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It's Fall and time to do our favorite Fall things - admire God's handiwork in the mountains, play soccer and go to the pumpkin patch! I cannot believe we live an hour away from THIS:
Our newest soccer player - she loves it!!
Our annual field trip to Black Island Farm with our homeschooling group was so fun! We took a hayride, picked pumpkins, wandered through corn mazes and played in the fields! I'm so thankful for our great group of fellow homeschoolers and friends!! They're so dear to us!
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Here's a story for you about being in the WRONG place at the WRONG time!! The kids and I were at the duck pond on this beautiful day having a great time walking along the edge of the pond talking about ducks and sticks and the water. It happened to rain last night which made the ground soft and muddy in patches around us. Somehow the older two and I managed to steer clear of the mud and to focus on the ducks and finding the best sticks in the park. Here comes the unfortunate part........while I was squatted down next to the double stroller smiling and talking to my two precious little girls, I feel a splatter of mud across my back! OK - where did that come from? My kids were all in front of me? Then I hear a father severely scolding his son. Now I get it - this boy also was facinated with all the sticks & found himself a humdinger which he was poking in the mud behind us. Since my eyes in the back of my head were closed at that moment, I failed to see his stick flicking mud all over the back of me, the diaper bag, baby Eden and the stroller. Whether or not he realized he was doing it only he & His Maker know? I wanted to take the stick and wrap it around his little ........well, the kids were watching me and so all I said was that it was OK and that it would all wash out. I figured he got enough scolding from his papa with an ear pull too! Esther must not have wanted us to feel so bad so later she slipped in the mud after running down some dirt hills and got some pockets full of mud. |
What a memorable day at the park! Now I better go atart some laundry!|
It's facinating to me how your worldview and perspective influence how you react to life's joys and trials. So many areas of life are affected when you believe that the Lord gives and takes away, that all good things are gifts from the Lord and that He is sovereign over all. I actually cannot imagine going through life without the peace these truths give. We got off to a great start to our school year the past 2 weeks!! All the planning, preparation and praying have eased the transition and given us so much joy to use our minds and bodies in new ways. If this tells you anything, I gave them the day off Monday beacause I hurt my back and was in bed all day, but Esther still insisted she drag all her books up to my bed and do all her subjects!! It's my mission during the planning weeks to find curriculum that will suit their learning styles and challenge them without being frustrating! Seems like this year the eclectic mix of resources is a great fit. I'm using a century old grammar primer for 2nd/3rd graders that I bought with a little caution. I realize modern grammar has gotten more involved and technical so I didn't know if the simple focus on memorization, dictation and copywork would be a good learning tool. I deciedd to go with the tried and true methods of a time ago and am so impressed with the results already!!! A boy who normally gets very frustrated with writing is cheerfully writing sentences I dictate with few spelling mistakes. He is memorizing the sweetest poems and learning grammar forms just from copying famous pieces of literature. He put me to tears when he recited the poem "If I Knew" after a few days of practicing. I am so thankful for the opportunity to teach them and see their eyes widen with excitement over every new discovery and achievement! These days are going by fast and I'm trying to savor them. Our 2nd/3rd grader (this "cloak" hasn't left his back since I brought it home from the plane a month ago. It is an airplane blanket that I inadvertantly stole, but since the kids found it has been a king's cloak, baby sling, superhero cape and fort roof: Who would've thought?)
Our spunky kindergartener (she's still four but she likes a challenge!)
Our cheerleader!
On another note, Phoebe had her first day of preschool today!! While it is our goal to homeschool her also we thought having her regularly in a theraputic environment would help her reach some milestones. Since she is oblivious to the influences we seek to protect our children from in school, we don't think we are compromising having her in a school setting. It is actually more like her therapy. We didn't think she understood anything, but she showed an unusual excitement this morning that proved me wrong. She even gave us lots of smiles for the camera! Taking her to school was a strange experience - the other kids just looked around at all the kids and activity in amazement & asked lots of questions. What are they having for lunch? How long is recess? Where are all their mommies? When do they go home? Phoebe had a few sad moments but overall she did great today according to her teacher. It'll be a huge adjustment for her but one we hope and pray will be good for her! Our sweet preschooler!!!
