What Snow??

The last few days have been just beautiful. And although my previous post showed us making snow angels and a snowman, what we did this weekend was almost the exact opposite of that, and none of us bothered to even put on a jacket. First we - that really means Phil - winterized the house, with Riley climbing up on the roof for the first time ever, to help his dad. (Boy did he think that was cool.) And then we played on the trampoline, rode bikes, played basketball with Grandma and Grandpa and Kyle, rolled in the dirt with Jack, roller skated, played on swing sets and slides, and rode on scooters. Needless to say we have all been sleeping very well the last few night.

"Forky"

Can you believe it, SNOW!! Riley was so worried that all the snow would melt while we were at church. But it didn’t and as soon as we got home and grabbed a quick bite to eat, we headed out into our backyard.

After some thrown snowballs and a couple of snow angels, Riley had to make a snowman. There wasn’t a lot of snow, and so he had to be smaller then the average snowman, but a wonderful snowman all the same. And with Riley’s “elephant brain”, he remembered the wonderful gift that Fabulous Aunt Janet gave me last year for Christmas, a snowman kit complete with carrot nose, pipe, buttons, eyes, and a matching scarf and hat, of course. After I got it last year, it never snowed enough for us to make a snowman until yesterday, and luckily Riley’s brain never forgets anything, so we were able to use it for the first time.

We used all the snowman parts, but Riley thought he still needed arms and legs, so Phil found some twigs, and once they were in place, Riley dubbed the snowman “Forky”, since with the twigs sticking out of him, he resembled a fork. (So Riley says.)

Wesley, loved to help, and seemed to be the only one oblivious to the fact that snow is actually really cold. But that didn’t bother Wesley, and he was very disappointed when we finally went inside because the rest of us wanted to warm up a little.

A Beautiful Weekend!!

As a lot of you know, this past Tuesday was mine and Phil’s 10th anniversary! (Boy I’m old.) Anyway, Phil surprised me with a weekend away at a gorgeous Bed and Breakfast called Johnson’s Mill in Midway Utah. (He’s such a sweetheart.)

So we have had a nice relaxing weekend, and I got to take a few hundred pictures of all sorts of things. The Bed and Breakfast is set next to a wildlife preserve and has a lake and a lot of waterfalls throughout the property. The biggest waterfall was right next to the balcony outside of the dining room, and cascaded down into a couple of different ponds.

I think Phil’s favorite part was the fact that there was wildlife everywhere. There were swans, ducks and geese that came right over to us while we were in the gazebo that was out it the middle of the lake. We took a walk Saturday night and ended up about 20 feet away from about 10 head of deer. And we even saw a fox that was scampering away into its den. (I was too fascinated by this to remember to try and snap a picture.)

Our room was beautiful with a huge bed that I practically pulled a hamstring trying to get onto, a large jetted tub, a huge balcony and a fireplace that warmed both the living room and the bathroom. Saturday we were suppose to go on a horseback ride, but the rain made it necessary to cancel the ride, and so we spent the day in Park City shopping. (Mostly for the boys, which is always more fun then for myself.) The whole weekend was wonderful, but I’m glad to be back home, (and to my own comfortable bed) because although the peace and quiet was nice for a weekend, I missed the sounds of my boys. (Although, maybe not the whining.)

By the way - Thanks Mom and Dad for taking our kids for us!!

Halloween is Coming!

This is the first year, in probably more than 5 or 6 years that I have done more decorating for Halloween then just a few pumpkins, and a witch’s hat on Tigger and Pooh. I’m very proud of myself. Actually I can’t take all the credit. My two boys love any holiday, and it just seems to make it more fun and exciting if you decorate for it, Right? Riley drew and colored some decorations that he has had on his bedroom door for the past week, but was thrilled when I announced last evening that we were headed to Target for some decorations for the outside. Riley never goes to the store without a moan, a groan or a whine and usually it’s a combination of the three throughout the entire shopping trip. However, he was thrilled to go with me last night. In fact we ended up going not only to Target, but to Kmart and Wal-mart as well, and I heard not a moan or groan or whine come out of either of my two little men. Phil even had fun putting up our funny little witch on the house. Riley was elated to decorate the front door with little sticky things, and Wes was fascinated by anything and everything, especially the pumpkins.

When did all of this happen???

Sometimes I just sit back and look up at the collage of pictures hanging on my office wall, and wonder, when did all of this happen??
On my rather large wall, there are pictures of all four of us sisters, my wedding, and my sister’s weddings. There are pictures of Riley’s birth and pictures of Jack who made me an aunt for the first time, pictures of Wesley’s birth and pictures of Porter and Sophie, who made me an Aunt three times over. There’s a picture of Riley wearing his Karate uniform for the first time, and one of Wesley with his little head-shaping helmet on. Some pictures with my boys together, and many of them individually that show the progression of their growth.
The other day Riley came home and told me how he got to watch the ballet dancers in the lunchroom, and I just smiled, and asked if it was Ballet West. He was shocked that I knew. But, wasn’t it just yesterday that I was walking down the halls of Aspen Elementary, thinking how grown up I was as I toted my chair to the lunchroom to watch Ballet West perform Little Red Riding Hood for our school. It wasn’t Little Red Riding Hood that Riley had seen, in fact, I don’t remember now what he said it was, for in my head I can only see the Wolf and the beautiful girl with the red cape short enough that it barely touched her tutu. How is it that I have a child that is experiencing so many of the things, that I swear, I just experienced yesterday. I truly wonder - when did all of this happen??

Amazing!!

It sure is fascinating what children will find amazing. Yesterday, Wesley ran out of diapers, and therefore Phil made a trip to the store to get some more while I took Riley to his TaeKwonDo class. When Riley and I got home, Wesley had to come and show me his new prize, while I happened to be trying out some buttons and modes and stuff, with my new camera. I happened to catch this one moment, where he must have seen something on the diaper package that just shocked and amazed him. (And then of course I had to try and be creative in PhotoShop with it, since I'm learning so much in my class. Too bad I'm not any good. YET, that is.)