Sorry for the Delay.

But we assumed you all were so spellbound by the previous post by Jordan and Kate that you didn't notice. But you probably did. Ah well, that's life. Ups and downs, expectations, rewards, and the occasional disappointment. Surely you can't really be all that disappointed in us when we still post pictures of Violet, though, right?

First of all, take a glance to your right of this post and notice the button for the Union Pacific steam train excursion. U.P. is holding a contest to dictate the route of a steam train excursion across the country. Take a moment and vote for whatever city you want - the one you live in now, the one you used to live in, or the one you want to go to should you win one of the sets of free tickets for the trip! (I voted for Pasco, WA, but I may actually vote tomorrow for somewhere closer to UT - you can vote every day!)

OK, now that you've pledged to vote for the steam train trip (or not), on to more familial news. Everyone always asks first off when they call "How's Violet?" Well, Violet is great. Fantastic. Amazing. Stellar. You name it, and if it is good, it applies to our little monkey. She's amazing in every way. She speaks in sentences now, although they often need a bit of interpreting. She amazed Mike and I on Sunday when I asked her to help me put away some of her toys. I specifically asked her where her little plastic sheep lived, and she said quite clearly and with just a hint of sarcasm (or possibly exasperation) "In the barn." She didn't simply say "barn" or "the barn", but she actually said "IN THE BARN." Language development in children is fascinating! Had I the ability to go back to school and study another field, early childhood development would be at the top of my list.

We had a very nice Thanksgiving holiday break last week. I had Wed., Thurs., and Fri. off from teaching at USU, and Mike took much of that time off, as well. We played in the snow, got a bunch of chores done (Mike LOVED being able to cross off so many items on our to-do list...too bad it just keeps growing as we chip away at it!), and took a trip to Salt Lake City on Friday. It was inadvertent, as we did not intend to be out taking part in the Black Friday madness, but I had to pick up my bari sax from the repairman, and Friday was the only day that that was possible. Anyway, it was nice to have so much time to hang out as a family.

Speaking of family, we certainly missed spending the holiday with my family in Idaho, but felt very honored to get an invitation to the Dolny household for Thanksgiving dinner. Violet was thrilled to visit the Dolny clan again, and loved re-acquainting herself with their house (playroom included!)

Just before leaving for the Dolny house.

Violet found the toys in the playroom!

On Sunday, we all took a short X-country ski trip with some friends, Maegan and Ryan. It was a great way to get out of the house on an almost sunny, warmish day. By warmish, I mean that we broke 20 degrees. We've been in a cold spell, as have all of our readers I suspect. Last night was a balmy eleven degrees below zero. Last week we were down to thirteen below. High temps hover anywhere from ten to twenty-two degrees. We're looking forward to some warmer weather later this week - possibly above freezing for a bit!

Anyway, back to the ski trip. We talked Ryan into taking some pictures, in hopes of getting a family shot for our holiday cards this year. I think we got one!

Vi, Mike, Maegan, and Ryan on the bridge over the reservoir.

Nose kiss!

Family pic. #1

Family pic. #2

Family pic. #3

Best wishes, enjoy your wintry weather and your warm and cozy home! I can't imagine trying to live through this kind of weather 100 or more years ago, with no insulation to speak of, nothing but a wood stove, and a baby to boot.

Bwhahaha, we hijacked the Violet Blog!

(kinda like Violet has hijacked this car....)

So, loyal followers, today we have a first for the UltraViolet blog. A guest post! By us! Kate and Jordan! Violet's Aunt and Uncle from New York State! We visited this past weekend and will tell you all about it now. So... hang on to your hats, folks, here we go, hope you like it. We will pack a lot in here. By the way... this is how we look when we are in Utah.

We arrived in Salt Lake City around noon on Friday and stayed until Monday. It was a quick weekend trip across the country from Albany, NY. We haven't seen Mike and Violet since January 2010 (I think) and haven't seen Joanna in even longer, so it was quite a treat!

