*January*

January was quite lovely. It was a nice balance of big and everyday activities and I relished every moment I could relax because busier times are just around the corner. And the fact that it was unseasonably warm made January not so dreary and actually enjoyable.

Some highlights include:

Watching my darling nieces while my sister and brother in law celebrated their anniversary. I had so much fun. We walked around their neighborhood for a bit collecting pinecones. I never tired of little O urging me to find "mo pinecone" and miss C's declarations that "this is the most beautiful pinecone in her collection." We decided to head over to Wendy's for lunch and then choose a treat from the Sweet Tooth Fairy. There was just enough time for makeovers when we arrived home before mom and dad's date was over.

I was taken to the special clubhouse ( a small linen closet in the basement) and then they closed the door and talked in whispers. They sat so still and perfect for their makeovers and I was lucky enough to get my own.



Luke continued playing basketball and did pretty well. His team was terrible so it was a bit painful to watch games sometimes but Luke tried his best and had fun so that is what matters. Right?

Because of Jr. Jazz, Luke received a free ticket to sit in the boonies at the Energy Solutions Arena to watch the ants play ball. Fortunately, Justin gets tickets that are in the lower bowl from his job so he took the older three boys to the game and I toted Liam to the movie theater to see the most recent Chipmunk flick.

Dumbest. movie. ever. but Liam loved it and it was fun just spending time with my littlest man and not having other obligations pulling me every which way. When I asked him what his favorite part of the movie was, he emphatically stated "ALL of it."

We (I say WE because even though it was Andrew's project, it was really mine with Andrew's name on it) had a science fair project to see which brand and flavor of gum lasts the longest. Just so you know, it is 5 gum, mint flavor. You're welcome. Here is Andrew showing off his knowledge at the science fair and Liam had to get in on the action.



Then on Martin Luther King day since everyone had the day off we headed up to the new and improved Museum of Natural History at the U. It is pretty darn amazing. I loved it even that much more because I got in free due to me being an employee of the hospital. Score!

There are so many hands on exhibits to explore and one of the favorite sites was the underground dig that you could walk over. It was pretty funny to watch Liam tentatively step on the glass because he thought he would fall into the ground.




Of course there were dinosaurs and gemstones. I loved looking at the Native American exhibit and the huge display of butterflies. It looks like we have one that morphed into some sort of insect before we left.








After we had perused to our hearts' content, I suggested we go to the Pie for lunch. My never ending complainer son whined that everytime we go out we get pizza. For one, we don't go out that often. And two, I think we have gone out for pizza once. Like a couple years ago. And his argument is that he wanted to go somewhere good. Like McDonalds.

I ignored the complaining and said that he would love this place because there is a lot of food and the atmosphere is fun. It didn't really stop the grumbling but he reluctantly agreed.

When we walked in, the boys were a little frightened and said the place looked weird. I think they warmed up nicely once the food came out.



There was a chorus of "ahhhhhs" when the cheesy breadsticks came out and the cheese just kept coming as you pulled them apart. They loved the pizza and the never ending sodas. I think it is a keeper...even for Andrew.



And last but not least, Santa brought Justin, Nick, Andrew, and myself tickets to see Brian Regan.

We wanted to go to our favorite special occasion restaurant but they are only opened on the weekends and we ended up with opening night tickets on a Wednesday. So we ended up at another long time fave the Dodo.




We then laughed the night away in the company of, in my opinion, the best stand up comic out there. I also loved watching the boys' reactions to him and hearing their comments. My favorite was when Nick squeaked out "I can't breathe" with a huge smile on his face and tears running down his cheeks from laughing so hard.



Nick started baseball practice, there were playdates, I went on a few lunch dates, I gave a talk in Relief Society, the boys went with Justin to the batting cage, and Liam had an eye appointment in which the doctor declared that "his eyes are the best they have ever been."

What joyous and sweet music to my ears.

More to come!