Today was a snow day. This was the only real snowstorm in Bristow during this winter. So we made the most of it.

Until next winter...

This is extremely long. I really apologize. I left it all in, but you will probably be bored with most of it. I had a great time, and just kept writing. 4 pages, later I was done. This one will have to be skimmed and deleted...

Well, the crab died. It never fell out of the shell, there was just this awful, strong, fishy smell. Ulck! Poor Crabby!

And I joined that gym, Lifetime. Had a misunderstanding about the price so the guy gave me some money off. Lisa (sister) says those prices are negotiable anyhow. Been out of town, so didn't get to use it while I was gone. It's nice. Hard to remember to reserve a space for Melanie (have to make a reservation for infants). And sometimes I'm in a huge rush. I think the kids like the child care there. There's plenty to do, that's for sure.

From Jan 24th to the 31st, we were in Utah. We went on EV's third birthday and made a big deal how she would get to see all her grandparents for her birthday. And she did. We arrived around 10 am so had lots of time to just visit during the day. That evening, everyone came over to Grandma J's for cake and ice cream. She had 2 cakes, in fact, which means she was in heaven. And cakes are a big thing for my kids. We took a great photo of the kids with all 6 grandparents. Great Grandmas Hansen and Jamison, Grandmas Hansen and Sampson, Grandpas Hansen and Sampson. Gr-G-ma Hansen had come up from St. George. Was very nice and all the kids loved it.

Skiing at Snowbird

That was Tuesday. Wednesday we skied with Lisa and Michael at Snowbird. I was awful and fell all day. My poor back side. The kids stayed back with the folks, split up. Thomas got a tour of the dinosaur museum with Grandpa H. Grandma S took Kayleigh to Deseret Industries to buy lots of books. EV played with Steve, Melanie played with Grandma H.

Skiing at Solitude

That evening we drove up to Solitude where Grandpa H had a friend's condo rented for us to stay 2 nights. Thursday, all the kids got on their skis and had a great time. Even EV made several runs on the bunny hill with Grandpa H. Chad and I only had our snowboards and can't really help EV down the bunny hill. I'm pretty bad on the bunny hill there. It's not steep enough for me to stay up easily. I do better where it's steeper and I can dig in. So poor Grandpa H had to take care of EV's skiing needs. But my Dad showed up in the afternoon to ski a little with the kids and I think he got to go with EV just a little as well. My Mom had come up in the morning to watch Melanie in the condo and that was the greatest blessing. She's still nursing, so it just made life very simple. If she hadn't come, Chad and I would have had to trade off skiing and babysitting, so I was very grateful she would come. I believe she spent a great deal of her time (the whole week) encouraging Melanie to craw and move around. We were also using Dad's ski passes he can get from Tooele Army Depot. Dad H helped out and this was all very kind. Overall, the trip was heavenly and the financial burden was less than it certainly could have been.

After EV was done skiing (Thursday) and went back to the room with Mom, we all skied with K & T for a bit (Chad, me, Michael, Dad H, Dad, K, T). The kids do really well. Chad's been a good teacher. At one point, Kayleigh took Dad down a steeper than he wanted spot and he teased her a bit. She took it very serious and told me "We can't take Grandpa down anymore like that. He says I'm torturing him!" But for the last run, Dad wanted to take it easy on the bunny hill. (this bunny hill is extremely mild) But I somehow talked him into going up a a chair lift with us. He may have hemmed, hahhed, and grumbled just a bit thinking it would be much too difficult for him. But the runs were wide and groomed and very do-able. Once at the bottom, he admitted that he was glad he'd taken some harder runs because they weren't as bad as he'd thought (even though he'd joked about them at the time). And I say, that's kinda like life. What are we living for? "You always push me that way" he said. Dad has brand new skis as well, and is getting used to them.

K & T don't seem to mind any run. If it's steeper, I think they tend to do more turns, so maybe it's good they go on steeper stuff sometimes. T likes to take off at the top. I think they both ski about equal. Chad reminded me that it was just last year, when he took T the first time (he'd skied the previous year a little) that he barely made it down the bunny hill and was VERY hesitant. Chad said EV is skiing more bravely than T did that time last year. But after several runs, he was much improved. And he's really taken off - caught up to Kayleigh (of course, very competitive with her).

That evening we went swimming in a heated outdoor pool. There's also a hot tub. It was me with K & T for a while, then Chad and his Dad came, then finally, Michael and Sarah. So I was in that pool for a very long time. Mom was watching Melanie in a playroom nearby. There was this bridge over part of the pool and I slipped on it (very icy) and fell hard. Cut my hand and had this welt sort of thing on my leg from falling on this plastic mat. I guess it wasn't much worse than some of the falls I'd taken the previous day at Snowbird, except the marks it left. EV never wanted to leave the pool. K & T were also having a great time. At one point, T laid down in the snow with another boy to see if they could stand it. They could.

Mom stayed over that night. Friday we packed up all our stuff and checked out of the condo. Then got Mom situated at the lodge with Melanie in a Graco playpen. She babysat all day again. EV skied again with Grandpa H. After a while, Chad, Michael and I went with K & T to the back side area. There was tons of powder as it had been snowing and the skiing was great. But the wind was blowing and the kids didn't have their faces covered well. T had been starting to have a rough time (getting tired, hungry, cold and grumpy). But soon he was sobbing from the snow inside his coat after Chad had snapped it up to help cover his chin. And he couldn't calm down. I forget, sometimes, that when he gets hysterical, it does no good to be forceful. But he will calm himself down eventually. But as we went along, he couldn't even ski, he was so upset. I was behind the others with him. We stopped and I asked him if we should say a prayer, and what should we pray about. He wanted his hands and feet to warm up and me to say the prayer. So I did and prayed that T could calm down and feel warmer. A while later, he was skiing better, and said his feet felt better, but not his hands. I don't know if he'll ever remember that prayer, but it's a nice memory for me now. We met up with the others. Michael said he'd take the kids back to the lodge, which was amazing of him b/c that meant he'd miss out on a lot of really good skiing. It was still a ways down and by the time they got to the lodge, Michael said they were both in a great mood. Kayleigh had hung in there really well the whole time, so far as I could tell.

