One Last (?) Blast of Winter

Liz was all excited for the first game of her Spring soccer season set for the last day of March. But we got a nasty surprise from a larger than expected storm. It was coming down pretty hard at midnight when I took this shot before turning in for the night. Maybe she will have better luck in a few days!

Who Knew a Camera Could Be So Fun!!

Liz had a couple of her good friends, Ashley and Baylee, over to the house this weekend. They always have a great time and Jack loves to play with them! Sometimes it drives his sister crazy! Last night, I showed them the photo booth app on the computer. I figured they would have fun with it, but I did not expect it to entertain them for hours!!

Spring Soccer Starts for Jack on a Cold Wintry Day

READY..

SET...

GO!!

CELEBRATE!!!

Jack played soccer in the Fall with the local AYSO recreation team with Gina as his coach. He really likes playing and there was not much competition for him in the local league. So we moved him for the Spring session to the same club Liz plays for so that he can get some better instruction from real coaches. He gets to play every Saturday for the next few weeks. The first 1/2 hour is practice and the last 1/2 hour is game time. It was cold and windy today with a few snowflakes falling from time to time. But that did not stop Jack from having fun. He was celebrating after his goals and running all over the place.

Gina learns to ski.....argghhh!

Yes, after many moons have passed, Paul finally got me to agree to ski! I have used up every excuse under the sun in order to not have to do this! My last one was "I can't possibly have Jack with a babysitter on Saturday since he is in daycare the rest of the week. I will do it when Jack learns and he can go with us." Well, he has known now for two years! I had nothing left and Paul knew it! So, I braved the heights (yes I hate them!) and the cold (yep I hate that too!) and put my jello butt in a lovely pair of ski pants (can't even describe the deep hatred here!) and paid for a private lesson! After witnessing one guy be taken off the mountain by the ski patrol receiving CPR and then being taken away by Life Flight, I got on the chairlift with the teacher. There I was on the mountain with every small child with no ski poles passing me by...fast! Poles to the side, working my turns and my wedges...I looked pathetic! Especially as Jack would zip past me and then sit at the bottom waiting for me cheering "Go Momma go! I am so proud of you!" as he clapped!

Adorable for everyone, embarrassing for me! He would instruct me how to go fast as I would yell, "I am going fast!" He was very worried that I would fall on my head and hurt myself so when I did fall (only 4 times in 2 days!) I twisted my knee and had to act like I was more than fine! The things mothers do for their children! The way I see it, I have hiked (hate it!) and now skied (endured it!) so it is time for Paul to do something I want to do! I'm thinking a 3 day scrapbooking convention or an all day trip to the craft store! He would LOVE that!

Easter Weekend Fun

A lot of people in SLC head for warm weather over Easter weekend, but not us. We headed north to Alta, WY (40 miles from Jackson Hole and 5 minutes from Grand Targhee!) to visit some friends and enjoy a little winter time fun. Jeff and Deb Daugherty moved up to Alta last summer and this has been a long winter for them (snow over their fences), but they sure live in a beautiful place! The first day we got there everyone had to try out Jeff's snowmobiles. Jack was really excited until he got on with Jeff and they caught some air! After that, I had to force him to ride with me and the whole time I got "don't go fast! Slow down! Ok, that's enough!" Isn't he an adventurous kid?!? Well, he was apparently worried about me getting hurt (what is with this kid?!) and when he got off he informed me that I was done too! He is a barrel of fun!


Easter was fun for the kids. There was egg decorating and an indoor easter egg hunt (the bunny would sink in the snow!) Jeff and Deb have a menagerie of animals at their house! I think they have 4 horses, 2 goats, 2 dogs, and 2 cats! The goats will stand at the door until you give them some chips or cereal. Liz and her friend walked down the driveway until Mayday came after them for food! They had to run to a neighbor's house to get some cereal just to walk home!

While there, there was lots of fort making! Liz and Lexey made one under the stairs. Jack and Abby made their's under the pool table! You could tell there had been an issue since Jack and Abby's rules basically stated that if they didn't want you there you couldn't enter the fort! Hmmmmm!

Spring Has Arrived

Spring has arrived in Utah! And that means time for more soccer for our family. We went to St. George for a weekend tournament for Liz and her team. It was their first experience traveling as a team. The girls had a great time and the weather was great. They were the youngest team at the tournament and played against girls that were 1-2 years older. They played tough and had a great time. Jack had fun on the trip too. He got to play his Nintendo DS in the car on the way there and had fun swimming in the pool at the hotel.