So Much Snow!!

Jack had practice this morning at 10, while Ava had practice this morning at 10:45, meaning the 24+ inch drifts covering over half of our driveway had to go!!  Kyle was on a phone call, so I decided to let Jack sleep and tackle it on my own. I started to shovel a little path away from the garage and then started the blower up. 

The blower was great where the snow wasn’t taller than it, but once I hit the drifts and then started up the driveway, my heart sank. The seemingly immovable snow loomed everywhere!  I was started to get nervous wondering if I would be able to make it up the driveway or tackle the mountain the plow had left for us at the top of the driveway. 

I said a little prayer and kept moving. I had to go back and forth to get both the snow mountain from the plow and the drifts were taller than the blower.  It took over and hour for me to plow enough for Kyle to maneuver the Audi out and take the kids to practice. I spent almost another hour trying to clear some more so the Lexus could get out  

I was exhausted, but grateful that in the end the driveway was driveway was driveable for both cars. I’m not sure why I cared, because the power got turned off for two hours and we couldn’t hold the garage door high enough to squeeze the Lexus out with the carrier on top. After smashing into the bottom trim piece on the garage and realizing we couldn’t fit, Norah, Ben and I hunkered down until Kyle came home a few hours later and the power was restored. 

The trim piece is not fixable at this time. Kyle is confident that once the weather is better he can get the whole strip off and reattach it with no trouble. In the mean time though, we need that piece to help keep some of the snow out of the garage!!

Instant Pot Dumplings!!

The first meal we made in our Instant Pot was chicken and dumplings!  The dumplings turned out so chewy while the chicken so tender and full of flavor, we were so in love with the process I cooked three meals in a row using the our new pressure cooker!!  The pot roast and dumplings were the best of the three while the pork tenderloin left something to be desired!  What a fun little gadget!

Cookie Nose!

Ulli has been learning to balance a handkerchief taped into the shape of a dog treat on his nose until Ava says ok.  Eventually Ulli will be able to do this with a treat, but until then this is the cutest trick to witness, Ulli is so focused and I love watching Ava work with him each night!!  When she first started this trick, Ulli couldn’t pause at all, he’s come a long way!

 

Merry Christmas!!

Last night was so fun!  Kyle and I stayed up late watching our traditional Christmas Eve movie, “Four Chrismtases”. We always wrap presents, hang out and eventually wrap the kids’ doors with wrapping paper so they can’t sneak out in the middle of the night. 

We stayed up so late that I didn’t hear Kyle’s alarm at 8 and slept until 8:35 even though the kids had been up since 6 or 7. Everyone had been up in the middle of the night, but had thankfully gone back to sleep!!

Once we were up and had blasted through our wrapped doors, we descended on the living room and enjoyed the excitement of the day and some gifts!!  Breakfast followed, homemade sausage patties by Kyle, cinnamon rolls by Annie and eggs by me!!  Everything was so fresh and warm, which we enjoyed while taking in the views of the white backdrop of the mountains from our big windows!!

Breakfast was devoured along with some candy from our stockings followed by a quick session of cleanup and getting dressed for our traditional Christmas morning picture of the kids. 

After we read our favorite scriptures about Jesus and opened all the presents under the tree most of the kids seemed excited and content while others seemed disappointed and upset. Christmas has a profound effect on everyone depending on what your priorities are. Some of the kids and I took a minute to write on Kyle’s new Remarkable tablet about our favorite part of Christmas. 

The rest of the day was spent watching movies (the Grinch, Small One and some mickey shorts), eating candy, playing video games, eating some schnitzel and kasespaetzle, dealing with intense 45+ mph winds and hail, chipping ice from the driveway, eating apple pie and hanging out with our family until after 9!

I Love the time we can spend together on Christmas as well as the blessing it is to give gifts and help others feel the Savior’s love throughout the season.  Merry Christmas!!

Ben’s Ready!

