The Snow Fort

You have to excuse all the snow pictures...it just doesn't happen that much around here so we get excited. There are snowmen all over the neighborhood. Even families who have their kids in junior high and high school, still have snowmen in their yards!

Since it was a snow day, we had a lot of time to do nothing. (I actually had a lot planned to do while Courtney was at preschool and Ethan was at school, but some things just don't go as planned.) So we bundled up and went outside to play in the cold stuff. You can tell that we have lived in warm weather for a while because we don't have water proof gloves for the kids and Courtney refuses to wear pants (at least I got her in boots today). But we had a lot of fun.

We made a snowman in the front yard, but when Ethan and I finally got it good, Courtney knocked him down. The last snowman we did in the front was destroyed by the neighbor boy, so we haven't had luck with snowmen.

When Courtney went down for a nap, Ethan and I took some small garbage cans and built a snow fort in the back yard. I wanted to make it higher, but his hands were wet and freezing and I didn't want to do it all by myself. But we had enough snow in the backyard that it could have been really high. It was a lot of fun and brought back a lot of memories of making snow forts when I was a kid.

The only downer of the day is that we ran out of cocoa mix! Actually, I'm sure there is some more downstairs, but I wasn't in the mood to go looking for it. So we ended up having popcorn after we played in the snow, which the kids thought was just as good.

Ethan prayed that school would be back tomorrow.

Here are some photos:

Ethan's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

We woke up this morning to another couple of inches of snow on the ground. Ethan ran out to get the newspaper and opened it to get the comics. I pulled out the front page to look at the news and saw a huge headline saying, "Snow Closes County Schools." I quickly skimmed it and then handed it to Bryan for a second opinion. Our schools don't have a snow day hotline but I tried calling the elementary school. No one answered, so Bryan suggested I get online and look at the District's homepage. This is what I saw:

*** SPECIAL NOTICE ***

Weather & Road Conditions ALERT!
December 18, 2008 - 5:34 am
SCHOOL WILL NOT BE HELD TODAY
DECEMBER 18, 2008 (THURSDAY),
DUE TO EXPECTED SEVERE WINTER WEATHER
AND ROAD CONDITIONS.

ALL WASHINGTON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT SCHOOLS WILL BE CLOSED TODAY.

Ethan loves school, so I was really nervous about telling him. We told him and he jumped up and down and yelled "yes!" It wasn't what I expected. Then he realized that closing the school means that he won't be able to go to school today and we got the reaction we expected. He went running into his room screaming about how horrible a day it is and "Don't they know I love school?!?!" and "Doesn't this place own a snow plow?!" Bryan suggested I take him a movie today but Ethan doesn't want that.

Courtney's preschool is also cancelled. So it's going to be an interesting day!

Happy Holidays!

Here's a copy of our Christmas card in case we missed someone.



Dear Family and Friends:

Bryan is at work, Ethan is at school, Courtney is settled down to watch “Parent Trap” (the original one) and so I have a minute to get our yearly Christmas card letter written…hopefully. I’ll go from youngest to oldest.

Courtney: She is 3 years old and a mini-me. The mother’s curse is real my friends! But she is tons of fun and I understand where she is coming from most of the time because I know how she thinks. She is Ethan’s second mom and likes to boss him around but she is quick with the hugs and kisses. She wants to do everything he does and gets upset when she’s told she is too little. She attends a neighborhood preschool where we rotate each week and loves it. Next year she will go to a “real preschool.”. She takes tap and ballet lessons and can’t wait until she can be in Junior Primary with Ethan.

Ethan: He is 6 years old and in 1st grade. He loves sports. In January he played basketball and Bryan was his coach. In the fall he played soccer and Bryan was the assistant coach. Soccer is what Ethan loves the most. He also loves school and enjoys reading. He can’t decide what he wants to be when he grows up, but his latest choice is a scientist. He also takes piano lessons. He loves going to lessons and the recitals, but he hates to practice. Bribery is my friend ;) He is a really sweet boy who looks out for his little sister and is very compassionate to others.

Bryan: (yes, he comes next in the youngest to oldest deal) He is still working for Barney, McKenna & Olmstead in St. George and enjoys it. He is working with the young men in our ward and has fun with them. He has been kept busy this year coaching Ethan’s sports teams and Courtney informed him that next year he is going to be her soccer coach. Bryan also started riding his bike to work and back a few times each week. He has really enjoyed it and it has cut back on our gas bill, so that’s a plus. In August, Bryan hiked Mt. Whitney with his dad, brother Andrew and brother-in-law Mike. They had a lot of fun.

