Valentines, Skiing, Family

Valentines day is one of my favorites! It is so simply and so sweet! The kids had so much fun putting together their valentines. And Ian absolutely loved his box! He found the design online and we put it all together! Although Ian might have gone a little overboard decorating his sugar cookie at the class party...ewww.  

The next day Tim's parents and Maddie arrived and we met up with my dad and brother at Brighton. It was a beautiful and insanely warm day.

Lunch break

Typical Ian waiting for the rest of us to catch up.

Sadly by the time we got all of our gear packed, Ava taken care of and everyone all ready to go we somehow always managed to forget to bring the go pro. Thankfully my dad and I were able to catch a few videos of all of us skiing together for valentines day :) Thanks to Nana for watching Ava for us.

Papa and Ava doing some puzzles together.

Ava also discovered that she loves frosting :) No surprise she is my child.

That week while Tim was working we had fun heading to different places throughout the valley. We headed to the Scera Theatre to see the musical Pinkalicious. It was super cute but as an adult a little annoying (so much whinning). But the kids all loved it. 

We headed to the aquarium one of Ava's favorites.

We did a million science experiments! We even invited a bunch of friends in our neighborhood and Nana did a puppet show and then we had fun with science experiments after. The carbon dioxide bubble were a big hit! The kids also loved setting of the ghost rockets.

By some miracle we finally got a crazy amount of snow! 

Which of course meant one thing...skiing! The Michaelis' were kind enough to watch Ava for the day while we took off to Brighton with the rest of the family! It was heavenly...a good 14+ inches of powder. We ended up cutting our day short -Aaron was exhausted since the powder was practically to his waste. Tim and I ran into trees following Ian. Then Ian ended up with a pretty good size bruise from catching his knee on a tree branch that was broke and sticking out sideways. That was enough to know it was time to head home. 

Thankfully Papa, Nana, and Maddie were able to stay and enjoy the rest of the day before flying back home.

Ava -19 months

Ava is growing up so fast! I forgot how quickly they go from baby to toddler. She loves all things girly and if my wallet/purse is anywhere in sight she runs straight for it! 

She also thinks the toilet is amazing and has been asking to go potty multiple times. So we go to the bathroom and yes she goes! Crazy at 19 months! At the time I am writing this (5 months later) I totally missed my window of opportunity. I was not ready to begin the potty training, she was but I wasn't. So we tried again five months later -she now hates the potty :( I have a bad feeling this could be quite the challenge with this stubborn little girl.

Grandpa and Grandpa came for a visit! Ava was all smiles! 

 She also thinks wearing her brothers her underwear on her head is hilarious. I am sure she will eventually look at this in fear but it is too funny to not document. Don't worry they are clean pairs of underwear.

 She also loves to tell Ryder what to do. Thankfully he doesn't mind. Ryder is not allowed downstairs so Ava always reminds him to stay. The two of them are pretty funny together. She also thinks it is hilarious to sit in Ryder's kennel with him. Ryder doesn't find it very funny.

She also thinks she is hilarious :)

Ian loses his first tooth

Well it was definitely a work in progress but Ian finally lost his first tooth! The dentist told him to work on wiggling it his bottom two teeth and he worked really really hard. That tooth was seriously stuck and sadly it to a few really good tugs. I found the movie "The Tooth Fairy" and we would watch that a couple times and just wiggle his tooth the entire movie. He was so kind to the tooth fairy and wanted to be sure they could easily find his tooth. He left them notes how to get to his room and even had the tooth on the end of his pillow so it was easy for them to get. The tooth fairy even left a mirror message just like Tim's Tooth fairy used too. 

He loved showing off his new missing tooth.

It wasn't more than a couple days after losing his tooth that Ian mention he had something stuck behind other tooth. Apparently he is a shark boy...awwww. Thankfully after talking to my cousin we realized it is not that uncommon and to do our best to get the other tooth out. If it doesn't come out after a week or so to head into the dentist. Considering the first tooth took four weeks with a lot of work I wasn't getting my hopes up. As a child myself I rarely lost a tooth on my own -majority of them had to be pulled by the dentist. 

