Bub's Birthday Party

Since William's birthday was on a holiday we had a big Pirate Party the Saturday after in the church gym.  We played 'Pin the Treasure Chest on the Map', 'Pirate, Pirate, Captain' (William's version of Duck, Duck, Goose), then we had a giant treasure hunt which led to a pirate ship pinata in the gym.  William and all his little friends had a ball!  Sadly, since I was the only adult in attendance the only pictures are of his cake.  It is a cool cake though.  The items on top are his candles.  He's a big 5-year-old now!

Rachel Turns 2!

I can't believe my baby is already two years old.  She is the sweetest girl and is talking up a storm these days.  What a cutie!

 

Oma sent some baby dolls, which Rachel loves, and I'm glad to say that the play kitchen we bought her was a hit!

  Her favorite thing in the world is her big brother and she pretty much copies everything he says, does, likes.

Snow Fun

The valley out here never get much snow and what does fall is gone by the next day.  So when we get the chance we have to bundle up and enjoy it quickly.

  

Our snowman is a little pathetic and only about 8 inches high, but then, snow in Utah is made for skiiing and just doesn't stick together.  We made a tiny snowbaby because it was the best we could do.

Thanksgiving 2010

We always start out our day by heading to the zoo for "Feast with the Beast".  Unfortunately, it was so stinkin' cold that I was too busy trying to keep my children happy and warm to take pictures.  Oh well.  The feast at home is the best anyway.  James worked for about 5 hours mid-day so we didn't get to eat until almost 6pm, but it was lovely!

Emily made these little cards at school.  I love them.  They remind me of Little House on the Prairie.  It is a great reminder of why we celebrate this day; besides the turkey of course.



We ended our day with an assortment of pies and a grand turkey cake for the birthday boy.  William is 5 years old now.  Wow!  Time flies.



Daddy bought this wolf at the Zoo Boutique.  William's favorite thing in the world are animals and he was quite delighted.

Rhino

William's fondest wish was to receive a hamster for his birthday.  Since his actual birthday was Thanksgiving we took a trip to the pet store the day before.  He fell in love with this fluffy guy and instantly announced that he had to have the gray one so he could name him 'Rhino'.



I have since been informed that his real name is 'Rhino-hamster'
and we are to call him by his true name. 



Blizzard?

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving the Salt Lake valley was issued a disastrous blizzard warning.  Businesses closed early, schools were cancelled, university events were post-poned; basically the entire city shut down around 3pm to prepare for the worst storm in 20 years!  As part of that James' work informed him that afternoon that he would have to stay in the hotel across the street so that he would be able to get to work the next day.  Well, James called me, I packed us all up, and we met James after work to check into the Hyatt.  It was a wonderfully cozy evening and quite an adventure as we watched the snow start to fall around 6pm.

My children all snuggled into one of the queen size beds (though we'd thought to bring Rachel's pack'n'play bed), they watched Pink Panther on our computer and were silly and giggly.  So much fun!

This is the view out the window of the hotel at about 9pm.  The snow was falling slowly but the wind whipped it up so that the roads truly were whitewashed and very dangerous.  Funny though that the total snowfall was only about 2 inches.  Turns out it was only the wind that was a problem overnight.  But we still had a luxurious hotel and dinner on Fidelity!