Ice Castle Fun

Ice Castle pictures started popping up all over Facebook a couple of weeks ago and we were super intrigued.  We decided we needed to jump on the bandwagon and check these out!  Glad we did- They were amazing!  Most people said they loved it at night, but we went around 4 PM and were so glad we got to see them in the daytime.  The colored lights at night were sorta fun, but they didn't do justice to the sheer amazingness of the ice itself.  It was absolutely beautiful.  Trey liked tromping around through the caves, and liked being in the snow, but he didn't love standing in line for the "slide".  There was this slide everyone kept talking about...and the line was a good 25 minute wait.  We thought this slide must surely be amazing if the line was so long.  So we waited...and the kids cried...because it was kinda cold if you weren't really moving.  It was finally our turn.  To get to the slide you had to hike up this ice tunnel on your hands and knees and then slide down a tunnel of uneven lumpy ice mass until you landed in a small puddle at the bottom.  What a thrill...ha!  When you get to the bottom there's a crowd of people gawking down at you...I'm guessing they were waiting for family members to make their appearance.  I don't know, I think that slide is one big lawsuit waiting to happen.  Someone easily could've smacked their head while going down and gotten a concussion.  Dale's parents were smart and steered clear of the slide.  Other than that semi fun adventure, we loved the ice castles!  Definitly worth the trip to Midway.  We went and got some dinner after the slide, and then headed back to check the lights out at night.  We were only in there for 5 minutes when we decided to leave.  It was super crowded, and lights just didn't impress us much :).

Dale's dad was the king of picture taking...he got a bunch more that I don't have yet.  It started to get drippy walking through the caves, and I didn't want my camera to get wet, so this is all I got.  I'll have to post some more later :)

 

Christmas

We had a busy Thanksgiving and Christmas.  We didn't end up getting to go to Parowan this year for either holiday because of Dale's work schedule.  It's been a real adjustment getting used to that.  That was a definite perk of being a teacher.  Lots of time off for Holidays! :)  But I am so loving being a stay at home mom.  I wouldn't trade it, and I'm so grateful for Dale's job!  

I've been prepared with Trey's Christmas for a few months.  It's so fun for me to look for toys I think he will enjoy...and of course Dale doesn't mind at all not having to shop :).  It was a good thing I was prepared this year, because I'm pregnant, and the morning sickness started with vengeance in December.  It was kind of a bummer to be sick all month. Trey got a little too used to watching "Super Why" in bed with me in the morning while I tried to fight the nausea...we're having a hard time breaking him of that. 

Christmas was fun though.  We took Trey to see Santa twice.  The first time we were at City Creek Center and just happened to come across the giant lantern Santa was sitting in, and even better- there was no line!  This Santa was completely legit.  He was even accompanied by Mrs. Claus :).  Trey was a little overwhelmed.  He was too scared to sit on Santa's lap.  Oh well :).  The 2nd Santa visit went much better.  We went to the Riverton Orchestra Breakfast with Santa (Dale's mom is a member).  He was still a little scared, but braved Santa's lap all by himself...after a little help from dad. 

Christmas morning is so much fun with kids!  I couldn't wait for Trey to open his gifts.  He sure needed some new toys :).  Santa may have spoiled him a little bit this year.  I guess that happens when there is only 1 kid to buy presents for...not for long :).  Dale spoiled me too- I got a new camera lens!  I am super excited to use it!  Dale got an awesome new chair for the piano room.  No more folding chair for 3 hours while he teaches piano every night.

 Playing with the new toys :)

We didn't get a ton of pictures of Christmas...but we did record it.  I love watching the past videos of Christmas morning.  That might have to be one of our Christmas day traditions in the future.

So many great things have happened for us this year.  I am so grateful to be home with Trey.  I have absolutely loved being a stay at home mom.  I honestly thought I would miss teaching, but there has not been 1 day that I have thought I would rather be teaching than home with Trey.  I will be forever grateful we were able to make that transition this year.  I'm grateful for Dale and his hard work.  He has done amazing things this year.  I am grateful for his willingness to work so hard to make it possible for me to be home.  And I am super grateful for our new little one that's on the way.  We've been waiting for this for a while now, and I feel so blessed to be able to have another little bundle of joy running around our place :).  Looking forward to another great year! :) 

The Last of Halloween

I am finally getting around to putting up our last Halloween pics...now that it's December :).  We borrowed a costume this year for Trey- he was fluffy and green, and I loved it!  He didn't mind it either after a week of getting him accustomed to wearing it. 

 Wow, there's a lot of houses to cover!

 He had the whole trick or treating thing down this year.  Once he realized he just had to knock on the doors and they'd give him candy he was all over it!  He was a kid on a mission.  He didn't even try and eat his treats in between each house.  He just wanted to collect his share of loot...and boy did he ever!  We only took him around our neighborhood and stopped when mom and dad got tired.  Trey could've gone on all night, but we had more stops to make.  We visited Dale's parents and my grandma so they could see Trey in all his awesome frog glory.  Definitely the highlight of the night :)

We're still trying to figure how we want to deal with the aftermath of Halloween...meaning that pumpkin full of treats he collected.  I don't really know what we want to do.  This year Dale just threw it out after a couple of days.  Guess he got tired of Trey asking for it.  Anyway, Halloween was lots of fun!  

Halloween Party

Dale's sister always throws the BEST Halloween parties!  We look forward to going every year and this year did not disappoint!  Laura and her family were the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, so her entire party was themed around that...from the Pizza dinner to the "Toxic Ooze" we drank.  It was amazing!  As far as costumes went Dale and I were robbers, and Trey was our money bag.  He was adorable, and he absolutely hated it :).

He refused to sit still for a picture :)

 

Double, Double, Toil and Trouble

Through a series of fortunate events Dale had a couple of days off from work, so we fully took advantage.  We took Trey to see the witches at Gardner Village. 

As you can see he was absolutely thrilled :).

Trey and the Giant Pumpkin

A couple of years ago we went to the "Giant Pumpkin Weighing" and thought it was pretty cool, so we decided to take Trey this year.  We walked around for a bit and the Thanksgiving Point grounds did not disappoint.  They were beautiful!  Trey loved the giant rock :).

We are a dessert loving family.  Once we went to get a "healthier" dessert at Red Mango.  It was delicious, but apparently wasn't enough to fulfill our dessert lovingness.  We were halfway home when Dale said, "We need Second Dessert."  Funnily enough I was thinking the same thing!  Ha!  So we of course stopped for Second Dessert :).  Our time at Thanksgiving Point deemed itself dessert worthy, so we stopped and partook of some deliciousness.  We didn't even need Second Dessert after this baby :).

 Wow, huge pumpkin!  It even got the scrunch face smile from Trey...of course he actually makes that face in 9 out of 10 pictures these days, so I'm not so sure it was the giant pumpkin that brought it about :).  Even so I like to think that Trey was pretty impressed with these ginormous pumpkins.  Some of them were taller than he is.