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We've been swept up with the adjustment to a new Fall shedule that includes Greg teaching 2 nights/week at a local college, homeschooling, soccer and AWANA. We try intentionally to preserve time for family/marriage and friends, but this Fall will definitely be a challege. Greg and I have an in-house date night once a week to listen to Tom Nelson's Song Of Soloman sermon series that taught us, challenged us and made us laugh when we listened to them during our engagement. We have a different perspective now since we have some years of marriage under out belt. It's neat how God's truth can speak to you differently at different times of life. Way past the honeymoon stage, we are coming to understand and appreciate God's plan in marigage to obediently love and perserve the commitment to each other through all life's ups and downs.
Our little Eden is 6 months old now and started eating solid food. Another bit to make life interesting! She is a happy, sweet, adorable little bundle of love that makes caring for her seem like all fun & no chore!! I predicted during pregnancy that between her 6th and 9th months my tasks as a mother may intensify more than ever before. Spoon feeding and diapering 2 will be like having twins!! Here are her reactions to her first feeding. Can you guess whose little chunky fingers are feeding her? E-S-T-H-E-R! She's so multi-talented with babies!!
One sanity-preserving thing I've always heard but just really learned in the past few years is to take one day at a time. I try to remember these verses when my mind gets swept up with the unknown challenges or fears of next week, year or 5 years from now: So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." Matthew 6:27-29 Seeing how God creates such beautiful coverings for the fields and loves us so much more than flowers gives me peace and faith to trust Him for each day's provision of grace. It's easy to let the blessings of life become burdens, but it's refreshing to remember how things like keeping a home and raising little children truly are priceless gifts! |
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Phoebe is 3!!
We celebrated Phoebe's 3rd birthday last week with root beer floats and a cake! Our little Phoebe is three already....and what an interesting and life-changing three years we've had with her. We're so happy Grandma (Greg's mom) could be here for her birthday. Grandma left that day after helping us out for a week while Eden and I visited family in Clemson. We squeezed in a quick trip to Temple Square before she left.
I thought I'd give y'all an update on what Phoebe is up to lately. Slow and steady would descibe her progress over the past year. She visits her physical, occupational and speech therapists regularly and checks in with her neurologist, geneticist, ophthamologist, developmental pediatrician and audiologists twice a year. No diagnosis can yet describe the collection of neurological abnormalitles she has, but we have a better handle on the big picture and what works for her. She remains seizure-free on medication (21 months and counting)! She saw her geneticist today. As follow-up, she'll have a combined overnight sleep-study/EEG to see if she has sleep apnea (we've wondered about this for a while) and a micro-array, the most comprehensive detailed genetic study that currently exists. I wanted this study done 2 years ago, but her geneticist wanted to try more conservative paths first. Nothing has come up abnormal yet so we'll see what the micro-array tells us. We are at peace if we never know what's caused her issues, but I suspect she does have a minor spontaneous genetic mutation that has not been discovered yet (does not have a name). There currently is a lot of focus in the genetics world on Rett & Angelman's Syndromes. Researchers are discovering alternate forms of the traditional MECP3 mutation which I wonder if her case may fall into. You may be asleep by now - sorry! I find this fascinating! In her therapies, we're working on walking, going up/down stairs, eating independently, accepting textured food, playing functionally, decreasing her stimming, choice-making with vocalizing, learning cause and effect and communicating. She's showing improvement in all these goals and has mastered stair-climbing! We're getting her a recordable switch, battery interruptor and some switch toys for her birthday so she can operate her own music and adapted toys. Her favorite things in life right now are music, her baby sister and her Daddy! She has good days and bad days - this summer has been a real mix. Lately she has been doing very well and many friends and neighbors have commented how much she has progressed. We thank the Lord for her progress and joy. We celebrate all her accomplishments. Just watching her roll down the sidewalk on her scooter tonight gave Greg and I huge smiles. Seeing her sense of humor emerge is a highlight of my day. Any words of encouragement or acts of kindness you've given on her behalf have been so uplifting and heart-warming. We know every child is a gift from the Lord and love hearing from those whose hearts Phoebe has touched in a special way.
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If you know me, you know I am hairstyle-challenged. I never do anything different or exciting to my hair. Some days I just want to wear a baseball cap and forget about it. So having 3 daughters whose hair needs to be styled may be God's little joke on me. Before:
After:
I am so thankful for my spunky and ENERGETIC little girl! I love that she can paint toenails and play in the dirt, rock her babies and jump off the fort to the trampoline (oops, did she really do that?). She is A LOT of personality packaged in one adorable little girl!! |
I'm thankful Esther always wants her hair down since it has finally grown out from the big CHOP from 2 years ago. However she has discovered curls and wants them every day. We tried it once and she loved it. So I twisted her hair up again tonight after her shower to sleep on for church tomorrow. Her bedtime prayer went something like this, "Dear Jesus, please help Mr. James and Claire's dad to get home safely from Iraq and help me to have really really curly hair tomorrow. Amen" What do you say to that? 
