Daisy's baptism day

 Last Ditch Effort to Catch Some Snow

Two weekends ago we were right smack in the middle of Spring Break and a huge snowstorm brought well over a foot of snow to various parts of the state including Show Low. I really wanted to take the kids up, not only to play in the snow, but also to give us something special to do over the break so we (translate: I) weren't just counting down the days until school started again. I put an open invitation out on Facebook to any of my other Mom friends to see if they would like to take a trip up without husbands (it was a Wednesday to Friday trip, March 28-30). At first nobody obliged and I wasn't going to go, but at the last minute a friend (Emrie) from the ward took me up on that offer. She has four kids under six, so with my four and her four we had our hands full! It was a lot of work for us, but it is certainly rewarding to sacrifice some comfort to see our kids have a fun time (plus I'm sure they stayed way busier at the cabin than they would of at home). We only stayed in Show Low for two nights so it wasn't a long trip, but there was plenty of mud and snow to play in and quad rides to be taken.

Who doesn't love tractor parts?

During the day the weather was in the 60s!

Adaira & Miles. They are the same age and were Sunbeams together and went to the same preschool. It didn't take them long to reconnect - in fact sometimes I worry that Adaira gets along all too easy with boys :p

Always room for one more, right?

Brighton loves to be a chauffeur. He is way too young to be riding, but we have a rule that he can't go above 3rd gear and he follows it very well. Even in 3rd he can get going too fast for my comfort so I did have to kick him off a couple of times because he wasn't being as cautious as an 8 year old should be.

 Dale played on Grandpa's tractor in the shed for a good hour

 How cute are all these kids?

 Such a darling girl, right?

 Unfortunately it was just so.dang.muddy.

 The day we went up to the cabin was actually Miles' 6th birthday, so he (with Brighton's help) got to decorate his cake and all the kids got to enjoy it!

 Notice Brighton with the lighter below. That kid is SUCH a pyro. He was more than happy to light the candles on the cake. At home I've had to hide all our lighters because every ten minutes, he's at the junk drawer with a lighter just lighting it and blowing it out, or lighting my scented candle and blowing it out, dipping his fingers in the wax, etc... It's like he can't even walk past the drawer without stopping to play with the lighter for 30 seconds.

 I must have been feeding Daisy, because I don't remember the whole cake on the nose bit...

Getting a drink from some fresh running snow melt

 I couldn't believe how fast the snow was melting. It looked like this the day we arrived:

 Dale is starting to pick up new words more often now. In the picture below he was throwing snow at me and saying "Gotcha!"  I love to hear Dale language, I could seriously sit and listen to him talk to me all day. It won't be nearly as cute when he actually speaks clearly and correctly!

Our tiny snowman. Neither Emrie or I felt like making anything bigger, which was good because I'm pretty sure the head got knocked off this one about 10 seconds after I took this picture.

 We found a little hill and thought maybe the kids could tube down. They all piled into the tube, and then it didn't budge. We got everyone out but Miles and Adaira, and it still wouldn't slide even if we pushed it. FAIL!

These horses escaped from someone's corral. They were super friendly and super muddy. They decided to hang out at the cabin all day on Thursday.

 The horses munched on the grass and laid down and napped. Shortly after I took the picture below I walked around and was inspecting my parents fruit trees behind where this horse is. Suddenly I hear this horse trotting toward me and look to see none other than Dale chasing it and swatting at it's tail. The horse was moving away and looking back at Dale chasing immediately behind him. In my mind I pictured that horse just kicking Dale in the head and doing some serious damage. I panicked and screamed as loud as I could at Dale while running toward him to get him to stop right in his tracks (because he doesn't typically follow directions). He stopped and was a little hurt that I had reacted that way at him. I'm just glad that horse didn't kick my sweet boy...

Gotta love my receding hairline. I'm nearing the end of my post-baby hair loss. I can't even run my fingers through my hair without 8-10 hairs coming out every time.  Soon I'll have a layer of new hair growing all around my hairline, fun times...

This is what it looked like like the day we left!

The drive home was pretty nice with the three kids in back sleeping most of the way.

 They all woke up about 45 minutes from home. You can see what a sweet big brother Brighton is as he is talking and trying to keep Daisy happy below:

 I had Dale up in the passenger seat. The passenger airbag does not turn on unless there is a certain amount of weight in the front seat (80lbs I think). That way I could help entertain Dale so he wouldn't just cry and keep Daisy awake. As you can see, Dale didn't do so well on the ride home...

Oh well, I was able to guilt Brighton and Adaira into cleaning a lot of the house for me when we got home and a way of thanking me for their trip. It was nice to relax with a clean house after being on my own with all of them for three days!