Snowshoeing in Nebraska?

Ok, so we didn't really go snowshoeing in Nebraska this week.  But I did have to give my state report at school this week about the state of Nebraska.  And we did go snowshoeing yesterday here in Utah.

 

So first up - for you hard core Mason fans, I present a full six minute video of my Nebraska state report.  Dad and Sam were able to come watch it.  So for everyone else, enjoy.  Or not - it's good if I do say so myself, but it is six minutes long.  That's a long video.

And then we have a plethora of snowshoeing pictures for you.  It was an amazingly beautiful early spring day yesterday.  Temperatures were in the low 50's and there was hardly a cloud in the sky.  We headed up to our local Nordic Center and spent the day out in the snow.  

Here we are crossing the bridge with dad.  Can you believe how deep the snow is?  It's up to the top of the railings.

 

Here's Sam getting a tow up hill from dad.  

 And then there's me - I spent the majority of my  time lounging around . . . .

 

. . . . or laying in the snow.  I had soooooo much fun! 

 

Here's the family for a quick pose.  Look at that blue, blue sky!

 

We snowshoed about a mile around the lake (frozen lake that is).  It really is so much fun - if you've never tried it, you really need to. 

 

 Dad even spent a little time laying around in the snow - although not on purpose.  He tripped himself up on his snowshoes. 

 But while he was down, he took this great shot up to the sky.  Pretty cool, huh!

 Proof that he actually made it back up to a vertical position. 

That's us three boys hiding in the trees.

 And one more quick shot of the whole family. 

 We couldn't miss out on a picture with mom.  It's possible that she may actually enjoy snowshoeing more than the rest of us put together.

 

 Here we are coming back to "the stable" - ok not really a stable, but the main building.  Sam decided it looked cool to walk with poles, so he stole one of mom's poles.  It was way too tall for him, but he didn't care.

We ended our wonderful afternoon with a picnic lunch in the back of dad's truck.  It was a great, great day!  

 

Sam Alert:  Hey everyone.  I present two cute pics of me from this week. 

First up - me having a super great dinner of spaghetti-o's the other night.  Mason and I cooked dinner for the family that night.  Mason fixed the spaghetti-o's and I fried up some eggs for mom.  Dad was on his own - I think he made some toast.  

And second - a perfect picture of me out snowshoeing yesterday.  I {LoVeD} being outside.  It was warm and wonderful.  I was in heaven!  We're going to try fitting in one more snowshoeing trip this year before all the snow melts.  

Sam out - have a great week!

Aliens, Science, and Flying

Isn't it great to have holidays in January and February?  It's a day off for the whole family and on this last Monday, we slept in, had a great breakfast, and headed out to our local movie theater.  We were the only ones there for the first little while (this is an old theater that not a lot of people go to - but we love it, mainly because it's not super busy).  So we literally had the full run of the place.  And we ran, and ran, and ran.  It was really good for tiring out some energetic boys!  And then the movie started and it was great.  Escape from Planet Earth - two thumbs up!

After the movie we headed out for some ice cream.  Mmmm, mmmm, good!

It is science fair time and we did a class project this year about plants.  My group's question was could plants grow without soil?  We presented our findings to our families on Friday.  It was lots of fun - we learned lots.  Here is my group presenting what we learned.

And here I am with my best friends at school.  We have so much fun together!

Here I am with our project board, my plant, and my lab journal.

 

We even wrote a Haiku poem and made a painting to go along with our science project.

 

Finally, here I am with the seeds that our class sprouted.  I love science!

Sam Alert:  Hey everyone.  Sam here.  I thought I'd share a short video of me from this week.  One day after school, I was awfully quiet.  Mom was fixing dinner and Mason was doing his homework.  All of a sudden, I started making some noise - after I prepared my "landing zone" I started "flying" through the air.  Take a look and see - 7 stairs without a running start.  (Sorry for another sideways video - when will mom learn that you can't turn the camera sideways when making a video?  Mom!)

Here I am with Mason at his science fair.  He is showing me his poem and painting.

I can't wait until next year when I get to participate in the science fair! 

