January

We started January by heading up to Brianhead. It was a cold, snowy, cold, snowy weekend.  It was actually quite the adventure. We headed up Friday night.  Marci and the kids met Adam in Cedar City because he was coming from Northern Utah. We had dinner and then moved everything from the van to the truck (because we needed 4 wheel drive to get up there.  We were about 1/2 up the mountain to Brainhead when we realized something was wrong. We pulled over and sure enough we had left the tailgate down and we had lost our cooler filled with all our food somewhere between Cedar and now.  We turned around and back tracked- praying that it hadn't fallen out on the freeway and caused a bunch of stuff all over the road.  Our prayers were answered and we saw our green cooler at the bottom of the mountain pulled off on the side of the road in Parowan.  so lucky and only ended up losing a little bit of food.  I am not sure how it had fallen out so nicely but I felt truly best.   Once we made it up to Brianhead we had quite a bit of snow!! The whole front area of the cabin was filled with FEET of snow. There was no way the truck was getting in without shoveling.  So we got out and tried to at least clear enough to park for the night.  After just a little bit of gettting stuck in the truck we made it into the cabin.. got settled and tried to sleep!  Cade had other things on his mind.  He is the worst sleeper away from home.  He literally was going going going all night long. He knows how to climb out of his pack and play so there is no trapping him and letting him cry it out.  Let's just say it was a long night!! The next morning we hung out for a bit and then decided to give tubing a try. Lincoln loved it last year so he was pretty excited. We went to get our tickets and realized that we had both left our wallets at the cabin. So I stayed with the kids in the cold while adam went back to the cabin to get the money. They were still excited to go once we got the tickets but it didn't last long.  Lincoln went down maybe a total of 3 times.... norah went 1x.... and then they were done. It was just so darn cold.  Cade was just wining the whole time because he couldnt go up and had to stay in the sled and be pulled around.  We probably lasted 45 minutes.  Waste of money haha.  Anyway it was good to get out but you can tell by the look on the kids faces it was not enjoyable.  :)

 It continued to snow and as you can tell by all the snow on our deck it was quite the snowstorm. We were planning on staying Sat night as well but because another storm was coming in and with how rough the previous night had been with Cade and not sleeping we decided against it and headed home that night.  I know I make it sound like a bummer of a weekend but it actually was a fun little get away.  Really relaxing and chill (because a lot of it was spent just chilling inside the cabin looking out at the snow).

 Marci got her first shiner--- compliments of Cade. He went through a little head butting stage--- and MArci was on the wrong end of it.  It lasted for a good little bit.  I def. got quite a few looks from people.

 Cade is our little tazmanian devil.  Always going and always destroying.  Everything happens so fast.

 Norah had fun with Nana one afternoon. She gathered all the stuffed animals and taught them at school.

 Norah is quite the little picky eater. This particualar night she had 'olive soup' and applesauce.

 Lincoln saw a picture from when cade was a newborn and how each of them were lying by each other like this.. so he wanted to recreate it.  Little cuties.

 Norah got her helicopter toy stuck in her hair. It is rough having long hair sometimes.  Luckily we got it out fairly easy without having to cut any hair.

 The kids love looking at chatbooks and old Blog books!!  I do this for them.

 We had Wittwer Peach trimming and Pops found a gopher in one of the traps across the orchard.  So Pops gave the kids a little lesson on the anatomy of gophers and they were loving it.

 For Evening of the Arts at Lincoln's elementary he wanted to do something so we came up with the idea to do a space scene since he is loving up on all things space right now.  He came up with all the ideas and put it into action. He took this super serious and put his little heart into it all. And it turned out awesome.  He did the whole solar system out of clay.

 Here his project is on display and he is telling his teacher all about it.

 Later in Jan. we went to Pine Valley for a day.  The kids loved tubing behind the rhino.

 We def. wore the kids out because on the way home they were all out like a light. Such a fun day.

Marci Girls Trip to Florida

It was time for a Girl's Trip!!!  Florida was the destination of choice this time.  Joanna lives down there now and all the rest of us were ready to get out of the cold and head somewhere warm so it was the perfect choice!!  Those who made the trip.....

Sabrina Thomas, JoAnna Swensen, Melissa Berry, Kacey Swensen, Whitney Blake, and Laurie Armstrong.  We missed the other few that werent able to attend. Next time. :)  We all flew in on a Wed. evening. After being picked up at the airport by the fabulous Jo we got some dinner and then did a little shopping.  Then off to get some rest before the next day at Universal Studios--- more importantly the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  

The next morning we attempted to save some money by going to a 'timeshare presentation' haha.. what a joke.  we realized about 10 minutes into it that it wasn't worth our time or money. So we quickly bailed and headed right to the park.  It was the perfect day.  No crowds... warm weather.. and so fun to just hang with these chicas and not have to worry about only doing kid rides or making sure kiddos are taking care of.  Amusement parks with just adults are pretty awesome.  

Harry Potter World was def the highlight of the park..  I loved all the detail that was put into everything.  Pictures do no do this place justice.

The frozen Butter Beer was pretty tasty as well. 

We had fun doing the other rides as well. Lots of rides with 3D glasses and lots of rides from the 90's. The park could def. use some updating but we had a blast non the less.

After the park closed we drove up to JoAnnas house and spent the night there. The next morning we headed out to do some kayaking on the Rainbow River.  Oh this was so relaxing and the perfect way to catch up and chat with everyone.  It was another beautiful day.  

Later that night we got to go to the UF womens Gymnastics meet. I guess Jo is a regular and she wasnt going to miss a match. We all got some cheap shirts from Walmart... and showed our Gater pride.  It was so fun and their fans really get into it and they were really good.  If I lived there I could def be a fan!

We all wanted to make sure we did an Aipboat ride so on Sat we drove down near Orlando and checked one out.  It was def. as great as I had anticipated it to be.  So fun to cruise around on the water, seeing gaters, and other wildlife, and learning all about this area.  

We saw quite a few Gaters, birds, a bald eagle, and a bunch of other wildlife. Our tour guide was awesome.

When we got back we even got to hold a baby gater.  Cool experience for sure!

We finished our Sat off by getting some food and going to the Movies. The perfect way to end the trip.  We had one last night at the hotel and then we all flew out the next morning!  Love these girls and had a fabulous time.