Paper Castle

Kevin made a fun date night with me. We get LOTS of scraps of paper from a friend and so he decided we could use them to make a castle. With the help of a stapler we were successful! The kids ended up playing with it for a few days which made it even more of a success. I love it when Kevin thinks of fun things for us to do.

Stitches

KayDee needed stitches after falling flat on her chin while playing with her brother. They were pulling each other around on blankets and she apparently got bucked off and hit the floor. It was quite the sight to see white fat when she pulled the skin apart. I made the decision quite quickly to take her to get stitches. She ended up with 5.

Flying Kites

 Another attempt was made to fly kites at our house. The wind is just not right...EVER! The wind gusts and then dies in a very sad pattern that makes kite flying near impossible. Just ask anyone who lives here!

 The kids ran and used the wind when it decided to come. They got it off the ground for a bit and that made them happy.

Just run. That is how to fly kites in our town.

Off-Road /Hiking

 We tried to go off-roading with our friends the Beatty's. The weather was supposed to be nice and we were going to hike to a plane crash. Our 4x4 was having unexpected problems and the wind was sooo cold

 

(we felt a little misled by the weatherman!) The Beatty's ended up pulling us a fair way to get us home. Sadly the truck was just out of fuel...
On our way back we stopped at our "Eagle Rock" to have the kids run and play.

 Wade was not convinced the rock looked like an eagle. Where is his imagination?

 Many comments were made on KayDee's getup. Apparantly she dresses like a diva.

 Cramming kids on the rock.

The boys


We went back to the house and had lunch and hot chocolate to warm us up!

The Fort

I loved making forts when I was younger. They love it too!

The Helmet

The Motorcycle

Kevin has been working fairly diligently on his motorcycle. He had a deadline but major sickness and weakness got in the way. It has been extended a few more weeks and good thing it will be running soon since fuel prices continue to go out of reach.
We have been accumulating parts off ebay and autopart stores. The paint job has seemed to be the most important since it needs a gas tank to run and Kevin wants it to look pretty. And look what he has accomplished...drum roll...IT LOOKS PRETTY GREAT! (I added the "great" since it really does look great!).
I like the roadrunner for different reasons than Kevin. He likes it because he loves THAT roadrunner from the cartoon and it totally fits a motorcycle personality. I like it because it has yellow and purple on it. Whatever, as long as everyone is happy. Now it needs a few more clear coats and off it goes to be placed on the bike. The next step is manipulating foam, vinyl, thread, and the base to make a good seat. More projects!

Happy 3rd annual 29th

So Kevin gets another birthday and more cheesecake and more car parts... We love his birthday since we only devote a limited number of candles on his cake. They always represent something and they really do this time too. Two is for the two at the end of what age he really is! Figure that out!
The kids had fun making a card for their dad and drawing pictures that he would like, like trucks. Samantha drew him sitting in the back of his truck. Maybe she wanted him to enjoy the ride from every aspect of his favorite vehicle. Derrick's truck looked a lot like Optimus (?) Prime with the colors he included. I sketched a motorcycle for him. He totally guessed what model I used too (it was easy since it was sitting in the driveway). KayDee danced while we sang happy birthday. I believe his smile was genuine. Happy Birthday Kevin!

That's Hail not Snow

It hailed HARD and sounded like someone was disabling our chimney and working at it for at least an hour. Normally the hail only lasts about 15-20 minutes so this was quite the storm. After it hailed and filled up the yard it calmed a bit and started to melt and then the BIG (as big as this area gets) ones started to fall. They weren't quite so numerous but this is definitely the largest I've seen since we have lived here. I know I take a lot of pictures of the weather but you would too if you lived in our climate!

Mini Bike

Kevin works on many projects and the mini bike has been one of the most popular (and cutest) with the kids. He brought it home one night but didn't have all the parts yet. The kids patiently waited until Dad was done with his 4 day fever and went back to work again so he could bring back the rest of the parts. After much tweaking it worked and even children can maneuver it. There was one point when I wasn't able to make it move without hurting my wrist...but Kevin fixed that quickly by swapping the throttle cable from the parts bike. I was RELIEVED. I hate driving old stuff that hurts!

After a few practice runs the kids put on their bike helmets and enjoyed the ride, with the governor super limited (basically at an idle) so the kids don't go too fast. (Kevin's correcting my spelling, I must be tired :)) Anyways we think it is a great addition to his many projects since we reap direct benefits from it. Now we need to get some real helmets and we'll be ready to go out of our yard.

