Snow Again!

We woke up to 4 inches of snow this morning which equals a ton of snow in the Northwest. All the schools were closed and I'm sure many businesses for part of the morning. The kids were so excited to play in the snow and by 9:00 we were getting ready to head outside. In the morning the snow was too powdery to make a snowman so we did a lot of snow angels and Adalyn just kept picking up the snow and giggled as it would drop to the ground. We haven't really seen snow since Thanksgiving in Utah so the kids had a blast playing in it.

By the afternoon the sun had come out and made a great packing snow so we could make a snowman. We had a great time making our snowman, but the highlight was the snowball fight after. Talmage and Audrey had so much fun throwing snowballs at me and they loved to get hit as well. When Adalyn woke up from her nap she had fun watching the kids play from the window she wasn't interested in going out again.

Hooray, for a fun snow day and lazy day at home.

Audrey's snow angel.

Adalyn loving the snow.

Adalyn loved picking the snow and letting it fall out of her hands.

It won't come off.

The classic sticking the tongue out to catch snow.

The kids and our snowman. Complete with a carrot nose, woodchip eyes, stick arms, and pine needle hair. We had a lot of fun.

Morgan Park

So we had a gorgeous Saturday last week and the kids and I took full advantage and went to the park and had a picnic. We had a wonderful time and then came home and vacuumed and washed the car; that's how nice it was.

Audrey

Talmage on the log roller.

Talmage by the enormous tree.

Audrey

Adalyn didn't want to miss her turn taking a picture on the big tree. Quite the smile.

Snow!!!

So, we experienced our first snow fall here in Vancouver. It wasn't a huge storm by any means, but we were so excited this morning watching the huge snowflakes fall to the ground. By noon it was all melted; it was fun while it lasted.

Audrey is trying to catch the snow with her tongue.

Valentines Fun

We had a wonderful Valentines Day with our family. We started the day out with a special breakfast and of course we had heart shaped pancakes; the kids thought it was so fun. We also gave our kids each a Valentine and it was so cute to see them be so excited for it. Talmage read most of his Valentine by himself which was really impressive. Our children have been making us Valentines for about a week now and being so cute in preparation for the big day.

Valentine Cards

Breakfast together

After Talmage went to school Audrey was excited to make more Valentines and we ended up with some cute heart necklaces that she made; I wore mine all day. Then later that night we had a fun FHE with the Wise family. We had an amazing dinner because Adam the Dad got a really nice ham from work and Nancy his wife made a really yummy chocolate cake. The lesson for FHE was each couple sharing the story about how they meet and the proposal. Audrey listen intently as Gordon read a story about how he proposed to me. She is already so excited about everything that happens when one gets married.

Then the day after Valentines the girls and I were able to go to a party at the Fugars. We had a wonderful time decorating cupcakes and decorating a bag to put all the Valentines in. It was fun to be with friend and eat candy; Adalyn got so excited when I let her eat a sucker.

Adalyn making her bag.

Lining up to pass out Valentines.

Audrey and her cupcake.

Audrey's delicious cupcake.

Emery and Audrey

Beacon Rock

Last Saturday we ventured out for a family hike to Beacon Rock. Beacon Rock is a huge rock that jets up next to the Columbia River on the Washington side. We had fun driving there and exploring the Washington side of the Columbia. We could see the waterfalls on the Oregon side of the Columbia and it was really fun because we have visited most of the waterfalls. It was quite windy but we had a really fun time and our kids did great. Talmage kept mentioning that, "Thomas' are really great hikers." I think that their are 52 switchbacks and Talmage counted 18 wooden bridges we went over; good times. Talmage and Audrey had fun with their hiking sticks and when Adalyn got out of the backpack she didn't waist time to get one too. I love that we go hiking as a family and have new places to explore.

Near the Beginning

Audrey and Talmage

Mommy

The View

Audrey and her stick.

The most impressive view of the switchbacks.

Daddy and Audrey

Handsome Talmage at the top.

Art From The Heart

Each student at Talmage's school did a piece of art work for the school art show called "Art From the Heart." Talmage was really excited to share his art piece with us. His piece was title "Balloon Tank." He said "It's a balloon shaped like a tank." I love the different colors that he used and that it is so vibrant. We're so proud of our Talmage!

"Balloon Tank"

Enjoying cookies at the art show.

Adalyn Houdini

Adalyn has been doing quite the magic tricks with her pj's lately. One night after putting the girls to bed I went back in to make sure the light was out and Adalyn had one of her arms out of her pj's. She hadn't unzipped her pj's she had just managed to slip her little arm out. Well, this happened for the next couple of nights and Audrey loved to yell from the room, "Adalyn's got her arm out again Mom!"

Then one night I went in and she had completely unzipped and gotten out of her pj's. Later that night when I went into take out all of the books she insists on taking to bed with her I noticed that she had managed to get both arms out of her pj's and mind you she had not unzipped her pj's and was sound asleep. The next morning when I went into get her she had again managed to get both of her arms out of her pj's without unzipping. Needless to say the next night she wore two piece pj's to bed; what a stinker!

Besides her Houdini moments Adalyn is such a doll. She has become quite the little talker and can repeat almost any word we say. My favorite word that she says right now is "bufly" (butterfly) it is so adorable to hear her say it. She has learned to put on her own shoes and after putting them on jumps around the house in excitement about her accomplishment. She has a habit of finding one dress-up shoe putting it on than then doing the pony around the house; it's so funny. She also loves to comment on all things that are cute: babies, doggies, dolls, clothes you name it and then she says, "Oh, cue!" I love this little girl!

Doughnuts with Dad

Talmage's school recently had Doughnuts with Dad and Talmage was so excited! Basically the Dad and student go early to school and have doughnuts. The activity while having doughnuts in to read one of the children's writings and to also read other books from the library. Both Gordon and Talmage had a wonderful time.

Handsome Guys!

Talmage and the doughnuts

The doughnut invitation Talmage made for his Dad.