Adventures in Skiing

This week has been so much better than last week . . . thanks for the supportive comments from my last post. :-)

One of the things I did this week was take Ally and Nicholas skiing. But before I talk about that let me give you a little history about me and skiing. I LOVE skiing! Great ski memories came back to me the other day . I was notarizing some papers for a friend and she mentioned her husband likes to ski at this little place by Dayton, Washington . . . I responded "Bluewood?" She said yes and couldn't believe I had heard of it. Bluewood is this little 2-lift place, an hour from the Tri-cities. In high school, my best friend and I went up almost every Saturday during the winter. Good times.

Okay, now fast forward to college. I start dating my husband in the winter and immediately suggest we go skiing. We went a few times while we were dating and a few times after we were married, but then he started having all these excuses why he couldn't go (they mainly involved a basketball and/or football game). Finally, he told me he just can't stand paying to be cold. Needless to say, skiing is not a passion of my sports-enthusiast husband.

Now fast forward a few more years and I have children. I'm so excited for all my future ski bunnies. My first few lessons with Ally and Nicholas, however, were pretty rough. They mainly just wanted to ski in between my skis (I would kind of holding them up and ski them down the mountain). I would wake up the next day with arms so soar I could barely lift them. But there is light at the end of the tunnel . . . this last ski trip my kids finally grasped the pizza concept (tips together) and I was even able to move on to turning lessons. It was our best outing yet. Here's some pictures of the future Olympians:

Nicholas

Ally

Grandpa and Grandma on the Gondola

Feeling guilty like only a mother can . . .

You know those reports school teachers always ask their kids to do after some kind of "break," the ones where the kids tell what they did over break. Well, I'm fairly certain my kids will report that they watched entirely too much TV and ate entirely too many sweets while their mom sat at a computer all day. Our vacation last week put me a week behind at work. I've never understood the concept of using vacation time when you just have to work twice as hard when you get back to make up for it. Anyway, I'm feeling so guilty that other kids are busy making fun memories and mine are making, well, messes.

Luckily my friend Andrea posted the easiest Christmas treat on her blog, which I shamelessly copied! Ally pretty much did the whole pretzel, hug, M&M thing herself (I just put the tray in and out of the oven). So this year all our VT and HT families got treats thanks to her.

Andrew has also been crazy busy. He's been interviewing with publishing companies and probably going to return to the industry. He has interviews in Salt Lake (for Spokane positions, not Salt Lake positions) next week. I already told him he has to be home the second week of every month. I can't give up my book group!

If I can just get though this week, I'll try and be supermom next week. Until then, thank goodness for Dora!

Pics from vacation

Natalie freezing on the beach with Nick's shirt and mom's vest.

Kids and Lego Santa

San Diego Temple . . . so beautiful!

Kids at the temple

Girls with Cinderella

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Rollercoaster of a Vacation

We just returned from Disneyland. As we were flying home last night, I reflected on the trip and truly think the best word to describe it is, "rollercoaster" (pun intended!)

The highs were so high I'd get those little "happy tears" and the lows were so low I'd get, well you know, those same tears. I'll start with the highs . . . Legoland in San Diego. The rides aren't as spectacular as Disneyland's and it's not as big, but on the day we went, there was no one there! We almost had the whole theme park to ourselves. No one in our family was cranky, everyone just rode lots of rides and had lots of fun. Another high, Southwest Airlines (seriously!) First, everything was pretty much on time. Second, they let us preboard and since there's no assigned seating, that means we got to sit up front each time . . . right by the bathrooms, the beverages, and the nice flight attendants who spoiled our kids. Overall the flying part went pretty smoothly. Another high, the San Diego Temple. The kids don't get to see the larger temples very often and this one really amazed them. I marveled at how the kids acted so differently while on the temple grounds than they did at other places on our vacation. They were quieter, less active, more reverent. The temple brought the "happy tears."

