February on-goings

February!

Superbowl Sunday.  Uncle Wes so thoughtfully sent Nathan a Broncos Peyton Manning shirt.  Unfortunately the game was horrible.  Horrible! From. The. First. Snap. 

Ashton has moved to a big boy bed.  He's very proud of this.  He has his room all to himself as the crib is now up in the loft of the garage, awaiting a garage sale.

 For one of our 'adventure' days we hit Grafton, a ghost town near Zions Natl. Park.

 After which we found a hiking trail and explored it for a while.

Valentines day I helped in Nathans class.  The kids decorated sugar cookies with frosting and sprinkles.  They combined the two classes, made big messes and had a loud and fun time.  Today (this very day) Nathan told me, "I want to be a teacher when I grow up because Mrs. Gonzalez is so fun, and I want to do that and teach kids, too."

Nathans cookie

Ashton and Kaitlyn enjoying the 1st graders treats.

In February there was another Free Entrance Day at Zions on President's Day, so there we went again!

Nathan and Shane actually made it 99.9% to Angels Landing.  The park was crowded and Shane said on the fourth and last set of chains to reach to summit was so busy it made him nervous to have NQ so close to impending doom while people were rushing up and down.  So Nathan CAN say he's been up the Landing, just not the viewpoints from the top.

 Ashton and I made it more than 1/2 way to the top of the trail.  But Ashton was petering out, and there are many many dangerous ledges on much of that trail, so we stopped going up and took our time sight seeing, sand playing and taking breaks on the way down.  SO many people gave him high fives!  (Because we HAD made it quite a long, steep way.)  This is a view of him taking a nap somewhere near the middle of the assent.

The next day we were driving around town, when, in the shoulder of a very busy street, we saw a pigeon heading closer to the fast  vehicles. Shane went out and rescued it.  We brought it home and called the animal control.  The lady told us that homing pigeons (It had little bracelets on its ankles) fly and fly until they're so tired they drop to rest, no matter wherever they land!!  And it WAS sleeping in Shane's hands and when we brought it home.  She said to put it in a tree and leave it be. We did.  And it flew off.

One of my peach trees is in bloom!

Boys and toys.  The Skylander obsession.

Making Home Made Valentines!
Tools used: stencils, paints, toothbrushes, markers, and heart!
We sent some to Aunt Brooke & Uncle Wes (and Stirling)
And we sent some to the UK to the Barney Family.

Facebook Posts:

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I *almost* beat Shane Petty in an arm wrestle this morning!! However, it would seem that once my foot joined my two arms (I'm extremely bendy) that I was no longer 'arm' wrestling, and therefore had forfeit my near win.



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You might be asking yourself, "Which Petty bathroom is the cleanest this afternoon?" "Is it the one the four-year old flooded the toilet in (all the way out the hall into the adjoining closet)? Or is the bathroom directly below that one that also got the flooding, via the vent?" I assure you both are VERY CLEAN now, and the 7 year old has earned lots of brownie points. The four year old has NOT. OH the things that happen at 5:30 when I'm trying to get dinner started...Trying again...NOW!




Tidbits:

Nathan has been reading with a flashlight in his bed nightly when we tuck him in at night. (I checked in on him and caught him at it.)  He says he likes to read a few pages because it helps him get ready to sleep. I LOVE this!!  I'm planning on getting his bookshelf stocked with good reads!



Today we had a Spanish Movie day.  We ended up with 11 kids total to watch Despicable Me 2 in Spanish.  :D


Shane's birthday we ended up at the buffet where Shane ate himself ill with perfectly cooked prime rib.  Seven Helpings.  Yes. Seven.