Groundhogs get their own day?

Some of you may have been wondering if I had done something that made Jarom take away my computer privileges, like bite Alixa again. I assure you that is not the case. I have been having some pretty heavy and mixed emotions as the Winns get ready to bring another pet into the home, but we’ll address that later. First off, a recap of the Winn pilgrimage to Utah. Due to the overwhelming length of their stay, I will keep it brief. There was lots and lots of snow, which the kids loved and Lix did not. There was lots and lots of cold, which nobody liked, least of all Bo, who would shiver and repeat “freezy, freezy, freezy” every time he stepped outside. There was lots and lots of Grandma and Grandpa, which everybody liked, most of all Grandma. She did a wonderful job of spoiling the kids. Bo got to run around with a pacifier and blanket at any time of day, Jenna got to go to the salon for a pedicure, entire new winter wardrobes were purchased (Alixa came very unprepared for the frigidity they faced) and both of the kids got about a million new toys to play with. Lix got to see a lot of Zak, Sam, and Eva, and a little of lots of other family and old friends. She met up with her college roomies to have a pregnancy party, since none of them can figure out how birth control works. There were fun trips to aquariums and museums and Jungle Jim’s, which is a little indoor carnival with chair swings and roller coasters and bumper cars.

 The shark is the same size as last time, but everyone in the picture has gotten bigger

 Happy siblings

 Sister snowman, created by Grandma and Jenna

 

No mittens around? Socks will do just fine.

Towards the end of the trip Alixa’s grandmother passed away. This wasn’t a sad thing because she had lived a long and happy life and was ready to move on. So Jarom and Alixa decided to attend the funeral, which would be held in Carson City (they use the term “city” pretty loosely in Nevada). That meant leaving the kids with Grandma for a few extra days and hopping on a plane. Jarom got to meet some of Alixa’s family that he hadn’t previously, and Lix got to see some of her cousins that she only sees every third blue moon. The funeral was a nice event with a talk by Mario and singing (while crying) from Alixa and all her cousins. The rest of the day was spent hanging out and playing games with family. The next morning most of the Hegewald crew departed via automobile back to Utah, but Lix and Jarom didn’t leave via aeromobile until the next morning, so they took a drive up to beautiful Lake Tahoe. The original plan was to drive up there, jump in the lake, and then die of hypothermia a few minutes later. Upon arrival at the lake, Jarom put his hand, well really just the tips of his fingers, into the water and promptly made the wise decision to stay dry. Tahoe is cold enough in the summer. They did see a scuba diver in a full wet suit who mentioned that swimming in there was “the worst experience of his life.” But from the shore the lake and the mountains that surround it are gorgeous. Definitely one of the prettiest places you can go. And the water is crystal clear. You can see down about 70 feet in the lake, which is amazing. They walked around, drove around, got some lunch, bought a new scarf for Lix and a new purse for Jenna, and then headed back towards Reno for dinner and a movie. It was a fun weekend to spend without kids.

 He weighed too much to qualify as a carry-on

 What's the best looking thing in this picture?

 

On Monday they flew together back to SLC, where Jarom was supposed to continue on to Dallas. But he missed his connecting flight and wasn’t able to get on another one until the next day, so he went home with Lix to hang out with his kids and see his parents. It worked out pretty well, especially because he was able to get some Entenmanns and Lays Salt and Vinegar chips. The kids were happy to see him, and he was happy to see the kids, and Alixa was happy to have another adult on the plane with her. They got a friend to pick them up at the airport, which they thought was very nice of her. But then she explained that it was just a convenient excuse to swing by Costa Vida to get some lunch, and they felt less bad about making her come and get them.

 He knows he shouldn't do this, so he cried

 Then he did it again at Kenna's house

 Such a big boy

 Such a big snot bubble!

