Our family zoo... Free admission

This past weekend was a long busy one. Friday we headed down to see George and Harriet, they came up for the weekend. We had fun playing some laser tag. Ky played the night before during his guys night and kicked butt. I think he wanted to see if that could last! I royally kicked his butt the third game! We had a fun night and even took Ash with us. Harriet and Ash had never played before but they had fun. Harriet is quite the sneaky shot! Mar ended up sick and didn't make it with us. We are definitely going to do that again. I hadn't been to that place before and it was so neat, they even have a cute mini-golf course, we will take the girls to that. Then we headed home to pack and get ready for the rest of the weekend. Saturday morning we headed over to the dog derby. I really enjoyed it last year, but this year it wasn't as crowded- nice. The girls competed in the snow shoe race. Kaite can really move! Here are some pics.

Maybe we should have said she was 5, she was so much smaller than the other kids!
Ash

We watched some of the teams come in.

Ash's friend Bj racing one of the dogs.

Then we headed up to the cabin for the rest of the weekend. Imagine our surprise to find this!

The girls having a snowball fight with George while the rest of us were digging out.Kami wanted to go for a ride.

We spent the next couple of days playing in the snow and hanging out playing games. Ticket to Ride was a big hit. We played that one late into the night. George and Harriet brought presents for the girls. Kami had a ball! She is so girly!

We left Monday a little worried about what we would find when we got home. It turns out there was a big storm while we were gone. Yep, we barely made it home. The highway was closed and there were spots that I can't believe we made it through hauling a trailer with both sleds on it. When we did get home we discovered about 18 inches of new snow (that was what Steve measured). We cleaned up and then played the rest of the day. The girls had fun sledding off the deck.

We also played in the field, there wasn't as much powder there.

Kaite is all about the speed. She likes to ride with daddy because he goes fast!

Kami is such a ham!

We had a fun crazy weekend. I had know idea we were going to end up with all that snow and we have been getting more since. I was so ready for spring!!

We have also taken to watching Idol again. I have my faves picked already and it is a girl year for me. I like Lauren, Julie, and Pia. There are a few guys that are okay but the girls rock this year. I am not sure who Ash's fave is yet, she always likes so many. She is counting down until she can try out for Idol, hope she doesn't get her singing from me!!! I have also enjoyed watching Jimmy Kimmel's Steven Tyler's creepy leer of the night hilarious!! We have had to screen the show this year, while Tyler is so entertaining he isn't always appropriate for an eight year old.

Our other big news, maybe biggest news as of lately...Ky got accepted to BYU. He actually got denied for fall, then appealed, and they bumped him up to this spring. So, he starts school in a couple of months. He has decided to go back and do the architecture program. BYU has a good associates degree and then we will see what comes next. We have plans but are still open to anything. He has been considering this for awhile now, but recently felt that it was the time. I was a little apprehensive at first but I am really excited for him. The more we look into the programs the more exciting it is. There are some big changes coming to our household. Ash seems to be the one least excited, but Kaite is on board. This is just one of many reasons why our house has been a stress fest lately. I am really hoping things will calm down, and now our plans seem to be on track. We are hoping that maybe he can graduate even earlier now that he is starting next month. He already has quite a few credits, but it will depend on how and when he can take the architect classes.
And no Missy and Marianne I am not pregnant, which is what you two always think of first!

I think we are trying to get back into some sort of routine. I don't think that has happened yet! Here is some of the fun we have been having.

We made these crayon hearts from Martha Stewart. We had a ton of fun and they turned out pretty cute! Ky did attempt to accent his with black crayon and I just tease him that it looks like mold!

Ash's tiny one that she made.

Then we hung them up in the windows.

We have had some very chilly mornings, with a few canceled school days. I am not sure how I feel about those, I use to love them, but now the kiddos just have a ton of built up energy.
Pics from one frosty morning

I also had a funny kind of horrifying experience this past week. I have know that Kaite has needed a haircut for awhile now, but when we were a gym this week I saw this kid from behind (I was zoned out) and thought to myself "wow that kid needs a haircut!" Yep, that kid was my kid, so Kaite is now sporting a new cut. We also went to the dentist yesterday and we are all cavity free!! But Kaite had a tooth pulled, per her request. She had a permanent tooth that came up behind a baby tooth and it was in pretty far, the dentist said we could give her two weeks to get it out or he could pull it and she told him to pull it. We were both shocked to say the least, but it was a good thing the roots were still pretty long on it. She didn't flinch, of course, and was totally fine for the whole thing. She is so tough! Also, he said Ash needs an orthodontic consult, fun!
Kaite bore her testimony all by herself on Sunday. Way to go Kaite! Sometimes that girl can surprise me. She loves testimony meeting and asks every Sunday "is it testimony day" she is so cute! Then we went home and watched the super bowl. This didn't turn out exactly how we planned. At first Ky was going to be gone at his avalanche training, then they moved everything up to Saturday so the guys could watch the game, and we were suppose to watch with Chad and Becca, then there was a funeral and they couldn't make it. We ended up watching the game at home just us, party next year? Ky was so happy the Packers won!
Due to the fact that my life is crazy busy we have missed quite a few things lately (most of which I just spaced) we missed a baby shower, a dance, and a reception all in one week. I even have a calendar that reminds me of everything, I am so not together lately!
Also, I actually started this post over a week ago and it has been sitting in the edit box since. I figured I might as well throw in last weekends activities too.
We went ice skating with Chris, Chantelle, and Chelsea last Saturday. Okay Chantelle was the only one who skated but I think Chris had some good daddy daughter time!
Ash did so good and is quite the natural.

