November 24, 2012

Future Make-up Artists

The other day Jade had her friend Gabby over.  They were so adorable and were really good about letting Ivy play with them.  For a while Ivy was doing a fashion show for them and they were judging her.  Scott recommended I set up my old camera on a tripod and let them use my make-up.  



I did not expect this as the outcome….
 

But they sure did have a blast!   

And I really can't get over what an amazing job Jade did on Ivy.  Scary!
 
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November 12, 2012

Crystal Hot Springs in the Cold

Have you ever been crazy enough to go swimming in an outdoor pool in the middle of a snow storm or the morning after?

We make it an annual tradition.  

Crystal Hot Springs in Honeyville is a natural mineral hot springs resort.  There are water slides, lap pools and 3 very hot tubs and a pleasantly hot pool.  The only pictures you will see from our winter visits of the hot springs is from inside the water.  Cause it is WAY too cold to stand around snapping away.

This was the first time Jade did the water slides and she loved it.  Ivy just has a blast hanging out and playing in the water.

This year we went with our friends, the Ridings.  Scott's parents also joined us a little bit into the soak.  It was wonderful to just sit and visit without feeling like there were other things we needed to be doing.

A couple quick pointers - 1) Don't wear a white swimsuit.  The minerals can stain it yellow.  2)  Make sure you rinse off really well after or you will be itchy.  3)  Bring a bottle of water with you otherwise you will get dehydrated.  4)  The kids LOVE getting an ice cream.  Really, who wouldn't think it was cool to eat an ice cream outside in the snow while swimming?

 
 
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November 11, 2012

The First Real Snow of Winter 2012

Some say this is going to be a mild winter.  With our first real snowstorm being the 10th of November there is definitely the possibility for a heavy or a mild winter.  I'm crossing my fingers for a heavy year with lots of snow days.  Those are my favorite kind of days.  

We had our first day of snow up in Brigham City.  As it turns out being further north than normal did not mean we got more snow.  In fact, my parents got almost a foot in Orem.  

The girls had a blast playing in the snow after Jade got home from duck hunting.  Somehow neither one of them minded that they didn't have snow pants or good boots.

 
 

November 10, 2012

First Time Duck Hunter

The alarm on Scott's phone was set for 5:25 am.  The clock on the nightstand hadn't been changed for daylight savings.  I woke up and looked at the clock and it said 5:30.  I waited a few more minutes just in case Scott had changed his mind about how much time they needed.  Five minutes went by and no alarm.  So being a good wife, I asked him what time he needed to get up.  He looked at the clock and said in a panic "10 minutes ago!" and then looked at his phone and with a yawn said "or in 50 minutes."

Oops - not a great way for me to start the early morning.

25 minutes later, Jade comes in and says, "Mom, don't we need to be leaving?  It's nearly 6 o'clock." - Guess she was pretty excited to get to go duck hunting with dad.


They went to the motel and picked up Jason and Topher and headed out for their cold 30 degree morning in the water.


 They saw a duck.  Scott shot at him.  They didn't kill or injure any ducks at all.


The only mishap for the morning was when Jade was telling Jason a funny story and was acting it out and fell into the water.  Her waders are only thigh high so it meant they filled with ice cold water.  She tried really hard to be a big girl and not cry but darn it, that was some cold water and they had to practically hold her upside down to drain her waders.  In the end she had some crocodile sized tears and a great story to tell.


The four of them had a great time and they are both excited to go again.  I'll still keep my fingers crossed that there are no duck casualties.  
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November 9, 2012

Leaves before the storm


The leaves have not wanted to fall from our trees.  Which means I have been lucky to have a beautiful view for weeks.  My favorite time is at sunset (or the golden hour) because the leaves are spectacular.  But we knew it would have to come to an end at some point.  We live in Utah - so it was bound to happen sooner or later.

The forecast for the weekend said it was going to storm and that the wind would pick up the day prior to the snowfall.  Which for us would mean all of the leaves would fall at once and we would have to gather them in the dark.

I took Ivy out to play in the leaves for just a minute before it got too dark and too cold.  Funny little girl can find joy in the littlest things.  That is one of the things that I love about her.

Pretty soon it was too dark to capture her playing (even with the flash, a high ISO and a slow shutter).  But we were left with an absolutely beautiful sky.

