Winter Field Trips

Winter(and Spring) are about over and we are emerging into warmer days.  Some photos and posts seem to have stockpiled from the last several months.
Here are a few notes from a few of the times we broke free of winter hibernation and explored some fun areas.

We enjoyed free days at the zoo, aviary and aquarium....
  
 

The story with this photo is that the boys go to a coop once a week called Quest, and they are in the Otter group!

We loved this little hands-on community museum in South Jordan! 

Jordan hung up the laundry to dry.

Natural History Museum free day...yes there is a blessed theme here with free

Here is my attempt to get a self portrait (reflection).  Michael and I tried an afternoon of skiing.  Even though he fell every few yards down the mountain, I was sore the next day and he didn't feel a thing.  It was great fun though and so beautiful!  


Michael and I enjoyed a presentation for school-age kids by the Utah Symphony.

Birthdays for Cousins

I am overdue for updating the blog. And since it is the major form of photo journaling I have for our family, I can't let it go. So here are a bunch of catch up posts.

Beckah and Andrew share birthdays in the same week. And we got to celebrate with them for the first time! The perks of living close to family in Utah...


This "backpack" pinata --homemade by Grandma-- was amazing!


Today, Jared asked Tessa what she wanted to do this week. She said "play [with] Beckah." gotta love cousins--can't get enough

Here's Cousin Beth on her birthday. With both families combined, she has LOTS of cousins. So, my sister let us fill up the church cultural hall for a yummy kid-friendly lunch.

New Year

As we begin 2012, we have been so excited. This year promises to be significant. New beginnings at this stage of our lives are so motivating.
We are still in a learning phase, but we're also trying to better implement good family skills and standards that we have learned. Jared is making the transition from student to professional life, putting into practice the knowledge he has acquired.
We know there is a grand plan in all of our experiences. We can trust our Heavenly Father and make the best of every opportunity. We are grateful for the blessings we continue to enjoy.
Wishing you all the best throughout the year ahead!

Sledding at the Cabin

Our last winter was a bit different than this has been. (No trips to the beach lately, that is) The kids have adapted... and have enjoyed a few more snow oriented activities. Sledding at the cabin was a big hit at Christmas and again once in February!


Tessa is in the purple coat here coasting with cousin Ella.


Jordan and Tyler were going high speed.



Inside the cabin we kept toasty warm by the fire, played some games and ate tasty food....

Clark Christmas

Here is some of the Christmas afternoon excitement at the Clarks.


It was a lego Christmas for the boys...a set from each Grandma!


Tessa is into pretend play. Here is her well stocked shopping cart from Grandma. She still zooms around the house with it and keeps a baby perched in the seat.

Along with all the special gifts, we had a grand Christmas dinner and time to visit.

Christmas Season

An all-time favorite tradition with the Clark family is the early December party with the Hulls. It is always fun to see what the new theme and celebration will entail. This year we got to see the production of "White Christmas" at the Old Barn Theater. It was a great way to start out the Christmas season with a festive spirit. We took our photo with Santa at that party.


After that, throughout December it seems that I didn't take many photos of the small holiday moments. I enjoyed being busy with the necessary preparations.
One other event I participated in was our Relief Society Christmas Celebration. I helped with some planning and set up for that. Jared helped make this fancy invitation.

Here are the photos I took of time with the Harston family on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.
The fancy table at Christmas Eve Dinner reminded me of the beautiful decorations I saw last year at the Edison and Ford Estates.
My sister, Rachel's visit made the holiday extra special. The kids were able to meet their cousin Ely for the first time. He is a delightful and sweet and very busy one year old. He absorbs all his goodness from his wonderful mom and dad.


Christmas eve is the special and fun time when we focus on the birth of Christ. Dad organized a program and Mom narrated the nativity.
Here's baby Ruth as baby Jesus.


The Angels


Grandmother was our only audience member, but the best we could ask for. It was a treat to have her there.


These little wisemen relished their role and took it pretty seriously.


Mom has collected and made the costumes throughout the years of offering nativities and pageants.



By waking the kids up (this might be the last year we have to do that) we managed to fit in some nice family time with the Harstons before our church meeting! :)


Jordan meets "Tails" the Beta Fish.

Tessa's princess getup from Grandpa with the royal treatment by Grandma...


Chad even made his presence during the holiday through a special gift to each family member!

The general feeling that resonated through the gift giving and getting was a great deal of thoughtfulness and love. A wonderful Christmas to remember.

Spokane to Vernal to Pocatello..

My sister's family is about to finish up their medical residency in Spokane and they just accepted a position in Pocatello, Idaho! In early December Jenny's husband interviewed at the hospital in Vernal and we got to visit with them for the weekend while they were in Utah. (although they ended up choosing Pocatello instead)
Here we are at the Utah Fieldhouse of Natural History. We saw dinosaur bones and ran around with cousins!


This was a field trip I had been wanting to do, albeit without Jared.
It is pretty amazing that this corner of Utah really is Dinosaurland--a huge reservoir of prehistoric fossils.


We soaked in as much cousin time as possible before they left to go back to Spokane.
--even tub time.. Ella climbed in after I took this photo and then there were four.


Jenny's and Amy's birthdays are in December and our celebration for them was Saturday morning pre-airport departure. It was grrreaat to see the Spokane-ites around the holidays. Now we are counting down for them to move closer to this neighborhood in June!