January Yellows?

A year or two ago I did a post about our "January Blues"-- describing how the weather was freezing and gray all the time, I was still pregnant and feeling crappy with Zachary, and we were overall just depressed knowing we had to suffer through three more months of winter. Then I posted a picture of some new knives I'd gotten as a Christmas gift, and people began to worry... Fast forward 2 years to living in Las Vegas where although we still don't have any idea where we'll be living in 6 months (it could be anywhere from Florida, to Alaska, to South Korea), we are LOVING winter!! It's like all of a sudden I get it. You survive through the hot months of summer, so you can enjoy the other 9 months of near-perfect weather. It's just flip-flopped from what you normally do anywhere else. Call me slow, but I didn't have the perspective most natives have last September when it was still 100 degrees...


Anyway, while I enjoy "winter" here by taking the kids on walks and going to the park without jackets or sweaters, Jon still likes to play in the snow when he gets a chance. He recently went snowshoeing with a friend at Mt. Charleston where it was a balmy 50 degrees and gorgeous blue skies. He LOVED it.

Zachary has learned to do puzzles and will sit quietly for several minutes at a time, which is a vast improvement from his usual antics (ie destroying my house), so it's quite exciting. I can actually shower without worrying that the trash can has been tipped over and the contents spread around the house!!


I guess these next two pictures are to show how much fun it isn't to be a dentist's kid. Jon is pretty strict about bed-time brushing, which is great, but he really takes the elbow grease to their teeth and literally has to pin Zachary down while he's screaming bloody murder. Close to torture, if you ask me...

Lucy is still coming up with some wacky outfits, but she definitely knows what she likes. We found these ruby slippers on clearance at Target, and although she wore them until her heels rubbed raw, she didn't complain because "they matched her dress."

He may look cute, but boy's got a MEAN streak!! We were at Wal-Mart where this cute little Grandma came up to him and tried to pinch his little cheeks. Enraged, Zachy yelled at the top of his lungs, "NO! GO!" Embarrassing...

You may be wondering what the heck is going on in this picture, so let me explain. Lucy's preschool class read "The Hungry Caterpillar," so she likes to reenact when the caterpillar is in his cocoon (she rolls up in a blanket), and then he (she) wriggles out,

and begins to flap his wings to dry them off and become a beautiful butterfly. She is very serious when she explains the different stages, so it kind of comes off like a strange modern dance, preschool-style. I get a strange, happy feeling every time I picture that little preschool class acting out this drama.:)

A Whitney Weekend

We can't get enough of Whitney, and that's a fact. Ever since she stepped off the plane I've been begging, pleading, and putting huge amounts of pressure on her to come see our new pad here in Las Vegas as soon as she could.:) I finally succeeded in persuading her to come for the long 3-day MLK weekend and we had a BLAST!!

She wasn't able to leave Friday night because she had a date (cue the "ooohs"), so instead she left first thing Saturday morning and got here at about 12:30. The girls headed to Panera for lunch, got some Cupcakery cupcakes, did a little shopping at Trader Joe's, and then came home and helped Whitney catch up on her movie list by watching Toy Story 3. We then took her to our new favorite place to get a treat (it's sort of replaced the gaping hole Rita's water ice has left)-- U-Swirl, a frozen yogurt joint across the street. Once the kids were safely in bed we pulled out Settlers of Catan, and watched the Jason Bourne movies so Whitney could translate the Russian for us.


Sunday morning we headed to 9 a.m. church, and then that afternoon drove out to Red Rock Canyon to show off some of Nevada's beautiful scenery. Plus, the weather this weekend ROCKED-- skyrocketing into the upper 60's and low 70's, it felt like heaven. I think for Whitney, who spent last January walking around Russia in -25 degrees, it Blew. Her. Mind.

That evening I had her make some special Russian food for us, and we invited some friends over to try her shi (sp?) which is a vegetable soup made with onions, carrots, potatoes, and cabbage.

And pieroshki (sp?) which are these tasty little fried dough pockets with mashed potatoes inside. The food was a hit and sad to say, the leftovers are gone already... Jon is begging for the recipe so I can make them, so maybe we can add Whitney as a contributor to Bunchberry Bites (hint, hint)!

