Andrew's VEX Robotics team Ctrl Alt Defeat has been steadily preparing for the state competition on Saturday, March 14th. The Jr High invited all the teams going to state to a scrimmage on Friday, March 8th. Then he has had VEX almost every day the week of. When we woke up Friday, March 13th, Steve said, "I'm slightly worried they are going to qualify for Worlds." Haha, of course we want our child to do their best and we were so proud of their efforts at the last competition we just don't know what to expect.

We went up to decorate their pit Friday evening and the boys had more fun than I thought they would posing the robots I had bought to pass out. We went simple with our decorations, the boys knew that was the plan and they were on board with it.

They went with nerd costumes:

I stayed home and got some yardwork done in the morning. Marcus and I went up around 11am. It was a rollercoaster of a day, even Steve will tell you that and he is usually isn't as affected as me. 😂He thought for sure with how consistent they had been at the last competition that they would be able to do it over and over again at this one but that was not the case. They were able to make their standoff about 50% of the time. After lunch they did managed to score the highest points of the day with the number 1 team. They were ranked 10th but as they dropped everyone's two bottom scores it dropped them to 12th (technically they were tied with 13th but their skills score was higher so it pushed them into the finals). They put teams 11&12 together for finals so really by the time you get to teams 1&2 they usually crush it in the finals round. The team managed to make their stand off and scored 126 points. Then they went to their pit because they couldn't watch the rest of the finals rounds. Each grouping in their division after them scored lower then we got to teams 1&2 and they touched their bot and were DQd so Andrew's team qualified for Worlds. They were so excited.

I'm excited for them but it means a lot more VEX at house at they prepare. My hope is they can get the bot more consistent and let everyone practice their driving before they get to Worlds. Here we go! They had Jr High VEX tryouts the Friday after and the cute coach there congratulated them. The Jr High also invited them to scrimmage with the Jr High team going to Worlds a couple of times so that will be fun for the boys. 

Andrew missed his violin recital also on March 14th because the state competition was running behind and they made it to finals. He played his songs, this morning, Saturday, March 21st and he played beautifully. Both Steve and I were able to be there this year and we were so proud of him. The judges awarded him a Superior. His pianist even texted me this afternoon and said, "Andrew performed so well today. He is always so prepared and so composed." So proud of him. My only regret is I don't have a recording of it because they ask that you don't record during Federation and we missed the recital (my opportunity to record). The pianist is so nice and offered to let us come do a recording with her but I'll have to convince Andrew to play them again. 😂I'm so grateful we were both able to be there and see his performance. He also had a lovely Kaysville Chamber Orchestra finale performance yesterday. He really enjoys playing in the orchestra.

Steve stayed at the U (where Andrew's performance was this morning) to help Ellie continue packing. Her life is in a little bit of limbo now. She is an amazing strong, beautiful young lady and I know she'll figure things out, it's the in between space that is always hard but it's also learning. We did manage to find her a 2010 Honda Civic for a decent price so she is happy to have her own set of wheels. 

We left Sunday, March 8th after church for Jackson Hole. The kids don't have school on Monday, March 9th and I thought they could miss one day Tuesday but turns out Andrew's only field trip got moved to that day. I told him I would drive him back for it but he said he'd rather ski. And Lila's AP teacher offered a practice test day on Monday since it was a teacher work day. . .Oh well. We went and we had fun. Although I had knocked off a big chunk of my tooth Saturday night so I was worried about the cold air affecting it and I was a little sore. We went for a little walk after we unloaded the van to see how far away the one lift was from our condo. It was close. However, I was still a little nervous about the terrain and weather because it was super windy by our condo. So Monday morning I sent Steve, Lila, and Andrew off to check things out just as they were walking out the shuttle to the main area pulled up so they caught it.  

Just as we got there Lila and Andrew decided to ride the shuttle back for some lunch. It really was spring skiing day. The terrain was also a little chewed up and choppy from all the morning skiers which was hard for Marcus and he did not like the sticky spring snow. So I texted Lila to make sure that they were on the 1pm shuttle back (an hour lunch break was long enough). She said Andrew was ready to go so they were out waiting for the shuttle. We ate a little snack while we waited for them. 

