old that is a pretty big challenge. She made up eventually and loved sledding every minute. She even went down the hill lying on our backs as we went head first on our tummies.

Isabelle was even brave enough, ha, to go down on her tummy as well. This kid is afraid of nothing. Then we came home to enjoy a nice warm cup of hot chocolate. Isabelle as for it almost everyday, thank you Ben. I try to give it as a special treat but sometimes Daddy has other plans.

On the Barrett front, he is doing great, eating solid foods once a day and he is army crawling. He has really figured out how to move forward since Saturday. I can hardly believe it. Just earlier today I saw him up on his knees, and really thinking about what to do next. I’m sure it will be no time and this kid will be moving all over the place. Baby gates here we come!

Snow, Snow, Snow

Our first “real” snow! What fun? I have not quite decided yet if I like the snow or not time will tell. But Isabelle seemed to like it. She figured out right away that she needed to stick her tongue out to taste the snow and have the snow flakes fall directly on her tongue to melt. Barrett even liked the snow, until he fell over and Isabelle was throwing snow in his face. Her first snow angel was on the patio and she was not too sure about the snow falling on her face while she was lying down. So I think we will have to try it again later when it is not snowing. When Dad gets home he’ll have to show Isabelle how to go down her little hill on her tube. I think she will really get a kick out of that one.

The jury is still out as to whether or not I will like the snow. I guess so long as none of these crazy Utah drives hits my car while we are driving around I think we will be ok. I don’t know how adventurous I will be while it is snowing. We may just have to come up with lots of inside at home activities for the kids to do. But I bet eventually we will have to leave while it is snowing because you can only have fun in the house for so long before everyone tires of it. So to those of you in warmer weather, here are some winter greetings. And to those of you in winter weather, when does this stuff end?

Happy New Year!

What an amazing trip! The kids and I spent over six weeks in Texas and boy was it tons of fun. Here is the update of the things we did between the last post and now. . .

Isabelle turned 2! What an amazing day we had on December 24 for Isabelle’s birthday. She had an ice cream cake, presents and her favorite meal chicken spaghetti. She just loves the noodles. . .

On the 25th we celebrated Christmas, with the family. Grandparents, great-grandparents, kids and parents, were all in attendance. The kids made out pretty good, and so did Ben and I. I think that everyone was pretty happy with the gifts they were given and received. Best of all of course was the food and company . . .

From there we picked up Adam and had a wonderful three days with him. Everyone had lots of fun and enjoyed each other’s company a ton . . .

After waiting on the weather and visiting with family we made our slow trek home. It took us the better part of two days but it was still a good drive. We stopped at the four corners on the way home and everyone had a chance to stand in four states at once. How cool is that. I think that I was the only one overly excited about the stop but hey you only get to live once.

Now we are back in Utah, doing the same old stuff. Not really since when we got home I had to clean, put things away and unpack. Being gone for so long wears you out once you get home. Who would have thought! Anyway, our trip was good and we are all glad to be home once again together as a family.