Love in the air

We love to stretch out holidays around here, so why not Valentine's Day? We started last week with a fun hair-do for Clouburst (I found it here):
I don't usually do too much to her hair because of her beautiful curls, but this was fun. A few days later we had just a couple friends over and made some Valentine's cards.
The kids have a Valentine's Corduroy book that we read and followed (we made Valentines and then had cupcakes). We are still finding sparkles on the floor but it was fun!
On February 12 Cloudburst's school had a special pageant to honor President Lincoln's 200th birthday.
The gym was packed and Sunshine and Tornado had a great time running around in the back with all the other boys. They have no trouble making friends wherever they are.
And then it was time for Cloudburst and her class to dance the Virginia Reel! In this clip, Cloudburst and her partner are the head couple.



Now, a little trip into the past...................... about 6 years ago, Thunder and I planted a tree next to our house in Idaho Falls. After planting the tree and running errands, my wedding ring was lost! I searched high and low, made dozens of phone calls and tearfully told Thunder that I couldn't find it. Since then I've worn a lovely ring that my grandmother gave to me before she passed away. That is, until a few days before Valentine's Day, Sunshine came over to me with a small box and asked "will you marry me?" And inside was this!

I just love it!

For the actual day of Valentine's Day, we were able to drive up to our friend's ranch. What a nice break! R and M have a beautiful cabin in a stunning setting up in Idaho. Snow-covered hills stretch out as far as you can see, and it's wonderfully peaceful and quiet.
Thunder took all of us on a ride on a snowmobile and everyone took turns sledding and enjoying the outdoors. Cloudburst studied the snowflakes and noticed how beautiful they were up close....
Sunshine just preferred to eat it.....
and throw it. R and M also have two kids and they all played very well together. M is also preggo, about 2 months ahead of me, so we waddled around together. We had a great time, so thanks for some great memories!

The snow... and some lovely visitors

So today was a CaRAZY drive to school. Since Cloudburst is at a charter school, I have the lovely privilege of dragging everyone off in the car around 7:30 am. Today it was snowing again, but we have dealt with lots of snow, right? I learned to drive in the east, where we had ice storms and blizzards all the time. Hey, I even used to drive with my windshield frosted over (remember those fun times Amanda/Becca?), so a little snow should be no problem, right?

This is my lovely Nissan Quest. I really do like this car. But today, she couldn't quite make it up the hill to school. Cloudburst's school sits atop a fairly steep hill (behind the Timpanogos Temple, for those of you familiar with Utah). We started up the hill, and about half way up, the car in front of me started fishtailing, making me step on my brake. That was it. No more momentum. We were stuck- half way up the hill. "Go mom, why are you stopping?" Gee thanks kids... why don't I just go, it's just a little snow right? I figure I can't make it up the hill, so proceed to back up to turn around. I get stuck a bit more, and am now perpendicular to traffic. I can see the lady driving a Jeep behind me, and I just wave to her apologetically. I try to turn the wheel to turn to go down the hill, when the car starts sliding sideways down the hill. Towards that Jeep.
Ahhhhhhhhhh!
The jeep backed up a bit and I was able to get enough traction to turn and go down the hill. But I still had to get her to school. We drove all the way around to another road up the hill, a more traveled road (1100 East). We barely made it up this hill. I was on the side of the road, gaining traction from the new snow, getting slower and slower as we went up. By the end the kids and I were all shouting "go...go...go...GO!"
And then a big cheer at the top!
Cloudburst was about 15 minutes late, but she was not the only one. By the time school was over, all the snow had melted and the roads were clear. But what an adventure! Of course, Sunshine told me to try going down the slippery hill backwards. That would be fun, he said.


And here are a few random pictures of deer that have been in our back yard. We've seen them a few times poking around for food in the garden or on the bushes.
Now that the snow is melting we have discovered piles of poop around the whole yard!