End of January

 I have enjoyed running in the daylight now that everyone is in school. When it is possible I like going running after they go to school instead of before everyone wakes up. 

The North Lake Trail is one of my favorite routes.

I saw a bald eagle on my run. 

The weather has been so mild for January. It's so nice! I love when Chewie goes on the deck and basks in the sunlight.

It never gets old taking pictures of Timp. It looks so majestic with the snow on it.

January Birthdays: Wonka

We hosted January birthdays. We decided to go with a Wonka theme as we celebrated Ivy, Uncle Dan, and Papa Kelly. Lynnlee did a great job making the cake with the help of Scarlett.

I helped her here and there. It ended up being five layers to get the right dimensions of the hat.

I love how it turned out!

My mom brought chocolate bars with golden tickets. 

It is fun having Kasey's family close by. We had an awesome gathering with his family, Betsy, Ali's family, Grandma and Grandpa and my family. 

Ali made Ivy's presents....a Wonka hat, suit case and jacket. She loved them each so much! We played the music and she played pretend.

Backsplash

I've wanted a back splash in the kitchen ever since we moved in. The project list was long. Marshall decided to tackle it. We picked out a tile from Floor and Decor. He bought all of the supplies, borrowed a tile saw and watched some videos on YouTube. He jumped right in and got it all done within a few days. I love how it changed the look of my kitchen. It also helps balance out the white.

Kade's Science Fair

 Kade and Charles did a group science fair project for the school science fair. They did a project on mold. They got 3rd place!

I know the picture has arrows on it. It's because I got the picture from the school newsletter.

Fun at Home

 Marshall and the other kids had their own fun while we were gone. They saw the movie Migration with Cam's kids.

Random picture, those are tape rolls.

Lynnlee did Sienna's makeup for fun

Mini snowman

President's Cup

 James played at President's Cup with his soccer team. This year he's been playing on Arturo's 07 team. His first game was on Thursday night. We left that morning. Erin, Ryan, Ben and Trey drove with us. The weather was nice and we got to St. George with time to check in and relax before dinner and the game.

They played at the high school in Mesquite. We won! 

The next game wasn't until later on Friday so the boys got to sleep in and do baptisms at the temple. They baptized each other. 

They lost the second game. 

Saturday we went to Tifiny's Creperie in St. George. The game wasn't until that afternoon so we had time to spare. It was a very popular place but I could see why. The crepes were very good! 

James and I split a savory one and a sweet one.

It was a very cute restaurant with a fun atmosphere.

By the time he played Saturday, we knew they weren't advancing to games on Monday. We packed up that morning and checked out of the hotel. We enjoyed the game even though they lost. Then we took pictures and headed for home.

They sky was amazing but it was the calm before the storm. I drove James, Erin and Ryan home that night and it was awful weather and road conditions. I wish we would have stayed. It was raining or snowing the whole way home. It was so hard to see the road and lines. I had a white knuckle grip the whole time and was so scared and nervous. It felt like the longest drive ever. Ugh. It took an extra hour or so to get home. Thankfully we did make it home safely. 

It was fun spending time with James and the other moms. I love this weekend for the mom and son time!

Kade's Powder Day

 Kade got to go skiing with his group of friends/classmates to Brighton. They were dropped off in the morning and picked up around 5:00. He said it was really fun!

Baptisms for the Dead: Kade's First Time and James's First Time Baptizing

It was an exciting morning! We went to the Draper Temple to do baptisms. James got to baptize Lynnlee and Kade. Marshall helped with confirmations. James has a soft cast so on Monday morning I ordered a cast cover. Thankfully Kasey has had experience with cast covers so he told me the best one to get. It came the next day and then our appointment was on Wednesday. I'm so glad his broken hand didn't keep this from happening.

Priesthood Ordinations

Sunday was a big and exciting day! With a new year came new classes for all of the kids. James moved to the priest quorum, Lynnlee to the middle young women's class, Kade moved to the deacons quorum, and Taggart and Sienna moved to the second oldest class in primary.

The priesthood ordinations took place after church. Marshall ordained James and James ordained Kade. It was really cool and really special. I got all choked up. I was so happy and so emotionally touched that my face was like smile....choked up....smile.....choked up. Haha!

Our parents came to the ordinations. Then they came over for dinner after. It was a very sweet day!