Baking & Snow Day

Hailey wanted to make a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting for Sunday dessert and this is what we finished with. It is so fancy you would think that it was someone's birthday but is was just an amazing snow day!!! It has frosting in the middle, on top and all over the sides. You would also be surprised that there are vegetables inside, zucchini. 

Evelyn wants all to know that she did the smoothing of the icing on the sides of the cake. It otherwise would not have been done so professionally. 

Evelyn and I made a carrot cake in a Christmas tree pan. We didn't follow any recipe though, so it turned out a little gooey like a cobbler. Still it was yummy and every morsel was eaten by a hungry pack of kids. We love to bake and make yummy thing for the whole family to enjoy. Usually Sunday and Monday are our treat days but lately there have been more.  

Thank goodness for a snow blower. We had over 14 inches of snow when we woke yesterday morning and now today it is -14 degrees. Oh, what a storm!

Train Station & Downtown Ogden

Downtown Ogden

Love the lights and especially the little guy in the picture, Ezra. 

This one shows the reflection of the large downtown buildings in the back ground. 

There were a lot of displays that looked more like tiny houses with a wall of glass that had different themes and fun things to look at inside. The kids loved them all. 

Group photo, my kids!!!

Ezra loves trains so this was especially great for him. Stetson is the videographer. 

Train Museum 

 I would love to have seen this in its glory days. 

There was a model train display that was super fun for the kids. 

The inside of a train so the kids could experience what it would be like to travel in the good old days. Lots of old trains to look at and a classic car exhibit as well. 

I especially love classis cars and feel like they did a better job making cars look appealing then. Now cars are boring but efficient.  We've been meaning to go here for a long time so I am so excited that our homeschool group was able to get here. We have lots of fun adventures! 

Sledding

Oh, how I love these people!!!

                                            Hailey                                                        Ezra 

                    How should we go down this time?                        Is there room for me? 

                     No, okay, I'll just push you down!!!         This time you're making room for me!!!!

          "Baby it cold outside"                 Snuggle time.                

The crazy after reaching the bottom.   

                               

                

             Who needs a sled, I'll just slide down like this.           Tada, we missed the tree!

The best way to go down the hill is two sleds connected by a big brother going backwards. Then everyone can experience the ride together. 

Oh, the fun we have together! 

There is this great hill about 15 minutes away from us that we discovered years ago and now it has become tradition that we have to go there at least once every winter. We have now shared that hill with several friends and it has become rather busy but still the best place that is close to home. I sat on a sled near by holding baby Silas and enjoyed all the adventures and experimenting. Thankfully there was only one injury in the family and one crash over all. 

 

Christmas

The kids all had a great Christmas opening an abundance of gifts. 

We enjoyed lots of family time and extended family gatherings. 

There was also a lot of yummy food. Playing with Legos. Devouring of stockings. A few movies and many other not so memorable activities. 

The kids really enjoyed not doing school for 2 weeks and just playing none stop or so it seemed. 

The reason that the kids stockings are in the tub is that we started a new tradition last year of requesting that Santa do a religious scavenger hunt which he gladly complies with and we start the hunt right after a delicious breakfast at an appropriate time. This year the kids didn't wake us until 8 am, it was glorious. The end of the hunt brought the kids to the upstairs bathroom tub which is where Santa left his loot. 

Ultimately our favorite part of Christmas this year was attending church and partaking if the Lords sacrament. What a blessing to be free to worship how we please. 

 

Stetson's Lego Creations

 This is just a few of the creations that we have seen Stetson create and display in his room. He is currently working on a lighthouse with some new Lego's that he was given at Christmas. He also is pretty excited about a new store in town called "Bricks and Mini Figs." He is able to trade or buy new and used Lego's

Redneck Apple Cider

 We got together with our homeschool friends and were able to be taught the art of making cider, redneck style. In the first picture posted you might see a sink, in that sink is two unused garbage disposals. The process was this: first you wash the apples, second you chop and sort the apples, third you plunge the apples onto the garbage disposal which shreds the apples and then plops them out into a bucket on the bottom end, fourth you take that bucket and and poor it into this large bag like thing that is then twisted to remove all juice and keep all pulp in then finally the juice drains out and is funneled into containers and ready for tasting. We all had a great time and were pleasantly surprised to get juice no matter how many apples we contributed. The kids were able to warm by the fire and roast a few marshmallows, sip cold cider and enjoy their friends. It was a bit of work and a very cold day but "Many hands make light work" and great people to talk to makes it more enjoyable to be together. This is the kind of activity that is more fun together. 

Farm Fun!

So the kids piano teacher also has a little mini farm with cows, pigs - including baby pigs, a donkey and some goats. The kids just loved seeing the baby pigs and chasing after them. They were so small that they could sneak through the fence that was surrounding there momma and escape. At the end of the summer there was a corm patch that was fun for the kids to chase the pigs though. The kids were absolutely fascinated with the baby pigs. 

I have no desire however to recreate that experience for our family. So grateful that we have friends that help us to experience things that we couldn't on our own.