Scott got home just after this beautiful sky faded to black.  He and Ivy went back out to the yard and gathered leaves by the light of the our two small outside lights.  She had a blast and we don't have too many soggy leaves now that the storm has hit.
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October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween from the Sanford girls

This year we had a clown, a pantomime and a fortune teller.  I have to say, these are two of my favorite costumes our girls have picked out.  They both did such a great job embracing their character and had a blast all day.  The costumes were not the hardest to put together (last year's costumes required a great deal more time and effort) but this year's costumes have re-usable parts.  And that I love!
 
 


Every year I am a witch of some sort.  This year, I decided on some gypsy flare and some belly dancing jingles.  It wasn't the traditional "witch" but it worked.


Happy Halloween from the Sanford Family!
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October 28, 2012

We have a cool dad

I don't know where he saw it, but I'm sure glad he did.  For breakfast, while I was preparing my Sharing Time lesson, Scott made these extra special waffles.  There was some trial and error but in the end, they turned out pretty awesome.  

 


Pointers from the chef?  

  1. Don't have your waffle iron as hot as you normally would because you have to pour multiple colors and you want them to blend and cook together.  
  2. Don't cook them for very long.  Once they start to brown, you won't see the colors as well.

Thanks Daddy, for making a very special Sunday breakfast!
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October 27, 2012

October Full Moon

I am fascinated by the sky, the clouds, the moon, sunsets and sunrises.  So as Scott was running an errand and saw the full moon over Timp, he was thoughtful enough to call me to check it out.  I ran out but by the time I had my camera, the moon was higher than it had been and the sunset was darker.  But I still managed to get a couple pretty fun pictures.

 
 

Vineyard's Corn Maze Postcards

One of the fun things that the kids get to do at the Vineyard Corn Maze is take pictures in their postcard frames.  The kids all argue over who gets to be in which hole but in the end, they almost all look happy and adorable.

 
 
 
 
 
 
As you can tell, not everyone was thrilled about more pictures.  :)

Not quite a tradition - but we've done it a few times

Unfortunately I don't get to participate in many of the camp grandma activities that my girls get to do with my mom and sister.  When I do, I tend to take lots of pictures to capture the memories forever.  (The girls need to know that my job doesn't keep me from all of the fun).

My mom and I took the 5 Utah grand kids (minus Sammy) and went and enjoyed the crisp fall air and the challenging maze down at Vineyard.  This year the secret room was much harder to find than it has been in the past.  For awhile there was one of the kids being very cocky that he knew exactly how to get there because he ALWAYS is the one to find it.  We went past the entrance to the secret room at least 4 or 5 times until we figured it out.  



The secret room was a "Very Merry Un-Birthday" party to go along with the Alice in Wonderland theme they had used throughout the maze.


I am so glad I was able to go and participate in some of the Halloween festivities. 

The Results of a Holiday Sleepover

A sleepover at Grandpa and Grandma's is never just a sleepover.  

We had to have the girls there by 6:00 in the evening for Aunt Anne's Chicken Curry and then they were off to a special Halloween Play.

(Scott and I had a very quiet and lazy night.  I don't think we moved from in front of the TV).

The next morning all of the kids played on the new swing set, watched Face Off and did pumpkins.  By "did pumpkins", I mean they carved some and they painted some....

 
 
 
 
And that was all before it was time to go to the Corn Maze.

I love that they have so much fun crafting with my folks.  And I'm glad that they can go and provide smiley faces and giggles for my dad.  He needs all of the medicine laughter can provide!

October 23, 2012

Crazy Hair Day 2012

Both girls were very pleased with their up do's for Crazy Hair Day.  And I have to say, I think that this year is my favorite as well.

 
 
 
 

October 15, 2012

A dad and his boys, I mean girls

After we spent the weekend in Yellowstone and Scott was remembering all the fun he used to have with his dad and grandpa hunting, he decided it was time to teach his girls how to shoot.


We went to Cabela's and found a pellet/bb gun and found a location near by that would allow us to shoot at targets.  (Shooting a pellet gun is different than shooting a real gun because the pellet is shot with air instead of gun powder).  So we headed out to the other side of the lake for Family Home Evening.

I was really impressed with how well the girls did.  They both struggled to keep one eye closed so we were glad to have the work around of an orange headband our stylish younger one had worn.

It wasn't easy getting them to feel where to hold it against their cheek and there were times the gun was more resting on their shoulders but eventually they caught on.

We all took turns and had fun racing up to see if we'd hit anywhere on the target and were always thrilled when we actually nailed it.   As you can see below, we hit the apple a couple of times, tore through the can and grazed the yogurt bottle.  But we have several hits on the wood.  Which, in my book is pretty darn good.

The kids loved it and are looking forward to going out again.