Winter Festivities

November and December have been so full of fun activities, starting with Thanskgiving.  Sorry family, but the highlight of my Thanksgiving this year was going to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra the night before.  I have wanted to go for years, but just haven't done it.  This year since my brother and sister-in-law were in town they talked me into finally doing it, so we could all go together.  So to them I say, thank you, thank you, thank you for helping me check one off my bucket list. 

Here is what the stage looked like, from our seats, we were literally on the last row, notice the black curtain behind us.  But I don't care, any seat would have been a good seat that night.  The stage was amazing, pyrotechnics, lift arms that swung over the audience, a swinging clock that lit on fire.  It was one heck of a show.  I kept dying in anticipation for their performance of Carol of the Bells, of course, it was the finale, but my heart couldn't take all that waiting!

 

Thanksgiving went well, we had it at our house including Ryan's side of the family, and my parents.  Everyone chipped in with food and Matt and Sara were a great help with set-up and clean up, I think we were all pretty tired.  After the meal Matt and Ryan put the lights on our house and the kids got to play together. 

The following Saturday Ryan, Matt, Sara, and I went on a fun exersion for some photo taking.  To be honest the day was longer than I expected and I was getting a little onery, but it had some great memories.  Such as: eating at Porter's Place, and getting a private tour of the old buildings in Eureka by the guy who's trying to save them.

 

Also this month Christopher Pop-in-Kins has shown up at our house.  He's Santa's spy who watched Andrea to make sure she is being nice and pops in a different place every night.  In this picture he was on the kitchen light and had left magic seeds for Andrea. 

The seeds only worked if she planted them in sugar and behaved all day long. 

So was extremely well-behaved that day, luckily, and the next morning they had grown into chocolate bears. 

 

This week Ryan got most of Monday off, since he plowed snow all weekend and he suggested we take Andrea sledding.  It was her first tim,e and she absolutle loved it.  She got so good at going alone that the one time Ryan nor I were at the bottom to catch her she headed for a snow bank and went airborne.  Luckily, she hung on, landed fine, but Ryan and I couldn't stop laughing for quite a while. 

I wish we got video of her great jump, but this was how most of the afternoon went.

Halloween

This year for Halloween Andrea chose to be Cinderella, well first it was a butterfly, but when I sat her down to look with me online she chose Cinderella.  I'm a little picky when it comes to Halloween Costumes, I don't like the "dress up" costumes made by the corporation.  To me they look cheaply made and often don't look like the actual chararacter.  Plus, then you have to wear the cheesy picture of the character on the neckline area.  What person wears a picture of themselves on their dress, I don't, I didn't see Cinderella have her picture on her dress in the movie!

I digress, anyway, so I talked her into a very fluffy light blue ball gown which I thought bore more resemblence to Cinderella's dress than the Disney produced costume.  When it arrived it was too big, which I thought it would be, but I want her to re-use it for playtime for quite a while. It had a big hoop skirt, so that was interesting to try and shorten and I had to shorten the midsection as well.  We also got some long gloves to keep her warm, which wasn't ended up not being all that necessary on this warm Halloween!

The week before Halloween her dance class had a Halloween Party while the Mom's decided on dance costumes for the year.  Those girls are all so stinkin' cute anyway, but to see them in their Halloween costumes and practicing their dance was adorable!

 

Don't you just love how Andrea's dress takes up the whole floor! Poor girl couldn't figure out where to color!

 

 

I would say that "we" carved pumpkins but really Mom carved three pumpkins for the family.  Andrea was more than willing to help, she did a lot of her own gut removal, but I was being too particular to let her scrape the face.  So finally I had to tell myself that this was her pumpkin, so I colored the hair parts with marker and told her to scrap it all off.  She did quite well when I backed away and let her try!

 

Ryans hands were hurting from a hard day at work, so he tried to carve his, but couldn't.  So I did it so I could get the mess cleaned up that night.  They all turned out pretty well I think even though we forgot to actually light them up :)

 

 Saturday before Halloween was our ward's Trunk or Treat. I thought this year I would participate in the fun and dress up as Garth from Wayne's World. Andrea didn't know who I was until I showed her the movie cover and then she got it.

