Winter Vacation, part 2

In the past 10 days, my kids have only gone to school one day. As soon as Christmas vacation ended, Missouri got hit with a snowstorm that cancelled school for most of the week! The staying-up-late and sleeping-in began again, and we have thoroughly enjoyed the extra dose of relaxation!

The girls headed out to sled on the first day of our Winter Wonderland. How cute are they, holding hands as they walk away?

After watching Brevan freeze outside for many hours while shoveling, we realized our driveway is HUGE. A snowblower will be purchased very soon for this poor boy.

Do you think it's safe to throw away my hanging pots from last summer? Hehe.

Brynlie, a.k.a. Snaggletooth for many months, FINALLY let us pull out her jagged front tooth! She is 9 and just barely lost both her front teeth.

On Thursday, the kids went back to school for one whole day, and I had a friend invite me to Corner Cafe for a delicious Cinnamon Roll. I was not about to pass up that opportunity! After the yummy breakfast, I drove to the site of the new Kansas City temple, which is only about 12 minutes from our house. I get teary-eyed when I see these pictures. I can't believe we will soon have a temple this close! It's been so fun to watch the building progress. My favorite new detail is the wall that says, "Holiness to the Lord. The House of the Lord." I can't wait for the completion and dedication!

There was no school again on Friday (part of an extended MLK holiday weekend), so we took off to Kansas City for a mini-vacay at the Embassy Suites! My parents gave us the option of either getting presents for Christmas, or getting money to use on a family activity. Our kids wanted to do 2 things with the money: stay in a hotel with a nice pool, and eat fondue. These kids have had a fascination with fondue for years now, and were begging to go to an expensive fondue restaurant in KC. We love staying at Embassy Suites because we can all fit comfortably into one room, and the kids feel like they are living it up in such a fancy place!

The girls never pass up a photo-shoot opportunity!

I love my four-some!

That's Brynlie posing on the trellis across from our room.

Logan wasted no time before hitting Brevan with the "hot dog" pillows in our room.

The kids wanted to use my camera, so we let them take turns snapping photos of me and Ryan. Although I did trim down a couple of the photos, they did an awesome job!

Off to The Melting Pot to stuff ourselves with the yummiest fondue eeeeeever.

The kids spent time in the pool on both days we were at the hotel. I'm so glad my kids love to swim, because it's not exactly my thing. I spent my time in the relaxing hot tub.

I promise I did not let my kids swim in dirty green water. Silly camera!

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for the opportunity to get away on a mini-vacation!

Some other note-worthy events of the past week:

• On Thursday (January 13th), Ryan and I celebrated our 15-year "Meet-aversary." We met 15 years ago while both living in Branbury Apartments in Provo, UT. After hanging out and flirting for a couple weeks, we went on our first official date on February 2nd, and he kissed me for the first time on February 10th, the night before my 19th birthday. Happy Meet-aversary to my favorite guy! I took a nice card, Diet Coke and large space heater (because his office is freezing lately) to his work, as a little surprise.
• Lindsey quit dance class, because she wants to sing with the Upbeat Choir (Brenda's choir). She's excited to be with the big girls and learn all the fun songs!
• Our oldest nephew, Brandon Porter, turned in his mission papers a couple weeks ago and we are anxiously waiting to hear where he is headed! We are so proud of him!
• Me and my awesome Primary Presidency held a successful "8 is Great" evening at the church last night.
• I finished the "Children of the Promise" book series, and feel a little lost. I got to a point where the characters in the book felt like good friends, and now I miss them. Is that just really weird?
• Logan has a strange version of pink-eye that isn't responding to antibiotics. I guess it must be viral instead of bacterial, so the little guy has to be miserable until it clears up on it's own. He's enjoying the extra video games we let him play, and the extra loves we give him when we see his sore eyes. He was also NOT devastated when he had to stay home from church with his Daddy yesterday.