SNOW!!!!

We have been anxiously awaiting a decent snowfall to cover the few hills here in Indiana. Well it finallly came and we had a great time building snowforts, our own snow village in the backyard, complete with streets, and yes, several trips to the sledding hills. I got my excercise shoveling our driveway several times a day. I must say, although it makes the roads yucky, it sure is a beautiful sight when everything gets covered with snow.

Frozen Pipes

So, last night we had -15 degree weather then adding to that a crazy windchill that made it FREEZING cold outside and we had our pipes freeze. Our laundry room is on the main floor and has pipes that are on an outside wall. That room usually gets cold and so we close the door. Well combine that with the sub zero temps and you get frozen pipes. We spent all day trying to heat up that room and prevent the frozen pipes from breaking and flooding our home. After Nathan had cut a hole in the wall and wrapped the pipes with "black foamy stuff" and we had a space heater on full blast we finally resolved the problem and had running water by 5:30pm. Yeah, for running water. I so would not have survived as a pioneer.

Stake Basketball Champs

Silas Smith, Nathan, Cody Hughes, Alan Mowrey, Christian Fordham
Nathan enjoys all sports. This year our stake held a one day basketball tournament which meant 4 games. Our ward first played at 9am, then 10am, then 12pm and the final game was at 3pm. A guy in our ward works for the Indiana Pacers and was able to bring Pacers jerseys for our team to wear and keep after the game. The Fishers 2nd Ward won the tournament. I know Nate was sore the next day because he was popping Ibuprophen and Tylenol on a regular basis but he didn't complain. Congrats guys!

The Time Machine

Mackenzie and Dayton decided to build a time machine today. They compiled a list of the things they would need to build it and the things they would need to take with them as they traveled to different places and times. I must admit I have some pretty creative kids. We watched as they turned the dial, put on the safety goggles and transported themselves back in time to visit with the dinosaurs. Alexa was a little less amused. Imagination...what a gift. I had a meeting at church the next day and when I came home all of the doors upstairs were closed so I asked why. The response was quite matter of fact, "A trip to Mars." I should have known.

Stake Basketball Champs

Nathan enjoys playing any and all sports. This year our stake held a one day basketball tournament and our ward was scheduled to play 4 games that day. The first game began at 9am, then 10am, then 12pm and the final game was at 3pm. Nathan played in every game. I know he was sore because the next day he was popping Ibuprophen and Tylenol pretty regularly. A guy from our ward, Alan Mowrey, works for the Indiana Pacers and was able to bring Pacers jerseys for the guys to wear and keep.

Church ball is a funny thing to watch. Our guys did a great job and were successfull. Congrats!

Dayton thought wearing the jersey was pretty cool too.

Guitar Hero

So for Christmas we got a Wii and Guitar Hero. I am addicted to Guitar Hero. Nathan and I will put the kids to bed and have battles or just face off. This is the first "video" game I am actually good at and I enjoy playing. While at my mom and dad's Nathan

got his first really good score. He only missed one note in the entire song. Alexa did really well too. I also had a great score...I didn't miss any of the notes. I told Nathan that Guitar Hero was going to be really good for our marriage because it is something we both enjoy doing together. The past few nights we have played as opposed to previous nights where he watches some sporting event and I watch the news or weather. I know...I'm lame. Thank goodness for Guitar Hero.

Pump it Up

Our good friends the Barbours moved from Canton about a year before we moved to Indiana. Luckily we still have parents that live in the area so we can occasionally coordinate getting together. This year we were able to spend a couple of days with them and one of those was celebrating Noah's birthday. His party was at Pump it Up, which is an inflatable party place. Our kids love this place and we all had a blast.

The slide was super fast and several of us fell all the way off...gracefully.

At one point the song, Cha Cha slide came on. The 2 girls in front were totally dancing and our shy, demur Alexa :-) walked right over and started grooving with them. It was quite amusing. Lex has got some moves. I am so grateful that she is secure enough to not care what anyone thinks but to just go out and have fun.

New Year's Eve

We spent New Year's in Ohio with grandma and grandpa Dayton. New Year's, like other holidays, has some time honored traditions. Bowling, homemade Won tons, friends, and FUN!

So first we went bowling with some of our other friends. The Hunters, plus a few of our favorite teenagers from the Canton ward and the Barbours, who were in town from California. I am a terrible bowler. But I play none the less. After bowling we headed back to the Dayton house for some yummy Chinese food. Susan made fried rice and egg rolls which were incredible. My mom and girls had made won tons earlier in the day. Because won tons and egg rolls need to be fried to be yummy and because frying makes the house stink we had the fryer outside. It was a little bit cold. But the end result was delicious.

So after eating...way too much. We played games, watched some Brian Regan (and laughed a lot), played some pool, Guitar Hero and Mario Kart.

Then we rang in the New Year with noise makers, pots and pans, and Grandpa's air horn.

Happy New Year!