Mountains

One of my 2015 New Year's resolution is to not be jerk in the summer.  I HATE the heat.  It makes me grumpy, I don't sleep as well, and well.....I just hate the heat.  

So while the weather is cool and gorgeous, I've been heading up to the mountains.  A.L.O.T.

A trail run on the BST overlooking the Draper Temple.

Cross country skiing at the Sundance Nordic Center. (I'm not a very good cross country skier)

A small stream on a trail run in Alpine.

More cross country skiing at the Sundance Nordic Center.

Another trail on the BST - see all those switch backs?  They sure are fun to run!

A gloomy morning, but the Alpine running trails were wonderful!  

Downhill skiing at Sundance with a lot of clouds.

More trail running with lots of ice and snow.  I love looking at those little trails.

December #1 Update

The day after Thanksgiving, we start our "Family Friday" tradition.  The tradition is that we do something as a family every Friday.  

Our first Friday is always a new pair of Christmas pajamas.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything for Carter.  Either the pajamas were too small or too little boyish.  So I snuck into his room and wrapped a pair of old pajamas.  He laughed and was a good sport.  

Our second Friday, we watched the Charlie Brown Christmas movie and drank hot coco.

Our third Friday, the kids all got a new book(s).  Everyone was super excited to receive their Scholastic Book Order.

Our fourth and last Friday, we brought cinnamon rolls to the local fire department.  Just as we arrived, they were called out on an emergency.  

Another family ski trip to Solitude.  All 5th graders in the state of Utah receive three free passes to all the ski resorts.  So we are on a mission to hit every resort three times this year!

Quality family wrestling time.

Tim won a trip from work so headed up to Park City for the weekend to ski.  We went to the Canyons and Park City ski resorts.  Though the snow was sub-par, we had a lot of fun.  We LOVE Park City and the atmosphere up there.  Now we need the snow!

2014 Family Pictures

October/November

October/November Details

We had our annual Halloween family home evening.  We carved pumpkins and decorated pumpkin sugar cookies.  Everyone always has fun.

The kids went trick or treating alone around the neighborhood with their friends.  It was a right of passage into officially becoming BIG!

Georgia was Little Red Riding Hood.

Carter was a basketball player.

Abby was a gypsy girl.

Annie was a 50's girl.

We went to a community church to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the homeless living in Salt Lake.  It was a great experience for our kids.  There was a job for everyone!

Georgia, Annie, and Abby made stickers for the sandwiches that said "You Matter".  I was a peanut butter spreader.  Carter was a "sandwich transporter" - he took the sandwiches to be wrapped in saran wrap.  The kids ask every Sunday night when we get to go back.

We also made our annual trip to the Utah Food Ban to sort food.  Again, the kids loved sorting the food and giving service.

All 5th graders had to do an "Images of Greatness" project.  They had to a report on a deceased famous person.  The report was several pages long.  They also had to do an oral report dressed up in character.  

Abby was Pocahontas, Annie was Annie Oakley, and Carter was Squanto.  

We had our first ski day during Thanksgiving break!  Though the snow was sub-par, we enjoyed the sunshine and mountains!

We spent Thanksgiving with Tim's family.  We ran the annual Turkey Trot.  The kids enjoyed donuts with Grandma and Grandpa while the adults ran the 4 mile race.

Month of September and October

September Details

Abby and Carter had to learn all 50 states.  Whew...that was a lot of work!  They both got a 100%....go Mom!

We had another very productive garden this year!  Lots of peas, onions, carrots, green beans, green peppers, strawberries, raspberries, and herbs.  Everyone enjoyed eating the produce, but not as much working FOR the produce!

We played a few family football games.  Girls vs. boys.  Girls always dominated...ha ha!

Annie played soccer this fall.  She played on a competitive league and didn't know any of her teammates.  She had a wonderful coach who was full of praises and made a lot of friends.  She finally made a goal and won the game for her team.  Go Annie!

We had our traditional monkey bread for breakfast on General Conference weekend.  Nobody complained!

Carter failed the vision test at school.  So we made an appointment with the eye doctor and he was a prime candidate for glasses.  

He had to get his eyes dilated and got to wear the cool-guy glasses to keep the sun out on the way home.

Annie and Abby's activity days class went on a hike to Grove Creek!  All the girls were great hikers and everyone enjoyed being in nature. I love being their activity days leader.

We had a beautiful fall and thoroughly enjoyed the leaves!

We headed to Park City for fall break.

We went on a hike.

We went to the Utah Olympic Park.  They had a great ski exhibit.

There were a few skiers practicing on the big ski jumps.

They also had a great ropes course at the Utah Olympic Park. We ended up going to the park three different times because the kids had so much fun!

Yummy home made donuts on a fall day.

Carter also played soccer on a competitive league.  He knew everyone on his team and also had an amazing coach!