January in a nutshell...

We've been spending time enjoying our gifts - like the soft serve ice cream machine from Dallin & Laura...

I took the boys to Sports Clips to use the free haircuts I won at Preston's holiday party. They were in heaven and loved every minute of there cuts, steam wraps, and massages. I'm not sure I should have introduced them to this luxury. And the girls may have been a little jealous...

We went fishing one evening...

And oh my heavens how did this happen?! We are done with nursery. My baby girl had her first day in Primary as a big Sunbeam!  She is loving it and I think especially favors singing time - she tries so hard to learn the words and sing along even when she hasn't got them down yet :)

But her first day must have been really exhausting for her because this never happens - but it did after church while she cuddled with daddy on the couch...

The boys started basketball!!  They were both very excited to start and are probably a little behind their peers seeing as they haven't had much experience yet.  But I think they are already improving drastically (I don't have great pictures or videos yet)...

Just playing together...

 I dropped my wedding band off at a jeweler to be re-dipped because its been about a decade (seriously) since it has been done and they desperately needed it.  It was a little strange that I had a hard time leaving them there and felt weird without them.  I'm so the opposite of my husband who hasn't worn his since about a week after we were married and would have no clue where his even is (although I do)...

After about 7 months in gymnastics here Brynn finally got the awesome and much anticipated news that she was ready to move up to Girls Level 2!

And never say never... the kids had two "snow" days off of school this week (Wednesday and Thursday)?!?  They called it the polar panhandle.  It made history.  I had to laugh to myself when things started shutting down because of the cold front that was coming in.  But I had to realize that the people and systems here are not used to these conditions and don't have the equipment to handle it.  We had an ice storm on Tuesday night that covered everything in a sheet of ice - not really snow but it seemed like it and looked like it with the sleet that was falling from the sky.  And the bridges shut down because they were iced over and unsafe so not only were the kids home from school but the base was also closed so Preston did not have work - although of course he slid his way in for a bit on Wednesday, he never can pass up on opportunity to actually get some work done when he doesn't have to see patients or have anyone to distract him. 

But since we know how to handle the cold (been there done that) we weren't afraid to venture out for a little family fun and enjoyed a restaurant one day and a movie the next.  And now it is Friday and thankfully we are back up to our 60 degree weather and the kids are playing happily outside :)

MLK Holiday + Grandma Eccles Visiting + Disney = An Awesome Weekend

The kids had an extra long MLK holiday... not only did they get the Monday off but they got the Tuesday off as well.  And we knew that Grandma was sad she had moved away before she got to go to Disney World with us.  So for her Christmas present we told her we'd take her to Disney with us that weekend.  So when I picked Dylan up from preschool this past Friday I checked the older two out early and we took off to Orlando to get Grandma at the airport.  Preston couldn't get Friday or Tuesday off of work but was able to hitch a ride with friends and get in really late Friday night (or early Saturday morning depending on how you look at it) and leave Monday evening.  We got to the airport a little early so we parked and went in - the Orlando airport was kinda cool.  Once we got Grandma and her luggage we headed to dinner at Taco Bell where we introduced her to the wonderful game of Jelly Splash.  It was so funny seeing the gazillion tablets and phones we had out at our one little table.  Then we went and checked in and got settled into our condo and put the kids to bed.

Saturday we headed straight to the Magic Kingdom.  And we got to go on a ride or two before we had breakfast reservations with Pooh and Friends at the Crystal Palace... 

I always love the interaction the kids have with the characters at these meals.  And I was pretty happy to get to see my favorite... Eeyore.  Then we played until dinner. 

At the Monsters Ink Laugh Floor show Grandma got picked on and the Monster read her mind :)  I was a little too late getting the video footage...

We left and got dinner at Fuddruckers and then headed over to Hollywood Studios so the kids could experience the nighttime show, Fantasmic. 

The next day was Sunday.  We typically don't do stuff like Disney on Sunday because that is our special Sabbath Day.  But because of the time restraints we had with Grandma's visit we decided to make an exception this time... and our kids realized that we weren't going to church and told us we were making a bad choice :)  I was a pretty proud mom that they could recognize that and express their feelings. 

It was fun showing Grandma around one of our favorite parks - Animal Kingdom...
At one point Preston took the kids to the Dinosaur play area while I took Annette over to the Expedition Everest Roller Coaster...

...as it turns out she wasn't a fan of one of my favorites and said she definitely wouldn't be going on it again.

The pictures for this post uploaded in a weird order.  Right now I don't have the time or patience to move a ton of pictures around so we are going to skip ahead.  Monday late afternoon (after spending the morning at Epcot) we went swimming...

 ...and when I say "we" I really mean Grandma and the kids.  I didn't really think the pools would be open and heated since its been chilly lately so I didn't even bother to bring swimming suits (although Grandma had).  But not only were the pools open they were heated to an incredibly warm bathwater temperature.  So after spending the morning at Epcot we left and got swimming suits for the kiddos at Target and had lunch at Sweet Tomatoes, and then went back to our resort to relax and swim - and then Preston had to leave.  So the kids had pizza and movie night. 

Tuesday morning we got up, loaded up the car, checked out, and rushed over to Hollywood Studios so we could be there when it opened and dash for the Toy Story Mania line.  This is probably Disney's most popular ride and we haven't been able to get on it in forever because the Fast Passes are always gone and the line is hours long.  But we made it!...   

Brynn doesn't look thrilled (even though she was deep down) because she was feeling guilty that Grandma missed her chance at going on the ride because she was off finding a safety pin for Brynn's pants that she had been whining and complaining about being too big/falling down.  By the time we got through the line and off the ride and met Grandma outside the line was already at 45 minutes so we didn't wait to go on it again.  Instead we went on Star Tours a couple of times and then headed back to the Magic Kingdom to do a few last things.

Okay, now flashing back here are the rest of the Animal Kingdom pictures from Sunday...

After we spent the day at Animal Kingdom we went and got Chevy's for dinner and then rested at the condo for a short bit.  Then we went back to the Magic Kingdom for some late night play and Fireworks!!!

Sadly, Kate was exhausted and slept through the beautiful castle light show and fireworks.
Now, we are back to Monday morning pictures at Epcot...

And a few last pictures from Tuesday morning...

Kate was enjoying the wind blowing in her hair as we took our last Ferry Boat ride away from the Magic Kingdom... at least for a while.  This was our last trip to Disney on our Annual Passes that expire next month :(  Its been a fun year.  We really do love Disney World...

We dropped Grandma off at the airport Tuesday afternoon and drove home.  Wednesday morning it was up bright and early and back to reality again...