BAD START TO A GREAT WEEKEND

Friday the 13th. Who would have known that this would be the one to cause me so much pain. It started out innocently as a last minute trip to our cabin in Cedar City. Jason and I were willing to brave the odds and allowed both kids to invite a friend. We made a pit stop in St. George to fill up at Chuck A Rama and soon were on the road again. A snow storm enveloped us as we topped the black ridge but we soon found ourselves in the safety of Cedar City. Riding up the mountain in the safety of our toasty warm Tahoe on a plowed street- we were naive to what awaited us. The driveway up to our cabin was full of snow but it's not like it was the first time we had encountered this. Jason attempted to drive over the burn that lined the entrance to our drive with no avail- we were stuck. He got out and I got in the driver's seat. He pushed I revved and soon we were free. Resolved to the fact that we would be walking up the hill that is our driveway, I assigned the kids various things to carry up while Jason trudged ahead of us to turn on the lights. As soon as I emerged from the shelter of the Tahoe I knew it wasn't going to be pleasant. Jace and his friend Brett pressed forward through knee deep snow carrying a bag of groceries. Lauren and her friend Shelby were right behind me- or so I thought until I heard Lauren's wail. After about 3 steps she and her gallon of milk had given up. While turning to see what was going on I bumped Jace and forced him forward causing him to loose a shoe. The wind is whipping by at what feels like 60mph and I could hardly catch a breath to tell him to forget about the shoe, when he reached into the arm length hole his leg had just made and retrieved it. With wind and snow pelting my body, carrying 2 bags of groceries and two duffel bags, my purse and a pack of cookies I turn back for Lauren. I grab the milk and help her up and force her on. By now Jason has come back out and helped the boys and Shelby the rest of the way and they are safely inside. Lauren, albeit sobbing, makes it as well. As I attempted the last little bit of the hill in a daze, I felt the desire to just give up and lie down and resolve myself to a frozen grave. My energy was drained, the air was thin and the wind stole any chance I had of taking a breath. The snow was past my knees not letting my upper body lift all the goods I so heroically thought I could carry. Just then Jason's arm reached out to pull me up and take some of my baggage. Lauren was still crying worried I wouldn't make it- but I did. I told Jason that I REALLY could never live in a snowy place and I mean it! This is a picture of our tracks from the 5 minutes of torture.


These are the shoes Shelby was wearing and this is how the looked after the trek.

Friday the 13th was over and Valentines Day had arrived! I could feel the love, especially from the heater. We enjoyed a fun day out in the snow sledding in front of the cabin.

Jace and Brett flying down the sled run.

Jason and a huge pile of snow.

Valentines dinner at Pizza Factory.

Go Shelby!

Lauren & Shelby enjoying some icicles.

Lauren, Shelby and the neighbor's dog.

You gotta watch these!

Besides that dreadful 5 minutes, the weekend was great fun. I thought doubling up on kids might be a mistake but they were all really good. We even braved the movies. On the way home we made a quick stop at the St. George temple and I snapped this quick picture. Overall I would call our little weekend a success!

TaGGeD- SixTh PhOTo In SiXTh FiLE

This is a picture of Jace sleeping so soundly with the Webkinz Lemon-lime Gecko that we ordered on E-bay, which meant he had to wait several days to get it. Obviously the love was not meant to last because he lost it a few weeks later.

GUESS WHO

Jason flew to Ontario, CA last Monday and spotted this familiar face in the airport. See if you would have recognized this man in the middle. Go ahead- take a guess. Hint: Think 80's rock.

LaST SatUrDAy

The excitement level around these parts has been in the low category since we began this new year and the prospect of new blogging material is not looking good. However, we had a few things go on last Saturday so I'll share those.

Some friends of ours baptized their son at 9:30am on the other side of town -and yes we made it on time(it was a no wash hair day). Afterwards a few of us ventured over to Hash House a Go Go for a super-sized breakfast feast. I think their marketing ploy is the shock and awe factor because honestly no normal person could possibly eat all of that food.

All those handsome boys!

Duff, you gonna eat all them chicken and waffles?

Cutest girls!

Jason and I decided the night before that we should take the kids shooting after the baptism since we'd be over that way, so we brought clothes to change into. However I had never been to this Lovell Canyon place that wasn't "TOO FAR" according to Jason . After nearly 45 minutes we arrived to a junk hole of shot up trash. The kids were in treasure hunt heaven finding shot up granite, computers, cans and everything else. It was fun though, Jason showed me how to load the little .22. Thieves beware!!

New's Worthy?

Is it really 2009? It seems like only yesterday I was living in the olden days of the 1900's. Well I guess there's no use in complaining about how fast time has gone since there is absolutely nothing I personally can do to change it. I can, however realize how time flies and stop rushing through life and take time to cherish every moment however mundane it may be. I'm not a resolution setter I just get things accomplished when I finally get motivated to do something. This past week I did get motivated and check out the results.......

I am officially a domesticated woman because I have finished my first sewing project. I bought the fabric for these drapes clear back in July and I finally got up the ambition to get 'em done. I have to say they weren't too bad to do and they turned out pretty good(just don't inspect them too closely).

