Hiking/Biking Snow Canyon

From our Thanksgiving Adventures described below...

An Eventful Thanksgiving

We had a great few days in St. George courtesy of Grandma & Grandpa Miller to celebrate Thanksgiving with all of Mom's siblings and their families. Dinner was catered by the Marriott (we actually sat in their big lobby to eat...sounds odd, but was very nice), enjoyed the Visitor Center and holiday lighting at the LDS Temple, hiked/biked Snow Canyon, hit Fiesta Fun for the traditional go-cart racing, joined Shaylee and crew for an "old school bike club" Saturday morning ride, plus all the expected shopping, swimming, and playing a bunch of cousins can squeeze in to four days.

The eventful part: After Thanksgiving dinner while everyone was visiting and playing games, Maggie ran into a table and cut her head. It was not long enough to need stitchs, but deep enough to bleed a lot! After getting her settled down and hair and clothes cleaned up, Eli started crying. Within an hour of his crying, we determined his ear ached required a doctor. Since the Insta-Care was closed, we then spent a couple of hours in the emergency room. Three prescriptions later, we made it back to the hotel. Fortunatley he's a tough guy and didn't slow down for long. The next morning, we got a call from Grandma Miller because there was a wild turkey peeking in her window. Somehow we all ended up at her place (about 40 of us) chasing the crazy bird while trying to help local law enforcement catch it. It was almost as if he was giving us a "neener-neener" because Thanksgiving came and went - and he was still alive.

Our family took up every go-cart they had.
There was no mercy in that race.

Coldplay Concert Rocked!

The concert was awesome! Chris sounded great and they were all amazing performers. Unfortunately my camera was home on the kitchen counter. Ugh! I could have had some fantastic pictures and am still kicking myself. The disposable we grabbed was worthless. The two shots that showed anything besides black had Stef and I posing with really funny looks (not necessarily intentional). I found the stage shot on another friend's blog and can take no credit for it - but had to include one because it was such a fun night. Advertising does come with a few perks...Thanks for the "suite" tickets Collin!

(You're supposed to be able to see the stage just behind us!)

Typical

5 minutes before we had to be at the Primary Program practice this morning, Eli and Maggie came downstairs with marker mustaches. Really?

What was I thinking?

Resisted. Resisted.
Given Twilight at midnight ticket.
Resisted. Resisted.
Officially Team Edward.

Maggie's Progress Report

Mel Howlett Photography

Another mom who is part of our Joy School group is a photographer. She had a contest to give away a free sitting - and we won! Mel Howlett took us to some great walls in Ogden for a little winter/urban shoot. These are two of my favorites, though she has more posted on her blog - and may be posting more soon. I'll share any other great proofs once I get to see more too. The kids had a lot of fun with her and enjoyed spending time posing in these great spots.

Movie Night

There's nothing like fuzzy jams, popcorn, hot chocolate, snuggling, and a good movie (even if it is picked by a 3 & 5 year old). Eli loves to do the "squeeze your heads together" picture and could not wait to see it posted. He loves to smile at his smile. Maggie is always pretty happy about seeing herself too.

Tumbling Mid-terms

Eli got to pass off a couple of techniques in tumbling and did a great job! My camera started just a little too late to get the full affect (Eli's bar mount which was a little shimmy up the side pole - very funny, and his flip), but you'll get the idea. He's not terribly light on his feet...but definitely strong!

Stylin'

Who can resist knee high boots? One of the best parts of winter.

Children's Museum

Eli and Maggie love Discovery Gateway. We squeezed a quick trip in this week and finally remembered our camera. Maggie sang most of the time while Eli enjoyed the costumes - he even tried to get me to be a bear with him and insisted on taking my picture. Eli has been learning about animals in school and when he saw the cow costume with very distinct udders asked if we could go see a cow on a farm. I said sure. Why? He responded with "I want to see a cow pee in a cup." Hmm. I would guess this perspective of milking comes from his recent doctor visit.

Birthday!

Thank you Eli and Maggie for helping make my Birthday special! (With lots of help, of course, from Mom and Dad).

Eli said he drew a cow on my card because I look like one. Hmmm.

Maggie was just very excited to use stickers.