Easter Sunday and thoughts on Fathers

I love Easter time when everything seems so fresh and new and the whole world seems to stop for a moment and reflect on Jesus Christ. We had a quiet Easter morning getting ready for church, and then had some guests for dinner later that afternoon.

Yesterday as I was reading my scriptures I came across something that I had never quite grasped previously. We have and need three fathers. 1. Heavenly Father who is the Father of our spirits. 2. Our earthly father who gives us our physical body. 3. Jesus Christ is our Father, as through His resurrection our bodies and spirits will once again be reunited after the death at Resurrection. I had always understood that Christ is our Father also because He created everything under the direction of the Father, but never in the literal sense of the resurrection. How much more grateful and indebted to Him I am as I contemplate his love and the personal sacrifice which He lovingly made for me.
Here are some pictures of the girls Easter morning.

Pato Bantan Concert

Every now and then I receive e-mails regarding local events, and earlier in the week I received one regarding a concert. The performer's name is Pato Bantan. I heard him MANY years ago on the radio, and the one song I heard really impressed me.

I started to think about going, but don't do much of the night life, but I kept kicking it around. I finally asked a couple of girlfriends and while they didn't know any of the music, they were happy to try it out with me.

We arrived at 9:27 (since the doors opened at 9, and the concert supposedly started at 9:30.) We were pretty surprised since we were the only ones there, but figured we'd sit down and wait and see what would happen.

Well, around 10:45 a cover band began to play - we couldn't believe how late it was and the cover was just starting!
They continued to play until 12:00 when FINALLY Pato got there. As he came in, we saw him and as he came right by, we asked if we could take a picture with him and so we got to meet him.

Later, during the concert, we sidled up to the front. After a long set of really energetic stuff, I shouted out, "Opinion" which was the first song I'd heard of his that I loved. He then dedicated the song to me - how about that?

Well, after the show ended at 1:30 (yes, AM) we were heading out, and my friends decided to get a photo with him since he was again right there by our coats. He shook all of our hands, said it was a pleasure to meet us and gave me a hug and kiss on the cheek.

It was a pretty fun and crazy night. I haven't been to a concert in years, and never to a reggae concert. I loved the intimacy of the smaller venue, and loved the music and to be able jam. While the timing (lateness) thoroughly threw off my personal clock, it was definitely one of those rare experiences that are so fun to look back on.

Birthday

This week we celebrated our daughter's birthday - ALL week long!

While her grandparents were here over the weekend, they wanted to celebrate, then during the week, she got a package from grandparents that she was thrilled about.

Since I volunteer in the school, I brought in a Sundae bar for her class and they had a little party for her.
We had a family party (with just us), and then a couple of days later we had a party with a few friends.

I can't believe how quickly time flies - it seems like just yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital! Happy Birthday Baby!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

First Tooth!

My baby lost her first tooth!

 

April 2009 General Conference Packet

As I've been thinking about General Conference this weekend I am excited to hear the words of our prophets. Just six months ago the prophets spoke, there were words shared in regards to many things which have helped me. Most poignant to me however were the words regarding higher ground, and dealing with opposition. I found these words truly prophetic as Prop 8 exploded just days and weeks after these words were spoken. They gave me much guidance and comfort as I spoke with friends who had questions or who held different beliefs. I am so grateful that I don't have to figure this all out, just listen and follow the direction given by a loving Heavenly Father through His prophets.
That said, I found a conference packet on-line for kids and thought I'd share the link. I remember how hard it was to sit and listen and be quiet. Too bad these weren't around when I was a kid! Here's a link to the packets: http://d.scribd.com/docs/1y8qkrk113z9gvo5cbsu.pdf

Introduction to the follwing posts

We recently traveled to Moab, Utah where my husband participated in a half marathon. This is his third year running it and he loves to have something to work for which keeps him going through the winter and kicks off his season.

Since it was spring break for both the kids and my husband, we wanted to get out, and he wanted to go to Nauvoo, Illinois. This is a historical place for the Mormon people, and while we have been there several times, we love to learn about our ancestors who lived there, and explore our religious history. The sacrifices made by our forefathers were complete and a sweet spirit can be felt there. So, we packed into the car and traveled the opposite direction from Moab. As a brother lives relatively nearby, we were able to spend some time with his family. As it turned out, we made it for a birthday party and a baptism. We decided to take our cousin along with us for the three days we spent in Nauvoo.
We learned some great things from him. We learned that he REALLY likes to swim in the pool - night and morning. He was a little bothered after we swam before breakfast, showered, and had breakfast that we weren't going swimming again after breakfast! We also learned that he REALLY likes buffets. I think we will be happy if we don't see another one of those for a couple of years at least!

We were grateful that we were able to be part of such a special occasion for him and his family.

 

The following posts include several of our activities and explanations regarding our trip. Yep - in other words - a travelogue.

