Lots of Happenings in January

January started off with a hit.  On January 2nd we celebrated our 11th anniversay....wow!!!  We went to the OK City Temple which is about 3 1/2 hours away (this is our temple).  Our friend Amy Bradford and her daughter Kate (who is Katelyn's friend) came with us.  She watched the kids at the science museum while we went to the temple and did sealings.  After we went, Lynar watched the kids at the museum while I drove her back to the temple for a session.....it took longer to get to from the museum to the temple than we had planned.  We are so glad that Amy and Kate were able to come with us since some of Amy's other kids were sick. 

Kate and Kate!

Brooky and Lyndee!

That night after we got home, the first snow storm of the year started.  It snowed 3-4 inches which is enough in Arkansas to cancel church and school...school ended up being cancelled for a full week, which gave Lyndee a 3 week Christmas vacation.  Oh...and the first day that she was able to go back, she got the nasty stomach bug that the rest of the family had the week before, so she had 3 weeks and one day!

Oh....it did snow again in the middle of the week and so that is why school was out for a full week.  For all of you that are not from here and maybe from Utah, Arkansas is not prepared for snow and people don't know how to drive in it.  On top of that, the snow isn't plowed, then it starts to melt, then refreezes which makes it dangerous to drive on.  The temps that week were the coldest it's been in over 10 years or more, 5 degrees one day for the high.  Too cold to go out!

We did a lot of fun stuff with the girls.  Lyndee still loves to wear her pioneer dress and Katelyn has a dress that she wears as well.  One night Lynar was planning around with the girls and grabbing their dresses and Katelyn's ripped.  Lyndee, being our little pioneer girl, mended it back together.  I have to admit she did a dang good job mending it by hand for an 8 year old!  Most adults wouldn't have been able to do it.

Lyndee loves all her sewing projects!  Oh---I don't know if I mentioned that she got glasses too!  She looks really cute in them!  She still has reading glasses that she needs to use when she reads and since she reads a ton she is always switching glasses.

We finally got pictures of the girls in their Christmas dresses.  It is hard to get them all happy and ready to take pictures at the same time.  I washed Brooklyn's shirt and it shrunk, which it was already a little small on her, but that is all that was left and I even went to 3 stores to find  a bigger size.  So cute though!

For Lynar's birthday his twin brother Arlyn and his wife and daughter came out to visit us.  I don't have any pictures to show because I am out of a camera.....so my picture taking is very limited!  I really want a nice camera so I am trying to be patient and wait for what I want.  Lynar has a camera, but it is mainly for his work stuff, plus I have a hard time taking pictures on it cause they all turn out blurry.  I have a few pictures on his camera, but he always has it at work....eventually I'll download them. 
We had a fun little party for them when we got home from the airport in Tulsa to pick them up.  Deryn (Lynar's oldest brother who lives in Fayetteville, AR) and his family came up and also Roy (Lynar's second cousin who lives in Bentonville, AR) and his wife came.  It's fun to have family near by that can join us!  We had a yummy carrot cake (home made of course!) and ice cream. 
Arlyn and Torrie went out visiting for a few days up to Missouri and to Deryns and then came back to our house Friday evening.  We were able to spend Saturday and part of Sunday with them before they had to head back to Utah.  It was fun to have them here, just wish Brooklyn was a little nicer to Charlotte.  Charlotte is 3 weeks older than Brooklyn and much bigger, taller, which didn't stop Brooklyn from pinching Charlotte's cheeks all the time.  I don't know why Brooklyn had so much fun pinching her cheeks, but I don't think that Charlotte enjoyed it.

One big step in the month is that Brooklyn started on whole milk--the real stuff---and I would say is allergy free!  Huge step for us! I'll have to blog more about it later!  So much cheaper as well.  Now her favorite thing is Ranch Dressing!

MORE SNOW!!!  We got  about 6 inches of snow on the 29th of January....one of the biggest snow storms ever in this area....which means everything was closed!  Lynar's office was even closed.  Brooklyn woke up really sick and just kept getting worse.  Try to find a doctor's office when everything is closed or only open for a few hours was nearly impossible.  I finally found one and just in time.  Brooklyn's breathing was getting worse and you could hear the gunk in her chest.  We  found out that she had RSV.  Yuck.  She was much better by the end of the day with her breathing treatments, but we've been stuck in the house since then....even more of a YUCK!  School was cancelled again on Monday since the streets were still a mess.  Brooklyn really wanted to go out in the snow, but this mean mom wouldn't let her go out yet. 

So far this year there are 7 snow days that have to be made up.    More snow is in the forcast as well.  So glad that I actually bought boots and snow pants for the girls this year!  It has definately been worth every penny!  I just wish I had some as well. 

That is the bulk of our January....now that I am caught up with our family stuff, I can start blogging more stuff that I want to.  Oh, plus I just finished our taxes...which always takes me way too long each year...next year I might have to get an accountant.