President's Day Fun

Paul and I were just going to work on lots of to dos today, but luckily Ferf called and got us out of that mode.  We decided to get together in the afternoon and visit the art show at the college and if there was time after that, do a little hike in Snow Canyon.  We got to do both and then come back to the house and eat dinner that everyone pitched in on.  It turned out to be a really fun day.  The Smith kids joined us too while Derek took Lenae birthday shopping.  The kids had a good time at the art show (no pictures of this part - none allowed in there) doing an I Spy search for different items in the paintings and then we went outside to visit the statue garden.  Snow Canyon was perfect and not even crowded.  The kids have become great hikers and we all had a fine time with not one bit of whining.  The Smiths had to leave us to take Lenae out for a birthday dinner, but not before we sang to her and Paul gave her a handmade art gadget.(Only they know what is is and what to do with it!) After dinner Paul gave the kids a watercolor lesson.  Koen brushed the cat and played with airplanes while this was taking place.  What a nice day it turned out to be! (It's not really Lenae's birthday til Wednesday, but some of the celebrating needed to take place early due to conflicts with work schedules.)  We also got a little treat on Sunday night with the Randall's coming down to show us how much Afton is growing.  She's turning into a cheeky little snuggler.  It was fun to have dinner with them and visit. Moss and Christie came over too. Brady and Ellie were way excited to have Brendon come to play. (Shucks- didn't remember to get any pics while they were here.) Fun times!

Saved

I Won Something!!!

I actually won something...tickets to a DSC basketball game.  We went the to game against Hawaii last Thursday.  We knew who a couple of the players were - one was a Whitehead boy and the other was a kid that was on student council with Bean in high school (he's the shooting it) -  Derek Owen.  It was quite fun other than the band being sooooo loud.  It was a lot easier to watch without getting so involved as you do when one of your own kids is playing.  Hope I can win something else fun sometime!

Gila Trail - a new one for us

Paul and I were happy to take to the hills Saturday afternoon and try out the new Gila Trail.  It's above the rim of Snow Canyon on the east side (between Hwy. 18 and the rim).  You start at the parking lot at the north end of Snow Canyon, hike for a little way along the edge and then along the bike path for a while and then out behind the houses at the Ledges and above Johnson Canyon and on down past Turtle Wall to Chuckwalla.  It's about 9 miles.  We sort of got off the path taking a look at things along the way and did a little extra.  The first part seems a little wimpy but with beautiful views, but later on it goes through some beautiful areas that I had never been to before.  Near the end it turns into the Beck Hill trail as you get close to Chuckwalla.  We parked the truck down there and drove the car up to start at the other end.  It was a good respite that we both needed.

Happy Birthday Kennis!

We were a little early, but we had a good time celebrating #7 with Kennis and visiting with the Borrowman family for Sunday dinner last week.  The food was good along with the company!  After dinner we played a round of Camping and then had the birthday cake blow out and present opening.  Afterwards we had an introductory lesson in Hellsapoppin'  before it was time to call it an evening. We love you Kennis! (Sorry I forgot the camera - thanks for taking some phone pictures for me Ryan.)

I wish I hadn't done it!

I have some catching up to do.  Starting with the most recent means I will have to admit to being a clumsy bum.  I went out to untangle the cat and got tangled up myself and crashed down onto the planter edge with both knees.  Luckily the other one didn't end up like this too.  I haven't had stitches since I was 4 years old when I fell down and hit my chin on the front steps to the house and got 4 stitches.  Since I was so good about being sewn up, the doctor said I could still go to the beach that day as long as I didn't get it wet.  I tried to be good this time too while the doctor sewed me up with 7 stitches.  I was hoping to just be able to super glue it at home, but the ask-a-nurse said it was a sew up job since it was in a bendy place.  I was glad it happened early in the day so that even with a two-hour wait at Insta-Care I could still make it to school on time.  As they say, "It'll feel better when it quits hurtin'!"  (Excuse the gory picture.)

Kayenta Canyon, sunshine and visiting

I don't know if it's called Kayenta Canyon or Hell's Hole Canyon, but either way, we had a good time hiking it with Jay, Brynn, Madi (in her darling hiking tutu), Judd and Becca.  The sunshine felt good to all of us, but I'm sure it was especially nice for the gang from up north.  Even though Madi wasn't feeling the best, she seemed to like being outside.  Judd and Becca were good sports even if they aren't avid hikers.  It was also fun just visiting around the house and enjoying Jay's good cooking skills for dinner.  Madi was glad to see our baby again and visited with it whenever she got the chance.  Thanks for coming down to see us and the sun!

Happy #2 Brenden

We got to go to Brenden's #2 birthday party...it was so fun.  I love being around Christie's family.  They are just fun people.  Brenden was so excited about the balloons when we got there.  Paul managed to blow up one of those long, skinny cheek killer balloons for him and he was really happy about that.  We enjoyed the yummy soups (Paul and I tried every kind) and rolls.  Most of all it was fun to see Brenden get into opening his presents and all of the other kids enjoying being together with their cousins.  Thanks for letting us hang out at your party Brenden.  We love you!

This and that Saturday

Saturday we did this and that.  I needed to do some long overdue cleaning.  Paul needed to work on some walking sticks and check with Moss on some yard projects.  We spent the morning doing that.  Then we visited the new exhibit at the St. George Art Museum - the downstairs has a very nice, sort of different, still life exhibit  that Paul wanted to see. The upstairs is not much to brag about right now.  After lunch we headed over to check out a new trail in Snow Canyon - the Gila Trail.  It is between the highway and the rim running from the north end of the canyon down to Chuckawalla.  We only did a part of it and  decided to check out the rest another day when we can leave a shuttle vehicle down at Chuckawalla.  After that we took the trail to Johnson Canyon which had lots of evidence of the recent rain.  It is such a pretty canyon-arch.  After that we went out to see the new airport.  It's a cute little terminal, but we were disappointed that you cannot see the Greg Abbot mural - it's past the security gate.  Then it was dinner time and since I hadn't spent  any time thinking about what to make, we decided to use our dinner & a movie certificate that we got for Christmas and went to Pasta Factory and to see The Tourist.  The dinner was great and the movie is a fun one. It was an enjoyable this and that Saturday. 

Brady & Ellie keeping busy while Afton gets settled in

Brady and Ellie kept busy while Mom and Dad were getting Afton settled in.  Some of the busyness included visiting the duck pond, hiking on the Red Hill - we spied a fox while we were up there, playing Sorry with Grandpa, driving by a volcano, playing in the sand dunes and hiking to Jenny's Canyon at Snow Canyon.  We also visited Grandma Kurtz to meet her new puppy, Bandit. Visiting the Smith and Borrowman cousins was lots of fun for them too. 

Happy Birthday Afton LaRae

Brady and Ellie are the proud new silbings of Afton LaRae.  She was born on Monday, January 17th at 7:13 am in Cedar City.  She was 19.5" long and weighed 8.1 lbs.  Mom and Dad are also pretty proud! Actually, the whole family is pretty happy about this new addition to the tribe!  (The girls are now in the lead with 8 girls and 7 boys.)