But we gave it our best try and with little movement we eventually ended up here...

This poor boy has my teeth...crazy long roots that hold strong :( The dentist ended up pulling a couple more teeth as well to make room for his permanent ones. Ian was so good. After the dentist had finished and took off the laughing gas Ian asked, "when are you going to start?" The dentist informed him they were already done and Ian could hardly believe it.

Within an hour he was on the mountain skiing like a pro. Plus he was so excited to inform his classmates that he lost three teeth. He said that no one had ever lost three teeth in one day before. Way to look on the bright side buddy!

Best Friends

Towards the end of January we were able to watch my friends little girl for a week (her cousin took her home to bed at night) while they were in Hawaii having fun! To say that we had a blast with these two little girls together might be an understatement. These girls played constantly and had so much fun running around and chasing each other. Tim and I could just sit, chill and watch them laugh giggle and have fun all day long.

You cannot help but smile and laugh along with them :) They are so stinkin cute!

We were able to go on quite a few outings -one to enjoy the aquarium with wonderful friends.

The girls also loved playing outside in the cars.

If at all possible I would try to dress them up like twins :) Who could resist they look so cute!

We tried multiple time to get a picture of them giving hugs to each other -they would always hug each other when we didn't have a camera. So we resorted to bribery. Ava fell for it...Haven not so much. But I do love watching how Ava gives hugs, it is more of a lean.

We had a late night the last night and the girls enjoyed watching Frozen together. It definitely made me want another little baby...if we could skip the whole pregnancy, newborn, and maybe the soon to come terrible 3, 4, 5, 6.... nah feeling gone ;) We'll just borrow this one!

Back to Life

School is back in session and our lives are getting back into a routine. The boys started the new year off with dental checkups. Ian has to start working on getting his bottom teeth out. They are just a little loose but the new ones are looking like they are ready to come in. Thankfully these good little boys have no cavities. Ava loved getting her teeth checked. I got Ava a new pair of boots at Kid to Kid (such a great store). So I had to take a picture of the two of us in our purple boots. 

She is such a joy! I have no idea what we would do without her...she loves pictures, videos, and can parrot anything.

Andrew got the boys a fish for Christmas but Ava loves it even more then they do! Downside is she also loves to share her food with all animals (not people). So while I was cleaning Ava started yelling "fishy fishy." In which I responded, "yes, ava fishy." Moments later I turned around to notice fishy was eating captain crunch. Oops...I guess I will clean the tank again.

While there was no longer snow in the valleys the mountains still had plenty! So we headed to Silver Lake up Tibble Fork Canyon for some sledding. Ava was not a fan! She prefer to sit at the top and look at us as if we were all crazy! Haven and Aaron had a blast!

The boys started ski school this month and it could not have gone better. Both of the boys were so advanced (beyond the groups there) they ended up having private lessons. Aaron has really taken off and started working on his parallel skiing, and Ian is learning how to perfect his turns to prepare him for ski team and racing. His instructor (that also coaches the ski team) was beyond heart broken to find out we will be moving out of Utah this summer and begged us to keep up on his skiing. I am guessing she means we will have to come back to Utah often ;) Both of the boys absolutely love skiing and it is so fun to be able to go together as a family. Plus while the boys are in lessons Tim, Ava and I have a great time together. 

On Tim's days we usually head somewhere fun. The kids love the Lehi pool...mostly the boys. Ava hasn't decided if she really cares for that much water in one place. 

Or we have fun playing around the house.

Ava still loves Frozen. Thankfully we have discovered that she also loves Tinkerbell!

Who knew in January we would be outside with no jackets on playing a little Friday Night Football. The neighborhood boys against the dads. Eventually after a few football games, and nerf wars these boys finally crashed. Well minus Ian...it is a rare occurrence for him to run out of energy. 

