A WEEK OF FIRSTS!!!!

FIRST TIME AS A FAMILY SKIING!

It wasn't easy. It was a lot of work. Kaden and Adri still need some patient parents while skiing. Alex, Abby and I headed off to the harder slopes when we first got there. Alex will ski anything and is very confident. She even tries to ski backwards. I don't do that. Abby is very hesitant. She can do it, but she hesitates and does not have as much confidence. She is a good little skiier, if she would not worry she would do so much better. We had fun for a couple of hours by ourselves. Alex and Abby are off track and so we took Adri and Kaden out of school. A Thursday on the slopes is perfect.

Then we went to check on things at the bunny hill. We watched Kaden fall. He was getting tired and in need of some lunch. Adri has regressed this year. It's like something clicked in her brain that skiing is scary. Last year she would go down fast and sing "Follow the Prophet" while skiing fast. We would have to tell her to watch around her and pay attention. This year she was slow and hesitated a ton. It was frustrating. I hope she gets over it.

It was lunch time to Baja Cantina. We were skiing at Park City thanks to a couple free ski passes from our good neighbor. Baja is my favorite and I was excited when Renn mentioned eating there. We took off our skiis and walked over. The kids ate so well. We enjoyed our lunch.

Back to the slopes. We all headed up on the bigger slopes. It took so much time to get down with Adri. Kaden would beat us every time. Abby and Kaden are skiing down together.

Adri skiing slowly.

They get so tired from snow plowing and NOT TURNING that those little legs need a rest. Personally I stand and rest. The kids lay right down. It was funny. Adri, Kaden and Abby are in this picture.

Alex lays flat down too. I think she taught them. Alex and Renn went off skiing in the afternoon for awhile. The three youngest were too tired and so we returned their skiis and hung out.

It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun. Kaden was asleep in minutes.

Abby was also asleep in minutes.

Alex and Adri never fall asleep in the car. Kaden and Abby are my sleepers.

FIRST TIME FOR KADEN AT JUNGLE JIMS!!!!!!

The last one gets the shaft. Kaden has never been to Jungle Jims. Adri barely remembers it. Adri got invited to Natalie Hansen's b-day party and so I took the three youngest. It was an excuse to get Kaden there for once. Alex didn't want to go. Kaden and Adri both loved it. I brough mom (Abby) with me so I could sit around and talk to the adults. It was a fun night. Natalie ended up throwing up on a spinning ride. She stunk so bad after. Luckily Adri had brought really cute P.J.'s as her present and they came in really handy.

They loved the cars.

For a Friday night it wasn't bad. We stayed 4 hours. We had pizza, cupcakes and they even got to do a pinata. Thanks Nancy for letting me have an excuse to get my boy there and invading your party.

FIRST DANCE COMPETITION OF 2009!!!!!!

That means Spring is almost here. I love dance competition season. It makes all the carpooling, driving, dinners packed, and money spent worth it. The music, lights, costumes, make-up, people watching, noise, bass beating, girls screaming, lunches, or if I am gone from life for one whole day makes it a fun day. I never did this and I am glad my girls love it. Renn keeps Kaden and Adri away for most of the day. He came for the last half because they wouldn't make it all day. We left at 9:15 and didn't get back until 8 p.m. This picture is of Alex in her lyrical costume with her company-or at least most of them. Some of them have been dancing together since they were three. Alex's company is at dance for 12-14 hours a week. She never complains and in fact when she has a day off wishes she could go to dance.

Alex and her best friend since 18 months old Hallie. Look at the make-up and fake eyelashes. What beauty's!

We love going to Cafe Rio for lunch. There was a two hour break, so off to lunch we went. We all shared chicken salads. A couple of years ago, we could never go to Cafe Rio because Alex said she didn't like it. She had never tried it. Over the last couple years she has tried it and now loves it. Thank goodness because I felt bad making her go. They played DS and rejuvenated for the next round of competition. Alex had two dances in the morning. The Jazz dance they got 1st place and the lyrical they got 2nd. Way to go girls.

Abby was up after lunch. She has a small group or girls, but they are really cute. They had one jazz dance and they got 2nd. Abby always says that everyone has to follow her and they don't come in on the right counts. Every week Abby tells me this so I asked her teacher. She said it was true. I hope she moves up next year.

Abby's cute self. She is so nervous before performances. Alex acts giddy and Abby acts nervous. They are fun to watch. Renn, Adri and Kaden were there for the afternoon performances. We had snacks and DS games to keep them occupied. Adri, Kaden, Renn and I took a field trip in between Abby's dance and Alex's hip hop. We went to Cabellas.

The last dance of the night was HIP HOP. It's so fun to watch and Alex is in a older group. They are pretty good. They got 1st place. Alex has always loved Hip Hop, but this year I'm afraid she is not in love with it as much. We will see what happens. This picture is of Taylor, Abby and Alex. They have been dancing together since they were three. Taylor's mom is in a rehab this year and I love her at the competitions. I missed her. She is so fun to hang out with and I have for 8 years. She has anorexia problems and medication issues. I hope she gets better. I feel so bad for her four little kids and her husband. I hope life gets better for Taylor. She has a broken foot and has to sit out for awhile. What a year she has had. It makes me thankful for my trials. I dragged the girls out at 8 p.m. They wanted to stay until it closed. They were in tears. I'm so mean. I had been gone since 9:15 a.m.

FIRST TIME TO CABELLAS!!!!!

We told Adri and Kaden that we were going on a field trip. They couldn't sit there much longer so off we went. They had hot dogs and cheetos at Maverik and then to Cabellas. What a field trip. That place is amazing. I've never been. It's like a museum.

Kaden's favorite thing about Cabellas was this truck tent. He asked Renn to buy a truck so they could have a truck tent. Of all things, Kaden loved this truck tent.

Then Kaden saw this big banana. That was funny. It's an elephant tusk and real.

Adri's favorite animal was this steinbok because it is small. Probably like her. One side of the store had all the animals from Africa. Renn and I loved it. We probably wouldn't have appreciated it as much before we went to Africa. Renn shot five of the animals over in that corner and we had seen all of them in Africa. It was amazing. A few people in Africa with us shot the steinbok, but Renn said they weren't worth it. Too small.

Kaden liked the big animals. This is a Kudu and Zebra. We saw many Kudu. The Kudu we saw was caught on my video camera and it was ginormous compared to this Kudu. It was a world record Kudu, but Renn didn't pay to shoot a Kudu so we just admired it.

That's our week of firsts. It was Maddness!!!!!!