Ladies Ski Day

We did it! Finally, after years of begging, I convinced some of my non-actively skiing friends to get back on the horse! (Ok, to give credit to Amberlee- SOME of you ski regularly, but most haven't been since FOREVER!) It took a lot of convincing, but was SO worth it in the end. We had a perfect day! Just a bunch of old hens, clucking away. BEAUTIFUL weather, awesome food at the lodge, and of course, a few great photos. Thanks ladies. It was so much fun. We need to do it more often.





P.S.- Oh, and of course it wouldn't be the full Snowbasin experience unless they got to try out ALL the lifts, even the tram. Oh, you should have seen their faces when they got off at the top. I thought someone might throw me over the edge they were so terrified (and mad)! But we all made it down, quite gracefully I might add. CUDOS to such brave, amazing, terrific friends!

BTW- I swear we got a picture at the top of Strawberry, too. Who took that one? Can someone send it to me, please?!?

BTW(again)- missed you Chow :(

You know you're a 5th child if.......

Your mom hands you an entire slice of cheese pizza at dinner so she can have 5 minutes of peace! (Yes, she is only 8 months old- and she did just fine!) She gummed that pizza until there wasn't anything left but the sauce all over her face. And in fact, that bought me ONE HOUR of peace!
Still, I have to chuckle at the fact that I would have NEVER in a million years threw a slice of pizza to my 1st child (or even my second) at that age.
Hey, I'm a fifth child, and I turned out all right, right?????

The Happiest Place on Earth!

We finally did it!  We caved & took our kids to Disneyland.  They have begged & pleaded, and we have put it off, thinking they were too young.  Then last month, an unexpected opportunity arose.  My sister Janna was going, and was desperately searching for someone to come with them. She kept asking and asking, and I kept telling her the time wasn’t right yet, and finally she said they would give us all their extra hotel points so our hotel would be free.  Well, that was enough twisting my arm!   Since it was a last minute decision, we decided to keep it a secret from our kids.   Seth and I told them we were taking them out of school for a day to drive down to Price & look for houses.  After we’d been in the car for over 4 hours & St. George was on the horizon, Kenni finally noticed that wherever we were didn’t look much like Price.  Seth told all of the kids he must have taken a wrong turn and that we were lost.  They were panicking and getting ready to cry, so we quickly said “Surprise!  We tricked you!  We’re actually on our way to Disneyland!!!!”

Um…….. Lets just say we didn’t get quite the response we were hoping for.  Noodle immediately started sobbing.  He said he didn’t want to go to Disneyland! (I think he was really tired) Smurfy was already asleep.  Sparky was very concerned about school and told me his teacher was going to get mad at him for not coming back the next day. (I assured him she wouldn’t)  He asked me how he would possibly ever get all his make-up work done?? Only Kenni really understood and was jumping for joy.

I have to admit, I was really hoping for the commercial.  You know the one- that amazing Disneyland commercial where the kids get surprised by their parents and they can’t stop screaming?  It makes it all seem so magical.  (sigh…….)

Only now can I look back & realize how funny our kids response was.  And it was so typically “them”.

Anyway- after another hour or two of driving, they began to get really excited, and about another hour later the “are we there yets”  started to set in.  The rest of the drive was even less magical.  But, we made it in record time, and the kids devoured every MINUTE of the trip from that moment on.

We really, truly had such a great time.  I think the kids were just the perfect ages.  And my dear friend Michelle volunteered to keep baby J at home which made all the difference in the world.  At nearly 4, Smurfy was tall enough to go on all the rides he wanted to except one.  It wasn’t too crowded and we had PERFECT weather.  High 70’s and sunny the entire trip.  It was amazing!

Seth whined for ages about being “forced” to go to Disneyland, but he’ll be the first to admit now, he had a great time.

We can’t wait to go back again soon!!!!

