Presenting Queen Elizabeth

 In February, June's 5th grade class wrote a paper and gave a presentation on a significant historical figure.  June, I mean Queen Elizabeth, went all out, as usual.  She wrote a terrific paper about the life of this strong-willed woman who ruled England without a king at her side.  I doubt anyone else dressed up this elaborately, but June's a bit of an overachiever and her mom had too much fun putting the costume together.

I'm happy to say she received a perfect score on her presentation and her paper!  Plus, she memorized Queen Elizabeth's speech that fired up her troops at Tilbury as they went into battle against the Spanish Armada.  She not only recited it word for word and with strong conviction, but also delivered it in a spot-on British accent.  This girl is a star!!!

What Do You Do in the Wintertime?

It's difficult to entertain yourself in January when there's just no snow for playing.  To avoid going stir-crazy while the cold kept us inside, we found things to keep us busy.  Like lots and lots of Lego building.  And face painting.  I should have know they were up to something locked in the basement bathroom.  These two spent the rest of the the day and most of the following one with black eyes that just wouldn't wash off.  So glad they wore them to church, too!

 

 Klive even got in on the painting action.  My three Ninja Turtles!

 Klive made a new friend.  Kal-el needs a big buddy to show him the ropes of being a boy.

 Klive also decided he needed a cool haircut to go with the chill in the air.  And those spikes just kept growing skyward all season long!

 We also made a quick trip to Twin to see Nana and Grampy.  Winnie showed Nana what she's been working on in her piano lessons.  And Nana showed Winnie a thing or two!

 We sucked them right into the Lego-building vortex of fun!

A Little Friends' Reunion

It's been over 5 years since I got together with these ladies in Costa Rica.  Somehow, we all ended up in Utah with our families after Christmas this year, so we got together at Cafe Rio to catch up and meet everyone's kids.  We really missed having Heidi and Melinda there to complete the group, but it was so good to see them!  No one has changed - they are all still the same fantastic, funny girls I remember from college.  Just makes me miss them even more!  I hope we can do it again soon!

Post-Christmas Utah Visit

 Christmas vacation means one thing:  COUSIN TIME!!!  And look who showed up to make the holidays bright - Aunt Darbs!  We need more Darby time if you ask me!

 Genola was a winter wonderland.  What better way to enjoy the white stuff than a white-trash sleight ride around the pasture?  The more kids the merrier!

 Grandpa's ice fishing sled makes the perfect bucket seat for about 4 runts and those seeking a really wild ride sat in the sled tied behind the sled tied behind the 4-wheeler!

 Kolby had plenty of back-seat drivers!  You can barely feel the cold when you are having this much fun!

 Grandma and Grandpa braved the cold to enjoy their great-grand kids!  Here's a great one of Grandpa Kyle  and all his little hairbags!

 I think the frozen appendages made it easier to get this group all lined up for a photo.  They were too cold to move.  Grandma whipped up her traditional hot cocoa - 1 part water, 20 parts cocoa.

 And let's not forget the biggest kid who waited his turn to be pulled around by his little brother!

The brothers.  One of these guys was trying to look tough like his brother with some specially-groomed facial hair.  His wife gave him a holiday week to enjoy the nostalgic chops and then he had to shave.  Poor Dr. Johnson, your wife never lets you have any fun! 

Hittin' the Slopes!

 We finally got brave enough to teach the kids to ski this year.  Barrie's Ski Shop rents kids packages for $100 a season so we got the gear in November and waited for the flakes to fall.  And waited.  And waited some more.  Finally, the big Christmas dump did the trick and Pebble Creek opened!  We let the kids have a few practice runs down the hill in the back yard on Christmas Day.

 We headed for the hills the day after Christmas.  Pebble has the BEST bunny hill for beginners!  That being said, Kolby on his snowboard was basically useless when it came to teaching anyone.  Luckily, we hand Nana and Papa to guide June and Winnie as they got their snow legs under them.  June took to it like a fish to water so we just let her go.  Winnie started out pretty timid and sat down if she got moving at a pace faster than a snail, but by the second day, she was doing great!  I lucked out and got stuck with the crazy little dude for my ski buddy.  On his first run down, he made a 20-foot vertical drop down the hill, rolled to a stop and said his legs were broken.  We didn't want to waste the ski day, so we leashed him like a dog which kept him from pointing his skis straight down the hill toward his imminent death.  I soon discovered that holding back a kid on a leash is brutal on my thighs that haven't been on skis in years!

 By day two, the kids all agreed that they loved skiing and wanted to do it again.  Kolby and I even snuck in a few kid-free runs.  We definitely wore ourselves out!  Luckily, Lava Hot Springs soaked all our aches and pains away!