While you may be looking at our pictures thinking our back to life schedule seems like a lot of play...you would be right ;) Monday and Tuesday we work then play the rest of the week...well not quite but it has been a busy month. We go skiing every Wednesday, park or museum Tuesday and Thursday. friends Friday, and skiing again Saturday. The kids still go to school... well except on Wednesday's when we ski all day. We know it is our last winter in Utah for a while so we are trying to take advantage of every day!

We have been so blessed this past year! Don't worry we still go to church every Sunday ;) This little girl just started nursery and is loving it!

Ski Days and Play days

Just because Christmas is over does not mean that the fun ended around here! It happened to snow all of Christmas day...not only did the kids love it, Ryder was loving the snow as well! It was a little more challenging to play fetch but Ryder did pretty good digging through the snow to find his ball.

Ava loves all things girly!  She has especially love her Disney first princess dolls. She carries them all over the house. Her favorite is of course her Elsa singing doll...yes she knows all the words to Frozen's "Let it Go." The past week Ava slipped off the back of the metal folding chair during sacrament meeting and managed to chip her front right tooth :( Thankfully the dentist in our ward said it wasn't too bad and did not seem to be cracked. Although Ava did almost bite his finger off. Thankfully her tooth is fine (minus the chip) but I am grateful that it did not damage the root. Besides that the boys have loved playing in the snow and putting together Lego sets. Aaron is loving the Junior legos!

That Friday Tim's parents arrived and Saturday morning we all woke up early and headed to Snowbasin! I decided at last minute that I couldn't pass up going skiing with the whole family so for the first time in years I hit the slopes with everyone! My mom and grandparents were kind enough to watch Ava who is completely in love with my Grandma Diamond. It was so much fun skiing with nearly everyone...parents, brother, cousins, uncles...it was a blast! Ian had no problem showing off his skills. We all decided he should come with a warning label on his back...Warning: Follow at your own risk. Ian stayed and skied the entire day with the adults and had no problem reminding them that they were old...Aaron and I cut out a little early. Do not be deceived Aaron is pretty impressive as well! He is just starting to work on his parallel skiing this year and doing awesome! 

After skiing we headed back to my cousins house and enjoyed relaxing, eating, and talking. We had a soup bar and every soup was absolutely delicious! Aaron was beyond excited to see his buddy Anderson. If only we didn't live so far apart. These little boys had a wonderful time together.

Taylor and Ava mostly put up with each other. It was funny to watch them play. Taylor would take a toy and Ava would give him a puzzling look as if wondering why he took the toy. Ian, Jack, and Carson were off playing dodgeball and basketball in the gym. It was a rare occurrence to see them.

The boys love having visitors -and thankfully we have been blessed to have a wonderful home to accommodate many visitors. At one point we had 14 adults and 3 little kiddos staying at our house it was awesome! I love having all of our families together. The week following Christmas my family headed back to work and Tim parents stayed for a visit. 

We of course had a few more ski days. Apparently riding down the mountain in a backpack can be quite exhausting. 

We have loved reading the books that Uncle Jim and Aunt Suzanne have been sending. The boys love Babar the Elephant!

While Tim was working skiing was off limits so we enjoyed heading to some of our favorite places around the valley. The kids love the aquarium and to be honest so do I. 

I could sit and stare at the shark tank for hours. Unfortunately the kids do not last that long.

Ava loved playing with Nana.

The next day we headed to the Museum of Natural Curiosity. Such an amazing place!

Ian got a couple news pairs of pants..Ava didn't mind the wait. As long as she had her puff she probably would have sat there all day!

I couldn't resist snapping a quick picture of Ian looking all handsome and Ava (aka minnie mouse) looking so cute at Church.

And just like that Christmas break was over :(  We did so many fun things over the winter break but I loved seeing what Ian wrote about when he returned to school that week. It is easy to see that he loves having cousins his age! We don't get to see them often but when we do it is all he can talk about. (I went to my cousins house, I spent time with my cousins, I like playing with my friends in the gym). So sweet. I hope that everyone was able to enjoy their winter break as much as we did!