Valentine Ice Skating Date

Troy and I went on our Valentine date a week early since we would be out of town on Valentine's Day. We decided to eat in Salt Lake and then head to the Gallivan center to go ice skating. We ate at the famous Crown Burger in Salt Lake. I hadn't been there in years and it was delicious. Only downfall was we were there with the Jazz game crowd. (We didn't even know there was a Jazz game that night. Ha.) That place was packed!!

After dinner we went skating. It was SO fun. We hadn't been ice skating together since my birthday in 2008. We both thought we would be better than we were... ha. We were pretty bad. Troy was faster than me, but met somewhere in the middle. Neither of us fell, but we got very close. We decided to do arm movements like we were professionals. We laughed so hard. Troy took some selfies of us while spinning. He took about 100. Ha. Most of them were blurry, but a few were worth keeping. It was a great date! I sure love dating this husband of mine. Consistent dating has made such a difference for us. Our dates together are such a blessing to our marriage. Three cheers for dates. :)

February So Far

One of my goals for 2015 is to not let my blogging get too far behind. Being 3 months behind last year was really annoying. I was so far behind I never wanted to work on it because it was too overwhelming. So here's to new year goals and keeping up our family record. :)

February so far--
Clara stole Grandma Barneck's glasses one day while we were eating lunch. Grandma Barneck often treats us to lunch on Grandma Days. My kids eat Wendy's like champions! Hence the french fries on Clara's tray. Isn't Clara the cutest wearing those glasses? I'm grateful Clara has good vision, but she would be SO cute in glasses if she ever needed them.

Our February weather has been fantastic! We are talking high 50s and even 60 degrees somedays. It has been so nice to spend time outside in the sun. We've been making good use of our swing set this month. Who would have thought. Our neighbor Emily Preston was so cute to play with Clara on the swings.

One day Troy was texting me about something and I decided to snap a picture of what I was dealing with at the moment. Hence the picture of Clara and Gray both sobbing. I told him, "Just living the dream over here." Ha! It's good to laugh about these sorts of moments, right?

A picture of Jackson in front of our house on the 100th day of Kindergarten. He was very excited to go to school and count out the 100 red jewels he was taking to class. He thought those plastic gems were so cool.

Some pictures of Gray with his blanket. We call him Linus now. He has his blanket with him everywhere. When he holds it, he rubs the silky edges, particularly the corners, between his fingers and thumb, over and over. He has worn the corners to threads. Cute boy. This blanket from our Arizona friends the Abrahams has been the most beloved baby gift ever.

Jackson and Troy were invited to accompany the 11 year old scouts on an activity to the Jazz game. (One of the scout leaders works for the Jazz.) They had a blast! Troy did have to take Jackson on a few walks around the arena when he got bored, but overall it was a hit. Jackson was so excited to see "the Jazzes" play, as he calls them.

A picture of Jackson's homework. He had to draw two things that started with the letter 'B,' this is what he came up with. BYU and berries, two of his favorite things.

A picture of Clara with her crazy static hair. Her cute hair is always flying away in this dry Utah air.

Jackson and his friend Seth were invited to a birthday party at the rec center. They were in heaven!

Some pictures of Jackson and Gray building trains in the living room.

We end this post with a series of pictures Troy took of each child during our drive to Payson for Bushman family dinner. I just love pictures of kids in their car seats. So cute.

February 1st

The happenings of our life on February 1st, 2015.

Jackson begged me to make cookies after church. So I did. The kids all devoured the cookie dough. Gray has figured out that if my kitchen aid mixer is on, something tasty is inside the bowl. When ever he hears it turn on, he runs into the kitchen, points to it and says, "Mmmm!" Then he stays right by me until he can have a taste of whatever I'm making. Ha.

After cookie dough, and naps, we went for a family walk around the temple. I can't believe we haven't done this yet since we've lived here. Jackson was really excited to get close to the temple. Unfortunately, the temple grounds are closed on Sundays. But he is small enough to fit through the fence posts.... so he was happy about that. Ha.

I love living close to the temple I remember being built as a Primary-age child. So many great memories for me at the Bountiful Temple. Obviously getting married there ranks top on the list. ;)

January 2015

I didn't take very many pictures in January. Maybe it's because I was soooo far behind on my blog that I was overwhelmed with pictures and took it easy for a month. I think that is probably just fine. It has made catching up on January that much easier. Hooray for finally having the blog {almost} updated.

In January, we went to Hadley's baby blessing. Troy had to work that day, so I went by myself with the kids. It was pretty intense. The kids were very busy and it was hard to keep them all entertained. But we survived! And I'm glad we were there on Hadley's special day. Regan snapped a picture of Clara folding in half (like only she can do) during Sacrament meeting. Silly girl.

Our friends in our ward the Rugg's invited us to the rec center TWICE this month! They let us use some free passes they had. So nice of them. Our kids had an absolute blast. I think swimming in January is good for your soul. :)

I planned a sibling date for me and my sibs in January. We went to see the movie "Into the Woods." Jeremy didn't know it was a musical until we were already on our way to the theater. Ha! Whoops. He was a good sport about it though.

Also in this post, some pictures of Gray lounging on our bed. This is his new favorite spot. If I am in the bedroom, he wants to be in there with me, (of course, he is my little shadow) and now he likes to lounge on the bed when he is in there with me. On this particular day, he had his blanket and a cookie, so he was especially living large. ;)

Gray has discovered the wonders of our wooden train tracks. Jackson has rediscovered them. They have spent hours playing with them together. I love it! Jackson builds Gray a track to follow and then Gray will push his cars around them forever. it is definitely our most played with toy right now.

A funny story about Jackson, I wrote the following on January 24, 2015: 'Jackson wanted to go to the dollar store today. I helped him count out his tithing money so he would know how much he had left to spend. His tithing totaled 35 cents. When Jackson saw his 35 cent pile, he said: "Wow, I think the Bishop will be surprised." Me: "Why?" J: "Because that is A LOT of money!" Ha.'

You would have thought Jackson was paying a thousand dollars in tithing. So funny.

Also included, a couple pictures of us lounging in the living room on a Sunday afternoon after Church, watching home videos. We have mostly loved our church switching to the 9 a.m. slot. We love having afternoons as a family and we love being able to go to our family's homes early for family dinner. The only downside is that our kids are now very away and full of energy during church, so they are MUCH busier. Ha. Troy and I are exhausted most days by the time we get done. You win some, you lose some, I suppose. 

Lastly, on January 31st, I was able to go to my old roommate, Teri's bridal shower with Christy. Christy and I had a blast chatting all the way to and from the shower. And it was so fun to see Teri! She lives in Washington D.C. now, so I haven't seen her in years. I'm so happy that she found her person. The wedding is in March.

January flew by! On to February.