Snow Shoe Excursion

After we picked up Bay in Laramie we decided to take advantage of the fresh snow and do some snow shoeing up at Happy Jack on our way home.  Since Kars and Emm got snow shoes this Christmas, we all have our own pair now. 

 Emmrey did pretty well considering it was her first time.  She did tire out pretty quickly and Kars commented it was more of a workout than she had thought it would be [notice her in the background...she has shed her coat and is trying to run up the hill;]

Despite that it was still snowing when we arrived.... it turned out to be a pretty gorgeous day.  We brought our sleds along for some added fun!!

At one point we split up and took separate routes back.  These 2 did a little off trail path.....

while I took these 2 back on the trail.  We beat them back so we just took a little chill on the mountainside;)

 It was a fun little outing.....not as long as Mark would have liked it to be, but I have to remind him were taking baby steps here...don't want to make them so miserable they don't want to ever do it again:)

a LOVELY Long weekend

Happy Love Day!!

[cute little banner my parents sent]

Yes....I realize Valentine's was a week ago, but I seem to not be able to think of anything but "house stuff" lately.  We had a nice long weekend of celebrating that I need to record.  We spent the days before making sugar cookies {which I only typically do for Valentine's}.  Since they are so much work, I try to make a lot which means we had plenty to share ....seminary, teachers, Sunbeams and multiple plates to the G&F office:) The girls were actually out of school on Friday [V-Day], so it felt like the majority of celebrating took place the day before. Emmrey was super excited about her party at school...let's face it, that girl is super excited about any little party.  Karsyn may or may have not had a party at school....the verdict is still out on that;)  I was at a loss for words when she told me she didn't want to take Valentines this year.  What....are we there already???  I mean granted she is in 6th grade and in most places that is Middle School [not here], but still I wasn't really prepared for that and I cried a little inside:(  I had fun helping Emm put together some cute ones for both 1st grade classes since they were having a combined party.  We went with a fish theme, with cards that said "Valentine, You're off the Hook" and "Glad We're in the Same School".  ...they worked out pretty great.

We put together a little something for teachers as well....

Because of plans on the 14th....I decided to have our traditional Valentines Dinner the night before also.  The menu was Hot & Spicy Cajun pasta, Hearts of Romaine salad, strawberry hearts, and we topped it off with a little Love Potion;)

 I think they LOVED it!!

The girls were dancin' the day away on Valentine's ......

 and Mark and I snuck out for a little Valentine lunch since we knew dinner was not an option.  We headed for the most romantic place we could think of.....Chick Fil A [ha]!!  The tables were advertising a special Date Night for later and we were kinda sad we were missing out.  Seriously...as much as we LOVE this place we might have been all over that;)

 How we actually spent Valentines evening was driving to Laramie for Bailee to stay over with her friends from Cody.  Dani and her mom now live there, and Zoe and her mom were coming down for the weekend.  The girls decided to plan a "Girls Dinner" with the moms.  I don't think it initially clicked that it would be Valentine's, but it was fine [truth be told, Mark doesn't really celebrate the V-Day] so it would have just been another Friday Date Night for us.  I went with Bailee and he took Kars and Emm to Burger King [and he says he doesn't celebrate]  It was a fun night and it made me happy that Bailee got to spend some time with her girlfriends.

[Tara, Zoe, Dani, Bay, Me, and Kim]

 Saturday afternoon we returned to Laramie to pick her up and did a little snow shoe outing on the way back [more on that later].  Later that day, the girls were surprised with big sugar cookies left at the door....somebody must really LoVe these girlies.  Okay.....they know it's me and I even got caught this year trying to doorbell ditch [there was nowhere to hide], but it's still fun to anticipate-right?

 They also received their photo books again this year {which arrived late}

They were thrilled and loved looking through their own and each others

 And before the weekend ended we all helped Emm with her school project to represent 100 things she LOVES !!

 It was a nice way to spend a long weekend with the ones I love.  It was also nice to focus on them and have my mind taken off something else I love [Honestly it's a love/hate relationship right now].  Our weekends wouldn't be complete without a trip down to check on progress.  Here is where she's at right now.....