WOW

 It's been so long since I have posted. I knew it had been a while but 22 days is a long time for me not to post. I have thought about blogging a few times but life has been busy.

So I will attempt to highlight the month of February in one post:)

Andrew visiting is always a highlight. His temperament has really mellowed out and he is such a sweetie. Loves to give smiles. Will giggle for his parents. Is content when others hold him. So fun!

My door was heart attacked.....but it was for Dan and Caleb. I wanted to Facebook about it but they seemed a little embarrassed so for once I resisted the urge to get some laughs.

 My birthday happened at some point. It was a LAME day. I just had work and coaching. I was gone from 6:45 am to 8:15pm. Then I had a basketball game to play in at 9:15. I was going to cancel but at that point the day had been so uneventful I just decided to play. It was fine and I am not a huge birthday person but I would have liked to have taken the day off. At least my basketball team won so I was in good spirits.

Valentines day was really exciting.....NOT! I just thought it would be fun to throw that in. The most exciting thing on Valentines day for me was that basketball had ended the day before and so I was commitment free. Oh wait that is the day we left for California. I took two personal days and headed home to see the family. Sam and Amanda joined me for the drive so it was a party. Ben and Katie agreed to meet us in Oroville so I was pumped. I loved seeing all my favorite people.

 We left Thursday after work and drove straight through. Sam was a champion driver and Andrew did really well also.

Andrew and Braxton smiling. I have a very similar picture at Thanksgiving of them both screaming their heads off. They are both adorable.

 The weather in California made the trip worth it. It was 70 degrees and sunny everyday we were there. It was so nice to be outside and enjoy the sunshine. I was in heaven.

 Who knew a $1 kite would be such a hit? There were three of them and they provided a lot of entertainment.

 My parents house is small and we overloaded the place and so we spent a lot of time at the park. No one complained since the weather was AMAZING!

 Little boys love the bath I love their smiling faces. Braxton's parents and sister call him Bubba, it is so cute.

 Moki loved being able to run around. She loved having people with her all day as well. She really is a good dog. Super friendly, easy going. Olivia loved her, which made me happy. They played pretty well together. Moki started to learn to swim this trip as well. I took her in the river twice. She has not mastered it but she made lots of progress. It was so fun to watch her. She was sooooo dirty when we got back to Utah. I bathed her at 11pm when we got home. The bath water was black. So black you could not see through it. It was nasty but totally worth it.

Monday February 18th was Katie's birthday. We went to breakfast before the Utah people headed home. It was fun to just visit and chill at the restaurant. My grandma and Aunt Virginia made the trip to Oroville to visit as well. It was so fun to see them and I am grateful they were willing to travel to see us.

 We had so many people sleeping at my parents. It was crazy. 14 total sleeping there and then 5 others that came to dinner on Sunday and visited on other days. Remember my parents house is small but seriously I would not have traded spending time with my family. Love those people. My cousin Katie, Aunt Loralie, and two of Katie's nieces came for the weekend as well. They were a super fun addition. Olivia especially loved the teenage gals she kept asking for her girls.

We played so hard everyday I was exhausted. I fell asleep early every night while people were playing games. Moki fell asleep by 7 every night and was out. Vacation is a great time to catch up on sleep.

I think one of my favorite days was Tuesday when I got home. I took the day off of work and just read and did laundry. It was so nice to relax and rest. It really helped rejuvenate me. I have been so worn out from basketball.

Wednesday morning I flew to Arizona for a two day conference with 8 other teachers. We had to meet at the school at 4am. I was so tired the first day. One teacher was like it is awkward when the fat guy can stay awake and you can't. After that comment I purchased some caffeine so I could make it through the day. Overall it was a good conference but I was ready to be home. I prefer teaching to sitting all day.

Today Amber, Moki, and I headed up the canyon for some trail running. We didn't bring our snowshoes because last time the snow was so packed down from all the snowmobile-rs. We decided to give running with cleats a try. Well we chose the wrong day. It was snowing like crazy on the Alpine Loop today. It would have been perfect for snowshoes. We ran and had a great time but it was just funny. I was under dressed and not prepared for all the snow but it was still enjoyable.

 My dog loves the snow. She also loves not being on the leash. She does awesome when we hike and snowshoe. I love wearing her out. It was beautiful up there.

 In Moki news: Moki got her first spa treatment. She didn't like the blow dryer or getting her face shaved. What girl likes to have to get her face shaved? And she came home with bows. I am not lying when I say I did not recognize her. She was one giant poof ball and I seriously thought they gave me the wrong dog. I had to call her name to make sure. She looks so innocent and cute.

 Don't let that face fool you. One day I came home from work and she had gotten out of her room and this was what was waiting in the kitchen.

 So annoying but I could not really get mad. The poor dog is home for 9 hours by herself. It is still obnoxious though.

 Moki was spayed. I read about dogs in heat and realized there is no way I was going to go through that. Too messy for me. She did great. She was slow for a few days but bounced back super fast.

We ran our first 5k one night without walking. Her stamina is getting so much better.

We have hiked the Y twice. Moki loves it so I think that will be a favorite this spring and summer.

And the compliment of the night was a lady at the temple asked me if I was a BYU student. I told her I was not. I explained I was a teacher. She then said I looked so young. WOW, that was nice. I have been feeling so old. Tired, wrinkles, achy joints and muscles. It just made me smile. What a nice lady!