A Decade...

Her birthday fell on the Super Bowl Sunday again this year, which doesn't mean anything to any of us other than it brings back memories of the night (early morning) she was born.

Darin and I watched the Patriots in the SB ten years ago.  I would drop to my knees every 8 minutes or so in pain trying to breathe.  I called my mom every half hour to which she would always say "don't go until you are howling at the moon".  And she was right.  It was hard but so much better to be going through it all at home...while Janet Jackson had a wardrobe malfunction....where I could eat or drink anything I wanted....while I got to watch the Pats win (not that I care but it was a distraction).  By the time we went to the hospital the whole entire thing from being admitted to holding her in our arms took maybe 3 hours. 

And here she is.... a decade later!

Lovely, and strong willed, and super talkative, and over anxious, and creative, and impulsive, and passionate, and smart as a whip, and adventurous and WONDERFUL.

I helped her make her own birthday shirt this year.  

The whole thing was such a refection of each of us.  She fell in love with the bird silhouette, which I knew would be difficult but I really wanted her to have it if she really wanted it.  It became a pleaser vs. pleaser dilemma.  She told me it was okay she could pick another design, but I really wanted her to have the one she wanted THE MOST.  During the cutting out process I could see things might be rough but by that time we were kind of committed. It didn't turn out perfectly, there are some smudges and some places that could be darker than others.  Her face showed the disappointment she felt when we pulled the stencil off. Thats the problem with being a pleaser...sometimes no one ends up being pleased.  She felt bad that she was disappointed, I could tell she was trying to hid it.

But then....

she put on the shirt and really did smile.  She said it looked vintage.  I admitted we probably were overzealous with the design and I should have had her pick another one.  And then we both found beauty and value in imperfection and she said she was excited to tell her friends she helped make it which really, isn't that the point of life?? To enjoy the process no matter how it all turns out? 

To love the journey, accept the lessons along the way? Find beauty in imperfection?

Am I getting too deep about a t-shirt?

Well...my little girl is 10, I am feeling a little emotional.

Miriam and Bub had a sleep over the night before her birthday which is just about the cutest thing in the world.

While they were sleeping I took the balloons from her birthday party and decorated her room.

We had her open all her little gifts throughout the day.  

She dressed in purple for church so we called her the "amethyst princess"

She made her own cake because she loooves baking.

While we were at church a cute couple invited us over for dinner.  I thanked her but said since it was Miriam's birthday we had a little party planned.  Miriam invited them to come to our house instead.

I was a bit apprehensive about them coming but they were great!  So cute with the kids, they really made her day feel special. 

Then we checked in with the Super Bowl and cringed at the score...watched all the commercials picking out our favorites and then got the kiddos ready for bed.

Then I held Miriam while she cried herself to sleep because her birthday was over.  She told me through tears that she loved her gifts, she had fun at her party, that she was happy Grandma and Grandpa had come to her recital, but she felt so desperately sad. Boy oh boy do I get that sadness.  The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Which is why I knew that sometimes....the only remedy is to cry it out.

Fat Bike Summit

Darin volunteered to help set up for the first ever Utah Fat Bike Summit.

It was in Ogden, so we dropped him off to work in the cold morning while I took the kids to Karen's Cafe for a huge cafe style breakfast. Great place to eat. My one complaint was they put too much meat in my omelet...which I am thinking is not something most people would complain about. 

It was a gorgeous day to ride bikes in the snow!

Darin and I both took some bikes out for rides.  They don't make Fat Bikes small enough for the kids, but they had these trikes they could try out.  Miriam did ride an extra small Pugsley but really she needs to grow an inch or two before she will be comfortable.

The kids also made bird feeders, and participated in the kids obstacle course a few times. We all watched the races, the bike jousting, and this bike polo game played with a bucket.  They got so much swag they couldn't believe it...t-shirt, cow bell, frisbee, water bottle, hot chocolate and pancakes.

Next year promises to be an even bigger event...which is good, but I am so glad we got to experience it on a smaller scale.

Science Fair

Such great daddy/daughter time went into Miriam's science fair project this year.

Darin directed her in what to do, but he certainly made her do the foot work.

I usually help her with her english and social studies assignments, but I was no help with this one! When it came time to write everything out Miriam knew way more about sound, speakers, and testing than I did so she had to do it herself (with edits from Darin).

  

I did help with the layout and color scheme....that I can do.

We were lucky the judging came right when Uncle Mark was visiting so he could come visit Miriam's school and be the rock star uncle that he is.

I was so relieved to have it done for the year, then Miriam informed me that she is required to participate for 2 more years!!
On the bright side, I really do think this is a great problem solving/analytical thinking exercise for the kids.  Projects like this are probably the best way for kids to individualize learning in a public school setting...its just....thinking of 9 more science fair projects in my future makes my head swim just a bit.

Scofield Continued..

Our friends came up and visited while we were at the cabin.

We took them on a snowshoe/cross country skiing trip to the bear cave.

Climbing up to see if there is a bear snoozing in the cave!

Cute Sadie is an adventure girl in the making.

Hatch Family and Ray Family me as photographer.

Hatch Family and Ray Family Cameron as photographer (minus Creed, Bub and Savvy who stayed at the cabin).

See how bare it is...crazy weird!

After the kids sled together  for a few hours Darin and I had a few runs of our own.

Everyone left Monday night except for our little family.  It's exciting to be there with cousins but it was nice to have a casual day to recoup before heading back home. Darin and Miriam went on a daddy daughter snowshoeing trip while I cleaned and packed and the boys sled down the driveway (Darin would want me to add that he helped clean too).  We don't own a snowmobile and everyone who does left on Monday so we hauled all our stuff out with the awesome pulk Darin made and the kids sled down to the parking lot. 

