Ice Fishing!

President's Day meant a day off of work for Wendell and Tyler's first experience with ice fishing. The two of them along with the neighbors headed to Idaho to try their luck.

Tyler caught the first fish of the day. A nice frozen trout. Wendell also caught one, but then the fish got smart. Two trout seems like a lot though considering Wendell and I are the only ones who will eat them. Guess what we're having for dinner tonight!

This is the "ice camp." It looks awfully cold to me. Tyler thought it was cool to actually be on the lake with inches and inches of ice under him. When the fishing dried up they spent the rest of the afternoon building snowmen and having snowball fights.

The 2 great fishermen. Perfect father-son bonding experience on a nice sunny day.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Our snowy Valentine's Day was spent watching Megan at her tumbling competition. They always take forever. Yesterday was especially long because a girl competing just ahead of Megan started her tumbling pass and broke her arm coming out of a whip. The paramedics were called in and she was taken away on a gurney. That delayed the competition by about 45 minutes. Tyler was about ready to pull his hair out from boredom. This is Megan just after her double-mini passes.

We thought she did really well. She didn't get on the podium, but still got 2 medals and didn't get last place. She was right in the middle on both double-mini and floor. Tyler very lovingly told Megan after it was all done that she got about 4 places lower than she normally does. Such a nice brother. Considering her ankle is still a little swollen from her January injury, we're just thrilled she made it to the competition.

Emily and Tyler played the Nintendos until their fingers hurt. This was taken right at the end while we were waiting for the final awards. A lot to endure for these 2.

Megan was thrilled that so many came to watch her. She always loves an audience.

Hearts A-Flurry!

Tyler chose the very festive Pirates of the Caribbean cards to pass out. He only enjoys the holiday because there is lots of sugar.

We spent last night making Valentine sugar cookies and getting all the cards ready for each class. There is nothing better than home-made sugar cookies for Valentine's Day. Mom's recipe is still the best! Emily has a crush on Noah in her pre-school class and made an extra special Valentine for him. She was so funny trying to decide which saying she wanted to give him on her Strawberry Shortcake cards. I hate to tell her that I don't think he even has a clue she likes him or will even care that he is her "berry special Valentine."

Simple Machine?

Tyler and Wendell spent most of Saturday working on his homework assignment of a simple machine. This is the finished product and I'm glad it wasn't me trying to come up with something. I think I would have resorted to a TinkerToy wheel and a straw. This is his "claw" that helps make work easier. I think it was just a good excuse to use power tools.

Hooray for Gymnastics!

Rachel was able to get us 7 tickets to the gymnastics meet on Friday. Megan was in heaven. We have gone the past several years and she looks forward to it every time. Emily is even starting to think it is pretty cool. Emily has given up on ballet after she tried to get into 2nd position and fell over her own feet. She now wants to tumble like Megan.

Cade was happy to go until he realized it wasn't at BYU. His loyalty was tested---especially since BYU came in 3rd that night. Tyler spent most of the night playing his DS. I guess it kept him happy and quiet.

Megan, Chenelle, and Emily cheering on the Utes.

Pet Update!

This is our goldfish Peach. We got her---yes, Emily decided it is a girl, last May. Of course we were thinking we would have the whole fish experience over by the time school got out last year and that would satisfy the kids for awhile. Well, here she is still swimming. Tyler thought maybe she looked a little sick the other day so they took a picture as possibly the last one we would have. No luck! The water gets gross and still she hangs on. Emily suggested we do science experiments with her during scouts next week. I may just take her up on the suggestion. Hypothesis: "Where do you think fish go when we flush them down the toilet?"

Here is our other more beloved pet, Shadow. He has grown a ton in his record 5 months with us. I can't tell who loves him more---Megan or Emily. They faithfully take care of him and tell him they love him and to sleep tight every night. Tyler still has nothing to do with the thing other than to check and make sure it is still alive each day.

According to Emily this is our other pet, Chloe. Emily somehow gets Megan to act like a dog and even makes her eat like one. Who ever said 10-year-olds were smart? I think Megan is just doing this so she has leverage for something else with Emily later on.

When Megan has to do homework, Emily takes over as the resident dog. I guess the best part is they have no fur and are already potty-trained. Poor Emily, her life would be complete only if she had a Yorkie. Her words, not mine.

The bowls of food waiting for a sucker (I mean dog) to come along.

How Do I Stop?

Tyler is not usually the brave and daring type, so we were pleasantly surprised when he said "yes" to skiing with his friend Jaxon on Friday night. He used a pair of Jeff's old skis and tromped around the house in the boots the night before he went to get used to them. It was a father-son bonding outing with Wendell being the teacher.

This is a great picture just before the sun set over the valley. Wendell said Tyler tried the tow-rope about 3 times and then wanted to head to the lift. They actually made it up and down the hill about 12 times. There was a lot of falling, but Tyler loved it enough he wants to go back.

Tyler and Jaxon taking a break. We tried to find a helmet for Tyler to wear like Jaxon's, but apparently they aren't cheap like bike helmets. The cheapest I could find was about $60. We figured he probably wouldn't be going too fast yet to get a serious head injury. I guess we'll have to look into them more now that we know he likes the sport. I guess most kids on the slopes now wear them so they are quite fashionable despite the look.

I'm sure this was a familiar pose for the night. Wendell holding Tyler up on his skis. All in all they had a great time and Tyler is ready for his next lesson.