Terrence's Birthday and a Winter Pick-Me-Up!

I don't know about you, but I always get feeling a little down after Christmas. I spend all December bustling around and getting our advent calendar items checked off and then BAM! it's over just like that. I'm suddenly thrown off my game and I have two January birthdays to think about. So...when Terrence said that all he wants for his birthday this year was a nice family weekend, it was just what we needed! (especially since he just left for a 3 week long business trip! wah!) The best part of having him travel so much is the "perks" of free hotel rooms and flights from time to time. I use the word "free" loosely since we definitely pay for it by having him gone so much, but it's nice when we get to use them. We decided to head to Zions National Park for the weekend. 


The kids were initially sad that the outdoor pool was closed, but got over it pretty fast. Our hotel room had a couch bed which Daxton promptly claimed for himself, his blue macaw, and his teddy bear named "Moo". Don't worry, he shared with Madison too.

And Kylie wanted to sleep under the desk. No fighting...kids all happy with sleeping arrangements!? SCORE!

Our hotel was right at the entrance to the park, so we headed to the visitor center right after breakfast and it was already 54 degrees!




 We wanted to have time to drive home the long way, so we opted to just do one hike. Daxton was up half the night, so we knew he couldn't handle much hiking. We later learned he was sick. BOO! But I guess for it being the first illness since school started in August, we're pretty lucky. 

 We did the Emerald Pools hike and it was gorgeous! 60 Degrees, sunny, no wind....just perfect! If you've been here in the summer, you'll know how crazy busy it it, but in January....it was so quiet, although still much busier than I anticipated. 

We took our time on the hike and took plenty of pictures. All with cell phones of course because what is a real camera these days!? 

I love how the outdoors transforms my kids. Suddenly they become happy, pleasant little angels. Not that they aren't wonderful all the time, but outside they become much more fun. And the presence of fighting is much more rare!

Even Daxton, who was feeling pretty crummy was super happy. I think we all just needed a little vitamin D!

On the way back down the trail, Terrence had Kylie pose with some cactus. I was getting after him for letting her do it because it was steep and sandy and the chance of her actually sitting on it was high. I once sat on cactus...accidentally and it was not a great experience. We were at a youth group rock rappelling activity and I sat on it right before my turn. I was already humiliated from having my young womens leaders trying to pull needles out of my rear, but man....rappelling down a mountain after that...it's hard! But...I'm glad he had her do it, because I still crack up every time I see this. Maybe it's only funny to us, but man that girl can pull a face!

A really nice lady offered to take our picture during out hike. It was the perfect day! Sometimes everything feels right and good and magical. You know how you have day dreams before you actually are a parent about how perfect and wonderful everything is going to be and it's not like that at all!? Well....this is one of those moments when it felt like one of those "daydreams" in real life. A tender mercy we were given to get us through the next few difficult weeks while Terrence is gone. And then....we'll have a baptism to hold us over for the next long trip!

Madison's 8th Birthday!

We spent New Years Eve in Kansas with Terrence's parents. After a two week long trip for the holidays, we headed home on New Years Day and arrived on January 2nd. Terrence had a business trip to Denver on January 4th (Madison's birthday) so we decided to book her a ticket to tag along and keep it a secret. We celebrated her birthday at home on the 3rd with ice cream sundays and a couple presents. I can't believe I didn't take pictures! Then on Sunday the 4th, we all got ready for church and took Terrence to the airport. When we arrived, I got out of the van and gave Madison a hug and told her to have fun. She thought I was lying to her! She couldn't believe it. She was only a year old last time she flew, so she was very excited and nervous about it. 

Terrence was able to get a first class ticket, but gave it up so he could sit with Madison on the flight. They went to Cinzetti's for dinner and then slept at my parents house during their trip. Madison got to spend Monday with her aunt Trista and her cousins, until my Parents picked her up for some birthday spoiling. They went shopping and had some fun one-on-one time before meeting up with Terrence for dinner. 

On Tuesday, she spent the day with Aunt Sarah playing cards and dominoes before flying home that evening. Madison is so excited to be 8! She can't wait to get baptized and go to activity days! She's so excited to get her "Faith in God" award and is determined to get it this year. 
Fun Facts about Madison:
- She loves to play games with anyone. Her favorites are "nerks" and Skip-Bo
- Madison also loves to cuddle and thrives on one-on-one time 
-She LOVES to read and has started checking out books from Kylie's "library".
-Madison LOVES dogs and begs for one almost every day. She wants a little lap dog that she can cuddle with.
- Madison is still such a nurturing person and loves to take on adult-like responsibilities, like babysitting, cooking, cleaning (only on her terms unfortunately)
- She is just like me! Super tender-hearted and sensitive. I just thought everyone was mean to me and I can't handle any kind of conflict or confrontation. Madison is the same way and it can be incredibly frustrating at times! So...I'm sorry about that.   

I can't wait for this little girls big BAPTISM day on February 7th!