We had fun and just like last year I didn't fall while we were skating but took a nasty biff getting off the rink, ouch! Chantelle took a good spill once, but even then it looked pretty graceful! We missed Marianne's comic relief...next time! We hope to be able to hit the rink at least one more time before it warms up.
Valentines day pancakes, pink and everything!
Valentines day was very much welcomed this year. I vegged and stayed in my lounge clothes all day! This was/is the only day on my calendar in like two months that we don't have something going on. Me and Kami hung out and played chutes and ladders until everyone else got home, it was nice!
This pic is from a couple of weeks ago. We have started working on the basement again and hope to have it done this summer! I am so excited for the girls to have their own rooms!!!
Kami loved helping!
We also went to the new Barbie movie and had the theater all to ourselves...awesome! I was trying to distract myself from the fact that Ky was on a mountain doing avalanche training. I don't like to think about stuff like that it makes me worry.
We have a big weekend planned, and as a matter of fact I need to go make a couple of lasagnas now. Hopefully, I can get everything posted in the next week, we should have some really good pics!
That sums up most of our crazy life lately!!
Oh and Kaite has been moved up to level two in gym! Actually, her coach said she should have moved up awhile ago. She is just cruising through!

I am finally getting around to posting about the end of our London trip.

The day after the wedding we got up and had breakfast then set off to see Plymouth. First we saw some of the town then headed to see this lighthouse. We had fun but it was so cold.

The view

The town

This was a memorial but I can't remember what for.

Some of the town

The only green we saw pretty much the whole trip!

We didn't make it to the moors but we did make it to Stonehenge. Me and Mar were the only ones who actually saw it, everyone else got cold and got back in the car.

The countryside, this was the most disappointing part of the trip for me. I really wanted to see nice green rolling hills, nope that happened a couple of days after we left!

The drive...on the wrong side!

That night when we got back to Teignmouth we went out for fish and chips then we packed up to head back to London the next day.
Thursday morning we got up and hit the beach and the town one more time. We also got to see Harriet and George before we made the 3 1/2 hour trip back to London.

We did stop and see the famous Dawlish Black Swans. I took like 20 pictures but later found out that my camera batteries were dying and it only saved the one, ugh!

We got back to London just as it was getting dark. We got checked into our hotel the Hotel Novotel, then went to get pizza. We drove around in the not so best part of town to find pizza. Thank goodness, at this point I had had all the chicken and chips I could take (I don't eat fish)! We found a pizza hut but it wasn't the same as American pizza hut, but still good. Before heading to bed we hit the pool. I forgot to mention that it turns out this was a French hotel. The hotel was very nice, one of the nicer ones I have ever stayed in, but they charge you for everything and the French are RUDE! I wanted to tell them "you are in an English speaking country speak English!" Anyways, the pool was so COLD! We didn't stay in too long but had a chance to unwind and talk a bit. The best thing about the hotel was their beds, I had the best nights sleep EVER in that bed, it was great! In the morning (Christmas eve) we got up early, got breakfast, and headed to the airport. We didn't have to wait too much in SLC but London was a different story. There were still people there from the previous weeks cancellations. We stood in line for awhile and when we finally got up front my bag was close but not over the limit in weight! I had about 10 pounds to spare! We got our money exchanged and headed for our plane. We made it there just in time for boarding. Oh and my mom finally got stopped in security for having her scissors in her bag, and Mar set the alarm off and got frisked!
Our plane, it was huge!

After boarding we got delayed about an hour due to some sort of problem with the baggage door. We ended up on this plane for about 10 hours total. This time I watched Dinner for Schmucks it had me laughing so hard it is so stupid, I also got Mar and James watching it too. When we changed planes in Chicago things went smoother and Mar didn't get violated! We waited for our plane for like four hours, but I did get to talk to my kiddos on Christmas eve! This last plane was delayed too, and we actually got put on a different plane. Once we got home the 15 degrees outside seemed warm compared to what we left! And there was no snow, go figure! After being up for about 30 hours straight we walked in the door early Christmas morning! I did make it!!
So to some up the trip here are some of the highlights.

Cons: the white countryside (I can see that at home), the money exchange rate, chips with everything, not hitting a local fresh bakery (there was one two blocks from our apartment), the driving, the small roads with no shoulder, airport security (what a joke), the cold weather, not getting to see more of London, the toilets (I couldn't flush them pretty much the whole time we were there), the electricity, losing the nice camera with lots of neat photos on it, and not being able to see or talk to my kiddos and hubby everyday.

Pros: Big Ben, Westminster Abby, the beautiful wedding, the ocean, the black swans, Stonehenge, the London eye, chinese lanterns, National Gallery, the crown jewels, Tower Bridge, the food, meeting Harriet's family, Boringdon Hall, all the neat historical stuff I learned, staying up late talking, James hauling my horrible big heavy bag around for me (thanks James!), finding fairy books and peppa pig, finding neat souvenirs, and making it home for Christmas! It was London BABY!

Funniest moment: the moment that takes the cake was when mom butt-bumped some poor old man's face! HILARIOUS!!!

Really it was London, overall it was AWESOME! I would like to go back in the summer when it is warmer and lighter longer, and when I can take Ky. Thanks George and Harriet for the excuse to go and for the BEAUTIFUL wedding!
I believe this is my last post unless I think of something else I need to add. I have so many pics that I couldn't even come close to posting even a small portion of them. I think these were a good representation of what we did there.