 

It's fun that Andrea's cousins are in the ward so we can have fun together at the trunk or treat.  Their Mom always does such an impressive job, she realy out did herself this year with Roland as a truck driver! Brigitta chose to be the grim reaper, but a red grim reaper.  How would it be to know your Mom can make any costume you want, those lucky kids!  Amy even dressed up as Rosie the Riviteer and I'm mad at myself for not getting a picture!

Halloween night we visited Grandma Joan, Grandpa Jim, and the Lees came visiting to our house.  Andrea and I did some trick or treating around our neighborhood before we headed to Grandma "Bell"s (She'll never be LaVelle again to our family).  I had forgotten how much fun it is to go door to door trick or treating.  Andrea was always so excited to say Trick or Treat and to say "Thank you".  We also did the houses on Grandma Bell's street and that neighborhood was so much fun because it seemed like a lot of older or single people who put a lot of time into their treats and loved every vistor since there were so few.

So another successfull Halloween is gone and I'm glad Andrea got three uses out of that annoying dress... here's a tip for all other mothers, hoops skirts have to be lifted before climbing stairs, so that can old pretty quickly while trick or treating!

Camp Trailer

This year we brought new adventure into our lives by investing in a camp trailer.  Ryan had been talking about one for a while and I had no idea of how we could ever afford one.  However, our friend made us an offer we can't refuse which included a big price cut if Ryan would help him improve his lawn this summer.  So Ryan adjusted and replaced sprinkler heads, fertilized, aerated, even applied bug barrier to the house, and I think we are all satisfied with the deal.

Ryan and I look the trailer out in September without Andrea to make sure everything worked and to decided what we will need a regular basis for camping in the future. Everything but the heater works, and we'll figure that out soon enough.  But we came home with a big list of things like "soap, towels, salt and pepper, scissors, first aid kit" and so on that we needed for the next trip. 

The next trip we decided it was Andrea's turn to test out the trailer.  We didn't go far from home about a 20 minute drive south of town, and didn't have much of an agenda. 

 We cooked some yummy dutch oven and tried a chocolate dessert, did some exploring in the nearby hills, Andrea and Daddy spelled our names in Rocks by our campsite.

 When it go colder we went inside and played some games until it was time for bed.  We camped fairly close to a military base, so we got to hear taps that night and Ryan heard Reville early the next morning.  It got quite cold that night, and by quite I mean freezing! We had to turn on the stove occationally just long enough to take the chill out of the air. 

 

Both tables fold come down and make up three beds so it was just right for all of us. The next morning we didn't do much just packed up and went home, we all needed to thaw out!

 

Ryan has big plans for the trailer, a lot he would like to update and modify. We already painted the outside, and have added lots of accessories, Ryan would like to update the cabinets and walls.  My job is to re-upholster and make new curtains, good thing I have all winter! Let's hope this trailer brings lot of fun memories for our family, right now all is does for me is make me shiver from the memory of that cold night!

Moab

This year Ryan's company sent us on a retreat to Moab.  This time the owners weren't able to join us, so it was Ryan and me, the secretary Amanda and her husband Chuck, and the new manager in Logan, Brian and his wife Amanda.  It was a lot of fun with all of us so close to the same age group, although Ryan and I were the oldest :(.  Thursday night four of us went to dinner and did some shopping.  Brian and Amanda weren't able to leave Logan as soon as the rest of us were, so they got there pretty late that night.  The next morning we rented some Jeeps and tried to find some trails.  You would think the Jeep rental company would give you a map, but no, we were on our own.  So after some help from the Chamber, we headed for Tusher Tunnel. 

 Although the trail on this one wasn't very adventurious, the destination was pretty cool! Two huge rocks formed a long tunnel that lead to a great view! Since this was only accessible by Jeep or ATV it was something not a lot of people get to see.

Next we headed to the Chicken Crossing Trail, which ended up being so long and so adventurous that we didn't get to finish it.  Still it lead to some great rock formations, and the boys got to test their Jeeps abilities more fully than the first trail.

That night all six of us had some great mexican food, did some more shopping, and then played cards back at the hotel. I'm a little sad I didn't get more photos of all of us! It was a nice little break and I will admit that I was done Jeeping after about an hour, but everyone else seemed to have fun and I definately slept well that night!  Bouncing around for six hours will definately wear you out!

Saturday morning Ryan and I did some driving through Arches.  Since we had gone before we didn't do any of the hikes, but Ryan enjoyed taking some photos.  Not a bad little break from work and home before summer ends!

