Alta with the Kids

The day after boarding Snowbird with Tammie and Ted, Terry and I still had the mountain fever, so we took the kids for free skiing at Alta. It was crazy busy, but we still had fun. Matia took off all by herself, I was so proud of her. She did awesome and didn't cry once. Even though she fell down quite a few times.

Bowdee did awesome! He just got a little impatient waiting for us all the time. He can really fly down the mountain. We went together on a fun run, just the two of us and I made him follow me half the way working on turning techniques. Then we just went all out and I think he almost beat me. If you look real hard you will see Bowdee getting air off this jump.

Treg was so fun to watch. I think if he really wanted to he could be great! He stuck with his dad the whole time and got bored after the first run but I know it will probably be next year that he is skiing on his own.

Me and Terry we are just there enjoying the moment. Reminding ourselves if we teach them to love these things at a young age they will want to go play with us later when they are older. We love being together as a family and couldn't think of a better way to spend our day together.

Boarding on Valentine's Day

Terry and I both love snowboarding so when Tammie and Ted (Terrys sister) invited us to go boarding with them on Valentine's Day we just couldn't resist. The incentive of being with them was enough to get us up there, but to be able to board was a total bonus. So on Saturday we picked up Lakota for a long day of babysitting and headed up Little Cottonwood Mountain to Snowbird. We enjoyed the morning together with Troy. The powder was unbelieveable! I did fine unless I mindlessly followed Terry into the trees, this is where I sink and then my temper rises as I am buried in 3 ft. of powder (no joking). It was great though, I have to say I love boarding with Terry and Troy because they both just hit all the jumps back and forth as I just make my way down the mountain. I call them my little board rats because they are everywhere.

We finally hooked up with Tammie and Ted. Ted's sister Terri was there and she was not enjoying the powder effect. So she and I took off in our own direction so we wouldn't be holding the pros up any longer. I have to say the blister on my ankle from my new bindings was not helping the situation.

Anyway we ended up eating lunch at the Forklift all of us together. Then Terri and I headed to the spa for a quick massage, while the others hit the mountain for a few more runs. I have to say I have never pansied out like this, but it was kinda nice.

Later that night we headed to Hotel Monico downtown SLC for a 40th birthday party for Ted. Ted is an amazing person he is brilliant and very kind. I love being around Ted because he is a real person and he includes everyone. Tammie and Ted deserve each other, because they are both wonderful individuals. Thanks Tammie and Ted for including us in your vacation activities. We had a wonderful time spending it with you.

PAY IT FORWARD!!

"What we do for ourselves dies with us, what we do for others lives on forever." This is how it works...

The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a "crafty" gift from me!
SO....
Somewhere in your comment, you need to include someone or something you are grateful for!
But Wait....There's MORE...
In order for you to leave a comment on my blog, you must post this on your blog as well. Which means sometime during the next year, you must "pay it forward" to 3 other people!
Good Luck!!

STRESS !

I am not sure exactly how this works, but this is amazingly accurate.

The picture below has 2 identical dolphins in it. It was used in a case study on stress levels at the Mayo Clinic and later at Fletcher Medical Center in Burlington

Look at both dolphins jumping out of the water. The dolphins are identical. A closely monitored, scientific study revealed that , in spite of the fact that the dolphins are identical, a person un der stress will find many differences between the two dolphins .

The more differences a person finds, the more stress that person is experiencing.

Look at the photograph and if you find more than one or two differences you may need to take a vacation.

No Need to Reply, I'll be on Vacation

Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out of it alive anyway.

Valentine's Day

This year we celebrated Valentine's Day a day early. Since all the school parties were on Friday and we had plans to go boarding with the Crawfords all day Saturday we figured the kids wouldn't mind a little early Valentines Day. So I woke up early on Friday after a late night with the girls at book club. I decorated the house a little and made our heart shaped pancakes.

Then I lovingly sent the kids off to school for a fun day celebrating with their friends. I baked and decorated sugar cookies to go DingDong Ditching and leaving sweet love notes to our family who live close enough for us to do this. The kids always look forward to this each year. So after school we headed out on our mission to be invisible.

Then when we got home we hid all of the valentines we made for Terry around the house. And we ate our traditional heart shaped pizza! I love simplicity, I am starting to love it more and more everyday. Well that was it our sweet Valentines of 2009. Thanks Terry for the sweet roses, big heart cookie, and COOL REI shirt and hat. I love you most!

A weekend with our Cousins

Friday night Terry and Troy went out to Wendover with some friends to watch a comedian. They had a great time and so did we. I have been promising Troys kids a sleepover for sometime now. But, Troy is so stingy with his girls.

When he has them he wants them and he has to be a part of what they are doing. Well finally I pried him away from them and had our sleepover.

So we spent the weekend going to the movies, talking till late at night, playing board games, making Valentine crafts, and eating ice cream.

