SAR-Snow and rescue...

Merril's buddies from Search and Rescue asked if he and the fam wanted to go play in the snow up on Kolob for fun.  Merril called home and we got ready as fast as we could but we were still behind the SAR guys.  We were in a truck that Merril was going to fix and then sell and decided that we didn't want to go all the way to the top of Kolob for fear of getting stuck.

So we pulled off and started to play in the snow part way up.

There was plenty of it!

It had snowed a lot the previous couple of days and we were digging it.

We could hear the SAR guys on the radio and knew they were around and just kept playing where we were.  After an hour or so, we were thinking of heading back and saw the SAR guys coming down the road.  The lead guy stopped and said they had happened upon a lady who was stuck in her car.  She had slid off the road, had no cell service and had slept in her car that night, running the engine when she got cold.  She was hoping and praying that someone would happen along but that road is so bad in the winter, the odds of anyone driving it are slim.  These Search and Rescue guys in their huge Jeeps felt a prompting to drive up for a fun Saturday activity and found this poor lady!!  It was supposed to snow a ton more that whole weekend and her odds of survival, with little gear, would have been nil.  When they spotted the car and headed toward her, she jumped out of her car, waving her arms and crying, so thankful she'd been found!  I'm so thankful to know that our Lord is mindful of us and prompted them to head up there.  The SAR guys were prepared with food, water, and tow straps.  They pulled her out and she road down in a Jeep while a SAR guy drove her vehicle down.   

It makes me proud to know that Merril is part of this group of real-life heroes.

New Paint for the Tahoe...

The Tahoe had navy blue paint.  Cracking, peelilng paint.  Merril found a guy who does great paint and body work for a great price!  We had the Tahoe painted black!  The guy even took the doors off and painted the door jams and it looks great!

We got all new head and tail lights too and I feel like the Tahoe looks almost brand new!  Yay! 

Jamie's 35th birthday!

Just after Mikayla's birthday is my birthday!  I turned 35 this year and Merril rented a Dodge Challenger and we Grandma Campbell watched the kids for a night so we could spend a night in Las Vegas!  Wahoo!  Mini VACATION!

It was lots of fun to drive!

There's a new observation wheel in Las Vegas, just like the one we rode in London about 8 years ago.  It's called The High Roller, and it's what we went to Vegas to do.  ( I didn't want to lug a camera so we just used our phones to take pictures.  I kind of wish we had brought a camera.)

 View from the top.

We wanted to go to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory but the power was out in the back of the Forum Shops so that option was out.  We ate dinner at a Mexican Food place instead.

We had dessert crepes at The Paris and watched the volcano show at our hotel, The Mirage.  After we got home, I had some German chocolate cake waiting for me.  

I'm going to have to work pretty hard to top that for Merril's birthday!

Valentines 2015

Valentine's Day started bright and early.  I made pink, heart-shaped pancakes and put a chocolate covered strawberry on their plates.

Towards the afternoon, an Edible Arrangement for me!  I've always thought they looked delicious and Merril ordered one up for me this year!

Between myself and the children, it had disappeared in under 5 minutes.  It was delicious!  Merril is my bestie.  I'm so lucky to spend my days and hours with the person I love most in the world.

Mikayla's 3rd birthday...

I blinked and now I have a 3-year old!  We had a heart-shaped cake and she wanted to put the candles in herself. 

I keep wondering if those lovely, blonde curls will go away or relax.  However long she keeps them, we'll play them up.

And then my girls pulled together for this picture.  It's my latest favorite!

Horrible dream...

The other night, Mikayla woke me up at 1:00 a.m. to tell me she'd thrown up.  So after changing sheets and washing silky blankie, we went to sleep in the spare bed.  I was asleep quickly but had the most horrible dream.  I dreamed that the kids and I were outside.  I was across the street, talking with my neighbor, Dana.  We heard a plane, and turned to see a small aircraft flying rather low behind my house.  Something fell off the plane and once the object hit the ground, lava poured into the street.  I yelled at the kids to get out of the way, "Move! Move!"  Little Mark was in the middle of the road and the lava surrounded him.  He started crying and tried to keep his feet out of the lava but it surrounded him.  I tried to get to him and screamed, "Merril!" because he was closer to Mark.  He was able to reach in and pull him out of the lava.  My heart was tight.  We ran up my Dana's driveway and there was a kiddie pool with water.  Mark had lava on his feet, hands, and it had splashed on his face.  We put him in the water and I was just sick, thinking about his little feet and how they probably wouldn't be able to save them.  I was screaming and sobbing and then I woke up.
I'm so sorry I couldn't save you!  I'm sorry I wasn't fast enough to protect you!

I lay there, blinking in the dark with my heart pounding.  I was so sad thinking about how I couldn't help Mark when his little feet were burning up.  I was so far away and couldn't get there for him.  I dislike dreams like this.  It probably took me 45 minutes to calm down enough to fall asleep again.

Thankfully, it was only a dream and my little guy is smiling at me today!

NO MORE BRACES!

Wow!  It's been a year and a half and Jack finally got his braces off!  His teeth are looking great.

I can hardly believe his one front tooth lined up behind his bottom.

And now he has to wear a retainer at night.  I had completely forgotten about retainers!  Hopefully he doesn't lose it!!