our first blizzard

Just so happened that the first blizzard that we experienced this winter fell on Leap Day. It wasn't a bad blizzard...it mostly just blew our meager few inches of snow away and into our trampoline pit. The pit usually fills up with snow and is the main backyard attraction, but until today it hadn't had much snow. The boys were so excited that they braved the bitter weather, building a snow cave until after dark.

Leap Day 2012

 Lander took Leap Day literally. 

He wouldn't stop jumping and climbing all over Josh.

boys weekend

Josh spent the weekend at a shooting club with the guys, honing his "necessary" skills. 

They had a ton of fun. Josh earned the "distinguished graduate" award. Very difficult for a first timer.

??, Josh, Jeff W, ??

then vs now

The first picture was taken in 2004 on a visit to Temple Square. We didn't make it back until 2012. I thought it would be fun to do a little comparison of the photos to see how much we've all changed in between the visits. Look at those itty-bitty boys!!!

the day that the theater burned down

Saturday, February 18th started out with chores. Then we decided that we should go to the movie. Ten minutes into Sherlock Holmes II, fire alarms sounded and we were forced to evacuate the movie theater. It seemed that their was a fire. Yippee. So, it was 2:30 pm and we didn't know what to do. On a whim, we decided that we should meet up with the Chipmans at the Little America and go to Temple Square. So, by 3:30 we were off, headed to Utah.

Jake, Lander, Sydney & Jenna riding Trax. This was a first for the boys.

 standing in front of the organ at the Old Tabernacle

 the kids were awed by the Cristos

 Dixie and the little (or not so little!) boys

Superbowl Party

Our version of a superbowl party...

TV watching & a little accupuncture

 OUCH! Looks like that one hurt!

(and yes, those are Spongebob sheets covering the window)

p.s. This was taken just before Josh nearly passed out. What a pansy. (XOX-Babe!)

 Lander wanted to try it, so Papa put a needle in his hand. See the green plastic top?

 We bribed Jake to try it. He was too chicken to try it without a little incentive.

Lander, Jake & Papa

Ski School

The boys chose ski school instead of basketball this year. We became a little worried when snow seemed to skip over Idaho this winter, but we ended up having just enough to ski on. The boys loved it & picked up on it really well. We hope to do it again next year.

Dixie's last day of....

GLASSES!

This picture was taken at lunch just before Dixie's lasik appointment (hence the no makeup & glasses....YIKES!). This little girl took our order. It was so sweet!

P.S. The lasik was a hit! 20/15 vision in the left eye, 20/10 vision in the right!!! Woot! Woot!

Christmas in Driggs

Jake "helping" Santa on Christmas Eve

On Christmas morning, the boys have to wait while we as parents torture them...ahem...I mean until the parents are ready before they can go see the presents. Then they have to pose for a picture in the hallway.

They usually get pretty lovey after a picture or two. Our kids will generally do anything we ask when have a tree full of presents waiting. "Okay boys. In the next picture I need you to..." ...or maybe not, but the endless list of possibilities is an entertaining thought....

 Lander, Jake, Grams and Nana

 Lander, Jake and Grams

 The gift of all gifts if you are a 9 or 11 year old boy. Yeah, the boys weren't that excited about them.

typical morning

This is pretty much is a typical morning at our house

Lander, sitting on the heater, eating oatmeal & playing with a lego
 set in his too-small & mis-matched, but much loved "cloud" pj's

swordsmith Lander

 Lander turned our wrapping paper rolls into swords.

all fun & games

until someone gets hurt

Lander loses a tooth

Lander tried & tried to pull his loose tooth. It was literally dangling by a thread, but he just couldn't do it. So he asked for a daddy intervention. Don't worry, the intervention looks worse than it was.

See those big tears. So sad!

 Luckily, the tears didn't last.

Quote of the Day

"I work for Pringles."

Really? Wow. If we'd have only known that 11 years ago!

oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree

Warning: 

potential blackmail pictures

 We put up our Christmas tree today & got to use the new tree skirt from Grandma Nala. The boys thought it made an excellent skirt to twirl in (who would've guessed that boys like to twirl too? I sure wouldn't have!)

We decorated the tree with hand me down decorations from their great-great grandma (Grandma P) & great grandma (Grandma J) mixed in with a few of our own creations.