Deer Valley

I'm finally getting some photos from Keith's laptop, so here are a few from our stay at Deer Valley last month. It was very, very cold out but the pool was quite warm. They even had kid robes and slippers; very fancy...

 B&B enjoying some champagne in our room...

 Though this shot doesn't show it, Luke had a blast playing in the outdoor pool. Getting out into the frigid air was the hard part though... we had to rush inside!

More Snow Play

We've been having quite a winter. The snow hasn't melted in over a month (which is very unusual here) and we got a bit more this past weekend. The kids had fun playing in the yard yesterday...

 Yes, he's in the air, jumping off the climbing wall visible in the background. He landed just fine...

 Like all of the houses around here, we've had HUGE icicles dangling from our gutters and roofs for over a month now. Keith and the kids knocked some of them down and Luke thought that was pretty cool!

Snow

Hi, it's been a while!
We've spent January buried under snow and clouded in an inversion (high pressure system that sits over the Salt Lake valley and traps in smog and atypically cold air). Finally today the air has cleared and the sun is shining brightly. Though we got another foot+ of snow last night, so we're still buried in snow. 

And we've just been really busy with school, work, swimming lessons, ski school/ skiing and everyday stuff. 

Here are a few pics of the kids playing in the snow today...

A Little More Christmas

Christmas day got busy with toy-playing, house-tidying, and meal prepping so we didn't take too many photos in the afternoon/ evening...but here are a few...

Luke with his best pouty look...

 And best smile...

 We had Christmas dinner with the Petersons, now becoming a tradition, so Luke & Anna enjoyed their meal with Max at the kids' table. Anna was wearing this adorable dress and somehow I didn't get a photo except this one... we're going to a New Year's party, so I'll make her wear it again and snap her then...

Luke is battling a cold and took a fever-induced late afternoon nap right in the middle of the action. We thought he might be down for the night...

 But when he awoke and realized that Max was here to play with him, he rebounded. Here he is sitting on top of the dresser, which is much taller than he is...

 And they played so well together, as they always do...

They watched a little of The Grinch Stole Christmas; it was cute how close they were sitting...the best of pals...

The evening wrapped up with Luke and Max jumping off the stairs onto the couch. This photo was taken around 10:30 pm... it was a long day, especially for a kid who came back to life after a nap and some Tylenol!

Merry Christmas

Bill and Brigitte arrived yesterday afternoon in time for Christmas Eve dinner. It snowed all day...

After the kids went to bed, Santa's elves got busy assembling the toys...

 This morning the kids got up at a respectable 7:30 am...

 The first thing Luke noticed was the Snowbird blow up tram hanging from the ceiling, then he noticed his pedal bike...

 Anna spotted her Dora the Explorer rolling backpack (a gift from Grammy & Grampa Millette) first and wouldn't put it down...

 She also got a stroller and loaded everything else onto it. Oh, and Luke and Anna will share the dollhouse in the background...

 Luke really likes his Playmobil fire station & fire truck... thank goodness, since it contained about a thousand pieces and took me an hour to construct!

 Grandpa Bill was in the spirit, wearing his Santa hat and shorts...

These pool/ocean/tub loving kids immediately wrapped themselves in their new beach towels, a gift from my Auntie Carol & Uncle Armand...

All in all, we're having a great morning so far. Our friends the Petersons will come over for Christmas dinner later today. In the meantime, the kids are busy playing with all of their new goods. 

And most of all, we're feeling thankful for a beautiful sunny Christmas day, good health (except for lots of coughing and runny noses), wonderful family (though we won't see many members today), a new baby on the way, and Luke running to the bathroom every now and then to pee on his own (we're still working on #2). 

Oh Christmas Tree

We put our Christmas tree up over the weekend...Luke isn't wearing pants because we're in full-on potty training mode. He actually made some great progress this past week...

 Luke was looking down at an ornament and when I said "look up" he struck this funny pose...

 When I started laughing both kids started hamming it up...

 Luke was most excited about putting the star on the top of the tree...

 And Anna was excited about getting into the box of ornaments and throwing things around. They are also both very excited about our stockings. Luke loves to point out which one belongs to whom, including a new one for the baby, which is not on the mantel but will be next year.

 And Luke loves the new snowglobe that I bought for him as a reward for going on the potty...

 It should be a fun Christmas with this three-and-a-half year old and 21-month old!

Lights!

Tonight we went to see the annual display of lights at Temple Square. The LDS church does an amazing job decorating the area around the Mormon Temple and Tabernacle with tons of lighted trees, a huge nativity, and other holiday decorations. The kids had a great time running around and admiring the lights.