Skiing the Bird

Tyler and Federica have been making good use of their Snowbird season passes lately. They report that there is a lot powder to ski through. Federica has Tyler doing moguls and jumps. They have learned how to dress so that they don't get cold and they wear their helmets for safety. They come home tired and happy.

Tyler had a talk with his counselor this week about the mental benefits of skiing for him:  fresh air, sunshine, and physical exercise, She recommended that he continue with a season ski pass.

Spring? and Youth Conference

It was snowing and cold the beginning of the week and Spring like weather for the weekend. Jessica got home on Friday afternoon and wanted to go on a long walk. She recruited Tyler to go with her so they could take both dogs.  As expected, Buddy got tired and so Tyler make him a Kanga Pouch out of his sweat shirt to make it easier to carry him.

Our stake decided to do a winter Youth Conference at Aspen Grove Family camp. Melanie's leaders picked her up from school and they headed up the mountain. There were cute boys to entertain, the weather was beautiful, there was a fun dance, and she even got a good night's sleep. 

 

Picking up skis with new friend, Noah, so she could go cross country skiing.

Seniors on the Swim Team and Happy Valentines Day

The swim team had their annual Spaghetti Dinner to load them up with Carbs for the State competition.

Valentines Day is one of my favorite holidays. I just love letting the people I love know how much I love them. Warren and I started off the day by "Heart Attacking" the kid's bedroom doors. We wrote on the hearts things we love about them.

Graigry was giving a Sacrament Meeting talk in his student ward and so Warren and I drove to Provo to hear him speak. He did a great job bearing testimony of God's love for us, his children.

After church we had our traditional Valentines Day dinner. We ate special foods off of the China plates. It was great to have Jessica and Graig home to celebrate with us.

After dinner we had a FHE lesson on CS Lewis' four types of love with examples from the scriptures.

We ended the evening by watching the classic love story, "The Princess Bride". (We make all our foreign exchange students watch that movie.)

The Menu:
Shrimp

 Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Beets

 Spinach Salad with Pears and Craisins

 Heart Shaped Carrots

New York Steak

 Dessert: Berries layered with Homemade Vanilla Pudding

The Queen of Hearts

At Melanie's school they had a dress up day on Friday. The kids were encouraged to dress up as a fictional character. Melanie searched Pinterest for just the right thing. She likes a DIY project. The Queen of Hearts seemed perfect. She already had the red cape but made the hat, collar, and skirt. She was excited to win the costume contest and have her school counselor tell her she was the talk of the school.

These pictures were taken right after she finished the costume. For school, she painted her face white so her heart lips and eye makeup would stand out even more. She wore the costume to her counseling appointment right after school and we found out that her counselor has a fear of clowns. I guess her white face paint reminded him of a traumatic childhood memory. He made it through the appointment just fine.

It was very snowy this week. Tyler and Federica got up to Snowbird on Saturday and had a great day skiing in all that fresh powder.

Warren, like a real hero, spent all Saturday morning and afternoon in scout meetings and all Saturday evening unclogging drains around the house and repairing the snow blower.

Warren and I are studying about the four different types of love this week by pondering scripture stories that illustrate that kind of love.  This week we were studying about familial love, or the love between a parent and child or siblings. I was reminded how much God wants us to do what we can to take care of each member of our family. Graig ends every conversation with me by saying, "Anything I can do for you?". I don't know if that is a habit he picked up on his mission but it has been a great example to me and I don't hesitate to ask him if there is anything I need his help with.

It was a good week.