Our lovely porch

So here we are in the land where it normally just rains and rains in the winter, and we are frozen over with snow and ice - again! Chloe missed 3 days of school last week and Sarah missed 2. It snowed Tuesday night and then again Wednesday late afternoon. The kids are loving it - but it has been really hard to get around, hence the school closures, and it's so darn cold! The kids made a mess on the back deck a couple of weeks ago. They laid out some old blankets/towels and opened up the ladybug sandbox to make "soup" in both the box and the lid. Well, I didn't know all that stuff was out there so when the rains came - the blankets got soaked and the soup turned into a double batch. Then the snow and freezing temperatures came. So now we have blankets frozen solid to the porch and some really ugly ice cubes to figure out how to dump them. I think we're just going to have to wait until next week and the thaw. I should have learned after the box houses they made this summer that I had to dismantle after several rain showers this fall. I wish I'd gotten a picture of those though. They spent hours playing out there this summer!

Last night we had fun listening to our Queen CD and watching the kids dance. Well, Chloe kept the beat, Kyle randomly danced and ran around, but Sarah is truly our dancing queen! She had on a rainbow tie dyed sarong as a cape and also attached it to her fingers. It was such a fun time. Again, too bad I didn't get pictures of it. I was stuck to the couch.

Today Brad and our neighbor Rick and his father-in-law finished building the side of the fence between our yards. One side down, 3 more to go! It looks so much better and they did a good solid job of building it. Hopefully we don't have any more crazy windstorms, but I think this fence will hold up if we do!

Our pantry is also coming along. We are having a friend finish up the mudding and texturing for us. (So many projects, so little time!) Then we can get on to the finish work and the painting. I'll be glad when we've got the kitchen and entryway painted. Plus I've got a great picture that my mom gave us for Christmas that I want to hang on our new wall and a nice wooden banner/plaque from Brad's mom that I want to hang over the pantry door. So until then, they are put away. So sad. We'll get there though!

Brad starts teaching gospel doctrine tomorrow. Scary! Well, it would be for me, but I think he'll do great. Of course, tomorrow is also ward conference so people from the stake will be there for his first lesson! My class that I was team teaching got split so now I teach solo the 11-12 girls. We still do Activity Days together though. This week we are having the girls prepare and serve a nutritous meal. I hope it turns out because I think the Bishop is expecting some too!

Well, that's all for now. I really am trying to do better at this!