Things I Loved This Winter

This winter Tyler went on a getaway, which we don’t do too often. He planned a winter getaway and some winter sports for us to try. I failed miserable at the winter sports. To the point that it was hilarious. We went snowmobiling. Twenty minutes into the ride I slammed into a tree. And we had to buy what was equivalent to a used snowmobile. Tyler was so eerily calm and laid back about it. A few days later I realized why when he had an ATV delivered to the house that he had not told me about. Hahaha, he was saving up the points to use. It sure did hurt slamming into the tree, my chest slammed into the machine and it threw me off of it. When Tyler rounded the corner he was wondering why I was playing in the snow. But the machine still somewhat worked so I decided to keep on riding it half broken. It was so bloody cold that Tyler and I’s faces were developing frostbite so we turned back. So maybe not a huge success. But we both laughed so hard that morning.

Then Tyler took us snow shoeing. I have never used snowshoes so I kept on forgetting I had them on. Then I would step backwards in them and it would flip me over and get me stuck in the deep snow. Oh my goodness, I was laughing so hard I might have peed my pants. We did stay in a bed and breakfast for the first time ever. I didn’t mess up eating and sleeping at the bed and breakfast though!

 

Another funny story that has to do with this snapshot. See how much snow there is? Well this morning I had a mom reach out to me asking if I could take her daughter to a birthday party that someone in Reagan’s class was having. I assumed Reagan had been invited and I had just lost the invite. So I said sure and drove them to downtown SLC. A huge snowstorm came down on us and I have never seen Salt Lake streets so deserted and scary! (and also beautiful) My car got stuck so many times. I was pretty proud of myself because Shae and I were able to manuever it out of the deep spots on our own each time. BUT I showes up to the party and Reagan was in fact not invited. I didn’t know this and wondered why the Mom and Dad hosting the party were just glaring at me when I dropped her off with her friend! They told me when I picked her up though. And that sure was awkward. Really awkward, and kinda funny too.

 

I had a really sweet friend that offered to take Abby to ski lessons along with her daughter. Abby did really well but sure was sore when she arrived at her dance classes every afternoon. I am still so bummed that I didn’t learn to ski. I guess it isn’t too late. But it really is easier to teach kids a new skill and get them to love it at their ages.

 

Abby also went to a fun weekend conference with her home schooled friend Emma. They attended the Expanding Your Horizons science conference at a local college. They heard from women scientists on what they’ve accomplished in their fields. And did three hands on classes to see what they could do one day in a future science based job. Abby came home and said that she wants to work as a chemist one day.

The girls got snowshoes for Christmas and used them around the neighborhood. I had a very high stress winter with opening the new kennel so did not join them or take them on real hikes with them like I would have hoped.

The girls had fun working through all their Christmas presents and awarded the ones pictured above as the weirdest picks!

My sister planned a mini St George getaway that….oh man….well I think we just need a redo is what needs to happen with that experience. BUT another opportunity to love on Lyvia, I’ll take that.

During the winter Shae attended a fun princess dance class. It was VERY hard for her to put on this full pink outfit. At one point she tried to say she lost it and hid it in her closet. Shae despises pink BUT it was the costume you had to wear to the class. Each week they focused on a different princess and did dance activities to do with that princess. It really was a cute class.

The girls attended in the winter months a Friday morning home school theatre class. Abby did fine some days but on other days it was a stretch. Can you tell by the look on her face? The hard thing about home school groups is that lots of times the only home school kids that show up are 6 and under. After the first round of classes we found another home school girl her age to go with us. It was much better after that.

Theatrepuppetshow from Vanessa Brown on Vimeo.

My older daughters and their cousin started their journey in perfecting the art of selfies. I found this picture on one of their phones and could not stop laughing.

 

Abby had a late night every month with two of her cute girlfriends. Their moms I have been friends with for years and year, through blogging! How fun that our girls have because friends.

The girls are revolting more and more from matched clothes. I KNOW IT IS TIME, I JUST AM HAVING A HARD TIME LETTING GO. Sometimes I can get away with matching like this below still.

The dogs seemed to like winter and warming up by the fire. And YES! Honey is still alive, coming up on 15. Cannot believe that she is still going.

 

Reagan had a fun winter at her preschool. There were a lot of days that she dressed up for different theme weeks. Her friends came over for playdates. Most importantly on one NOT themed day, she got ready in mismatched clothes AND gave herself a haircut. She wanted side bangs so she gave herself some.

One night we had fun Idaho cousins come to visit us. The girls had a blast together and turned everyone into kitties for the night.

Valentines Day came and went and we ate our Sees Chocolate and celebrated a bit.

My sweet friend adopted her first baby. She has been waiting forever to become a mother. So some friends and I threw her a shower, library themed!

During the winter we opened up our new kennel. I handled all the renovations of the building and it was a quite intense couple months for me. One week in particular was so bad but it was the same week my girls all had performances at a local high school. It was a blessing because it forced me to stop working for a bit and go and watch them perform. I was sure proud of them.

Video here

Lastly my sweet Cameron has been struggling a bit. So her and I have been going to therapy every week since December. It has been so nice to have extra one on one time with her. We always go to breakfast when we go to our appointment. And she gets her favorite line up of food each time. Can you guess what it is?

 

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