January

I can't believe people are already complaining about the snow...are all you complainers new here to Utah?  Snow = no inversion, and water here in the 2nd driest state.  We have been so lucky this year.

I am still loving it!  

Bring on the snow...pile it on until March, THEN we can collectively groan about it together. We can unpack our cuss words in April and shake our heads in disbelief when it snows on our tulips in May, but for now I say bring it on.

This was my classes bulletin board another one of the teachers put together for January.  So cute, and my boss added the Chinese lanterns to help decorate for the school Chinese New Year celebration.

Which was CRAZY BUSY! In the past the celebration has been just for the immersion kids, but the school is really trying to bridge the distance between immersion and English only.  We all became closer...as in wall to wall...body to body closer.  It was fun for Soren though, he got to be a part of the dragon dance and made an abacus. 

We ate Chinese food together. They ran out of food 3X so we were lucky.

Twin day at the Jr. High!

Miriam had another ski group day at Snowbasin, while she was gone I took the boys sledding.

Snow gear makes them look so little!! 

February begins tomorrow!

A Short Weekend

After our 4 day weekend last week, this regular ol' 2 day-er was just too short, too packed, and this Sunday has not been the day of rest and rejuvenation it should be.  It's only 3:08 pm, and Darin has taken the kiddos on an adventure so perhaps the evening will be better.  Maybe the confrontations I want to have with people but won't actually have will now stop swirling around in my head, maybe my headache will go away, maybe I will be able to let go of the things that pricked me today. Maybe. Actually, I am going to be optimistic and say probably.  Things are already looking up.  I am alone, I am going to turn on some music, clean up the kitchen, and make soup.  

Saturday was my turn to drive ski group. We woke up to fresh powder and snow coming down all day. 

The boys all had Klondike, and the other 3 girls decided they wanted to sleep in so it was a small group.  One of the other dads decided to grab a ride, and another neighborhood teenager hitched a ride back home so we were full by the time the day ended.

These girls braved the snowy conditions and were rewarded with perfect Utah powder but thats not all, a very nice man who shared our table, gave them his giant chocolate chip cookie.

We came home to find the boys out enjoying the cold stuff too!

Darin had shoveled twice during the day.

That evening Miriam had ballroom performance at the Winter Homeschooling Conference Ball at Weber State.  So, we attended our second holiday ball of the year.  Soren and I learned the 2 step during the teaching portion and then we enjoyed all the ballroom dances again.  No photos...not sure what my problem is but I forgot to take photos! 

We are going into a full the the brim week which includes a huge Lion King meeting, and 2 days of all-day training for me. Just going to take it one day at a time. 

The Long Weekend

Play hard, work hard, that was the motto this weekend.  

Saturday was Miriam's first ski group trip.  She was nervous; worried about keeping up, worried about the other kids wanting to go on runs she wasn't ready for.  We got a text from her later that day that said "I remember why I love skiing!" Nice when you do a bit of mom nudging and things go well...

While M was gone we used the boys "hard work" free bowling certificates at Boondocks.  A round of free bowling and then like 7 games on the air hockey table that was either broken or some kid had swiped their game card 7 times without knowing how to play.  It would have been a totally free fun day but we stopped by Dairy Queen to pick up a gift certificate for a friend's 70th birthday party, and we just couldn't walk out of there empty handed or empty stomached. 

We attended the birthday party, and then watched Tron.  Soren said it was "the worst ending ever!!" I have to agree, I don't like AI/human relationships, they are creepy. 

We got through our first official "Sunday Unplugged".  We have been wishy washy about Sundays and technology, but this was a very spirit of the law approach.  For instance, we can watch a movie, but we all need to agree on one, and watch it together.  I loved it. It's amazing how everyone is so much more enthusiastic about going for a walk, doing yoga, or playing a game when youtube and video games aren't an option. I read more on Sunday than I have in months! I want it to be a permanent thing but this isn't my first parenting rodeo...I know I can't be the big enforcer on this, it will have to be a decision together. Hopefully I can keep everyone on board.

Monday, we worked.  Homework, emails, cleaning, laundry, then the kids played with friends for the remainder of the day.  I felt happier working, knowing we had Tuesday to play.  

Tuesday was our first official "Year of Family Fun" outing.  For our family Christmas gift we bought the Salt Lake Connect Pass.  Since we knew we weren't doing a big vacation this year we decided to go on one or two family outings a month.  We loved our first stop....the Museum of Natural Curiosity.  The kids used some of their Christmas $ to try out the ropes course, a first for Soren.  The museum was a bit young for Miriam, but we are lucky that she has a fun-loving spirit.  She isn't "too cool" for fun and I appreciate that because neither am I...I still love a good rope swing in a tree fort.

Overwhelmed...

That's been a running theme throughout the week...being overwhelmed.

It's my own fault because I am a do-er more than a think-er so in the moment I feel pressure to go as quickly as possible from one task to another, when I should stop and make a plan. 

I have had a few irons in the fire simmering during the Christmas Break...they all heated up in the same week right after Christmas.  Extra meetings, and deadlines to the building pressure of getting Christmas down, going over the budget, and then those pesky details like....grocery shopping, dinners, lunches, getting exercise in. That last one right there is another issue.  When I don't exercise I become more anxious, which makes it harder to sleep at night, which makes it harder to wake up and get that exercise in.  The vicious cycle could go forever unless I put a stop to it.