The best part for us was just to spend time with our Western-states family, but our notable activities began with a surprisingly good lunch at Squatters in the Salt Lake City Airport while we waited for our ride (Mike and his Jetta). Mike was sad we foiled his plan to eat at some allegedly-amazing Mexican Place in Salt Lake, but we were starving, we landed early, and Mike was running late, so we could not wait. Sorry, bro.

Then when we got to Logan, we hung out w/ the grown ups until it was time to pick Violet up at School and headed to a really good Indian Restaurant for dinner. Then we went to bed to sleep off our travel-induced-fatigue.

The next day we drove out to Park City, UT to meet up with Big Bad Sean (Shawn?) and Phyllis (Phylis?) and stop by a Native American Rug Sale.

Mike and Me swinging Vi in the air in Park City (she quite enjoyed it) "one, two, three, wheeeeeee"

Finally, on Sunday Mike and Kate and Jordan and Violet went on a hike up to the Wind Caves. Sadly, Joanna could not join us because her back went out and she was laid up in the house! The four of us actually did not reach the top of the hike because the weather got snowy and slippery and we decided to cut it a bit short. So Joanna, Mike and Violet will have to go back and see what it's like at the very top!

Then we said our sad goodbyes and left Logan bright and early on Monday morning. We visited the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake and were approached endlessly by LDS Sisters trying to see if we were susceptible to conversion (or so I assume). Then we got on our flight and said bye to Utah!

Wack-a-doozle-sized Mormon Temple:

So now for the pics and if you go all the way to the end you will find the grand finale: a video masterpiece created by Jordan!

Look at Vi... what a punk... in Jordan's Yankees hat at the grocery store:

On the way up the Wind Caves Hike.

We found out that if you know Violet, you also know Orange Kitty.

So, here it is... the dramatic compilation of all the random video we took (or at least the funny video) during our weekend. We suggest you turn your volume all the way up to be sure you hear all of Violet's cute commentary. (She is quieter than the rest of the video's sound.) Here you go: it's better than the Twilight Movies and Harry Potter combined.

Holy Criminy! and a Trip Down Memory Lane

So, you may wonder, what is this "Holy Criminy!" business all about? Well, believe it or not, Violet peed in her potty chair this evening. She's been moderately interested in the potty chair for a few months now, but her interest waxes and wanes, and she has never done much more than just want to sit on it. In the past month (or so), she has started asking us to take her diaper off first, but then she just sits for a minute or so and then gets up. But tonight she not only asked to have her pajamas and diaper taken off, but once she sat down (with some conviction, I might add) she actually PEED!

Now, for those of you w/out children of your own, I fully understand how this information likely seems completely unexciting. You may wonder "why does this warrant a paragraph of more of space, and why should I find it anything more than mildly interesting?". First of all, you shouldn't find it anything more than mildly interesting. Second, I'm not exactly sure why it warrants more than a paragraph of space here, but somehow it does.

So, now that we're all settled on the oddly important business of Violet's, uhm, business on the potty, let's get on to even more news.

My dad made it down to visit this past week. It was great to see him, and he had a wonderful time with Violet. We're hoping to get to see him again soon.

Vi and Dad enjoyed building all sorts of things, including this "castle".

Vi soon showed Dad how to topple the "castle".

And here's a bit of a retrospective. Something prompted me to take a bit of a walk down memory lane this evening, and so I'll subject you to the same.

"Uhm, a little help, please? I think I may be stuck..."

Vi and I in the Owyhee desert.

Vi has a rare quiet moment with Izzy and Bell at the Dolny's house. If you know Izzy, you know why the moment was a rare one.

This one is a bit newer. By "a bit", I mean it was taken yesterday evening. Violet enjoyed her dinner at Callaway's.

And finally, I thought you might like to see a picture Mike took last night. He was out feeding the horses, and Violet (as is often the case) was helping. This time around, however, she had a bit more than her typical handful of loose alfalfa leaves and stems when he turned around to check on her.