Skiing, Family, Utah, Samantha's Blessing

So, our trip to Utah started out with a 12-hour drive through a blizzard. As we drove past Martin's Cove (but couldn't see it in the white-out), I was just thankful that we had a car! We did eventually make it to Bear Lake though. We ended up leaving a couple days earlier than originally planned and swapped the order of all the places and people we were going to see because in the original plan we wouldn't have ended up being able to see Sam's dad or my sister, Serenity. Although there was quite a bit of extra driving the way we did it, it was worth it to see everybody and get to spend quality time with them.

So, we spent our first weekend (Fri.-Sun. March 5-7) up at my mom's cabin at Bear Lake. We skied at Beaver Mtn. on Saturday...and LucyMae even joined the fun. My dad still has the first pair of boots and skis that I wore as a kid, so we let LucyMae have a go on them. She LOVED it and squealed in delight the entire way down the hill; she did a great job! Make sure you watch the videos of her skiing below!


Below is my awesome jumping husband! (check out the two feet of awesomeness:) It was a beautiful sunny day. Not awesome powder, but a fabulous ski day nonetheless. And perfect for LucyMae's first experience!
We were very happy to have the help of Serenity and Howie with the kids and especially with carrying LucyMae up and down the hill with her skis on!
On our way to Salt Lake from Bear Lake, we went through Logan to say hello to grandparents. I love this shot of LucyMae and my Gramma Ruthie sitting on the floor together playing with her old toys that I used to play with as a kid. We also went to see my Hooper Grandparents, but lamely forgot to get a picture!:(
We were privileged to spend Monday skiing at the Canyons with my dad and Howie, and Tuesday skiing at Solitude with my old roomies, Ashleigh and Ahsley (both for free thanks to a great Dad and a wonderful friend...thanks Ashley!). And again, I was having too much fun skiing and didn't get any good pictures up in the mountains...arrgghhh! I have to say though, being in those mountains again....it woke up my soul again. I have been stuck inside all winter with 2 kids, in FREEZING South Dakota....I wouldn't go so far as to say I was getting depressed, but maybe. But getting out in my Utah mountains and doing the things I LOVE - like skiing and running - revived me. It made me feel really alive again. That is NOT to say that I don't love being a mom or that my kids don't make me feel alive (or your husband?).....it is the wretched cold of South Dakota winters that I have a hard time with. And I miss real mountains!

After skiing on Tuesday we stopped off to see my friend Ashleigh's baby, who is only one week younger than Samantha! What little cuties huh? Can you believe how much hair Brooke has? And can you believe what a bad photographer I am? Oh well...I blame it on our very low-tech camera!




Aren't we adorable? hehe! I love this girl...she taught me to tele, she's always smiling, she knows how to have fun, and now she's a mommy too! And such a good one!
Also on Tuesday night we did our taxes...or rather, we went to Sam's awesome uncle, who is a CPA and kind enough to do them for us...and learned that we get an AWESOME refund this year....like way beyond what we were expecting! So, we are happy campers!

Then we headed back up to Logan on Wednesday to spend some time with my dad, who is living up there now, and my Gramma Ruthie. LucyMae enjoyed this swing in my dad's backyard. And she loved playing with Pepper, the dog. And she got to play in the playhouse that I played in as a kid at the Joy School (which my grandmother started!)


We also got to attend the temple with my Grandma, dad, aunt and uncle, and cousin. My dad got a babysitter from the ward. The Logan temple is so beautiful!
Samantha with her great-grandmother, Ruth Eyre!

And both of the kids with gramma Great!
On our way back to Orem from Logan, we stopped off for dinner with our good friends: the Denzers, Balls, and Bristows. I was terrible with the picture taking on this trip. I didn't get a single picture of that, or of Sam's family I am now realizing. Hopefully people will email me pictures that they have???!!! PLEASE!!!

We spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday hanging out in Orem, at Sam's parents' house. We had tons of fun with them, but I didn't get any pictures! We blessed Samantha on Sunday evening at the Evans' house. I looked down at her in the middle of the blessing shocked that she was not fussing like most babies receiving a blessing, but all I saw was a huge smile staring up at me! It was great to have most of my family there, and Sam's grandparents. We missed everyone that wasn't there though! Wasn't Samantha a beauty? My mom let me borrow Serenity's blessing dress from when she was a baby.









Again, I'm not an awesome photographer, nor do I have an awesome camera....oh well. They capture the moment and memory though!

Hannah has this awesome secret door in her closet that LucyMae just LOVED. LucyMae was attached to Hannah like glue the whole time we were there. She LOVED her! She worshipped her. She also had a great time with everyone else, but man, did those two bond. And of course, she loved Benson, the dog!
Sam's grandparents.
My siblings.

See what I mean? LucyMae never wanted me...she just wanted Hannah!
And then, it ended...we had to pack and come home. We were very sad to say goodbye to everyone. Thanks for letting us come crash at your houses and eat your food. Thanks for entertaining us so well. And thanks for loving our kids so much. The picture below is just one of the many stops we made on our way home to feed a hungry child, or change leaky diaper(s) (two or three pairs of pants and a plastic bag between her and her soaking wet car seat - which she was quite disturbed about ), etc. Isn't it beautiful?