Date Day Snowboarding

January 17th Aaron went on a day-date to go snowboarding up at Brianhead. It was wonderful! It's always so long in between snowboard trips (I only get to go maybe a couple times a year/season) that I usually get nervous like it's my first time, but after a couple runs I'm back to being comfortable and having fun. We stayed on the mountain for about three hours. I did about ten runs and took my time and relaxed, doing turns and "dancing on snow".
I'm camouflaged by the trees but I'm just to the left of the green box about to get off the lift.
And I'm off!
My handsome husband who boarded a million circles around me and ended up going far up, traveling really fast in the beautiful nature of the mountains and pretty much having a "spiritual experience" as he describes it. He almost lives to snowboard.
I know my helmet is sexy. Just keeping it real...and safe. ;)
We had a wonderful time and really enjoyed each others company. *crowd breaks out in ooo's and ahhh's* Oh stop it. *blush*

No Day Like A Snow Day!

January 3rd was a big, momentous day in the desert...it snowed! Second time this winter but this one stuck around a bit longer. I bundled Porter up like he was going to Antarctica (even though it wasn't that cold) and he went out to build his first official snowman with Daddy!
My favorite picture: Porter following Daddy (the one doing all the work) as Chia trails behind. The snow rolled up like carpet and picked up those pesky willow tree leaves along the way as well as some doggy surprises.


The finished product! We didn't give him a name really...think we called him Frosty. So original I know. He had a carrot nose, M&M eyes, and rocks for buttons and a smile. I tried to use a red banana-shape pepper for the smiles but it wouldn't stick in the icy snow. We all contributed something: Aaron his hat, me the scarf from my neck, and Porter his mittens.

Porter was such a cutie!!! Loved wearing Daddy's gloves.
I had to force Chancho out in the snow. Funny because Chia is the weeny and the one who hates any kind of weather (mostly rain and wind), but she was prancing all over the place.
Classic, fun family day! =D

Ice Skating Date Night!

Saturday January 22nd we had such an incredibly fun date night. We went out with friends--four other couples--to dinner at Osaka (Japanese Bistro), went ice skating at Dixie Igloo (a seasonal outdoor rink), and went for hot chocolate (salted caramel hot chocolate to be exact...YUM) after. It was a fabulously fun evening!
Judy's, Hirschi's, Bergquist's, Heppler's, and Minnicks. I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures, but I am currently using an ooold camera (mine is in need of a small repair), but something is better than nothing to capture great times and good memories! Between the 10 of us we have 10 children so it was nice to get a night out as friends and adults and just have fun.
I have only been ice skating a handful of times in my life--maybe two or three times?--so at first some of us gals just clung to the side. I ended up getting comfortable just in time for us to leave.

The hot ladies on the rink! [Manuela, Amberly, Aimee, me, and Alicia] Bad Johnny sneaking into the girl's picture.
The boys ready to race! [Jed, Aaron, Johnny, BJ, and Jordan]

Blades of glory! Guess you could say we faked being a figure skating pair.

Aaron spent 3/4 of the time goofing around and showing off; I had no idea he could skate so well! He was doing all the moves and figure skating spins, etc. It's all from his rollerblading days. He spent his teenage years on roller blades. I must say he was in a rare mood. Jed put it well: "He's in his element." Made for an extremely entertaining time. Also made for a very irritated Natalie when a 14 year old love-struck stalker-girl followed him around almost the entire time. Apparently she was just so impressed with his skating...not knowing he was just goofing around and skating sarcastically.


Strike a pose!
All such cute couples and complimentary pairs!
Amberly is the one to introduce me to salted caramel hot chocolate. Heaven bless her soul and good taste buds.

We had the best night and I'm grateful to have such great, fun friends!

Our Parks

Rachael (Aaron's third sister) had her 24th birthday in December and we gave her a half hour massage and later that month took her out to Pirate Island Pizza. The boys had a blast! Thad was so cute but got upset every time his mom left. (Rach and I took turns taking the two tots to play in the arcade and the little kid play area with a slide.) We had pizza and the salad bar. I got Porter the pineapple pizza that was topped with cinnamon; I really liked it.


