Valentine's Day 2009

Having Valentine's Day on Saturday this year was GREAT! Our day was fantastic.

The Plan: Mom and Dad go out for breakfast - then Mom and Dad take each child out on a separate date to the place of their choice for an hour and a half (not exceeding $5!!) It turned out even better than we thought it would be - one on one time for the kids with Mom and Dad is rare. It was great for everyone.

Jack was first. He chose - without hesitation - hiking up the famous hill at Camel's Back Park. I'm glad we did that first, because that was really hard!! But it was amazing!

See that hill behind us? Yep - that's it!

Hannah had to settle for her second choice since her first choice was the Labor and Delivery Unit at the hospital!! Newborn babies are her favorite. But her other great love is animals. So off to Zamzows and Pet Co we went! The two stores are on opposite ends of a huge parking lot, so walking to and from was half the fun! She visited with all the dogs that came in to the store, looked at all the small animals, and loved "imaginary shopping" for Gunnar - the puppy we hope to get this summer.

Dad and Hannah had fun with her shadow!

Aubrey is a girl after my own heart. Dark chocolate is her favorite! She had a tough time deciding what to do, so she went with our suggestion. We picked out the most delicious looking peice of dark chocolate at Rocky Mountain Chocolate factory, and then walked down to Idaho Ice World and watched a hockey game. That was fun!

Like Jack and Hannah, Taylor had no difficulties choosing where she wanted to go - her friends have been talking about a brand new store at the mall - "Forever 21" - so we went to see what all the hype was about. Chip was having too much fun embarassing Taylor, so I told her I would blog these next few photos of him to embarrass him back!

Taylor with her brand new torquoise nail polish!

It really was a good day - didn't think of the idea till the day before, but it ended up being the best idea ever! Good thinkin, Chip!

Twenty Valentine's Days as a couple - we've had our ups and downs... but it's never been better than now - I am SO lucky!

I've been tagged!

Well, my friend Kris tagged me - and I'm afraid I'll get in trouble if I don't follow through! I was supposed to go to my FOURTH folder and post my FOURTH photo - here it is!!
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If you have never been to Red Fish Lake in Stanley Idaho - wait no longer - it's beautiful and wonderful and peaceful, and all of those good things. It's my favorite place ever. When I am in the dentist chair, I close my eyes, and I am there!

Consider yourself tagged.... cause this was fun! (everybody do it, but specifically I tag my sisters {in law too!} and my mom!)

Missoula Children's Theater

Thanks to my friend Summer Larson, who shares her passion with the community, Trail Wind Elementary has had the unique opportunity to have The Missoula Children's Theater come to our school. This was the second year. To say this is a huge feat is really quite an understatement! This year's production was Pinocchio.

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Auditions are held Monday - children who get a part practice every day after school. The main characters are there from 3:30 till 8:00 every day! They are then completely ready to put on a huge musical production on Saturday - two shows!! They have memorized songs, dances, and an entire script of dialogue in 5 days. Simply amazing!

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Aubrey was happy to get the part of "Scaramouch" - a puppet made by Gepeto. And Jack (of all things) got to be a Toy Soldier, made by Gepeto also. They were both thrilled.

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Children also have an opportunity to be in the "Green Show" if they didn't get a part in Pinocchio. (Again, this is all thanks to Summer!) I had the wonderful opportunity to help choreograph this show - it was really fun! Hannah was in the Green Show and loved it.

Yes, it is an absolutely crazy week. Homework and dinner is a nightmare. BUT - it IS only a week, and it ends up being totally worth it. It is an experience that is rare, one that is fantastic for the children, and one they won't soon forget.

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Thank you for making this happen, Summer!!

ChRisTmAs 2008

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We couldn't wait for Santa to come this year simply because we finally had a chimney for him to come down! And boy did he ever - he left his muddy hand prints on the tiles of the fireplace and he left the cover off! We couldn't believe it! We had no idea Santa had such huge hands!

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What I have loved the most about the last few Christmases here in Boise, has been taking our time - A LOT of time to open gifts, and enjoy each one thoroughly until going on to the next. We get up slowly, marvel and awe over what we see, read the answers to the kids questions for Santa, get super excited, rummage through our stockings, and have traditional cinnamon rolls before we open any gifts. Oh, and all hair has to be at least brushed, or I go crazy. :) A good hour (at least) goes by till we start - then we open a gift every hour or so - sometimes even more just to make our day last and last. This year, the kids even watched a new movie while mom and dad napped for an hour and a half, and we still had gifts to open! Then, we always save the gift from Santa until after dinner. We finish gift opening around 8:00. It's the best! We all have that to really look forward to, all day long. Christmas Day this way has become the only way for us - can't imagine it any other way - we LOVE it!

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It was a wonderful Christmas indeed.