Monday morning we did some crafting with my new Cricut that I got for Christmas (and I'm in loooove with), so we cut and cut until that thing was smoking. This is a Valentine craft I copied off of www.howdoesshe.com, a website co-started by my cousin Missy. Check it out sometime!


Above my kitchen window.

And Zachy's room. The possibilities are endless!! And then we took the kids on a walk to the park to enjoy some more of that 70 degree sunshine and fill up her vitamin D quota since she was headed back to Provo (sadly) that afternoon. I don't know what it is about Whitney, but like Jon described her after he saw her in Provo two weekends ago, she's just like sunshine. She is just happy and pleasant and super fun to be around. WE LOVE WHITNEY!!! Hope we get lots more Whitney weekends while we're still here!!

Provo Family Reunion

Our family's nickname is "the Trashers" because we often invade someone else's home and then invite other family members to also come to our party...at someone else's home. Stay classy!! We've done this with my Aunt Kay many times, and this past week we did it to my Aunt Patty. We realized that the only way Devin and Sarah (+ new baby Sophie who Whitney hadn't seen) as well as Jonathan, were going to be able to see recently returned Whitney, was if they drove up from Las Vegas. I went with Devin and Sarah and the kids Thursday morning (Jonathan couldn't come until Saturday morning because of work), my parents drove down from Boise, and we met in Provo for a long weekend of reunion-ing. Since no one has a home in Provo to meet in (we didn't think Taylor's dorm room or Whitney's apartment would work) we conned Aunt Patty into hosting us.

We met up at Aunt Patty's and Uncle Hal's last Thursday night where Patty had a delicious dinner of pannini's waiting for us. It was so fun for Whitney to see new baby Sophie and then talk with Patty and Hal about her adventures in Russia--since Hal served as mission president of Siberia just before she'd gotten there. They even got out the Russian fur hats to help with the story telling.

Friday morning was spent perusing the BYU Bookstore, where I worked as a cashier the year after Jon and I got married. Creamery chocolate milk, chocolate covered cinnamon bears, and BYU fudge. Ahhhh, those were the days!

The girls (plus all the kids- sounds fair, right?) went shopping at IKEA and to lunch at the Paradise Cafe in American Fork, while the boys went to class with Taylor and to the Carl Bloch exhibit at the MOA.

Everyone met in the afternoon at the Wilkinson center and we had a heated bowling competition.


Tom ended up winning with Devin edging out Taylor for second place. Joan was the winner amongst the women with a grand total of 105, but let's be honest, she didn't have very stiff competition. I vote for bumpers next time!!

We left from the Wilkie and went to dinner at Zupa's, where we needed some yellow CAUTION tape surrounding our tables, and then we went to Whitney's for a great game of Cranium.


Saturday morning we drove to BYU and went to the BYU vs. Air Force basketball game. It was so fun being there with the whole family and BYU didn't disappoint us in their big win! A highlight was hearing Eva sing the entire BYU fight song verbatim along with the 22,000 other fans in attendance.

During dinner at Bajio's, our Chairman, Taylor, revealed the secret ingredient for our Iron Chef competition, Iron Chef: Mickelsen, which was:

ORANGES! We went back out to Patty and Hal's where we began our competition. Team 1 consisted of Whitney, Joan, Tom and Jon, and Team 2 consisted of Sara, Sarah P, and Devin. Andrew (Whitney's boyfriend-- say what?!), Patty and Hal were our judges.

Team 1 prepared Baja citrus shrimp with an orange dipping sauce for their appetizer, while Team 2 presented an avocado, cillantro, goat cheese, and orange stuffed wonton with an orange dipping sauce for theirs (pictured).

For the dessert round, Team 1 made an orange flavored chocolate cake baked IN an orange garnished with whipped cream and a chocolate orange for dessert. If I can just take a sec to give a shout out to MY husband, who came up with the baking-it-in-an-orange-bit, nice job!

Team 2 presented an orange apple fruit crisp topped with orange scented whipped cream for dessert. Taylor (ever impartial Chairman) described it as "orange overload!" I guess I got a bit heavy handed with the OJ concentrate...

