visiting & sledding

 On Saturday morning, we drove over to Aunt Sharon's house to visit & to borrow a sled.

 We hung out in the back yard & enjoyed the warm sun.

The boys enjoyed climbing on the big rocks & playing with the dogs.

Finley & Cedar

Such big boys!

Finn likes to use rose thorns to make a rhino horn on his nose!  :P

The most energetic dog, Whip, liked trying to get Cedar's sticks.  Cedar wasn't too happy about Whip's game & was working hard to keep his sticks safe.  :)

We drove into the mountains to find a good sledding place.  It was harder than we expected, because the warm sun had melted so much of the snow!  We ended up pulling off near a service road that was covered in snow.  It was perfect for sledding!

Dad & Cedar;s turn!

Kenton got the best work out of all of us!

Weeeeee!

Cedar took a long break from sledding & stuck close to me.  He thought he was pretty funny, throwing snow balls at Mama.  :P  His eyes look kind of crazy in this picture - one's open more than the other.  Funny boy.

Silly Cedar & Mama.

Papa Lew & Nanalee

Finn really liked sledding with Kenton!

They coordinated their outfits so nicely!

It was so warm that we definitely didn't need jackets, or even sweaters!

The sun was a little too bright for Kenton.  :P

Sticking close to Mama!

That just means I get more close up pictures of him than on Finley.  :P

Going down a steep hill all alone!

Last time down, with Dad this time.

Can't pass up the chance for more photos of my handsome boys.

Sweet brothers.

Got one with both of them looking...still a little bright for wide eyes, but I'll take it!

What a fun day!  We sure were tired after running up that snowy hill.  :)

over the mountains

We worried that the snow would delay our trip that we'd planned to drive to Utah.  Kenton's grandparents & Aunt live in Ogden & it had been too long since we'd visited.

The Santiam Pass was definitely snowy, but there wasn't snow on the road.

Kenton did a great job driving on the wet, almost frozen roads & we were through the mountains in no time!  :)

(photos taken with my phone)

The boys did pretty well sleeping as we drove on, through the night, to Ogden.  Cedar had a harder time than Finn, who actually slept the entire time & woke up in shock when we had arrived at out destination. :)

 Once we arrived at Nanalee & Papa Lew's house, they surprised our boys by getting Angry Birds Space on their computer!

 Finn was especially excited!  He had been counting down the days to its release!  What a treat.  :)

 In the afternoon, we went for a walk on a trail near a river.

 It was a great way for the boys to get some energy out!

 Cedar by the river.

 Finley by the river.

 Though it was technically Spring, there wasn't a whole lot of color quite yet.  But it still was pretty!

 Nanalee, Cedar, Papa Lew & Finley

 Chocolate mouth!

 Climbing on the rocks.

 Cedar's climbing too!

 A Creature!  :\

 Finley & Mama

 That evening, we witnessed a lovely sunset from their living room!

 Such pretty colors!

Relaxing after a long night & long day.  :)

surprise snow day

 Yesterday was the first day of Spring.  Today, we woke up to 4 inches of snow & it continued to snow for several hours!  What a surprise!

 The only bummer was that Kenton & I were already on Spring Break, so we didn't get a Snow Day from work this time.  But on the bright side, we're already on Spring Break!  ;)

 Finn was supposed to go to school this morning & was SO excited when he learned that it actually snowed enough to cancel school!  That is so rare here!

 Our tall tree/shrub was bending under the weight of snow!  It's top branches were touching the ground.  :\  We helped knock some of the snow off, but we'll see if it fully recovers.

 We played in the morning & took a break, then went back out for a walk.  The snow was super slushy by the afternoon & it was a very hard walk.  We felt like we were doing a mini Biggest Loser challenge!  :P

 We walked about 3/4 of a mile to a hill & the snow was still in great shape for sledding!  :P  My sweet Cedar-Lion was a little nervous to sled, at first.

 Kenton & Finn took lots of turns!

 I have so many photos with great expressions from these two...but especially from Kenton!  :P

 Sticking close to Mama.

 More sledding...

 Cedar didn't need a sled to have fun on the hill!

 Finley on his own!

 Kenton rolling down the hill...on purpose.  :P

 Might be getting a little old for that kind of play!  ;)

 The big kid & me.

 Mama & Cedar took a turn about halfway down the hill, to make sure Cedar wouldn't get too scared.  He loved it!

 Finn & Cedar together, just before toppling over & nearly face-planting in the snow.  Cedar was laughing the whole time.

Dad & Cedar

 I know I'm posting a lot of pictures, but this series is so funny!  I set my camera to take rapid shots & got the best facial expressions from Kenton!

 We traded sleds with another family that was sledding nearby.

 Kenton noticed a bump coming up & was concerned that he was going to pop their blow-up pool toy!

 I suppose he was worried, but he just looks disgusted!  :)

 Almost to the bump!

 Oh, Man!  They caught some air!

 Landing was a little rough...

But they were all smiles in the end.  No worries!  :P

Cedar got one last ride up the hill & thought that was the most fun!

By the time we made it back home, both boys were in tears with super cold toes & fingers.  We gave them a warm bath, which only brought more tears as their extremities thawed out.  :P  But once that feeling subsided, they were all better & ready to enjoy round 2 of hot cocoa!