Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Mark Jensen, Jack, Klaire, and Eric!! The last week of December is a busy one according to the family calendar -- each person gets their very own day to celebrate becoming one year older! We hope you each have a fun birthday!

Mark -- so glad you are back in the USA!

Jack -- so glad to have you in Utah!

Klaire -- enjoy the "warmth" of Arizona!

Eric -- celebrate big in the hawaiian tropics and bring us a pineapple (NOT the last minute Costco variety!)

Late Christmas gift!

Matthew's first tooth broke through on the day after Christmas! Yay! He loves feeling it with his fingers and biting down hard on his bottle. Apparently his stuffiness isn't all tooth related though (darn!) since he's still snotty and has been wanting to be held a lot -- not like him. Hopefully the new tooth and the humidifier are making him feel a little better!

Christmas Memories

Heidi's blog inspired me to mention a couple of Christmas memories from when I was little, although I don't think anything can compare to the fun of 12 kids and the violin caroling incident!
Being the youngest child, and very much so, the majority of my Christmas mornings were spent alone with Mom & Dad. However, I remember we always got up about 4:00 a.m. to see what Santa brought us before my Dad had to head outside to the barn to milk cows. I carried on this tradition by myself until somewhere in my late teens, when I realized that I wanted to sleep longer.
I also remember that Christmas seemed to take ALL day. Santa at 4:00 a.m., breakfast around 8:30 or 9:00 at John & Karen's followed by present opening there, then back to our house for more gift opening just before noon -- all gift opening was done one at a time -- then lunch around 1:00 or 1:30. (I still insist on the one-present-at-a-time thing with my kids -- good things come to those who wait!)
Christmas Eve was always a big event as well. We went to G&G's house for dinner and a program. We all had to do some talent for the program and then we read the Christmas story from the Bible, sometimes dressing up and acting it out. Then we opened gifts from G&G and headed home to hang our stockings (our real socks -- it was always a hunt to see who could find and hang the largest stocking -- Dad usually won -- we didn't own soccer socks like my boys do now!)
I was always so excited for Christmas that I remember a couple of Christmases where I actually made myself sick to my stomach and spent a good portion of the evening puking. Lovely, eh?

Lacking motivation

Mark & I registered to run the Moab half-marathon and 5-mile in March. It is a lottery -- they pick 4000 people for the run. Well, we didn't get picked:( There must have been a ton of registrants. Out of 3 people at Mark's work, only 1 got picked to run. Now we are trying to come up with another run to get us motivated to exercise through these cold months. There's not a lot of options that fit with our schedule. Maybe we should start up our own half-marathon event... We could make t-shirts and charge a lot of money too! Yes, people would pay us money for the privledge of running! Hmmm, not a bad idea...

ramblings on shopping

I enjoy shopping. I can easily kill an hour in Target looking around at stuff and not have any specific purpose for going there. I can spend lots of time at a mall, if given the chance. However, I really don't like shopping during the holiday season -- too many people, long check out lines, items I want are out of stock, parking lot is always full, bell ringers block the entrances, and the store aisles are so squished with people that you can't push a cart or stroller through without knocking over merchandise or leaving wheel marks on people or small children. I try to avoid going to the store unless necessary between Thanksgiving and Christmas and NEVER on a Saturday. The thing I find interesting is that the grocery stores are also busier during this season -- why? We all eat year round, not just during the holidays! Last week I had to make a return at Roberts -- I had 3 kids with me and we nearly grew old and died waiting in line for service and then waiting for their lousy computer system to do its thing and refund my money!Despite my not liking to shop during the holidays, I have to admit I had a fun shopping day about a week after Thanksgiving when I hit the Smith's store with my Christmas list and Eric's discount card in hand. I have always wanted to fill a cart one time and then be done with the Christmas shopping -- that day my dream came true. I filled a cart, checked out, and was finished. Well, almost -- I missed 1 thing that was, of course, out of stock, which sent me to another store, another full parking lot, more squished aisles, another bell ringer to avoid, another long check out line, and too many people, but this time it wasn't out of stock! Now I'm just hoping that everything works right so I don't have to survive the return lines the day after Christmas!!

