January Miscellaneous 2020

January was long....like gray sky, blue mood, there is no way that winter will ever end, long.  Luke and I especially need sunshine and there were a few days when winter felt like it just might overpower us.  But, we took our Vitamin D, found a few fun activities, and tried to spend time with the people we love which always makes everything feel just a little bit better.

My year end book review.  

Luke received a crystal growing kit for Christmas and was super anxious to give it a try.  We made sure we had safety gloves and goggles before starting the process, and read every single instruction.  Once the chemicals were mixed, we watched over the next week as the most amazing crystals grew.

We spent an afternoon at the Museum of Natural Curiosity

We got super lucky with our neighborhood, and have been especially blessed by our friendships with the Larsens.  Luke and Ruby consider Miss Nikki's house their second home, and sometimes I think they wish it was their first.  Our kids have spent so much time together playing, but it was extra special when we were invited to be a part of Drake's baptism.  As Luke is getting closer to turning 8, it has been fun for him to watch several friends be baptized - he is lucky to have such great examples.

Long, cold nights lead to a lot of time playing on the phone.

We sold Ruby's rocking chair from when she was a baby, and decided that we better have one last rock a bye and cuddle.  

On MLK day Tim and Brycen braved the cold and hiked to the Y.  At one time we had considered taking all of the family, but it ended up being cloudy and cold.  We let them hike, and then once they got home, met Jami and the kids for an afternoon of bowling. 

Blessed to spend an afternoon with Grandpa and Grandma Whitesides

Ruby enjoyed hanging out in grandma's chair,

While Luke was hard at work raking the leaves.

I can never get enough of these sleeping babies.

Inside play dates can still be a lot of fun.

Jessica and I spent an afternoon getting pedicures and then just hanging out and talking.  Spending time with her was the very best sunshine for my soul. 

Lunch with grandma and grandpa and all of the bigs.  

Goooooo Cougars

Over the past few months the kids, but especially Luke, have caught Cougar fever.  Luke has big plans to go to college at BYU and play quarterback on the football team.  Ruby has decided to jump on the bandwagon and be a cheerleader at BYU so she can cheer for Luke.  They have lived in Provo their whole life, but have only now become so interested in everything related to BYU.  The month of January has been pretty tough with gray days and not a lot of fun, so we started going on adventures to BYU and were amazed at all the fun things we found.  We really are so lucky to have such a great campus, with so many activities,  so close to where we live. 

The BYU bookstore has always been a fun place to hang out, but they have made a lot of recent changes that make it a Cougar fan's dream.  Technically it a bookstore, but there is realyWe spent most of a Saturday afternoon there and were lucky to get out of there with only a sweatshirt, cheerleader outfit, and the best treat ever, chocolate covered cinnamon bears.

They even have a slide in the area with kids' books.

Cougar stairs!

Hanging with their bestie Cosmo

We keep finding more Cougar gear

The kids used to go to the Museum of Art of pre-school classes, but this was the first time we went just to see the artwork.  I was amazed at how interested they were in the various pieces, and all of the great questions they asked.  We saw a few different exhibits but their favorite was definitely the one on Pop Art...Andy Warhol, Lichtenstein, and a lot of crazy prints.  Hopefully this was the start to a long love of art museums.

Luke and I went on a mommy/Luke date to the BYU basketball game.  The game was super exciting - a lot of scoring, and really fun entertainment.  We especially loved the dunk team and Cosmo's stunts and Luke got so excited every time they made a three point shot.  I don't know if it was the excitement that gave him a huge appetite or what, but Luke ate an entire cougar tail, then a pizza, and said he still wasn't quite full.  I'm just not quite sure how such a small boy ate so much.  We really had the best night, Luke was so sweet and appreciative and turned out to be the perfect date.

I looked down and noticed his hand on my knee,

And it made the entire night worth it!

The Museum of Peoples and Cultures is only open on weekdays, so we headed up there on a Friday afternoon with Luke, Ruby, and Sonny.  The museum is small, in fact when we first walked in I wasn't sure if there would even be much to see, but it was surprising how much there was to see.  They had three different exhibits, one on archaeology, one on Mayan weavings, and one with artifacts from Polynesia.  There were riddles for the kids in the Polynesia section, and an "I Spy" in the Mayan exhibit where the kids spent a long time hunting for worry dolls.  When we finished, we headed up to the BYU Creamery for the very best thing on BYU Campus - ice cream.