January

Some things we liked about January: Paul turned 30, a local grocery store gave away free fresh flowers, and we went ice skating.

Last Snow Post of the Season

Amy and Paul spent an afternoon snowshoeing in Millcreek Canyon with Paul's brother and his 8-months-pregnant wife (she is a rockstar). We realized too late that all the other snowshoers on this particular trail had sleds strapped to their backs. We had to jump out of the way as they came zooming back down the trail. We still had a great time, but next year our descent back down the trail will be much faster.

Snow

You'll Shoot Your Eye Out

The children put their Christmas gifts to immediate use.

Natural Bridges State Park

While Amy's brother Mike was in town, we took the family to Natural Bridges State Park. This place is named for three bridge-like rock formations, only one of which still exists. It's also famous for the thousands of Monarch butterflies that spend the winter there, but we had to look long and hard to see just a few butterflies. Despite the slightly misleading marketing, we had a lovely time enjoying the beach and hiking some trails. Anyway, the children were more interested in sword fighting with sticks and honing their acrobatic skills on the beach than in butterfly watching.

I get paid for this

Stanford pays Amy to organize fun events for our neighborhood. Our recent roasting of chestnuts over an open fire, of which there are no good pictures since it was dark, was just as cool as our Thanksgiving reenactment, of which there were several good pictures.

A Traditional Bankhead Thanksgiving

For the fourth year in a row, we've spent some portion of the Thanksgiving holiday camping. This year we attempted Yosemite with Paul's sister and niece. Our days were filled with spectacular views, disturbingly domesticated deer, and a magical 5-foot stick that inspired James to hike for miles without complaint. Our one night was so cold that we decided to go home a day early rather than shiver through another night. (Side note: When Sadie woke up crying in the middle of the freezing night, Paul soothed her back to sleep with a lovely and appropriate bedtime story entitled, "The Willie and Martin Handcart Companies." See here for a grown-up version.)

The Daily Volcano

James often requests bedtime stories "about when you were a little girl, Mom." One night Amy told him about the volcanoes she and her siblings often made in the backyard sandbox. Of course the next day James requested a live demonstration, and most every day since then we've built our own volcano in our backyard. The colors change, but the novelty never wears off. Also, Amy's discovered a reason to buy the Costco-size baking soda.