Trip to St. George

We had a great little trip with the kids to St. George over President's Day weekend. Above is the view from the back of the condo we stayed in. (When we first got there, David pointed to the mesa on the right and said, "See that mom, that's a volcano."

Our kids were so excited when we first told them the plan a few weeks ago that they immediately started packing. They were especially into packing stuff to do in the car because we'd never really done a substantial car-trip. The most exciting of all? To get to watch dvd's in the car! Richard Scary books are also exciting.
When we took a potty-break in Fillmore Spencer spotted this four-wheeler and asked, "Can you take a picture of me by this, Mom?" So we did. :)
We rented a one-bedroom condo with a sofa couch, figuring we could put some kids on the floor. Then we discovered the whole thing had tile flooring! So smart Dad put three kids horizontally on the sofa bed and made a bed for Catherine from the couch cushions. They all slept amazingly well! Whew. Our kids thought the condo itself was so exotic. When we walked in Spencer said, "I want to live here the whole winter!" I kind of felt the same way! It was just so nice to walk around in the sunshine with no coats on. Locals felt like they were having a bit of a cold spell, but it felt great to us!

Sunday after church we took the kids to the St. George Temple and visitor's center. I love how the white temple contrasts with the red sandstone cliffs surrounding. (I didn't take this picture, but thought it was a good one.) This temple was the first completed (around 1870) after the pioneers came to Utah.A fun part of that was meeting up with Bret and Laura who were also in St. George for the weekend staying with Bret's parents.
Strangely, these are the only pictures I have with the temple in them. Laura took some of us with her good camera, so we'll post those another time. But for now, here you have Spencer doing his new favorite trick of hopping on one leg while rubbing his stomach and patting his head at the same time.
Inside the visitors center we saw a new movie called the Stonecutter about John Rowe Moyle who President Uchtdorf talked about in his last conference talk, "Lift Where You Stand." Beautiful little film and very inspiring.

In trying to keep David from climbing on every surface or running away for the 17th time we told him we'd take a picture of him by Jesus.

Then everyone else got a turn.

We also toured Brigham Young's winter home in St. George. The last time I went here (11 years ago) the wood trim was all white, which complimented the sandstone. They've since restored the wood trim to the colors that they were when Brigham Young lived here.

Cool quilts.

We also enjoyed swimming on Saturday and Monday (at indoor pools) going for walks, eating at restaurants, visiting some old friends from our mission (and their fancy house!) and watching Horton Hears a Who on the king size bed. (That show is funny! We all laughed a lot.) And making rock creations. (Spencer, behind our condo.)
On Monday before we left we stopped at the dinosaur tracks museum. About 9 years ago a retired farmer in St. George found these fosillized dinosaur foot prints and tracks on his land. It's one of the biggest and most extensive dinosaur discoveries in recent years. This is only a tiny fraction of them. Those doing the research and preservation have since built a museum right on top of the site itself.
This is a T-Rex print from New Mexico, just there for size perspective, but Spencer was really excited about it. He walked around with a notebook writing down important information the whole time we were there. David amused himself (but not us) by climing over barriers and purposely touching everything with a "Do Not Touch" lable. Can't you just see him scouting his next exploit?After the dinosaur museum, we hit the road for home. But not before waiting in a 17-car-line at the drive through at In and Out Burger. It was worth it. :)

On the way home we stopped at Cove Fort, built in the 1870's by Ira Hinckley (Gordon B. Hinckley's grandfather) on assignment from Brigham Young as a way-station on the route to southern Utah. (we were definitely back in the cold climate again!)

More quilts on beds.

I really like Cove Fort. They've restored it so beautifully. I can't imagine living there though. A mile and a half from a running creek until they finally diverted the creek. Pretty desolate. Ira Hinkley planted these trees inside. He also made friends with the indians and never had to use the fort for defensive purposes, only as a rest-station, mail and telegraph office, etc.

On top of the wall.

Back to the road.

Oh what do you do in the winter time when all the world is grey?

Do you build endless Thomas railway options?

Do you watch the exciting backhoe down the street, filling in potholes? (We made multiple trips to check out the different pieces of machinery.)

This was a great diversion for a sunny day. Good to get out of the house, breathe some "fresh" air, get some exercise, learn how to dig-up asphalt. . .


Do you let your kids build "tanks" with the couch, the little-tikes car, the vaccuum cleaner and cord, etc? (I was informed that this one is called "The Drivey-Divey 3000.")
Do you let your kids destroy the styrofoam packaging from a new light fixture with a hammer?
(This one made a big mess, but kept them very entertained.)
Do your kids get out the purler beads?
We've spent a lot of purler-bead time this winter. But I'm starting to get sick of picking beads out of the carpet, so these are back on the shelf for a little while.
Emma decided to make 'quilt-squares' out of purler beads. A child after my own heart.Is that what you do? So do I.

Our funny boys

Our boys have been pretty funny lately. Well, they're always somewhat funny, but we've had some recent good lines that are worth sharing. I'll focus on Spencer today and save David for next time.

[here is a recent shot of Buzz Lightyear, David, Spencer, Grassy (the stuffed crocodile) and Brownie (the horse) riding in their train/firetruck.]

Spencer, as you already know from this post, has a penchant for asking deep questions. While he continues to think deeply, he has started to make some profound statements as well. Here are a couple:

"Mom, that's why Heavenly Father put hearts in our tummys, [his voice swelling] so we can LOVE!"

"Mom! I know why Santa wants us to be good! Because Heavenly Father wants us to be happy so we can grow-up to be missionaries and prophets."

