How to raise a dinosaur

Living in such a small area, we don't get to see a whole lot of amazing things. On TV, yes. On the internet, sure. But actually here? Very rarely. But, we do have a museum in Idaho Falls and somehow, it seems to get pretty great exhibits. Small, but still great.

The most recent exhibit is called Teeth, Tails and Trouble: A T. rex named Sue and How to Raise a Dinosaur. Sue, the T. Rex came to Idaho Falls about 10 years ago and we went to see him then. Of course we didn't have any kids, then. When I heard it was coming back, I knew it was a must for our family.

So, on President's Day we went.

When I was about 7 or 8 I was obsessed with dinosaurs. I secretly hope one of our kids will catch dinosaur fever too. They are just so fascinating to me.

The awesome thing about Sue is she is the most complete T. rex skeleton in existence (about 90% complete).

I think the kids got a little bored of listening to me read every single display to them. But overall, I think they had a pretty great experience.

I'm already planning our next dinosaur learning adventures. The Thanksgiving Point Museum of Ancient Life isn't very far. And of course, there is always Dinosaur Land.

Valentine's Day

What's not to love about Valentine's day? I love having the kids old enough to get so excited. They talked for weeks ahead of time about their school parties. It's really cute.

Here's a few pics from V-day this year:

Dave surprised me with an awesome present this year. It was a real rose that has been preserved and hand dipped in 24 karat gold. It's gorgeous! And, difficult to photograph. I did the best I could, but a lot of the detail is lost. It is really amazing in real life!

Blog?

Wanna know why I don't blog anymore? I bet you're dying to hear the reason (assuming anyone is still out there even reading). It's because of this little boy:

Oh....he looks cute and innocent enough. And mostly he is. But, he's also T-W-O.


Wanna know what else I can't do besides blogging?

Vacuum, fold laundry, wash dishes, pay bills, cook dinner, shower, clean the bathroom (especially the toilet), help anyone with their homework, and pretty much anything else that diverts my attention away from him.

And on the off chance that he isn't demanding my undivided attention, you can bet that he'll be found knee deep in a two-year-old kind of mess.

But, ya know what? I wouldn't have it any other way because I know that in just a short while he won't even want to give me kisses anymore.

So....as far as this blog goes. I'll eventually catch up. He'll eventually outgrow his needy stage and grow up. And I know I'll look back and miss this.

Christmas at the Websters Part 1

I guess I better finish getting caught up on this blogaroo! It's taken me 3 days to get this post up. Hopefully more will come soon.

We had a VERY eventful and exciting Christmas season this year. It seemed to be going non stop, but in the enjoying-every-minute kind of way.

Because of Bria's baptism, Grandma Martin got to come up and visit all the way from New Mexico! She was so much fun to have here! Not only do the kids always love her visiting, but she was a tremendous help getting Christmas ready (like wrapping, wrapping and more wrapping).

We had so many goings on, that when I sat down to write this post, I realized there was NO WAY I could sum everything up in just one part. I think I can do it in three. Here's the first part:

Trimming the Tree:

We usually have a Tree Decorating Family Home Evening every year. The kids LOVE it! Our tree is super simply. Pretty much just ornaments. But, it's a fun family tradition to decorate.

Our newest Family Member:

We were very blessed to get a new member of our family this year. His name is Snowic. The kids got to name him themselves. Bria wanted Snowflake and Max wanted Sonic (in homage for his love of all things Wii). We decided to compromise and combine the two ideas.

He's an Elf on the Shelf delivered straight to our house by Santa himself. The kids were having a hard time behaving before Christmas, so Santa sent an Elf to watch over them. Every night, Snowic would fly to the North Pole and tell Santa just how good the kids were during the day. Every morning, the kids would wake up and find Snowic somewhere new. It was so fun! The only complaint I had is the kids were really excited and woke up earlier and earlier every morning to find Snowic.

Snowic played all kinds of tricks on our kids; including, but not limited to, drawing funny faces on our family picture, drinking all of the syrup, making a snow angel in our sugar and even cutting out very intricate snowflakes. We definitely got a mischievous elf.

Mountain River Ranch:

While my mom was here, we wanted to do some fun Christmas things. She was so nice and treated us all to a visit to Mountian River Ranch. It's a ranch that is pretty close to our house. During Christmas, they have a fun dinner show that even includes a horse drawn sleigh ride. And their food. It was amazing! That was a really fun night.

Temple Square:

Last, but not least, we finished up our visit with Grandma at Temple Square. We haven't been in a few years and Grandpa has never been. As her Christmas present, Grandma flew in Grandpa and Orion just to spend the evening at Temple Square. It was a very memorable experience. I love going to Temple Square at Christmastime!

 No trip to Salt Lake is complete without a doughnut run on the way home. I think Logan might be a little worn out. Poor guy!

We had a ghost picture "outtake". Dave had the shutter speed on slow and Bria happened to walk right in front on the camera. It's quite strange that she had zombie arms. It wasn't on purpose.