Lil' Dean Fam

I decided to make a new wreath to hang in January. I call this one "Let it Snow" and boy... did it ever snow in January In Utah in January we have this crazy cycle of weather. We go from TONS of snow to FREEZING cold to INVERSION!  BOO. This was one rare day that was sunny, and also like -2 degrees.   Evan was recognized by his principal for "soaring" on some great classroom work.  I love how our school recognizes kids for their hard work.  TONS of Snow!  I really detest shoveling.  Snow blowing isn't so bad but my back doesn't really love it. I LOVE that this boy is big enough (and willing) to help with the shoveling.  I'd been craving Pho for weeks and weeks, I finally met my good friend Teresa for lunch and had some! Pho 33 in Midvale.  check them out! The icicles at the church are literally 3 feet long.  I was just dying to photograph them.  And the boys were dying to knock them ...

Castles and Solar Systems and Collages, oh my!  Ryan had 5 major school projects due in the month of January.  While I would prefer that the projects were spread out throughout the year, I do enjoy helping my kids with their projects.  We had a lot of fun formulating ideas, making plans, scheduling, and carrying out the work for these projects.  I'm always amazed at the creativity of my kids.   In Science Ryan had to build a solar system model.   Originally we thought we'd buy some styrofoam balls and spray paint them to look like the planets.  When I realized that the supplies to do the project this way was going to cost me over forty dollars, we decided to use some things we already had.  We went to the Dollar Store and bought a few extra bouncy and foam balls and used some bouncy balls we had at home. We spray painted them, drilled holes through them, strung fishing line through them, and attached them to a spray painted and speckled...

Today was some fun family time.  It snowed all day and the sun rarely made an appearance but there weren't any crowds and no one got hurt!   Ryan is a cautious skier.   Evan is a little more confident and enjoys going through the trees and getting air on jumps.  I'm a fair weather skier mostly but I love that my family loves this sport that I enjoy so much.  I've noticed that I can really work on my endurance.  I used to be able to keep up with the boys but as they grow in age and ability on the ski slopes, I have a harder time keeping up my stamina to stay with them.  Skiing with diabetes can be a little challenging but I did pretty well today.   Colin is a good skier.  He's a great sport about it too.  He's been injured skiing a couple of times but he is learning and improving too, and his endurance is way better than mine.  

My little sister Jess worked hard for two long years to complete nursing school.  Part of that time she worked a full-time job.  All of that time she ran her household and raised her babies.  She went to school for long hours, studied seemingly every waking moment, attended labs, clinics, and sat one exam after the other.  She did such a good job in the capstone project that the lead doctor at the facility she worked at offered her a job on the spot.  I'm so proud of all her hard work!  She had a dream, she was determined to reach it, and she gave it her all the entire way through.  I could not be more proud of her!  The video at the end is a compilation of the snap chats she sent me throughout her journey- mission nursing school!   Dad and Jess Emry and Jess Jen and Jess Ryan and Jess Nurses Pledge Jess walking across the stage to get pinned  The Graduating Class 

Recently Justin, Evan, and Ryan got new guns, so obviously we had to take a trip to the desert to try them out.  It was really cold but we bundled up tight and were blessed with a little bit of sunshine.   Ryan with his new .22  Cole, Justin, and Colin