Trip to Utah for February Break

 We had a fabulous winter break off of school. The Friday before was an ice storm, so school was canceled! That was exciting news to get the night before. Even though the ice wasn't too bad, it was fun to have an extra day of break, since it was the Friday before our week long break. We had a few days to relax, play with friends, and watch movies in the cold, before heading off to Utah to see some snow. We had a great time seeing cousins and family and some mountains. Jason went skiing, but we didn't take the kids since it was just a weekend trip. Instead we sledded and hiked in the canyon to find some snow (since it hasn't snowed since December!) It was crazy there was no snow in the valley in February. We still had a blast and it was a fun end to our week long break, especially since we flew into a small airport and got to walk to the plane. Now back to school! 

Chase turns 12!

I can't believe Chase is 12! He's our first birthday of the year and it's always fun to celebrate him. We can't believe he's in middle school this year and growing up so fast. He loves art and drama, is great at reading and writing, and still wants to be a movie director and is into all things scary. He loves movies, especially action ones. He loves going to the forest and building forts and cutting down trees, and he loves to skateboard too, and make movies and animate. He's kind, compassionate, hilarious, still so talkative, a great brother, and such a fun kid. We love having him in our family and love to celebrate him!

After a breakfast of donuts and opening gifts, he wanted to go ice skating, so we went to an indoor ice rink where we've been before. It was a lot of fun. Grant was injured so he just watched and talked to us while we took breaks. Chase and Claire are getting so much better! And Jason of course (he skated when he was young) wowed us with his super fast skating skills. We had a good time and then came home to eat some chinese food and ice cream cake Chase requested. Happy birthday buddy!