March comes in like a Lion

March is going by so quickly.  I can't believe we're half way already.  Before I just into March though, I need to quickly recap the last week of February.  

I went to work on Monday the 23rd w/ a little bit of a sore throat, but didn't think much about it.  By the afternoon though, my voice was getting raspy and it was hard to talk.  When I got off work that evening, I had a hard time speaking.  The next morning, my voice was completely gone.  Since I had Strep Throat last year, we figured we'd better go to the Dr's just in case I had it again.  We went to the Instacare and was tested, but it came up negative.  The Dr said I had Laryngitis.  He said I shouldn't even whisper, in order to preserve my voice and let it heal.  

Well, this lasted for 3 days, so since I work by talking to people on the phone everyday, I definitely couldn't work.  Luckily I was able to go in Friday, and made it through a busy day.  My voice was a little sore, but it was completely better after the weekend.  During the time I was home I studied for my CFP test, enjoyed time w/ Nyles and Steve, and even got our taxes done.  We got a nice refund again this year, oh yeah!  We'll be adding that to our "PA fund" for Steve.

During my time being home I realized that studying for the CFP was stressing me out (imagine that), and more importantly I felt I would do better if I had more time to study and really learn the material.  I feel like I have a general understanding of everything, but not all memorized at this point.  So, I withdrew from my test that would be coming up at the end of March, and I'll sign up again when it open up for the July dates.  I don't want to take the test just to take it; I really want to do well and pass if of course.  After withdrawing, I have felt a weight lifted off of me, and I have been able to get other things done.   I'm still studying of course, but not putting in the same amount of time right now.  These past couple weeks have been nice to take a breather.

Nyles was helping daddy get the lint off his pants.

Nyles taking a selfie.

Feb 23

Steve entertaining the toddlers. 

Conor, Nyles and Lynsie watching "Curious George" on Steve's phone.

London, Nyles, Conor and Lynsie enjoying a sucker at Grandma's house

Feb 25

Nyles pretending to shoot ducks, while out w/ Steve and Zach fishing.  

I guess Steve isn't the only one missing duck season.  Silly boys :)

Zach caught a fish.

Feb 26

Steve and Nyles at the Aquarium.

Nyles and Lynsie at the Aquarium

Nyles playing at the playground in the Aquarium

Now down the slide

Nyles likes chocolate pretzels

Feb 27

At Applebee's for dinner.  Nyles likes to have 2 suckers at once.  Silly kid.

Dave and Joann were gone the first week of March to Jamaica with Melanie and their family and Aunt Diane.  Brandon's mom Ann and dad Larry also went.  Steve dropped off Dave, Joann and Diane at the airport on Friday, February 27th, and picked them back up the following Sunday, the 8th.  They all had a good time and enjoyed themselves.  While they were gone we each took turns taking dinner over to LuDean and helping w/ a few small chores around the house for her.  

We took her dinner Saturday night.  I made Missionary Chicken w/ Rice and Molten Lava cake for dessert.  Then on Sunday we were going to have our monthly get together, but several of the other kids were sick, so we decided to cancel.  Since Carrie and Lynsie weren't sick though and neither were we, we decided to bring dinner over to LuDean's instead.  I made taco soup and cornbread, and Carrie made gluten free cupcakes; they were really yummy!  We also took her out to eat at Sizzler's the following Saturday.  It was fun seeing LuDean each time.

Since Joann was in Jamaica we asked if Carrie could watch Nyles for a couple hours on Tuesday and Thursday until I got off work.  Ironically Lynsie got sick that evening, so I rearranged my schedule so I could meet Steve at the train trax in time for him to make it to his class.  Oh course the train got in a wreck a couple hours before and they made us get off at 2100 S then put us on a bus and took us down to 3300 S to then get on another trax train.  I asked Steve to call our neighbor Melissa if she could watch Nyles for 30 minutes until I got home, but she had just put her little boy down for a nap.  Other times it would have been fine, but Nyles was a wiggle worm that day and we didn't want him to wake the baby up.  It took me an hour by the time I got off the train, so Steve was late to his first class.  He asked someone in his class to take notes for him though so he wouldn't miss anything.  On Thursday, Lynsie was still a little sick, so I rearranged my schedule again and was able to meet Steve on time this time.  It sure is funny when things just don't work out the way you want them too.

March comes in like a lion out like a lamb.  That sure has been true so far.  The weather has been cold the first couple weeks, we even got more snow. 

March 3

Snowing downtown at Gateway.

March 5

Nyles showing me his drawing skills

March 6

More fishing at the pond

Steve helpling Nyles brush his teeth before bedtime

Saturday, March 7th, Steve went with Zach up to Strawberry Reservoir to go ice fishing again.  Since we got more snow and the temperatures dropped again, the ice froze more and fishing was great!  They had an excellent time and caught LOTS of fish!  They had a great time to say the least.

