Good-bye snow and I didn't get to ski much...!

Our cross country skiing buddies are back from Africa and so we planned a great day at Soldier Hollow.  We checked the time and everything to make sure this would be a good day.  We drive up in mucky rainy weather and puddles ...risking life to get there and we find buses and buses of kids.  Whaaaaaaaa.   So we drove over to Wasatch Park which I absolutely love to ski so the day was saved.  Ha.  No paths had been groomed for at least a few days...you couldn't even find the trails.  I did a few good face plants and we headed down the canyon.  We did eat at Shoots which was delicious and Kim got to speak Cantonese with the owner.  Not a complete bust.
February is birthday month for our family.   Natalie still has time to get their baby girl here to join the club! 

One year when I am ambitious I will make a posting of all the German chocolate cakes I have made through the years.  It is a must have for Brooke and Kira.  

We met in Bountiful for a birthday dinner at the Mandarin.  Here is their treat coming out...I just had to include this picture because of the girl's expression.
It was a pretty crazy night ...Winston was soooooo hungry that he cried at intervals.  We kept trying to amuse him and Edie.  Edie accidentally knocked over a glass of water and Dallin had some exciting moments as it poured onto his lap and all over the table.
The food was delicious in spite of the wait and hungry hippoes at our table.  We decided the Orange Glaze chicken was a favorite.  So good.
Then Winston discovered the straws and began waving them wildly about.  We couldn't stop laughing.  I tried to capture it with my phone.

Three birthday girls in a row

 Some times it surprises me what simple things amuse Winston when he shows little interest in playing with toys!




We took Kira to see Cirque Ziva...a group from China that does acrobats.  Dallin was in the balcony and got a great view of the stacking chair feat where the performer was way up high on a stack of chairs.

Later in the month, we enjoyed a dinner with all the Stake Presidents in the Valley at BYU that supply the college wards with leadership.  The meal is always artistic and delicious.  Can you tell what this picture is?  That is our dessert.  It was like a snowball with red velvet cake, white fluffy frosting and encased in a white chocolate dyed red with strawberry swirl and raspberries.  Quite simple but nice presentation!!    I have been sad this year that we weren't going  to see Vocal Point perform.  They are one of my favorite groups to get tickets for each year.  I must be living right at least a little because they were the entertainment after the dinner.  I talked to Bryce R.  afterwards...he used to live in the basement of Dallin's house and is a member of Vocal Point and he confirmed what I thought...a very different group to perform for as compared to BYU students.  VERY polite audience.  It was great anyway.