March Madness

March was like a lion and a lamb together and usually happening within an hour's worth of time.  Rainy, sunny, windy, snowing, sunny.  All within an hour.  What a crazy month.  A little late, but here was our calendar:

Spring Break - All in One

Well, sorry, but this is going to be an all-in-one post - no breaking it up in to days.  Which equals lots and lots of pictures.  

I was going to head out after church on Sunday to Midway with all the kids - but minus Ben (who had work of course).  However, my dad called that morning around 8 to tell me about the weather.  He was nervous about the predicted high winds on my travel - especially with all the semis that drive my route.  So I started checking the weather and saw that my highest point - Soldier Summit - could get 6-12 inches of snow on Sunday.  With high winds.  No thank you.  So I talked to my kids and told them we were going to have to leave on Monday instead.  Lots of whines and moans (some of which were from me . . .).  So I called my dad back to tell him that we would be heading out on Monday.  Then my dad brought up the possibility of going to St. George instead for a few days.  And that sounded perfect!  I checked the weather for my drive and it was just forecasted for high winds that were to be done by about 2pm.  Plus, the next few days were to be in the mid to upper 60s in St. Geroge.  Much better than Midway's 40 degree temps and more rain/snow.

So I left after the 2nd hour of church and we were off.  All was good through Grand Junction.  Then the winds picked up and were super crazy and wild.  Once Jonas even remarked, "Whoa, that moved our car!"  It had.  Then the winds weren't super crazy - but it started raining and snowing.  White-out snow conditions at times, too.  It was no fun at all.  I was stressed.  I hated it.  But we made it - even in better time than I had anticipated. (I keep thinking it's like around 8 hours to get there.  Really, I think it's more like 6 1/2.  I took me 7 hours - and that included most of the drive going under the speed limit, including a good stretch on I-15 were I was going 40, instead of the 80 limit.)

My parents, never one to shy away from driving in crappy weather, headed down to meet me.  They left around 6:30, I think, and got there by 10:30.

Monday morning I took the kids swimming at the pool.  And who did I run in to?!?!  My old childhood friend (as in a best-friend, really) from Virginia!!!!  Angela Fink (now something else).  Too crazy.  It was really fun chatting with her.  She has four kids and lives in Idaho Falls.  Just nuts.

After swimming we headed out to do some hiking in Snow Canyon.  It was cool, the weather warm, the kids happy.

They found a little cave spot.

These are pioneer names, supposedly, written with axle grease.  Miles had no fear nor hesitation in hiking up to the names.  Emmy joined him just about.  Jonas almost made it before he turned back down.

We did some little white-rock hike, too.  Miles was determined to climb up to this rocky point - the highest point at this trail.  The kid is quite impressive with his stamina and determination.

Not only did Miles climb up fast, he also ran down fast, too.  Perhaps a little too fast for me to feel completely comfortable with.  Miles is the tiny dot straight down from Emmy.  My mom, Lucy, and Jonas stayed at the bottom.  Emmy made it about 2/3 of the way up.  She could have done it, I'm pretty sure, but I was getting nervous about me helping her on the way down and so we decided she'd stay and wait.

Then we made it to the sand dunes.  The kids loved it!

Some nights included playing games, like Othello:

After the kids were down, my friend Angela came over (her grandparent's bought a condo like 2 houses down and over from my parent's place!) and we visited for quite a while.  It was fun for my parents, too.  My parents were really great friends with her parents.  Fun, fun.

Tuesday we went to this crazy park - full of all things that spin.  It's totally fun and different.  We've done it before (I think I saw it on my cousin's blog a couple years back and just had to go  :).

Last year Emmy got stuck in some bucket seats that just spin and spin and spin and never stop pretty much.  She was sick all day from it!  This year we all knew better.  :)  But everyone still enjoyed spinning - just not too much.

My dad had given the kids some money and Emmy had already been begging about going to a store.  So I had my mom take us to some second-hand stores to see if there was anything for them.  The first one she took us to was so awesome - I wanted to buy 1/2 the store!  But it's more of a cool antique store - not super cheap prices.  So we tried another store.  Emmy and Lucy bought some stuffed horses and Lucy also found a cute, little, fold-out doll house thingy.  She was so excited about.  Miles bought two items for 50 cents.  Jonas saved his money.

After lunch and such we went back to town and played in their little downtown "creek" area and splash pad.  It wasn't super warm (due to wind and clouds), but the kids got soaked.  Especially after Grandpa's bet - which earned the kids a tiny bit more money.  :)

Wednesday we headed to the Children's Museum.  It was pretty darn cute and I think the kids enjoyed themselves:

Playing in the bakery.

I have no words for this.

