February except Rodeo Break

 February was a short month, but we packed a ton into it. Book Fair, Pre-FSY activity, Vail Pride Day, b-ball tournament, Ventana Canyon Resort getaway, Valentine's Day and more.

Megan finished her first set of piano books and moved up to the next level. 

Annie's rock tumbler that she got at Christmas finally finished polishing her rocks. Good thing, because at least she got some pretty rocks, even though we skipped the Gem and Mineral Show this year.

The first full week of February was very busy. With the PTA, I helped run the first in person book fair at our school in over two years. It was a big success and we helped all the classroom teachers be able to get some new books from donations.

That week was also parent-teacher conferences, so we had to provide dinner for the teachers on the day they stayed late. That happened to be the weekend Todd had reserved Jacob and me a night at the Ventana Canyon Resort for my birthday. We had a delicious dinner at the super fancy restaurant and enjoyed a nice view.

I had salmon with caviar on top. My first time tasting caviar, and it was a bit salty, but mixed really well with the salmon. 

Earlier that week we found out that Rachel had a basketball tournament on Saturday. So we had to cut our relaxation a little shorter than we otherwise would have and headed to the tournament to watch her play and help in the snack bar. 

Between games Grandma had all the kids over to decorate their valentine's day cookies. Sugar=love.

And there was yet another activity that day to top off the crazy busy week: a stake Pre-FSY activity. It was exhausting, but also super fun. I spent a full 10 hours at the stake center setting up, helping with the activity, and cleaning up afterwards. The youth had a great time doing different activities and hearing speakers and eating food. The people running 9-square had something come up, so I spent the rotations out there. We talked about how 9-square is like repentance. We know we're going to mess up over and over, but we if just keep getting back in the game and trying again, we can progress until one day we reach the top spot (exaltation). 

The night ended with a Valentine's Dance that was the first stake dance of the year, so there was a lot of people that came. The kids decorated by writing messages on hearts and taping them to the walls. Many were pick up lines, that were very creative: Are you the Iron Rod, because I want to hold onto you thru eternity. Or You're so hot you could've burned Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego. 

Rachel with some of her buddies at the dance: Mariah, Maryanne, Evelyn, Rachel, Sophia and someone else. 

This was at the beginning of the dance. By the end there were nearly 300 people in there and it was packed! Everyone seemed to have a blast.

Ryan and Megan made stickers for their friends for Valentine's Day with their names on them. Annie and Ryan both were sick, so they sent their Valentines to school for Derek and Eloise to pass out for them. They were sad to miss the fun, but getting the valentines (especially the candy) made up for it. Megan got quite a lot of loot:

Megan bought 2 weeks with Pooh Bear with her Diamondbucks. She got to take him wherever she went and take pictures and write in his journal for him. She had fun with him and was glad to get to take him up to the snow, even, when we went for Rodeo Break.

At Vail Pride Day we looked at the art displays, checked out some of the sherriff's stuff, and watched Ryan compete in the Math Bowl.

They did a great job, and even though their team didn't win, Ryan still had a lot of fun. I wish they had a math club at school this year because he would totally love it. 

And of course, we had to snap a picture with the Chick-Fil-A cow.