We said goodbye to Jojo at the beginning of February. We found a really great family for her. The dad does rodeo and wanted a pony for his kids. He brought his 8 year old daughter and she was completely smitten with Jojo. I am glad she will be used much more than she was here. The boys took her a one last ride.
Timmy wanted to ride Ahab too.
The boys and I went to visit my Grandma Joycie on Superbowl Sunday and she was watching it so we watched some with her. A few months ago she fell and we had to find her a new home where she can get around and get lots of help. She is in Riverton.
Pip loves resting on the window bench.
Brian and Timmy helped with some bedroom demo.
Then it was Chinese New Year! We went to Mark's parents for our traditional dumpling party. These were the appetizers.
Mark is quick to help his mom make the dumplings.
Brian started playing football with friends at school and loved when Mark had time to practice passing with him.
My mom gave us this great Book of Mormon Family Reader for Christmas. We read a page each morning. Pip usually joins us.
The cello teacher had this quote out one day by Pablo Casals.
Just a snapshot of my view one evening making dinner. Do you see the goose on the shed roof? I just love our little farm.
We had a water leak somewhere in the barnyard and Mark got lucky finding it with the first hole he dug. This picture was taken late at night. His spotlight was so bright it looked like daytime.
Piano practice Timmy needs to keep his fingers curled.
He is beginning to really enjoy reading now.
Piano lessons. Both boys are doing great.
My favorite few days in February arrived! We took a day off of school over President's Day weekend and went to San Diego! We even took Pip. It was such a fun adventure!
We drove all day on Thursday hoping to make it before dark, but we hit some bad traffic the last few hours and drove in with the sky looking like this. We rushed out to the beach anyway and walked along in the dark.
We stayed in a dog friendly hotel right on Dog Beach. I am so glad we stayed here because true to form, the boys woke up crazy early in the morning. By crazy early I mean like 5:00 am. So I put them in their swim clothes and we headed out to the beach. It was seriously barely even light when we went out.
Pip was super happy to be with us chasing a ball.
We were the only ones on that beach. There was one lone surfer out in the waves. In the end I was actually glad the kids woke up so early. I absolutely loved this morning. It was so amazing to be on the ocean at sunrise.
Little by little the sky began to brighten.
It was gorgeous behind us and in front of us.
Slowly a few more surfers showed up and a few early morning dog walkers.
Then the sun touched our heads.
These kiddos were made for playing in waves and sand no matter the time of day or the time of year.
Until they realize it's actually kind of cold outside at 6:00 am on a February morning in San Diego. They played for probably two hours and then all at once Timmy sat down and decided he was so cold he could barely walk. Luckily he made it back to the hotel room and a nice long warm shower before breakfast.
For me and the boys the morning had seemed like a day already, but for Mark, who was sleeping all that time, the day was just beginning. We got the San Diego 2-Day Go Card which got us into all we wanted to do for a good deal. So we headed North and stopped at the Birch Aquarium before going to Legoland.
Then it was Legoland time! The favorite was by far the Star Wars exhibit!
It was such a fun place for our Lego loving boys. We went on a few rides too, but the kids mostly wanted to look at everything and stop at all the building stations. I am so glad we went in this stage of life!
San Diego day 1 was absolutely perfect. We started on the ocean with the sun coming up and we ended on the ocean with the sun going down. This time Mark joined us. I just stood there soaking in all that beauty and happiness wondering how one day could be so perfect.
The next morning Brian and Timmy did not wake up as early but it was still early enough to get out to the beach so Mark so sleep in a bit. It was also Saturday so there were more people and dogs on the beach.
After their warm morning shower and breakfast we headed out to the USS Midway aircraft carrier. We all thought it was interesting. Timmy was tired so a little grumpy.
Following the Midway, we headed over to the San Diego Zoo. It was so crowded and took forever to find a parking place. But we hopped right on the bus tour which was included in our Go Pass. We all really liked the bus tour. We got to see a lot of the zoo from the front seat on the top of the double decker.
We did not get to see the Giant Pandas. The line was hours long so we decided to look up the YouTube videos pandas and go see the rest of the zoo. Some of the favorites were koalas, hippos, orangutans, and the reptile house.