Zoo

This year we didn't have too much money to go somewhere for our Anniversary, so we decided to spend the day at the zoo with Andrea and then go out to a nice dinner.

They recently opened a new section of the zoo that has been under construction for years. I was so glad that it didn't dissapoint! There is an entire under water section where you can watch the seals, sea lions, and polor bear in action.  The polar bear was hilarious and obviously has a little OCD, he just did his little backstrock swim routine over and over and over.

The sea lions were also very neat and would come right up to the glass.

Andrea of course also loved the carousel, and this was the first year she could understand when the ride was over, and time to get off, and there was no crying at all!

We, of course, road the train, which has always been a little dissapointing when it comes to the exhibits, but the ride has been enough for Andrea.  We were informed that the train will be closing for two years to remodel that entire area into an African Safari.  Alrhough I'm sad the train will be closed, it's long overdue!

First Day of Dance

It's been pretty evident that Andea would love to take dance lessons, and this year she is old enough.  So we signed her up with Dance Attitude here in town. After asking a lot of the other moms, I got the best feedback about this group.  It does make me feel a little old, however, since the company's owner also taught me dance when I was Andrea's age, but I'm sure I'm not the first alumni she's had bring their daugther to dance there. 

 When I called to sign up I was told that I am welcome to stay the first class to watch, and get more information about the schedule and pricing, but after that they don't like the moms to stay.  I was a little taken aback, this will be the first outside activity that I just drop Andrea off to, and I don't know if I'm ready. 

After the first class it was easy to see why they don't like the parents to stay.  Andrea was good for the most part about staying with the class and doing what she was told, but occationally she would come over to say "Mom, did you see that" or "Am I doing good?". 

I was so surprised at how well she listened and tried every move they told her, it was definately a Mommy Paycheck moment when even one of the other moms told me they were impressed with how well Andrea listens. 

The teachers were so cute with the girls, and I can tell she is going to love dance class.  We'll see how next week goes for me when I have to let my baby go for the first time.  Hopefully this will make preschool and kindergarten a little easier!

Down South

I know I already did a Cedar City post this year, and there will probably be another for Peyton's baptism in October, but oh, well... we just like to go to Cedar City.  It's really not fair for Matt and Sara when we decided to make a trip because they are always really good about feeding us and entertaining us, and it's more work for them when we decide we want to come visit. 

This time they had planned for us to take a small road trip through some small towns like Pine Valley and end up in St. George.  The poor kids are always so bored when Matt and Ryan go on their photography drives, but they are good sports and hang in there.  Meryn and Andrea were in the far back seat while Peyton was stuck between Sara and I in the middle seat.  At one point the two girls were both singing along to the movie Tangled and it was so cute!

Later they both decided it was nap time.

We made a quick stop to Mountain Meadows Masacre, which is really hard to explain to kids, so we didn't try, but they had fun sitting on each of the benches going up the hill. 

Next we headed to Pine Valley where Sara had packed a nice picnic for us all, so we ate on the lawn of the visitors center.  The kids had a lot of fun playing freeze tag and playing in the unique drinking fountain. 

Next we stopped at the Pine Valley church, which Ryan and Matt's great-great grandpa (I believe) helped build.  It's a really cool church, especially since it's the oldest LDS church still in use today.  It was three floors, but the top floor had just one classroom-sized sitting room.  Some of the old benches still had the last names painted in them from back in the day.  Even the tithing house, which is a seperate building, is still used for the Primary's sharing/singing time. 

After Pine Valley we headed to St. George where Sara and I talked the boys into letting us stop at the outlets, and I was able to get some fall clothes for Andrea, all pink of course!

Then we headed back to Cedar to decide where to eat for dinner.  We tried a small little restaurant called the Little Brick House and it had some delicious sandwiches! I'd eat there again in a heartbeat.  It also had an attached antique store which was fun to look through and you would have thought Ryan had won the lottery when he found Prince Albert in a can, so of course he had to buy it! I still don't know where he put it, at least it's not displayed in our living room, and that's all I care about.

The next day, Sunday, was pretty relaxing, I got some work done while their family went to church.  Then we went over to Grandpa Ray's for a visit while Ryan and Matt re-arranged some furniture and rumaged through Grandpa's old tools. 

That night Ryan, Andrea, and I went for a walk over to Aunt Sandy and Uncle Fernlee's to play with the dogs.  The timing was perfect, it rained the whole time we were inside visiting, but stopped in time for us to walk back. 

