St. George Get-A-Way

Matt has been extra stressed at work the last few weeks so we took off Friday for a much needed reprieve from the everyday work grind.  We headed south to Sunny St. George and enjoyed some warmer weather and the red rock.

We stopped at the Beaver Creamery on our way down and learned how cheese was made.

Then we hiked to some dinosaur footprints.

I wonder what kind of dinosaur made these...

We then went to Dixie Rock, and the kids had a blast running all across the awesome rock formations and exploring everything there was to see.

We checked in at our motel then met up with my cousin Shirece to eat at Cafe Sabor - a Mexican restaurant.  It was fun to talk to Shirece.  She is one of my favorite cousins.

We then went back to the motel to get in their pool, but it was FREEZING COLD!  So instead we went back and watched the next episode of Wandavision in our room.  (That is such a good series, by the way!)

The next morning, we tried the pool again, but to our dismay - still cold!  So we packed up, checked out and drove to Arizona (just across the Utah border) to Glitter Mountain - a gypsum mine.  The kids collected quite a few crystals.

We then went to Thunder Junction - a really cool park - to each lunch and let the kids play.  They could have spent all day here.

There was even a little train that went around the park.

Next, we wanted to check out the Children's Museum.  The kids had a fun time there as well.

Our last stop before heading home was Iceberg for burgers and shakes!

I sure love spending time with this crew of mine!

 

Clogging Recital

This girl had a traumatic year of dance last year.  She would do fine during class and practicing at home, but when it came time for the 2 performances, she'd freeze up, get super scared, and end up crying backstage.  It was not a good experience for her and I about decided that perhaps dance wasn't for her.  But then I had the impression to have her try clogging.  There was a studio opening up in Saratoga so I signed her up.  Class sizes are half as big, the teacher is AMAZING, and Laynie gained lots of confidence as she dazzled the crowd with her toe taps!

She danced to a song called "Ride" from Disney's Cars 3.

Her good friend, Clementine is also in her class.

Look at that smile!  She looked right at us after her solo dance and got to see how we were all beaming with pride.

After the performance.

Eating a burger and ice cream at the Purple Turtle in Pleasant Grove.

We did some fancy nail art for the occasion as well!

 

My Lovies

Valentines Day was actually on a Sunday this year.  So we celebrated it on Thursday (at school) and Saturday (at home).

In Preschool, we had a fun little party and passed out valentines.  Gavin and Laynie weren't allowed to bring valentines to school (silly Covid rule) but were still able to have class parties.

On Saturday, we had an elegant night out where we tried to teach the kids etiquette.  They thought it was pretty cool and both kids took the dinner quite seriously.  We talked about how to chew with our mouths closed, helping your date sit down at the table, how to strike up good conversation, etc.  Mongolian Beef with rice and a salad were on the menu. Yum. Yum.

Afterward, we went to an ice cream shop and got some delicious ice cream for dessert.

On Sunday, as per tradition, Matt left valentines and love letters for us all.

 

Laynie's First Loose Tooth

On February 10th, Laynie lost her first tooth!  She was brushing her teeth before bedtime, spit out the toothpaste into the sink, and noticed blood.  She looked in the mirror, and sure enough, her loose tooth had fallen out. We couldn't find it anywhere and figured it must have went down the drain!  Mom emailed the tooth fairy and she came that night with a note and a dollar bill.  (The tooth fairy's name was Moonbeam.)  A few days later, Gavin found the tooth on the floor in the corner of the bathroom!  Mom had to write another email to Moonbeam to let her know she could come and get the tooth!

 

PRK Surgery and Fireplace Fiasco

For Matt's birthday and Christmas present, he went under the laser.  He had an operation performed on his eyes called PRK - a procedure similar to Lasik, but more invasive and painful.  It took Matt about 4 days to begin feeling like himself again.  When he got home, the numbing wore off and he was in a lot of pain.  He described the pain as a thousand paper cuts in each eye.  And that's pretty much what it was.  They had to surgically reshape his cornea by cutting off the epithelial layer first.

That's not a smile - it's a grimace.

Right after surgery.

At the beginning of December, we hired a guy to build a fireplace with shelves on both sides.  He said he could have it done before Christmas.  We paid him 1/2 up front.  Then he never showed.  We got worried and thought he had run off with our money...  Matt was able to contact him via fb and he came on the 16th of January and framed the fireplace all in.  It took another month for him to come again and put the tile around it.  At this rate, we will have a fireplace with shelving in 2 years from now.  Wahoo!