THIS is January?!

We had a wonderful time outside in the sunshine and clean air yesterday.  Parkway walking, and porch reading, the temperature was 55 degrees!  We're going to be screwed for water this summer if this weather pattern doesn't change soon...  :(

Reading the engraved rock, he shouted "rotary!" as in the Union Pacific Rotary snowplow.  :)

Old Sharon Steel mill ponds.

Jordan River was low.

Walking with Mommy.  Look how tall he is!

Basking in some vitamin D sunshine.

This looked terrifying!  Life Flight helicopter and the Cessna looked as if they were about to have a mid-air  collision!

Everyone on the front porch in the sun.  Mommy was reading "A Wrinkle in Time" to Skyler since the movie is coming out in March.

We started to watch the movie "Bullitt" last night while he was puttering around in his room and loft.  It got quiet around 7:35 and we walked in to find this!  Uh oh!  We let him sleep up here for 2 hours and then it was an atomic meltdown to get him to come back down to go to bed in his actual bed.

A loft for Skyler.

Part of the room cleanse included cleaning out the "loft" above the closet.  I always wanted to make it a place that one could sit and read, it finally happened yesterday!  Skyler was thrilled when he got home from school and saw the ladder leading up!

Through two lenses, my lease here..

What Mommy saw through hers.  The step ladder is temporary, I have a rope ladder coming that will complete the "play space".

Clean!

I was told that I needed to clean out the front room to make room for guests, and to make a place for Skyler to eventually do homework.  I started on Wednesday morning, worked on it for 7 hours, and finished after another 6 hours yesterday.  Skyler was quite thrilled to discover new items and even walked away with a few trinkets of his own.

Oh my god!  This was about 2 hours in on Wednesday.

Finished!

Complete with neon!

Bookshelves migrated downstairs. (And according to my phone, 146 trips up and down the stairs!) Much better!

Under the weather.

Skyler has developed a cough and today is running a slight temp.  He stayed home from school yesterday and is home again with me today.

Yesterday morning...

Yesterday afternoon. Quite a difference!
 I might take him in to school late if he's starting to feel better again.

Learning about the human body.

Ms. Karla took this picture of Skyler's class studying hard yesterday afternoon.  I love how much is going on in class!

Circle time!

It really is Grand!!

Our favorite part about winter,  watching Amazon's "The Grand Tour" every week.  Here is Jeremy Clarkson emulating Ken Block!

Escape to Park City!

We have had yet another inversion in the Salt Lake Valley this past week and that has meant I couldn't walk the dog every day like normal.  We said enough is enough yesterday and headed up to Park City to walk freely and breathe some fresh air.

Gorgeous day!  The old Osguthorpe dairy barn.

Looking at the little pool.

Ice formed above the running water.

Our snow packed trail.

Beaver dam!

Snow covered beaver lodge.

Pretending the fence was electrified.

We even found a playground.  Here he is relaxing on the hammock.

Mysterious bright object that provides light and warmth in the sky...

At the Utah Food Bank.

Mommy signed up to volunteer at the Food Bank.  Karen and Matt joined them as well.  Skyler apparently had a pretty good time sorting cans.

New facility.

That's a lot of cans!!

New Year's Day.

We walked around the Redwood Nature Center during the daytime, and walked down to G & G's to celebrate Karen's birthday 2 days early.

Frozen.

He didn't want to walk at first.  A headlamp made him think otherwise!

New Year's Eve.

We were invited to the girls' house to celebrate this year.  They always put on great parties and this was no exception.

Enjoying some carrots.  Note his water cup with light up ice cube!

Going back for more carrots and some pizza.

Last day of Christmas break.

Tuesday was Skyler's last day home before he went back to school. I had suggested at the beginning of December that we clean carpets once the tree was down.  Well, he remembered that Monday evening and requested that we clean the carpets!  We did.  After the carpets were cleaned, we headed to the store where we found a Lego Ninjago set on clearance.  That pretty much made the day!

Playing with the Lego snowplow from a few years ago that he got the last time he was home and we cleaned carpets.

Building his new "water strider".

Happy Birthday Karen!

Today is my Sister's birthday!  She is a master of writing just the right thing and a lover of all things living.  She enjoys the outdoors, (particularly Millcreek Canyon) sewing her own clothes, and the arts.  I'm happy to call her my sister and Skyler is thrilled to call her his Aunt.

Earlier this year riding the swing ride with Skyler at Lagoon.  Look at that mysterious green stuff on the trees!

Jordan Ridge Park.

We headed to South Jordan Sunday afternoon to walk the dog and let Skyler ride his bike around Jordan Ridge Park.  They have a walking track and it's a rather large park that allowed Maizey to run.

Great mountain view!

He got tired of riding his bike so we explored the stormwater system that drains into the park.  Note the playground at the top of the hill.

Happy New Year!!

Welcome to 2018, let's hope it's a little better than 2017.

Skyler crossed off almost every day of 2017.  He has a new calendar this year to do the same.  Calendars are from the MacDon combine header and hay swather company.  :)

A walk to Camelot Park.

We walked to Camelot Park Friday afternoon.  Skyler was thrilled to go to a new park.  The neighborhood does not live up to the park name however, what a shithole!!

Nice playground!  Why does the nicest playground belong in the worst neighborhood?

Teaching him to spin around by thrusting his weight back and forth.

Jingle Bells!

Skyler and Artemis started to sing "Jingle Bells" together Thursday night.  There was a seizure inducing Santa Clause display complete with strobe lights!

A night out on the town...

With Artemis!!

We headed downtown last night to enjoy the Christmas lights.  Both kids were out of control most of the time but everyone enjoyed themselves.  The fountain with fire was their favorite part followed by a cup of hot chocolate.

(Photos out of order yet again!!!)

Headed to the Nativity displays.

Waiting for the fire in the fountain to start.

Fire!

ZCMI window display.

Looking for some fish in City Creek.

Reflection pool.

Climbing up the conference center levels.

Very exciting!

Reflection pool.

FIRE!

Jupiter and 119 out of candy!

Golden Spike themed candy ornament.

Enjoying the displays together.