SNOW!!!!

 With the last few storms we got a lot of snow. On P's birthday it had snowed and we tried to go "play" in the snow and P just stood there and cried. He hated it! A kid after my own heart, but I was set that he would like the snow.  We decided on a whim to go try sledding. Like other moms, I was worried letting my kids go on their own. Jared having no reservations, sent them down a rather large hill by themselves and they both yelled "MORE".

 One happy kid!

 R did crash one time because she was being overly cautious, but it didn't slow her down. 

 They loved sledding!

 This was the last run down. Jared had R, and P on the sled with him. 

This was taken right before R got pelted with snow in the face. 

Good shot on my part! :)

 The boys LOVED it, but you can tell my R's expression she was COLD!

A few days later we decided to play in the snow. 

Jared teaching the kids the "cool" way of getting into the snow. 

Yes he did a flip into it!

 P pretty amused

 But this how he spent most of the time.

 Licking the snow off his coat! Funny kid!

 We started off trying to make an igloo, but that was going to take FOREVER. So we dug into the bigger mounds of snow to make a snow cave.

 P thought he was pretty cool stuff standing on top of the snow cave!

 My brother Mike and and Sister-In-Law Kylie stopped by. While Mike was inside the house, Kylie played in the snow. Not by her own freewill, thanks Jared!

 My 3 favorite people

 Jared is such a good dad. Dropping snow on the kids heads.

 But that doesn't mean they didn't retaliate

 Making other snow caves, in the same mound of snow.

 Jared then thought it would be cool to push through one of the snow caves to make a tunnel. 

The kids actually got a kick out of climbing through it.

 On the way through

 She made it

 P's turn

 he even made it still smiling.

 Then Jared thought it would be his turn.

 Bad choice- he got stuck! LITERALLY!

 I was laughing so hard, and thought it could make a great photo op.

 Both my kids were cold and ready to come in by the time we were done.

 Check out those rosy cheeks.

 I am SOOOOO glad that my kids like playing in the snow. 

P is still a little cautious walking around in it by himself. 

He doesn't feel stable enough yet, but they both have fun!

A First

I really try to keep my posts in chronological order, 

but just realized that this had happened BEFORE Christmas. 

 On December 20th, R and I both did something for the first time. We went skiing! Most people I have spoken with throughout my life couldn't believe that I grew up in Utah with the "greatest snow on earth" and had never been skiing. Growing up my family would sled, tube, and the occasional snowmobile, but never had gone skiing. My little brother Mitch married into a MAJOR skiing family. He learned quickly, and that is all we hear about from him during the winter months! I have always given him a hard time for never taking me. After much deliberation, because of how crappy my knees are, he and his wife EvaLynn gave in.

EvaLynn's grandpa is Junior Bounous.  He is an amazing skiing legend. 

We were lucky enough to have him work with R. What a GREAT experience for her!

Getting use to being on skis

Riding the "magic carpet" up to the top of the pre-bunny hill!

Heading to the chairlift!

Then we graduated to the bunny hill. We were at Snowbird Ski Resort and their bunny hill is called Chickadee. I just love the name! You can't tell, but that is me and my brother up on the hill.

R cruisin' down Chickadee with Junior. Junior is in the yellow helmet that comes from the right,

 under the chairlift headed to the left of the screen!

Me! Yes,  I realize that I am going pretty slow(you can see me pushing myself with my poles a few times), but I was working on my turns!  And yes, I also realize that R was going ten times faster than me!

We were only able to go for a few hours, but R had enough! What a cutie!

Personal lessons I learned:

*I enjoy skiing. I REALLY want to go again. I might appreciate snow more!

*Skiing itself doesn't hurt my knees, but walking around in ski boots before and after KILLS!!!!! So for future times I will just wear my snow boots, or gym shoes to the point of clipping into the skis. 

Then switch into the boots and skis at the same time. 

*I need to trust myself more. I was SO cautious that I went pretty slow, and never fell over!

*You are never too old to try something new!

Christmas-Finally!!!

 This year I decided to put the camera down on Christmas Eve(don't be too shocked), since we do the same thing every year.  It consists of lighting our Christmas candles, singing Christmas songs, telling the Nativity story(this year with a felt board which worked out GREAT), and opening the one special present from Grandma Trease and Bob. Which are always new jammies! 

On with Christmas morning. My kids are by all means not early risers. Even on Christmas morning...... except this year. I hear "mom.............mom.....MOM". Yes, my dear little lady was waking me up at 2:45am. "Its Christmas" she said. I which replied "R, it is SOOOOO early Santa probably hasn't even come yet, so go back to bed!!!!!"
To my surprise she obeyed and went back to sleep and woke up like her usual self around 7:30am.  

We were lucky to have my Mom, Dad, and my sister Mindy with us Christmas morning. 

It made it so much more enjoyable.  

Stockings first-

Check out our cool version of a fireplace. Its a DVD we got last year, and enjoyed this year. You can have it set to play Christmas music or to just crackle and pop like a normal fireplace. Its pretty cool! 

Thanks Demings!

 Trying to reach everything :)

 Onto Santa Sacks-

Each kid has their own Santa Sack where Santa leaves their presents!

 And the unwrapping begins!

 A Merida doll!

 P needed a little help getting started!

 Very pleased with his "peas". A little version of R's.

 In the bottom of P's Santa Sack were 25 Chevron cars(unwrapped). As soon as he saw the first one, he was finished unwrapping presents. So R helped him out while he checked out ALL of his new cars!

 Checking out her things

 Then we opened presents. 

This was R's "BIG" one from the Buhlers(who I work for).

 Ever since P got a little couch for his birthday, R has been wanting one. She feels even more lucky because it has a little blanket that can zip on and off. (check out the TV again, lol)

 Just a few of the cars

 Testing out their foam swords they each got in their Santa Sack.  

Jared is a big fan!

 I wanted a picture of both kids on their couches, 

but P refused unless ALL of his cars were with him.

 You can kind-of see the white storage bins.  They look like steps and are in the top/middle of this picture. That is what P got for Christmas from the Buhlers a little early. I had found them on KSL for a great deal. I also had a "feeling" that P would be getting a lot of cars for Christmas that would need a home. All I can say is I LOVE these storage bins. They are originally from IKEA!!!

 After a VERY yummy breakfast we headed to Santaquin for presents and Christmas lunch with the McSweeneys.

I think this is such a cute picture of R and her cousin Mia.

 Jared and Sarah were in charge of dispersing ALL the gifts!

 Just some of the fam

 R's gift from her cousin Lila

 P's gift from his cousin Sydney

 Jared's Aunty Jenny (left) and her sister Steph (right-who is pretty much like an Aunt) 

visited from Australia for a white Christmas.

 Diane was pretty excited about new snow boots

 Jared's cousin Alex (also from Australia), who is living with the McSweeneys came out pretty good!

 Jared was pretty jealous of Angelica's gift. 

Check out ALL that meat!

 Micah was pretty excited about his new

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle underwear! 

Thanks Sarah for this good laugh!

 R loved her Doodle Bear

At lunch:

 Don't you love our crowns from our Christmas Crackers?

 Yes. The whole family is wearing them! :)

 A view from the other table!

 Jared was being silly, and I totally caught it on my camera-just had to add!

 This was what I was planning on! Nice photo bomb, Laura!

 Jared, Aunty Jenny, Aunty Steph, and me. This was the last time we saw them!

I have always loved Christmas, but the things that make me love it changes the older I get. 

Its not about the presents anymore, and I love that!