Snow and Cold

Ok, so I'm the worst blogger ever. It's been confirmed. I called my friend Natalie and those were the first words out of her mouth. I admit it. It's true.

So Christmas hit our city today. We have snow everywhere and when it gets this cold, ICE everywhere. The kids bundled up to play in the backyard and I couldn't get the screen open. It was frozen shut. I took my kettle of hot water out and melted the ice off the runner so we could open it. The kids thought that was really cool. The air was so cold and windy that the snow was un-ball-able so no snowmen or snowballs. And Maya didn't last long--it was freezing.

I am sick today. I always feel so bad making someone else do singing time. It's one of those that's really hard to substitute last minute unless you are comfortable with Primary songs and singing solos in front of teachers and kids. Luckily my friend Kati saved me yet again. I have such sweet friends.

Feeling sick makes me appreciate what the Savior did for us. My experience seems so hard for me and yet what He did for us we couldn't endure. He suffered it willingly because He loves us. This makes me want to endure my small scale suffering gracefully and keep things in perspective.

I am still getting Christmas cards out! I really should be fired.

October, November . . .

there really are too many things to post for the two months. I think it is why I haven't done it. I will just put in some pics and let them tell the story . . .





Here's K (the one in the red jersey I made him) playing b-ball at his surprise party. They played three on three- double elimination tournament. I set up a concession stand and served corndogs chips etc. It was a lot of fun!

I really should post more often but I have been really busy lately.

I just recently re-read one of my favorite books, "Mitten Strings to god" (given to me by Rebecca--thanks again!) I love what that book helps me do as a mother. It centers me and helps me reevaluate my routines and schedule. It reminds me how to maintain simplicity in a hectic world. I love how peaceful we can make our homes if we try. Some things I have implemented from the book that have been wonderful:

• candles at dinner time every night---the kids love it and if they haven't said the words, "gross, sick, or yucky, and they actually try to eat whatever I make they get to blow the candle out when we're done.
  
• (chapter on peace) Turning on our fire (I know, sad huh.) and listening to music in the dark (We listened to "When Christmas Comes To Town" from Polar express a couple times. They all three ended up on my lap. It really felt like heaven.
• Reading books with a flashlight by the fire

I just realized all three of these things involve the lights out.

Tag

Here is how you play:

1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Some things you may or may not know about me:

1. My new found LOVE is rock climbing. I'm actually pretty good at it too. I love making it to the top and having the thrill of how high you are. Especially when the belayer (sp?) knows how to hold the rope so you don't feel held up. It really feels like it's just you. FUN!

2. Every time I make homemade bread there is a giant hole right in the center running through the whole loaf. It's weird. We eat it anyway, we just call it doughnut bread.

3. I schedule my life around my hair--. It takes a certain amount of time and patience to do after it's washed that I have to be really careful to make sure I have time to do it the day I wash it or I'll look like an over-grown chia pet. No I do not wash it every day! That would be a nightmare.

4. I love singing a tricky second soprano part.

5. I spend way too much time getting junk out of the cracks on my black table with an old library card. Usually when I'm on the phone or after the kids are in bed etc. It's so you don't see crumbs when the kitchen lights are on. I absolutely hate it when my kitchen table looks/is dirty.

6. I still like peanut butter sandwiches and eat them for lunch almost daily. Most of my love is the fact that it's just easier and lasts in my tummy for a long time. Lunch is done and over with. My kids go through phases. Although Natalie swears I make the best ones. She says dad's are gross compared to mine. Ha!

7. Sometimes I think I'm actually a grown up then other times I realize I'm still 7. Kurt took me to phantom of the Opera a few weeks ago. He surprised me with it partly because he knew if he told me I wouldn't sleep the night before because I'd be too excited. And the sad thing is he wasn't kidding because I wouldn't have. I get too excited about things. And some of those things are really small (like one time I could hardly sleep the night before a women's conference--day away with some girls in my ward.) Does that just mean I need to get out more?

So now I tag . . .

Natalie
Allison
Mellissa
Tami
Raya
Aimee
Heidi
Kati
Really anyone who wants to do it . . .

A boy and his bike

This is Kurt - Michelle has recruited me to do some of these posts now. Today is officially my last day of my long vacation from school and we've had a great month off. For a little background, since I've been in school, we go somewhere every time I have a week off, so a month with no trip is new to us. We've gotten a lot done - the house cleaned, carpets steamed, cars cleaned, finished the fence and stained it, etc.