Then we headed out together for a couple of runs. After which Marcus and I caught the shuttle back to the condo.

We had dinner then rode the shuttle back to the main area to do some shopping. It wasn't until then did I realize they had a tram, I was hoping (I swear we rode the Snowbird Tram later but I could be remembering things wrong) it was still open but it wasn't. Anyway, we had fun shopping. Turns out the tram was opened in 1967 so they really laid into the 6-7 trend and the boys convinced me to buy a 67 ornament with the tram on it.

We had a lot of fun playing games on this trip. We tried a new version of Trio with teams. Then we played BS and the kids thought my Mom skills were too well trained to call the their bluffs. 😂 Marcus also kept saying BF (I guess he doesn't know what BS means and I'm ok with that). He also said Dad and I only one Trio teams because of our wifeship, we do make a good team.

Tuesday, March 10th everyone but Ellie got up and ready to go skiing. We headed out and we could see the weather moving in and wished we had ridden the tram the day before because we were not going to be able to see anything at the top. It was really windy and snowing and picking up as the day went on. The kids wanted to ride the tram to say they did it so up we went. The conductor gave a bunch of instructions and at the end she said, "If you don't know . . ." and everyone on the tram responded, "Don't go!"

It was so windy as we got off the tram with our ski boots on the metal grates that it was basically blowing us around. I told the kids to grab the rails. There is a little shack up there that serves waffles. Marcus wanted to go get a waffle but we all just wanted to go back down on the next tram. I did notice a little bridge walk area up in the distance that would have been fun on a clear day too. Oh well.

It was pretty crazy to go from a spring ski day, we were literally pond skimming at the bottom to a blizzard like day. When we got back to our condo, we decided to just put our skis on the van instead of in the ski locker and Andrew slid on his boots and landed on his side on his skis which hurt, I felt so bad. Then as we were changing clothes we Steve had this great rooster hair going on. 😂

Then navigating home was telling us to take a different route to avoid the cliff mountain pass. We went through the pass by Soda Springs which was nice because that pass was more like going through an open field. We still took it slowly because it was snowing and windy until we hit Utah. We didn't get to see the Tetons driving in or out, sad. We may have to go back and explore that area some more.

We stopped for gas about 40 minutes into our drive and Marcus went to the bathroom. Our plan was to pick up Smoked Tacos (Taco Tuesday) in Riverdale on our way home and eat at home. About 20 minutes away the girls needed a rest stop so we pulled off to this Maverick that as we pulled in we realized had Honey Buckets because their bathroom was being remodeled so we drove across the street to the other gas station. We unloaded the van, the kids showered and Steve decided to go to his pickleball league that night. Steve took a picture of our van's snow mustache. (I still need to give it a wash.)

It was a fun trip and Marcus has realized he is a pretty good skier and that he enjoys skiing which was one of the goals for this season. We were hoping to ski through spring break but it has been such a weird season and our local mountain is closing before we even get to spring break. So i guess this may be how we say farewell to our ski season and that's ok.

Steve took the boys to the Jazz game on February 27th with Marcus's Jr Jazz tickets. They always enjoy going. Although Marcus says the Jazz are losing on purpose and then what do you know they get a fine for that. . .No matter what they had a fun time out.

The week before Steve took Andrew to the mountain biking meeting for new team members. Andrew agreed to give it a go so we have been trying to find some time to get him to ride again. This Saturday was wide open (Marcus had the 8:30am game and Andrew had the 8:30pm game). Marcus played all of the friends from his school and his friend just down the street had a buzzer beater 3 point shot, Marcus and his team were good sports and they all told him what a great shot it was. When we got home Steve and Andrew loaded up to head down to Eagle Point to ride. We figured it would be dried out since it isn't in the mountains and Steve says it's a good ride. Andrew had a good time and Steve said his attitude was much improved along with his riding. So I guess we are doing the mountain biking team again.

