This past week had been on the painful side of cold with subzero temperatures and winds that make it bone chilling. I remember going to Rexburg ID to visit the Bednars for Christmas one year. It was also really cold in fact one morning it was -40 and Jeff didn't go to school that day because of the cold. We decided that since it was getting up to -20 by noon we would still go snow skiing. WHAT?!! I think what 0 degrees feels like here and ask myself "What were we thinking?" It was obviously cold but a dry dessert cold is so different than the wet cold that is here. Or maybe I'm older and wimpier with my age. Maybe a little of both.
Dispite the cold we still have gotten out and had some fun. Friday the boys didn't have school because of teacher inservice. I got some friends together and we went to the new SpongeBob Movie. It is about the only movie that I didn't mind getting up and getting popcorn for. The rest of the day we hung out with friends. A new family moved into our ward at church and they have a 7yr old that Zach has become friends with and he played with Zach all afternoon. It was nice getting to know them better and that Zach has a friend to play with that is his age.
Saturday was Valentine's day. When Josh and I were deciding how we wanted to celebrate this "holiday" we decided that it would be nice to spend it as a family and have a nice dinner together. It was just as well that we decided not to go out because there was another storm that came through. We had a good time playing with each other and making a family favorite meal Alberskiva. They boys received a Valentine from their Nana & Grandad that made their day because it had $5 bill inside each card. Adam who has been trying his best to earn money couldn't have been happier about his $5 windfall. He wanted to deposit it into this account right away so he could see his account getting a little healthier. Zach thought it was nice too but not like his bro. In honor of Valentines Day we had a formal dinner at the dinning room table with a nicely set table, candles, and the roses that daddy gave me as the center piece. Through the course of the meal I realized that I have totally failed to teach my boys table manners. So it became a teaching moment. For me to be surrounded by all 4 of my favorite men it was a the best way to celebrate Valentine's.
Sunday morning was iffy weather or not we wee going to be able to go to church because of the snow that had fallen through the night. Fortunately our church doesn't start until 11:30 so we were able to go and our dinner guest were able to come. I was really excited about having the Lasker family over. They are new, have a boy Zach's age, a cute little girl, from the south, have lots of energy and spunk, and are going to be here long term the only con is that they live on the opposite side of the ward. They seem cool enough for me to make the effort and it has been a really long time since I have met someone with that kind of energy. We had them over and it was super nice to get to know them better and I look forward to more time with them.
President's Day was extremely cold but that didn't stop us from going out to the State Theater for "Jack Hanna's Live Animal show". It was fun taking our kids to do something when their daddy was home from work. We only parked a block away but none the less the cold bit through our clothes and any exposed skin hurt. I was grateful to get into the building. we found our seats and Andrew and I explored some of the activities that were set up in the lobby. We found our way to a photo booth and had some fun. The animals that we saw were exotic and rare. Our favorites were: Adam -wombat that was trained to pee on Jack's hat or the bird that slammed down a lizard on a rock, Zachary, mommy & daddy - bearcat, Andrew- the baby elephant. There were a lot of unusual animals that I didn't even know existed so it was fun and enlightening. The rest of the day we played with guns and up in the toy room.
Long weekend extended one more day because of another big snow storm that dumped 6-8inches. I enjoyed my boys for one more full day. I made them French toast, we played in the snow and gave their crazy dog a bath. Playing in the snow was by far the highlight of the day. They had fun playing with Tank chasing him, wresteling him, and rolling around in the white stuff. Andrew really liked getting a "blast off" on the swings and sliding down the slide. It was a good day.