On to the topic of the post - Lincoln has been asking to take his training wheels off his bike ever since I took them of Natalie's. Unfortunately, Natalie hasn't had much success with the whole balancing part and so she hasn't ridden her bike for a while. I kept putting Lincoln off to avoid having two kids struggling to ride their bikes and being forever banished to bending over, running behind a child that isn't close to being able to ride his/her bike. I may be selfish, lazy, or whatever, but after about 10 minutes of running bent over I'm done but the child never is.

Well, a couple of weeks ago Lincoln approached me again and I decided to let him try. He had really shown an uncanny ability to balance on the little scooter we have so outside we went.

We took off the wheels (he was really excited we were using the tools on HIS bike) and I took him over to the park next door where the grass would soften his landing. I put him on and we got going. After about 10 feet I don't know why, but I let go. Much to my suprise, he rode another 25 feet before falling. I had stopped walking when I let go and when he looked back at me, he realized what had just happened and started laughing. We went out to the road and he really took off. By the end of the hour he was riding up and down curbs, in circles, and he even rode down the hill to the bottom of our subdivision - which is pretty steep. Of course, it wasn't all fun and games. At one point when he was still trying to learn how to get the bike started on his own he was crying every 30 seconds so Michelle had to put the bike up. I came back outside and explained that he could have the bike as long as he understood the rule that as long as he has his bike, NO CRYING IS ALLOWED NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS. I wonder what the psychologists would say about that rule. Since I made it up, things have been great. Of course, we are all excited for him and now all he wants to do is ride his bike. It's just too bad the rains started this week and it may not be sunny until next June..........

Go Cougars! I mean Huskies! No Cougars!

Kurt and I had sooo much fun at the BYU vs UW game on Saturday. I wanted to paint my face half purple and half blue but Kurt wouldn't let me! We were sitting with all our fellow alumni from BYU some from church and some from dental school. I have to say I haven't been to a more fun game since the BYU UTAH game I went to with K and my parents. Kurt was hoarse on Sunday between yelling at the refs and for the touchdowns. Too fun. The kids were at the zoo with our wonderful great awesome friends the Morgans. They came home with posters, tatoos, stickers, flamingo visers, and bubbles.

sharpening pencils

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Natalie started school this week. Kurt made her a giant minnie mouse pancake. That morning I was going over her list of supplies she's supposed to bring and we realized that her list specifies a 24 pack of SHARPENED no 2 pencils. So we busted out the new sharpener and the kids had so much fun. Natalie was so excited. She was planning to take the bus but changed her mind and asked dad to take her that morning. Kurt and Lincoln went since L had a check-up with the dr. that morning that K was taking him since I needed to be here to b-sit for a friend. They were so cute when they left. Natalie has two of her neighborhood friends in the class and also her favorite school friend from last year. She also got to bring pikachu with her to show the class as the teacher assigned the kids to bring one thing the first day that helps others learn about them. Pikachu? Oh well she was so happy to take him. Whatever. From what i got out of her when she got home she seemed to love her teacher and first day of first grade. I'm still getting used to having a kid in school all day long.

So when they all left it was just me and Maya. It was so quiet. And kind-of peaceful. Maya cried when they left but I distracted her quickly with her dolls and pretty soon we were just playing in her room. She started rocking on her big rocking chair then stopped it suddenly and looked at me and said, "mommy home." then I agreed, "yep mommy is home" and she went back to rocking. It was one of those I'm so glad I get to be home with my kids moment. It meant a lot to me. Thanks Maya for noticing.

park days with the ward moms

Kurt's white coat ceremony

summer has been so funa nd went by too fast. I would say it's been busy but that would imply that I didn't sit around in the backyard by the kids pool or sit and read while the kids played at the park and i definitely got to do those things. It's been full. Full is a good word because I feel like we have made some really great friends and have been enjoying our ward callings and other hobbies. I guess Kurt might say busy though. He took the boards and passed! Yeah!

I have pictures of it all but I don't know how to put a picture on and then write about it underneath without making a new post. . .I know I'm a sad little blogger.