I won't mention the speeding ticket I got on the way to Bowdee's 8:20am basketball game. With that many kids it is simply impossible to be anywhere on time. Oh well one lesson learned the hard way.

I hope they all had fun because I sure enjoy the time I have with all of my nieces and nephews. I just hope that someday when they are older they will remember the fun times we had together. Thanks you kiddos for a great weekend.

Boat Show of 2009

Four years ago Terry and his brother went to the Utah boat show. It was just after we bought our first boat. I remember that night Terry came home with such a big smile and said "Honey that is something we have got to do." But we couldn't make it that year because it was over.

So ever since that Terry and I have always gone on a special Dream Date. I call it that because all we are doing is dreaming that some day we will be able to say "Yes, we are very interested and would like to purchase a boat tonight" instead of "Oh, we are just dreaming". It amazes me still how excited I get to go every year.

As you can see Treg was lovin' it. At first he was going like crazy and thrilled to be there. After 2 hours he had seen enough boats and just wanted to go home to sleep. He kept saying "I wish I could have this... When I am a million dollar man I am going to buy me this boat." I just encouraged him.

Matia was dancing around like she was on cloud nine. Bouncing from one boat to the other. She was most impressed with the Yacht's. She also got really excited when we started looking at the shoes. They had cute flip flops on sale and she was loving that. Yep she's my little girl.

Bowdee on the other hand is his father threw and threw he got a kick out of the whole thing and thought it was the coolest thing we have done all year. He even got a poster and a pro wakeboarder talked with him and autographed his poster. It was Parks Bonifay and I was most impressed with him. He also loved watching the wakeboarders do their stunts.

Superbowl Sunday

So I have always loved Superbowl Sunday and the reason is because I had the opportunity to fall asleep to the sweet hum of announcers of the Superbowl. However, this year has been completely different. I don't know if it is I have a son who has taken an interest to the game of football or I am just changing. But I just loved the game, I got so into watching the big games and a little excited (if I have to be honest) about going to watch the game with Troy and his girls.
I even made cute football cupcakes and bean dip. Well gotta love the American Game. We were cheering for the Cardnials it is so like Terry to go for the underdog. And my dear friend lives in Arizona so we were cheering for them.

Bathroom is offically completed!

So we finally finished the bathroom in the basement. Here are the photos of what it looks like now. I just have to say how much you learn about a person over the years. For example when Terry and I had just been married 3 years (which at the time felt like forever) we built a shed in the back of our Eagle Mountain home. To make a long story short Terry got frustrated with something and I wasn't doing what I should and so he threw down his drill and shattered it into about a 100 pieces. Well now when we are working side by side I understand his language and I can hand him the tool he needs or step back and give him some space if it is not working just right. Pretty funny that I can ready his emotions so much better and I know just what he needs. I have to say we didn't have any drills "accidently dropped" during this project. Horay now we get to start working on the next 2 small rooms. Wish us luck. I know pretty corney blog but it is something I want to remember. We started this bathroom on Jan 10th and finished Jan 30th. It was pretty well framed from 2 years ago when we started the basement project.

What have we been up to?

Okay well if you know me you know that January is my least favorite month of the whole entire year. I think it has alot to do with thinking I could have done better and now I just have to try that much harder for a whole new year. It also has to do with me missing the sunshine and adventures we always go on. Anyway there are only 2 more days of January and I just can't tell you how excited I am about that.

So this month Terry and I have been working our fannies off in the basement. I have wanted a bathroom down there for the preschool kids for a year now. I must say I have been very patient and waited until Terry was ready to dedicate a small part of himself to my project.

Okay so he had to dedicate his wholeself to it but I was there with him for every minute of it. Here are some before and after photos of our little project. I must say my man does it all!

Matia pulled her first tooth out!

So on the 10th this month Matia decided it was time to get that loose tooth out of her way. But she also decided that she could pull it out by herself with less pain then anyone else could do it. So she pulled and pulled and pulled and finally after about an hour of playing and pulling on it she was shocked to see it was sitting in her fingers after a desperate attempt to pull that tooth.

I was just glad that I didn't have to do it. I tell you I hate pulling those teeth. But it bugs me to see them just wiggling away. Anyway good job Tia you are one brave girl I know I never had the guts to pull my own teeth.

Our newest Nephew!

Last week we went to welcome in our newest nephew to this wonderful world. Terry's baby sister Tara just had her second baby. She has a almost 3 year old girl and now a sweet precious boy. I must say my heart goes out to all of you who just have girls or just boys. There is so much difference between the two that it is just not fair if you don't have both. Tara we are so excited for you and we look forward to watching your little boy grow into the wonderful man he will be one day. When we left the hospital Terry looked at me with those darling eyes and said "just one more honey"... and my heart just did like 20 flips.

