Can't seem to catch my breath!

So I finally updated our blog at least a little bit, my removing the Christmas Decor and music! The sad thing is I haven't downloaded Christmas pics or Taysom's birthday or Addison's birthday. I promise to do it soon! Since we all went back to school in January, it seems like the world has sped up considerably! I have 12 credits at Weber State this semester and just finished my 5 credit math class at the DATC, and this has really monopolized all my supposed free time. I have decided not to do any school work on sundays so maybe I can use just a minute or two to update our blog on these days.

Let it snow! Let it snow!

We are supposed to be leaving for Bear Lake this afternoon, but a giant snowstorm has come in promising 20 inches in the mountains so we are going to have to delay a day. The kids are so excited about leaving so when we broke the bad news some tears were actually shed. Especially when we informed Taysom she would have to attend a full day of school today instead of being checked out early! I myself am a little relieved because there is still a mighty list of things I have to complete before heading out. Not the least of which is another trip to Walmart! What did I do with my time exactly when there was no Walmart 4 miles from my door? How did I manage without 3 weekly trips? Randy and I stayed up wrapping gifts until 1am and that is when I discovered another trip to Walmart was in order. The last time we went to Bear Lake for Christmas we just kept saying how nice it was that everything was done once we got up there. All the groceries, presents, everything had to be done ahead of time. What I quickly forgot was the massive headache getting everything done ahead really is! Today the house looks like a bomb went off! There are clothes strewn across the house, half done loads of laundry in the washer, folding chairs and tables propped against walls from last night's Garside Family Christmas Party, dirty dishes from same party, and wrapping paper, tape and scissors just about everywhere you look! Yes, I believe that snowstorm came just in time. It may have bought me a few more hours to restore my sanity and make it so I won't dread returning to this place in a week. Let it snow! Ok, after we had arrived it really was a fun trip! We had tons of fun playing in the snow and playing on the Wii and swimming and just being together. It was a great Christmas!

Algebra what?

I just got home from my math class and I just have to say that math is a lot harder when you are 30 something rather than 13! I seem to be taking about 3 steps forward and one step back. My awesome neighbor has been so great to tutor me whenever I get stuck, but I can't believe the concerted effort it actually takes to get my brain working in this way. I have just one section left and then my final which I plan to have done by next week. I can't wait! I am tired of having weird equations in my dreams and wondering if I can figure something out with two variables or just one, when I am just doing laundry. I don't seem to be able to separate my math issues from my regular life. My advice to anyone under 18: go directly to college after high school and complete your math requirements so they don't come back to haunt you 20+ years later!

Family Photo Shoot

We finally got our act together enough to get updated family photos. The last professional family pic we have is when Sawyer was 15 mos. old. Need I remind any of you, Sawyer is now 5 1/2!!! We had my sister McKell's sister-in-law Julie take our pictures. We met her in Provo and went up Provo Canyon. I had told her I wanted a fall leafy kind of photo and she knew just the place. We were really pleased with the results. I especially loved the individual photos of the kids. After Julie left, we walked down by the playground and took some of our own photos by the river. I love those too! We left the park and visited Brady, Wendy and Wyatt and then went to the Spaghetti Factory for dinner to celebrate Randy and Taysom's birthdays. It was definitely the best family photo day we have ever had. We usually have at least some tears and always someone gets their clothes or hair wrecked before we can even get a shot taken. Maybe we should always wait 4 years between pics!

Freaky First Snow

We really had no idea when we went to bed Saturday night that we would wake up to a Winter Wonderland! The weatherman had been predicting snow, but considering it had been 85 degrees for the high just 4 days before, we figured it would never even make it to the ground before melting! So when we awoke to a good 2-3 inches on the ground we were amazed. We have late church so the kids immediately grabbed all their snow gear from the basement and didn't even bother to get dressed before heading out into it they just put snow pants over their pj's. While they headed for snow pants, I headed for Christmas music! I haven't felt like listening to it yet this season (I am a good 3 weeks behind my normal schedule) since it has been so hot! But wow, I was in the mood now! I even made a video of the kids out playing with Winter wonderland in the background! I made a yummy breakfast including hot chocolate while they played and then after breakfast we all went back outside. Because the trees haven't even really turned colors yet let alone drop their leaves, we had to keep shaking all the snow off to prevent broken branches. Randy and I headed over to Oma and Papa's because they were in Park City ( which received no snow by the way) and shook their trees as well. When we returned it had ramped up to blizzard level and this is when I took the photos. When it was all finished we had received 11 inches of snow! Incredible! Crazy news is forecast for all of next week: temps in the mid 70's! I guess it won't last, but even as I type their is still snow on my beautiful green grass!

Zoe's Birthday

Ok, I realize her birthday was 3 months ago, but Zoe thinks it is unfair that I documented Sawyer's birthday and not hers. So here we go! Zoe turned 3 on June 28th and we had a fun little party at home with Oma and Papa. Taysom, Addison and Sawyer all went with Daddy to the store to buy her presents and she was adorable opening their gifts. She got a princess backpack for preschool and some darling clothes and other things, but the highlight was taking her and her cousins to Build a Bear a month later where they each got to pick an animal. Zoe picked an elephant and dressed her in a tutu and named her George. We talked her into Georgia because I didn't feel good about an elephant dressed in drag! Spencer chose a white and pink teddy and named her Acimena! Yeah, she came up with that all on her own! Carson chose a cute brown bear and didn't want any clothes for him, just sunglasses! His bear is named John! They were all so funny! We took a cute picture of all of us at the Gateway in front of the fountains. It was a really good day, until later when we made the stupid mistake of taking 10 kids to IKEA, but that is a different story.... Anyway, my favorite memory from her birthday will be the cute way she holds up 3 fingers and the way she kept saying " Yay! Today I'm Flee!" What a doll!

Monte Cristo Camping Trip

Our most favorite place to camp as a family is Monte Cristo! It was the first place we ever camped as a family and it has remained our favorite ever since. We try to go at least once every year, but weren't able to make it last year so it made this trip extra special! We took our usual hike and took pictures of all the kids sitting in the hollowed out tree just like we did 8 years ago! It was amazing to see how the girls have grown! Taysom was Zoe's age then, how the time has flown by. We were lucky that our trip coincided with the Ogden Astrological Society's star gazing party and the members were kind enough to invite us to come and look through their telescopes friday night. They pointed out Venus, the Andromeda cluster, a bunch of nebulus's, a star nursery and all these other cool things that I can't remember right now but was super interesting at the time! The kids loved it and will remember it forever I'm sure. We also were able to drive an hour to Bear Lake and see Brady, Wendy and family who were there for her family reunion. We had a great time playing in the water and building things in the sand. Randy and I daydreamed of the time when we have our own boat to bring with us. When we returned to the campsite we had dinner, told funny/scary stories around the campfire, ("Jared! Jared!")
We couldn't have had a better trip unless we could have stayed longer!