Now for the lows . . . first, the unbelievable amount of people at Disneyland. We thought we were so smart going there before Winter Break because we thought there wouldn't be as many people. Boy were we wrong! It was the most packed I've ever seen it (but I've only been 3 times so I don't have a lot to compare). Each ride had about a 30 minute wait (oh the joy of waiting in line with a 2 year old!) Another low, our rental van's electrical system went out. We were at the beach and came back to the car with 4 cold, hungry children and the car wouldn't start. Because this happened right during rush hour, it took over 2 hours for a tow truck to arrive. The longest 2 hours of my life!

With the highs and lows, the whole vacation was like a rollercoaster. By the end of the trip I was truly ready to get off. Funny though, Adam woke up this morning and asked me if he could go to Disneyland today . . . maybe he didn't mind those long lines after all.

Tree Time

We have a tradition that the first Monday after Thanksgiving we always decorate our Christmas tree. The pictures below are of the tree after the kids decorated it and how it looked after they went to sleep. Can any of you relate????

Before

After

Turkey Trot

We got back last night after spending 4 whirlwind days in the Tri-Cities. It's great having both sides of our family in one place, but it can be crazy! We did the 2 meal thing on Thanksgiving -- I honestly think I gained 10 pounds in one day! Then got up at 5:00am the next morning for some shopping with grandma. Grandma LOVES to shop and appears to be a pro at it given half the stores we went to the sales staff knew her by name! The funniest is Costco. My grandparents do all their grocery shopping there even though it's just the 2 of them! They just can't pass up a deal, even if most of the 10-gallon jar of mayo has to go in the garbage because they can't eat it all by the expiration date!

We also did the "Turkey Trot" while we were down there. This is a 5K run or 1 mile walk in Columbia Park (big park along the Columbia River, kind of like Riverfront Park). My best friend from high school was also in town, so we did it together with our families. This worked out perfectly because it gave us a chance to catch up and gave our kids a chance to get their wiggles out. They even had a big pile of leaves for the kids to run through on the course. Here's some pics:

Ally and Nicholas along the Columbia River

Ally and Alyssa (my friend's daughter)

#5 in the books!

Today was the Children's Sacrament Meeting Presentation at church (my 5th -- I'm trying to catch up with Lucy!) The kids were, as always, so amazing. I wish I could take a picture in the chapel so you could all see how cute they were. But let me back up a little and tell you how my morning started. My grandparents came up last night to watch the program (and because Andrew was being ordained a High Priest today). So this morning I was up getting ready and heard water running - I just assumed it was my grandma or grandpa in the shower, but NO . . . it was my dear sweet Adam who got out of bed, quietly went to the kitchen, turned on the kitchen faucet (the kind that pulls out) and shot water ALL OVER THE KITCHEN! The floor, the oven, the toaster, everything was soaked. I was so thankful my grandma was there because as I stood there in disbelief, she quickly grabbed a mop and got to work. Thank goodness we got up extra early this morning because it took us at least 45 minutes to clean everything up. Adam just sat on the counter repeating over and over again, "Wow! Look at that!" It was hard to be angry when he was so proud of himself!

Anyway, we all got to church on time and another primary program is in the books. I wonder if next year I'll be on the stand again of if I'll finally get a chance to watch a program from the pews???

The Wild Man Himself!

Laura's Lesson

Last weekend I lost a friend who I worked with on the PTG board at my kids' school. Laura was a shy, but intelligent woman, dedicated to her family. At her funeral, several friends spoke about her life. One passed on some advice Laura gave her several years ago; to take 5 minutes each night to write about the good that happened that day (Laura was a journalist). I've pondered this and realized there is something therapeutic about writing your thoughts. That's why I think blogging is so great!

So, in following Laura's advice I'd like to list some good things that happened today. First, 70 primary children made it through a 2 hour primary program rehearsal and no one cried or ran off the stand. Second, I saw a dear friend come to church today who I hadn't seen in awhile. Third, I had no meetings today and spent the afternoon hanging out with my family. And, fourth, I didn't receive ANY political campaign calls. It was a wonderful day!