The next week was life as normal a couple of extra meetings for the Jr High Deep program which is new and sounds amazing! And Deacon's basketball started up. Steve is a trooper and "coaches" the boys. He says Andrew does most of the coaching on the court he just manages substitutions. 😂

Marcus also got a new pickleball paddle and was so excited he took it outside on a lovely spring like afternoon to play. Then Andrew joined him. I offered to set up the net but they were just having fun. They even subbed in the beginner league together so Marcus could try out his paddle. YES! I want them all to love pickleball so they can play with us.

Then the weather got a little wintery again so no riding the following weekend but the boys convinced us to play a round of Star Wars Villainous and I want it on the record that we spent three hours on a Saturday playing the game of their choosing. 😂Then we spent time preparing for our ski trip to Jackson Hole. Both of the boys had basketball games. It was Marcus's final game and the coaches put together these cute little gifts and we took a team picture (we were missing Marcus's friend Renner that day, sad he missed the pic). 

Lila needs more volunteer hours for NHS so she was excited to be able to volunteer at the Chinese New Year activity at Heritage. She and I volunteered together for the first shift and then she stayed for the second shift and worked with a cute girl from our neighborhood.

The boys went around and enjoyed all of the activities. 

We watched one of the Lion dances then we headed home while Lila worked her second shift.

The performed at the assembly earlier that day which is always fun for them.

You can watch their performances online here: 

We are truly grateful for the opportunity the kids have to be learning Chinese and to appreciate a different culture. 新年快乐

Steve was a trooper and took the boys to practice basketball at the gym then headed down to the U to help Ellie clean her apartment. Kodiak had been sick and brought the two of them home for some r&r. Bless Steve for being such a trooper! 

Last week as my Dad was having surgery and I was finalizing plans for a ski trip to Jackson Hole (which I never really felt settled about). I decided to do a little switch. We would go to Sun Valley over President's weekend so we could stop by and see my parents and then we would do Jackson Hole over the next break the kids have. I found some better housing in Jackson Hole that will be more ski in ski out and found housing in Sun Valley so things were falling into place and I was grateful our original Jackson Hole housing had a flexible cancellation policy. I called the Sun Valley rental agency that the place was booked through the following day to ask some questions and everything was lining up. Then three days before we were supposed to leave I got a call saying they were going to have to cancel my booking. I have never had that happen and was kind of frustrated. I called them, it's a whole story because they were going to make me call VRBO to get my refund. . .Anyway, we decided to stay home Friday and Saturday and have a chill weekend here. I think we are all still a little tired from the crazy busy weekend and the boys had early out Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday thanks to parent teacher conferences which were great to attend with each of them. Their teachers this year are amazing and we gave them each a little valentine with chocolates while we met with them. So we went on with our regular activities the rest of the week. Andrew had his Valentine party on Thursday and Marcus had his on Friday. I forgot to take a picture of Marcus with the R2D2 Valentine holder.

Saturday the kids woke up to presents and heart shaped pancakes as per Valentine's tradition.

Marcus had a mid day basketball game. They only had 5 people there on his team since it was a holiday weekend and they were really crushing the other team so they were trying to pass the ball around so everyone could score. It took Marcus several times to make a basket, it was so close so many times. It was fun and I have video proof of him dribbling it down, taking a shot missing, somebody else taking a shot, Marcus getting the rebound and finally making a basket. The weather was lovely so we took the boys to play pickleball outside. We had a blast until the very end. Steve and I were playing singles while the boys played on the playground for a bit. Then Andrew wanted to play again but he stood right next to the net while we were playing a point and I tried to hit a crazy backhand and the ball hit him right in the head. He was not too happy and refused to play. UGH! So we went home and I started making our traditional fondue dinner.

