The Long Winter

One of my all-time favorite series is The Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  I remember reading These Happy Golden Years, set in De Smet, North Dakota, and thinking how hard it would be to be stuck in a place so cold that you could say "The sun was shining and it was only twenty degrees below zero" with a straight face.
This winter in Minnesota has made me feel like I'm starring in those books.  I have honestly had days where I was just grateful that the high of the day wasn't a negative number.  I've been told that this winter has been unusually cold, and that "polar vortex" isn't something that I should hear every year, nor should I be able to tell people that Plymouth, Minnesota reached temperatures that were colder than the surface of Mars all that often.   But man, people, how do you do this every year?!?  My hat is off to all of you!
Now that I've started this post with a little drama and "woe is me", I have to be honest and say that this winter has had lots of fun moments and that with a newborn, I wasn't going to be outside that much whether it was -35 or +35 degrees, so the cold didn't cramp our style a whole lot.

 The first weekend in February Todd and Jeannette came to visit us for Claire's baby blessing. We took them to the Fire and Ice Festival in Plymouth.  It's this cool festival that's held on a frozen lake.  While there, we roasted marshmallows, Mckay got pulled in a sled, we saw some ice sculptures, and we slipped and slid a lot.  It was really cold, but we had a great time with them and they were good sports!

It was so nice to have Grandma and Grandpa England at the blessing.  They were only able to be in Minnesota for about 48 hours, but we had such a great visit. Claire was so beautiful!  She wore the same outfit I wore when I was blessed, and made me feel like even though my parents weren't able to come, they played a part in the blessing anyway.

We also celebrated Chase's birthday with his parents in town.  The crown made him officially King of the Day, and his two little princes fulfilled their royal duties by helping him blow out his birthday candles.

 This shot is just a typical scene from our house.  Every afternoon around 1:00, they get to watch a movie if they've helped pick up their toys.  I'm not sure who needs this routine more, them or me!

 The last week of February Aunt Rachel came to visit us.  We took her to downtown Minneapolis to where Chase worked, and we met him there for lunch.  We stuck out like sore thumbs with our stroller and kids, but it was fun to see the hustle and bustle of downtown Minneapolis where Chase works.

 No first time trip to Minneapolis would be complete without a trip to Mall of America.  Aunt Rachel was a good sport and went on lots of rides with these two boys.  They're starting to remember this place well enough that they have their favorite rides, and they get so excited.

 We had preschool field trip the week Rachel was here.  We went to a Nature Conservatory and got to watch a puppet show about what different animals do in the winter.  The kids were pretty enthralled.  I like this picture because it shows a lot of the wonderful kids and families that we spend time with here in Plymouth.  We've been blessed with lots of wonderful friends and ward members who have helped us feel welcome and at home here.

 Here's little Claire bear the day she rolled over for the first time.  I feel like time goes by faster and faster with each child.  I can't believe she's already rolling over!  I love her sweet little spirit and her general happiness.  Even though I think I'm supposed to sooth and comfort her, I think she does that for me just by looking at her and holding her.  She's a great little addition to our family.