The Blanch Herd: Photos from Phones - January 2017 Round Up

A brand new year is upon us. It turns out January has been the snowiest month in ages - some clever people in internet land have dubbed it "Januburied" (ha ha!). We just keep getting dumped on, so we just keep playing in the snow. We've also done some other things (and taken some other photos) and that's what you'll find here (in addition to more snow pictures that just didn't get their own posts). Let us proceed.

1.1.17
(posing by the tree with Min on her first day of
Sunbeams!)

1.1.17

1.1.17
(little bro joins the photo shoot)

1.1.17
(he does not want help from big sister to hold still)

1.1.17
(thank you very much)

1.1.17
(he's perfectly capable of standing still and smiling
for a photo)

1.1.17
(the arm scrunch - I can't even handle it!)

1.1.17
(now things are getting goofy)

1.1.17
(we're losin' them both!)

1.4.17
(skyping with Gma Blanchard. Cal took this pic with her camera)

1.5.17
(we take snack time pretty seriously around here)

1.5.17
(working on those fine motor spoon skills)

1.5.17
(bullseye!)

1.5.17
(happy boy)

1.6.17
(um, brrrr!)

1.7.17
(the Ags had a rare Saturday afternoon game so we jumped at the
chance to be back in the Spectrum. Ky and Michael and Mugs
(and Swaze, who missed out on the pic) joined us for the fun
while my parents watched Cal and Sam. Bonus? They won
in a dominating fashion! So fun!)

1.8.17
(another Sunday, another pre-church photo shoot.
go figure that the first pic I take is the "best" one)

1.8.17
(goofiness starting early this time)

1.8.17

1.8.17
(also note the increase in pictures on the wall
behind them in one week's time)

1.8.17

1.8.17
(why when one is smiling nicely does the other have
to pull a silly face?)

1.8.17
(and it's over)

1.9.17
(another apron down - this one for my friend
Gabby's little girl, Naomi)

1.9.17
(same apron, different side. Laurel's fabric scraps
box has really come in handy for me lately!)

1.9.17
(Cal came out of her room after quiet time with this amazing
piece of art - done completely by herself! "It's a picture I made
and I love to color." (That's the understatement of the year!) I'm
most impressed with the flowers and blue butterfly. The big round
circle with yellow hair is Callie.)

1.11.17
(it's time to take down the reindeer in Callie's room,
but first, a picture.)

1.11.17
(my heart melted when I peeked in the living room and spied
this sight)

1.11.17
(Sam's little crossed legs kill me!)

1.11.17
(they do get along sometimes)

1.11.17
(#blanchardbooklove if I ever saw it)

1.11.17
(helping with dinner one can never be too safe;
he begs to wear Cal's old helmet at random times
throughout the day)

1.14.17
(our art gallery is expanding. this is one of my particular faves:
Cal and her friends jumping in the leaves)

1.14.17
(another one I like - a person and some flowers. she's getting
pretty good!)

1.16.17
(beautiful blue skies and a backyard barn)

1.16.17
(the frost was so cool!)

1.16.17
(hard to photograph, but so cool)

1.16.17

1.16.17
(it's icicle central all over our house)

1.16.17

1.16.17
(these are the sticks in our big junk pile in the back, with cool frost)

1.16.17

1.16.17
(she conquered the bumpy snowpile)

bonus video!

the snowpile slide

1.16.17

1.16.17
(since it was a holiday, Gregg didn't have to work,
so Cal and I snuck out for a solo stroller ride
while Sam napped)

1.16.17
(a nice view from the loop)

1.17.17
(more loop walks, more views)

bonus videos!

you may want ear protection for this

and

what inevitably comes next

1.17.17

(just your average post-dinner-pre-bedtime

shenanigans at our house)

1.17.17
(how I like to spend a chilly January evening)

1.23.14 /1.20.17
(Callie told us on Sunday that it was Minnie's birthday. She insisted on making her a birthday poster and she even wrapped up some special "presents" in blankets for Min to unwrap. It got us thinking that, in fact, it was sort of Minnie's birthday since she joined our family three years ago this week. They've been fast friends ever since that trip to Disneyland back in
January 2014. )

1.21.17
(we spent the afternoon in Salt Lake watching Kage and Dray
play basketball and having fun with the Wihongi's and Blanchard
Grandparents - here, Cal and Sam go on an explore with Gpa)

1.21.17
(they found a foosball table in the hallway)

1.21.17
(Dray's cheering section)

1.21.17
(Cal and Grandma selfie at Kage's game)

1.21.17
(Sam thought climbing the bleachers at Kage's game was just about
the most fun he's had, and Dray was a great spotter to make sure
he didn't take a tumble)

1.23.17
(it snowed again)

1.23.17
(a lot!)

1.23.17
(this is outside our front door)

1.23.17
(superhero blankets)

1.23.17

1.23.17
(peeking at the backyard totals)

1.23.17
(buried)

1.23.17
(usually there is a fire pit and a chopping block
out there; they're still there, but they're buried, too)

1.23.17
(piling up off the deck)

1.23.17
(piling up outside our front windows)

1.23.17
(another angle from the front porch looking down under the windows)

bonus document!

Out of the Mouths of Babes

1.24.17

(this is was something I saw being posted on facebook by a few different

friends and thought it would be fun to ask Callie the questions about me.

She was on a roll and begged to answer them for everyone else in the

family, too . . . including Minnie.)

bonus video!

january evenings be like

1.24.17

(how we entertain ourselves when it's dark and wintry out)

1.25.17
(checking out the new accumulations - this is
the pile by the back door into the garage - snow
that has been shoveled off the deck)

1.25.17
(here's our driveway pile - on the east side by the garage door)

1.25.17
(winter wonderland, fo' sho)

1.25.17
(icicle central along the front wall)

1.25.17

1.25.17
(some are pretty dang long)

1.25.17
(pretty front door view)

1.25.17
(this is only part of one that I knocked down)

1.25.17
(this was in front of our friend's house before activity
days - but I took it to show Mugs that the hat she made
for Cal and we got in the mail that afternoon looks
so great! Bonus - I got one, too!)

bonus video!

dumping

1.26.17

(we weren't expecting it to snow this day, but that morning

we got four more fresh, fluffy, powdery inches while we watched)

1.26.17
(and then the blue sky popped out and it was glorious!)

1.26.17

1.26.17
(what happens when you lean the shovel next
to your door for easy access, but you have a leaky
rain gutter above it - it was frozen to the wall!
I had to kick it loose with my boot.)

1.26.17
(before the plows)

1.26.17
(lots to shovel - but thankfully we have awesome neighbors with
tractors and/or four wheeler plows who have helped us with our
mailbox area all winter long. Such an awesome service!)

1.26.17
(pre-shovel. again.)

1.26.17
(pretty)

1.26.17
(the path from driveway to front porch)

1.26.17
(so much white!)

1.28.17
(beautiful sunrise)

1.28.17
(sunrise silhouette)

1.28.17
(we got to tend baby Grace while her parents went snowshoeing.
Cal and Sam loved doting on her, though Cal's face would suggest
otherwise - just zoom in. it's too funny!)