so we FINALLY got snow...

okay, so it was only about an inch, at best, but it *was* enough for us to make this runt snowman on our back deck...

of course, Madison sat on it and decapitated it after about 2 minutes :)












And for those of you in Utah, yes, you can bray and guffaw all you like, because school WAS canceled for this "storm". Which would have been lovely (I truly LOVE when it's canceled for snow!), except that Natalie was sick so she wasn't able to enjoy the fun....poor girl!

So Dallin went "sledding" at the neighbors by himself...
Sometimes when we're lucky we're able to see deer eating the neighbors' trees across the street.

This weekend Tim spent a good share of Friday night and the entire Saturday working on finishing our basement. He's done the entire thing mostly by himself and is doing such a good job- he's learned so much from his talented dad. I consider myself very lucky to have such a handy husband. But when I say "by himself" I mean we haven't contracted anything other than enlarging our windows. Not that he didn't try to do it himself, but after 8 hours of very little progress, he made the executive decision that it was worth it to pay someone else to do it! Also, we've been lucky to have friends and family help: his dad helped us with wiring and setting the bathtub, which was not easy; my dad came and helped with the tedious work of hanging sheet rock and framing; and his friend, Joe, from work, who helped haul rock, frame, and tried to cut the windows!)

But here are some recent pics (Saturday he spent all day sanding, so my picture isn't blurry, there was just a perma-cloud of dust in our basement that is still lingering....)
tim in all his dusty glory...


here's natty's room- that's where her bed will be.

the playroom...


part of the media room...

anyway-that's been our week in a nutshell...good times :)
p.s.- I went to a gardening class at church on Wednesday, but I'll post about that later.

alabama trip...

This Christmas we were able to go to Gulf Shores, AL with the entire Wilson crew--including all my parents, brothers , their wives, and my adorable little niece Ava----isn't she CUTE!!!? Natty, Dallin and Madison all loved holding her non-stop....she was so patient.

While we were there, we stayed in a beautiful house on the beach. We could see pods of dolphins from the decks each morning and some afternoons, which was TOO cool. The temps peaked at around 70 degrees, so of course Tim, my Dad, my brothers and their wives, and Nat and Dallin all *had* to go swimming. Apparently, the pregnant lady and her mother were the only ones with an ounce of sense...but they sure had fun body surfing, boogie-boarding (dallin is still convinced he was surfing...but we'll just let that one slide), and chasing dolphins, until we saw a lone shark fin not far away.
Okay, so I'm not POSITIVE it was a shark, but it looked pointy and it didn't arc like a dolphin, and it was all alone. So that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

We spent most days walking on the beach, lounging and chatting in the house, playing Guitar Hero, Settlers of Catan, and Halo. I'm ready for a repeat of that week already. One of the days we went into the city of Gulf Shores to a Go-cart entertainment center place....so here are some pics from that---
Dallin channeling his inner-Dale Earnhardt....

madison watching all the action--it was a 3-story wooden go-cart track and she was impressed. (papa's ears made perfect hand holds)

daddy on the merry-go-round with Madison (hereafter referred to as Lou-lou. sometimes.)

Did I mention I'm ready for another vacation???

Finally joining the world of blogging....

Every time the kids do or say something funny, I call my Grandma to let her know-she always gets such a kick out of them! And every time I call and report something she says, "You have GOT to write that down! You'll forget." And she's right- I do forget. I remember Natalie being hilarious as soon as she could talk, but now she's 8 and although she still keeps me laughing at things she says, I struggle to remember exactly what was so hilarious then. So after reading several blogs that family and friends keep, I decided I was missing out and needed to start one too. So NOW when Dallin and his adorable little friend Kassady (3 years old) go in our basement and dump 45 individual packets of oatmeal from food storage all over the floor, I can take a picture to document his "creativity", post it and then and laugh about all these "good times".aaaaa