Homemade Snow Slide

What do you do when you have a ton of snow, but are too lazy to take your kids to find a sledding hill?  You create one down the back deck steps.  Man my husband is the coolest dad around.

Our camera wasn't wanting to video so these are short, but you get the point.  The kids had a blast and so did Kenny and I.  :)

Snow Pile

When Kenny arrived in Denver it was 64 degrees there. We were lucky to reach the 20's here in Salt Lake.  Needless to say, I was totally jealous. To top it off our weather just kept getting weirder while his was gone. First we got an ice storm. Ice storms are not at all common in Utah and it reminded me so much of life in Virginia. Then after the ice storm we got snow and lots of it. One morning we woke up with 8 inches of new snow and then next morning we woke up with 6 inches. It seemed like it just kept snowing and snowing and snowing. The kids wanted to show daddy how much snow we got so I had Hannah stand in the front yard in front of our biggest snow pile. It's been so nice to have another good winter, my only complaint, I do hate the inversions that come with the snow.

Happy Birthday Daddy

Kenny was away in Denver for his birthday this year. We were so sad not to have him home, but we were happy to know he was near his brother Michael and his family and that he was not alone. The kids really missed him and missed being able to celebrate his birthday with him.  At school that day, Hannah learned how to draw penguins and so she drew some for daddy for his birthday.  We took pictures of them and sent them to him.  It's not the same, but it's nice to have the technology to make the being apart not so hard.

Hannah showing off her 2 penguins she drew for daddy.

Hannah showing off her picture of 1 penguin.  She had to have a picture of both. It was very important.

Outdoor Cooking Requirements

When Ben started scouts I was not aware that he had to finish everything in his Wolf book before he turned 9.  I learned this fun little fact a few weeks before his 9th birthday.  Luckily we were almost done with everything, but there was one thing in particular that I was putting off.  Cooking a nutritious meal outside! I just really didn't want to do it this summer. I kept putting it off and putting it off thinking there would surely be a better time to do this requirement. Finally, when fall came, I had put it off long enough to just decide to do it next summer.  HaHa!  I guess I should have just gone ahead and done it in the summer.

Ben cooking pork chops out on our snow covered deck.

Fast forward a few months and we have one of the snowiest, coldest winters Salt Lake has had in years. January came and with it really cold, snowy, inversion weather that was just yucky and depressing.  We only had a few weeks to get this requirement done and the weather was not cooperating.  On the night January 27th and into the morning of the 28th we got at least 8 inches of snow, but that afternoon the temperatures warmed up to a balmy 30 degrees and the sun came out.  I jumped at the opportunity.  I scrapped the snow off the deck, dug the grill out of the snow, and Ben and I cooked pork chops outside in the best weather we'd had in months. It was kind of a fun adventure. It was definitely one we won't soon forget. He did a great job with the pork chops and even made frog eye salad and veggies to go with it. His last requirement was done and I learned a great lesson about scouting. Way to go Ben on getting your Wolf.

Ben showing off his delicious dinner. Nice work bud.

Destroying the Gingerbread

Breaking apart the gingerbread clock tower.

Part of the fun of building and decoration a gingerbread house is destroying it when the Christmas season is over.  We held on to our gingerbread house as long as we could this year and finally decided to get rid of it on January 19th.  The kids had a blast breaking it to pieces and eating some of the candy off of it.  We can't wait until next years gingerbread house.

Waiting for mom and dad to give the okay to destroy the gingerbread house.

Ben showing off the candy canes he was eating.

Dan trying to get some kind of candy off the gingerbread.

They did a great job destroying it and had a lot of fun doing it.

The Building of a Snow Fort

My and 4 of my kids in our snow cave.

January 10th was an absolutely beautiful day, for winter anyway.  We hit 46 degrees outside and I even got a 6 mile run in outside, wearing capris.  Not long after my run the weather decided to change and the snow started coming down steady and beautiful. When Daniel saw it he came running up to me and said, "Look mom!  It's happening AGAIN!!"  That boy loves snow.  Well, the snow kept coming and coming and we were wondering if it was ever going to stop.  There was so much snow falling that they actually canceled Sarah's first basketball game, much to her dislike. The following morning I was woken up by a phone call around 5:45 in the morning. It was an announcement that school would be canceled that day. I quickly went back to sleep and when I got up an hour and a half later, I found about a foot of snow outside.  It was truly a snow day and the kids were so excited.

We decided to take advantage of all the snow we had outside.  It seems like it's not very common to see that much snow in Salt Lake anymore.  We figured we should use our snow day to it's fullest. Kenny went outside with the kids and helped them build a snow fort.  I stayed inside and got some much needed housework done without and distractions or kids messing up what I had done.  When I was almost done I headed outside to play with the kids.  Hannah and Gracie had gone over to a friends house, but we got some pictures of the remaining kids and the snow fort.