Climbing boys. Makes me proud!
Beautiful birthday girl and cute "E-why".
Sweet baby T. Look at that face! Precious!
Rachael, Eli and Thad lived here while Luke (who is in the Army) is deployed overseas. Porter prays for Uncle Luke every night (preciousness). January 13th was the day we said goodbye to our Park's. Luke's brother went with her to drive her from Utah back to Tennessee. 36 hour trip I think. Three days, two adults, two dogs, one tot, one baby...and a partridge in a pear tree. It was so sad seeing them pull away and drive off. =(
Aaron and his dad Gary packed the U-haul and they did an awesome job; everything fit!
After she left I thought about all of the things we did: birthday date, movie nights, puzzles, play dates at Jumpin' Jacks, McDonald's and Del Taco (indoor play areas), Discovery Center, babysit each others kids, unpacking/setting up, packing and moving, house hunting (when she looked into renting), holidays and parties, playing at the park, dog sitting the pups, Rodeo, dinners, going to the Temple together, sisters wedding and decorating the honeymoon suite, and LOTS just hanging out and LOTS of talking. Porter and I really enjoyed our six months of playing and hanging out and really miss them. The day after they left Porter woke up and the first thing out of his mouth was "E-why?" He wanted his cousin Eli. Every time we pass or go anywhere near Nana & Papa's house (where Rach and the boys lived), Porter says "E-why? Rachael? Nana, Papa?" It's so sad. I tell him "Rachael and Eli went bye-bye". But we will be out to visit them in a couple months (Stacey will have her baby girl and Rachael is only an hour outside of Nashville). The boys will have a happy reunion! We miss you Rachy and boys!!! Love you guys.

Front Window Views

Bailey, Boston, Porter, Chia, Chancho, and Aaron went to watch the garbage man come. (Pictures taken December 17th.) Very exciting things happening at our house. *wink*
(Side note: Over the past 6 months we have had Boston and Bailey--who are Rachael's dogs--over to stay for a week a few times and it's fun. Chia and Boston flirt the whole time. They are all such cute dogs! Interesting how the two female dogs have their tails hanging and the males have theirs tucked in. Sooooo, how much is that doggie in the window? The one with the waggly tale?)

New Years Eve 2010

We ended 2010 with a fun-filled-full day. First Porter was a cute little guy making cute funny faces while chillin' with the pups.
He decided he wanted to do "colors" (meaning he wanted to color) and that keeps him happy for a little while. Such a big boy!Then I had free admission coupons that expired the last day of 2010 so Porter and I went and used them all up! The Dinosaur Museum, the Wildlife Museum, and Jumpin' Jacks!

Porter colored dinosaur pictures while I watched the video about fossils, our local area, the museum, and the unique things found here.






http://www.dinosite.org/
Porter loved the binoculars they gave him to use at the wildlife museum. It was adorable!







I was very impressed with the different number of animals and amazing displays/exhibits. They sure fit a lot of animals into a small space.

http://www.rosenbruch.org/


It was of course a mad house that day at Jumpin' Jacks but Porter of course still loved it.
http://www.jumpinjackskids.com/
After all the fun we met Daddy at Wendy's for lunch (need to gain back all those calories just burned) and to use the free Kids Meal and free frosty coupons I had.

We got together as a family at Aaron's parents house and did a Bergquist tradition (apparently...I never knew until now!) of doing a puzzle. It was a lot of fun and good team effort! We did a Noah and the ark puzzle and it was relatively easy...just time consuming. Porter was very good playing with Eli and then playing alone when Eli went to bed. See him standing on the table? Hey, at least he kept himself entertained.
The finished product and the proud crew.

Porter didn't make it to midnight (but he got close) to watch the fireworks, but it was so nice to be able to see them from the balcony and then go back into the nice warm house. It was such a fun day and I loved every second I spent with my little son. And it's always wonderful getting together with family and spending quality time together. To wrap it up I would say we ended 2010 with a bang and had a blast welcoming 2011!