A glimpse of snow....

Manning was so excited he cheered for everyone as they went down.

You'd think with us living in Utah that we'd be living it up in "the greatest snow on earth."
Not this year. I think I can count on one hand how many times it's snowed this winter. Not that I'm complaining or anything. But my boys would love a little snow to play in, build some snow men, try out our new sleds, and do a few snow angels here and there.

There's a benefit to living on a hill. We don't have to go far to go sledding and it's just the right size for the boys.

An alternative to waiting patiently for your turn... Use your bum.

We started getting tricky. He just couldn't wait his turn so he jumped on. Funny kid.

It was a good day. The snow didn't last very long but we sure took advantage of it while it was around.

We've been dying to make a snowman this year. By the time we have time to get outside to help the boys the snow is melted away. So Mattix took the task into his own hands. He made the cutest tiny snowman. He was sooo proud of it.

Sadly it wasn't the sun that killed this snowman. See how close to the edge he made it? He knocked it off trying to put sticks on for arms. I am so happy I got pictures before he fell to his untimely snowman death. He got over it fast. A little hot chocolate from Nana and it's all better.
Happy Snow day!

Sometimes we just don't win.

There's one thing about being the oldest that I've learned now that I'm a mom, that is a bad thing and can be a good thing and that's the fact that everything you are going through is more or less your parent's first time going through that.
Mason has become over the past few years a budding author. He loves to write stories/books. Most of the time it's him telling me what to write and I try to keep up with his exciting imagination. Now that he's in school I am so excited that he gets to start showing off his talent. We entered one of Mason's stories into the Inspirations contest. (Reflections type of contest) We were so excited. He was even the artist for all the awesome pictures in the book. His story was picked by his school to represent the school at the Regional level. We were so proud. And Me being his mom ( a little biased and proud) thought for sure, "how could he lose?" I love reading his stories. So I guess we didn't set him up for the chance that he wouldn't win. The names of all the kids that didn't place were called. Mason was the 4th to the last to call up. So as they went through all the names and his wasn't called we got more and more confident that he was going to win. Than he was called. And was given his certificate of participation. The sore loser in me really wanted to just leave right than and save Mason from the hurt of having to watch all the other kids get called up and receive a metal. But Matt said we needed to stay. It became very obvious by the end that Mason did not earn a metal. He was heart broken. He looked at me and his eyes were full of tears and said "where's my metal? Didn't they like my story?" My mommy claws and my need to protect him wanted so bad to go ask that same question to someone. That was my boy. And of course I thought he was the best. But Matt kept me level headed. We tried to explain to him that we don't always win. That doesn't mean that we're not good. It just teaches us to keep trying. Well this didn't work. He lost it. He was sobbing and just didn't get it. We left as quick as we could. He cried most of the way home. We had a long talk on the way home. We assured him that he is amazing at what he does and not to stop. He was one of 2 kindergartners that made it to Regions. The 2 that did win were older. So with time and practice I bet he will be even more amazing. Unfortunately in life we can't always win and that sucks. But oh well. We pick up where we are and keep trying. It was a tough lesson. It's ok to not always be the best of the best. As long as we know that we are doing the best we can we can only get better.

Been There Done that... :)

I can officially say I have been to "Winter" Camp. Scratch that off my life's to do list. (not that it was there to begin with.) In our new current ward it is tradition for the girls to do what the boys do and winter camp. There are a few girls that have gone every year. But from what I gather the girls go once and decide not to do it again.
One of the girls' boots wouldn't fit with her heavy socks on. I traded mine for her's. This is a picture of my traded pink boots.

I wanted to have a picture to prove I was there when it got dark. It's a little blurry but you get the point.

Once it got dark we took a hike across the frozen lake. I walked clear across a lake!! This is one of the holes from an ice fisher. I thought they were pretty cool.

Me standing in the middle of the lake.

The ice lit up from underneath. It looked awesome.

We did a little ice skating/boot skating.

The crack near the middle of the lake. Just a little nerve racking.In the morning I woke up to the sound of ice fishers walking down to the lake. It was pretty awesome to see so many of these all over the lake.

I camped in the mountains in the winter. Given there's not as much snow as there usually is up there, but I can say that I did it!

I have never seen a real blue jay. And this little guy was hanging out right in our camp.

I made it to morning. Even after sleeping in my car all night.... I survived.

Just to prove how cold it was I took a picture of the temp. as it registered in my car. A whole whopping 2 degrees. That's what I got out of my warm sleeping bag to.
As I said before most girls go once and don't go again. I can honestly say that I would not do this for fun. I would totally make it a day trip and even hang out until after dark. But I have decided staying the night in the cold is not my favorite. I love camping. I totally don't mind sleeping on the ground in a tent in the spring or summer.
But I have now changed my opinion about the scouts going to winter camp. Me being a mom to 3 boys, I had decided that I would not be sending my boys to winter camps. The idea scared me. But now I realized that they will survive. We will give them what they need to stay warm and dry. And the will be just fine. If I can do it they can too.

One of our most favorite things!!!

We LOVE firefighters at the Harris house! So when Mattix's teacher planned a trip to the fire station for preschool, we totally jumped on the chance to go.

They were eating it all up. Loving every minute of it.

They talked to the kids about fire safety and one of the fire fighters dressed completely in his fire gear, he even put on his oxygen tank. The boys thought this was sooo awesome, until he turned on the oxygen tank and started talking through the mask. They were trying to teach the kids that they may look scary but if they are in a place that is smoky and they see and hear the fireman dressed like this, not to be scared. Unfortunately it did scare Mattix and because it scared him Manning followed suit and was scared of him too.

Mason was my brave one. He went up and gave him a high five and talked to him. The other two go a little close but mostly hung out behind my legs and a chair or two.

Next we got to go out and check out our favorite part... The fire truck. We love all the bells and whistles and check out all those knobs. Manning loved those. He really wanted to touch them all. He kept saying "what's that? Whats that?"

They even got to check out the "Jaws of life." Because of our love for the show Fireman Sam all 3 of my boys thought this was pretty awesome. They really use REAL Jaws of life in real life.

Next to fire trucks we also have a great love for ambulances. They are also super cool helpers.

Mattix says one day he will wear REAL fire fighter shoes. I think that would be pretty cool too.

We even got to take a picture with a REAL firefighter.
Miss Dani fell asleep during our trip. But that's ok we have plenty of fire man stuff at our house. We don't mind sharing.

You know he's very interested when he's focused so intently. I didn't have to chase him once. And for him (and me) that's a victory. Especially since I forgot to bring the double stroller.

Time Flies When You're trying to Endure

Our Engagement Pic Taken by the lovely Natalie Marden
Happy Anniversary to my best friend. I am so happy we picked each other to endure this crazy life and spend eternity together. It's been 7 roller coaster years, 3 awesome boys, a whole lot of love and challenges. But I sure wouldn't trade it for anything. I know that each stage of life has it's own trials and tough stuff, but no worries. I know we'll make it. And we will probably find something to smile about along the way.

January 29, 2005