Zach and Jesse ice fishing at Strawberry.  Jesse was so excited to see the fish come out of the hole, he would try to bit them as they came up.

Zach w/ a nice Rainbow

Steve enjoying the sunny weather.

  

 March 9

Nyles w/ his Jamaican soccer ball from Aunt Diane

As I mentioned Steve has been having trouble sleeping.  He finally got into the Dr last week.  He asked him several questions and said they'll get back to us later this week.  The next step will be to do the sleep study.

March 12

Nyles reading Steve's "Duck Unlimited" magazine.

 March 13

Steve and Nyles watching "Planes" movie 

This past Saturday, March 14th, Dave wanted to go ice fishing w/ Steve, since he had such a great time the week before.  They left that morning after picking up Rob and Chandler as well.  The fishing was ok, but apparently not as "hot" as last time.  They had a good time though.

Rob caught a fish, Chandler reeling one in.

  

Dave and Chandler trying to get their poles set up

Steve enjoying another sunny day ice fishing

While they were gone, Nyles and I had a fun time cleaning and playing.  We set up a Monster Truck ramp.  He thought it was a lot of fun.

We were going to go to the temple Friday night, but ironically Rob locked his keys in his house, so we said not to worry about it and we would reschedule for Saturday.  He said that would work, but didn't realize that his family had a get together planned that evening.  So, we're planning to go this week instead.  Kinda funny again, how things didn't work out.  Oh well.

Cute little Nyles all ready for church and Nursery.  He really enjoys it!

His new favorite Primary song is "Popcorn popping on the apricot tree."
He likes us to sing that a few times before going to bed.

Yesterday, we had a surprise birthday party for Joann's 60th birthday party.  Luckily we were able to pull it off, and she was completely surprised.  Everything worked out well and we all had a great time together.  The weather was pretty good as well, so the kids were able to go outside and play most of the time.  We had a steak dinner for her, and had the theme of "The Giving Tree," since she's always thinking of others before herself.  We love you Joann! ;)

While at the store w/ Steve today, Nyles saw these flowers and said they had to get them for me.  Such a cutie!

Nyles just fishing w/ daddy today.  Like father like son ;)

More February Fun

We made it home from the cabin just in time for Nyles' nap around noon.  We decided to take a nap as well, which was nice.  For dinner I made some spaghetti, then a peach cobbler for dessert.  Nyles was so funny.  We were sitting at the table and I gave him his bowl of cobbler w/ a little ice cream.  He ate all his ice cream and saw Steve had a bunch, so he asked for some of his.  Then after Steve gave him more ice cream, Nyles took Steve's bowl and said "Switch."  It was hilarious!  He says the funniest things!

I had the next day off as well.  Unfortunately we had to go to the dentist, but I'm glad it's over with.  Steve had to go back on Wednesday to get 2 fillings.  Ironically when we went back in July, the one dentist said I had 2 small cavities that she wanted to fill, but we were on our way to Bear Lake that morning, so I said not today.  I then scheduled w/ my regular dentist, and when he looked at them this time, he said oh they're nothing to worry about, so I left.  Steve didn't have as good of news though.  One cavity was pretty bad.  The dentist said he wasn't sure how they could have missed it before, since it was really big and deep.  His mouth was sore for quite a while afterwards, as you can imagine.  

We went and ran some errands after Steve got back.  We went and dropped off newspaper to recycle and played at a playground for a little while.  We also took the Edge to a carwash.  It was pretty dirty after the cabin, and Steve ran over a skunk on the way home too.  It was dirty and stinky.  Nyles thinks it's so fun to go through the car wash.  We also stopped at the new Trader Joe's grocery store that just opened up my us, to see what it was like.  We went pretty quickly through the store, so we didn't end up getting anything, but Steve got us a free reusable grocery bag.  They also apparently put our name in a drawing for free groceries, and we WON!  We were so excited!  We got a lot of fun, new stuff to try.

Free groceries we won from Trader Joe's

We then went to Olive Garden for lunch, for my birthday.  Steve got me a gift certificate for my birthday, so since I had the day off, we decided to use it.  We had a great lunch, then we went home so Nyles could take a nap.  That afternoon we went to the chiropractor as well.  My neck has been feeling a LOT better thankfully.  Steve did a quick adjustment on his back as well, since we were there.  

I also went to the eye Dr the week before.  My prescription went down a little, which is great.  I got my new contacts ordered and have them now.  I still need to update my glasses though.  I guess this is the month we are going to the Dr.  Sheesh!

