Natural Bridges

Another Saturday means another hike!  We headed South and it was much warmer.  Jeremy took us to Natural Bridges.  It was a lot of fun.  Some parts were a little scary and had me sweating a little, but it was soo much fun!

The kids learned about all the Indian writings on the rock and they saw lots of natural bridge formations.

One Elderly gentleman was walking up the trail as we were walking down.  He passed Jeremy and the kids and then stopped me.  He asked why I let my little girl pack a gun on her belt.  It was true. She was wearing a little BB gun. Olivia has been shooting with her dad numerous times using a BB Gun and she likes to wear it (unloaded).  She is very careful with it whether it is loaded or not and doesn't take it out to play with it or point it at anything except with her Dad.  I tried to explain that to this guy, that is was an unloaded BB Gun and she was safe.  This did not satisfy the man.  He told me in some unkind words that she was not safe and she should not be allowed anything and that no one should carry a gun on trails.  This made me sad more than anything.  I couldn't get away fast enough from this yelling man.  I was grateful for the gun in case he attacked me!  So grateful that we have the right to carry arms in America.

It was pretty steep at times and Coy did awesome!  So did Jeremy with the baby!  I was stinking nervous!

Selfies with my handsome boys!!

Valentine's Day! LoVe

Valentine's Day is pretty busy for me and I LOVE it!  I usually wait till the last minute to think of what kind of scavenger hunt I am going to do for the kids.  Plus Jeremy is super busy at the hospital's dinner cooking food for the town of Blanding!  Do I sound bitter?  I'm not.  He's only done it for the past 3 years.  But it makes him happy and that makes me happy.

This was my best attempt to make Olivia's hair "Valentiny."

This year I printed out all the Valentine's clues and glued them to the back of Princess playing cards.  The first stop was Stacy's house where we picked up Palmer.  All the clues had a task to fill before they were handed the next stop.  Mason can't help but point out every bug and Stacy was more then happy to show love by seeing it!

Cohen LOVES spy stuff and clues make him sooo excited.  He was definitely fast!  I really need to make them harder next year.  We ended up at a friend's house that had a bounce house and many other fun places including Grandma's house where they ate dinner as part of a task.

Tradition has it I always make breakfast for dinner for the kids on V-Day.  Heart shaped things as much as possible.  I even tried hearts with Bacon.  YUM!  A pink drink and strawberries are a must!

I am so lucky to have these kids!!!  After the kids ate, Grandma and Grandpa babysat so I could join Stacy and some friends down at the hospital to eat a delish dinner made with love by my hubby.  He even made an appearance to give me a kiss!!

Sugar Cookies and everything nice!

I just love when my kids come home with that special list of classroom names to make Valentines for!  Valentines to me is a sign that Winter is coming to an end, it's not really but LOVE and Spring make me happy!

So we spent the day making Valentines cookies!  My kids had so much fun decorating them and delivering them for Family Home Evening.  Pretty sure Mason just had a good time eating them - well at least licking the frosting!

It is a tradition that I always burn the last batch of cookies, no matter how hard I try not to.  Not sure why Mason reached across to grab one at the moment I clicked the picture.  He burnt across his little fingers.  Made me so sad.  I guess he thought they were chocolate??

Hovenweep

What do you do when you can no longer stand being cooped up inside on a February morning?  You head South where it is warmer...sorta..

It might have been a little colder than expected...  But these cute kids had so much fun.  The big kids went on a longer trail and the littles stayed with me to take our time through the ruins.  Don't mind the holes in Olivia's pants.  They are her favorite.  She thinks they look super cool that way!

I love watching these two become good buddies.  All the kids live to make Mason smile.

Winter Story Time!

Thank goodness for Story time during the long Winter months.  McCoy loves to go and listen to stories and do a craft after.  McCoy LOVES crafts.  Mason just pretty much runs around until it's time to go.  Occasionally Mase will get curious at the stories and sit down by McCoy for about 3 seconds and then he's off to find something else to do!  After crafts we return books and head home for a nap!

New Year's Eve

This year we stayed in for New Year's. It was so nice and needed. The kids made forts and camped out to ring in the new year till 9:00. Happy New Year!!

Christmas Happenings

It was a busy, tiring day full of cat naps, doll playing, smoothie-making, Play Doh messes, bowling alley,  more sliding into a fort!  It was a crazy fun day.  Now who's going to clean up this mess?

Primary Christmas Gift

This had to be hands down my favorite Christmas gift the kids got.  Their primary president Shantil Shumway and her counselors worked hard and made these wood plaques for each of the kids.  I am sure it was a lot of work.  Before they were to open their gifts they were supposed to hold the gift and think about how you were a Child of God.  Of course I didn't know this at the time the kids were opening them.  I just saw Cohen sit down and hold the package and think.  I asked him what he was doing.  He told me and we had a nice talk with the kids.  This is what Christmas is truly about and I am so grateful for the hard work those ladies did so that I could have this moment with my kids.