More awesome weather please!

The weather this entire week was amazing and it helped us all to remember that good weather really is possible after such a harsh winter.  Britton had his first two soccer games of the season and both were at home.  On Tuesday Jameson and I arrived just in time to see Britton walk onto the field to start the JV game.  We didn't know he would be starting the game so that was a fun surprise.  He had a fantastic game and did really well on Friday, too.

For the last 5 years Britton has been #22, but now he is #31. Here he is getting ready to go back into the game after a short rest.

For Jenna's birthday I bought her a ticket to see "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" at Hale Center Theater so on Thursday I checked her out of school a bit early and we drove down to see the play.  It had a 4 p.m.start time which worked perfectly with our schedule since we were able to watch the play and still arrive home before dark.  We really loved the production. HTC always does such a great job.

Jenna really loves musicals and is constantly listening to Broadway songs on her phone. Her latest obsession is "Hamilton".  She knows every word to every song and is always playing the music for us around the house. Hamilton is actually coming to SLC in 2018, but getting tickets is going to be VERY VERY difficult since Salt Lake will be one of the first cities to have it after it's incredible run on Broadway.

I'm sure Adam would like the theater, but he doesn't get a lot of opportunities to go since Jenna and Korinne and even Britton usually claim first dibs on any tickets I manage to get.

Spring is almost here!

Soccer tryouts for the high school team were Feb 27, 28 and Mar 1 and Britton was there working hard to show the coaches he should be part of the team. (They don't have a freshman/sophomore team, only JV and Varsity.) They didn't post the results until after 11 p.m. on Mar 1st (which on a school night was lame, in my opinion) but when the list the posted Britton was on it and was one of only 5 freshman.  I jumped up and ran into Britton's room and said, "Congratulations! You're on the team" and he jumped out of bed faster than I have ever seen him and said, "I am?! Yes!" He has wanted to make the high school team ever since he started club soccer when he was 10.  I am thrilled because my soccer mom life just got a whole lot easier!! I no longer have to drive him across town 2 nights a week and read book in my car while waiting for practice to end, and we no longer have to drive to away games an hour before game time, etc.  Practice is after school and the next door neighbor is on the team, too, and is a Senior so he just brings Britton home with him when it's over.  Home games are now a mile from my house instead of across town and since he'll be riding a bus to away games we only have to get there by game time. Not only that but we no longer have to worry about Saturday games! Seriously, this set up is the BEST and I am very happy.

On Wednesday morning Adam came home from basketball early and was limping badly.  He had come down on someone else's foot and really sprained his ankle.  It's actually kind of amazing he hasn't had more basketball related injuries since he has been playing basketball 3 times a week for the last 15 years, but this one was bad enough that he found the use of crutches beneficial for the first 2 days.  The sandals were a nice look, weren't they? His ankle was so swollen he couldn't get shoes on. 

He is walking again, but his ankle is very bruised and still sore.  I'm sure he'll be back playing basketball by the end of the week, however,as he doesn't like to be away for too long.

Korinne participated in the 5th Grade Geography Bowl this on Friday.

I really like the Geography Bowl because the kids learn so much that they wouldn't have time to learn in class.  For 6 weeks leading up to the bowl the students that want to participate go to 3 extra study sessions every week before or after school.

We are starting to see some spring like weather and I think everyone around here is downright giddy.  I was able to dust off my road bike yesterday and go for my first ride of the season.  Ah, it's nice to know the end of winter is in sight and while I'm sure we may still have some cold days ahead, at least we know the worst of the season is behind us.

Hot

Monday the kids were out of school for Presidents Day so we decided to shake things up a bit and go to Lava Hot Springs for a few hours.

It was a cold and rainy day so the hot pools felt really good.

Britton's orchestra concert was Tuesday night and he was in a trio that played a special musical number as part of the program. It was kind of fun to hear smaller trios and quartets in addition to the full orchestra.

Jenna's 14th Birthday was Friday, but her schedule was booked on both Friday and Saturday so we had to do our family birthday celebration on Thursday night.  She didn't complain one bit about opening her birthday presents a day early.