I mean how can he say that after seeing such a cute kid of course I would agree at that moment when we didn't have our 3 kids with us and life seemed so peaceful at the moment. Of course he doesn't want anymore but neither of us could deny the happiness parenting brings. How special a little one is and how much joy they can bring. Thank you for letting us enjoy your little one if only for a short moment, he is precious.

Ice Skating

So I have never been an Ice Skater first of all we never did it growing up except with young womens. I also have really week ankles that tend to have problems. So I just have never been good at it. When I married Terry I realized how fun it can be. Terry grew up with a bunch of guys that would go play hockey on the shallow ponds by where they lived. So obviously he is very good at it and he LOVES it. If he could do anything that he doesn't it would be to play on a hockey team. Maybe someday!

But I have learned to love watching someone ice skate especially when it is him or my kids. So the other day we took the kids to the adventureland park pond and I kicked back and watched them skate. My hopes are that they will love it and have more of a desire to be better then I am or ever will be. The kids are such great sports none of them wanted to go even though the ice wasn't that great for skating. So here is a small cheer to getting out and watching the kiddos enjoy the ice and brisk fresh winter air.

Ice Fishing

For Christmas we got an Ice Fishing Eskimo Cave and sled from Santa. I have to say when I first found out I was pretty excited. His elves created the COOLEST Ice fishing tent out there and then they made us one. My brother timed Terry and I setting it up and I kid you not it was up in 45 seconds. And it was just our 2nd time setting it up. So I got a little excited about going ice fishing and told Terry we should go buy an underwater fishing camera with our Christmas money from Terrys parents. So off to Cabella's we went to pick us up a camera.

I do love it! I love being all cuddled up in this tent with no where to go and nothing to do but sit there and wish a fish would bite my pole. This year we have taken the kids out twice the first time we didn't catch anything. But the second time Treg caught a 19" fish and was super excited.

Okay so I must admit I didn't go with them the second time. Terry took his brother Troy because it was -5 and I knew Troy would enjoy it so much more then me.

So I stayed home and took the time to clean my house, I am trying to advoid those January blues I always get. It was nice to spend 7 hours cleaning with my radio cranked and no distractions or interuptions. Yes my house sparkled when it was bedtime.

Cindy's and Glenns

Terry's oldest sister lives at Hill Airforce Base. It was 6 months ago that Glenn was sent to the Middle East with the Army. He was allowed a 2 week vacation to come home and enjoy his family. So they invited us up to their house on the base for dinner and visiting. It was so nice to just be with them and be able to talk. Cindy is such a cute girl, we get along so well.

I feel like I can tell her anything. I really look up to the woman that you are Cindy. Happy Birthday and just think it will only be 6 more months until Glenn and you are together again for a very long time. P.S. We are still waiting to hear where you are going to be moving to.

New Year's

So we rang in the New Year at home with the kids. There is just no other way to do it. We first of all had our traditional fondue dinner on New Years Eve.
Then we played cards with the kids and games to help the time go by. Just 15 minutes before midnight we noticed Treg went missing. I went and checked in my room and there he was fast asleep on my bed. We tried to wake him up for the fun but he didn't want any part of it.
So back to bed he went and we all banged pans, let off fire crackers, danced and of course got our first kiss of the New Year! I love the fact that my kids want to be with us still and they are still young enough that we are still cool in their eyes.

Day after Christmas

Treg was just dieing to test out his new snowboard. He wanted to know if it could do all the tricks that the Snowboard on SSX Tricky does on the Xbox. So we headed to the park with a good hill and let them have at it. He did amazing for his first shot at it and he even got a little air when he hit the jump at the bottom of the hill.
Matia even got up the guts to give it a go. She was simply amazed when she got to the bottom of the hill to find out she actually really enjoyed the ride. She even went the extra step to learn how to get out of the bindings and carry the board up the hill herself. Good goin girl!

Bowdee on the other hand is a old pro at this boarding stuff so he showed the younger ones how it was done. He didn't bother with locking the bindings in because of the short hill. But he sure had some fun when he hit the jump.
I have so much fun watching the kids, especially when they end up loving something that I love so much. Terry of course is all over teaching them and I have to hand it to him he is the best teacher possible. He is so patient with them and he has the muscles to do it. Love ya babe!

Christmas 2008

Wow, where does the time go? Last thing I knew I was recovering from an all nighter with the girls and then Whammo it is now January! Crazy, I guess I will never get used to how the time flies when you get older. Well our Christmas came and went just like all the others. We got to stay home and just have a good time with our family and not plan to go anywhere. We stayed home and played with games and new toys.
Bowdee got the Animal Crossing on the WII that he asked Santa for.

Matia got the D.S. and Pet shops she asked for.
Treg asked for a Snowboard and I was completely suprised when Santa actually brought my baby a real snowboard. I love these days of Christmas with children. There is nothing that even compares to the excitement a child has a Christmas time. Truely Magical!