Star wars flicky...

We all divided up into two groups to play Star Wars Flicky...a game the boys made up where you try to destroy your opponents star fleet. Peter and Blaze got pretty competitive which was fun to watch! 

MYSTERY ROOM...

Our good friends, the Peirce's, invited us to attend a Mystery Escape room to celebrate Brita's birthday. Our previous bishop and his wife, the LeSueurs were fellow detectives too. It was so much fun, and much more fun than the previous mystery room James and I had done in November. This was a murder mystery crime scene, and it was much better working with friends to figure things out, We got really close, but didn't solve the mystery by the time allotted Maybe on our third go we will finally get it! Brita and I were unimpressed that our husbands were trying to kill us in these pictures, so Marci did some creative photo shop to make things more appropriate!

CUTE BUDDIES!

Oscar and Blaze get to play together about once a week, and they are the cutest. As soon as Oscar runs through the door, the boys head up stairs and I don't see them for hours unless I got to check on them. But I can hear them playing as though they are Ninja Turtles, Star Wars characters, or the A-Team! And when they eat lunch, Blaze barely finishes his 1/2 sandwich while Oscar scarfs own his whole sandwich and snacks while I turn around to clean up! I love having a kid around here who doesn't have to be begged to eat!

Tournament in Mesquite. ..

Jackson had a two day soccer tournament in Mesquite which James was dreading since his butt was killing him (he bruised it snowboarding a couple weeks before). He put pillows under him in the car for the 4.5 hour ride down. They had fun hanging out wiith the team, especially in the hot tub, but they won one and lost two games. James said it was gorgeous weather and landscape with the red rocks behind the soccer field.

While at home, we had a Star Wars marathon of movies 4,5,and 6, courtesy of our friend Emerie who watches them every weekend but sacrificed them for 24 hours so we could watch them! The kids were way into it, but by Return of the Jedi, I had to get up and do some exercises. I don't know how people can watch consecutive movies...even if it is Star Wars!

Norman Rockwell at BYU...

There has been an exhibit of works by Norman Rockwell at BYU, so while Jackson and James headed to Mesquite for a soccer tournament we went to check it out. It was amazing to see how many decades he covered world news through his Evening Post covers. I would love to study art history! As we looked through each decade, the Christmas issues were inevitably the favorite for my kids. I'm so glad I had a chance to learn more about this iconic artist! I wish Jackson would have been there though...he would have appreciated it with me. It was fun to run into an old friend, Mindy, as she was taking her younger kids to tour the exhibit also! I haven't seen her for close to 9 years, but she looked beautiful as always and hasn't age a day it seemed!

This LOVE statue used to be right outside in the modern art garden.I have a picture of my friends and I climbing and posing on it one day after church our freshman year. Now...you can't even touch it! It's asking to be touched, climbed upon, and LOVED!

BAKING GIFTS...

I was excited to try out this bundt pan that was given to me by Alissa, The chocolate peppermint cake turned out beautifully! I was nervous about how it would come out of the pan, but no problems at all. I also made a Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk cake for a party, and a couple people asked me how I shaped it! So, it's an easy but fancy looking way to make a cake,

I've had fun using my air brush kit my parents gave me for Christmas. It's so easy to use, and the possibilities are endless. I ordered a set of iridescence colors, and they are so beautiful 

SLEDDING...

Luke, Andrea, Peter,, and Max all came over to play on New Year's day. We all braved the outdoors at 15 degrees and sledded for about an hour. It was COLD! The kids didn't care, but we enticed them to come home for pizza! Andrea was around 8 months pregnant, and I was amazed that she sledded down the hill a few times! It was fun to watch the kids make "trains" with their sleds and build ramps to "jump" off of. After our pizza dinner, we played "Forbidden Island" that Luke got for Christmas. It's a cooperative game, meaning the whole group works together to beat the game...which was the sinking island. We thought we were doing pretty well, but we were beat! It was fun to learn a new style of game though, and maybe if we play again we'll beat it!