Rest of February

 

Boys outing snowshoeing with the Barnes up Yellowfork Canyon.

They got a huge kick out of rolling enormous snowballs down the hillside—hey whatever gets the winter wiggles out!

Our ward RS hosted a "Rockin' Through the Ages" night up at the church—a big dance party where couples dressed up to fit in any decade. We planned costumes at the last minute and figured the 60's seemed easy enough to throw together. Gotta love Olivia's Rapunzel wig and the Harry Potter glasses on Joseph!

Bentley started piano lessons! He has big dreams to be a cellist. It that any surprise when one of his life idols (Ethan) plays the cello?

 

 Valentines projects

 

 Luke found a fabric marker one afternoon and went to town with it all over the house! I was in the shower and Joseph was doing an art project with the kids in the basement and in 10 minutes of free reign we found yellow everywhere (aka the stairwell, his highchair, the kitchen counter, on a few DVDs, the hallway walls, the frog cage (school pets home with us for the weekend) and on many parts of his body).  Luckily, luckily, it came off really easily with Clorox wipes. What a crazy rascal!

 Capturing him when he's sleeping is still my favorite :) 

Hubby and I also had a fun snowshoeing date in between snowstorms one Saturday, again up Yellowfork. I must admit I am a huge fan of the quiet and views and clean mountain air up there. 

Lego movie! Luke liked it but wasn't nearly as into it as Frozen. I probably need to see it again to hear more of the funny jokes but anything Batman said was pretty awesome.

 Family art class on watercolor techniques. This needs to happen more often as these kiddos loved every minute of it and created such pretty pictures!

 2nd grade field trip to the Natural History Museum up by Red Butte. I've been a few times with my kids but it's a really cool spot and the date worked out well for me to tag along for 5 hours (left Livs & Luke with my mom). It was so fun to be with my cute girl and know how happy it made her to have me there. Kids are awesome for self-esteem that way!

 She's pretty fun to hang out with too :)

 

 Lots of library outings in the winter months for us

 

 Dinner with Marshall at one of our favorite downtown spots. Have I mentioned that he had reconnected with my parents and actually formed a really solid relationship with them again after 4 whole years of wanting nothing to do with them? It has been the most happy change for our family, and surprisingly very normal and just all around good. I could write and write about this subject but for now, I just feel very grateful and love seeing the joy it brings both my parents and my brother (and me as I know my prayers, and the prayers of all of us who love him, have been answered).

Outdoor runs require a little extra gear most days and my gator and headband have been essential. And then we'll get a 50+ day and it makes me so excited for spring! It's always great when I have to shed layers rather than pile them on.

Our stake was split at the end of February and Elder Perry came to oversee the changes and speak at our Saturday night and Sunday sessions. Joseph was serving as the Assistant Executive Secretary so we were invited to have dinner with Elder Perry and the stake presidency on Saturday before the evening meeting. Such a great privilege to meet him and his darling wife!

And then our new stake was formed, we got a brand new presidency and wouldn't you know it old Joseph was called to be the executive secretary for the new presidency (but of course :) It has been a little ridiculous how busy he has been and how often he is up at the stake center in presidency and PEC meetings, training others, activating temple recommends, setting up appointments and so on. Our two callings combined are like a full-time job! I'm really hoping things settle down as the new presidency gets settled into more of a routine because we are being spread a little thin right now. I'm excited for this new stake leadership though and Joseph is a great asset for them.