Cold, Cold, Cold!

This January has been just so cold.  Miserably cold.  And gray.  And frigid.  Well, you get the idea.  At this point any snow is welcome just because it tends to warm things up and clear out the air - at least for a few days.  When it's really cold like this, the pool at the sports mall gets really steamy under the bubble.  Kind of fun since you can't actually see to the end of the lane.  You just hope you see other swimmers before you run into them, I guess.

The cold also does a nice job of coating everything in a nice thick layer of ice.  Here, it's Shawn's windshield, but also our sidewalk, and driveway and anything else that gets wet...

It's just kind of hard to love January, you know?

But on a happier note, Jonas did finally get his fancy sunglasses that were his birthday present.  Yeah, I know it was in August, but at least he got them before his next birthday.  (This was partly his fault too, for being so indecisive about which ones to get.)  But now he's all set to go outside and be protected from the glare off of the snow - if the sun ever manages to break through!

Even Superheros Have to Sleep Sometimes

I came home to find Peter asleep on my bed - all bundled under my covers.  When I went to move him to his room, I loved seeing that he was wearing his cape.  He must have worked really hard at saving the world while I was gone.

Or it could be that he wore himself out building these super fancy train tracks.  (I know I'm exhausted from it.  It's a nearly daily occurrence around here to fix or build his train tracks.)  At least we've gotten our money's worth from these toys.  He absolutely loves to play trains.

Time to Up the Fun Quotient

Apparently, I'm not the most exciting person to spend the day with.  A couple of days ago, I came into the kitchen after sending the girls out the door to school and Peter looked at me and said,

 "Well, this is going to be a long day."

So, I guess I just don't provide the same entertainment level that the kids do.  It can be pretty boring around here with just Mom to play with.  Sorry, buddy.  I'll try to do better.

Candy Anyone?

Shawn texted me these pictures from his business trip.  This was the buffet that was set out at the conference.

All I can say, is wow.

After looking at the pictures, I thought my kids - Samantha in particular, would have been in heaven (and I would have felt like I was in a nightmare with all of them.)  And I started craving a piece of chocolate.  An interesting choice for a business conference...

Ski Day

The good thing about all this snow is that it has made for some great ski days - especially when the sun is shining.  Shawn and Jonas took advantage of the nice weather and skied while the girls were in lessons.

They found Amelia and snapped a picture with her.  It looks like everyone enjoyed themselves.

Apparently, there was only time for pictures while riding the lift.  I guess that's a good sign, that they were too busy skiing the rest of the time to stop and take any photos.

So Far This Year

There has been lots of snow.  I lost count of how many times I went and shoveled just trying to stay on top of it.

My youngest brother, Jake had a birthday, which meant a family dinner at El Farol's to celebrate.

Jake blowing out the candles in his sopapilla after a lovely rendition of Happy Birthday was sung to him.

Occasionally, I leave my phone home with the kids when Shawn and I go out so they can text us if they need anything.  This was the picture that was texted to us.  Honestly!  they were supposed to be in bed.

With the huge snowstorm (the total in our neighborhood was about 25 inches! - way more than any of the ski resorts), Shawn drove my car for a couple of days.  I'm afraid now it's time to dig his car out.

This should be a fun project.

Snow(y) Day!

When it started snowing yesterday afternoon and the news people said it would keep snowing all night, we were hopeful that it would be a really big storm.  And it definitely has been.  We woke up to about 15 inches of snow in our yard!  The kids were really disappointed that school wasn't cancelled.  If we lived just about anywhere else, I'm sure it would have been, but that's one of the joys/disappointments of living in Utah.  Snow doesn't generally shut things down here.  The one time it snowed when we lived in Eugene, it was just a skiff, and it shut the whole city down.  Same with Santa Clara.  Oh well.  It has been snowing off and on all day and is supposed to keep going through tomorrow as well.  I just keep shoveling and shoveling and shoveling....

The kids are making the best of the snowy situation - even though they did have to go to school today.

Peter and Duffy climbing a snow hill.

Amelia traversing the lawn.

Digging.

Trying to decide if they can tunnel through.

This shot reminds me a little bit of Christmas Story.

Success! The tunnel is complete.  Hallee making her way through.

Amelia looking a little drunk.  Maybe there isn't enough oxygen in the tunnel?

Love the look of the snow falling in front of the camera (and around Duffy.)

Amelia pulls up a seat while her friend, Hallee works on the tunnel.

Snow Angel!

Can't wait to see what we wake up to tomorrow!

New Year's Eve

After a little hiatus last year because of sick kids, we decided to host our New Year's Eve party again.  We had our usual fondue dinner and white elephant gift exchange, but this year we also threw in a Just Dance dance off.  We moved all the furniture against the walls in the living room so there would be enough space.  It was very entertaining.  Shawn has informed me that if we are doing this again next year, I need to train.  (I never score as well as he does on this game, and I definitely brought down our average score a bit.)  After 3 or 4 rounds, he was on the individual podium, but we were down the list a bit in the couples competition.  Oh well.

2012 has been a good year overall.  I hope we're ready for whatever the new year has to bring.

Happy New Year!