"I know why Heavenly Father didn't make dragons - even nice ones - because they don't have seat belts and if we rode them we'd fall off. That's why he made airplanes." [I swear this one is verbatum.]

He's also been explaining that if I catch any dinosaurs I should only keep the 'good' ones. And not get too close to the volcano. He fills-up lots of note pads with information about taking care of dinosaurs and volcano safety.

He's really into 'good' things and 'bad' things lately. Like, "Why did Heavenly Father make 'bad fish' that eat the 'good fish'?" Same with athletic contests: one team is always 'the bad team.' He also wonders why there is a football team called "the Stealers." Clearly, they are the bad team. :)

[in my attempts to create a more reverent atmosphere during Sacrament Meeting, I decided it was time to buy Spencer a tie so he would feel more grown-up and respectful. Unfortunately he inherited his Poppy King's dislike of anything around his neck, so although he was excited at first, he soon did not want to wear it.]

And finally, my favorite recent quote: One Sunday night after being cooped-up all day, the boys were really restless and they started taking off their shirts to wrestle [which they inherited from the Smart side. :)] Spencer kept trying to get Michael to take his shirt off too.
Finally Michael consented and as soon as he took his shirt off, Spencer said, "No! Put it back on! That's gross - all that hair . . . and those puffy things!"

As Michael and I are doubled over laughing Emma calmly says, "No Spencer, those are called 'Bimbles.'" [We obviously haven't had a nursing baby in a couple of years so we're loosing our grasp of anatomical terms, I guess.] Michael kept trying to explain that they were called 'peck muscles.' Spencer wouldn't buy it.

A sledding adventure!

A couple of Saturdays ago we had a beautiful, clear January day and decided it would be fun to explore some of our favorite summer haunts in Provo Canyon and scout any adequate sledding hills in the process.

This is as close as we could get to Bridal Veil Falls at this time of year. (see our last visit here.) Really spectacular, giant icicles!
We drove up past Vivian Park and South Fork Park to the trail head for a hike that goes around the back of the mountains and ends up in Rock Canyon above the Provo Temple.
We found a little spot above the trail parking-lot. It was GREAT! The runs weren't crowded and icy, and the scenery was SO pretty! (That made the biggest difference to me.)


The first time I was took David down I stuck out my foot to slow us down at the bottom so we wouldn't go sailing into the parking lot. Unfortunately that caused a spray of powder all over his face. When we stopped, I said, "oh buddy, are you okay?" He just smiled, stuck his fist in the air and said, "Wet's do that AGAIN!"



Not too shabby!

[Backside of Mt Timpanogos. Same mountain you see the front of in the post below.]

Snow, snow every where and not a drop to drink

We have had a ton of snow so far this winter. We currently have the most I've ever had at one time on my lawn since I've lived in Orem (10 years!).
Of course, there are some fun aspects. I like getting the kids out in it. I would like it better myself if it wasn't cold and wet at the same time. :)Our last storm about 2 weeks ago was a doozy. I shoveled our sidewalks and driveway 5 times in 36 hours, not including the time my next-door neighbor did it with his snow-blower. Michael's having back issues, so I've decided I'd rather do it myself than have an invalid husband. Until I start having back issues of my own! :) I'm thinking we seriously need to invest in a snow-blower. The only problem with that is so does the rest of the population of Orem. Not a good time to try to find one.

At least shoveling is a good excuse to get the boys out of the house.
Spencer's not quite as excited about it as he was last year. David still likes it though. But most of his help means shoveling the snow back onto the sidewalk. :)


At least we get this lovely reward.
Until today. Now the inversion is hitting and we probably won't be able to see the mountain because of all the trapped bad-air in the valleys. Until the next storm comes which will clean-up the air and start the process all over again.

What ever happened to the storm systems we got those first 8 years in Orem? The snow only stuck to the grass and never got above a few inches if that! Climate change is for real.

Well since I'm 10..............

.......................... I might as well post about it since everybody has but me. Yes I'm 10 If you haven't
noticed which I'm pretty sure you have. No I don't feel different. No nothing feels different.(I am doing this because of my uncles)I got some great gifts so I'll name a few: a sewing basket, a book
on incredible art, and a locket. I loved them all. Thanks for a great Birthday, everybody.

A very BYU Christmas

Here are a few pictures from early December that I either forgot to post, or ran out of time to post. Or a combination of both. One Saturday morning, we went to the BYU employee-family-Christmas party at the Wilkinson center. That place is always packed. Think about the number of employees at BYU (not just professors but administrators like Michael, and all the support staff, ground crew supervisors, etc.) and then think about the number of kids all those people could have. It kind of boggles the mind. Needless to say, it was a mad house. In fact, I think we will probably not worry about going next year.

Too many lines, not enough prizes for the kids, Cosmo didn't show-up when he was supposed too. . . In fact, I'll stop there because I'm still kind-of bugged. But we did have a nice visit with President Samuelson. He's almost as good as Cosmo.

Here is David lying on the floor in one of the LONG lines. We all kind of felt this way by the end.

Later that night I took the girls back to the Marriott Center to watch the annual Folk Dance Concert, "Christmas Around the World." I hadn't been to that performance since some of my own friends were in the Folk Dance group when I was a student at BYU. And we got a bonus because the Men' Chorus performed as well! It was a fun time with the girls. We're starting a new tradition - a cultural date with Mom at Christmas time. Last year we did the Utah County Regional Ballet's production of the Nutcracker. Maybe next year we'll hit Neil Diamond's concert. Just kidding.