He can only climb so high

Since she got home Alixa has been enjoying the warm weather, catching up on 3 weeks of TV shows from the DVR, teaching her preschool class and organizing park days again. She is also getting ready to pick up our new pet, a Siamese kitten that doesn’t have a name yet. They can’t pick him up until next weekend, but she has been getting pics of him as he grows. Jenna and Bo are very excited about it. Alixa has never owned a cat, and hasn’t always had positive experiences with them. There was that time Jarom risked his life to get her one, only to have her promptly lose it because she was afraid it would scratch her. She is very curious though, and is always asking Jarom insightful questions about its care.

Bo seems like he learned how to talk while he was out west. He will repeat just about anything you say, strings together words to make phrases and is generally understanding a lot more verbal communication. Yesterday there was a great moment at dinner when Alixa asked him what his name was and he said Blake. Jarom has been calling him Blake occasionally since he was born, because he wants him to know what his name is. Despite Alixa’s staunch ridicule, he has insisted for a long time that Bo does know his name is Blake and will acknowledge it. So it was nice for Jarom to be proven right for once. It doesn’t happen often, but he’ll take what he can get.

At 29 weeks

Celebrating her 30th birthday

Jarom got volunteered to help coach lacrosse again this spring, so he will be doing that a couple days a week for the next few months. At least that is the hope. He recently replaced his car’s brakes on his own (with guidance from Nate and Brigham) so there’s no guarantee he’ll make it that long.

To the winter home!

Lix left town with the kids for the month of January, but before she left she wanted to prepare her digestive system by having a Café Rio dinner with a bunch of friends. One of those in attendance had never before tasted the wonderful goodness that is Café Rio sweet pork, and mentioned that he might be making some trips over to the airport (where there is a Costa Vida) because he loved it so much. In fact, it was so good that Alixa didn’t even go to Café Rio during the first few days of her trip, which is almost unfathomable.

I will let the pictures do most of the talking, and after looking at them you will have seen Jarom’s kids as much as he has this week. It’s sad and lonely around the house. Mars is here, and he and Jarom cross paths occasionally. But he works late a lot of nights and Jarom isn’t all that social to begin with, so it isn’t exactly Animal House. The kids left on Monday after going out to lunch with their dad. Bo had a few of his cars in his yellow murse and Jenna had her gigantic backpack strapped up. They did great on the flight and have since been having an amazing time in Utah with Grandmas and Grandpa and cousins and aunts and uncles and snow. But mostly the snow. It dropped a few feet on them, so Jenna has been shoveling with Grandpa and making snowmen and snow angels and snowballs and sledding and generally having a great time playing in the powder. When it is time to come inside she has really taken to playing dodgeball. She and Bo will stand at opposite ends of Grandmas kitchen with a ball in hand, Jenna will count off “I…2…3…Dodgeball!!” and then they will run in and throw the balls at each other. Jenna was winning a lot of those games so she ramped up the competition and asked Lix to play with her. Lix promptly hit Jenna in the face with a ball and made her cry. She has gone back to playing Bo. She also makes her princesses play dodgeball. Ariel (post mermaid, I assume) and Rapunzel are the best at it. There have been trips to a farm, where Jenna was nearly eaten by ducks, and a trip to the aquarium, where the otters were particularly playful, and lots of visits with family and friends. And they will still be out there for 2 more weeks.

Sweet murse, Bo

 All bundled up and ready to play

Until someone gets a face full of snow

 Pleasantly feeding the birds, while the hordes planned their attack

 Bo didn't have any trouble with his animals

 

 Helping clear the driveway

 Watching the otters

 Wearing his new Cars boots

 Getting ready for bed

 Pop Tarts taste even better at Grandma's house

Which list were you on?