After the zoo Mark wanted a little nap and I knew that it was currently low tide so I took Pip, Brian and Timmy on a walk down to Ocean Beach Pier where I had read about good tide pools during the low tide. We were not disappointed and I am so glad we went because we did not get the chance on Sunday like I thought we would.
It was Saturday so there were a bunch of people, but of course Brian and Timmy were in heaven. Tide pools are right up their ally.
They found all kinds of creatures from sea slugs, to crabs and anemones. Thanks to our reef tank back home they knew all the names.
Then just as it was getting dark, the real awesome part began. Take a look at Timmy's face when he realized what these people were looking at! They had found an octopus!! Not just any tiny octopus but a good sized one in the little tide pool!
My kids could not believe their luck! They were out of their minds excited.
I could not get in the crowd with Pip on the leash so I did not get any good pictures and it was dark then anyway. But I sure did enjoy standing back and watching those octopus legs come up and grab Timmy's shoe! This octopus experience will forever be in our memories! Afterward Timmy kept saying things like, "It felt like I was dreaming or something, I just can't believe we saw and touched a wild octopus!!!"
Finally it just got too dark to really see the octopus and the tide was coming in so it was time to head back to the hotel and Daddy. The boys were so happy about what had just happened they literally ran and played the entire way back along the beach. Pip and I had to run to keep up with them.
After excitedly telling Mark about the tide pools and the octopus, he took them swimming in the freezing hotel pool while I walked a few blocks away to get us some dinner. They quickly got cold and were warming up in the shower when Pip and I got back. Then it was pizza and bedtime. Another amazing day in San Diego.
The next day was Sunday. As I was getting ready to head to the beach again with the boys and Pip, Mark woke up and said that he had been reading about the Utah weather last night. Apparently there was a huge storm coming in covering the entire state lasting through Sunday night and all of Monday (the day we were to drive home). The boys played with their Legos while we talked and made the decision to leave that day to avoid some of the storm. Luckily the hotel refunded for Sunday night.
We ate breakfast and Mark took the kids and dog to the beach one last time while I packed everything up. There were lots of sea shells this time to collect.
We did not want to leave San Diego without stopping at the Mormon Battalion Visitor Center which my parents directed a few years ago. Sadly the center was closed for a few hours. So we took a few pictures, ate a picnic lunch and said goodbye to sunny San Diego.
The drive home was very good until we hit the storm just after Nephi. By this time it was after 10:00pm and the kids were sound asleep and Mark was fine after a nap earlier so we were not in a rush. He took his time through the snow usually following a semi truck. We arrived home safely by 1:00am and kids went right into bed. I am so glad Mark looked at the weather when he did in San Diego and that we decided to come home on Sunday. The rest of that night and the entire next day was the biggest storm of the season. I-15 was horrible all the way down to Cedar City and closed in some places. If we had come home on Monday we may not have made it home until very very late and we all had work and school the next day.
Instead of driving through all that snow on Monday we played in it instead. It felt kind of weird playing on the beach one day and next sledding in the park with friends.
Monday was blizzardy and very cold all day. Mark plowed and then wrestled with the boys. We went to lunch at Outback and enjoyed our day of vacation at home.
I think we watched a movie (napped in my case) too.
The next day the blizzard slowed down a bit and left us with a true winter wonderland for the first time all winter!
I helped with Meet the Masters in the boys classes that week. This was a picture of Brian's from his art class hanging in the hallway at school.
Here is cute Timmy doing his Winslow Homer ocean scene.
The snow just kept on coming that week. We are all so grateful for Mark's tractor plow!
On the last Sunday in February Mark happened to be done with his calling just after choir practice (that is very unusual) and the boys were overjoyed to ride home with him. As I was coming out of the parking lot I loved watching them skip across the lot with their handsome dad after our usual almost 5 hours at the church.
Tuesday night it was back to the church for cub scout Blue and Gold banquet.
February ended with Mark starting 2 incubators of chicken eggs. That is 96 eggs! The middle of March will be pretty fun when they all hatch!
