From Austin to Park City!

Some of our family from Austin came to visit this week. Rob's mom, sister, and her sweet little ones came to town for a little snow and PC hospitality. We had such a good time, and as always, it went by too quickly. We kicked off their stay with our traditional Sushi night at the Zwahlens. This special night is always fun and always filling - in more ways than one. I rolled sushi with Caleb, Hudson and Abby, while Rob did the cutting and presentation (you can see by the pictures that he is really good at presentation. He ran out of time and left out the dragon roll this time). The favorite among the Zwahlen kids is crab, avocado, mango and cream cheese. My favorite is a spicy salmon roll with all the veggies and the secret, yummy ingredient - lemon! Sawyer passed on the sushi and stuck with some green peas and mandarin oranges. He did enjoy using chopsticks - as drumsticks, as he has yet to master the spoon and fork and would rather pound out a tune with those as well. We love Sushi and we love the Zwahlens. We even convinced Rob's mom to try some sushi - she didn't hate it.
Rob was pretty busy while his family was here, so we enjoyed some nice "girl time." Poor Blaine; he was the only boy, but I think he enjoyed all the attention from the girls. Mallory got to frolick in the snow, and thanks to a few bluebird days and the beautiful sunshine, we were able to enjoy a few strolls around the block. We love it when family comes to visit; we only wish it could be more often - hint hint to all the family reading this right now!

Nice presentation!

Check out all that sushi. Can you imagine the bill if we ordered all that at a sushi bar!
The little drummer boy.
And we thought he would end up playing guitar like his daddy.
Grammy with all of her babies. This is the only picture where they were all looking forward - well, sort of.
Sawyer entertaining Blaine.
Mallory trying really hard to figure out her Uncle Robby.
Amy and Mallory strike a pose during our stroll around the neighborhood.
Me and my sweet boy!
Mallory and Sawyer - he is truly amazed at how someone with teeth eats a goldfish.

All I want for Easter is my two front teeth!

For months now, any time Sawyer drools. sucks on a finger, has a runny nose, or fusses, I think he's teething. He has done all of those things - many times, but still NO TEETH. He turned 11 months old this week and he is still gumming his food. He doesn't seem to mind, and as you can see by the looks of those chubby cheeks. he manages just fine. However, mommy is beginning to wonder if he will ever get teeth. I know the time will come, and until then, I will continue to enjoy that sweet, gummy smile. I love it!

Ode to Spring!

I am sitting here in my pajamas wearing socks and a sweater as well, so I decided to write an ode to spring. Ok, so it doesn't necessarily follow the exact format of an ode, but you get the idea. I don't really hate winter, but I am experiencing some serious spring fever right now.

ODE TO SPRING
by Christa Anderson

Welcome March and your sweet friend, Spring;
the sun is peeking eagerly through the clouds.
When will the birds once again sing
their delightful tunes and songs so loud?
I have grown weary of cold and weary of snow,
I want to put my Smartwool socks away.
The lifts are still open and slopes busy, I know,
but I'm done - don't want the snow to stay.
Green grass, Aspen leaves, when will you return?
Flip flops and bathing suits, where did you go?
I am so ready for a good old sun burn,
a tank top and pink polish on my toes.
Sweet March pave the way for April then May,
Spring, make your presence known here.
Make the snow disappear, put all sweaters away!
Winter, we'll see you next year.

I'm a Chubby Bunny!

As you can see, Sawyer likes bananas - or really anything in the FOOD family. He looks like he is doing Young Life's Chubby Bunny skit - which happens to be banned from Young Life because of the risk of choking. It's not his best moment, but worthy of a video, nonetheless. The funny thing is, he still has no teeth. So, this is an impressive task seeing as how his gums did all the work. He takes after his mom and dad - the boy likes to eat!

Charlie bit me. Too funny!

If the Heartbreaker song is playing, hit the sound/volume button on the slideshow above so you can hear this video. You may have already stumbled on this in You Tube. Someone emailed this link to Rob. I don't know why I think it is so funny, but I do. Hope you enjoy it.

This made me giggle.

This is a painting based on my personality. Thanks, Laurie, for the tip. I created my own masterpiece. I'm not quite sure what this says about my personality - I'll let you guys interpret for yourselves. What the heck is that in the background?

Click here to create your own painting.

A Fabulous Hike!

It has been beautiful here the last few days. Our friends The Greenes have been visiting from St. Louis, and on Monday we all decided to go on a hike. It hasn't snowed in a few days, so several of the trails are packed down for easier access and walking. We chose "Rob's Trail" - we aren't sure who the Rob is that the trail is named after, but my Rob likes to think it's him. The warmer weather and the gorgeous blue sky made for a great hike. Ryder and Sawyer got to kick back while their dads did all the hard work. Truman was loving life the entire time. I think he hiked twice as far because he kept running ahead and then running back to make sure everyone was still with him. We saw moose tracks but no moose. Ryder could have gone all day in search of one. It was a great hike with friends, and as you can see by the pictures, Sawyer was beat by the end of it - all the travel and snacking on goldfish tuckered him out.

My Sweethearts!

Today my sweet husband made pancakes for our family and our good friends who are staying with us. Not only did Rob make breakfast, but he made heart pancakes for the girls. He is so cute! My other cutie is waving now! I can be sitting right next to him or even holding him and he will turn to me and wave. He is cute too. I have two boys who make me giddy inside. I am so very blessed.


If you look close enough in this picture, you can see Sawyer's black eye. He is pulling up on everything these days and took a fall on the heater in his room. I know, a bloody nose and a black eye - I am sure our names are on some list somewhere.

My buddy. My buddy. Wherever I go, he goes. My buddy. My buddy. My buddy and me!

Sawyer and Truman have become good buddies. They even fight over toys - Truman wants Sawyer's and Sawyer wants Truman's. They are fun to watch with each other. Truman is such a good dog and so gentle with Sawyer. I have a feeling he is going to take a beating as Sawyer gets older. I look forward to both of them loving each other.

Sawyer has Truman's toy.
Truman has Sawyer's toy.
Who will make the first move?
Two extremely handsome boys!!
The battle continues - over a Texas Tech bear.

Global Warming?????????

I would like for Al Gore to come and shovel our front porch. For the first time in eight years and only the fourth time in almost twenty years, the Park City School District canceled school for a snow day! That was earlier in the week when it dumped - before we got two more feet between 3 pm Thursday and early Friday morning. Not only that, but another big storm is expected to blow in tomorrow. There is snow everywhere! They are having to load it into big dump trucks and transport it from certain places in town. Most streets in our neighborhood are down to one lane roads because of the walls of snow on both sides. It is truly a winter wonderland around here, and the skiing is amazing! Come see us if you want to experience this snow! The Greenes are taking us up on that in a few weeks and we are so excited!! Don't worry, Mike, the snow is not going anywhere! In fact, more is coming!

That wall of snow is our front yard. At this rate, we won't see our grass until late May or June - that is not an exaggeration.
The corner of our yard and our driveway that Rob had just plowed - already covered in snow again.
That brown spot in the background is Truman.
Someone is dying to play outside - it's been too chilly this week.
Our back deck.