I made these sweatshirts for the kids & gave them to them on the way there.  There were some cute t-shirts like them on Disney.com but they were $20 each.  I got these white sweatshirts at Wal-Mart on clearance for $1 and used my cricut to cut the fabric & ironed it on.  Much more economical, if not a little magoo.  But, the kids loved them & showed them off to people everywhere we went.

The “World of Color” light/water show at California Adventure.

The last time Seth went to Disneyland he was three years old, and apparently the only ride he wasn’t terrified of was Dumbo.  So we made sure to take lots of pictures of it so we could show his mom that its still his favorite ride :)

The kids all wore these lanyard with all their collectible pins on them the whole time they were there.  My sister told me that “pin trading” is one of her kids favorite things to do while in Disneyland. Let me just say the the pin trading was a hit- and that next time we’ll leave them home!  They cared more about finding cool pins than they did about enjoying Disneyland.  It drove me nuts!

Goodbye Disneyland!  We will miss you!

An Announcement

This probably doesn't come as a shock to most of the 3 people who read this blog. But, I'm announcing it anyway.
Here goes........
The Wallace family is moving.
That's right. I said moving. (And no, not pregnant. eek!)
Seth got a new job working for the U.S. Forest Service, a dream he has had since he was a wee little boy. He is the new Forest Engineer for the Manti-La Sal National Forest, which is headquartered in Price, UT. What a delightful place (I say with a hint of sarcasm......)
I am so sad, scared, nervous....
But also, we are excited. This is a great opportunity for Seth, and in the long run, for our family.
We really feel like it will be a short-term thing. Hopefully he can transfer up to the Ogden office after about a year. So, for now, we are looking at it as a really fun adventure.

And if any of you are up for a little adventure, too, we would LOVE to have visitors!
Ok, so here's the situation. Seth started his new job last week. So far he is loving it, and for now we are in a long-distance relationship :)
He is renting a room from a co-worker in Price. The rest of the fam is going to stay here until school's out before making the big move. We have a lot to do. We have to decide whether we will rent or sell our house, find somewhere to live in Price, PACK- bleck!

And for those who would like to try a little EASTERN UT adventure, here is a sneak peak at some of the fun things to do around our town.....

(the following is taken from a write-up Seth made for our kids in an effort to get them excited about the big move. Its pretty funny. But hey, this is good marketing. Carbon County should pay us for making their town sound so exciting, because anyone who's driven through there knows it appears a little less uh... fabulous than that.)



Price is only about a 2.5 hour drive from Mountain Green and is near some of the most amazing places in Utah. We will all be very sad to leave our wonderful home in the mountains, but this will give us an opportunity to have new experiences and grow closer together as a family. This won’t last forever and someday we will come back to Mountain Green. We will always have our family and friends to stay with whenever we want to come back and visit. Our new home will have special rooms so all our friends from Mountain Green can come visit us in Price and go explore all the amazing sites with us. Look at all the fun things we can show them:

 
CEU Prehistoric Museum
Our museum consists of two halls, the Hall of Paleontology and the Hall of Archeology. In the Hall of Paleontology you can find the world famous Utah Raptor and another of our own discoveries the Gastonia Burgei. In the Hall of Archeology is the Columbian Mammoth and information on the prehistoric cultures of Utah.

Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry
The Cleveland-Lloyd deposit contains the densest concentration of Jurassic dinosaur bones ever found and the largest collection of Allosaurs ever discovered. Visitors to this BLM-managed site can take a tour at the Visitor Center led by knowledgeable staff, and see dinosaur bones both on display and in the ground. A replica of a sub-adult allosaur skeleton dominates the inside of the visitor center. A picnic area and hiking trails can also be found at the site.

 
Price City Pool & Desert Wave Pool
This pool has three action waves and calm water for year-round swims. (A lot like Layton Surf-n-swim.)


