School play: The Wizard of Oz!

It was the week of performances last year for the school play when everything shut down abruptly due to Covid. It was sad for the kids and everyone who had worked so hard on the play not to be able to perform it! This year they decided to do the same play, just replacing the parts for kids moving on to Jr. High, moving, etc. Jackson decided to stay on with his original part as a crow. It was great for him because he got a couple of lines and could participate, but it wasn't a huge part where he would have to be to every play practice and interfere with basketball too much. The play is open to 4th-6th grade students only, so this was Bode's first year of eligibility. He decided he wanted to try out after seeing Jackson have a good experience with it. We created a short audition video for him and sent it on its way. I told him to be prepared for probably a small part since he is younger. I got a text from a friend a few weeks later asking if I was dying at the part Bode got for the play. I didn't know what she was talking about and she sent me the cast list. Bode was cast as the Wizard of Oz! We were both pretty shocked and excited!

His scenes were all toward the end of the play, but he had a LOT of lines to memorize! I thought that might be a challenge to learn all of those lines, but he really did memorize them all on his own, and quickly! I was so impressed with him. 

They performed three nights in a row, and both he and Jackson did a fantastic job. I love that they both participated in something out of the norm for them. 

Backstage

The awesome hot air balloon Bode got to ride out in at the end of the play. The set and props were pretty awesome! I'm also proud of the green vest he wore-- I made it! We ordered one online and when it came it looked too small to even fit Molly!

My parents and Emily, Max, and Adam all came to watch the boys one night. The boys loved having them there!

Bravo!

Jenny is 38!

Another year older and hopefully wiser, too! I had an awesome birthday this year. Despite a rocky morning where Charlie ate a bag of chocolates and ate Molly's class valentines, things thankfully went up from there! One highlight for me was going with Molly to get pedicures. It was the first time she has ever been and it was one of those things I always thought looked so fun to do if you had a little girl. She was a little shy while the lady was working on painting her nails, but she leaned over to me when she was finished and said, "I love it SO much!" We both got hearts painted on our toes for Valentine's Day. 

I had several friends and family wish me happy birthday in various forms: gifts, texts, phone calls, cards,  etc. It was overwhelming and made me feel so good. I am grateful to have so many good people who care about me. 

Sean and I went out to a nice dinner at a restaurant called "Communal" in downtown Provo. Everything was delicious!

I wanted to make my own birthday cake again this year. It's fun for me and I wanted to try out stripes this time. I made a chocolate peanut butter banana cake and it was so good! It was fun trying the stripes and though there is definite room for improvement, I thought it turned out pretty well!

The kids and Sean spoiled me with flowers and chocolate and cards and gifts. Sean got me a really nice new chef's knife and a few camera accessories. It was a great day and despite more wrinkles and even spotting a few gray hairs this year, I feel grateful for another year of life!

Part 2: Big Sky!

Part 2 of our trip was skiing at Big Sky. We had so much fun going the year before, we decided to do it again! It was a beautiful day with a couple of inches of new snow and it was fun because both my mom and dad skied with us-- something that hasn't happened in a long time! I am glad the kids got to see my parents skiing. They kept talking about what a great skier my dad is.

Still can't get over the giant chair lift!

My dad, sister, mom, and I on the chair together

Davis

Max, Bode, Adam, and Jackson

My parents skiing down Mr. K-- a family favorite since I was a kid.

The kids all did great! Our family's favorite run was called "Stump Farm." We rode it several times and even bought a replica ski sign of it from the gift shop. 

We left Molly in the kids club all day because she is so new at skiing. She was pretty sad in the afternoon and I think it was a long day for her. She is determined to join us skiing next year! After this trip she really took off and I think it is because she is so motivated to join us next year! I'm already looking forward to it.

Beautiful sunset from the parking lot at the end of the day. Perfect way to cap off a really awesome ski day.

Sledding at the cabin the next day before heading home. Awesome trip! 

Yellowstone/Big Sky trip: Part 1 Yellowstone

My dad won the lottery for unguided snowmobile access to Yellowstone this year, so Sean, Jackson, Bode, and I got to spend a day in January snowmobiling through the park with my dad and sister and her family. Sean, Jackson, and Dave were able to go last year when Sean won the lottery, and they all said how amazing it was. We were really excited to have the opportunity to go this year! It's been several years since I'be been in the winter and it was so beautiful and a much different experience than in the summer. It was sort of surreal walking around the boardwalks without anyone else around and enjoying many of the sights all to ourselves. 

We started bright and early and it was definitely cold! I think the temperature reading was -11 degrees when we entered the park! I was really impressed with the snowmobiles we rented. They have come a long way! The boys sat on elevated seats on back and had heated handlebars. It made for a really comfortable ride!

Firehole River

It was really cool seeing all of the pockets of steam all around the park.

We stopped at Old Faithful for lunch. It felt really nice to warm up and Bode decided to just make himself comfortable right in front of the fire. 

Kepler Cascades 

We saw a bunch of buffalo walking in a line toward the the steam near Grand Prismatic. We pulled over and walked around the boardwalk and it was such a cool experience seeing them come in and out of view surrounded by the steam. Sean took some really beautiful pictures of them with his camera.

 

It was such an awesome experience! When we got back to the cabin, it was straight to the hot tub to warm up!