We had Branch Conference today at church.  All the meetings went really well.  Steve had to go to a few more meetings this past week in preparation of it.  He's glad it's over now.  Nyles has been doing really well in Nursery.  He loves singing.  He asks us to sing a couple Primary songs before he takes a nap or goes to bed, and sometimes during the day.  This morning before church, I basically played the entire Primary Songbook for him on my phone, he kept wanting to hear "one more."  He cracks me up.  

Last week for my birthday, we asked Joann to watch Nyles so we could go to the temple (thanks Joann).  We went to the Jordan River Temple around 10am and it was completely packed!  We were totally surprised, especially for a Tuesday morning.  I guess the Draper and SLC temples were closed, so there most likely were others coming to this temple.  I waited probably 40 minutes before getting in to do initiatories.  I counted, there were 18 other women in front of me.  Of course Steve said he went right in, so he had to sit and wait after he got done.  It was nice to read the scriptures, pray and ponder though.  It was a great experience.  It's always an amazing feeling once you're inside.  So peaceful.

Beautiful flowers that Nyles picked out for me for my birthday.

January/February birthdays at Joann/Dave's house

Nyles wanted to help blow out the candles.  He thinks it so much fun!

Here are a few other adventures we've had recently:

Steve came home from class early one evening saying he was dizzy and that his heart was acting funny.  He ended up deciding to go to the hospital, to have it check out just to make sure.  They couldn't really find anything, but the Dr did say Steve should definitely do his Sleep Study soon.  He was supposed to do it last year but never got around to it.  They think he has Sleep Apnea.  This is when your breathing repeatedly stops and starts, thus you keep waking up during the night and don't getting much sleep.  This also makes him tired during the day.  Steve has an appointment this week to get it checked again, then do the Sleep Study.  Hopefully this will help.

Nyles checking Steve's heartbeat.  Nyles thinks it's fun to play Dr.

Nyles and Steve at the playground

Since duck season is over, and it's been too warm to ice fish, they went regular fishing a couple times down at some city ponds in Draper.  Zach went with them too, and his dog Jesse.  Nyles LOVED it of course!  He loves to be outside, and thinks fishing with Daddy is the best!

Nyles waiting for a fish to bite

Nyles playing w/ his truck, Zach and Jesse fishing

We've had some beautiful WARM days here in February!

 They caught one!  A really little fish!  Nyles thought it was the best!  Just his size :) 

It's been so warm, Nyles thinks we should go swimming!  He got so excited one day after I got home from work, he went and got his life-jacket and wanted to wear it all evening.

He wore it the next day too.  Silly kid ;)

Nyles loves to watch "Curious George" his most favorite show.  One night after picking him up from Joann's place, he got his pants wet, and even after we got home he didn't want to put a new pair of pants on.  So he sat watching "Curious George" in his diaper.

Nyles pretending to be an airplane down the hill

Nyles is such a joy to have in our family.  He says the funniest things and makes us smile everyday.  One of his new/favorite sayings lately is "Silly Daddy" or "Silly Mommy" or "Silly Nyles."  Like when Steve didn't put ALL his blankets on him when he went to bed, a few minutes later he kept saying "Silly Daddy."  So Steve finally went in there and Nyles told him he forgot to put a blanket on him.  "Silly Daddy."  Or yesterday Nyles helped me make chocolate chip cookies and that night Steve asked Nyles if he wanted another piece of pizza or a cookie.  Of course Nyles said cookie.  He then said, "Silly Daddy."  I said, ya dad was silly to ask that question to a two year old ;)

Nyles loves to blow kisses, give hugs, and still enjoys snuggling w/ mom and dad.  He loves being outdoors, playing w/ trucks and tractors, and going fishing or duck hunting w/ dad.  Nyles will take his play gun and pretend he's shooting a duck.  It's pretty funny to watch.  He loves stuffed animals, especially all my old ones.  I brought them here before he was born and we put them in a pet net in his room, and now he picks a couple out each day and plays with them and takes them to bed w/ him.  We have to constantly put them back in the net, because he'll take them all out at once if we'd let him and leave them scattered around the house.  We've also been trying to teach him to say "please" and "thank you" and "you're welcome."  Many times now though when we want him to do something, he politely says, "No thanks."  It's hard to get mad at him when he says it so cute and polite.  We love his SOOO much and are so thankful to have him in our family!  
 

Winter Cabin Trip

Over Valentine's/President's Day Weekend we went up to the cabin.  I took Friday off of work so we could get up there and get a spot for the ATV trailer (since it's usually packed over the 3 days weekends).  We left our house around 9:30am, then went and helped Joann finish packing, then headed up.  Steve drove the Tahoe w/ the ATV Trailer and I drove our Edge w/ Joann and Nyles.  We stopped in Heber to top off our gas tanks, then Joann ran into Smith's to get a few groceries while Steve went to Papa Murphy's to pick up a couple pizzas for dinner, then headed the rest of the way up.