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$35 spent 36 meals made 3 friends = relief for mommy! I spent Monday afternoon with 2 dear friends whipping up frozen meals that now stock our freezers. What an afternoon well-spent!! Thankfully my friend spearheaded the effort, did all the planning, shopping and hosted us at her house. Phoebe and Eden took turns testing our eardrums, but the other 7 kids played for 3 hours while we trimmed meat, chopped veggies and measured spices. Now we each have 12 meals in our freezers ready to pull out and grill, bake or slow-cook! What a relief to have home-cooked meals already prepared!! I tried a little experiement this week. Beacause of my sister's inspiration to spend less $$ on groceries, I wanted to see if we could go a week without grocery shopping. I had a feeling that we had enough food sitting in the pantry and freezer that we just kept burying with new stuff. Then when it comes time to move it all just gets thrown out. Well, it was a huge success!! I did need to buy milk and bananas at the beginning of the week, but we survived (and ate well) with all the food we had. Some things I observed: 1. I became less of a short-order cook. Usually we don't cater to the likes of individuals, but I realized I did more of this than I thought. This week, because there wasn't a lot of extra food, the standard line of "Well, this is what I'm serving." was used frequently. 2. I prepared more homemade goodies - cookies, pudding, breads. And who doesn't prefer the homemade over store-bought? 3. I spent less time preparing and cleaning up. 4. We (ok - mostly I) didn't snack as much. 5. There is a lot more food in the house than I realized & we don't always need to succumb to our cravings. This was a valuable lesson. I may just incorporate these "no shopping" weeks into our lives regularly. Having fun in the sun, K p.s. Daddy can make everyone smile!
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Excuse my poor use of English - it's been a very trying day (make that week, no month)! Our little Phoebe, the precious golden-haired cherub, has been screaming her cheeks red and my head aching for weeks. This photo may be the only smile she's had in the past month. I keep looking at it to remind myself how cute she is.
She'll be 3 next month, but developmentally she is about 6-12 months which puts her smack in the middle of separation anxiety time. HOWEVER, we've been through this before with 2 other babies and I'll tell you, what we have here is two screams shy of a mommy breakdown! If she wasn't our first child, I'd think we just really messed up somewhere along the way. But Esther especially had a long and intense separation anxiety phase and that doesn't hold a candle to this. With her sensory integration/processing disorder, being apart from me may seem more intensely scary. Add to that her central vision and hearing impairments and no one really knows what she understands or processes. And it probably changes daily. No easy answers - hoping she outgrows this and we all survive. Even poor Andrew said he wanted to give her to an orphanage - he especially struggles with the constant ear-piercing noise. So who's been taking care of Eden? Here's who:
She's been begging me since Eden was born to change her diaper & I finally decided Eden was big enough to handle diaper-changing Esther-style. We'll see what Esther thinks about it after Eden eats peas and squash in a few months?
It's never too early to read the latest Lego magazine! So you can understand my long pause in blogging - at night I'm either collecting the pieces of my brain to form 2 coherent thoughts or tidying up from all the housework left undone all day. Except for Sunday when I was in bed all day after a stomach bug ravaged through me the night before. Yuck! Thankfully Greg could keep everyone alive while I recovered so I could tackle today. And how did the big kids spend their Sunday? Playing in the mud and hunting rats! Go Daddy! We just discovered that the big holes along the fence in our backyard are the homes to Templeton and his family. Our neighbor is taking this seriously with his pellet gun so we're hoping the problem gets resolved soon! When Greg is home things relax more and we try to have some fun:
There's nothing like coming home to a house that smells like dog doo-doo! After Esther's dance recital this sight welcomed us home. And it's in Phoebe's room (hmmm, maybe this is why she's so unhappy lately?) Ahhhh, it's nothing that a good steam vacuum and $100 worth of candles didn't fix! Don't you love Greg's cleaning gear? Esther's dance recital was lovely. We thought she'd glow in the spotlight since she is always so full of life, but she surprised us by acting reserved and shy. We were thankful her first dance class experience included Bible devotions, prayer and modesty.
And a couple more photos of our lil 4 month old - We call her our little "small and mighty"!
How could I leave out a farewell to the truck?? It's gone now after 8 good years of seeing Greg come home from work in it - to a Mormon family with 11 kids. I was actually sad to see it go!