They all loved playing "Smiths" (ya know, the popular grocery store in Utah).  Shopping, ringing up kids, etc.

Lucy was fixing the car.

The girls performed - a little song and dance.

After lunch we drove up to Midway.  It's a "quick" 4-hour trip and wasn't too horrible.  The weather was great for us (although my dad, who headed up about a half-hour before us had rain and sleet and such.)

I was so glad we were able to go to St. George and enjoy the nice weather and fun things there!  (It had rained/snowed most of Tuesday in Midway and even snowed a bit there on Wednesday.)  But it was nice to be in Midway as it feels much more like my parents' home - cuz it is, I guess!  :)

On Thursday I took the kids to Classic Skating in Orem.  Loved it.  Maybe more so than the kids.  Though the kids sure loved it, too.  I used to go rollerskating at a Classic Skating rink, but in Sandy.  Fun memories!  We had disco balls, funky lighting, the works.  And there was hardly anyone else there.  It was loads of fun - I made sure to rent me a scooter, too (yes, you can ride scooters there!), so I wouldn't just have to sit and watch them.  We all had a blast.  There are other things at this place, too - like bouncy houses, a huge climbing thing, etc.  We did it all.

We got to play a game of "red light, green light" hosted by the young "DJ" there.  We played enough rounds so that every kid won some sunglasses.  That boy on the right?  A random boy that decided to join our picture.  :)  I had asked his name:  Aiden.  I love this picture, though - random boy and all.  :)

Afterwards I took the kids to the dollar theater ($1.50, actually) and we saw the only kid show showing:  The Nut Job.  It was okay.  I think the kids had fun.  Although Lucy did fall asleep on me towards the end.  :)

Ben arrived, by train, that night - 11:50pm.  Almost 2 1/2 hours late.  Like always.  Ugh.  My dad is always so kind and generous to pick him up.  I had planned to and wanted to for his 9:30pm arrival.  But not for his midnight arrival.  But only because I don't drive well in the dark down windy, canyon roads.

My good friend, and, frankly, Ben's too (Megan), from BYU was in town and so we got together and met up at the new Aquarium on Friday.  It was . . . a disappointment.  Like 1/2 of the tanks were empty.  Empty, nada, zilch.  We really should have been charged a half-price admission.  It was a little ridiculous.  It was also super busy.  There were some definite cool spots - like the penguins and the overhead shark tank.  We saw a cool sting-ray that would swim right up to us.  Also a fun sea-turtle.

Afterwards we just went to a park and visited with Megan and her family.  We hung out there for a few hours and it was a super nice time.  There was a little park the kids played at.  Then a bit of a ways off there was this huge tree with a rope on it for swinging.  The kids spent a lot of time on it.  It looked super fun!

Here we go - first row:  Jonas, Ellie.  Next row:  Jack, Emmy, baby Lindsay, Lucy, Miles.  Back row:  Greg, Megan, me, Christian, and Ben.  What a cute bunch!  :)

Then it was off to Cafe Rio for dinner.  YUM.  And, finally, our last stop of the day - a BYU baseball game.  It was just fun being there.  About the 5th or so inning we spotted Cosmo.  And Lucy couldn't keep her eyes off him.  She kept following him, asking where he was when she couldn't spot him, called out his name, etc.  It was super-duper cuteness to the extreme.  He, Cosmo, finally made his way over to us and oh what a treat:

Cosmo giving Lucy a high-five.

Giving "fists" or whatever you call that to Emmy, I think.

He was just one of the Maxwells for a bit.  Check out Jonas' cute expression.  :)

Lucy was mesmerized with him even more after that.  :)  She kept looking for him, starring at him, etc.  Adorable.

We left around the 7th inning.  It was getting a little late and little too cool.  But it was a great evening!

Saturday we watched conference, took the kids swimming, watched more conference, Ben took the kids on a drive on my dad's "thing" and they hiked up Memorial hill.  I went grocery shopping with my mom.  After dinner the two men left for Priesthood session and we just hung out at home.  I made a little post-conference treat.  We got the girls to bed and the men came home.  They then gave up a little synopsis of each talk during conference.  This is one of Ben and mine's tradition, that just started including the boys last conference.  It's nice and enjoyable and great to hear about the great talks given.

(Anyone still hear that has read every word . . .???)

Conference Sunday with the Maxwells = Scandinavian puffed pancake breakfast. It was delicious and fun to share it with my folks!

We watched more conference and the kids kept pretty busy with their conference bingo and some coloring pages my mom had gotten ready for them.  After the 1st session, Ben and I headed out with the boys to Salt Lake, where we got to go in the conference center and watch the 2nd session.  It was really great being there with the boys.  They were interested in the cameras and the such, but it was still a really nice experience for us all.