Dino Mine Park



Nine Mile Canyon
Some of the most striking rock art in the state is to be found in Nine Mile Canyon northeast of Price. The canyon is remote, inhospitable, unspoiled and harshly beautiful. Called "the world's longest art gallery" it is home to numerous rock art panels, including the famous "Cottonwood Panel". Most were created by the Fremont Indians who occupied this area some 1,000 years ago. (Despite its name, the canyon is actually 40 miles long.)




Manti-La Sal National Forest
Three unique land areas make up the 1.4 million-acre Manti-La Sal National Forest in southeastern Utah. The Manti Division, part of the Wasatch Plateau, features two national recreation trails, lakes and streams teeming with fish and distinctive geologic formations. The 12,000-foot peaks in the La Sal Division's Moab District provide a dramatic visual and climactic contrast to the hot red-rock landscape of nearby Arches and Canyonlands national parks. The timbered slopes of the Monticello District offer a welcome contrast to the sand and heat of the surrounding desert. Pictographs, petroglyphs and stone dwellings provide clues to past civilizations. The 45,000-acre Dark Canyon Wilderness, also in the Monticello District, has deep sandstone canyons interspersed with pinyon-juniper benchland, arches, springs and hanging gardens. Manti-La Sal offers an outstanding wintertime experience, from the silent beauty of cross-country skiing in forests to the fast-paced excitement of snowmobiling. Animals are abundant; the forest is home to Utah's largest elk herd.









 
The San Rafael Swell
Need we describe all the amazing things there are to see and do in this area? The Swell Starts in our new backyard, about 10 minutes outside of Price, and continues all the way to Lake Powell. You can go to Arches & Canyonlands National Parks, take a trip to Moab, Goblin Valley, the options are endless! There is amazing fishing, hiking, camping, mountain biking, jeep/ranger trails, etc. I just heard about an awesome marathon called the "Little Grand Canyon" that is supposed to be amazing, and starts only 15 minutes outside of Price.
Stop by our place on your way down, or come & stay! We are only 1-2 hours from all there is to see and do in the swell.



 
Green River – Desolation Canyon
Rafting anyone? Seth & I just purchased a new raft for multi-day trips. It is family friendly, or could accomodate several couples!


 



So, there you have it. Hopefully I've done a good job of "talking it up", because I really, really really want visitors! So, if you saw anything here that seemed like something you & your family would be interested in coming down to try, CALL ME!
If you absolutely won't make the 2-ish hour drive down to see me, then FINE! Come help me pack!
Love you all!

Christmas Break Skiin'

Seth got to enjoy a great powder day over Christmas Break with some of his family. I came across this picture of him from his phone & had to post it. To Seth, the mark of a good ski day is whether or not you get snow in your beard. I love it.


Those must have been some killer face shots.





On another note....
I'm pretty sure that was the last powder day we have had this season. It has been a less than stellar ski year.

This is a photo from the last real powder day that I had the pleasure of enjoying this season. It was taken on THANKSGIVING DAY. OH, how sad!

The Best of......Christmas

Christmas 2010. Here are a few of our favorite moments......



Christmas Sunday Best. Matching, of course.


And a photo of the big people, too. (Hey, we're all dressed up!)


Lewis Family Christmas party at mom & dad's house. Santa always comes & the kids all love it. (well, almost all......)


Christmas eve at Grandma & Grandpa Hansen's house. Grandma is passing out the traditional $2 bills to the great-grandkids.


My Grandpa collects stuffed animals that sing and dance. J was mesmerized by this snowman. It was so cute!


Dad reading the Christmas Story to the kids before bed. They had just opened their Christmas Eve PJ's that the elves left while we were away. Such a fun tradition.


Christmas Morning! Ooohh, that is some good bedhead!


Greetings Earthlings!


The kids all got wiggle cars.


Her first real American Girl doll. Could-you-just-die?


Hmmm..... this looks interesting. What does it do???


LOVE their stockings. (Thank you Jami!)


Such cuties! Don't you just love Christmas?????


Christmas Night at Grandma & Grandpa Harwards house. A perfect ending to a perfect day.