January and February

We spent the first 5 Saturdays of the year skiing at Grand Targhee.  We left the house at 7am each time to ensure a close parking space and a full day of skiing.  Our very first day was sunny and beautiful but after that we had clouds, snow, and the famous Grand Targhee fog.  Elliott made huge strides with the longer beginner runs and we got into a rhythm of how we spent our days.  I had fun skiing with Emmett and Ezra, except when they would fight about who was faster.  Ezra keeps up great and was also good to ski with Jim and Elliott.  Emmett conquered lots of black diamonds and will probably pass me up in speed pretty soon.  Jim would also take turns skiing with Emmett and Ezra and sometimes just with Emmett alone.  Elliott took a little longer breaks in the lodge with me around lunch time and we would often finish our day a little earlier.  

 Our garage door got a crack in it and luckily was one of the things the insurance said needed to be replaced because of hail damage.  We called up our contractor and within a week our new door was installed.  We went with a door that is slightly more insulated than our old door and we were surprised that it is also quieter. 

January was also busy with piano practice for Emmett and Ezra, Indoor soccer for Emmett, Gymnastics and Ice Skating for Ezra, and of course school work.  Emmett's indoor soccer team didn't really practice and their games were Saturday evenings at 8 and 9pm...he often skied all day and then played a soccer game...occasionally with a power nap in between. 

 Our church hosted another Parent's Night Out and had a "bouncy obstacle course."  Jim and I went out to a new restaurant and enjoyed some kid free shopping.

 We all went to a friend's birthday party in February at a gymnastics place.  The boys had a great time jumping into a foam pit, climbing the rock wall, jumping on trampolines, playing, tag, etc. 

 We also got a good amount of snow in town and enjoyed the cross country ski grooming at a nearby park.  The boys were able to spend time outside sledding and building snow forts.

 We also worked with the wife of one of our pastors who has a background in interior design.  We are hoping to do some updating on our home and she helped us come up with some plans.  We have been busy going to home improvement stores to get ideas and estimates, as well as looking at paint, flooring, countertops, etc. 

We didn't get any pictures of Jim's birthday.  It was a Wednesday so we went out to dinner at Red Robin after work and he enjoyed his German Chocolate Cake for dessert.  He got some nice gifts, including an RC boat that has been fun to use once the ice melted on the local ponds.