We had a yummy dinner by my mom (who has vowed to not cook anymore) and a fun evening - complete with playing some Pictionary.  We headed out pretty early on Monday and are now adjusting (some better than others, ahem Jonas - see a later post) to real life once again.

Here are a few random pictures:

Cute Lucy playing with some magnets.

Miles started making a bunch of origami cranes - and couldn't stop.  Kind of cool, yet kind of excessive, too.  :)  That's my Miles.

And last, but not least, some videos:

At the sand dunes.

At the crazy park in St. George.

The skating rink.

The day I turned 35

So I'm not really affected by my age - I'm 35 and I'm not embarrassed about it nor do I feel really old.  However, when I think that in 10 years I'll have a 20-year old and 18-year old, that makes me feel really old.  Not that I'll be 45, but that I'll have such old kids!  So maybe my parents feel really old seeing as their "youngest" just turned 35.  Weird.

Anyways, I had a really good day.  It started at 5:15 for my morning workout.  Ben actually woke up with me and did 1/2 my workout with me.  (He's been working out in the mornings with me - but usually for only 10 or so minutes.  But since he woke up when I did, we got to work out longer together.  How nice.  :)

I took Lucy to gymnastics in the morning and then we went to get me a pedicure (Ben had gotten me a gift card).  It was nice and I love how my painted toes look.  :)  Lucy just sat there the whole time asking questions like, "What is that for?"  "Does that hurt?"  etc.

Afterwards Lucy and I went and each got a frozen yogurt cone for our lunch.  :)  My favorite food!  I think Lucy loved it, too, and thought it was a pretty great lunch.

Lucy then took I nap and I talked to my parents and sister.  I also made my cake.  I got the "recipe" from here.

After school I had Girls of the Run.  My kids get to play at the playground while I help coach the girls on the run.  The other coaches had gotten together and planned a little surprise to celebrate my birthday:  cookies and Capri Suns.  That was nice and I'm sure all the girls were glad I had a birthday!  All 20 girls also sang to me.  Awesome.

After that we got home and then walked to dinner.  It's fun that we can walk to Main Street - where Colorado Boy Pizzeria is.  We had a very yummy dinner (the kids like it, too - especially the dough balls they get to play with and eat; plus just watching them make pizzas and stick them in the brick oven).  We walked back home and then enjoyed my cake.  It wasn't my favorite cake, but it was fun to try and still good to eat.

In the evening when the kids were up in their rooms, Ben and I watched episode 1 of season 3 of Downton Abbey.  Fun!

And that's how I the day I turned 35 went.

A couple pictures:

 What I woke up to.  Lovely, yummy, and fun.  :)

Getting ready to eat the cake!

A couple of random pics

I want to post these two pictures before I forget.  So here I go . . .

 After our ski adventure on Saturday we had enough time to come home and let Jonas change his snow boots and then he was off to one of his best-friend's birthday party.  There were just these boys there, plus the family.  The boys you see are Pete (on our left; the birthday boy), Jonas, and Ivan.  All three are the best of buds.  They play great together and just love being together.  They were all in the same 1st grade class.  Pete is now homeschooled; Jonas and Ivan are in the same class this year.  What a handsome group.  :)

While we were skiing on Saturday Ben was conducting his first funeral.  A lady in our ward passed away from cancer - she's had a terminal diagnosis for over a year.  Her mother, Nola, is more known in our ward - though neither come all too often.  But Nola is great and whenever Ben (otherwise known as Bishop) mentions her, he always speaks of her as a "woman of faith."  She is quite the character, too - in a fun way!  She's the type of lady that will just stand where she is and share her testimony (not because she can't walk to the microphone - just because I guess).  She loves our ward and has said that it is the only ward that "has the Spirit."  It makes me chuckle, but she truly says it very sincerely.  She's just sweet.  Anyways, Ben said the funeral went great and that it was a really great experience.  There were some blurt-outs (nice or funny comments) from the audience during a talk or two (from Nola and other friends!).  All in all it went great and I think that Nola felt peace and comfort and love at the funeral.

Nola and Bishop Maxwell.

Barnelopet

This definition of barnelopet is "children's races."  It's Norwegian and I think it usually (maybe not always?) refers to a cross-country ski race.

So the Grand Mesa's Nordic Council hosts a children's day each year.  I remember randomly noticing a sign for this a few years back but we weren't able to do it that year.  Again, this year, I randomly noticed a sign posted at City Market and so we decided to go.