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If you're a mom with young kids, there's no telling what's in your pockets at the end of the day. So tell me, what's in your pockets right now? In mine tonight there were 3 lifesavers, a grocery store list, lego space hemlet, hair elastic, chewed gum (not mine), and a friend's address. We stayed home for Memorial Day weekend and enjoyed some family time with Dh who was home for 4 days. Here are some things we enjoyed:
Holding our sweet baby Eden who is not sure she likes bright sun, Utah heat and the sound of fighter jets flying by all the time!
Getting wet anyway we can!
Starting to teach Phoebe how to pedal. We got some second glances and concerned faces from passing strangers for taping her feet to the pedals with red duct tape!
Hanging out outside as much as we could!
Learning to ride a 2-wheeler and being SO proud of herself!
And here's our little 3 month old who we put in the Bumbo to celebrate her big day! Unfortunately the rest of us were a little green in the face from a stomach bug that hit us hard that day. Thankfully Eden escaped (and we're all better now)! She smiles all the time!! Sometimes I'll look at her while she's in the bouncy seat with no one watching her and she'll be smiling ear-to-ear! I wonder what she's thinking about? I had my second "big family" comment this week. I was watching my friend's 3 kids while she went to a luncheon so that made 7 kids ages 7 and under playing in our backyard. When I smiled and said hi to our neighbor, she (seriously) asked me if I was running a daycare! The first comment was at Lowe's in the garden department when a salesman asked the typical "Are they all yours?" question. So many tempting answers to give?!?!
And to you Air Force readers, my dh had the shocking honor to sit next to General Norton Schwartz, chief-of-staff of the Air Force at lunch on Monday where they attended a symposium together. He's not sure why he was placed between Gen. Schwartz and a Utah Congressman, but he thoroughly enjoyed meeting him and getting the priviledge to talk with him. So now tell me, what's in your pockets today? |
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We have a sleeping baby now and the house has resumed a wondeful peaceful quietness at night. Eden is a great sleeper and has gotten into a nap and nighttime routine so effortlessly. Halleluah!! I can sleep again! The past 3 months do feel like a bit of a blur, but life is settling down and we cannot imagine life without this little blessing. She is like a little doll. She smiles all the time and is a very happy baby. The kids all love her and shower all kinds of affection on her.
We shared a wonderful 3 weeks with our friend, Christina, who ministered to us by helping tremendously with the house and kids while I was still getting back on my feet. We tried to squeeze in some fun trips since it was her first time out West. We visited Temple Square, the Great Salt Lake (on the buggiest day of the year according to the visitor's center guide), the Golden Spike National Monument, a ride on the high-speed train to downtown for a Planetarium visit and IMAX show and a drive through the mountains.
Making fruit cups using a recipe from Esther's High Five magazine.
Christina holding Eden - something she did for many (and I mean many) hours.
At the Golden Spike National Monument We picked back up our formal schooling this month and have a couple weeks left. I'm so proud of my kiddos for all the work they've done this year and thankful to have had the opportunity to teach them. Especially memorable for them are the hands-on projects we've done. We discovered lapbooks which have really become our thing and journaling our habitat studies and field trips. Here are some pictures from our cactus desert and seashore studies.
Planting a cactus plant thanks to Aunt Paula from Arizona!
Listening to the sounds of shells.
The ol' "Does the egg float or sink?" experiment with salt and fresh water. Esther, who cannot resist her little self in touching everything had to know what the salty water tasted like. With warning from momma, she took a sip and had a taste for herself.
We had fun making (and eating) blue jello with sweedish fish for our ocean theme. And whipped cream for iceburgs (Andrew's idea)!
And there were end of the year AWANA awards. The kids continued to enjoy a great program where they learned a lot of Bible verses and had a lot of fun!
HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!! Kathy |
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We can learn a lot from our pets (well, some of them
And here is Andrew's new look minus 2 front teeth (he pulled them both out when they were hanging by a string!):
Phoebe loves her vision specialist, Sherilynn. She comes to the house twice a month for play therapy. Here they are playing with a pinwheel. She does such a great job introducing her to many different types of toys and vision-stimulating objects. She's the only therapist Phoebe feels totally comfortable with. And she always brings treats fpr Brady!