On her birthday she got to go to breakfast before school with Dad. She picked a brand new pancake restaurant in town named Stacked and gave it 2 thumbs up.

After school she was off to ballroom dance for 2 hours and then within 15 minutes of getting home her friends started arriving for a little birthday bash.

They played all sorts of games, and had a blast together. Banana splits were the perfect ending to a great party.  Korinne also had a few friends over so we actually had a party going on upstairs and another party going on downstairs. It's a wonder we were able to get Jameson to bed at a reasonable hour!  Britton was off at the high school basketball game up on campus.  This week was the state championship tournament and as luck would have it all of the games were played right here in the valley.  Ridgeline won all of their games and played for the state title yesterday afternoon. Riverhawk nation was there in full force and Adam said that he saw pretty much half of our ward at the game, too, since 2 of the starting 5 live in our ward. Not only did Ridgeline win the game, but they won by almost 30 points! Yes, yesterday was a fun day to be a Riverhawk. Not many schools get to take State the first year they are open.

Jenna and I weren't at the game yesterday because we were at a ballroom dance competition that was also happening in the valley.  I'm learning that ballroom competitions start early and they end late and they go all.day.long.  At this one the team dances were in the morning and the individual syllabus and open events were in the afternoon/evening.  Jenna's team won 1st place in the Division 2 Cha Cha team dance.  They were thrilled with their win. 

Waiting for results

Accepting first place trophy for their division.

That afternoon Jenna competed in the newcomer Swing, Tango bronze (beginner), and Cha Cha bronze.  She and her partners made it to the finals in both the Swing and Tango placing 2nd in the Swing and 4th in the Tango, and then made the semi-finals in the Cha Cha.  It was her first time advancing through the rounds and she really enjoyed having more opportunities to dance throughout the day.  There are a LOT of kids that do these competitions (who knew?) and some of them have been dancing for years.  I'm glad they have divisions for the newbies, too, This is Jenna's rookie year but already you can see how much she loves it.

It didn't take me long to catch on that parents spend a lot of time sitting on bleachers during these events (we are talking 12 to 14 hours here) so I bought a few stadium chairs in preparation and I can already tell you that this was the best purchase I have made all year.  

This chair saved my life yesterday, and that's no lie.

The Boss

Adam spends a lot of time in his office, but doesn't have any photo evidence of it so I took a picture one day while Britton and I were cleaning.  He was the only one at the office so we went a day early to clean so we could go to Roots Tech the next day and not have to worry about it.

He has a fantastic view overlooking the golf course, but only for a few more weeks.  Their landlord has decided not to renew their lease and is kicking them out of their office space.  They aren't happy about it, but what can you do?  I'm sure the company they are giving it to will be paying more $$.

This was our 3rd year going to the Family Discovery Day at Roots Tech and it is a tradition we plan to continue every year.  We always have such a great time and leave inspired and ready to do a little bit more.  This year we even got my Dad to go for at least part of the day.

Here is our picture with Wales as the backdrop. Family Search had scenes ready from all over the world so everyone could have their own personal backdrop based on their heritage.

We got to hear from President and Sister Russel M Nelson, Sheri Dew, Vai Sikahema, Reno Mahe, Hank Smith, Jason Hewlett (a VERY funny comedian) and heard BYU's Vocal Point (all male) and Noteworthy (all female)  A'capella groups battle it out in the final session.

We also enjoyed the interactive Expo Hall.

Buddy Valastro from Cake Boss was there so they had a cake decorating contest and wow, there are some amazing cake makers out there!!

These are the 4 cakes that won Prize money. Top left was best Birthday cake, bottom left was best Graduation cake, middle is the best wedding cake and the Halloween cake won best holiday cake AND the people's choice award.

The Cake Boss at Roots Tech

We had Valentines Day this week and I must admit I wasn't looking forward to it because Jameson can't have red dye and pretty much every single piece of candy given out for Valentines has red dye in it.  In the event I do succeed in keeping it from him, all of his friends still give him some of their candy and they don't ask adult permission to do so. Well, Monday afternoon I went and got Korinne some stuff to give out to her class and got bubbles for Jameson to give out to his friends and then called it good on my part. Adam asked me what I wanted for Valentines Day and I told him the only thing I wanted was to not have to figure out what to cook for dinner.  Luckily Domino's was having a great sale all week on carry out pizzas so he brought a few home and was an absolute hero. See how super sentimental and romantic we are?  We did go to lunch earlier in the day and I bought him a Twix candy bar as a gift so I think that counts as a celebration, right?

