Winter 2012

We have had a great winter, although the snowfall has been unusually light here in Utah. Here are the kids playing with their Legos, one of their favorite toys. They built a great castle one day and asked me to take a picture of it.

We have had a few warm days scattered throughout the winter - always an opportunity to head to a park and soak in some sunshine!

In January we ventured up to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden, Utah for a fun day of exploring. Here are the kids trying to pull the sword from the stone, and below that they are sitting inside a teepee.

The kids are now both taking karate together. It is wonderful exercise for them, especially in the winter months when we can't get outside.

It was so nice to have a visit from Grammy at the end of January while John was in Thailand for an army drill. The kids enjoyed playing Candyland with Grammy. 

We went to get Daddy at the airport in mid-February after he had been away for almost a month. The kids and I were very happy to see him!

We had a few snowstorms this winter, enough to play outside in the snow and do a little sledding. And no winter would be complete without a snow angel!

Christmas 2011

What a wonderful Christmas we had this year! So many blessings to be thankful for. Our visitor for the week of Christmas was Grandad and the kids enjoyed playing with him. Uncle Pete and Aunt Jen were able to visit for a few days after Christmas and it was good to see them too.

Rachel and Carson each had a chance to see Santa this year and tell him what they want for Christmas. This was the first year that Rachel didn't scream in fear at the sight of Santa, she actually sat on his lap!

The kids love to share Grandad's cereal in the morning. They were excited to show Grandad all their dress ups!

Christmas Eve we went to a church service. Afterwards the kids couldn't wait to get home to open one present.

The excitement was palpable on Christmas morning! Santa brought Carson his favorite Lego set and Rachel received a Barbie camper set. But I think their favorite gift was the light-sabers they found in their stockings. Let the Star Wars battles begin!

Daddy had his work cut out for him this year since Carson's favorite Lego set has over 1000 pieces. Four hours later, the Republic Frigate was complete!

Even Grandad joined the toy assembly projects on Christmas day. Although he hasn't built a Barbie camper for about 30 years, he was able to get this one together.

Carson in full Star Wars get-up!

Who let her in?

Carson has recently started karate class and here he is during class one day. He aims to be either a Ninja or a Jedi.

Thanksgiving 2011

We had a great time hosting Thanksgiving out west this year! So nice to see relatives that we haven't seen for a while. We decided to grill our turkey outside and the weather cooperated. It was quite warm for a late November day and the men had fun tending the grill. 

The kids love playing with their Uncle Pete.

Rachel hasn't seen her cousin Veronica in a while and it was a treat to cook with her and play with her.

After watching Daddy carve the turkey, Carson wanted to give it a try. 

We even had time for a walk on Thanksgiving day!

The day after Thanksgiving we did some bowling. This was a first for Rachel and Carson and they had lots of fun. No candlepin bowling out here, its the big HUGE balls. We were amazed at how well the floor withstood the pounding from Carson dropping the ball from waist-high.

Carson is a big fan of Star Wars, and here he is using the 'force' to make his ball go in the direction he wants. Believe it or not he actually got a strike while using the force, so he now considers himself a Jedi.

The Sunday after Thanksgiving was a gorgeous day for a family hike. Even though it was chilly it was sunny and clear. 

Last week we had a major wind storm - winds in our neighboring town were recorded at up to 100mph. It was sad to see many large trees ripped out of the ground by the wind. Here is one at a park by our house (click to see a larger image - Rachel is in pink and Carson is in brown). Fortunately we had no trees down in our yard and we only lost power for 14 hours.

Disneyland 2011

We recently celebrated Rachel's sixth birthday with a trip to Disneyland. The highlight for her was a birthday lunch at Ariel's Grotto, a restaurant where princesses walk around and visit with each table. Even Carson had fun meeting each princess (he generously gave each princess some of his stickers).

While at Disneyland, Rachel was very interested in meeting Tinkerbell and all the princesses we could find. The long lines did not deter her! The boys went off to the AstroBlasters Buzz Lightyear ride while the girls waited in line to meet princesses. It seemed to be worth the wait, she was thrilled to meet all of them!

Carson was excited to meet Woody and thank goodness there was no line!

The kids loved having a chance to drive a car. We did the Autopia ride twice - the kids at the wheel! And we had fun in the bumper cars at California Adventure.

We decided to have caricature portraits done of the kids (they came out really cute). Rachel was very patient while her portrait was done. Carson has more trouble sitting still and was getting very impatient during his portrait. Daddy treated them to a lollipop after they sat still so well for the artist.

The kids enjoyed playing house at Mickey Mouse's house in Toontown.

After searching all of pirate island, the kids were very excited to find the treasure!

Snack time! When on vacation, we toss out nutrition standards temporarily :)

 

Here we are just before taking Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, a ride that we all enjoyed.