Snow, 100th day of School and Valentines

So, we got some snow here! We had several days of bone chilling temps (like -20 with windchills in the -40 range). The kids were out of school for 2 days just for that. There was some snow, but not much. Then, the next week, we got a lot of snow. This picture was before the final snow, and it doesn't look like a whole lot, but we probably got at least a foot with 2 subsequent storms.

I ventured out on Monday (we were in between storms) and got totally stuck in our neighborhood. After we got 8 inches on Sunday, I guess they didn't see the need to send plows to the residential streets. Thanks to a nice neighbor I got home.

You know you are in Colorado when you have -20 degree weather, followed by a foot of snow, and then it's 50 degrees a few days later (the next day, it was mid 60s). It was perfect snow man building weather. We still had all the snow in our front yard, but it was warm enough to be outside without a coat.


So, because of the weather, Emma's 100th day of school party kept getting postponed. She finally had it on Feb. 9th and was very proud of the hat she made.

She brought in 100 chocolate chips to add to a trail mix and 100 pennies to count.

Valentines day was a little hard for the kids giving up sweets, but they survived. They are saving their candy for later.
I remember making these as a kid, so we made some for the kids' teachers. It's cocoa Rice Krispie treats that you press into a funnel to get the shape.

And then you wrap them in tin foil to make a giant "Hershey's Kiss".

It's a fun way to make a treat!

And here's Emma who just wanted to get in the picture.

Hope you had a fun valentines day too!

Easter 2009

We had a nice Easter this year - despite the weather being very crazy - we had snow. We had baskets and eggs on Saturday and a nice dinner on Sunday. I was still trying to get all moved in and consequently I didn't take very many pictures. I did manage to take pictures of the kids in their new Easter clothes.

New Years Eve

We were able to spend some time in Kirtland, New Mexico after Christmas. We had fun celebrating New Years with cousins Broc, Sam, Ezra, and Daniel. We had a chocolate fountain.

The kids enjoyed dipping their fruit, cream puffs, and cookies.

The kids made noisemakers.


And we had a pinata.




It was a fun New Years Eve!

A Time to Give Thanks

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year at the with the Bloomfields. 5 of the 7 Bloomfield children were able to make it this year (with spouses and kids in tow!). It made for a large feast with 23 people. We all enjoyed good food, good company, and a chance to reflect on why we celebrate this holiday. We all have a lot to be thankful for.

4th of July

Amanda and the kids had a nice time staying at Amanda's parents house between the Wedding and the reception. Aaron had to go back home to work, but we wanted to spare the kids a couple of long car trips so we stayed in Utah for a little while. We had a fun BBQ at Amanda's parent's house.





We had a great time with food, 2nd cousins, and fireworks!

Easter Photos

These are really late, but I thought I would finally post them. I was sick in bed on Easter with a flu bug, so I couldn't really supervise the pictures or the getting dressed. Everyone turned out looking really nice with the exception of doing Rachel's hair. Dad is better at combing the boys hair than me but doing the girl's hair is a different story. Here they are!

New Years Eve Traditions

I thought that we should do something fun to ring in the new year. We usually watch movies and play some games and this year we added making banana splits.

These are all the fun toppings you need.

I think this was Rachel's creation.

Emma loves to eat anything sweet - especially ice cream.

We also played a fun game that we got for Christmas. It's called Blokus.
I didn't take pictures, but it was a really fun game that even Josh could play and understand. The pieces kind of look like Tetrus blocks. You try to place as many of your color as you can - the only rule is that when you place a piece on the board, it has to touch another piece of the same color, but only at the corners. It's fun for kids and adults, takes 20-30 minutes to play, and is easy to understand. Hopefully we won't lose any of the pieces!
Anyway, that was our New Year's Eve. All the kids (except for Emma) stayed up until midnight, but they were pretty cranky the next day. We might have to pretend that new years comes at 10:00 next year :)

4th of July in Omaha

We had a fun 4th of July weekend with our visitors. Grandma and Grandpa and Michelle arrived safely the evening of the 30th. We were all very excited to see them. That night we were treated to a fireworks display that we could see from our deck. It was pretty impressive. Thats when we realized that the 4th of July here is not just one day. The festivities and the fireworks just keep going and going.


Saturday was Rachel's baptism. It was very nice. Everyone that came said that it was a lovely service. Michelle spoke about Baptism and Grandpa spoke about the Gift of the Holy Ghost.


On Monday, we went to the Mormon Trail center and Cemetery. We toured the visitors center. The kids had fun trying to pack a wagon, pull and handcart, and sleep in a ship bunk. Then we discovered that one of the Bloomfield's ancestors is buried at the Cemetery and is the only marked grave of the hundreds of people that were buried there. Her name was Amy Porter.



Later that day we went to the Whole Foods Market. It is an organic grocery store and it has some pretty interesting foods. We got some Edamame, sweet potato chips, organic soda (I refuse to call it pop - that's what people in Omaha call it), natural Turkey bacon, and some other stuff. I don't think I'll be shopping there on a regular basis, but it is interesting to look at what they have to offer.


On Tuesday, we went to Omaha's Old Market. It is in downtown Omaha and consists of a few blocks of cobblestone roads and sidewalks with some neat shops and restaurants. The kids favorite was the Old Market candy shop. We all had lunch at the Old Spaghetti Works. Rachel and David had a Peanut butter and Jelly pizza - which was a big hit. I think its the first time we have gone to a restaurant and the kids have finished their meals. David had 2 pieces left and when the waitress was about to take his plate away, he said "I was going to save that!" She brought him a box and that made him happy. I was going to take of picture of the pizza when we got home, but David ate the rest of it on the way home. A fun time was had by all. When we got in the car to go home David said "mom, I feel so good inside - we should do this every day!"

That night, Michelle babysat. Grandma, Grandma, Aaron and I went back to the visitors center to see the new Joseph Smith movie. On the drive home, we could see fireworks in every direction. It was something I had never seen before. It's legal here to have the fireworks that shoot up in the air and explode - kind of like the professional ones you see. So, for about an hour (or maybe more) there were big fireworks going on everywhere. You could see in every direction (no mountains) and the back deck of our house provides a nice view. It was quite a sight.

We were sad to see everyone leave the next morning. We are so glad that we had some visitors!