SKI & SNOWBOARDING

The family made a trip to Brian Head today. It was perfect weather, perfect crowds, etc. The above picture is Mad's second day of skiing. By the end of the day, she was a pro. When I've skied, I always used poles. G taught Mad without using poles. I guess it worked because she is a very confident skier this evening.

H is a snowboarder. He knows how to handle the board. As a boarder, H hates the flat spots on some of the bunny hills at Navajo, and was glad to move over to Giant Steps later in the day to show off his game.
A likes the ski. He does very well. This is the third time this week the boys have been skiing. Poor kids....more like spoiled rotten.
I was glad G had a day off and wanted to spend it with his family. Mad thinks that Dad is the only one that can teach her how to ski, so she really enjoyed this time with him.
The gang all had a good time. Mak and I were lounge lizards for most of the morning, and then ventured out to a few cabin open houses. If anyone is interested in sharing the expense of a cabin/townhome, let me know.

SNOW FOR CHRISTMAS.....

We've got lots of snow. It just keeps coming. I think just this morning there was 10 inches in some spots. Other places only 5 inches. I worked on 10 houses in 3 hours. I love to shovel the snow, blow the snow, but what I'd really like to do is buy a 4-wheeler with a blade so that I could push the snow. This body isn't as young as it use to be and I feel wiped out when I'm done.
Mad and the puppies enjoyed playing in it

Mak would like to be out in the snow, but she must sit by the fire and drink her hot cocoa. She still thinks she'll be able to snowboard again before the season ends. I'm more pessimistic. (See previous post regarding breaking her ankle.) She will be on crutches for another few weeks and then in a walking boot.

The Family

Get your own Family Sticker Maker & MySpace Layouts.

Christmas Wishes.....

It's always fun to listen to what the kids want for Christmas. A wants Jazz tickets, H a video game, Mak wants money for clothes and Mad wants it all (scooter, mp3 player, camcorder, etc.) When I was younger, the list was huge. There were things I put on my list that I was certain wouldn't be there on Christmas morning. I would also list things like pajamas because I knew Mom would have those whether I asked for them or not. While at the grocery store yesterday, the cashier told me that he felt "kids nowadays are spoiled and don't have much of a wish list". It's funny that I've been thinking the same thing. All of my kids struggled to come up with items for their Christmas list. Have we baby-boomer parents overindulged our children? Have they no Christmas wishes? I remember when the Sears catalog arrived in the mail. I would sit down and go through it page by page, writing down the item number, size, color and price just so Santa would have an easier time. The list would continue to grow as the season progressed. Perhaps the problem is.....there is no more Sears catalog. Life was simplier then.

Not a Good Day....

Saturday was an interesting day. The pictures above are only for graphic purposes. They are not actual photos of the coming events. G took the girls skiing and snowboarding. It sounded like a good idea. G even had his bindings replaced. Apparently, they didn't even make it past the first lift ride. Mak had her left leg in the snowboard bindings. While jumping off the lift, her board hit something and went one way, while her body went another. Yep! She broke her ankle.

Meanwhile, Dad was helping Mad learn to ski. He somehow got tangled up in his skis and heard his knee pop. Yep! He blew out his knee. The good news is that Mad made it down to the bottom of the hill without any help.

The boys and I were home while all the excitement was happening on the mountain. H and A played in the high school band for the Christmas parade. Since Mak was now injured, we all were drawing straws to see who would go with Dad to Glenn Beck's Christmas Sweater. I won.

We are Thankful!

Thanksgiving is a time to remember your blessings! We have very many blessings. We are grateful for family, friends, the gospel, employment, and the freedom we enjoy. For the Thanksgiving holiday, G and I rented a huge cabin in Brian Head. We invited all of my mother's family to join us for the holiday. Everyone came! That hasn't happened in a long time. We were able to pull off a family photo. (Listing everyone in the pic above we start with me on the left, then A, G, H, Dave, Clint, Chad, Ben, Jeremy, Owen, Brittney; seated are Kathy, Kaley holding Skyler, Grandma LaNae, Amber holding Tyler, Paula holding Trent; in front are Courtney, Cassidy, Mad and Mak)
This is Grandma and her 11 grandchildrenOur family

My sister Paula's family
My brother David's family

The snow cooperated with us. Brian Head received it's first snow of the year while we were there. 14 inches or more! There was one ski lift open and all who attempted snow boarding or skiing had a great time, although there were some sore muscles. It was fun to get reacquainted with family spend the holiday together!

