Places You Might Find Elli If You Turn Your Head For Two Minutes...

...time to put down the camera and rescue our little adventurer!

Conner and Lexi Love to Ski!

Almost every month during the school year, the Utah School for the Blind takes visually impaired kids on an overnight field trip.  They do many different types of activities including life skills (going to the store, riding the bus and train), sporting activities (Miller Motor Sports Park Racetrack, Curling) and outdoor events (fishing, snowshoeing).  In January they were going to go skiing.  Both Lexi and Conner were about the trip, so I said I would go with them for the skiing portion.  It ended up being a great experience.  Conner loved being on the mountain and keeps asking if we can go again.  We're so grateful for so many great programs that are a blessing to our kids with special needs.  And so grateful to the many wonderful people who work for or volunteer for these programs:)

Newest Addition To The Family...

We have probably posted a picture or two of Molly on the blog, but I'd don't think we've formally introduced our newest "child."  So here she is.  Molly was born in October of last year and we got her in December.  The kids all love her (although they are not always enamored with the work she adds to our lives).  She is a beautiful golden doodle.  She is still very much a puppy and we have been dealing with many of the challenges that entails, but with the help of a WONDERFUL trainer, she is improving rapidly.  But she is still very inquisitive and has lots of energy.  Sophi can't stand to be away from her and tends to be a little to shadow for Molly.  Elli loves it when Molly comes up and gives her unrestrained kisses.  All in all, a good addition to the family:)

A quick trip to Walmart for the Greens:)

From Sophi with Love

Sophi has a beautiful white church dress.  Since today is dress down day, she wanted to wear it to school.

Sophi:  "Mom, can I wear my white dress today?"

Christi:  "No, it's too fancy for school."

Sophi, very earnestly:  "Oh, 'cuz then all the boys would want to kiss me?"

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After getting all the kids off to school, Christi and I plopped down on the couch to talk.  We discussed a small bit of conflict we had had with one of the children this morning and (not for the first time) talked about how challenging it can be to meed all the needs of so many kids.  Feeling just a bit frustrated with how hard you can work at parenting and how little they sometimes appreciate you for it, Christi said:  "Bleech.  Kids!"

Sophi immediately called her on it:  "What do you mean, bleech, kids?!?"

We quickly reassured her that kids are the best and that they make our lives SO awesome.  Thanks for the reminder, Soph!!!