Monday we headed back home.  Andrea loves going to Cedar City, so I didn't even tell her we were going until the day before. Now I've made the mistake of telling her dance class starts next week and I get to be asked all day long how many more days she has to wait. 

Hatch Patch 2012

This month my sister-in-law invited us to her family's cabin, Hatch Patch, up Hobble Creek Canyon.  Ryan and I had been before, but we were excited to take Andrea.  The best part of Hatch Patch is the ponds, there are three ponds on the property perfect for swimming or kayaking.  We didn't do any swimming, but we had a lot of fun kayaking. 

Andrea's first kayak ride she told me, "this is the best trip ever".  So, sorry Matt and Sara, Cedar City has been demoted, apparently. 

Amy had to leave for a family sealing at the Bountiful temple, so that left Eric to entertain us all.  The kids pretty much entertain themselves, but Brigitta and Amy had made a fun nature game with egg cartons.  Each kid was supposed to find things in nature for each color, blue and purple proved to be pretty difficult.  Eric ended up murdering a dragonfly for Brigitta's blue hole.

The kids also enjoyed the sandbox and swings, and Ryan enjoyed taking photos of the river. 

Eric and Amy made a yummy dutch oven dinner and Ryan and I got to break in our dutch oven and made some cherry-peach cobbler, which I was real happy with for our first try.  Andrea was really sad to leave, but was passed out in the car pretty much before we got out of the canyon. 

Princess Festival

One day while driving down the highway I saw a billboard about a "Princess Festival" at Thanksgiving Point, I knew Andrea would love something like that. Even though I've never been into the Princess thing, not even as a little girl, and have never encouraged the princess mentality with Andrea, she's figured it out all by herself. 

The few days before the Princess Festival my work had been so overwhelming that I was a little worried about making my deadline and still letting Andrea have her day of fun.  I was so happy when I got an email the night before letting me know that we all had our deadlines extended because of the high work volume we'd been given.  I was so relieved and it made me feel even better that this new job was going to be as flexible and forgiving as I had hoped.

The morning of the festival Andrea kept threatening to throw up, while getting her dressed and then in the car on the way there.  When we stopped at a gas station to get her some crackers and juice we said a little prayer that Andrea would feel better and enjoy her day. 

When we arrived Andrea was welcomed by some "wuzzle dust" or something like that in her hair.  I told the prince who sprinkled it that Andrea's Daddy will not be happy with him!  Ryan has a solid rule about no glitter in the house, but oh well, what's done is done.  Next we purchased tickets for nail painting, craft, and a carriage ride.  I asked her if she wanted her face painted too, but I knew her answer would be no, and it was a big "NO!", I love it when I'm right.

(I also realized on the way there that I forgot my camera, luckily cell phone cameras are pretty good quality these days!)
First she got her nails done.

Then it was time for the princess parade and all the activites shut down.

We sat and watched for a little while, but once Andrea's popsicle was done she was ready for lunch, so we shared a hamburger. 

Then she splashed in the wadding pool until the parade was over.  During our lunch break she realized "Hey, Jesus did make me feel better".  And I was so proud when she said, "we better thank him for making me feel better" (Mommy Paycheck). So we said another prayer thanking Jesus for making Andrea feel better so she could have a fun day.

Once she was done cooling off we went to the craft station where she could either make a crown, or a wand.  She picked a pink crown and only wanted to decorate with pink stickers, I was surprised when she actually threw on some other colors now and then.  I realized while I watched her how far I have come as a mother, it would have bothered me before if all the jewels weren't in a symmetrical pattern, or straight, but this time I didn't even think about it.  I just let her do her thing and she sure was proud of that crown!

All over the festival there were the classic princesses there to sign autographs and take pictures with, but Rapunzel was the only one we really caught. 

Next we headed to the carriage ride, and it really was your classic carriage, it only fit about six people at a time, so we had to wait a couple of rounds.  I tried to get a good picture of us both in it, but this was the best I could do. 

 

By that time we were both spent and headed out, her last surprise of the day was a puzzle, granted it was a 500 piece one that we are still working on, but she was very excited that she got the Park City one.  On the way home it took all of about 5 minutes for her to fall asleep, being a princess is hard work!

It was an okay day for me, just too hot and too girly, but I knew she loved it and I'm guessing we'll probably have to go again next year.