Again! Again!

The morning started quietly, with the kids hunting for things to do.

Nathan found our battery-operated Darth Vader in the basement.  He about died when Darth raised his light saber.

Jacob successfully solved some wooden puzzles.

This was a lot of fun.

Will is working on Moonlight Sonata, and making fine progress.

About 10 am, Dave and I got our act together and took the kids to Rock Canyon Park.

This hill is steeper than the ones in our neighborhood, but Julia loved it.

She said, "Again! Again!" over and over.

Notice she's on the back of Nate's sled.

She took every opportunity to go down the hill.

No one resisted.

Notice her pink headband over her eyes.  Clever girl -- this prevents snow spray.

She found a clever way back up, too.

This was hilarious to watch.

Everyone got into her groove.

Sometimes she took the front seat.

But most of the time she let others take the spray.

And back up again.

Yes, she is the adorable little sister.

And Nate is the cute little brother.

Everyone was happy to take him down the hill.

It was a beautiful  morning, but heading for single digits.

The family that sleds together crashes together.

But not very often.

Will caught a little air.

Things didn't always go as planned.

I have taught these kids all the tricks about dressing warm.

No one complained this morning.

Matt liked the steep hill.

I encouraged him to sled head first.

I saw many races this morning.

Did I mention we had fun?

I am not standing above them, by the way.  They were being creative.

I Wub The Picture

Julia and I baked banana bread on Wednesday afternoon.

She had accompanied me to the store to get bananas and a smoothie for Melanie, who was resting downstairs.

She told me her mommy lets her stir, so I knew she was capable.

She and I spent the rest of the evening putting together puzzles.  Allow me to mention that this puzzle is one her dad used to play with.

She is a whiz at puzzles.  I was impressed and had a lot of fun.  Purple is her favorite color, even if it's on a dinosaur.

We had a grand time!

In the meantime, everyone else was in Salt Lake.  It's hard to see people missing from a beautiful picture, but when I showed it to Julia, she said, "My family!"  Then she said, "Is that Jesus?"  And her final, sweet comment was, "I wub the picture."

Resting

Last night we had a fabulous meal in honor of Melanie.

Papa Ben cooked bacon-wrapped filet mignon.  My steak, without the pork, was scrumptious.  I love sitting around the table and chatting with these kids and their parents.  

Most stayed willingly, but Melanie was a captive audience.  She was just a little nervous about this morning.

After dinner, an former missionary companion of Dave's brought his family over for dessert.  We had a wonderful time, but I only took this picture.

Julia absolutely loves Harrison.  I have taken uncountable pictures of her sitting on his back.

This morning, with Carolyn and Melanie at the hospital, Ben, Matt and I enjoyed listening to Dave recount some of his missionary adventures. Matt likes his own version of hot chocolate.

I am feeling very spoiled because Dave has made me various versions of his Grande Mix every day.

I burned the eggs.  Matt thought they were fine.  He called them Egg-Flambe.

I love breakfast, and I love mornings, and it's been fun to share it with Dave's family during this vacation, although I don't understand Dave's passion for eggs on a bagel.

Melanie's broken bone is now set.  While Papa Ben took the rest of the family into SLC for some touring, she stayed home to recuperate.  She's eating leftover tuxedo cake for lunch.

Fortunately, our local library had just what she wanted to help her recuperate.