Fax Machines

The past few days Justin has needed me to send faxes for him from home while he's at work. The kids are enamored with our fax machine. When they ask what I'm doing, I usually respond saying something to the effect that I'm sending papers for Dad.

Wednesday's are kind of hard around the Rammell house. Justin has class at the U until 8:30. So the kids don't see him all day long and we all miss him. Today about 4:30 Justin called us while he was on his way to class. He said he was starving and needed some food. He was meaning he needed to stop somewhere and grab a bite to eat before class, but Isaac came up with his own solution.

Yes, that is our play food from our kitchen shoved in our printers. Isaac thought they were both fax machines and he was trying to send some chicken nuggets, an apple turnover, a roll, a knife, a plate and a blender to Dad for dinner. Isaac just kept repeating, Mom help, they're not sending.

I LOVE the way kids minds work.

p.s pardon the messy hair. Wednesday is our lazy day...

East Fork Yurt

Do you know what a Yurt is? I'd heard of them before and heard of people staying in them on backpacking and camping trips, but I'd never seen one.

After months of hoping and waiting, we finally got a night at the East Fork Yurt in the Uinta mountains. After searching the internet for a good way to get the kids up there, we decided to improvise. Justin had been reading a few blogs and such about pulling sleds while cross country skiing and decided he'd convert our jogging stroller into a sled. Canyon Sports gave us some old skies that he attached to our stroller. We put a big tub on the back for supplies and we were off. (yes, the Momma was VERY nervous about this whole trip!)

The Yurt was a mile and a half from the trail head. The snow on the way in was terrible -- wet and sticky, and the trail was all up hill. It took about 3 hours to get into the Yurt and the kids slept in the 'sled' most of the way. Thank heavens Justin was pulling the sled and kids, not me. We would have turned around and headed back at the first hill if I had my way :)

After getting unloaded, Isaac put on his snowshoes and searched for "winter animals." He found a set of tracks and followed them for about an hour. Grace was content to throw snow at Dad eat chips. Justin kept the fire blazing day and night and we stayed pretty warm considering the overnight low was 9 degrees!!

We left for home around lunch. When we started packing up, both kids bawled. Isaac just kept chanting 'I want to stay another night at the yurt.' I think our kids would live outdoors if I'd let them. The trail was hard packed and slick on the way out. We got back to the car in about 45 minutes! If you're up for winter camping, may I suggest a Yurt? It was the perfect little family vacation. Can't wait for next year!

Giggers!

We have spent our week curled up on the couch (now facing the living room window) watching an endless procession of Giggers, as Grace calls them. The kids sit and stare ALL.DAY.LONG. Sandy City decided to install storm drains up our road. The major bummer is that the water from our backyard creek will now be going through a pipe under the road. It'll be nice to expand our yard but sad not to hear that rushing water in Spring. I hope our raspberries survive!

Our mailbox will also be upgraded after a gigger got a little too close.

Our laugh of the week came when Isaac told me that "when mom and I grow up to be mans, we are going to drive those diggers!"

Happy Birthday Isaac!

Isaac is 3!

A few weeks ago I asked him what he wanted for this birthday. All he would say is green. Then it was a green cake. Then it was a green alligator cake. Then is was a green alligator cake and a superhero cape. Alligators and superheros go together, right?

Isaac is one spoiled little monster. We started out celebrating with a family party on Saturday. He had tons of family show up to wish him a happy birthday. Justin and I decided we'd play some superhero games to help keep the kids entertained, we had 12 kids at our house and 11 of the 12 are under 7 years old. I made them all superhero capes and Justin came up with a superhero training camp they had to go through in order to earn their cape. They had to walk a balance beam, hop on stones across a 'lava' river, climb a tree to rescue a kitten and karate chop some boards (sheet rock pieces with the back sides scored) to prove their strength. I think they all had fun and they look pretty cute in their capes!

Tuesday was Isaac's real birthday, so we thought we'd have some neighborhood friends over to play. Again, Isaac was spoiled and had tons of fun playing with his friends.

Right now Isaac is totally into ANYTHING green, dinosaurs and twizlers. He is starting to discover that a sister can actually be fun and he really enjoys coloring. He will color for hours! He is VERY shy, but once you get him out of his shell, there's no stopping him. We're so lucky to have our little 'monster.'