After the long, neverendingness of January, the shortness of February is always a blessing.  For Lily, the winter in Idaho has been especially long and cold.  It is actually her first time attending BYUI winter semester, and so being in Rexburg, aka: Iceburg, in the depths of winter has been a new experience.  Lily, having spent half of her life in places like Pennsylvania and Colorado, is not a stranger to cold, but it doesn’t mean she loves it – ha ha!  Luckily, BYUI has lots of activities to try and help their students enjoy those winter months, such as Snow Fest.  Lily had a great time braving the cold and attending events, and the best part, was that they always gave out free food.

As for us, although we have had a frigid day scattered here and there, for the most part, our weather has been the gorgeous 60’s and 70’s that is typical for winter in San Antonio.  We have also had some fun events recently, one of them was taking the boys to see the Broadway tour of Les Miserables – one of my favorite musicals.  They just loved it, even if Arthur needed a lot more backstory than I had prepared him with, and so I kept having to whisper to him the political history of France, etc.

At school, we have been working hard, but also find time for fun.  One day, I had my students cut out a ton of paper hearts, and then sneak downstairs and “heart attack” the counselor’s door.  They had a blast, even if they didn’t stay as quiet as they began the activity – it had something to do with us running out of tape, and then kids not knowing where it was in the classroom.  Good times.  The counselor loved it though, and was very surprised.

Another fun adventure in class, was our doing a fun reader’s theater for Language Arts, and they had a blast.  I think their favorite part, was when all of the animals in the play got to chase the farmer around the room.  It was awesome.

We also had an author’s visit from a local author, which the kids loved.  As for me, it could have been 30 minutes shorter, but of well.  Sometimes, even though these kind of things are fun, the other part of my brain keeps thinking about how behind we are in class because of it.

On Friday night, Kevin and I took Arthur to see the Reagan High School production of Anastasia, and it was spectacular!  Derek had gone the night before, and so it was just the three of us.  We absolutely loved it, and those kids were beyond talented.  So good!

And then to make our weekend even more fun, on Saturday, the four of us headed to the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.  It is a really big deal, and it runs for about a month, with rodeo events and concerts going for the whole time.  We had to check out all the things, including all the hat sellers.  We didn’t buy one for Arthur, but he did try some on.  Kevin, on the other hand, got a new hat.

When we arrived, we were starving, and so it was giant corndogs for the boys, and I found something else for me.  The corndogs were so huge and thick, Arthur couldn’t even eat half of his.  Pretty funny.

Soon, it was rodeo time!  Although it was not our first rodeo (ha ha!), it was our first time attending this event, and wow!  So awesome!  There were world champions competing and it was run so well.  It was also crazy to think of how they transformed this stadium where the San Antonio Spurs NBA team plays, into a rodeo arena, complete with all that dirt on the ground.

Because the event runs for weeks, we got to see lots of different specific events, without any one of them taking so long that it ever got boring.  The bull riding was especially intense, but my favorite part was when they released a bunch of young steers into the ring, and then a big group of teenagers had to catch and harness a steer.  And if they did, it was theirs to keep and raise for the next year.  It was awesome – and not just because of the all out “I’m not afraid to tackle you, along with a cow” mentality.  But the sheer grit of these kids holding on to the one they caught for dear life, was just awesome.

When the rodeo portion was finished, it was time for the real reason we came – the Keith Urban concert.  The concert tickets were a birthday present for each of the boys, and although it was Derek’s (and my) third time seeing him perform in person, he was beyond excited.  And it was crazy watching them set up this small, rotating stage in the center of all the dirt.  And within 20 minutes, the concert had begun.

It was a one hour concert, and he packed as many songs into that time as possible, trying to make it special for the fans.  I missed some of the banter with the audience that he usually has, and there definitely weren’t the same fancy lights and effects as usual, but it was fabulous.  So good, and Derek and I were in heaven, singing along to every song.

And at one point, he went out in the audience, like he likes to do, which was awesome.

After the concert was over, it was still afternoon, and so we decided to explore some of the exhibits.  We wandered through the shops, Arthur got to pet a snake and go into a petting zoo with lots of goats.  We saw tons of horses, and Arthur even got to hop up on a fake horse.  Good times.

One of my favorite things, was getting to say hi to my friend, Jamie, who volunteers at the Rodeo for military affairs.  Very cool!

As if that packed week wasn’t enough of our start to the month of February, Arthur also had a choir concert.  Because the sixth grade choirs were not competing at UIL, after they performed at the beginning of the concert, we got to go home, which was awesome.  As usual, Arthur did a wonderful job, and we are so proud of him.  It was all a fantastic way to start off our month of February.