Michelle: I have been busy with teaching piano, running kids to dance and piano lessons, and trying to keep up with everything else. I was released last month from being Primary Chorister and called as Girls Camp Director for our ward. It’s been an interesting change. I also started a cake decorating business this year and it’s going well. Bryan helps out by leveling the icing and smoothing it out when I get frustrated. It’s nice that our talents mesh so well. I’m also a room mom for Ethan’s class. So we keep busy.

We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season this year. To stay updated on the Pack Family, check out our blog at www.packcasa.blogspot.com.


Love,
Bryan, Michelle, Ethan & Courtney

Cakes

I had an order for 2 cakes this week (for the same person) and I thought I would post the photos. They turned out really well and were some of the least stressful cakes I've done so far. They were simple but really pretty when they were finished.

The first cake was a birthday cake for the woman's husband. It says "Happy Birthday Puppy" (her pet name for him) and has white chocolate snowflakes on it. The second is for the employees of her husband's company and looks like a gift. I'm not very good at free hand writing, so it was a bit dicey but I think it turned out okay.

Let it snow!!

Yes, it does snow in sunny St. George and this week is proof of that. It was rainy on the weekend and then on Monday when Ethan's bus left, it began to snow...and snow...and snow. It stuck to the ground and was pretty cold. It snowed all day long and on Tuesday morning we woke to even more snow on the ground.

The bus stop is in front of our house so the bus stop kids and I made a huge snowman in our front yard. It was a lot of fun to be out playing in it. Ethan wore his gloves and knit hat along with his coat, but Courtney goes out with only a jacket, shorts and sandals.

It didn't snow on Tuesday and the snow melted from the roads but it just started snowing again and it is predicted to snow most of the week. The Christmas lights are so beautiful in the snow. As long as I don't have to drive in it, I rather enjoy the pretty white snow.

Here are some photos:

Silent Night Solo

Our Primary had their annual Nativity tonight. Ethan volunteered to do a solo so he had the second verse of Silent Night. We have been practicing it for a couple of weeks and he was really excited. He did an awesome job! I don't think I would have done this at his age, but he loved singing a solo. When he finished he told me "That was better than my piano recital!"

Here is the video of his song:

Ethan's Piano Recital & Courtney's Dance Recital

Ethan had his piano recital Saturday afternoon. We had errnds to run, so he got dressed in his Church clothes and we left early to get them done on our way across town. The sky was pretty dark in the northwest but we didn't think much about it. We were all dressed warm so it wasn't a big deal to us.

We got to the Piano Gallery where his recital was to be held, he practiced a few times and we took our seats. Courtney was antsy and kept getting up and down, but we were ready when the recital began. Ethan was number 22 so we had to wait a while, but it was worth it. He did an awesome job. He worked hard on his song and was so excited to perform it. He volunteers to perform for people and doesn't seem to have any problems getting up in front of others. He is a great kid and we are so happy with how well he did!

Here's the video:



When we got out of the Piano Gallery the wind was blowing really hard and there was a slight drizzle in the air. We got some quick drive-thru at Burger King and then drove as quickly as we could up to Tuachan for Courtney's dance recital. By the time we got there it was raining/snowing pretty hard and the wind was blowing. I got out and went to the outdoor stage where she would be performing to find her teacher and ask if the performance was to be cancelled. But I couldn't find her teacher.

I waited around for a while and then a girl came to tell us that the students would be performing for the Ivins City employees Christmas party inside the building. I went back to the van, got everyone and we went in to wait. Courtney was excited and wanted to dance (she just wanted to be like her brother and have a recital). When it was time for her class to dance we all went into the room to watch and video tape. Courtney had said a few times that she had to go to the bathroom but wouldn't go when we got there. The tap dance routine began as usual but then she ran off the dance floor saying that she had to go potty. I ran her to the bathroom but we didn't get back in time for her to finish the tap routine.

We left the room, changed her tap shoes for ballet shoes and waited for her next dance song to be called. The ballet routine went really well and she had a good time. I was just glad it was inside.

Here's the video of it: