Snow Day!

On the 7th of January we had a snow day! It was not a lot of snow, and it didn't last too long, but we enjoyed it while it lasted. On the day's leading up to the 7th, we were getting weather warnings of a storm that could drop 4-7 inches of snow. Then, the night before, they were calling for 3-4 inches, and the day of they were calling for 1-3 inches. We got about an inch, and the trees were covered in ice. We were grateful for moving from Utah because we are snow prepped! Hats, gloves and snow pants for everyone! 

Ezra checking out the snow

This bear hat belonged to Jonathan when he was little.

Bearded burglar 

Bundled Baby

It was pretty windy for the first bit, so Ezra didn't last too long outside. Then he went back in with Jonathan's parents who were visiting us for the weekend. Jonathan, Peter and I went exploring in the empty lots on a street over. Eventually there will be houses there, but until then, we treat it like our backyard. Everything was covered in ice and if you were really quiet, you could hear it all creaking. I stood still for a moment and let Jonathan and Peter go forward and just listened. It was neat.

Peter and Robin 

Jonathan and Peter

It only snowed for a couple hours, and stayed on the ground for a couple of days after. Jonathan doesn't miss the Utah snow at all, but I do sometimes. It was fun to have some snow for a day, even if it was just a dusting.

Nelson Family Update...because it's been a crazy December

It's time for an update. It's been a crazy year for us, and a crazy December thus far. I don't know if I'll ever get all the stories written, so it's time for a summary.

Where We Live
We moved again...so we have officially made it to 4 houses in one year. We are still in Bountiful, and beautifully enough, still in the same ward (which is a huge miracle as Utah ward boundaries are really small). We really wanted to stay in the ward, so we would have support when the baby came, we really like it here, and I wasn't ready to totally uproot again. So far, we love our new dwelling and have gotten all but 4 boxes totally unpacked (not counting all of the book boxes that we left boxed up because we don't have enough bookcase space for all our books, and because we need to go through our books more and downsize, but the time for that is not now). We are pretty expert at moving now. We were packed, moved and 95% unpacked within about 1.5 weeks. We have also gotten even better at getting rid of things we don't need. Hopefully the next move we make will have less boxes.

Weather
We have had incredible amounts of snow the last weeks! We had a couple of great snow storms come through. Jonathan stayed home from work one day because the plows didn't come through until 11am, and it was still snowing at that point, and we live at the top of the hills (plural, hills), and Jonathan was worried he wouldn't be able to make it home (super valid concern). But other than that one day, the plows were amazing and kept the roads clear. We bundled Peter up a couple of times and went out. He had to crawl through it because it was too deep for him to walk in. We still have a few feet of snow on the ground, and even more on the drifts along the roads. It's crazy, but fun too.

Clearing off the car (17 inches at this point)

There is a sidewalk under there somewhere...

Baby
Nothing new. He hasn't come yet. But we are all ready for him when he gets here. We have his bed, his car seat, clothes cleaned and mostly organized, diapers washed (need to fold them), and Peter is excited to meet his brother. We toured the hospital last week, and Peter was most excited to see that xiao didi had his own bed, but he was sad to learn that he couldn't climb into the small bed. I'm due on Monday, and my midwife is out of town for Christmas until Monday morning, so I'm hoping I don't have the baby until then. Time will tell, but I promise everyone, we'll let you know when he is born.

Peter
He's had a hard time adjusting to all the recent changes lately. He's pretty defiant, stubborn and emotional these days. He has way more tantrum breakdowns and he is sleeping pretty awful at night again. We have to remind ourselves that he's gone through a lot lately, and it just trying to adjust, but lots of days are tough. Luckily he is pretty cute and when he is being sweet, he's a blast to be around. Peter is still super social and really really happy whenever we have visitors. His vocabulary is increasing all the time and frequently says words I have no idea he knew. He currently loves to have "sleepovers" (I don't know where he learned that word), with me...sleepovers are the same thing as naps except in the big bed with Mom. He loves attacking Jonathan with pillows, making houses with the couch cushions, and playing with flashlights. He likes eating cereal, cottage cheese and sweet toast (cinnamon rasin toast), all separately. His favorite color is orange (sometimes red) and his favorite animal is a triceratops.

That's all for now, it's time to hit the sack so we can be awake and ready to go tomorrow for Christmas. Loves!

Snow Day in April

Ready for the snow!

 The weather last week was crazy. Tuesday was super windy all day, and it was really dark in the afternoon because the sky was brown from all the dirt being blown around. We have winds 37-40mph. At one point, we had big pieces of construction foam being blown across the fence from the middle school into our yard. The pieces were about 6-8 feet tall and about 2 feet wide. Granted, it was foam, but still, seeing giant things being blown into your yard while the trees sounded like they were going to crash down at any second was disconcerting.

Then, the wind stopped and around 5, it started raining, which turned into sleet, and then snow. I thought it would snow for an hour or two, and stop sometime that night and be melted by mid-morning. Little did I know, we would wake up to a winter wonderland. It snowed the whole night, and we woke up to at least 3-4 inches of snow. Then, it continued snowing the entire day!

When Jonathan got home from work, we dug out all the snow clothes, bundled up and went outside to play with our neighbors! The boys had a blast building snowmen, throwing snowballs and making a fort. It was great.

Peter and Ty

Filling up with some delicious snow.

Bundled children are the best.

