Spring Break 2011

One night in February, Ben and I were talking about his upcoming trips. He mentioned that he had one coming up in Salt Lake City and I noticed that it just happened to be during spring break. That kind of bummed me out until....I got the bright idea that we could just join him! I mean there are lots of things to do in SLC, skiing being one of the many. It took a little arm twisting to get him to agree, but once he was in there was no looking back. This was our first trip flying with all 3 kids since Sidney was 9 months old.

They were fabulous the whole way there despite getting up at 4:30 am on Thursday and making 2 connections!!! Sidney loved the airplanes.
We met Ben's parents at the Homewood Suites in SLC that night. Great hotel. The best parts were the free breakfast every morning, free dinner most nights and the indoor pool which we used quite a bit.
Friday morning I had scheduled the kids for all day ski lessons at Solitude.
It was GREAT. They got comfortable on their skis and Ben and I got to get some time in on the slopes as well while we got to peek in on them quite often. Sidney wasn't too thrilled that first day on the skis so she spent alot of it inside playing.



I took a few good tumbles that day as the green slopes were a little more aggressive than i was accustomed to. I hurt my knee pretty good on the last fall. Luckily it wasn't serious and got better in a few days.

Saturday morning, Linlee and Conner woke up with horrible looking red eyes.

We had not put goggles on them the day before and they apparently already had eye infections which were made worse by the glaring sun. Ben took Conner to the Dr and we got drops. All was better by the next morning. Needless to say, I invested in goggles for them that day!

We went back to Solitude for half a day on Saturday afternoon. Since my knee was bummed, I didn't rent skis but did take Sidney out on skis. By then end of the afternoon, she was skiing down the bunny slope all by herself. She was so pleased!!!


Ben took her on the ski lift and skied down with her on the little green. She loved it. Linlee and Conner were absolutely amazing at how well they were doing on their own. They both went down the green slope that I fell on the day before!

On Sunday, we took a break from skiing and went swimming and to the tubing park. Tubing wasn't so great that day so we just let the kids play at the Fort Frosty and the older kids rode the mini snowmobiles.


This was by far Conner's favorite part.

He loved racing Linlee around the track. they also had a blast just playing in the snow playground.



The next day, Ben's parents kept the kids so Ben and I could have a day to ski. they took them to Jungle Jim's Playland. I don't have to mention how much they loved this do I?




While all that fun was going on, Ben and I tried out Park City. WOW!!!!

At first it was a little overwhelming, but they had some great slopes. They also offered night skiing which is just beautiful! We accidentally got caught on a blue slope (I am not a blue slope skier....). After crawling down the first drop, I gradually made my way down in one piece. It was scarey but fun. I didn't do it again...
I took the kids swimming and back to the tubing park the last day since Ben had to work.


On our way back we had a layover in Memphis. David Fish just happened to be there on his way home and so we briefly got to see our old friend. The picture is blurry but the kids were super excited!

Great way to end the trip!
We will most definitely go back to Utah~!!

Sidney's Birthday

The love affair with Chuck-e-Cheese began around Christmas time. Ever since, she would quite often speak of him and mention that she missed him. It was a given that her birthday party should be there after all that!
She was so thrilled!!

Linlee and Ben missed the party due to Linlee having the flu.

They were missed, but may have gotten the best end of the deal because Chuck-e-cheese is CROWDED on Saturday night.


Sidney and Ava had a blast in the slide area, Conner loved the monster truck game and they all enjoyed dancing with Chuck-e. I think the most hilarious part was watching Conner in the Tickeblaster machine.




WEll, inevitably Conner and Sidney both came down with the flu a day or so later. Poor Sidney was sick on her actual birthday. We made cake and everything and she didn't feel like eating more than 1 bite.
I guess we will do a special dinner later when everyone else feels better.

Her favorite gifts have been the Rapunzel doll, pack of gum, cash register, drawing easel, Tinker bell dolls and Birthday Barbie. Pretty much everything she got, she loves. Thank you all for making this a great birthday for her despite the illness.

Fish in Petal!

One of the hardest things about moving away from somewhere that you have lived for 10 years is leaving people you have become great friends with behind. Luckily, some of our closest friends chose to come visit us around New Year's. I think we were more excited about their visit than we were about Christmas itself. Our kids and theirs have literally grown up together so seeing them see each other for the first time in months was so sweet. I had lots of things planned for their visit, but unfortunately it decided to rain practically the whole time they were here. We did find a few patches of non-raining weather and enjoyed one of Petal's coolest playgrounds (I think the adults had just as much fun as the kids),





showed them our lake and play area,





and tried to get a fire going in our new firepit. Some of that was successful and some weren't.
We did all go to Gatti-Town and had a blast! The kids loved the bumper cars!!!







I borrowed my mom's jumping house for a little indoor distraction while Angie and I had some girl shopping time. So FUN!!


Linlee wanted to save the pinata from her family party and crack it open while the Fish were here. This was a hoot to watch! Linlee was the one to finally get it open! One of many highlights of the visit!





I hope we will get to visit with them all again very soon!

Linlee's 7th Birthday

I gave Linlee the choice of what kind of party she wanted (big party little gifts or little party bigger gifts). She chose to have a family party at home and take the fish to Gatti town when they visited a week later as part of her birthday. She chose the menu of steak, sweet potatoes, fruit salad, green bean bundles, roll and cake. her favorites!
Nana and Papa were the only ones to make it to the party since Grandpa and Grandma were iced in on their RV trip to Gatlinburg and didn't make it back in time.
I make the cake. It didn't really turn out as planned in my head but I think it acidentally turned out pretty cute.




My girl is growing so big!!!
She got an MP3 player with and I-dog, clothes, easy bake stuff and a robe from us. Hello Kitty birthstone necklace from Nana and Papa, clothes and puzzle book from Grandpa and Grandma, Bible from Papa John, Tangled book from Grandma Giles and Bath and Body works hand sanitizer lotions from Annelise. Great Birthday~

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

I am totally taking the lazy way out of this in order to get caught up.

Because Conner got his big gift early, it was only fair to let the girls open one of theirs on Christmas Eve morning. Sidney opened a new stroller and Linlee opened the Wii Party game (which is by far the most played game we ever got. It is sooo fun!) That evening we spent with the great grands and all the Giles family. Lots of food, lots of gifts and lots of memories. Ava and Sidney had a blast together and were so cute to watch.



This Christmas is the first one that we haven't had to drive 5 hours to attend all the festivities. It was so nice to wake up in our own home and have a normal Christmas morning opening gifts with just us. The kids have enjoyed everything they received. The highlight for me was seeing what the kids had put in my stocking. Ben had taken Linlee and Conner seperately to buy gifts for each family member with their own money. They felt so grown up. Linlee got me a new scrub brush which I needed actually. Conner had caught my oven mit on fire a few week before Christmas and so his gift was a new set. Loved the thoughtfulness and I use them daily.


We then headed to my parent's house for the annual Smith family gathering. It is always a mad house when they all get together in one space. We got there a little early to open gifts with Nana, Papa, Unlce Todd, Aunt April and Ava. The Pillow pets were a hit that morning and the robes that Granny made for all the great grands were well loved also. We got to see pretty much everyone this year except Amanda's family. We weren't supposed to see Justin and his family but Uncle Mickey was stranded without car keys and Justin had to drive the extra set down. Nice treat. I love Christmas time and am always depressed for a few days after it is all over. It is soo much more fun with kids of your own as well.