New Airport

While my parents dropped in for a surprise visit we went and saw the new St. George Municipal Airport. I thought it was just in Washington Fields like everyone said. Well I guess it is if it takes 20 minutes to cross the fields, they're right.
The airport was really nice and I'm glad we were able to see it. Who knows when we would drive out that way again! Kevin's Aunt Lunetta was there with a group she works with, so it was fun to see her there too. The kids were given snacks from their group. I assume it is because they are irresistible children, or just that the group was really nice and my kids were hovering...And we did figure out what the U meant in SGU.

Stitches

Apparently it was my month of pain. I had two moles removed and STITCHES. It wasn't fun but the healing process wasn't too bad. It will take weeks to have the redness fade and a year to have my scars completely settle into being one with my skin. It had to be done sometime so why not now.

Visiting Grandparents

I have been visiting my grandparents once a week while they have been down here during the winter months. We enjoy the visits. I decided to bring my digital camera so they could see how it worked. Grandpa still has a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that over 1,000 pictures fit on that tiny card.  They enjoyed taking pictures but were still pretty frugal. I kept trying to tell them that we could just delete them when they were done. Grandpa insisted that he wasn't photogenic so Grandma deleted the ones she took of him. He also insisted that Grandma was VERY photogenic. I thought that was pretty sweet. Here is the duck/goose (the debate continues since it's large and honks) in their pond taken by Grandpa.

Snow

We woke up to 4 inches of snow Sunday morning Feb 20. It was Stake Conference which required us to drive 15 miles to the stake center, so we decided to not be on the snow covered roads with all those inexperienced southern Utah drivers. The kids enjoyed the perfect packing snow. I think this is the last snow. It usually snows big one last time in March so we'll see.

Passport Photo

Kevin needed a passport photo to renew his concealed weapon permit. Naturally the kids were next in line to get their picture taken and then I was the the only one left. It made sense for all of us to do it.

Ears Pierced X2

For Samantha's birthday she decided to get her ears pierced and I debated whether or not I was going to. I decided it would be good for me and if I really didn't like it, I could just take them out! We set the date, Feb11, and just did it!

 I made Samantha go first. I made sure to take care of the fact that this was a big deal for her and that she wouldn't chicken out! She did so great and the ladies did her ears at the same time. She was super tough and didn't even say ouch. She was so pleased since her cute little earrings came with a necklace. The stones are all butterfly shapes and light blue.

 Then it was my turn. I patiently waited for them to mark the ears. They had to be redone a couple times since KayDee bumped me, and the dots ended up in the wrong places to line up with the other ear. They finally got the dots settled.

 Then it was time. The first one hurt and the second felt like how they described it would feel. Samantha was tough, me not so much! I said ouch and then I said it again! I was really nervous and grateful Samantha was there so I wouldn't chicken out!

We had fun getting it done together and she is handling it great. I told her she could only get it done if she was big enough to take care of them. I showed her how to clean them and she does it by herself. She is miss independent and I love it! I love doing special things with my kids!

Sam's 9th Birthday

 Samantha is 9! I don't know if I believe it but I am happy about it. Samantha is such a talented girl. She learns things so well and really knows how to enjoy life. She has always been busy doing everything she can get her hands on. Now that she is older, she is directing it to many of her talents. She plays the piano so well and enjoys trying to figure out songs by ear. She loves to sing and still loves her baby dolls. She has always wanted to be a mother and still practices when she gets the chance. She is practicing baby sitting and has done great. Samantha is doing great in school. She is in the advanced reading and math this year. She is also learning all about how to find good friends and how to be a good friend.
We sure love that Samantha is part of our family. She brings us so much happiness and adventure. We love how she is always ready with a smile and willing to participate in all our family activities. Her testimony is growing in the gospel and she applies many things she knows to her life. She is very teachable. We love her so much and are so grateful that she is ours!

 We had a fun party for Samantha for her 9th birthday. We invited 6 girls (all of them came too!) and had a make over party with Mary Kay make-up. Rachel had given me some left over packets to do make-overs so the girls did their own and they had fun! I had to wipe off a lot of dark blush on some of those fair faces but eventually they were looking really good. Then we took pictures of each of them and made frames out of scrapbook paper. Samantha delivered them to the girls when I got the pictures developed. It was a great party especially since we finished with 10 minutes to spare! I enjoyed meeting her friends.

 

Samantha's Uncle DJ shares his birthday with her and when we get the chance they celebrate together. Kevin's parents and DJ with his girlfriend Whitney came out to our place to celebrate. Sam and DJ both seem pleased to share their special day with each other.