Kitchen Remodel/Repair

 This winter we had an ice dam that caused a nasty water leak in our kitchen.  We are finally getting around to having them repair/replace the damage.  They had to take out a lot less than we originally thought.  They took the window casing off and then they took just a few smaller pieces of ceiling and wall out. I should have taken a picture of the fan and dehumidifier they had in our kitchen, but alas, I didn't.  Thankfully there is very little mold so they don't have to tent the house or anything nasty like that.  They are going to tear off part of the roof and replace shingles and rain gutter as well.  I will get pictures as they go.

Breakfast in Bed

Eli wanted to sit and mimic me while I was working.  It was so cute.

Chickens

 

Lana took the kids, on Saturday, down to IFA where they picked out 13 little chicks.  The kids were all able to pick out a few chicks.  Right now they are living in a box on our table.  They have to have a heat lamp on them for the next five weeks or so.  Soon, well not for about 9 months or so, we will have eggs coming out of our ears.  We will be constructing a coop soon and we will have a full-time home for the chickens over at Robyn and Alan's house.

First BUZZ Cut!

For over two weeks, ever since Lana cut Kanyon's hair, Eli had been begging for a hair cut.  When Lana was out on Saturday with all the other kids, picking up our chickens, I gave Eli a buzz.  He looks so grown up.

Basement Drain

I feel blessed.  Even though we keep having issues pop up, we have been able to get them fixed for  very reasonable costs.  We were originally quoted anywhere from $250-$900 to get this fixed.  We ended up getting it fixed for $70.  Now we are ready to get painting.

Nice Glasses

I wear these to pick up the ladies!!!!

Massage

Every time Eli gets out of the tub/shower he thinks he needs a massage.  He's really cute about it.  He loves to put his face in the head spot and relax.

Blue and Gold Banquet-Indian Theme

They put balloons on these targets and let the boys shoot arrows at them.

 Last night Noah had his last Blue and Gold Banquet.  They did an awesome job with it.  They brought in this TeePee, the teepee was over 20 feet tall, and also did a few indian dances to the drums with full costumes.  They had everyone sit on the floor for dinner and they brought in Turkey, Elk and Deer meat for everyone to try.  They also had cornbread and native utah vegetables.  It was very well done.

They put in a simulated fire so you could get the full effect.

Thesea re real indian artifacts found in UT.  The basket is dated as over 1200 years old.

They let the boys eat dinner on the floor inside the TeePee.

Here they are doing some native indian dances.

Kanyon's Planet Project

The last two weeks have been really busy with Kanyon's school work.  He had to do a country report, and of course he chose Greece, and also a planet report.  He choose to do Neptune.  We created this 16" x 10" poster and took it to Office Max for them to print off.  It turned out really nice.  For his country report he and Lana made Baklava.  He was the hit of the class.

Noah's Shots

Noah has been doing a trial study for Meningitis and Tdap.  Come to find out he was getting the placebo shots so on the last day of the trial he had to get the real shots.  His shoulder is so swollen and red that it looks like he is growing a new shoulder.  Poor kid.

See how red and swollen his right shoulder is.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

We are so proud of Kanyon!  He drew this AD, turned it in and won the entire competition.    There were entries from Box Elder, Davis, Morgan, Ogden and Weber School Districts grades K-12 and also all the Charter and home schooled entrants.  They are having an award ceremony, paying him cash and this article with his picture was in the Standard Examiner today.  YAY KANYON!

Spidy vs Batman

 Lana and Lynette just finished yet another masterpiece.  They had a client ask them to make a spiderman/batman cake and this is what they came up with.  Lana has such a super talent when it comes to crafty things like this.

Environmental Center

 Thursday, Feb 28th, the sixth graders went up to the Environmental Center.  I went up with Kanyon and spent the night.  It brought back a lot of old memories of when dad would take us up there and we would clean and spend the night.  The main building hasn't changed much, but they have added a few other building to the complex.  They have some solar arrays now and also a huge generator.

Thursday night, after a day of snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, digging snow caves and just having a great day, they had dinner and then a DJ came in and they had a dance.  No slow songs.  It was fun to see the kids all have fun together.  After the dance they watched "Iron Will" and then at 11 0'clock they put the kids to bed.  Unfortunately they didn't go to sleep and the teachers all slept out in the main hall.  I finally dug out earplugs at 6 am and slept until 6:50.

Kanyon took his Elvis glasses and wore them during the dance.  He's such a ham!

We took up some playing cards and "Spot IT" so during the short amount of down time the kids had we could play cards and have fun.

Kanyon was the speediest in his class on the cross-country course.  It was funny to see the kids who alpine ski, thinking they are the cats meow, eat snow on the cross country course.  Everyone crashed, especially on the hills.  I turfed it only once and i was in a flat area when I waved at some of Kanyon's friends.

It was a gorgeous day.  It was nice to spend some quality time with Kanyon.

Snowshoeing was awesome!  We hiked for over an hour and a half.  We hiked up the mountain for about 50 minutes and then the guide turned us loose down the hill.  There was no trail so several of the kids just went pell-mell down the hill and others went super slow.  I nearly killed a girl.  I was hoofing it down the hill when she decided to stop cut over and stop right in front of me.  I had to bail out and leap to the side to avoid her.  I ended up buried in powder up to my neck and had to dig myself out.  It was sweet!

Kanyon was a natural.  He lead the pack the entire time.

There were some awesome snow caves up there.  Some of them went on for 50' or more and others were big enough to fit several people.

I'm pretty sure these are the same beds we slept on 30 years ago when we went up as a family.  I slept on the bottom bunk so Kanyon could have the top.

They had racks of boots for cross-country skiing.

They had the kids set up tables for al the meals and then wipe them off and put them away.  This is Kanyon, Cameron Gross and David White, with the hat-stash.

 

Morgan's Wedding Reception

They had candy and cupcakes as the treats.  Eli has cupcake all over his lips.  He was doing his  "blinking" thing again when I tried to take is picture.  What a TURD!  Man, I have a sexy wife!

Lana and Lynettte made Morgan's wedding cake. Morgan is Lana's brother Neal's oldest daughter.  It turned out beautiful.  They hand-made the flowers on the cake out of frosting!  Incredible!  They painted the cake with some sparkly paint and they had to make special sizes to fit on the platform that Morgan chose.  They did a fantastic job.  Serious talent!  Morgan was married in the Brigham City temple.  The girls had fun dancing at the reception.  They tried to steal the spotlight!