State Capital

We went on a field trip to the state capital this morning. We talked about Utah this week at preschool. I found a bingo card online and printed it out. I was kind of nervous about how it would go since there are lots of variables-lots of other people, parking, grumpy kids, crazy tour guides, etc, but it was wonderful. It was just us and one other friend. I didn't get lots of pictures, but we got to see underneath the capital and all the earthquake proofing they did. So amazing that they could put those underneath the building after it had been built. The tour guides were awesome and so cute with the kids, helping find the things on their bingo cards.

This isn't the greatest picture, but while we were waiting Little Miss was walking around and the contrast struck me. My little girl in this huge building with people walking around her. Also, this dress is one my mom made for me when I was her age. Can't believe my mom hung on to this dress for almost 30 years! Little Miss loves it. She says "so pretty" a lot when she is wearing it :)

The west side of the building.

This is the supreme court of Utah. You can't see it real well, but there is a little tiny circle under the picture which is a security camera. One of the Handsome Boy's favorite part was that little vintage traffic light on the podium that turns green, yellow and red so the person knows how much time they have left.

Here we are looking at the room, except Baby Girl who was happy walking around and looking at the camera.

The rotunda. There was some kind of convention going on underneath.

This light fixture is in the supreme court as well. All of the light fixtures and metal items are original or have been restored exactly like the originals. All of the symbols are fascinating to me. You can see the picture frame that is bundles of wheat bound together.

The elevators are original too. 1913. The architect wanted everything to be done with modern materials and inventions.

War memorial out on the west lawn. I must be getting more emotional as I get older, but made me think of how blessed we are. I tried to get a shot of the memorial, the flag and the building in the back. Turned out okay, but there was something stuck in the tree :(

We got to peak into the sessions that were going on (no pictures of that, too busy keeping kids quiet). It was interesting to see them in "action."

The cute kiddos at the end.

Art time

I was looking at all the fingerprints on the sliding glass door and thought "should I clean it or cover it up with art work?" Art work, it is! We got some window markers for Christmas and put them to good use. Baby girl especially enjoyed herself and worked for quite a while on it :)

Brother had fun too, but by the time I sat and enjoyed them, thought to find the camera, and finally found it he was ready to play with Legos.

This is now the face she gives you when you ask her to smile :)

New Year's

I make lots of goals throughout the year so in some ways New Year's is just another opportunity to reevaluate. Most of you know I have been working on my mental health and overall health the past few months. I have to be careful with getting too many items on my to do list and overwhelming myself. Rather than making another list of goals I made a list of questions. Most days I feel like a chicken running around with it's head cut off and I need to slow down and really evaluate the choices I am making and the outcomes they produce. So here are my questions to review how I have done each day-

1. Did I feel the spirit today?
2. Did I show my husband love and gratitude today?
3. Did I enjoy my children today?
4. Did I take care of my body today?
5. Did I perform a random act of kindness?

I think that at this point in my life if I can focus on these few things I will grow leaps and bounds. Here's hoping this year is full of work, growth, peace and joy for all of us!

Christmas

We were able to spend the holiday with our family in Colorado. Our cousins came from South Dakota too which Little Man has been looking forward to for months.

Christmas Eve

I made pajama pants for the kids to open Christmas Eve. Baby Girl especially liked them.

One of my favorite activities was the torch light parade the ski resort put on. It was very cold, but it was beautifully simple. Employees ski down the mountain with torches and then they do fireworks. I will probably embarrass myself with this, but I cried a little. Holding baby girl who was fascinated with the lights and feeling like it was a true celebration. We celebrate the birth of our country so what can be better than celebrating the birth of our Savior with fireworks too?

I have been reading blogs with folks loving Christmas on Sunday and I'm in that camp. We opened two presents before church.

I think she is drunk with Christmas joy . . .

View out the front window on Christmas morning.

We went to church in a little branch that my in laws go to. Since it is in a sparsely populated area they don't have a choir so the meeting had lots of groups. My father in law, hubby and brother in law sang a trio while I played piano. I was pretty nervous, but did better than I thought I would so that was awesome! My father in law gave a talk too. The meeting was simple, sweet and truly worshipful. What a wonderful blessing to take the sacrament on the day we celebrate His birth.

We filled every minute with activities. Fun with the cousins, secret Santa project with Nana, torch light parades, church, presents and last but not least, sledding. We were all packed up and stopped at a park on our way to see Nana just before leaving town.

I think he had fun with this, what do you think?

I need to acknowledge my hubby who took most of the pictures. My camera is dying :(

We went to Temple Square a couple of weeks before Christmas and didn't have the best experience. So we promised little man we would go back again. I'm so glad we did. It was a much better outing.

The reason for the season.

House Number Three

Our offer on this house was accepted today. We will close on it early next month.
It is in a super neighborhood in a little bit of a culdesac.

Living room with a wood burning fireplace. There are marks in the carpet, but we are thinking they will not be a big deal after they are cleaned and freshened.

Upstairs bathrooms. Could use some updating eventually, but it has been well taken care of.

Larger of the two upstairs bedrooms.

Second upstairs bedroom. I am standing in the hall. The other door leads to the bathroom.

Good sized back yard. With nice grass and a sprinkling system. The wood in the corner is the garden.

Standing at the top of the stairs. The bedrooms are down the hall and front room is on the right. There isn't a whole lot of room for the table, but it is doable. There is also a pantry/closet thing on the end of the table. I will probably use it for food storage or items I won't need to use regularly.

Downstairs family room. The downstairs has been remodeled very nicely. The dark doorway is where the laundry and utilities are. The furniture will be staying too which is a plus since we sold our couch when we moved here and it's one less thing to get down the stairs :)

This photo is out of place, but I'm too lazy to move it. View of the stairs coming out from the kitchen and the patio. There is an entrance to the garage too.

Downstairs master bedroom. French doors on the left lead to the bathroom.

Very nicely remodeled. There is no shower down here, but with my dad's help we have come up with a way to rectify that problem.

The good houses here have been going super fast. They typically have two or three offers in on them. We were definitely lead to find this house. We are not exactly sure when it was listed, but hubby saw it on Wednesday afternoon and told me to go right away so I did. The sign wasn't up yet. My mom and I were able to see it. We set up another appointment on Friday with hubby and Dad. We put the offer in Saturday afternoon (today) and was accepted that evening. Crazy. Not real excited about the 1:00 church, but we will make due. It is so nice to have this burden lifted. It is close to my work, pretty good for hubby's commute, good schools, good neighborhood, good price. Now we can start putting in some roots!