Sydney's 5!

Sydney's birthday fell on a Sunday this year, so we had a family party at out house. We had dinner, cupcakes and icecream, and a lot of fun! It was nice to celebrate with those we love.




Although we didn't have a formal party, we did have a modified "play date" a few days before her birthday at Monkey Joe's. Sydney invited her two little friends from church, and a little girl from her class at school. They had a great time playing, and we had pizza too.




I can't believe she is already 5! It seem like just last week I was begging the baby in my belly to "please come out tonight," and now she is already in school. She is very creative. She loves to draw and make crafts. She loves to sing, dance, and make up stories.




When she brings home pictures from school, the descriptions aren't just "a girl and rain," but "This is a little girl who loves to play outside. Today it is raining, so she is really sad." The picture will be a picture of a girl with a frown, surrounded by large blue dots of rain.




She is very kind, and always willing to help. She has a beautiful smile, and a cute little laugh. She is the best big sister, and a great first daughter.

Snow!

So, Sydney said it just isn't Christmas without snow, and it starting snowing late Christmas night. We woke up the next morning to play in the "snow." It didn't stick around too long, and by the time a snowman was erected, our yard was more "leaf-covered" and less "snow-kissed."

Sydney wanted the snow to come back, and a few weeks later it really came - with a whole lotta ice too. The snow started falling on Sunday night, and by Monday morning you couldn't leave your house. Not that the snow (5-7 inches) was so crippling, but the ice was unbelievable! People here just aren't prepared for this type of weather since it is so rare.

We went out and played for a little while before Donnie had to get back to real life. He had an important trip, but we couldn't get out of our driveway, so he packed up his hiking backpack, and set out on foot to catch the Marta train to the airport. He sat at the airport all day, and was finally rerouted through Salt Lake, where he spent the night, before heading on to Orange County. He was there all week, so he missed the craziness around here.

Sydney and Jaxy had a great time. School was closed the entire week, so we took it pretty easy around here. In fact, we had no choice but to take it easy, as we could not get our driveway clear until Friday. There was plenty of fun around here with the snow and ice - our neighbors used the car-less roads covered in ice as sledding hills.

We had power, blankets, and plenty of food, but when Papa Johns starting delivering again Friday, we jumped on the chance to have something I didn't have to cook :)

We went a little stir-crazy in the house all week, and it was really hard for me without Donnie and adult conversation. I was happy when Saturday rolled around and we made it out of the house (to Target), and Donnie came home.

In summation, I hope Sydney never asks for snow again :)