I would say no, but I can't really deny that!

 Today we had a lazy morning and then I told Hallee and Wyatt that we were going out.  We needed sunshine and exercise.  While we were walking around Utah Lake Hallee said, "thanks for taking us mom."  I told her I was glad I did because she was getting a little cranky in the house and she said, "I would say no, but I can't really deny that!"  Hallee is always so sweet to thank me for everything and admit when she is grumpy!

We went over to Utah Lake in Vineyard.  There is a little bit of a sandy beach and we could walk right out to the lake.  It was cloudy, but the sun was shinning and it felt great!

We walked up and down the beach for a little while.  There were a few icy parts on the lake, but most of it was water.

Wyatt and Hallee had fun trying to balance these big weeds while they ran.  There is a trail along the beach and we walked up that for a while and then we were ready to move onto something else.

We decided to go to Bridal Veil Falls, I have been wanting to see the falls in the winter. We made a quick stop for drinks, but then headed straight to the canyon.  When we got to the canyon it was snowing.  I couldn't believe the difference in the weather in such a short distance.

The kids were a little reluctant because we weren't dressed for snow, but I told them we would just walk up to the Falls and back.  Hallee had fun catching snowflakes on her tongue.

The kids got excited when we got to the falls and saw all of the ice.  

It was so pretty.  I loved seeing the ice mixed in with pockets of water.

We climbed up a little ways, but Hallee didn't want to go up very far.

It was really slippery!

Wyatt wanted to climb up a little bit higher.  He decided it was easier to slide back down instead of walk.

We had fun making snowballs and dropping them in the water to see how long it took for them to melt.

The kids were starting to get cold, but they were having a lot of fun, so we stayed for a while. 

On the way down we saw these frozen falls!

I wanted to take some jumping pictures with the kids.  It was really funny!

Hallee is a natural, she knows just where to put her hands and feet to make the picture look great!

Wyatt wanted another try after he looked at Hallee's picture.

Wyatt and I climbed up a hill and I told him to take my hand when we were going down so he wouldn't fall and right when I said that I fell on my bum! Wyatt thought that was hilarious!

I was holding Wyatt's hand another time and I slipped and landed on my knee, I almost did the splits!

I love freshly, fallen snow, it is so pretty!

Hallee threw a snow ball at Wyatt and then got mad when he threw one at her. I think I helped her understand that if you throw a snowball then you are fair game to have a snowball thrown at you!

I'm glad we kept going even though we weren't dressed for snow (I'm in capris, but at least I have on tennis shoes, usually I'm in flip flops).  We had a lot of fun and it cheered us up after feeling restless at home.

Life Lately

Last Friday I took Caitlyn out to stay at Amarie's, so while we were out there I took Hallee and Wyatt to the aquarium.  We always spend a good amount of time watching the penguins. 

This was the first time we have seen the octopus awake and active.  He was really fun to watch.  Hallee wants to see the sloth so bad.  The sloth was asleep inside a log, but we did finally get to see part of it at least.  We could see his fur and claws, hopefully some day the sloth will be out and we will get to see it!

Last weekend Caitlyn made rice crispy treats with Hallee and Wyatt while Keith and I watched a movie in our room.  I told the kids we were on a date and to pretend we weren't home.  It was a nice break!

Hallee and Wyatt have been playing with Legos a lot lately.  I love seeing them do something besides screens.  Hallee has also been playing with her stuffed animals a lot.

Wyatt has been drawing a lot lately.  I love this one that he did!

Wyatt really wanted to come volunteer at the Food and Care Coalition, so Friday morning he came with us.  He loved it!  He loves things like this where he feels grown up.  Caitlyn and Wyatt served the breakfast and I cleaned tables.  Wyatt loved serving up the trays.  He also got to go around with a cart of donuts and offer them to everyone.  He asked if he can go every week.  Unfortunately, my kids are going to start going to school on Friday in a couple of weeks, so we won't be able to volunteer anymore!  I wish they would have them go full days and keep Fridays, but I am grateful that they are getting more class time!

Friday night Amarie came and stayed at our house.  Hallee and Wyatt loved playing chopped with them. Keith had convention this week, so he was gone until after 10 PM Thursday and Friday and had to go into work for a while Saturday morning.  Poor guy, he was so tired! 