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So what's going on in our home this Spring? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtweZxNGk1Y&feature=related
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Please pray for his healing. We were all disappointed we could not go hear Nick Vujicic from the Life Without Limbs ministry today speak in honor of the National Day of Prayer. Check him out - very inpiring!! |
We're so thankful Eden made a quick recovery after about 2 weeks of having RSV. She was such a trooper and fought it off so well. Even despite the long nights, fussiness, gagging, choking, coughing and throwing up many times a days, she is the sweetest, most precious little girl! Here is the sad, tired, sick Eden:
And here is the healthy, adorable, beautiful little Eden:
She is such a priceless addition to our family and we all love her so! I have many more fun stories from Christina's visit, AWANA award night and homeschooling and will try to postmore pictures soon. Thanks for all your prayers, phone calls, and DD's spontaneous visit to help and encourage us! |
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Eden's been battling RSV for about a week now. This is the first chance I had to let y'all know and ask that you pray for her recovery and our sustainment during this trying time. We're so thankful for good doctors and especially for our Ohio friend, Christina, who has been staying with us for a week helping us in so many ways. I'll update more when there's time. |
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...........is what I'd say this girl has! We had an egg hunt with some friends in our front yard before Easter and when she saw one up too high there was no stopping her. She didn't even hesitate - just climbed up the fence and got her egg!! (I'm just glad Greg didn't place it any higher!)
Brother and sister sharing a happy moment together!
The whole gang! Our friend on the red scooter is almost 5 years old and broke his leg last week, earning him a full leg cast for 6 weeks. To his mother's delight she found this scooter that he can wheel himself around on instead of her carrying him everywhere since he cannot use crutches. He is quite mobile on it and is fun to watch. Another picture of determination!
On another note, we had a wonderful 9 day visit with Greg's cousin Laurie from MA. She bravely came to help us out during this "ever-crazy 4th baby adjustment time" and ski the Utah powder for the 1st time. We were so sad to see her go and hopes she comes again soon. We took her on a few day trips (or she took us really) when I mastered nursing in the van (not while moving - I did that once with Esther and won't try that again
Laurie cooked us up some treats while she was here. She works in a family-owned restaurant on the coast on MA and whipped us up some crab cakes, seafood casserole, and bbque ribs below. It was my first time (and Esther's - she's a little ahead of me here) eating ribs so we had to document me getting my hands dirty eating them. They were delicious and I realize I've been missing out all these years!
Andrew likes to whip up deserts for us combining ingredients to create his own unique flavors. This one was edible with granola, ice cream, chocolate chips, crushed cookies and whipped cream on top. For Easter we had a quiet family day going to church, eating with a friend and getting ready for Greg to leave us for a week in PA.
We've survived the first 4 days with terrible weather and being inside all day. Anyone with 4 little ones knows that's an Rx for hard times. Today was a slice of heaven with the sun shining, neighbors bursting forth from their homes and everyone smiling. We even topped the evening off with ice cream sundaes and movie night (Treasure Island).. Greg plays in the Lehigh Alumni soccer game tomorrow then he's back home on Sunday when I will greet him with very open (and tired) arms! |
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I had a lightbulb moment one night during a middle-of-the-night feeding. These reality shows are missing the real entertainment. Why hasn't anyone done a reality show about a family with a newborn? For those of you that have experienced this yourselves or watching friends/family, you know what I mean!?! The days (and nights) range from comical to unbelievable sometimes with the crazy nursing positions to releave a blocked duct, peeing on the sofa, exploding poopies all over your hand and arm, the things you say with only 2 hours of sleep a day, the silly expressions you make to try and get your baby to smile for the first time, etc. But then again, maybe we (the ones living it) see the humor in it?
Eden is one month old! She's "woken up" from her month long sleep and we're seeing more of her personality. We got a smile from her yesterday but not one for the camera yet. She's growing well and we're all starting to have more restful nights.
My parents, Poppa and DD spent time at the end of March with us. Esther's gift, an umbrella, was quite the delight!
Here is a sampling of what our family members may be doing at any given time lately:
Esther would be
Andrew playing Lego computer games.
Daddy doing what Daddy does so well - napping. Those late night feeding are rough, eh? |
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Going back a little, we enjoyed making and decorating sugar cookies for Valentine's Day. We were still deciding on a name for our new baby but tried out "Eden" on one of the cookies to see how it "looked".
We celebrated our friend's birthday along with Presidents Lincoln and Washington (since her birthday landed on President's Day) with dinner and a chocolate cake!!
The night before "induction day" DD arrived and shared her old nursing school hat with Esther, who loves to play nurse with her babies. My mother really wore this hat 35+ years ago along with her nursing uniform. I wish I had a picture of her to share.