Happy Festivus everyone. The holidays have been wonderful around here. Things got off to a bad start when Jarom’s quest for a fourth consecutive fantasy football championship was derailed in a surprisingly narrow loss to Jason in the title matchup. I’d be lying if I told you that anyone other than Jarom was bothered by this. As a general rule people seem to root for him to fail, so his wife and family members were all pretty happy to see him defeated. It got better from there. The weekend before Christmas there was an invite to a great steak dinner over at the Ogden’s. The 24^th came with an early dismissal from work, which is always a welcome treat. The Winns went over to the Winns for some dinner and some games, and the first few gifts of Christmas. Then they went to see some lights and decorate some gingerbread houses with the Marlais, and then it was home to prep the house for Santa’s arrival. This is the first year that Jenna has really understood the concept of Santa, which has been fun. Lix and Jarom have motivated her to be a good listener by explaining that he brings presents to the good boys and girls. Jenna was very excited to leave some cookies and milk for Santa, and some carrots for the reindeer.

 

Jenna's fine construction

We think she might be solar powered

And in the morning the cookies and carrots were all eaten and Jenna must have been a good girl this year because she got a whole set of My Little Ponies, including the one that she wanted most of all, Rainbow Dash. Bo didn’t ask for anything so he got an assortment of cars and books and toys and new pajamas, and seemed to love them all. Alixa must not have been that good because all she got was a book. Jarom claims to have gotten her a new blender and a new couch and a new ring, but that’s just because he starts saying all purchases are Christmas presents beginning in mid-November. Jarom got a free pass to go golfing with the Quigleys in the 40 degree weather we had Christmas week. It was exactly what he wanted. Mother Nature delivered the best present of all, a healthy dose of snow. Jenna and Kenna spent the day playing with each other’s toys and playing out in the snow and then having warm baths. Bo liked the snow as well, but doesn’t have any gloves so he couldn’t play in it for too long.

 

Two cute kids

 

Bo finally got over his fear of the carousel

The second snow of the season was much more impressive

The bad weather meant that Jarom got to work from home on Boxing Day, which was especially nice because Lix was babysitting Kenna and Callie that day and had an emotional breakdown and needed a little support. Callie has RSV and was a little grumpy and Lix couldn’t get her to stop crying. Having three little ones running around while dealing with a baby while being pregnant is a recipe for disaster, I guess. I’m not sure what the big deal is, that’s what Nancy refers to as the 80’s. And now there’s some discussion about adding to the mix. The Quigleys have a pregnant siamese cat that will have kittens available for adoption in about 7 weeks and their adoption policy is much more lax than some of the others that the Winns have run into, so they might take advantage of the opportunity. Jenna is pretty excited that she might get a kitten that looks like Skippy Jon Jones.

 

One little cowboy

Three little archaeologists

During her recent run in with the police Lix was scolded for having lived in Texas for over a year and still using a non-TX driver’s license. In fact, her license was from Tennessee, having skipped Virginia entirely. So she gathered every possible piece of identification she could find and headed off to the DMV to sit for hours. By the grace of God she met their requirements and was issued a new license. Sadly, in order to balance out the universe she had to hit something on the road while heading up there and poor Carlotta has a cracked front fender. Lix tried to pretend it didn’t happen until the next day when Jarom saw it and asked about it. She vaguely remembered hitting something, but she couldn’t recall what it might have been. And now the car is being held together by black duct tape. We’re a classy bunch.

Jenna and Bo and Sam

Bo doesn't like waking up. He gets that from Lix.

We wrapped up the holiday week with a New Year’s Eve gathering at the church to play dodgeball. Alixa hates dodgeball, which I believe is against the gym teacher code, but whatever. So she used Everzoomius as an excuse to sit on the sideline and ref. Bo and Jenna loved the idea of dodgeball, but are still too small to actually play, so they got to run around the halls and play with toys and yell at Rob and watch Nemo. Jarom loves dodgeball and had a great time terrorizing high school kids and doing his best to throw his arm out and make himself as sore as possible. It was a fun evening and the kids made it until about 10:30 before they had to get out of there and get the little ones to bed. Sadly, Lix rang in the new year by barfing up the salad that she had eaten for dinner that evening and heading to bed at the same time as her 1 and 3 year-olds. Hopefully 2013 is going to be as good to all of us as 2012 was.