After this weekend I feel better, more able to handle life.  I brain dumped everything I had going on. Darin and the kids stepped up to help take down Christmas, and the best part...church was cancelled so I had a FREE Sunday to get things crossed off my brain dump list. I am determined to get some yoga time in this week. I haven't officially thought of any New Years resolutions, or come up with a focus for the year but I have a vague idea of what I need to improve on.  Something having to do with intentional living.  Still mulling over a plan.

This weekend was Miriam's Ballroom Holiday Ball.
My mom and dad came all the way up from Price, and then had to rush back the next morning because of the forecasted freezing rain (which so far has been a bust...not that I am complaining!)

Miriam's group performed a polka and it was so fun! Afterwards we had some social dance instruction...Soren and I participated in that, and then a dance.  A formal dance with parents hanging out, and refreshments, and kids doing the Rumba or Fox Trot to contemporary music.  It was like nothing I have ever experienced before but my Mom said it was similar to what "Gold and Green Balls" use to be. It was fun to watch Miriam dance around with her friend Amber, just like Anne Shirley and Diana Berry.  M even got asked to dance by a boy, but she says it doesn't really count because he is her partner in class. Still fun for us to watch though.

The boys hung in there and were rewarded with Cutler's Cookies.

New Years

See that?!

No me either...thats my phone photo skills for ya.  I was trying to take a picture of a bald eagle we saw on our way in to Scofield.  

It was amazing, just trust me.

Photos of these hooligans were easier to capture.

So much snow play.

Mostly sledding, but some snowmobiling, and imaginary wolf game along with fort building.

Esme wowed us with her adventurous spirit.

She was freezing all weekend long but she tried everything!

Little Hazel was adorable, as always.

Mark and Esme introduced us to Korean Ramen and we are hooked. Now we need to make a trip to the Korean market!  

Darin and I snuck away for 2 very long snowshoe adventures.  It was a workout to get to the top but so much fun glissading straight down!

Snowshoeing day #2 we stole the last 2 Korean cream cakes to eat at the top of the mountain. 

Love being in nature, with my love. 

Christmas Eve Fondue Party!

Everyone loves this part of the weekend.  We dip and dip until we are sick of cheese and chocolate!

No wontons this year, none of us wanted to stand around frying anything.  Just goes to show how amazing my mom has been all these years...and how lazy we are!

We played rounds and rounds of Werewolf...a family favorite,  Forbidden Island, and Wits and Wagers (all the kids had to have a grown up partner for this one).  Tons of laughs, but the most hilarious game playing occurred among the adults when the the kids were asleep.  

Between Jared's fireworks, and the haul we had won from our ward auction we had a pretty fantastic areal display.  We decided we'd better shoot them off at the lake just to make sure they didn't hit a cabin.  We work hard for our fun....17 people hauled down to the lake on snowmobiles, in below freezing temps and 11:30 pm!  

Worth it.

So fun to be directly underneath fireworks.....and they were not your ordinary fireworks! We got some bonus exciting moments when one bundle fell over shooting fireballs sideways, then when I biffed it face first in the snow after lighting the finale. Oh it's a good thing I know how to laugh at myself.

We ignored our freezing toes and fingers to light some sparklers before hauling everyone back up the hill to the cabin.

Mark and Esme stayed with us the night before flying home.  So fun to have them all to ourselves for one evening.  We gave them a Twig's send off.

Tuesday hit hard and fast.  The boys had Lion King practice at 7:30 am so they didn't really have time to be sad but, I feel like I am living in a state of chaos! So hoping for a snow day tomorrow!! 

Christmas Break

We only had 2 days at home before we were on the road to Price again so the break went by quickly! Darin took Miriam and a friend to use their ski passes, while the boys and I met friends at the swimming pool.  The next day the boys had an all-day play date with those same friends while Miriam went to a sledding party. 

We have all been eating whatever we want-whenever we want, the kids have built Legos, played on the Pringle, and watched 2 back seasons of survivor. Oh! and we also had a fun visit with Alicia and Mike.

You know what we didn't do: put away any Christmas decorations (we barely cleaned up wrapping paper!), any suggested reading from teachers, piano/cello practicing, meal planning, meal cooking, resolution making, year-end contemplation, or Chinese practice. We have been in serious break mode.  It's really unlike me to be so unstructured during time off school....I guess I needed the biggest break of all. Tuesday will be painful...but I try not to think about that.

Thursday little B got some stomach thing so we put off going down to Price as long as possible to see if he would feel better.  No dice, the poor guy was miserable the whole 2 hour trip.  It was heart breaking, especially when he would apologize over and over about making the trip hard.  We made it down to take family pictures (he may be slightly grey in the photos) but the rest of the reception he and Darin spent quarantined at my parents house. 

Again, my SIL Kelly pulled out her mad decorating skills so it was unique and beautiful.

I didn't get a photo but all the tables had stacks of antique books along with some foliage.  Books are a perfect decoration for Mark (and Erik...they were actually his books).  Really good food, and I got to talk to aunt uncles and cousins I hardly ever see.

Mark and Esme in Korean Hanboks

Helping with the take-down afterwards.

Luckily no one else got struck with the bug all weekend.