The pictures we took look a little funny because the depth perception is off.  I kind of like it and think it makes them look like we're a pasted on picture. We actually were inside the snow cave, it's just hard to tell in some of the pictures.  

All of us crammed in the snow fort. 

Adam coming out of the snow fort.

Me climbing out of the snow fort. It's not as easy as it looks.  :)

Ben and Sarah in the snow fort.

Dan sitting outside the snow fort to show how big it is and to show that Sarah and Ben are actually in it.

A close up of all of us in the snow fort.

Temple Square Christmas Lights

The kids seeing the lights at temple square.

Three day after Christmas we finally got around to taking the kids to temple square to see the lights. We meant to go all last Christmas and all this Christmas, but never got it done.  The weather was fairly nice on the 28th so we thought we'd take advantage of it before the lights were turned off after New Years.  It was a little hectic, the kids were a little crazy (story of our lives) but I'm glad we went and the kids enjoyed it. Next year we'll have to go before Christmas.  :)

We stopped at City Creek after seeing the lights.  We wanted to get a cinnamon roll, but they were closed.  We settled for the heat of the fireplace instead.

Adam at the fireplace.

Opening Christmas Presents

After seeing what Santa brought, playing with toys, eating breakfast, playing with toys some more, I finally decided to remind the kids they still had presents under the tree.  They were so excited and had completely forgotten all the gifts they still had to open.  I was so glad they enjoyed what they already had.  We headed down to the middle room to open presents from mom and dad, siblings, and grandma Holderness. I love Christmas and I love how excited my kids get.  They wanted to open sibling gifts first because they wanted to give a gift.  We must be doing something right because I have amazing kids.  

Sarah and Ben showing each other what they got from their sibling. Spy gear for both of them.

Dan and Adam love their dinosaurs from Ben and Sarah.

Ben and Dad playing with Ben's Hex Bugs.  I love Ben's face in this picture.

Hannah in her apron from grandma Holderness showing off her La La Loopsy doll from Gracie.

Sarah taking a picture with her new spy camera.

Ben with his binoculars.

Dan and Adam playing with their Cars flashlights they got from mom and dad.

The little girls had a tea party with the tea set Gracie got from Adam.  They had most of their Christmas presents with them.  So cute.

Our Amazing Christmas Morning Feast

Sitting down to a delicious breakfast.

Our Christmas morning breakfast was definitely a breakfast of champions.  Sarah Kate got a waffle stick maker for Christmas from Santa so she wanted to make breakfast.  Kenny and I had picked up donuts on Christmas Eve, just as a fun treat.  So breakfast was waffle sticks made by Sarah and yummy donuts.  To top that off, Santa brought our family a cotton candy maker and we, of course, had to try it out.  So after donuts we had cotton candy.  It's safe to say the kids were well sugared up.  :)

Kenny showing Sarah how to use her waffle maker.

Sarah pulling out one of the first waffle sticks.

Daddy making cotton candy.

It's not the greatest cotton candy maker, but it makes cotton candy out of hard candy's which is kind of cool.  Hannah enjoyed the cinnamon candy cotton candy.

Sarah taking a turn with the cotton candy maker.

Christmas Morning

The kids on Christmas morning waiting to go downstairs.  It's so hard to wait to see your presents.

Christmas morning is much better talked about in pictures, well that and it was a month and a half ago and I don't really have much to say.  We had a great Christmas.  The kids loved their presents.  I loved watching the kids love their presents.  We had an entire day of staying in our jammies, playing with toys and family, eating junk, and just enjoying our growing family.  Here are some pictures from our morning:

Adam liked his train the best and it was the very first thing he went to.

Dan liked all his toys, but he wanted to see what was in his stocking most of all. I guess he really liked setting it out for Santa the night before.

Gracie seems thrilled with her new Barbie house.

Hannah was so excited even before she saw what she got.  I love this age and this girl.

Ben liked his gun.  Looks like we're in trouble.

Sarah got a butterfly for Christmas.  It's pretty impressive and she seemed to like it.

Dan and his pirate ship.

Adam taking Dan's pirate ship for a ride.  That wagon has gotten a lot of use.

Take cover or Ben'll get ya.

This is what Christmas morning is all about.  These faces bring so much happiness to me.

Gracie and Adam playing with the train set.  I love how my kids play so nicely together.

Hannah did an excellent job building her airplane out of Lego's.  I'm so glad they have Lego's for girls.

What a good big brother Dan is, giving Adam a ride.

The girls each got a Fijit.  They're pretty cool and Sarah really enjoyed hers.