Ice Skating

We have been wanting to go ice skating at Evergreen Lake since we first went up there last summer, and yesterday it finally looked like we were going to be able to go. Clint had scout obligations all morning, but we made it up there around 3:00. The weather had been so warm that the first layer of ice was slush, thus making it incredibly difficult for novice skaters like me to be very successful. Regan was looking forward to skating; she had been watching the US Figure Skating Championship while we were waiting for Clint to come home. I'm pretty sure it wasn't what she expected at all. She gave two half hearted attempts at trying to skate before settling into the sled behind Haden. Good thing we invested in skates for her.... Despite the lousy ice, we had fun. The hot chocolate was wonderful, the scenery beautiful, and the herd of elk grazing on the hillside above the lake completed the perfect afternoon!

Chilly Cheeks

Clint competed in his first Duathlon, Chilly Cheeks, last Saturday. It was held at Cherry Creek State Park. He did very well, considering he hasn't had much of a chance to either run or ride his bike since it is dark by the time he gets home from work. Regan was always so excited to see him when he came in to switch (there were 4 different transitions) and then confused when he took off again. The weather was beautiful and the kids had fun making footprints in the snow and watching all the competitors.

Happy Birthday, Clint!

We celebrated Clint's birthday on January 12. He spent the evening shoveling snow with Regan-they both loved it. Of course, Regan threw her share of snowballs. He doesn't like frosting, so I used chocolate pudding to frost his cake--not quite as aesthetically pleasing, but very tasty, with even fewer calories!

Little Ballerina

Regan started ballet classes this year. She has been SOOOO excited! It all started when we checked the Barbie Nutcracker DVD out from the library some time last fall. She knows how to turn on her "ballet music" and will dance around the living room. (One time Clint was getting ready for a run and was wearing his technical running pants. Regan saw that he was wearing tights and therefore, must be getting ready to ballet dance. She was so disappointed when Clint explained that his tights weren't for dancing, but for running.) Regan absolutely LOVES her ballet class and will demonstrate everything that Miss Holly teaches her when we get home. It was definitely money well spent!

Idaho, again?

This was the first Christmas season that Clint and I haven't spent with some combination of family. So, since work was slow for Clint, the Saturday after Christmas we took off on yet another long road trip to Idaho. We stopped for the first time at the McDonald's in Evanston, WY (the kids are thankfully getting very good at travelling without too much complaining!). We were very surprised to see little saddles instead of benches for the kids to sit on while they ate their french fries and chicken nuggets! Regan loved it--almost as much as she loved the My Little Pony she got with her Happy Meal! Our families didn't know we were coming and were rather confused when we showed up. It was fun to see everyone again. We went swimming at the swimming pool in Blackfoot with my family and had a sledding party with Clint's family. Clint was the only one of us that went sledding-it was too windy for Regan and too cold for either me or Haden, but we had fun staying inside, drinking hot chocolate and playing games.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas morning arrived way too early, especially since Clint and I were up way past midnight building a picnic table! I think this was the first year that Regan was more excited to open her presents than we were to give them to her. We locked the babygate at the top of the stairs as a precaution to make sure she wouldn't start without us. It was so fun to watch Regan begin pulling the presents out from under the tree and passing them out. She gave all the ones with "H"s on them to Haden, Clint got the ones with a "C" , and she tried to keep all the ones that had an "R". When she realized that some were for me, she generously insisted on helping me open them, because it was "so hard"! The kid-sized picnic table was a hit, as were the trunk full of dress up clothes and the Little Tykes car.

Sledding

We went on a spur of the moment sledding adventure on Christmas Eve. We didn't have a sled, but we did have several tubes we used years ago to float down the river in Lava Hot Springs, ID. Tubes and sleds are the same thing, right? Since there was no snow down here, we headed south on 285. Apparently someone had told Clint about the "perfect sledding hill" at Meyer Ranch Open Space. It was a perfect hill, but lots of use had made it very slick. We opted for a smaller hill further up. The end of this run had a few weeds sticking up out of the snow. After a couple of runs down, Clint noticed that there was significantly less air in the tube...One of the weeds had ripped a hole in our tube. We were too lazy and the kids weren't interested enough to justify hiking down the hill to retrieve the other tube from the trunk. So, we went for a hike instead. Regan absolutely loves throwing snowballs at her dad. He is always very good about providing her with the appropriate reaction to encourage her behavior. Depite our popped tube, we had a lot of fun. Needless to say, we purchased a sled soon after!

Haden Turns One!

Haden turned one on December 18th. Despite big plans, it was a pretty low key affair. Three rounds of the stomach flu can do that...Besides, we celebrated his birthday with my family over Thanksgiving where apparently I neglected to take any pictures. He insisted on helping me with his birthday cupcakes. He LOVES helping with anything in the kitchen. My KitchenAid fascinates him. He has only tried poking a spoon into the paddle while it was running a couple of times. We had some friends over that evening for dinner, cake, and presents. Haden only picked at his cupcake and then wanted down. He had no interest in the wrapped presents, which worked out well since Regan and her friend, Kate, generously volunteered to help unwrap them. (The picture of the girls is just because they are so cute together!) We love having Haden in our family. I can't believe how quickly he has grown. It seems like yesterday that we were dropping off Regan and heading to the hospital...

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving in Idaho. Regan was VERY excited to go and would ask regularly if we could start packing. When I finally gave her the go ahead, she quickly amassed what she deemed important enough for us to take. Needless to say, we had to go through her pile after she went to bed. The kids had so much fun playing with my siblings and their cousins. We started off Thanksgiving morning with a 5k run in Idaho Falls down the greenbelt around the temple. Clint pushed Haden and Regan walked the 1 mile route with my mom and sister, Suzanne. Neither of the kids quite knew what to think of the giant dressed up turkey. The race was poorly organized, and unfortunately the battery in the GPS was dead, so we aren't really sure what our times were or even if the race was actually the right distance, but we all had fun, got a Tshirt, donated money for the hungry, and could better justify that extra piece of pie!

Kitchen helpers...

One of Haden's favorite past times is emptying my kitchen cabinets. Child proof locks only slow him down. I finally surrendered one of my precious cabinets--I don't have many in my kitchen, but I got tired of picking up the tupperware several times a day. By the way, I didn't dress Regan!

Catching up...

So yes, I haven't posted since middle of October and now it is January... So before I forget everything that happened, I figured I better get busy. For Halloween we took the kids to our ward's trunk or treat and then trick or treating to Southlands. For not even being one, Haden did a spectacular job of picking out the chocolate candy to eat! I think this was probably the last year I will be able to influence Regan's costume, in other words, the last year she won't be a frilly princess. Haden tolerated his costume as well as can be expected...