We got some snow today & the kids were so excited. I hardly took any pictures since I was busy packing for our trip to Tempe. In fact, we missed a lot of the snow because we were driving, but luckily the kids had time to play in it for a bit.
These strawberries have lasted for so long through all sorts of weather. Plus, they are in the front yard where no dog can harm them:)
Laura & Justin had us for Christmas this year & they gave us this photo book of Cooper…
Front of book
Back of book-It says Brightness of Hope on Cooper’s headstone
A picture of the hospital where Cooper was born & lived his 2 weeks on earth.
Some of the pages look like…
Yes, that’s me, in my brunette faze.
On the last page Laura included Laun’s words, from a letter he wrote to Cooper.
Thank you Layton’s, we love you!
We woke up Clayton early this morning so he could work on homework. He got up & showered, but then crashed on the couch. The life of a kid.
Laun found this lizard while doing some yard work today. It had been hibernating in the wood pile & took awhile to finally start moving. The boys will be excited for the weather to warm up so they can find more lizards.
Laun has been putting the smoker to good use…we’ve been eating lots of yummy meat lately.
Jeff was in town, so we went to lunch at Frankie’s. Laun & Jonathan have been there before, but the rest of us hadn’t. They make some good sandwiches.
Jeff & Porter
Laun went hiking this morning at Pima Canyon with Dr. Collier. Here’s some photos he took with his iPhone.
Tonight was a dinner fundraiser for the youth in our church. They had some live music & Brigden & Marlee started dancing. These two are so funny. Brigden claims he’s going to marry Marlee when they grow up. We’ll see….
How does one get a four year old to stop sucking their thumb?
p.s. using that special nail polish didn’t work & neither did bribing her with a kitty or a fish tank.
Marlee had heart hair for Valentine’s day & wore her new hair clip from Jane Collier.
I hosted preschool today & the kids wore their Queen & King crowns we made on Tuesday.
We decorated sugar cookies.
We made Valentine's. Clayton & Porter were such a huge help with the preschool Valentine’s party. They are so good with little kids.
We played a color & number game using chocolate chips.
The preschool kids were so excited to exchange Valentines.
I gave my kids their traditional Valentine from me, a sugar cookie with their initial.
I also gave the kids a Valentine with things I love about them…
They got some Valentine’s in the mail from their cousins. Lydia sent them princess valentine’s, which the boys gladly gave to Marlee. Avery, Josiah & Monson sent the kids suckers.
I love this drawing that Josiah gave to Marlee.
I took the kids to the Gem & Mineral Show in Tucson. When I got Marlee out of the car I found that she had chocolate on her hand…apparently she thought it was a great idea to stick m&m’s in her pocket, so she could eat them as she pleased.
We stopped by the Fossilogic booth first. My brother Andy works for them & the kids were excited to see some fossils.
The kids each got a sand dollar for free…perks of being related to an employee of Fossilogic.
The shark teeth were cool.
We checked out the other booths…
The kids were excited to pick out a treasure. The boys got a coin & Marlee got a ridiculously frilly pen.
Porter was such a bargainer..he talked the lady down to selling him the coin for $1, instead of $2.
They also got these shark teeth necklaces for $1 instead of $3. The lady who sold them the necklaces was so surprised by their knowledge & interest. On the way home Porter was excitedly telling me how much money he saved today by bargaining.
We had our traditional Valentine’s dinner- Fondue. We had a cheese sauce & chocolate to dip the fruit, mallows, vegetables, chicken & pasta in.
We also had sparkling fruit drinks, too. The kids were so excited for dinner. Right before we started eating I heard water running. I went down the hall & stepped in water. Someone left the bathroom sink on (probably Marlee- we blame her for most of the destruction that goes on in this house) & the sink has been clogged lately, so the water overflowed & was all over the new bathroom flooring Laun installed & down the hall! By the time I cleaned up all the water my dinner was cold. Laun got home late, so he ate dinner cold, too. What a night! I’m just afraid it will ruin the new flooring Laun just put in. 
I love holidays & making memories for our children.
I made Laun some sugar cookies with cream cheese frosting, too. I’m not very good at making them look fancy, but they sure taste good.
I picked out these cookie cutters for Laun awhile back, but really they are probably more for me:) I love that Target sales a set of cookie cutters that are manly.
Marlee had a little too much fun with the cookie cutters, don’t worry, they were all washed before use:)
It is suppose to be a bow tie, but Marlee thinks it should be a hair bow:)
We also got Laun this cool container at the Gem & Mineral Show today.
Laun gave me some money for Valentine’s, now I just have to figure out what I want to buy.