 

After dinner Lila came up and said, is it ok if I have some friends over to watch a movie. We said sure. I was going to make cookies earlier but didn't get around to it so I started making cookies. It was kind of funny because I wanted to make Valentine M&M cookies but I could not find the Valentine M&Ms at any stores so then I decided I would just sort through my Christmas M&Ms to get the red ones for Valentine cookies then I could do it again with the green ones for St Patrick's Day the kids thought I was genius and hilarious at the same time. Anyway, it turns out that Finn and Easton were the only two that could come so Lila had two boys over on Valentine's to watch a movie. 😉 

Sunday morning we got up and started getting ready to head to Idaho. We decided to spend the afternoon at my parent's house then head to Sun Valley and ski Monday. We took off around 11:30am. When we got to my parent's house my Mom spoiled all the kids with Valentine boxes and I gifted them 5 freezer meals they can throw in a slow cooker and enjoy.
 

Then we ate a linner of Lasgna, the boys played football outside while Lila rested, and then we played some cards before heading on to Sun Valley.

Marcus reading and explaining a Big Nate to Grandpa. . .boy humor 😂

We made it to our hotel and the boys noticed a chess table in the lobby so they ate some more lasgna then went down to play a round of chess. Then we turned on the TV we watched an AFV episode and there was this video of a kid opening a present which was a brand new cell phone and as he opened the box it fell out and cracked. Just as the phone on the TV hit the ground Lila's phone fell off the bed and made a thud. The timing was hilarious and we laughed about it. Then we turned on some Olympics, the first time we watched any Olympics and we were able to see figure staking and downhill skiing. It was a fun evening.

The next morning everyone slept in until 8:30am. We went down to the hotel breakfast which is always a highlight for the boys, they eat their weight in breakfast foods at the hotel breakfast. Then we got ready to go skiing. Marcus was nervous that we were riding the Gondola up first because he thought that meant hard skiing but I told him we would get up to some easier stuff because we planned to hit Seattle Ridge first which was always a highlight with the kids when we went years ago.

We did a run down Seattle everyone enjoyed so we did it again but stopped to take a picture first.

That lift was starting to get busy so we skied down Lower Broadway which was always a fun run just hard to get out of and back to so we enjoyed it while we could. Well Marcus and I came around a bend and saw Lila helping Andrew back into his skis. Apparently he hit a jump and got some serious air and couldn't quite land it which turned into some tumbles. The lift up from there had no snow underneath it and we saw dropped gloves and ski poles, Lila called a ski equipment graveyard because no one could get to it without snow. And when we got to Christmas Lift it wasn't running, it was running when we went by earlier. So we skied down to another lift and went up to do College Run that is also one of my favorites. The kids all enjoyed it and we even got our pictures taken by a photographer but they want $35/pic so we won't be buying those but the kids thought it was fun. Then everyone was getting a little tired and ready to head back to Mimi and Grandpa's so we decided to do College one more time then head to the car. College Run is 3.6 miles top to bottom and Marcus was crushing it keeping up with Steve, Lila, and Andrew they were all leaving me in the dust. They always have fun doing the little ski down and up this one hill to see who can get the farthest. I tried to take a picture of them doing it but Marcus's skis were backwards so they started coming down.

I know it wasn't much skiing but the kids had a blast and it was just groomer skiing because there isn't much snow with the winter we are having so we made the best of and left happy. Google had us taking the back roads since there was no weather and it was kind of fun, we saw sugar beets and we talked about the Sugar Factory where my Dad, his brother and Dad all worked and the difference between sugar beets and sugarcane. Then we made it to Rupert and ordered from Burgers Etc and took it back to Mimi and Grandpa's then we watched some Olympics with them and visited some more. Marcus sat in the chair next to Grandpa again and had the remote and was muting and skipping commercials and it took me a minute to realize he was running the show and I said, "who let him be in charge?" it was hilarious. On the way home we let the kids watch another movie, they watched two the day before in the car so they thought that was great. Although apparently Finding Dory caused everyone to cry so then they watched Cars 2 and finally Hercules as the final movie. We made it home in time to do a load of laundry and prep for school the next day. It was a lovely little getaway. We made lemonade out of lemons with our VRBO being cancelled and it was a good mix of being home, visiting family, and having an outing.