Jameson and Korinne playing with play dough on Valentines night. 

 Jameson asked if he could get a fish this week and since it is the one type of pet we can live with we decided to let him get one. Yesterday Adam took Jameson and Korinne to the pet store and they each came home with their own beta fish. The tank also serves as a night light in Jameson's room so that works out well. He is absolutely thrilled with his new pet fish. They have both named and renamed the fish multiple times so maybe I will wait and see what names actually stick before I announce it to the world (or to the 3 people that actually read this blog).

Our school district is still trying to adjust the school schedule to make up for our 3 snow days in January.  At first they said the kids would go to school on Friday (which was scheduled to be a teacher training day) and on Presidents Day, which is Monday.  Then they decided to just add 3 days onto the end of the school year in June but after petitioning the state school board they were allowed to make up the missed hours instead of the 3 days so but now they will no longer have early out days on Fridays for the rest of the year. It is something we all can live with, but it will mean we have to find another day/time for Jenna's piano lessons which may get interesting.

Can I have this dance?

I wish I could find a way to get Jameson to stop messing with the batteries in all of his toys.  He is constantly unscrewing the backs and taking the batteries out even when they are working perfectly fine.  As a result we have random batteries all over the house that may or may not still have a charge and it's impossible for me to keep a supply of new batteries around.  You see, if he had access to new batteries he would never stop changing batteries out.  Apparently changing the battery is his answer for everything. If the train is moving too slowly, he'll try and change the battery to see if it will go faster.  If a car fell over after colliding with another car, clearly the batteries need to be changed. If he has nothing to do, well, this is the perfect time to take apart the toy and get the batteries out. 

Finding him deep in his "work" of battery removal is not an uncommon sight in our house. I've even tried to hide the little screwdrivers he uses, but somehow he still finds them anyway.

Korinne participated in a mini cheer camp this week and then performed during half time of the high school varsity basketball team.  It was fun to go see the game and support her.  We have 2 brothers in our ward that start for the varsity team so it was fun to actually see them play.  The older brother has already signed to play for the University of Utah after his mission so yeah, he's pretty good.  Anyway, it was a nail biter finish against the only team in the Region that our team has ever lost to. Fortunately they came out with a win AND Korinne had a great time cheering with her friends.

For only being open for 1/2 of a school year, I was very surprised to see so many trophies already in the trophy case.

Looks like the new school is off to a great start.

 On Saturday Jenna and I traveled to a ballroom dance competition. Her first competition was in October with just her dance company, but this was the first time they competed with other companies in the state. She had to be at the venue by 8 a.m. and couldn't leave to go home until 10:30 p.m. so we stayed in Murray on both Friday and Saturday nights.

It didn't take me long to realize we have officially entered a new world that I didn't even know existed before this year.

She danced in 2 events between 9-10 a.m. and then danced in a team event at about 9:30 p.m. So what did we do for the 11 hours in between?  We watched a LOT of ballroom dancing. During the afternoon we did leave for about 2 hours to grab some lunch and shop at the outlets nearby, but the rest of the time was spent saving our good seats for the team dance portion of the competition. When I saw how many people were trying to get seats for the evening events I was very happy we held onto ours on the front row.  It was definitely worth it.

Jenna with her arm out during the syllabus events in the morning. (My camera isn't awesome with action shots in a poorly lit environment.)

Grandma and Grandpa were able to see her dance in the morning.

 Jenna danced a Waltz with her team to the music, "Can I have this Dance?" from High School Musical 2. They did a great job and even won 2nd place in their category.

I made a video of the dance and just got this still shot as they were walking off the floor.

Jenna at the end of the routine.

Wearing her 2nd place medal at the end of a very long day.  