Oh well, here's what we did:
-T-ball with the YMCA for lincoln and Natalie--very fun and entertaining.
-Carol and Allen and kids--canoes, beach, zoo, beach, motorcycle shopping with Allen : )
-Adele and Josh came up for a week--hikes, beach, space needle, mariners game, pikes place, shopping, canoeing, hiking, snoqualmie falls, (i'm sure I missed something we did a ton!)
Kurt's white coat ceremony. They recognize the change from didactic learning to practical application by presenting the students with a white coat. He is now an official student doctor who will be practicing on patients. I'm so proud!
-Thursday park days with Aimee and Jillian. We go together and meet the rest of the moms at different parks or beaches in the area. It's so fun to see how much is just around the corner from us here. The perks to living in a big city.
there's more but seriously I'm just going to have to save things for a different post.

Cathing up--we had a great 4th!

So I have been meaning to post our pictures from the 4th for awhile now. The day before the 4th it was thunder and lightening and storming and the forecast showed more of the same so my friend and I decided we would go camping on the Eastern side of Washington (completely different climate and weather across the mountain) We figures two hours and we're guaranteed sunshine. We called our friend Heidi who grew up in Eastern Washington --she was there with her family-- to see if there was a great firework show or if she could recommend a place and she convinced us the best place to spend the 4th was with her and her family in Mattawa on her family's farm. And she was right! It was sooo much fun. They know how to have a party! And so welcoming, inviting, fun company. We will forever remember our tour of downtown Mattawa, mini hay cubes, Kurt's first motorcycle ride, My first time taking Kurt 4-wheeling, My kids first time 4-wheeling, a really really great home created firework show, and sooooo much good food! Thanks Heidi! I hope sometime we can return the favor!

--oh and I better mention, or Kurt will, it was raining when we got there--ok pouring. But that finished within an hour and it was perfect for the whole rest of the time. Since it was my idea to search for sun, and I had to talk Kurt into it, Kurt thought that the rain was hilarious---couldn't help laughing his head off . . . he thinks he's a comedian. . .

private blog

I've been meaning to change into a private blog for awhile. It's sad we have to worry about weirdos. I am just worried I will forget to put someone's email on the list and offend them. I keep double checking but it's annoying because they don't put my list of friends and family in alphabetical order so it would be easy to miss someone and not realize it. Hopefully everyone that actually wants to stay connected to us can.

Tagged by Ginger

20 Years ago...
1. I was 9.
2. Living in Brigham City, Utah.
3. Riding my bike to Kings with my younger brother Steve and if we were lucky we stopped to get a tigers blood flavored sno-cone.

10 Years ago...

1. Kurt had just left on his mission and I spent every minute thinking about him (well, almost every minute).

2. I had moved back home after my first year at BYU and was working at the BC golf course with Laura Bagwell.

3. I didn't know what I wanted to do for my major at BYU.

5 Years ago...
1. Natalie was 1. Kurt and I had just graduated (me in English, K in Chemical Engineering)
2. We moved to Washington - Kurt had just started his job as a nuclear engineer in Port Orchard, WA
3.One week after moving to Port Orchard I thought I had the flu and it turned out I was pregnant with Lincoln.
4. We bought our first house that fall - we loved that place - we really miss that place and all our friends there! We had a great thanksgiving with the Snyders and McBrides (9X13 pan of jello for each family-2 pies per person-and a hot tub to finish off the day!)--I just realized after talking with K that that was four years ago, but still worth noting. So fun!

3 Years ago...
1. Kurt decided to go to dental school and took the DAT and did DA-Amazing.
2. We were loving Washington and all of our amazing friends there--ditto Nat, we miss all you guys too.
3. We spent the summer replacing all the siding on the house and then painted it the same color all over again.
4. Kurt got in to UW so we got ready to sell our house - did I mention that we miss that house?




1 Year ago...
1. We were living with RATS in our rental in seattle. (Then we really started to miss our PO house)
2. Maya was 6 months old and so dang cute, Lincoln was being potty trained and ended up so constipated we started him on medication. Oh man that was so not fun.
3. Natalie was getting ready to start Kindergarten.
4. We were about to move into our new house in Lynnwood.

