Cub Scouts Klondike Derby

This weekend big sister A and brother M had a long cold day of klondike derby.  They dressed warmly! I made them wear their snow pants. Temperatures were in the 30's and they were outside from 7am-2pm. 

Big sister A is in the Webelos:

 And brother M is in the Bobcats:

 All of the activities were winter activities reminiscent of things that would have been done during the Klondike gold rush. Cross country skiing together.

 Fishing with nets.

 Sticking together and finding their way through a blizzard.

 Crossing rivers.

 Panning for gold.

 Making a fire with flint and steel.

 Sawing logs.

M's Baptism Day

Another batch of wonderful pictures from my dad's photography company - Clockworks Photography.

 It was a beautiful day for M. Grandpop gave a great talk about baptism and our friends (M's primary teachers) the Espinozas gave a great talk together on the Holy Ghost. They gave M a flashlight and a warm blanket to remind him of what the Holy Ghost does for us. Big sister A did the opening prayer.

 

 

Uncle Danny's Passing

We went up to our ancestral farm this weekend to celebrate the life and mourn the passing of my Uncle D.  His daughter A was my "best cousin" growing up and I stayed with them a couple of weeks in the summers. My mom found this old picture of the annual Christmas eve cousin gathering, circa 1996. 

 Here we are in the same kitchen with my grandpa, my best cousin and our kiddos together.  I am glad to have been close enough to attend in person and support my cousins and grandpa during this sad time. It was so good to see them. We all agreed that we need to get together more often.

We stayed at a hotel with a pool so the kids could get their wiggles out after hanging around my uncle's house. 

Happy Birthday to Little Miss L

Miss L was spoiled with gifts and breakfast in bed on the morning of her 4th birthday.  The siblings planned and carried out the breakfast in bed all on their own. 

 For her birthday dinner Miss L chose ice cream. We walked all around the store looking at things and she did not want any of it until we reached the frozen desserts. Such a sweet tooth. We made her eat some pizza first and then had this ice cream cake. 

 She also really wanted to try these toaster strudel that big sister A told them about. Big sister A had had them at Uncle P's house.

 We saved them for breakfast the day after her birthday.

Beautiful Snowy Weather

I love snowy weather. It is beautiful and fun to play in. 

On the other hand, when I look at these pictures I feel like this post could be titled "what a snowy day looks like for kids vs. grown-ups"

 Fun running with sleds down the driveway.

 

Versus getting the car dug out and excavating the driveway-- 

Birthday Adventure for Brother M: Duckpin Bowling

Brother M wanted to go bowling for his birthday experience. We decided to try duckpin bowling since the balls are smaller. 

   We fit it in before Grandpa J and Grandma S went home.

It was nice to have balls that were a manageable size for the kids.

 I think everyone really enjoyed themselves, although I was pretty terrible at it. That made it even more funny for the kids.  I had a significant number of gutter balls. Big sister A won the first game with 97 and brother M won the second game with 94.

More Photos of Good-byes

This "good-bye" is something my kids will always remember. Despite the grandparents probably being bored of photos of my kids' friends, I feel the need to make sure that these pictures are all here for the record. For future days, hopefully future hangouts with our W family, when my kiddos remember back to when the W family lived relatively close by and we saw them ALL the time. Connecting on Facetime for three hours is just not the same!

 Big sister A helping pack-up the last few things at the W family's house.

 Friendship sandwiches