HALLOWEEN 2008

The boys and Mak decided to dress up as the Blue Man Group. A & H had to play in the pep band for a football game, so they didn't want paint on their lips, for fear it would get on the instruments. They stayed together all night. They were a hit!
Mad went as a bloody nurse. This is as scary as she dares to go. She came up with the idea and even planned out the scenario as to why she was so bloody....but no one asked. She had a great time.
We didn't do traditional trick-o-treat, going door to door, because I have a strong resentment for older kids trick o treating. They hung out at our ward's trunk-o-treat, and then headed on to the high school game. It was a great day.

POLITICS & PROTEST

I had this long rambling post about politics all ready to go when I realized most of you wouldn't enjoy my feelings with respect to the current presidential election, so I deleted it. Honestly, the most horrific part of the elections was not the presidential race, as I once thought, rather it is the action and reaction to the passing of Prop. 8 in California. I believe this won't go away quietly. I think it is ironic that I give a lesson soon on watching for "the signs". I don't think my class will have any problem searching for current events indicating the signs of the times. (I promise my next post will be more light-hearted!)

DRESS UP!

"King" Duke in his Halloween costume. Yep, G rolled his eyes when I came home with costumes for the puppies.
Ellie is dressed as a witch. Just remember...the pups were G's idea.

IT'S ALMOST CHRISTMAS...

Let the Christmas music begin....

LAKE POWELL .....WOW-wee!!

Okay, this will be a lengthy post. We just returned from spending the UEA (Utah school holiday) weekend at Lake Powell. I went before when I was 16...(don't bother make any snide remarks about the lake not being there then, or that the rocks were only pebbles then, etc) and haven't been back. Oh my gooooooodness. We've been missing out.
Everywhere you turn it is gorgeous. The weather was perfect. Water temp was 69 degrees and the outside air temp was 75 degrees. Remember this is October! There were times when we were the only ones around....it was soooo peaceful.

G and J looking like true sailors.
The family overlooking the dam area. (Yep, the kids had a great time saying "dam" whenever possible. )

Mak really enjoyed getting more comfortable on the knee board

Mad will only ride the tube. She and Mak had a ball. Mad likes to ask "how fast was I going?" when she gets in the boat. She isn't breaking speed records, but she thinks so.
Sometimes it's more fun to collect shells.
A & Mak tubing
H & Mad
Mad shows off her lean body in her wet suit and life jacket
H has lots of confidence on the knee board and tube. He was the first to attempt a 360 on the knee board but was unsuccessful. His arms weren't long enough to connect in the back.
H is truly a "hot-dog". While the boat was going fairly fast, he was back on the tube doing stunts and poses.

H with his GQ pose.
He did a 360 on the tube several times.

The whole gang
"A" got very confident on the knee board. He wasn't going to let H be the first to do a 360 on the knee board.
On his first attempt, he did it. He was feeling quite cocky after that.
After searching for Uncle Steve's houseboat, we finally stumbled upon it. We had hoped that Steve and family would be at the Lake but it didn't turn out that way. We'll party with them on another day!!!


On Monday, we ended our weekend with a round of golf at the Lake Powell National Golf Course. H is shown above teeing off.
I don't usually like to post pics of myself, but this shows my ripped right calf! (Martin's Cove gave me great muscles.)Mad on the green with watchful observers.

All in all, we had the time of our lives. We've made plans to return very soon.

HAPPY 15TH ANNIVERSARY

Yep, that's G and J 15 years ago today. We've changed hairstyles, weight and choice in puffy sleeves, but I've never stopped lovin' my man! We've added 4 children, lived 4 different places, started a medical practice from nothing, and had many fun times and laughter. No big plans for today, but perhaps a trip in the near future to celebrate.

ECW & SMACKDOWN! H's DREAM COME TRUE!

Could anything be better than this? A ECW/Smackdown Event? "H" doesn't think so. He believes he has lived the ultimate dream. "G" took "A" and "H" to a show in Vegas last night. When they arrived home at 1:30 a.m., "H" was still on a high. I had hoped it would enlighten him as to the choreographed moves, the "non-hits" and how unreal it all is. It back fired! He's more than ever sure that it is REAL. "A" likes it too, but he isn't obsessed like "H". They had terrific seats.

Hornswoggle - I may not be spelling it correctly. The girls made posters for their brothers to hold. One was for Hornswoggle. We could see "H" on TV standing on the chair holding his sign.


This is the guy "A" loves. His name is "The Undertaker". "A" does a fabulous impression. All recent pictures of "A" have Undertaker's trademark look. It wasn't hard to know which souvenir t-shirt "A" would buy. Thanks Dad for taking off early and driving home in the wee morning hours just to be with your boys.