Lovin' those Mason boys

I got to help Ashley bathe Brigham when I went up to their house on Thursday.  He doesn't care much for his bath until it is hair washing time.  He quite likes that part.

Mmm, there's nothing like the sweet smell of a freshly bathed babe.  Ash is such a good mom.

Later that day Ashley dropped me, James and Logan at the Frontrunner station to head back down to Salt Lake for an overnight adventure.

I had put Angry Birds Star Wars on my tablet and phone.  I waited until the scenery wasn't thrilling them anymore and pulled out the devices.  They didn't make a peep the rest of the hour.

 

It was all I could do to get them to eat dinner because they were so excited to swim that night.  Dave had a church meeting so I swam with the boys.  James hopped right in.

Logan wasn't sure if he wanted to get in.  After about 10 minutes he slowly made his way into the water and for the next two hours acted like a little fish.

The next day we went over to the Disney store.  I let them pick out an inexpensive toy.  (If you can say anything in that store is inexpensive, ha!)  Then we had lunch at the food court.

They played on the playground for awhile.  After the third time in about 30 minutes of taking them to the bathroom there we decided to leave.  (Ash told me later it was because I let them drink apple juice all morning)

Last stop before returning to the apartment: gelato at Harmons.  I thought it was sweet when Logan offered James some of his.

When we got back to the apartment the boys wanted to swim again.  They spent the next two hours in the pool.  I fed them a nourishing dinner of corn dogs for dinner afterwards.

We were going to have them stay over one more night, but after hearing that a huge snowstorm was due the next morning we decided to drive them back home later that night.  We definitely crammed a lot into the day and a half we were together, so it was all good. 

I sure love those three little guys.

A wonderful President's Day

 

Sunday after we had visited with most of our family, we took Lily and Jack back to Salt Lake with us.  They didn't have school the next day, because of President's Day.  So they slept overnight.

 

The next morning they were hardly able to eat their waffles because they were so excited to swim in our apartment's indoor pool.

They spent about two hours in the pool with Dave and I trading off being in there with them.

Then Holly and Olivia came down and we all walked over to City Creek.  The kids got some fun stuff at the Disney Store.  Then we ate lunch in the Food Court.  Cody was working down in Salt Lake so he joined us for lunch. Of all the choices there, my adorable, but crazy, grandkids chose McDonald's.  Then they ran around like maniacs in the play area, getting out all of their energy.

 

Dave was anxious for everyone to have a gelato from Harmons.   Lily and Jack said it looked like they were on a date. 

 

Cody had to get back to work, but the rest of us walked over to Temple Square.

The kids wanted to touch the door of the temple.

Olivia didn't want to leave the Christus statue.  She sobbed when we did.

 

It was just a wonderful way to spend our holiday!  Dave and I mentioned it kind of felt like we were on vacation somewhere.  We still haven't gotten completely used to living downtown yet.  But we sure love having visitors! 

Valentines Day 2013

We celebrated by having dinner at Macaroni Grill.  We first went to PF Changs, which was going to be an hour and a half wait.  So we walked over to Macaroni Grill and it ended up being about a 20 minute wait instead.  It was the perfect dinner.  We loved walking there and back, holding hands through the city.  Kind of romantic, I think.  :)  I love my sweetheart.

Cookie Day 2013

 

Even though we moved, at least it's not all that far.  I took the train up to Ogden and Holly and her kids picked me up at the station there.  We had to have our annual Valentine's sugar cookie baking day. Ashley was kind and let us do it at her house this year. 

 

While we were baking the cookies Logan and Liv watched Backyardigans.  Lily, Jack and James were still at school.

I got to hold Brigham.  He is so darn sweet.

I can't look at this picture without laughing.  Logie put the entire cookie in his mouth.  I'm actually surprised he could even find the cookie under all of the sprinkles he put on it.  I love 3 year olds. Livie just nibbled daintily on hers.

When the boys got back from preschool they decorated some cookies, too.

 

Since I was already up in Ogden, Dave drove up after work and we had a family dinner and party for him at his dad's house. 

Since I won't see everyone on Valentine's day, I gave them their cards and gifts.  The older kids got kites and the babies got books.

I'm so glad we can still see everyone pretty often.

Dave celebrates a birthday

My man turned 56 this past Monday.  I managed to find some pans and made him a birthday breakfast of waffles and a fritatta.  (We had walked over to the grocery store late Saturday night to get some food to get us through the weekend.)

 

I spent the day unpacking while Dave enjoyed his 7 minute commute to work.  That evening, after he got off work,  we walked over to City Creek and had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. 

Happy Birthday to my sweetheart!

Country mice become city mice

Saturday, during the snowstorm, we moved to downtown Salt Lake City.

I'm kind of excited to try out the urban lifestyle.  There are so many things to see and do, all within walking distance.

 

 

 

This is the view from one of our balconies.  I especially like it at night, when the capitol is lit up.

 

 

It takes us about 5 minutes to walk to church at the Joseph Smith Memorial building.  I discreetly took this shot during Sunday School.  It literally gave me chills to see the temple just right outside the window.  It was snowing again and looked extra special.

I am going to "seize the day" and try to enjoy as much of the city as I can for the next 6 months or so.

Life's storms

 

January was a month of ups and downs for sure.  We sold our house and had to be out by Jan 31, with not a lot of notice.  The day we began moving stuff out there was a freak ice storm.  My poor dad and uncle almost broke their necks trying to help us.  Then there was a week of heavy snow.  We had to keep stopping our moving process to clear the driveway of snow.  We received over 2 feet in that untimely storm.  Dave damaged his knee (ACL) and I broke my foot and hobbled up and down the stairs for days packing and cleaning in pain.  Then Jud took his boys sledding last Saturday so Ashley could be home with the baby. Jud broke his back while going over a small jump.  But, he wasn't paralyzed and doesn't have to have surgery.  Hopefully he will heal quickly and not have back pain for the rest of his life.  It's so scary.

 

Good-bye, Pleasant View.  We have very happy memories of our 13 1/2 years here.  It is longer than I have lived anywhere in my entire life, even as a child.  We had great neighbors and friends.  In some ways it breaks my heart to leave.  But we aren't going too far.  We have been staying with Dave's dad for a week until we can move into our apartment in downtown Salt Lake City.  We are going to live the urban life for 6 months and then hopefully find a home somewhere between Ogden and Salt Lake.  We are looking for a home in between Dave's work and kids and grandkids.  (Except for Steph and her fam.  We can't quite move between here and Michigan, haha)

I'm going to be hanging on to a lot of great memories of this place.

Welcome baby Brigham!

The other most important thing to happen in 2013 so far is thislittle guy.  Brigham Stone Mason was born to Ashley and Jud  on Jan. 27th.  What a blessing and joy to our family.  Another perfect little boy joins the family.  We couldn't be happier.

 

Two hours old:

Getting his footprints on his birth certificate.

 

 

An 80th birthday party

My dad turned 80 years old on January 20th.  The night before we had a family party for him at their church house.  We ordered Maddox take-out and watched slides that dad had taken over the years.  We saw photos of everything from when he served his mission as a 20 year old in Switzerland to when he served in Germany in the Army.  We also got to see pictures of the airplanes he owned over the years.  And we had some good laughs at each other in family vacation photos.  It was a fun evening, celebrating the life of an amazing man.  We love you, Dad.  Thanks for your example and hard work over the last 80 years!