Now Esther has a new "doll" to love! Every morning her first words are "Can I hold baby Eden?" I've discovered I can make great use of this sitting still time with her (since she never sits still any other time) to work on phonics.
Here's our little sweetie pie. She's a week old now and my sleepiest baby by far. I keep thinking something must be wrong since all she does is eat and sleep, forgetting that most babies do this. I've just never had one like that before. For her, it's still third trimester.
When you've run out of things to put the baby in, a comfy laundry basket works! Guess who came up with that? Here's a clue - not mommy!
So here's the story (for those of you who like these kind of stories) of Eden's birthday! We went in at 7ish (it's hard for us to be on time for anything!) and the pitocin was started about 8am. I had hopes of going unmedicated with this delivery and so they increased the pitocin very slowly so the contractions wouldn't be crazy from the beginning. About four hours later my water broke and my labor hadn't progressed very far. We took a nap, surfed the internet a little (we were impresed the hospital had a wireless network) and tried to watch Superman but my labor started getting more intense. After about 3 more hours of tough contractions I had progressed very little and was discouraged thinking it would be midnight before this baby would come. With the contractions a couple minutes apart and as strong as the ones at the end of labor with the girls, I called for the 'epidural guy" to give me some relief! Just when the epidural kicked in, I started feeling very strong contractions and a lot of, shall we say, pressure (to keep it clean).
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We are thankful for the safe and smooth arrival of Eden Hope, born Friday at 5:10pm weighing 6 lbs, 5 oz and measuring 20 1/2 inches long. Here are some pictures.
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Need to be quick as my bag has yet to be packed and last minute details to be thought through. Yesterday I received news that my amniotic fluid has dropped significantly and is measuring via ultrsound about half as much as it should be. The theory is that my placenta is deteriorating early or their is some obstruction in the cord preventing adequate blood flow to the baby and thus declining baby output (which is what most amniotic fluid is made of at this point). Because I was 37 weeks Wednesday and the baby looked great on ultrasound, my midwife thought induction to get this baby into our world would be a healthier option than letting her reamain in utero any longer. I already forgot once tonight that I am going to the hospital tomorrow to have a baby!! I put this list of famous men's thoughts about their mothers together a while ago and will offer it as encouragement to mothers out there or those who love their mothers! What an unparalleled and honorable role we serve!! My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her. All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother. Only God Himself fully appreciates the influence of a Christian mother in the molding of character in her children. The God to whom little boys say their prayers has a face very like their mother's. The future destiny of a child is always the work of the mother. Men are what their mothers made them. Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother.
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While I was forbidden to post pictures of everyone's blue tongues, I have to tell you about the most unusual cake we've ever eaten. We celebrated Greg's 35th bday while his parents were visiting and his cake choice was a store bought ice cream cake. Not being part of the purchasing committee, I set my eyes on the bluest cake known to man that when touched, eaten or probably even looked at, turned you all shades of blue. It reminded me of something from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The children quickly dubbed it the "blue tongue cake". Here is a more sane picture from our birthday celebration.
Other highlights from a week with grandparents were a day of skiing at Snowbasin and eagle watching at a nearby frozen bay of the great Salt Lake. Being bird enthusiasts, Greg and his parents were thrilled to see dozens of eagles perched on the icy bay.
Now the next set of pictures shows what two kids will do with an extra day with rental skis, a tiny mound of snow in the front yard and no parental supervision! Actually, we were sitting in the front room watching this unfold ready to intervene if needed. It was quite entertaining though. Andrew was trying to give Esther her first "ski lesson", imitatiing all the moves Greg taught him while wearing boots and skis 4 sizes too big for her. Not surprisingly she nailed it and thought she was hot stuff. And I'd say she fits the description considering he once decided she was ready for a starter push even before getting the second boot clipped into the ski. What a pair!?!?! We even cracked the front door open so we could get audio and well as the visual. They had no idea we were watching.
Now it's Andrew's turn to show her how it's done! And yes, he's wearing short sleeves in 35 degree weather - what can we say? He is really hot-natured!
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Three generations of skiiers! 
Andrew receiving instruction from Greg going down the hill. He can't wait to go back.
What the girls did all afternoon while the guys skiied. We did enjoy a ride up the gondola for a nice view from the top and some hot chocolate in the lodge. Don't get me wrong, Esther was begging to get out there but we ran out of instructors. Next time, Essie.
Greg, his mom and the kids at Farmington Bay looking for eagles.
Ahhhhhhhhhh - spotted one! 