4 lil' trick-or-treaters

I sat down to post a blog last night after a full day of Halloween activities and was seriously so exhausted, I couldn't type. After 5 Halloween parties, trunk-or-treat, and then having friends over for some "group" trick-or-treating, I was all "celebrated" out. The funny thing is . . . I can't figure out what we're celebrating. :-) However, as I tucked my son in last night, he whispered, "Mom, this has been the best day ever." Okay, maybe its all about having a day to be goofy, eat candy and be with family and friends. . . .

Our kids with their friends, the Hollands

Little bit heavy?

Here's Nicholas trying to pick up a pumpkin at Harvest House. Our family refers to Harvest House as the pumpkin patch even though technically it's just pumpkins on the ground. We went straight from soccer (hence, the soccer outfit and eye black -- Nicholas has really sensitive eyes) This is one of our family's favorite traditions. However, we have a tradition that we broke this year . . . we didn't arrive with a new baby! We've had a pattern of arriving every other year with a new baby in the Bjorn. While I feel comfortable that our family is complete, I still find myself feeling a little sad . . . and over weird things too, for instance, I didn't cry when we sold the crib or gave away all our newborn clothes, but I teared up when I used the last of Adam's Johnson's Baby Lotion the other day and realized I wouldn't be smelling that fragrance after each bath anymore. I find myself really babying Adam because I know he's the last . . . I hope I'm not setting him up for years of therapy! :-)

Salt Lake City Trip

Andrew and Ally at conference

Earlier this month, Andrew and I took Ally to Salt Lake for her 9th birthday to attend general conference. It was a first for all three of us. I have to admit, we've only stepped foot in Utah maybe 4 times before (what kind of Mormons are we???) And, each time was just a quick trip in to Temple Square on the free shuttle from the airport in between flights. Anyway, this time we really spent some time around the area and can I say it is SO gorgeous in the fall (all you Utah girls have been keeping this a secret!) We drove up to Park City (which I loved!) and walked, shopped, ate, and attended a literacy festival. Ally got to meet the children's author/illustrator, Peter Reynolds, and get his autograph. We also attended a creative writing class (should I admit that when I'm so NOT creative?) Then we headed to "This is the Place Park." It was very moving to stand where the early saints came in - especially after reading "Fire of the Covenant" with my book group.

We also had fun sitting on our friends' deck and counting all the white steeples. There's like a chapel on every block! For all you pizza lovers, you've got to eat at this place called 'The Pie." It was delicious. And, conference was fabulous. Ally was most impressed by when President Hinckley entered the room and the complete silence that occurred. It was a great vacation. Thank you grandpa and grandma for staying home with Nicholas, Natalie, and Adam. You guys are the best!

Is my life interesting enough to blog about?

After reading some of my friends' blogs I was so inspired I decided to start blogging. I thought it would be a great way to stay in touch with far away family and friends and not so far away family and friends who I rarely get a chance to catch up with anymore. Then, I sat down to write my first blog entry and realized I had nothing exciting to report. So, I'll just talk about life.

Yesterday was Friday, which means I worked in the office (we do a little "role reversal" on Fridays and Andrew stays home with the kids) Andrew decided to do laundry. Let me first say, laundry is my least favorite chore. I love the idea that all those dirty clothes can stay hidden in the clothes hampers and I can just pretend they're not there! So anyway, Andrew must have done 6 loads and folded the clothes and laid them all out on our bed for the kids to put away. When I got home from work I saw all this, and this may sound weird, but I truly don't think I ever loved my husband more. He is SO on my good side right now (honey, if you're reading this, it may be a good time to hit me up for a new power tool, get-a-way boys weekend, etc.)

I'll continue to work on my blog site and hopefully get pictures up soon.