Our cabin key was in our car down in the parking lot so Darin locked the cabin from the inside and then jumped off the deck! I thought for sure I would be hauling him to the emergency room but he did it just like Spider-Man!

Scofield

Mark is here! 

He is visiting for a couple of weeks so we finally made a family trip to Scofield.

The lack of snow up there is scary, but there was enough to get our fill of playing and the snow is nice and fluffy.

Mark being the best uncle ever...hauling the kids up the hill over and over and over and over...

The three of us got a good snowshoeing trip in (Thanks Mom and Julia). 

Good conversation and beautiful views.

So nice to be out of the inversion. I took as many huge cleansing breaths as possible.

Natural History Museum

Come on up and visit us...we will take you to the Natural History Museum cuz we are going to use that year pass till the kids know the museum by heart!

Big old hunk of Miriam's birth stone.

Earthquake building

Seismic jumping

Cute critters (Miriam is barley tolerating this)

Random Cuteness

Shaggy cuteness

Hardworking cuteness

Nutcracker cuteness 

Fort cuteness

Morning piano practice cuteness

"Best Dad Ever" homemade hammock nap cuteness

Legomaniac cuteness

2014!!

This was the first time in 14 years that we didn't go to the cabin for New Years.  

The first time we have ever spent the holiday alone (as in our little family).

It was strange for sure (not as exciting as past years)...but also nice to be just us.  

Nice to know we like being together.

 I took the kids sledding on some ice hills in the area during the day (Darin was working).

We fondued as per the Rasmussen tradition.

(chocolate on broccoli??)

I don't have actual fondue pots but we made due.

We had a marathon game night. 

(in front of the fireplace...my favorite part of the new house that I didn't even know I wanted!)

Then we celebrated with the folks on the East Coast.

We sent the kids off to bed about 10:30 pm, but M was determined to stay up.  She read in her room, falling asleep a few times but woke at 11:53 pm and rushed into our room.  We had nothing to celebrate the moment with so I made her run outside barefoot screaming. Luckily lots of our neighbors and folks who live below us furnished some nice fireworks to complete the evening.

Random Winter Stuff

(dice, candy ball game...super fun)

Miriam has big ideas.  

That girl's brain is always going going going.  I love it, but I am also scared of it because her big ideas almost always involve me. I am trying to find balance as a mom in this area...when to help her take these ideas and fly and when to say no.  This is a constant battle with me. I am a pleaser and I love my kids! I also easily get lost in motherhood and forget that I am a person too...I have goals, I have dreams.  Tricky balance. 

Anyway the picture above is one of M's ideas that we said yes to.  Her teacher use to volunteer for Hogle Zoo, and she told them about the adopt an animal program the zoo has.  Miriam wanted to adopt an animal in her animal-loving-teachers name but at a high $ level which meant getting the whole class involved.  Since the basement is completely empty we came up with a hot chocolate party for the class.  They would walk home from school with Miriam, have hot chocolate, play games, and make a donation to the gift.  

The kids had a blast, and did something kind for both their teacher and the zoo.
I am proud of Miss Miriam for her kind heart and her motivation to take action.

We have had lots of snow play this year! This is one day where M and her friend M stayed out all day to build a snow fort...the boys came in before the camera came out but they have taken advantage of the snow as well.  Lots of sledding (and shoveling) going on around here!

Christmas Morning

I am pretty determined to keep our Christmas simple and relatively small. But every year, when I look at the room before I head off to bed I wonder if they will be disappointed, wonder if its enough. 

And it always is. 

It is always more than enough, even when it's not what they asked for, it seems to be enough.  

Some of the most loved gifts:

Some of the most meaningful gifts:

Miriam spent so much time ironing these plastic beads together.  We thought she was just making a village of Christmas figures which she was, but she was also making this surprise for G'ma and G'pa.

G'ma and G'pa gave us a wooden Noah's Ark.  G'ma loves Noah's Ark's and G'pa loves to create so it's the perfect reminder of them.  It is permanently on display in our bookcase.

I love sloths.
 So the kids surprised me by "adopting" a sloth through Hogle Zoo in my name.  They presented the gift with a certificate in the book "A Little Sloth" (cuteness overload).  Darin gave me many gifts this season....service related and otherwise but I think my favorite was a date night, the kids contributed by supplying babysitting money.

It was a delightful Christmas.
Just enough adventure.
Just enough singing.
Just enough giving.
Just enough relaxing.
Just enough.

Christmas Eve

In order to entertain the troops, and give G'ma and G'pa a bit of a break from the weekend, we decided to take the kids to lunch and then to the Cache Valley Fun Center.

We ate at the "best use for a gas station" restaurant called Tandori Oven.  It was small, but every good.  The kids loved mango lassi in fancy copper cups and naan.  They haven't ventured into much more than that although Miriam is branching out a bit.

Then we did it all!

Bowling (Soren won I came in dead last)

Arcade

Lazer Tag (Darin and Byron)

Roller Skating (Miriam and I)

We got home in time for a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner.

We put together a puzzle. 

The kids sang the Christmas song from their sacrament meeting performance.

Miriam played her piano songs.

We all sang "Christmas Bells" (Miriam and I tried to do the discant).

Grandma gave an impromptu oration of the poem "Old Father Christmas" 

(this was a highlight of the night) 

Read the Christmas Story.

Watched a Christmas Nativity movie.

We ended by singing Silent Night.

Then I put the kids to bed with a traditional favorite of Darin's family How Mrs. Claus Saves Christmas. Left the kids all snuggled together, happily exhausted, anticipating the morning!