Ski Trip!

Our first trip together hitting the slopes!  It was a first time skiing for Dallin and Maura.  Big D chose to snowboard and little M skis.  They caught on really quickly and by the end of the day were awesome!

Happily we all fit on the lift together (and I didn't drop my phone taking a pic)

 It was a warm sunny day and we needed a break every once in a while.  I didn't think she would last the whole day, but after just a few minutes she was putting he skis back on and begging to go back to the top!

 Dale was the best teacher ever!! After just a few tries on the bunny hill, they hit the big mountain together.  Maura would stand between his skis and they would go down together.  It was so funny to hear her..."Come on Dale, let's do this!".  He said that by the end of the day they were going pretty fast and even hit a few jumps!

 This cute boy also did a great job! He wasn't afraid of crashing (very important when you are just learning) and got the hang of it pretty quickly! Again, thanks to Dale and his master teaching skills!

 This handsome man really made the day perfect!  He was so patient and helpful and encouraging to Maura and Dallin!  Maura wouldn't get on the ski lift without him, or really do much of anything unless he was there to help her.  She stuck right by him the whole day!  He was her hero after an almost miss getting on the lift.  She just about missed the chair and Dale saved her!  Whew!

 Packing her own skis in her awesome ski clothes.  The helmet and goggles just crack me up.

What a great day to ski!  We had such a fun time...we are already planning for the next trip!

This little one is growing up.

She's been wanting to get her ears pierced for a long long time.  Finally the day came! She was a little nervous, but super excited!

Before the big event...

Sitting in the chair she wanted to hug on the "Clair Bear" they had and hold Dale's hand.  There were a couple people in front of us and she got to watch the process before her turn.  Dallin and Dale had gone across the way to look at shoes.  Once it was her turn she was adamant that we call Dale back and have him hold her hand! 

It wasn't nearly as scary as she thought it would be!

The 'after' picture.

She is getting to be such a big, responsible girl.  She walks to the bus stop every morning (Dallin and mom usually walk with her) and then she walks home on her own.  She is enjoying her class at school and making a lot of friends there and in the neighborhood.  We are blessed to have a lot of girls her age to play with!

One morning it actually felt like winter!  There was fog in the streets and low clouds for most of the day.  It was more of an adventure than usual to walk to the bus stop!

House Projects Have Begun!

It takes a while for a house to become a home, and we have a list of things to do to make our new house our home.

This was one of the things at the top of the list!  A giant Palo Verde tree was planted way too close to the house needed to come out.  It had grown at a 45 degree angle away from the house and was hanging over the sidewalk and completely covering the front part of the house.  So, it had to go.

Saturday afternoon after digging around the base and chopping some of the larger roots, Dale hooked a chain to the truck and gave it a big tug...

Voila!  Down comes the tree!  You can see how close it was to the house.  We were a little afraid of the damage it could have caused being left there and also coming out! Luckily he was able to bring it down without doing any damage.

Then we cut off branches and piled them on the trailer to take away.  The little neighborhood boys pitched in to help too!

 It was a big job getting it into manageable pieces!  The tree was HUGE! Good thing Dale has a chain saw and some serious muscle! I was surprised at how quickly he was able to get it down and cut it up!  I thought it would be an all-day project, but we were finished in a couple of hours!

Good thing we have kids with muscles to help!

Our house, sans tree!  Looks so much better! You can actually see the house now!

Now on to more projects!

We found the snow!

On the first day of 2015 we headed north chasing the snow! We found plenty in Payson and spent a few happy hours playing in it.

 Dale was quite ingenious coming up with something we could use as a sled! It worked great! It was just a little difficult for a small girl to carry up the hill.

But we made it to the bottom! 

Dallin helped Maura blaze the first trail.

 Maura really loved playing in it, except when it got in her face.

 Just like being at a beach...except it's cold!

The snow was a little powdery for a gigantic snowman, but we did a great job of packing it and shaping it just right.  Dale was the master engineer on the job.

 It turned out just right!

We played a little snow racquetball and had some pretty amazing hits.

Lastly, a few giant icicles for the ride home.

What a great vacation and holiday we enjoyed.

We are settling into our new place and finding friends and feeling more comfortable every day.

Life is good. We are so blessed!

A little update....

It's been too long since I've taken the time to update this with pictures and happenings.  It's been a whirlwind and we are finally settling down!

First big news, we moved into our new home on December 16th, just a few days before Christmas.  We had so much help with moving and unpacking, but it was still an overwhelming time to do all of it!

Here it is, the new home!  It will take time before it feels like ours, but we already love it and the neighborhood we live in!

It was difficult finding materials to wrap gifts with!  We just had a couple of days to decorate a tree and put up lights.

 We did spend an enjoyable evening decorating our tree it was too short lived for me!

We unpacked many many boxes in just a short time so that we could relax and enjoy the holidays.

 This is my favorite place in the house.  We all gather here and there is plenty of room for baking with everyone helping.

We also did a little shopping.  With a new house we are tempted to fill it with new furniture! 

We tried out a bunch of couches, but didn't find the perfect one yet.

 We did get a nice television stand and new television!

Thanks to Dale we now have surround sound and so many more gadgets than I know what to do with! This system is much much smarter than me!  We are looking forward to movie night! :-)