After much deliberation Team 2 won by 2 points--YEEHA!! But if I'm being honest, I think Sarah P's little wonton beauts stole the appetizer round, while Team 2's ingenious and delicious orange cake stole it for dessert. It could have easily been a fair tie. Sunday we met back up at Whitney's for brunch and then Whitney told some mission stories and showed her pictures/slides. We then packed up and headed south, while my parents headed north, and though it was a whirlwind trip (especially for Jon who was there barely 24 hours), it was great seeing Whitney and spending some time with family at a reunion, Trasher-style.:)

Tiny Dancer

I recently enrolled Lucy in a ballet/tap class through the Community Center by our house, and they held the first class last Monday. I had actually enrolled her a few months ago, but when it came time for the class it turned out the location was actually not the one by our house, but one close to the strip-- and coming from someone who lived for 4 years in Philly, it was SCARY. I pulled up to the parking lot and the only spot available was in front of a dumpster with a bum rifling through it with lots of signs posted "DO NOT PARK HERE AFTER DARK".... So, I cancelled that and we're happy the next session has finally started!

Naturally she loves the dressing up part in the leotard and tutus, and has made lots of little friends in her class.


She is taking the class with her friend Julia (who's in our ward), which has helped her be braver since the parents aren't allowed to go in the room and sit. We have to just watch through the windows outside. In fact, at yesterday's class Zach gagged on an apple peel I'd given him and puked up the entire contents of his stomach all over me, so not only were parents treated to a show from their little girls, they also got to see a Cardon Specialty Sideshow. My kids are the world's BEST pukers!!

And as a side note, we got SNOW last week that actually (sort of) stuck to the ground for a little while (this is the view from our bedroom window). It was a full on snow storm that lasted a few hours and was pretty exciting for the kids. But I'll admit it, I'm glad we're back to the 50 and 60 degree weather again!

Provo Utah Gurls

Oh boy! I must have needed a laugh because I've watched this about 20 times and I'm still laughing....

Cousin Camp in Boulder City

We had the best New Year's Day spent with family who were visiting in Boulder City, NV, about 45 minutes southwest of where we live. My brother Devin and his wife Sarah, and their daughters Eva (2) and Sophie (3 months) are staying with Sarah's parents for the next week or so, so Saturday we headed out to spend the day with them! Lucy and Zach were in heaven playing with their little cousins-- especially Eva, and all three hit it right off!

First, Devin, Jon, me, and Sarah's sister Katie decided to do a bike ride up to Hoover Dam, which was about 15 miles away. It was a BEAUTIFUL ride with lots of downhill coasting (my favorite) and the red rocks and blue Lake Mead for scenery.

The trail goes through some old train tunnels which are really cool, the only problem was that it was FREEZING!! I couldn't feel my face or hands about 2 min. into the 30 min. ride, but we still had a good time.

Sarah and her parents met us at the end of the trail with the kids, and let us out to explore Hoover Dam for a bit. We hadn't been yet, and it was definitely impressive!!


View of the water level behind the dam, which is only 43% full-- the white band above the water is how high the water should be right now.


The new bridge that goes across the gorge is an amazing civil engineering feat, but I gotta admit, I can never look down from something like that without thinking about falling, so I was pretty glad to get the kids off!! You can see Jon hanging onto Lucy for dear life.

It was sure nice to check one more thing off our Nevada list of "Things to Do," especially since we had resident tour guides.

Afterwards we went back to Sarah's place to watch the TCU/Wisconsin football game, and Sarah's parents treated us to a delicious steak dinner. What a way to start the New Year off!! Zach and Lucy got to play a little more with the cousins and Sarah's dog Lexi. Anytime I couldn't find Zach, we just had to figure out where the dog had gone and Zachy was usually wrestling or trying to cuddle with the poor thing.

Cuddles with Little Soph!!

Lucy's turn!! This girl is super baby hungry...

Sunday morning Devin and Sarah decided to bless Sophie, so we got to attend and have Jon stand in (and yes, Harry Reid WAS there, but he did NOT stand in the circle).:) He gave a really nice blessing and it was fun to watch the CHAOS unfurl as the cousins tried to "reverently" play with each other.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!