Sam out!  Love you!

A Hint of Spring

 We're starting to see some signs of the coming spring . . . finally!  And it is pretty exciting! 

 

First up though - we finished up our Year of the Snake craft this week.  They're neat huh? 



And here we are "helping" dad play a game on his iPad.  

 Saturday was a beautiful pre-spring day.  We took advantage of it and headed to the mountains.  We drove up to Logan and headed up a canyon to the Hardware Ranch to take a sleigh ride out to see some elk.

 

Here we are headed out on the sleigh.

 

It was definitely a small elk winter area as compared to Jackson, but there were a couple of decent sized bull elk.

 

 

 

These three little ladies came running down the hill while we were out.  They were afraid they were going to miss out on lunch.

 

It was a beautiful day!  

We loved the sleigh ride!  Although we did wonder where the jingle bells were.

Here I am with our horses!  They worked hard and pulled well.

Sam Alert:  Hey everyone.  Can you guess that I absolutely loved being outside yesterday?  It was wonderful!  Mostly warm and sunny.  The fresh air.  

Mom and I made this short video for you.  Sorry it's sideways, but tilt you head and watch for a few seconds.  I call it Peanut Butter and Jelly.  He he he!

 I'm quite the ham!  See you next week.

The Year of the Snake

 Happy Chinese New Year everyone! More on that later.  First up:

 

It was a relatively quiet week around our house.  Here we are with daddy having a nice weeknight dinner.  (I photo bombed the picture actually! He He He!) 

 

Here I am with the cat that adopted us last summer - Shadow.  She loves my bed!  She has a few quiet spots around the house that she loves to sleep in and my bed is one of them.  This is where we found her when we came home from school one day.

 

And here I am playing in the ball bucket one night.  Daddy snuck in and snapped this picture before I knew it. 

 

I got to go to a birthday party for one of my very best friends from school this weekend.  It was at the local aquarium and boy was it fun.  Here I am on my way out the door to the party.

 

In this picture, Sam and I are working on our hand print Valentines.   The space between the thumb and first finger make a heart when you cut them out on the fold. 

 

And we went out for a super yummy Asian dinner to celebrate Chinese New Year last night.  Mmmm, Mmmm, good!  This is me being a Utensil Samurai.

 

And this is mommy and Sam as we were waiting for our dinner to arrive.  Sushi, fried rice, and orange chicken - - oh and a little Mac and Cheese for the boys.  

 

 Sam Alert:  Howdy - Sam here.  Mason and I had a wonderful weekend playing around the house.  In fact, it was so much fun that at one point on Saturday afternoon, you literally couldn't walk through the house without stepping all over toys.  Anyway - one of the things Mason and I like to do is to write notes for each other on our magnetic tablets.  It may be hard to read in this picture but this Saturday, our notes read:  "Sambo you are my friend" and "Mason you are my friend".  The parents seem to love days when we get a long. 

Have a great week everybody!

While Mom Is Away . . . . .

 Mom had to be away for work this week so us boys were all on our own.  And because of that . . . nothing much happened.  We worked and went to school.  We ate up all the leftovers mom left for us.  We tried to keep the house mostly organized.  We shoveled a lot of snow - while she was in warm, sunny lands.  

Uncle Noley and Aunt Christy came over one evening and kept us busy.  We played and wrestled and then when everyone was tired, we wrestled some more.  

Why is it that Sam always seems to end up on the top?

 

And we Skyped with mommy while we wrestled.   Now that's talent!

 

We also celebrated dad's birthday this weekend.  We went to dinner with Grandpa and Grandma L.  We made a cake and made him blow out a huge candle.  We sang happy birthday to him. 

Dad reports that he is 102 years old this year.  Wow!  That's all we can say about that!

 Sam Alert:  Hey y'all.  I have one picture for you this week.  Daddy took this picture one morning while mom was gone.  I was lonely and decided to sleep in mommy's spot one night.  This is what I looked like when dad woke up the next morning.  Yes - I am a crazy sleeper!!!

 

Sam out - have a great week.