Saturday I forced everyone out of the house.  We needed some sunshine and exercise.  Amarie brought her scooter so we went over to the skate park.  Amarie and Caitlyn were planning on riding their scooters over to the parkway, but they are repaving it or something, because it was blocked off.

Wyatt and Jonah had fun climbing trees.

Keith got home from work while we were there so he met us over there.  Hallee was so happy to see him, she was really missing Keith the last couple of days.

Wyatt found some big pine trees to climb.  He climbed really high!

He scraped up his knees while he was climbing, but he didn't seem to mind.

There is a play ground near the skate park so we went over there for a little while.  The kids all had fun swinging.

There was a park near our old house that had these digging things, I was surprised that the kids remembered.  They were excited to see these and talked about the old park. 

Saturday afternoon we were bored and didn't know what to do.  Jonah was supposed to have a basketball tournament, but it got canceled because the guy who was coaching got Covid and his son played with Jonah's team Thursday night.  It's been really tricky to figure out what our responsibility is because of the possible exposure.  We still aren't sure if Milo (the boy who played with our team) has it or not, I guess we will decide more when we know that for sure.  

Anyway, Wyatt wanted to go on a hike. It was perfect weather for it, but I was feeling tired and lazy so I didn't want to.  I'm glad I decided to do it because it felt great to get out and enjoy the beautiful, sunny day.

We decided to check out Slate Canyon.  At one point we thought we were following a trail, but it was more like rock climbing, so I'm pretty sure we weren't.  It was pretty slippery, but we made it to the top of a big hill and were able to find a path from there.

We had some great views from the top.  

We took a trail back down, but there was a lot of snow and ice on it so that made it almost as tricky as our climb up.  Wyatt loved it and I loved spending time with him!

Christmas Break

Last Sunday the girls came and stayed at our house.  Caitlyn was so excited!  They had a great time, we heard lots of laughing and screeching.  On Monday they had a baking competition.  Both of their cakes turned out so cute, I was very impressed.  They tasted really good too.  Everyone came to our house Monday afternoon and we got pizza for dinner and had fun visiting.  It was great to spend more time with EJ.

Wyatt loves to carry Jackson around while he rides his hoverboard. 

We played with Tiff and her kids a few times. 

One day Tiff offered to take Hal and Wyatt for the afternoon.  It was so nice to read and get a nap while they were gone!

On Saturday mom invited us over because Caleb was in town on his way back to school.  We were all excited to see Caleb!

We had fun visiting and playing games.  It was great to have one last chance to see EJ before he headed back.  We are going to miss him!

Wyatt is getting more and more creative with his dress clothes on Sunday.  We all put on our dress clothes when we take the sacrament at home.  Wyatt hates getting in his church clothes, so he has been putting a white shirt on and leaving his sweats on, but this week I guess he didn't want to change his pants or shirt so he just came out with a suit coat over his clothes.  He makes me laugh.

New Years Eve

We didn't have anything planned for New Years Eve so Caitlyn and Jonah were excited when Allison texted that day to see if they wanted to come over for the night.  

I heard about a little New Years Eve party at the Provo Towne Center Mall so we decided to check it out with Hallee and Wyatt.  They had a DJ and fireworks.  Most people just stayed in their cars. Keith and the kids went and bought hot chocolate when we got there. 

We went to Walmart earlier that day to buy some treats and Wyatt begged for this New Years party pack.  He was so excited about it.

We took Keith's car and the kids loved putting down the seats and playing in the back.  Wyatt wanted to break dance, but he had to settle for a baby freeze.

Jackson looked so sad when we were leaving so in a moment of insanity I said we should bring him.  The kids loved it and luckily he was good.  He got a little nervous with the fireworks, but he was okay if we held him.  They had two events, we went to the earlier one so we were back home by 9 PM.

Wyatt and Hallee wanted to do a bunch of puzzles.

We had a fun dance party.

For some reason we told the kids that they could stay up until midnight.  Hallee was getting a little feisty by the end of the night and they were both a little cranky the next day.

It was a fun night though and they sure thought it was cool to stay up until midnight.

Caitlyn had this picture from their night at the Moon's.  They both had a great time and loved spending time with Max and Grace.