Snow, Snow, and more Snow!!!

January 30, 2013.  We had just a couple more inches that morning but there is just so much snow!  After only a few storms too.  We had some snow from the end of December that stuck around because of below freezing temperatures.  Then we had the ice rain on January 24 that half melted but froze the snow that was still there.  We then had 2 huge storms on January 27 and 28 into the 29.  We got about a foot between the 2 days.  Jaki was out using the snow blower at 6 am both Jan 28 and 29 so that Kip could get out of the driveway and to work, also so she could get it done when the kids were all asleep.  There was so much worry about another bad storm, that Weber School District had early out for all schools on the 30 and cancelled Parent-Teacher-Conferences for that day.  We only got a few more inches and there were no problems.

As you can see from this picture, the snow is almost piled as high as the mailbox, just from what the snow plow has pushed into the driveway.  Jaki was digging out the end of the driveway on Jan 29 when Justin pulled up to come borrow the snow rake.  He asked if there was another shovel and started helping her.  Addi was waking up at that point so Justin told Jaki to go get her and that he would take care of the rest.  He moved a lot of snow for us.  Jaki was planning on just making the driveway entrance smaller for now, so THANK YOU, JUSTIN!!!!!

Just the pretty snowy trees in the backyard.









The squash garden is almost completely covered!

On Wednesday, after school, Zack and Aibree helped Jaki clean the tramp off.  There was a nice layer of ice underneath it.  Also, the snow is only about a foot from the top of the tramp!

Cambree and Will played in the snow for a bit too but Jaki ended up carrying them both back up front because they just had a hard time climbing around in the deep snow.

It was fun though!

While Jaki cleared a few more inches of snow off the driveway Aibree, Zack, Will, and Cambree played in the snow.  Aibree was such a good helper with the Cambree and Will.

The snow is up to Jaki's knees, even without being fully on the grass.  We never measured a total but it is deep and fun!  The air is finally clear again! The temperatures have finally gone above freezing too!

Addi stayed inside with Kip this whole time.  While he was out taking some pictures she wanted to join him.

We've had mule deer frequently in the backyard.  They've been eating anything they can find but mainly the pine needles.  Probably with all this snow down here they can't find anything up in the mountains.  We normally have 3 or 4 deer but when Jaki took this picture there were 13.

We've been enjoying all of this snow and are just glad that spring is supposedly on its way.  We've had a good year but according to the weather our snow pack is still not quite where it should be.

January 2013

January was a cold, hazy, and snowy month.  The beginning started with a lot of leftover snow from December and it stayed so cold that it never melted.  It was also so cold that we had nasty haze that gave the Northern Utah the worst air quality in the US for several weeks, it also caused a lot of health problems for a lot of people.
We beat the cold and boredom by finding new things to play and do.  Zack used an ace bandage to be a ninja.  He also decided to wear a tank top even though it was below freezing outside, silly boy. We had a couple of play days at McDonald's play land just to get out of the house.

Will is such a cute, fun boy.  He has so much energy and uses most of it to torture Addi.  We're working on where he exerts his energy but just love him to pieces still.  He is now fully potty trained, even at night!  We just waited until he was ready and then it was less than a week until he was done with diapers.  He's had a few accidents but is so great about going potty most of the time. Yahoo!

After watching an episode of 'Sid the Science Kid' Zack and Will wanted to make a fort.  We used the love seat, chair, folding table and a lot of blankets to make it.  It lasted a few days and the kids enjoyed it.  Addi even joined in the fun, she wasn't afraid to be in it at all.

Will brought all of his stuffed animals and blankets into the fort one of the days.

Addi just has so many cute faces, we love them all.  She is such a sweet heart!  She is now walking around a lot of the time.  She still crawls but we're sure within the next couple of weeks she will be walking all of the time.  She no longer has blue eyes.  Her eyes are hazel like her mamma but still under the right light conditions they do look a little bit blue.  She almost has all 8 of her front teeth.  A couple have pushed through but the others are still just right there pushing.  She also has a couple of her molars starting to push but it doesn't seem to effect her too much, she is still just a happy girl most of the time.

Here she is taking some steps just a couple days after she took the first ones.

Addi loves her ride on shopping cart and does great with moving around, that is when Zack and Will aren't bugging her.  Will rides it almost as much as she does and even pushes her off of it to ride it.  Zack mostly just pushes her around and she doesn't always enjoy it.  

Just a cute video!

 On February 1, Zack didn't have school due to Parent Teacher Conferences, so we took the kids to Cabela's and the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point.  We had a lot of fun and the kids loved seeing all the different animals and dinosaurs but their favorite parts had to be the 'create your own dinosaur' and the sand and water pit, which were both at the museum.  We spent probably more time at those 2 activities than we did in the rest of the museum.  Addi did not want to be held or be in the stroller so we helped her walk and then finally let her crawl but made sure to watch her closely and wash her hands when we were done.

 Here Zack and Will used sand and water to simulate what possibly happened on the earth to bring the dinosaurs to extinction.  Kip had fun with them making dams and breaking them.