Pizza Tasting Party - the last hurrah before COVID lockdown

We held a Pizza Tasting party this weekend. People brought pizzas from Jet's, Donato's, Dewey's, Blaze and Erika and Dan Brown even made a homemade pizza! Little did we know this would be our last party of the year - we didn't even get pictures with our friends!

Valentine's Day at Perfect North

We got some cold weather the week leading up to Valentine's Day, so we decided to spend the evening with some romantic skiing with the entire family at Perfect North! 

Jacob and Claire have been in ski club this year, so they know the area pretty well and were able to split off for a while as Dani and Jared skied with the kids.

They were making snow throughout the evening, and the snow quality was actually quite good. It was cold, but we were having so much fun we just kept skiing until well after the lights came on.

It was a great time for everyone!

First snow of 2020

We got some snow today. Enough to keep the kids out of school, but not enough to keep Jared out of work (and off the sidewalks!). The city looked beautiful covered in snow.

Meanwhile at home, the kids were busy rolling snowballs around the backyard, picking up as much snow as they could. 

It was only a few inches, but they were able to collect enough to make a really tall snowman!

A really tall snowman and his little buddy.

 

FHE boat building

This week in our Come Follow Me study, Nephi was instructed to build a boat, so for FHE, we decided to build boats ourselves. Right before, we realized this would be a great FHE activity to have nana and papa join us for, so we gave them a call. We all teamed up together with our own unique designs

and brought them into the "sea" where we had a storm with wind (hair dryer) and waves (from the faucet).

 

Biltmore Estate

On Sunday after church, and after the most giant and delicious eclair we've ever had,

we made our way to the grounds of the Biltmore for a tour of the house and a day walking the grounds. Before going into the house, we witnessed a couple getting engaged (a fitting way to spend our anniversary trip!) 

The Biltmore tour was a headphone-guided tour that gave history and more insight to the grand rooms throughout the home.

 

The library was incredible, 2 stories high and filled with volumes of books. George Washington Vanderbilt was said to have read hours per day.

The tour included the grand rooms, the bedrooms and living quarters, the bowling alley, and kitchen, laundry room, and servants quarters. It was a long but very cool tour.

After spending a few minutes in the gift shop trying on hats,

we went out to the gardens and to the conservatory. We had to use our imagination for how beautiful the gardens would be in full bloom, but the Biltmore Conservatory was in full bloom. There were many varieties of flowers and other plants all in full bloom. It was incredible!

 

After our trip through the conservatory, we walked down to the river to enjoy the views.

We also visited the winery where there was a Downton Abbey costumes exhibit. Of course, we had to walk through that!

It was such a memorable day.

 

Anniversary Trip to Asheville

It has been 16 years since the best day in our lives! We're a bit older, hopefully a bit wiser, and have a lot more (mostly) wonderful chaos in our lives, but we know we're more in love than we were on the cold day where we were sealed in the Mount Timpanogos Temple in American Fork, Utah.

These two had no idea what they were signing up for...

But maybe they did, a little. After not getting our annual anniversary trip, which we love, we got to go to the Blue Ridge Mountains and Asheville, North Carolina for our getaway. 

Where to begin? okay, the food. Little did we know, the first restaurant we ate at (also the highest rated and most recommended) would be our favorite and most memorable. It was busy, but we ended up having a seat at the bar, right in front of where the line chefs were preparing the meals. That meant we got to visually enjoy every dish that went out in addition to the many dishes we had. The "migas de verduras," a brussels sprouts and cauliflour dish with bread crumbs, raisins, and a a light celery puree, was so good we ordered it twice! It was a wonderful way to start the vacation!

Another favorite was Biscuit Head (which of course Jared had to try - and it was AMAZING - trio of gravies, a big pulled pork sandwich!).

One day, we did a little hike/run day. we took a jog up to and back from a small waterfall.

After that, we drove to a little town called Montreat, where there is a Christian university and the entire town is built from stone. We went for another quick hike there to get a great vista.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much of a view other than the clouds, but it was still a fun little hike.

Another evening, we decided to go rock climbing. The bouldering gym was pretty small, but we still had some fun.

We stayed at a VRBO condo a short walk from downtown Asheville. It was a perfect place to relax and was close enough that we could walk to the restaurants and shops. We could walk for dinner, dessert, or to the Gourmet Chip Company for a round of chips, which we did, of course!

Of course, a big reason for the trip is to spend time together and to plan for the year. This year, our family motto is "CHOOSE HAPPY."

The Birthplace of Kentucky Fried Chicken

As we were driving towards Asheville, we saw a historical marker sign in Corbin, Kentucky pointing to the birthplace of Kentucky Fried Chicken, so we had to go take a look.

It was a bit off the highway, but we made it to the Harland Sanders Cafe and Museum, which had busts, statues, and newspaper articles, and many other artifacts.

The old cafe had rooms set like they would have been in the early days. I don't think the KFC food was any better or more special than a normal KFC, but it was fun to read about the history.

And just to say we had the experience.