Surprisingly when we got to the parking, lot there was hardly any cars or trailers parked there.  The road going into the cabin looked somewhat dry as well, so Steve took one of the ATVs and drove to the gate.  He then came back and told us it would be fine to drive the Edge to the gate, then we could take the ATVs in from there.  I put Nyles on the ATV w/ me (he was begging to go for a ride), and Steve drove the Edge in w/ Joann.

There were two older gentlemen who took their Tundra Truck in to the gate, then realized the snow was deeper up there, so they tried to turn around by doing a three point turn, and got stuck in the snow.  They asked Steve if he could help them out, Steve said of course.  Funny enough, they asked several times if he was going to charge them for helping, and Steve said "No, I would hope someone would return the favor for me someday."  Steve hooked up the ATV w/ a rope to the front of their Truck and thankfully they got out.

Steve hooking up the ATV to get the truck out of the snow

Joann and I were ready to go by the time Steve was done.  He then came over w/ the ATV and we packed up the Toboggan w/ some of our gear.  Steve took Joann and Nyles to the cabin first, then came back and got me.  We went and got the other ATV out as well, even though it didn't have snow tracks on, it still had the regular wheels on.  Since the snow was pretty packed down along the path to the cabin, we figured we'd be fine.  We packed up the rest of our stuff in the two Toboggans and we headed out.  Steve drove in front of me w/ the ATV w/ wheels, so I could see if he got stuck and help him out.  As we went down our last stretch, Steve said I could go in front of him.  We made it just fine thankfully.

Steve and I bringing in the last of our stuff.

After we got in, we unpacked, made a fire, and got the space heaters going in the bedrooms.  It wasn't as cold as it normally was, but it was still about 48 degrees inside.  A little while later Dave called and was at the gate ready to come in.  Then about 5pm we got Stacie, Phill, London and Conor.  We then cooked up the pizzas for dinner, and I made brownies for dessert.  After putting the kids to bed we watched "Hitch" since it was almost Valentines.

 Conor and Nyles playing checkers

Nyles "measuring"

The next morning we got up, had breakfast, then got ready to go out ice fishing and sledding.  

Beautiful sunrise

Me sledding

Nyles and Steve getting ready to drill a fishing hole

Stacie walking w/ Nyles who is pulling London on the ice in the sled

Nyles wanted to pull her all by himself.  Holding a boat of course.

We got set up to ice fish, but that didn't last long since the ice kept cracking all around us.  No matter who you were or where you walked, it kept cracking in all directions.  It was a little freaky to be honest.  With how warm its been the past few weeks, the ice has been melting, then refreezing at night.  We tried sledding down the hill for a little while as well, but the ice was cracking even on the shallow ends, so we left after a little while.  Steve and Dave stayed for a short while after we left, but after the ice cracked three times through one of Steve's fishing holes, he said that was it; he was done.  

Steve and Dave fishing.

As we got back to the cabin, Kim showed up w/ her kids.  Phill went to help them bring in their stuff.  While he was doing that, we walked back to the cabin, then played on the deck for a while.  With the sun shinning you hardly needed a jacket.  It was beautiful weather, especially for February!

Nyles pushing the bulldozer around on the deck 

Now playing w/ the trucks

Steve walking back from ice fishing, as you can see he got pretty warm he took off his jacket.

Also there wasn't that much snow, so even if you fell threw the snow, you could get yourself out fairly easy.

I brought some bubbles, so Stacie and I took turns blowing them for the kids.

Stacie, Conor, Alexa, Cameron, and London getting the bubbles.

 Nyles joining in the fun now

After Kim got in and settled, we had lunch, then put Nyles and Conor down for a nap.  Jeff showed up about this time as well.  The older kids then went out sledding a little ways from the cabin.  Once Nyles and Conor woke up we got them dressed and joined in on the fun.  Steve made a pathway so we could walk on the hill better and also packed down a spot for everyone to sled on.

Steve and Nyles, ready to go sledding

 Kim and I went down several times w/ Alexa and Nyles.  Nyles definitely enjoyed sledding!

Alexa not sure if she wants to sled or not. 

Steve and Nyles going now

Wheeeeeee

They made it!

Tada!  Not much snow on the lawn at the cabin.

Nyles had serious hat hair after sledding

 After dinner we had fondue.  Needless to say the kids loved the chocolate.

Joann enjoying the fondue

After fondue, Stacie, Phil and Conor left.  They were going Idaho Falls the next morning for one of Phill's cousins' farewell.  They left London w/ us since she was having so much fun and didn't want to leave.  After getting the kids to sleep, we played a game.  It's like Apples to Apples, but you use pictures instead of words to match.  It was a lot of fun.

Beautiful sunset on Valentine's Day

The next morning after breakfast, we packed up and headed out.