The last week in February it was 55 degrees outside and we took full advantage of it.  I put the kids to work shoveling the snow into the road.  I told them that as soon as the snow was gone we could play on the swing set and jump on the tramp.  They were very eager to get rid of the snow.  It made me happy just sitting outside soaking in the sun.  Spring fever has come.  

 We walked around the cemetery to get a little workout and had to stop to look at deer poop.

 Carter wasn't much into the walking so she strolled, what ever makes her happy.

 Addason had a choir concert and we took everyone and it was soo good!! It was fun to listen to and she is always fun to watch.  She gets so into the music and you can tell she loves it.  Tanner was in the 8th grade choir so we got to watch him too.  He reminds me so much of Bayler.

 We found a duck costume and the kids thought it was hilarious.  They took turns trying it on all day.  
 When we moved into our house I planted hundreds of tulip and daffodil bulbs in the front yard. Last year the stupid deer ate all the tulips, I only saw a couple blossom.  The ones in the backyard did wonderful.  Last fall I decided there was no point in having the flowers in the front if the deer were just going to eat them.  I dug them all up and moved them to the back yard.  At lunch the other day I look out and low and behold what do I see sitting in the backyard?? A STUPID DEER!!  I immediately went out and started yelling at it and throwing things at it.  After about 5 minutes it good annoyed with me and slowly left the yard.  They better stay away or I'm gonna shoot them.

 Drey kept convincing Shiloh to let him have a lick of her sucker that she got at her visit.

A Bit of Chile

I got a call on my cell one day from a strange Utah cell number and of course I didn't answer it.  It called two more times before they left a message.  It was a girl that had just returned home from her mission in Chile.  She'd only been home a couple days and was inviting us to her homecoming on Sunday.  Unfortunately Scott was speaking on the same sunday and the same time and we were unable to attend.  She told me she also had a present that Bayler had sent home with her that she was suppose to give me.  We arranged a time and place in Ogden to meet up and have lunch.  We took a picture of us to send to her so she would know who she was looking for at the restaurant.  We sent the second of the two in case you were wondering.   

 She ended up bringing her parents and two siblings which was a little weird but I didn't care.  It was so fun talking to her.  She knew Bayler "Elder Gunnell" very well because he was her district leader and was always checking in on them and did all the trainings for their group.  She talked a lot about him and the areas they served in, the people, the food and missionary life in general.  She said that he was one of the best missionaries she saw and was the best district leader she had.  He was truly concerned about the other missionaries and was always willing to help in anyway possible.  She said he was an amazing cook and that when he made Thanksgiving dinner with pies and all that it was such a blessing to so many missionaries that were feeling homesick.  It was so hard to not cry listening to all the wonderful things she said.

Happy Valentine's Day & 21st Anniversary

We really don't celebrate Valentines Day but any excuse to have yummy foods is good with me.  This was our dinner. 

 I "MUSTACHE" you a questions, will you be my Valentine?

Scott had these sent to me on our anniversary.  Aren't they beautiful?? They lasted for almost 2 weeks too.

   Scott and I usually take turns going to New Beginnings and this year it was my turn. It was a good year to go.  It was really good and it was decorated so cute.

 I was feeling like the kids were getting a little too lazy. I decided to change things up a little.  We went over the new job changes during family home evening and boy was there tension in the air and a few grumpy faces, looks and words.  After the first week everyone adjusted and some even made it fun too.  Tylee entertained the kids and did her job all at the same time.  I'm loving it cause those things that I can't ever seem to find the time to do are getting done, sorta.  

 One of the joint YW/YM activities was sledding.

Bounce & Slide

I've got the MOST amazing kids in the whole wide world.  They were out of school and the littles were bored so they agreed to go to this place and play with them.  

 Carter has started chewing her fingernails and fingers and it's driving me NUTS!!!

Have I ever mentioned that Dreyden really likes his dad?  I think the feeling is mutual.  Scott came up to start a fire and to warm up.  He brought his computer up so he could continue working.  Drey planted himself on Scott's lap and wouldn't move.  

 In Landon SEM class (I can't remember what it stands for but it a class for advanced and gifted kids) they got to do a presentation on anything that interests them.  You can what Landon picked for his topic.  I figure since this is just an extra class and it's not graded, he could totally do it himself and I wasn't going to nag him about practicing it. Maybe not one of my better ideas.  He's poster was great but the presentation didn't go so well.  He got nervous and totally forgot the majority of the things he was going to talk about.  He thought he did great and I guess that's all the matters.  They were asked to dress in best dress......can you tell he didn't care.

 We are running out of things to do in the winter.  We played with sand in the house and yes it was very messy and I'm not sure that it was worth the amount of time it took to clean up.

 I got this great idea from another foster mom.  We decorated little mailboxes and but them on the bookshelf.  Then we exchanged notes and treats with each other for a couple weeks before Valentines day.  It was kinda fun.

 Both the girls decided to go take their drivers permit test.  After 3 tries both left empty handed.  Maybe next time around they will have better luck.

Happy 15th Birthday Tylee!!!

Tylee was very lucky this year because she got to celebrate her birthday for almost a whole week.  With everyone's crazy schedules we couldn't find a day that we could do bday lunch, special dinner, cake and presents so we had to do it through out the week.   

 She picked Cafe Sabor for her lunch and I had no complaints about that choice.  We were so full by the time they brought the free dessert out we couldn't even finish it.  Can you believe we wasted some fried ice-cream???

 For her birthday dinner she picked steak, sauteed mushrooms, corn and mashed potatoes.  YUMMMYYYYY!!

Avery wanted to do something special for Tylee so the three girls went ice-skating together.  This pictures makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  I sure do love these beautiful girls.