Pres. Hinckley

I was kind of shocked to hear of President Hinckley's passing, just because I didn't realize that he had not been doing quite so well lately. My initial reaction of course is that of sadness, but when I think of how much he missed Sister Hinckley I can only imagine the happy reunion they must be having now! It makes me smile. All the press coverage has been enlightening. Jared, Ryan, Mark and I have all learned new little tidbits about him and his amazing life of service as we have listened to the news and read the newspaper. I'm grateful for his many years of prophetic guidance. He is the prophet that Jared & Ryan (maybe Jacob) will remember during their primary days -- just like Mark & I remember President Kimball. Our prayers are not only for the Hinckley family, but also for President Monson as he assumes even more responsibility now to lead and direct the church.

what we've been up to

On Tuesday we took Jared and Ryan skiing. We decided to go to Sundance since GayLynn offered to watch the little boys. It was pretty stressful getting started on the day. We had hoped to leave by 7:00 a.m. -- well, we finally got out the door around 7:20, then we stopped for gas and cash, and then Mark realized he forgot his snow pants, so we went back home to get those and while we were at it, get Jared and me another sweatshirt. Good thing we got those -- it was cold. We finally got to GayLynn's around 9:15 to drop off the kids. We were stressing that we wouldn't even be able to make it up the canyon because of the snow and the fact we don't have 4WD or chains. As it turned out, the road was actually pretty decent and we finally got up there around 10:30 -- it takes forever to park, ride the shuttle down to the base, and get all the boots and warm gear on. So much for the ski lessons for the kids that started at 10:00. Mark still had to rent his gear, so we spent pretty much the next 45 minutes just getting gear, getting the kids set up for afternoon lessons and buying our tickets. At 11:00 a.m. it was finally showtime -- which was a small disaster. Ryan, never having been on skiis before, was frustrated when he couldn't just head down the mountain at warp speed, in fact, he was having a hard time side-stepping up the hill a bit to try things out. Very frustrating for him and me. I didn't realize until later in the afternoon that there was a perfect rope tow and beginners hill (that you walk to) located just out of sight of the main lift. Arghhh! Mark finally took Jared up the lift for a run -- Jared took a ski lesson last year at Park City. Jared had a frustrating time getting down the hill and fell a lot. Mark did another run by himself while I waited with the boys. By 12:30 we were all exasperated and ready for lunch. Ski lessons started at 1:30 and they were worth every penny! Ryan ended up with a private lesson for 2 1/2 hours :) and had a fabulous time learning and skiing!! Jared only had 3 in his class and also had a fabulous time -- his instructor took them all over the place. Mark and I skiied on our own for the afternoon. This was the first time in 15 years that I've been skiing. I realized that I'm now old, wimpy, and slow. A disappointing realization really -- I really used to enjoy skiing. Maybe I shouldn't be so hard on myself since it has been 15 years -- whatever. Mark wins the hot-dogger award for our family! There were no lift lines, and fresh powder. :) So fresh, that the last 2 hours of the day were spent in a calm, beautiful snow storm -- which made it difficult to see where I was going since I don't have goggles. It was also freezing! I had like a million layers (I kid you not!) on my body and was still cold. Fortunately the boys were warm enough. I'm really glad we took the day to go and I'm really glad the boys enjoyed it. Many thanks to GayLynn for entertaining Jacob and Matthew so that we could go!

Well, yesterday was Mark's birthday -- he got just what he asked for and wanted -- Nothing! Aren't I a wonderful wife? I did manage to make a decent dinner and yummy sour cream lemon pie to celebrate. We also went to Ryan's basketball game -- he scored 4 points, which was exactly half the teams total points (Ryan's team won). Back to Mark -- he's my best friend, I love him tons, and I'm glad we get to share this crazy life together!

Parent Project #5 (aka science fair)

I'm calling this one parent project #5, because I think parent project #4 was the rocket derby! Anyway...this is Jared's science project. He really did most of it himself -- especially the popping, eating and counting! He does and should feel good about his project. I'm not really sure what grade he got on it, but I think he did just fine. It was interesting to see what all the kids had done at the science fair -- the display boards filled the gym and stage area. They chose 5 winners from each 5th and 6th grade classroom, and then the 1st place winners advanced to the district level. In Jared's class, the girl that won 1st place is one of those kids that wins everything from minor class contests, like naming the most homonyms and spelling bees, to getting lead roles in school plays, etc., etc. (I am totally serious -- there's always one, isn't there?) Anyway, we are all glad to have this finished.