Then Chad and I took run after run through this great powder. He said it was as good as last year only better last year. For me, I think it was the best time I've ever had skiing. My snowboarding is only good enough that I don't mind attempting anything. And falling in so much powder didn't hurt much, just more work digging out sometimes. Chad took me through lots of trees and I only ran into one. I fell head over heals and all over the place, but for the most part I could stay up a lot better. I like skiing with Chad. He always is challenging me to try new things. He also won't feel too sorry for me when I'm having trouble. I'm sure it's hard to balance making everyone happy - the kids, me, the rest of the family. No one was selfish - Michael, the Dads, my Mom. I really appreciated everyone. Anyhow, Michael came back with his Dad and we had time for one long run around the back. Oh, it was fun!

Back at the lodge, Mom had some trouble with being served bad food, and a manager yelling at her for having granola bars on the table. Something about calling the Sheriff and having her escorted out. Whatever, but he later apologized to Dad H, who probably didn't know what he was talking about. Too bad for poor Mom. Kayleigh had her class pig (stuffed), Willbur with her, so we now have lots of photos of Willbur on our trip.

Tooele

We drove to Tooele from skiing. Mom came. That evening was a very fun party for EV, a cousins birthday party. My sisters did a great job. It was at Lisa's house. We ate pizza. The theme was pink elephants. Keirstin made a pink elephant cake. Lisa had a cute elephant game. First she read everyone a story, Diary of a Worm. They all laughed and loved it. Amazing how sometimes the simplest thing can be such a hit. Then they hunted for elephant treats all over the basement. Lisa had a disco ball, so they turned off the lights and danced. And danced. EV wouldn't let go of her goody bag from the treat hunt. She kept saying "I winned. I winned." They watched Dumbo, with the pink elephants and ate cake. It was a long evening. Lisa did a great job! All of Keirstin's kids slept over. They spread throughout the house. Thomas, Adam and Robbie were in the "Cupboard Under the Stairs"; Kayleigh Abby, and Chloe were in Chloe's room, EV was in a bunkbed with Chanelle, and Charity and Ashley were together (think they started out in Charity's room, migrated to the family room). Lisa gave us her bed as Chris was on a Scout trip. Her and Aubrie slept on the couches after we watched "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" - the edited version, even.

The next morning, everyone slept in, but woke up playing. I went over to Keirstin's and we walked for about an hour. The cousins played all day, then at McDonald's where we ate before leaving for Orem and Provo.

I want Robbie to come for a visit this summer. Keirstin says she couldn't do that to me as he's been hard for her to handle. But I think I'm wearing her down. I hope.

Orem

EV went with the Hansens (Great Grandma had gone back to St. George). Went to my folks ward (our old ward) at 9, then Grandma J's ward at 11 (Sac Mtgs). Visited at my folks house in the afternoon, then all the Hansens came over for dinner at Dona's house. My Dad came over to take a few photos of everyone. Dinner was this fried chicken that Chad always told me he remembered his Mom making (and Chad doesn't really remember lots of details from growing up, so this was impressive).

Monday was pretty casual. Dad and Mom H took EV and Kayleigh to that dinosaur museum. I went shopping with T, baby and Mom. Didn't get to SLC as early as we'd hoped. Went to Kevin's, met his dog. Big dog. The kids liked him. Went to Training Table. There was Mom, Kevin, Rachel and us. We love Training Table. Training Table doesn't love my waistline. Drove over to Jessica's, but bad timing. We arrived at dinner time. Visit was short, but Chad had never seen their house. He still hasn't really seen it - it was getting dark. We drove to temple square and had a tour of the conference center, then looked around some of temple square. Not many people were there, but tons of missionaries were there. They must keep the place watched over really well as someone always knew where we were and was offering us help. It was getting late, and our visit to temple square was brief. Mom took Kevin and Rachel home. We drove by the Delta center where a game was in progress. The kids waved b/c Uncle Michael and Sarah were in there. We lost. But we stopped at this new shopping center, Gateway, and found some ice cream for a treat.

Flying Home

Tuesday, we said our good-byes. I had slept every night except skiing and Tooele at my Grandma's, but it still felt like we didn't get to see her much. She's not been doing very well since the pneumonia. She's learning how to read again, and it's lots of work. She spends hours and hours every day on it. She says that she has taken a step down and things are much harder. Kayleigh, EV, and T all got to sleep in the Grandma bed. K & T got to hear her stories (different nights). All but Melanie and I slept at the Hansens as well. Chad spent most nights there. Divide and concur...

The plane flight was completely full. Melanie was tired, T had diarrhea. At one point a flight attendant took the baby and put her to sleep, which was really very nice. I worked on homework with Kayleigh but there was just too much, and she didn't finish. Kayleigh was complaining of ear pain. I think it wouldn't pop. We got home, but she moaned all night from her ear. I let her sleep in that morning and she missed half a day of school.

Now we're back to the grind, but what a great vacation. B-ball games yesterday. Lots of fun...