We left the venue at 10:40 p.m. and the competition still wasn't finished. The entire day they only took a 20 min break for lunch and a 20 min break for dinner and other than that it was straight dancing from 9 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Coming prepared with a good book was one of the smartest things I have ever done. 😊  Adam kept the other kids at home and Jenna and I were back in time for 9 a.m.church on Sunday.

Snow,Snow and More Snow

Last Friday only the middle school didn't have school for parent/teacher conferences so after Jameson was off to preschool Jenna and I decided to have a little fun of our own.  We went to lunch and went shopping so Jenna could use some gift cards she got for Christmas.

That night Adam took Britton and Korinne up to Beaver Mtn for the Kirk's annual ski night party.  I stayed home with Jameson and Jenna stayed home because she couldn't miss ballroom dance so close to the start of competition season.  Britton took a few friends with him and the weather ended up being perfect for both skiing and the drive through the canyon.

Last Sunday night we had our typical family meeting to go over the schedule for the week and Monday was looking to be a pretty crazy day with a lot going on. The next morning at 6:00 a.m., however, both of our phones started ringing at the same time so I knew immediately it was the school district calling all parents.  They had implemented a 2 hour snow delay so roads could be cleared before buses were dispatched to pick up students.  I got up and looked outside and thought, "Oh great, here we go again." The snow was really coming down and was showing no sign of letting up any time soon. I was able to move Britton's 7 a.m piano lesson to 9 a.m. and then watched as all of our other commitments were slowly canceled throughout the day. School went from a 2 hour snow delay to being canceled all together. Then other texts and e-mails started to come in: Geography club canceled, soccer canceled, ballroom dance canceled.  Adam spent hours snow blowing driveways and sidewalks for neighbors that needed help and then worked from home the rest of the day.  It snowed on and off for the next 3 days and we easily got another 3 feet of snow on top of the 3 feet we got earlier in the month.  I think our snow total since Christmas Eve is about 71". That, my friends, is a LOT of snow.

Jmo and Johnny getting ready to go to preschool.  You can see the snow is over their heads.

Jmo standing next to the wall of snow at the edge of the driveway.

Pictures don't do it justice. There hasn't been this much snow in January since 1983-84. Once school was canceled on Monday the kids all got together with their friends to play.  Britton and his friends were featured in the Herald Journal after making a 13 foot snowman.

Even though it was still snowing Tuesday and Wednesday everyone was back to their full schedules. Korinne joined up with 2 friends to participate in the school science fair this week.

 They won 2nd place in the 5th grade category for their experiment making mega foam with different strengths of hydrogen peroxide. Good job girls!

 Since our school district hasn't had a snow day in 17 years they didn't have any snow days built into the current schedule so now they have to find a way to make up 3 full days of school. They canceled a Teacher development day in February and are having the kids come to school on President's Day, but the 3rd makeup day hasn't been announced yet.  It really has been a crazy winter and we aren't even out of January yet!  Let's hope the rest of our winter is a little more UN-eventful.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

It was a crazy weather week, but the kids did have school all week long. 😊 It's not often we get a good thunderstorm in the middle of winter, but we got one this week and it rained a LOT!  With so much snow already on the ground and nowhere for all of the water to go flooding was a major problem. To try and prevent even more problems the city used backhoes and dump trucks to haul away the snow covering the street drains in our circle.  They probably hauled 10 dump trucks worth of snow from just our cul-de-sac!

The builder we used to build our home 8 years ago has a client dinner ever January and we still get invited.  A lot of our neighbors also get invited so every year we get a nice catered meal, live entertainment and the opportunity to win some really cool stuff with a drawing at the end of the night.  It's not hard to see why most of their business comes from referrals and they are now the biggest builder in the valley.

This year Big Blue was in the house.  Adam left his phone on the table when we went to dish up our food and Big Blue saw it and took about 20 selfies before we returned to the table. What a jokster.

There were hundreds of people at this dinner so the chances of going home with a prize weren't that great, but Adam is a very lucky guy and actually won a Bosch mixer!  Yay!! Bosch's are expensive (the price tag on the box said $269.99) and we've never had one, so I was more than a little excited for his big win.

The kids are finally back into the post holiday/snow day swing of things but for me spring can't come soon enough. Maybe the weather for the rest of winter won't be quite as eventful as the last month.