Not so typical Wednesday

Wednesdays around here are usually pretty routine -- its laundry day. However, today brought a few extra activities to make it not so routine -- in a good way. It started out by me being the first in the shower today since I was babysitting a friend's baby for the morning (he's about 6 weeks older than Matthew). Jace arrived at 6:55 a.m. Matthew decided to wake up early too -- maybe he could just "feel" that a friend was going to come. Anyway, everything went pretty well except that Jace fell down the stairs -- head over heels. Thankfully, he was just fine. After Jace left, my friend Suzanne stopped in for a visit with her daughter, Addison. We talked and had a quick lunch with the kids at Artic Circle before running Jacob to preschool. Tonight we have the science fair openhouse at the school with Jared and Ryan has a late basketball game. Throw in the usual 7+ loads of laundry and we've come up with a not-so-typical Wednesday.

Sister Holt

I know Sister Holt will never read this, but I just think she's a great example. For the last month or so, she has been coming over to watch the boys for me so I can go practice the organ at the church for 1/2 hour or so every week. I don't have a calling (nor do I want a calling) to play the organ and so I'm just practicing for the fun/experience of it. I admire the way she saw an opportunity to do service and followed through with it -- I appreciate being the recipient! I have also noticed that she and her husband are daily walkers (early morning too) -- no matter the weather -- and this has kept them in wonderful health for many years. There are lots of other good things about Sister Holt, but this will do for now. If I could follow her example in only these two ways, I'd be a better person.

Trying to decide

I'm trying to decide who I dislike more : Qwest or Rocky Mountain Power. Currently it's probably Rocky Mountain Power -- because they are a major pain to get a measly energy rebate out of. (I know that last sentence wasn't proper grammar, but you get the point!) Phone calls only reveal people who "aren't in charge of that". They waste postage by duplicating requests for information they have already been given at least twice -- and the first time was the original request! I think I now have the information that will satisfy them -- time will tell I suppose. I must admit that Qwest hasn't done anything to annoy me for awhile -- I hope it stays that way.

Ryan's pictures

On Christmas Day Ryan wanted to take the camera for a spin -- here's what he came up with:

I think Ethan was the favorite subject. I'm glad he took these shots -- I never would have gotten around to it in all the hub-bub going on at G&G's during present opening time.

A coupla Christmas pics

I'm a little late, but here's a few picts from Christmas morning. Jacob holding up a couple of Star Wars guys. Ryan and his new BYU basketball.

Jared checking out his new Air Hogs Havoc Heli -- pretty fun RC toy!

Matthew emptying his sock -- he got new spoons, apple juice, and a teething ring --after all his sock is pretty tiny!

We had a great Christmas and enjoyed spending much of the day with the Vawdrey clan.

Another one!

Yay! Matthew got tooth #2!

Rocket Derby

When we got back from Idaho last Tuesday evening, we began to wonder when pack meeting was, and if it wasn't rocket derby time. Well, a call on Wednesday afternoon confirmed that it was indeed rocket derby time at pack meeting -- the next day!! Hello! Stress!! We have 2 (TWO) rockets to make!! How the heck is that going to get done?? Mark had never made a rocket derby thingy before and the BSA is terrible at directions. However, Mark managed to pull off a minor miracle with no time to spare. (Everyone else was as bewildered about everything as we were -- fortunately -- but at least they each only had to make one!) To race the rocket, the rubberbands had to be wound 120 times -- this is a two person job, dad & boy. Poor Mark counted to 120 so many times that evening, that his head was spinning faster than the propeller at times. As it all turned out, Jared took 2nd place!! He was a happy camper -- although you'd probably never guess from the pictures. We have no idea why Ryan's rocket didn't do as well since they were both made the same way. Anyway, here's a few pictures from the event.

Jared getting his second place award.
Mark getting Jared's rocket on the launch pad.

Ryan ready for take off -- his rocket is right next to his head in the picture.

Jared holding his rocket. As you might have noticed, the boys rockets look very similar -- they both wanted black and silver. Well, Jared wanted black and white, but when you paint white over black, you get black and silver of course!

Squash anyone?

When we were visiting my parents this week, my dad brought in the last of the summer banana squash he'd been storing in the barn. This beauty weighed in at 40 pounds! That's more than dear little Jacob weighs! I brought 20lbs. of it home. Guess what we'll be having for dinner tonight -- and many more nights to come?!

Patting myself on the back

Here we all are on Christmas Eve in our new pajamas. I'm patting myself on the back because I made all the pajama pants! Yep, me who doesn't sew much! Yay! I also managed to make a Christmas stocking for Matthew -- I made stockings for the rest of us a few years back, so I was a little worried about trying to figure out the pattern again (the stocking is lined, has piping around the edges, has batting between the layers, and has a snowman design on the front) but everything went smoothly and it was wonderful to hang his stocking up alongside all the others for the month. I also managed to get stocking ornaments painted and put on the tree for Matthew, Cole, and Jordan. Many thanks to Kathleen for cutting the wood and sending the tiny little pieces to me to paint and put together. All the boys have a wooden stocking ornament now -- feels good.