MLK Day!

This year we decided to make the best of a day off school for Martin Luther King Day! Holly and Sam invited us to come stay with them at their family cabin and we all had the "Pass of all Passes" to ski for free up in Ogden. So, we hung out at the cabin (the kids had a blast playing on the Wii and playing board games) on Sunday evening and we woke up early on Monday morning to head out to the ski resort. Unfortunately, everyone in Utah with a "Pass of all Passes" had a similar idea...the place was packed...but we all had a great time! All of the kids got on the lift and we were impressed with how well they skiied...even Audree, who used to hate going skiing is now a big fan and quite talented! The kids loved having their cousins there to hang out with too...I think it may have made them a little braver as well! It was a great day and we were so glad we got to spend the day together! Of course, that night we headed home for our annual MLK get-together with the Ward family...no pics, but good times were had by all! We are so glad we have a reason to get together with them at least once a year...the chicken, watermelon and corn bread is always a treat! Thanks everyone!

Snow....Finally!

So, this year has been surprisingly "snowless"! In fact, this was the driest December on record here in Utah. We have been living in a sunny icebox all month. So, when we woke up to snow this morning the kids could hardly wait to get out and play! In fact, the whole neighborhood was buzzing with kids in their snow gear (luckily the snow hit on a Saturday!). Anyways, the snowman and snow fort turned out great and the kids had a fabulous morning with their friends and the snow. It was so nice to have them playing outside again!

Christmas Day!

Our Christmas Day was practically perfect in every way! The kids are so good not to wake us up until 7:00...so we even got a pretty good night of sleep! We all got spoiled rotten...we asked Santa to just surprise us this year (no big long lists of all the things we could ever want!)...and Santa delivered! Karlee was stoked about her new sewing machine, Rylee squealed with delight over her "fluffling", Audree couldn't wait to pull out her guitar and play us a song and Spencer was super excited about his Lighting McQueen race track. Grandma GiGi made all the girls adorable aprons and Spencer tried to fly in his new Superman cape! What a great morning! This year Christmas was on Sunday, so we went to church for an hour (which always sets just the right mood for Christmas day!) and then we just hung out here and at Grandma Clarks and played all day. Merry Christmas everyone!




The next week Grandma GiGi and Grandpa Nemrow came to visit us. We didn't get any pictures, but we had a great time with them. A dollar movie (Dolphin Tale), Trafalga, and just hanging out! We love when they come to visit!

Oh My Christmas-time Fun!!

Well, let me try to catch you up on all of our December fun...it was WAY too busy to try to blog it all as it came and went! December was Clark Chaos at it's best and we made sure to squeeze every bit of fun out of it...so here are some of the highlights!
Audree invited me to come with her class to see the Nutcracker ballet on a field trip...what a fun day! We got to see it at the Covey Center for the Arts in Provo and they really did put on a great show for the kids (we loved the real snow that fell during the winter scene!). Audree was SHOCKED to find out that the lady with the kids under her dress was actually a MAN...so funny!!

Karlee worked hard on her wax museum project about Babe Didrickson during the month and she was really excited on the day of the big Wax Museum. Me and Spencer came to see her and she did a great job! It was a bit hard to make her look as "manly" as Babe was...but we pulled the hair back and did our best (Karlee was glad that Babe never wore any make-up!) Anyways, we were so proud of Karlee's hard work...I think Babe would have been proud too!

Audree has been a part of the Mapleton Children's Choir since September and has been practicing these Christmas songs from the beginning. It was so fun to go and see her big performance (which included a duet solo in the song "I Saw Three Ships"). She was beautiful and sang like an angel...it really helped put us all in the Christmas spirit...a big thanks to Aunt Sarah and Grandma Clark for coming to cheer her on!


The day after Audree's Christmas concert we were lucky enough to go to Spencer's Preschool Christmas Program! These preschool programs are some of our favorites! Spencer was as animated and funny as any of the kids have ever been! His favorite song was "I'm Gettin Nothin For Christmas"! It was so fun to watch! It will be sad that we can't go back to any more of Mrs. Wall's programs after this year!

A couple nights before the Big Day we had our annual Clark Christmas Party! We always look forward to this one! It was great...pizza, games, prizes, gift exchanges (including a hilarious adult white elephant exhange...Adam brought a rat in a cage!!) and Santa made an appearance! We even got the kids to do a nativity this year...Audree, as Mary, riding in on Millie, as a donkey, was a highlight!







And then, just a day before Christmas Eve we had some time and decided to head out for our first day on the slopes! This year...EVERY single kid wanted to ski and they are all doing it on their own! Jake and I are stoked...I believe it maybe one of Jake's proudest accomplishments.