This guy has been pumped for Christmas and all the festivities since we put the tree up!  Tonight he got even more excited and whipped up this plate of goodness that included Kyle’s hand dipped chocolate covered peppermint oreos topped with candy cane crumbles!  Santa will definitely want to stop here for this goodness!!

Raclette!

Our traditional Christmas Eve raclette did not disappoint this year!  Kyle made some homemade Nuremberg sausage that we all devoured along with the usual potatoes, Gouda and all the toppings!  The glühwein afterwards was over the top amazing!  Love having a chef on hand!!

First Ski!

It snowed about 14 inches last week at our house, and even more at our ski resort, so they opened last weekend. This weekend they are predicted to get 50+ inches at the resort, so they opened up another area of the resort. With more snow and time off from school, we took the kids skiing today!  It was perfect!  

The road up was clear as day and when we got there the snow was still pretty powdery!  The best was there was barely anyone there. No lines at all!  We got our favorite parking spot and headed to the lift. After a run or two Kyle and I up with the kids and took this epic selfie!

While we were there, the weather turned. It went from clear and lightly snowing to gusty and hailing. We all had our new gear on and it worked great, but eventually our stamina waned and we headed home. The road became pretty ugly while we were skiing and we had to go pretty slow on the way down. We managed to pass someone who was going 5 MPH and then went straight to the house to unload. 

Christmas Goodies!!

This year was a really tough Christmas season with Kyle gone for a week and all the kids’ activities coupled with a week of snow and lots of sickness.  I tried to make treats and deliver them, but in the end we made only four different goodies, peppermint chocolate cookies, almond cranberry cookies, jam thumbprints and fudge and each family only got one of the treats packed in an adorable bag with either a tassel or Pom poms.  Ava was such a big help as always with packaging and the boys delivered goodie bags to the neighbors in bitter cold; love this family effort!!

 

Nailed It!

The girls have been practicing their recital songs for a month now, but it felt completely overwhelming to hear them perform under these circumstances.  Norah went first with a rendition of It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.

Ava was near the end of the recital and her playing of Ave Maria was so unexpected, yet perfectly placed at a Christmas performance. I cried during each of the girls’ songs thinking about how special they are and talented they both are!!

Getting to Logan in a winter storm with four kids at three different schools was no small feat, but maybe that was part of what made the night magical. I love moments in life where hard work and talent really shine!  So glad these girls are mine!!

The Venue

We didn’t know what to expect for the performance hall and were greatly impressed by the stage, piano and crowd for the performance!  So cool and official feeling!!

 

Piano Recital!

After a tough tryout in Logan last week, these girls were invited to perform in the Utah State University Youth Conservatory community Christmas concert.  Half of those that tried out got cut, but both girls made it!

With Kyle gone and the girls missing him presence at their concert we tried to make a special night of it and go to Angie’s for some scones before the concert!

KomendableKuteness

Ava’s Etsy shop that she has been totally neglecting since volleyball has gotten busy with her new position as starting setter with an intense club that’s 45 minutes away had it’s first sale today!!!  Ava was excited to use her new packaging and labeling!  In preparation for the Christmas shop in town and the Etsy shop, Ava has made a bunch of inventory, such cute little critters!!

Snow Tire Time!

We have had no snow since October, so when it snowed for two days straight this week and we didn’t have snow tires on the big car, I thought it was time for a life lesson.  In between assignments, Ava jumped in and helped uninstall and install 4 giant tires!!  It was so helpful to have her there assisting, and at one point we did have to get Kyle’s help, but I feel like if Ava got a flat away from home, she would definitely know what to do. 

The other part of the story, is that 4 days later, I was driving home with Jack from practice and felt like there was a shimmy happening. Come to find out the lugs on the tires were mostly loose!  It was startling. Luckily Jack was with me and between shin and a kind passerby, we got the tires all tightened up!

The last part of the story, though, is that I took the car into the tire shop to get everything checked out to be safe after the lugs were loose. They said the tires were all good, but one of my sensors was out causing an error light to pop up. I had the car in a few days later getting an oil change and the mechanic said 2 of the tires were on backwards!  What a mess!!