Snowy Vacation

Saturday after Jake's surgery we headed up to Utah for a little snow vacation. That was in the plans already for the kids and me but we had the added bonus of a dad going with us. As soon as we arrived at Brigham City that evening, the kids donned their snow gear and headed out to the field to be pulled on the tube by Grandpa's four-wheeler. Unfortunately, we left Carlee's coat sitting on the bench at home but luckily for us, the Hansen cousins were waiting for us and Aunt Carrie had an extra coat for her to wear and Grandma keeps a lot of extra hats and gloves in the shed for anyone to borrow. They had a blast and we were lucky enough to find a few inches of snow left on the ground. It was soft and disappeared a couple of days later but the kids used up all they could.

Four little snow balls




Some crazy drivers

Grandpa and Carlee taking them for a spin

Hold on, Jake!

Wheeeeee!

John and Clark, best buds and cousins

Dad attacking the tubin' kids

Sunday, all the Utah cousins came over for dinner. The kids just love playing together. Hide 'n' Seek, Tag in the snow, and watching home movies were some of the favorites. My favorite was our boys dressing up like girls in their aunts' old dance costumes including wigs and heels. The dads were dying over how tight the leotards were and the moms were loving Zach's Michael Jackson dance moves. That boy has got skills! Unfortunately we were laughing too hard to take pictures. Too bad because that really could have been some serious blackmail!

On Monday, we headed over to Heber City to go tubing at Soldier Hollow. It was so much fun. It wasn't busy and the tubing hills were perfect for kids. They even have a rope tow that hooks onto your tube and pulls you up the mountain. We spent a lot of time making trains and connected circles and racing down the lanes. The weather was gorgeous, warm, and sunny so about halfway through, we shed our coats, gloves, and hats and tubed in snowpants and sweatshirts. It was beautiful!

Pulled up the mountain by the rope tow

Getting a wave and a smile from Grandpa

First down was Clark

followed by Katelyn

Jake fell out of his tube about 1/4 of the way down so he shoved it down the hill and just chased after it. We were all yelling at him to jump back on it and slide down but he just kept running. He didn't have a clue as to what we were saying. We were laughing so hard watching him chase an empty tube down the mountain.

No clue where his tube was this time.

Half of the time we didn't know where Jake was. He just kept going and going without waiting for anyone or wanting to race people down. He was just loving it!

Dad and Carlee

Mom and Carlee

Carlee found this tube that was "just her size" and I don't think she got out of it once. She just hung on and let us pull her around and push her down the hills.

Unfortunately, there aren't any pictures of Grandma. She was our photographer and is so good at just watching us have all the fun. After tubing for a while, we headed into town to get a late lunch. Granny's is usually the fave in Heber City but it is closed on Mondays so we went to Dairy Keen. It is a burger and shake joint decorated like a train depot. The food was great and they had train displays all over the restaurant. Then we went downtown to the Gateway to do a little shopping before heading back up to Brigham.

Another activity we always have to do while visiting Utah is bowling. The kids absolutely love bowling. And it was the first activity Joe and I did on our first date so we like to challenge each other when we go. On Tuesday, we went to FatCats in Ogden for some pin action...

I love taking pics of the unique bowling styles and stances...

Then we hit Farr's Ice Cream for a treat before heading back to Grandma and Grandpa's.

For dinner that evening, we met everyone at Maddox Steakhouse for a great dinner.

Wednesday, we packed up and headed down to Lehi to visit the other side of the family. We stayed at my sister's house this time and had a great time moving and building furniture for their newly finished room in the basement and letting the kids play and play and play. Luckily for us, it snowed during the night so the kids woke up bright and early to snow all over the ground. They couldn't wait to get on their snow clothes. It was difficult to make them eat breakfast before they were pulling on their snowpants over their pajamas. Jay and Joe shoveled the driveway and sidewalks, the kids built snowmen and forts, and Cath and I took pics of the whole thing.

Making a snow angel

Apparently Sierra didn't get enough breakfast

Stubborn Jax

Brooklyn tromping through the snow

Starting to build the snowman

Stacking him high

Finishing touches

Kate and Sierra with the finished product

Clark is starting the snow fort

Jake needs a rest and a snack

Observers--Jax and Brooke

Two crazy boys on top of a big snowball


Two crazy girls swinging in the snow

Look out! Jay's gonna get ya!

The rest of the week was spent shopping at my favorite stores, playing laser tag and roller skating, jumping and sliding on the bounce houses and slides, sleeping over at Aunt Jenn and Uncle Kyle's and having a good time. It was a fun trip and a great break.

Holes, Holes, Holes

Jake had oral surgery just after Joe got back on February 22nd to extract 3 baby teeth (2 were extra) and 1 extra permanent tooth that were crowded into one space in his mouth. The timing couldn't have been more perfect in that track break started that day so he didn't have to miss any school and his father was home from Haiti to take him to the hospital at 6:00 in the morning so I and the rest of the kids could sleep in!

Jake wasn't quite sure what to expect but I assured him that he could eat soup, popsicles, shakes, and yogurt for the next couple of days to his heart's content. He did really well and one of our best anesthesiologists (we have 3 that we know and love here) took him back and put him to sleep. The procedure only took about an hour and when Jake woke up mid-morning he was ready to go home but asked if he could stay in his pajamas all day. He relaxed a bit on the couch and I kept coaxing him to take a nap since I thought maybe he was tired from the anesthesia but he would have none of it. In fact, at about 3:00 in the afternoon, he changed into his clothes and went outside to play. No complaining. No pain. He was only upset about not getting to eat chips or crackers for a few days. Nothing can stop this kid!

Dr. Bodily let him take home his teeth and oxygen mask for the tooth fairy who paid him a visit and left him $10! Needless to say, that caused some contention among his older brother and sister who usually get a few quarters or $1.00 for their teeth but they didn't have to be put to sleep to lose their teeth so the tooth fairy was justified.

Here's our toothless wonder for the next few years!

Katelyn got her own set of holes but not in her mouth, in her ears! She wanted to get her ears pierced for her 8th birthday but around her birthday, she never really brought it up so I didn't think too much about it. I didn't get mine done until I was 12 but she really wanted it and Joe and I thought that as long as she was responsible enough to clean and take care of her ears and earrings, she could do it for her birthday.

Honestly I didn't think she would be able to go through with it because she freaks out and cries when getting immunizations so I didn't press her to get it done. She would bring it up periodically but still didn't make the push to make me take her. During the month that Joe was gone, she talked about it incessantly. I told her that I would take her when he got back. So the day after Joe got home, she and I made a little trip to Claire's to get her ears pierced. She was really brave and didn't make a fuss. I guess she wanted them done pretty badly because there were no tears or backing out. All she did was hold my hand and squeeze tightly. Then she picked out her earrings and it's been great ever since. Six weeks were up just in time to get some cute new earrings for Easter.

Now she can wear her hair back so her earrings will show that she doesn't look like a boy (Hmmmm)