fancy schmancy

Last night Mark and I went to dinner at Millcreek Inn with a lot of other management people from his work. The inn is a pretty cozy place up in the canyon, tucked in among the trees and snowbanks. It is a tie and dress, wine and cheese, mix and mingle affair with a very nice dinner. This year Mark chose the salmon, which was served on a bed of roasted red potatoes and garnished with a parsley sprig. I had the pork loin which was wrapped around some kind of a fig/date/raisin type mixture with a side of white rice, topped with some red stringy gelatin-like stuff with a red sauce drizzled around on the plate. Mark got the best food all around -- it was easily identifiable and very tasty. My pork loin was also very tasty without the fig stuff, unidentifiable red stringy gelatinous stuff, and drizzled red sauce -- so, in other words, the meat and rice were good! They served a delicious apple streudel with vanilla ice cream for dessert. We happened to sit at a table with other couples our age -- a first in the many years we've been invited to this event -- and it made the atmosphere and conversation comfortable, so we had a nice evening together. Meanwhile, G&G Vawdrey came to our house to watch the kids and take Ryan to his basketball game. It was really nice not having to drive all over the valley and Grandpa got to watch Ryan play. Ryan had a good night with a few steals, 6 points, and getting to the free throw line (which rarely happens in his age group).

Why is it...

...so hard to exercise on a Monday?
...that the first 1/2 mile of running about kills me and then I'm fine?
...that sometimes it feels like I have lead in my shoes?
...that I prefer to run nearly the same route all the time?
...that taking off my gloves makes me feel like I can breathe again?
...that other people make it look so easy?
...that sometimes its boring?
...that sometimes its easy?
...that I love running in the drizzle?
...that I feel so good when its all over?
...that I'm doing this?

I know the answers, but I still ask myself these same questions everytime I go out to exercise.

Arrow of Light

Last night Jared received his Arrow of Light award. Yay -- we're proud of him for working hard to get all the requirements done. The ceremony was presented by those indian fellas in the background and it was very well done. The arrow plaque with the feathers is really neat -- a lot of time went into making those for these boys (thank you Bro. Timothy). Also receiving the award are Jared's friends Jason and Caleb. A big thank you to the many scout leaders who put time and effort into helping these boys earn this award!

leave it to the little guy

Jared had an awesome game last night! He scored 17 points -- WOW! That was 1/2 the team's total points for the game. He went to the line 3 times -- he is pretty good at drawing fouls. His defense has improved as well. It was a fun game to watch because both teams were shooting well and taking some outside shots instead of just getting those under the bucket.

It's a snow day

As many of you know, Saturday was quite the snow day! The first real snow of the season was beautiful and perfectly timed (no commute to deal with). We ended up with about 7-8 inches. The kids ran out about 8:00 a.m. to start playing and shoveling (we shoveled again at noon). About 4:30ish I went for a walk and was awed by the scenery and thought I'd snap a couple of picts looking out over the rooftops and up to the sky, which was truly beautiful. The picts didn't turn out very well, but it was a nice thought anyway!

We're rockin'

Mark picked up this DVD for the kids at the library the other day. They have been playing it everyday and listened/watched for hours on Saturday! The kids have watched some of them before, but this DVD has "the whole enchilada" -- the entire collection. I remember when I was little how much I looked forward to hearing these songs between cartoons on Saturday mornings. Love these catchy and educational tunes!

We're in trouble now!

Well, Matthew took off up the stairs earlier this week! He is just not old enough to be doing this (he was 6 3/4 months when he did this for the first time!) He can go up pretty well, but someone always has to be standing right behind him. He tends to lose his balance and tumble backwards if he stops halfway or sits down to take a break. He also has no idea about going down safely. We are all trying to teach him how to go back down. I can't wait until he can do this safely!

Wah -hoo I did it!

I'm talking about my "thankful" list. At the beginning of the month I challenged myself to name 30 things I am thankful for -- one for each day of the month. I also decided to be a little bit general in some areas (like when I said "family" I meant grandparents, cousins, brothers, sisters, etc.), just so that I could challenge myself to notice more of the many blessings I've been given, especially some of the little things I take for granted everyday. As I look back through the list, I can remember when I wrote a particular thing and what was going on that day. Some things seem rather silly, like "chocolate", but yes, it tends to bless me with a better mood when I get my daily dose! Some things are more of a serious or personal nature, like "my faith/church". Some things could do with some explanation of details -- like "sports" -- I'm thankful my kids get to be active and get to be part of a team where they learn cooperation, sportsmanship, athletic skills, and just have fun! I also realize I could add a lot more items to my list. I am very blessed.