Yesterday I...
1. I hate admitting that I was a cranky pants but I kind-of was in the morning--Natalie had a T-ball game-she did awesome and was so cute out there, we were trying to finish the fence, I was trying to organize for my calling, and the house was messy . . .
2. I got out crete paper and balloons and helped the kids decorate their bikes for the pioneer parade
3. Apologized to Kurt for being cranky, asked him how he stays married to me--(he said same way I stayed married to him)
4. Went to the pioneer day picnic for like three or four stakes that our stake hosted--it ended up being so fun but only because I spotted the line for the food as it started to form and asked Kurt to jump in for us.
5. Went to Kohls to replace Kurt's shorts, found a whole bunch of other great deals, tried to keep the kids happy while I had Kurt try tons of stuff on, ended up just replacing Kurt's shorts.

6. Kurt got his letter saying he PASSED THE DENTAL BOARDS! yeah!!!

7. Cleaned the house like crazy after the kids were in bed even though I was really really tired. But today I am glad I did!

Today I...
1. Slept in until 8:45 (I really never ever ever do that!--it was awesome!)
2. Got the kids and me ready for church. Lincoln was in his new summer church clothes and looked soooo cute! It really made him look older, i'm not sure why but it was bitter-sweet to see as always.
3. Tried to teach 3 and 4 year olds the ASL for the chorus of Called to Serve while they were trying to spit on each other. At one point I was reaching for Lincoln right before he expectorated something he'd been working on and leading music at the same time.
4. Had fantastic mexican chicken with homemade tortillas for dinner
5. Got yummy brownies from my new VT comp Erin
6. Figured out finances (how much debt we are in from dental school up to date--don't ask) It's a good thing I had something chocolate.

Tomorrow I...
1. Will go work out at the YMCA
2. Probably do some laundry, folding while I watch Cosby at 4pm, make dinner, Vacuum, dust, hang out at the park next door with the kids if it's sunny, read a book . . .
3. Babysit for my friend Aimee
4. Have FHE

In the next year I...
1. Find a way to bring more music back into my life!
2. Kurt's trying to talk me into training for a marathon--we'll see I've never even ran a 10K (depends on my knees)
3. Do something fun to celebrate Kurt and I turning the big 30!
4. Hope to remember to play with my kids and be really careful to not over schedule our precious evenings.

I tag anyone that had the patience to read this entire thing through!

I'm a chameleon

So I finally found out how to change my skin---I wasn't really actively looking until a few days ago and then my friend Heidi and her sister showed me how. Yeah! I have already changed it twice and still don't love it yet. Something about this one bugs me . . .I'll just have to keep looking. : ) I can see how you can get addicted to this. Kind-of fun.

California trip

Between May and June we feel like we are road-tripped out for awhile. We made the drive down to California (14hr) for a family reunion and had so much fun. For the record I will say it was worth it even with Lincoln puking in the backseat from winding down the canyon outside of Oregon coming into California. It was that fun a trip. ---By the way the first town in Cali is siskiyou, and so there's a sign that reads, "Siskiyou" right after the sign saying, "Leaving Oregon" That made us laugh.

I think the reason it was so fun was because the reunion was a blast--we rented wave runners one of the days--and the camp sight, called family camp, was so fun. There were flush toilets and little cabins that all surrounded the fire pit. We were right by Shaver lake so we spent most of the day there. After the runion Kurt's mom was sweet enough to take the kids for a night so Kurt and I could go up to Yosemite and stay the night. Kurt and I wanted to try to make it to the top of half-dome. Kurt hiked it when he was younger but I wasn't so sure I could make it to the top especially after reading about it online. Anyway, i'm proud to say we did it and it really wasn't that bad. I was tired but we made pretty good time. And the cables weren't as hard as they looked. I had seen pictures of the cables before but they were way more intimidating in person. (Click on the picture of Kurt and I together and you can see them in the background) Once you were on them though they weren' that bad. I had an almost empty water bottle on the outside pocket of my backpack and at one point it somehow came lose while I was on the cables. It bounced down and down and down until we couldn't see it anymore---that was a little creepy. It was crazy how high up we were. We figured it out and we hiked over 20 miles overall. The trail was really beautiful and there's a stream we soaked our feet in on the way back down. It made me want to try other really cool hikes.

You have to click on the pictures and see them full screen to really appreciate how pretty the hike was. And how good lookin' my husband is. . .speaking of notice his t-shirt? There were a lot of hikers at the top that noticed and asked if he could fly them back down the mountain. Cute.