It has been warming up considerably, but then last night the snow came upon us with a vengeance!  Jon took this picture on his way to work to show the frozen destruction.  The commute was awful to boot.

It looks so pretty, but best viewed from a perch on the couch with hot chocolate and a good book!

Luckily Jon was safe on both the drive to work and back home, and tonight we were very amused at Zada's new bath time tricks.  She loves her water books, and tonight was like a little monkey using her foot like a third hand!

Big day for this girl!  From go she has been excited for today for a long time, because her braces come off today!  

Beyond that, our house rule is no hair coloring/bleaching until age 14.  Leiden has been looking forward to this for a couple years now.  Her dad approached us a while back, wanting to surprise her with a hair appointment on the same day she got her braces off.  Despite her being a couple months shy of 14, we agreed that would be a fun surprise for her.  Here's her before picture before she left for the orthodontist, not even knowing what ELSE the day would hold!

And here she is with straight teeth and her newly bleached hair!

While she was out getting glammed, Zada and I went to the shop to visit Grandmere and Bapa.  Zada is so funny there.  She sat on Bapa's lap for about 10 minutes and watched an old University of Utah game on YouTube.  It was hilarious!

As even more of a surprise, Leiden's aunt Emily came to Brad's house and did her makeup and they had a photographer friend come and take some shots.  I don't have the full complement, but Annie sent me a couple.  What a lovely young woman she is!

Today Zada and I went to the elementary to see Mac's NOVA graduation.

Zada only had eyes for my Visitor sticker.

And I only had eyes for Mac!

Zada's seat has become a veritable fun house!

The pipes in our laundry room have been leaking, and I FINALLY figured out the water was coming from the ice maker line the landlord had put in himself.  The plumber said this is very common when laypeople do their own plumbing work, and he gets called in to correct the inevitable problems all the time.  But now we aren't leaking, and the ice maker not only has it's own shut off, but it also is punched in to the cold water pipe instead of the hot!

Mimi loves to read to Zada, and Zada loves to bite Daddy.  Today it was both at once!

Leiden went to Young Women's tonight, and she and Hailey were the only two that showed up!  This meant they got spoiled and got to get chocolate from Rocky Mountain Chocolate.

They visited Temple Square,

And Leiden took this awesome picture with the reflecting pool.  There's a lot of symbolism with the grey getting lighter and lighter the higher it goes.

I couldn't help but take this picture of Jon bolstering Mac's bed beam.  It had snapped almost clean in two, and as a temporary fix he put a board in just the right size to hold it up.

The girls had gift cards to spend today, so off we went to Target.  I tried to let them get what they wanted, no matter how silly.  It's a fine line to walk between letting them figure it out themselves and (in my perspective) waste their money, and telling them they can't buy certain things. 

Sundays are hard.  Zada needs a nap right as church is starting at 9, so we try to stretch her out until I can take the sacrament and then I go hide out in an empty classroom and try and get her to nap in my arms.  It's always a short nap, so she's always tired, but we make it work!

Our little frogs are funny!  Their body movements are amusing and really funny to watch.

Zada thought the lime was a hit, and I'm just glad she doesn't have teeth yet to sink into it!

Sunday walks are definitely a thing now that it's getting a little warmer.  Zada likes to see all the things around the neighborhood, and it's nice to walk and talk with Jon.

Things are beginning to wake up outside these days.  My magnolia tree is sending out buds and green things!  Which is super exciting!

Tomorrow I am doing a "Sharing Time" for the Primary because the teachers need to go to a different class, and we will be planting seeds.

I got them all ready to go, and I'm super excited to give the kids their little cups of dirt and seeds!

Mimi has been making all kinds of things with the clay set she got for her birthday, and today she made some Hogwarts themed stuff.  These were miniature...parchment with writing, a tiny wand, and a quill and ink!  Her imagination and patience is incredible to me.

Zada tolerates the vacuum just fine.  As long as I'm holding her and she can grip my shirt, of course!

So much playtime!

We catch little Miss doing funny things all the time.  Today she was touching her head to her reflection in her mirror.  She touches her head to things to be cozy, she does it with Grandmere all the time, and today it was with herself!

I surprised the girls with a little treat when they got home from school for the first day of Spring!

I enjoy celebrating holidays and making them fun and memorable.  The only trouble is I set myself up to have to exceed expectations next time!  Happy Spring!

The froggies were successful in their amorous tryst!  We spotted the female actually laying her eggs today.  Unfortunately the frog eggs will likely be eaten by the other creatures in the tank, an it is highly unlikely any of them will pan out.  But this was a cool moment to catch.

We had Grandmere and Bapa over for her traditional corned beef and cabbage birthday dinner, and I made her her favorite flourless chocolate cake.  We sang with our best off-key operatic voices, and then she blew out the candles.

At least she tried!!

Top o' the mornin' to you on this St. Patty's Day!  Leiden celebrated with green pancakes and Jon with his green vest!

He really wanted one from the Woolen shop on Arran Isle, but settled for this less expensive version for his St. Patrick's Sunday best.

More fun with another orange today!  Its just another brightly colored toy for her to explore.

The weather was beautiful today, and Jon took Zada out for a walk all bundled up in her snow suit.

A great big shout out to Grandmere, whose birthday is today!  Happy Birthday, Grandmere!  We love you!!

Mac's grade does something theycall Mini Mall, where the students come up with little businesses that provide a real service or good for sale to the other classmates.  Mac and Ava chose the hit combo of nails and pizza!  I brought in the pizza fresh as they began, so I was able to get these pics of them in action.

PZ Nails!  And the fact that Mac designed the PZ to look like a pepperoni pizza cracks me up!

We have discovered that the boppy provides an excellent first line of defense for Zada sitting protection while she plays with her toys.

She was super interested in Jon's orange this evening,

and investigated it thoroughly!  We are so excited to give her real food soon!

More creatures for our fish tank came today.

Jon let their bag acclimate in the tank water, then introduced them in.  They are tiny little fish!

Zada is doing so well with her sitting skills!  Mac likes to sit with her and balance her just right so she can stay up on her own.  It gets longer and longer all the time.

I surprised everyone with pie today to celebrate Pi day...delicious, and I welcome any reason to eat pie!