We were all set to go on March 1st, but due to bad weather it was canceled.  Bummer.  But it finally got rescheduled for today.  Which was good and bad.  Good, because I really wanted to go and have the kids give a try at cross-country skiing.  Bad because Ben wouldn't be able to go.  At first he had a temple trip to go to, but that changed to conducting a funeral.

So we went Benless.  The kids had a really great time.  Once Jonas stopped complaining . . . Lucy, actually, was a bit of a pain.  She skied a little loop on her own and did really great, but then just kept crying.  Long story short, she ended up on me in a backpack carrier.

There was some "races" going on after some practice.  It was a pretty low-key race.  :)  The boys decided to do the long route - I'm not sure how long that was.  Around 1.5 miles I think.  I was nervous for them since they really hadn't done much of Nordic skiing.  Also, I was worried about them getting lost since I knew they'd be in the back, the very back, of the pack.  Luckily, some nice volunteer man stuck with my boys, Jonas specifically.  :)

Emmy did a short little race - and, although not fast, finished.  Then she did the loop again.  And again.  And again.  And maybe once more when her brothers got back.  :)  It was cute.

The kids got to wear and keep some cool racing bibs.  They were also given Norwegian flags.  Plus some really cool medals!  They were pretty excited about it all.  Oh and there was plenty of hot cocoa and cookies, too!

All in all, it was a great Nordic ski trip.  I think it was a bit too much for me on my own, but still worth it for my kids' sake.  I'd do it again!  :)

P.S. - We ran into Jonas' kindergarten teacher - who we haven't seen since Jonas finished kindergarten.  She's super in to Nordic skiing and her little boy, Jonas' age, is really good!

Okay, some pictures:

 Getting all registered.

Skis all on, let's go!  It was super snowing there the whole time (until we got in the car to go, of course.)

 Go, go Lucy!

 The other kids.  See, check out that snow.

Here's Miles coming in at the end of his race.

Finished, good work Miles!

Here's Jonas coming in.  :)  He fell twice right before the finish line.  I think he was a wee bit tired.

The girl in red was either the 1st or 2nd place finisher.  She encouraged and skied with Jonas at the very end.  She was sweet.  Jonas was last.  Someone's gotta be last.  :)

I don't think he was too bummed - thank goodness.  But I also think it's because he's still got quite an inflated perception at times.  :)  I was worried the boys would just be tired and frustrated.  But they really liked the ski loop and had a good time.  Yay!

There we all are - medals and all.  Lucy was awarded my medal.  :)

Finishing up the ski trip with round 2 of hot cocoa.  :)  Fun!

St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's day was full of green - green food, green clothing, and green nails for the girls.  No pinching was happening with my kids, that's for sure.  :)

The kids all got dressed in green - awesome.

We started the day with a green smoothie - lots of spinach, frozen green grapes, frozen pineapple, a frozen banana, key lime yogurt, and honey.  It was delish.  Then the kids got a "dessert" of Lucky Charms.  Lucky them.

I didn't send any "green" things in their lunch.  Whatevs.  But after school their snack was spinach tortillas that I had baked and we dipped them in salsa.  Plus celery with ranch (no, I didn't dye the ranch . . .).  Dinner was pesto pizza and pistachio salad.  Our green day ended with mint oreo cream pie for the FHE treat.  Yummy fun!

Warning:  a bit of "TMI" (too much info) is coming up. . .  I guess all this green had really affected Lucy because her poop at the end of the day was, you guessed it, GREEN.

:)

Emmy's eyebrows

I've posted this on facebook, but should have this in this record as well.  :)

On Sunday, at one point, Emmy told me her eyebrows hurt.  I was busy getting dinner ready for the missionaries and glanced at her and saw a bit of redness and said something like, "Oh maybe it's just dry."  (She does have eczema spots on her face.)

Then during dinner I think Ben noticed something about eyebrows and that they were a little off.  We asked her what she did, but she never told us.  Did you put tape and rip it off?  Use tweezers?  Whatever, she was pretty silent about it.

Then I used the bathroom and noted Ben's three razors (Which he doesn't throw away in the trash can so the kids won't have easy access to them.  Instead, he leaves them up on the bathroom counter, to which the kids still have easy access to them . . .:).  There was something about the way they were placed that I knew what had happened to Emmy's eyebrows.

Yup, she tried to shave her eyebrows.  With no water nor soap!  Ouch!  She's very lucky she didn't hurt or cut herself.

So I say it's not that noticeable, but then I look at the picture and think, "Hahaha, it's crazy!"  If you really stopped to look at her and checked out her eyebrows, then you'd totally know something was amiss.  I think it's pretty funny:

As I said on facebook:  Here is a picture of Emmy with bilaterally, shaved by herself, quite awkward eyebrows.

That girl.  :)