A couple of Saturday's ago we went to...

High School Musical on Ice. I got free tickets but Jason opted out so Lauren invited her friend Shelby to join us. It was a pretty good show but I felt bad because the place was half empty.

There's really not much else to speak of going on in our neck of the woods. Just back to our normal lives and routines after track break and Christmas break- back to complaining about homework and rushing around around in the morning to get ready for school and most importantly back to my 6 hours of freedom which isn't always what it's cracked up to be- it can get too quiet sometimes. Who am I kidding it's wonderful!! O.K it can be a little lonely sometimes, I mean only having to clean up after yourself and shopping with no begging or crying to go. It's obvious I'm torn, so I'll just end my inner struggle now.

OUR CHRISTMAS 2008

A Tribute to the Original, Traditional, One-Hundred-Percent, Red-Blooded, Two-Fisted, All-American Christmas...

Or in other words Christmas as we know it. Everyone has Christmas in their own style and this is ours. A tree full of ornaments with presents nestled beneath that two kids check daily to see just how many hold the letters of their name on the tag.

A brother and sister who deep down know they love each other, even if the daily bickerings never cease......

Crazy and silly moments that keep the family full of laughter...

A mother/daughter combo that is both sweet and sour, but we like to focus on the sweet side of things.

Christmas Eve

A little dude that we sometimes refer to as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde because of his swing in moods. Excited to open a present(happy), mad because he didn't want to open jammies(grouch). Ten minutes of grouch followed by happy again. Not to mention BIG SURPRISE Jace you've gotten jammies on Christmas Eve 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 years in a row now.

Lovely Lauren was overjoyed with her cute jammies and pig slippers.

Christmas Morning

The rustling of bed sheets and the whisper of "mom" first brought me into consciousness. It was Lauren and she was ready for Christmas to start and she had brought along an accomplice to ensure Jason and I had no chance of re-entering dreamland. The clock read 7:45am, and I mumbled something about needing 15 more minutes. Jason sent them back to their rooms for a mere 5 minutes so I could ready the video camera to capture this magical day.

Just to see the joy of Christmas in your child's eyes, the excitement that you once felt experienced again through them. The wondering, the waiting, counting down the days until finally it's all revealed. Then comes the fun of new discoveries and hours of playtime until alas the toys are forgotten but the feelings of Christmas will always remain with them.

Christmas visit to share the joy with family. Sam and Abby(cousins) delight in opening presents that Lauren and Jace chose for them......

Quiet moments alone with your new Nintendo DS compliments of Santa....

Special times spent with Grandma putting together this porcelain doll, then having to wait until Christmas to get her......

Being silly with Grandma and Grandpa and remembering to thank them for all the fun and thoughtful gifts they wrapped up for you......

Fa-ra-ra-ra-ra.....Having Christmas lunch with the family at China-a-go-go and enjoying every minute of not having to cook or clean up on Christmas Day. Thanks again mom and dad for lunch......

Going to all my sisters houses after lunch to check out their spoils and soak up some of their family's Christmas spirit and ending with everyone at our house. Getting to talk to my brother Robert on his mission in Nicaragua, going to the church so Jason and Jace could fly their helicopters in the gym and ending on a high note of Villa Pizza and Dunkin' Donuts for that one of a kind- can't be topped Christmas dinner!

We hope that all of you were able to enjoy your Christmas as much as we did.We are so blessed to be able to enjoy our families and friends at this time of year Thanks for all the cards... they make December my favorite mail month!


Now if we could just do something about this mess!!

SANTA CLAUS IS COMING....

TO GRANDMA AND GRANDPA'S HOUSE

Sunday we had the pleasure of spending the evening with both sides of our family. Our first stop was with Jason's family. His sister Minty made some delicious white chili and potato soup, Rebecca brought chili and we also included rolls and salad with plenty of homemade cookies for dessert. We gathered round for a fun white elephant exchange- which is always entertaining.

Just as we were getting ready to head to my parents house, we had a surprise visitor....
it was none other than the jolly man himself- SANTA!!!

After our visit with Santa we headed over to my parents house for another dinner. We were pretty full already but still managed to eat a small plate of prime rib, turkey, baked potato and bacon wrapped asparagus. Once again my mom decorated the table with cute things including personalized Santa napkins.

We were busy cleaning up after dinner when what to our great surprise...... another knock at the door. Once again Santa had found us and we were treated to another visit from Mr. Claus. Lauren and Jace's cousins were sure glad that he had followed us!!

After another fabulous white elephant exchange, my mom brought out four gifts. She explained that 25 years ago there was this big crazy fascination with these funny looking dolls called Cabbage Patch Kids. She talked about how she and her sister Pam waited in line for hours and kept in contact with any news of where they might find one of these exclusive dolls. Well in honor of Aunt Pam, who passed away last December 10th, she got us four girls one of the 25th Anniversary Cabbage Patch Kids. I opened the one that had red hair just like my first one.

Monday night for family night we built this fabulous gingerbread house. We all worked together and it turned out quite nice. Lauren and Jace enjoyed eating the candy as much as building the house.

Merry Christmas to you all!!!!