Friends for life! Sitting inside the "snow fort"

Peter off exploring

The backyard looked so neat with the green leaves covered in snow.

Snowy River

Snow Boy

The gang at work building a snow family

Peter, Robin and Jonathan with some snow people

A snowman lost his nose because of this kid...Peter ate the entire carrot!

The snow throwing began

 We all played outside until it started getting dark, but even then the boys didn't want to come in. Jonathan made a snow fort with the boys, and after they got distracted, Jonathan kept shoveling for a while. He stopped piling snow at one point and said, "I think I missed out in my childhood." Haha, he played just as hard as the little boys. We had a great time with the snow! I know tons of people hated that it was snowing in April, but I'm glad we got one last chance to play. We had a blast.

Our yard the next morning. 

The snow was totally gone within two days, and we are back to shorts and t-shirt weather. The kids were playing in the stream today and cooling off. I'm still working on collecting up all of the winter clothes again and repacking the coats and boots and gloves. It was a great snow day!

Sledding Day

In mid-January, Jonathan's parents came up to Provo for a wedding. While they were visiting, we decided to go sledding one day. We have had an incredibly mild winter. The past week has seen highs in the 50s and 60s, which is crazy for February. We haven't had much snow at all this winter, which makes me a little nervous for summer because if we don't get more snow pack, then we are going to be have a big drought this summer. But, we had snow on the ground when they came to visit, so we took advantage of it. 

It had been a number of days since it had snowed, so the snow was packed and a little slick...which is great for a sled ride. We got all suited up- snow pants, jackets, snow boots if you had them. We got Peter in all his gear, glad we finally had a chance to use it and we were off. We went to a park that is shaped like a bowl, which steep hills all around. There was one side of the bowl that is mostly in the shade and still had enough snow for sledding. 

Peter had an interesting reaction to sledding. Every time he went down, we would ask if he wanted to do it again, and every time he said no and acted scared. But, when he was going down the hill on the sled he had a huge smile on his face, every single time. So, mixed emotions there, but I think overall he liked it. We had fun. We took a couple of runs down the hill and then Jonathan pulled Peter and I around on the sled.  

First run- Grandpa Nelson and Peter (with newly acquired raccoon hat) 

Starting the ascent back up- Jim and Peter riding, Jonathan working for his keep

Part way up- There goes Grandpa!

Peter's foot caught the strap and Jonathan pulled him up while he lay on the sled.

Jonathan and Peter's turn

Small break from sledding to play with snow
Glinnea, Robin, Peter and Jim

 Jonathan and I went down, and Jonathan went up as far up the hill as I would let him. It was hard to get up to where he was because with every step up, I'd slide back. It was really slick. We sped down the hill, started turning as we got closer to the bottom, and I went off the edge and slide the last part on my bum. Thank goodness for snow pants! I was a little cold, but not wet.

Jonathan and Robin heading down

At the bottom, with only one of us half on the sled. 

 After a few runs down, Peter was done with sledding and I didn't want to make him continue if he didn't want to. Let's end our first sledding experience on a happy note. So, instead, Peter and I sat on the sled and Jonathan pulled us around the perimeter of the park. It's a pretty big field, so we got a good ride, and Jonathan got some great exercise.

Peter getting pulled- he didn't last long like this.

Jonathan pulling Peter and Robin

Sled dog- Jonathan- with his cargo- Robin and Peter.
We started by the fence in the background.

Grandpa Nelson and Peter, looking for planes

Peter in his arctic gear, exploring the hill.

Hero shot- the sun bouncing off the snow onto our hero.

 After we were done sledding and getting pulled around, we headed back to the cars. It was there, Peter learned about the joy of snowballs. He got good at throwing them onto the ground and watching them smash. He tried to throw one at his dad, but his aim isn't always the best. He had a blast playing with the snow.

That face...full of mischief 

It was a great day in the snow. It wasn't too cold and everyone was dressed well enough to stay warm. Afterwards, we went to Aunt Jean's house for dinner- which, like always, means tons of delicious food and stuffing yourself way more than you mean to and then finding out there is dessert and somehow finding room for that tasty apple cobbler. It was fun, we had a good time with family, Peter had a good snow day, and we went home injury free, which is always a good sledding day.

Snow Time for Peter- November 2014

It's been a rather mild winter thus far for us. We have acquired snow boots, gloves, snow pants, a hat, and a snow jacket for Peter since we got back to America because we know that we live in a cold snowy place, but so far, we haven't really seen much of it. But, one day we did get a bit of snow, and I got Peter dressed so he could explore it. 

First sights of snow

Peter outside in the snow

From the moment he saw the snow, he knew he was going to love it. He was excited to see it and even more excited once he realized we were going out in it. First we had to do some errands, so he got to look at the snow from the car. He was enthralled. Once we got home, I set him free in the yard.

Peter learning that snow can be a ball.

Peter loved to step in the snow.

Peter learned quickly that there were many things he could do in the snow and that snow was cold. He would tell me over and over, "Cold....cold" except the c sounds like a t, so it sounds more like "towed". Anyway, he liked it even though it was cold. He then learned that he could taste the snow...and that was a delightful discovery. He proceeded to eat lots of snow.

Delicious snow

Best thing he'd learned this winter.

He really liked the snow.

I'm glad he likes the snow so much, because we will likely be having more of it before the winter is over. Hopefully we'll get some good use out of all the snow gear we have before we, possibly, move to a warmer location...sometime in the future. 

Peter and Robin in the winter!