Statue, Nauvoo Temple and Carthage Jail

This is one of our all time favorite statues. It is of Joseph and Hyrum Smith overlooking the city of Nauvoo,in front of the temple they were working to complete. As Joseph and Hyrum headed to Carthage Jail, where they knew they would be murdered by angry mobs, they must have stopped for one last look of the city they had built, and the people they loved.

 

The Nauvoo Temple

 

Carthage Jail

 

Red Brick Store

Although we've been to Nauvoo various times in the past years, we've never seemed to have the time to visit Joseph Smith's Red Brick Store. What an interesting building! We learned that its name is not because of the bricks which it is made from, but rather from the color of the walls inside the store. Ox blood and buttermilk were mixed to create the interior paint - which is where the name of the store came from. Yes, a little trivia there.
Today's largest women's organization in the world - the Relief Society, was organized in this simple room. Additionally, the first restored temple ordinances were also performed here. Amazing events which have strongly impacted my life began in this small room.

 

Ancestors and geodes

We had the chance the visit the lands and title office in Old Nauvoo. There we found that one of our ancestors was a tenant in this spot. He later owned various acres in the outlying area of town. While I've always known that several of my ancestors were Mormon pioneers and that they lived in Nauvoo, it was a thrill to be able to see where they actually lived! This spot is actually on the land that is at the foot of the temple (towards the River) on the very right hand corner.

 

We heard that near Nauvoo, there are places one can go to dig geodes out of the ground. After several phone calls, I was told that due to the previously wet weather, that it was too muddy and we weren't as prepared as we would have liked to have been. So, we decided to scrap it. We found (on the handy GPS) that there was a nearby Geode State Park in Iowa. So - we took off with hopes of seeing some great geodes or something. Well - it was more like a name. However, at the park office, we saw a really big geode, and then noticed that a couple had been built into the stucco work of the building.  

 

Apparently the kids had their hearts set on finding some geodes. We finally found someone who let us dig through his pile of rejects (after we saw that the creek WAS indeed very high and not very passable.) Here we are working as geode gleaners. We did find some cool fossils in this pile as well.  

Chuck E Cheese had a blue screen that the kids loved.

 

We traveled to Nauvoo Illinois and spent a couple of days there. We toured several different centers. Here the kids learned to make rope, candles, bread, rugs, pottery and much more - pioneer style.
 

 

You may notice that we added a child in several of these photos. The girls' cousin joined us on our trip. We loved having the chance to play with him and get to know him better.
 

Bologna, pedis and the kick off party

I never buy bologna - don't know why - just don't. One of my kids begged me to buy some for our trip. Since I packed all of our food for our drive out on Sunday, here was my kid's first introduction to bologna.

 

They loved it!

 

We stopped in Missouri and saw my brother's family. His wife and I stopped for a pedicure. (Yes, with the baby)
 

And what kind of a birthday is complete without Chuck E cheese? We celebrated our cousin's birthday with him ALL week long. This was the kick off!
 

Master Key and the race

So, our friend booked a room for us for the race. When we went to check in, the key they gave us didn't work. When we went and asked for a key that worked, they gave us a master key!

 

Here are the after the race pictures - he did great - just a couple of seconds slower than he did last year.  

 

We spent some time with some family and the kids had fun playing together.
 

The Hike before the race

We headed to the race in Moab early so that we could spend some time hiking. A friend recommended this hike and we loved it. We crossed the river somewhere around eight times, even though it said we'd only cross it three times. It was beautiful and we loved experiencing the early spring - except for the allergies.

 

Someone who shall remain nameless lost this little stuffed animal on the hike - it decided to go for a swim - our handsome hero saved it!  

Our kids discovered the magic of snake grass whistles on this hike. Oh the nostalgia!
 

 

New Years Eve and Sledding Pictures

Our camera broke right after New Year's Eve. Since then, I've just been using my phone for simple here and there pictures. I was thrilled to pick up a new camera yesterday and find that I could retrieve all of my old pictures still. As you can tell by some of the following pictures - my camera was on it's last leg. Anyways - here are the pics - thanks for the fun memories to all in them!

 

Temples

Most of my friends know that I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Recently topics regarding the "Mormons" and our beliefs have been cropping up in the news and in controversial debates. I have many friends who ask me questions about what we believe as well. I found this short clip which touches on the importance of our temples and wanted to share it with my friends.

What is this thing?... and the sugar trail

Some friends invited us over for dinner tonight. Just as we were leaving, our oldest child noted an interesting contraption on our friend's countertop. It had a lid which had been cut from a can dangling from its magnet.
Our oldest child was fascinated and asked - "what is this?" We replied that it was a can opener.
We never realized that she has never seen an electric can opener before as we just use the manual ones. She didn't believe us when we told her and even tried to demonstrate.

On another note, my husband went to the local Costco yesterday to pick up some groceries. I added several food storage items to the list, one of which was sugar.
He picked up a 25# bag of sugar and proceeded to continue to shop. After he'd woven up and down several aisles and across the store, an assistant manager of the store contacted him to let him know that his sugar had a sizeable leak. Apparently he'd left a sugar trail throughout the entire store. The manager's response was that at least he'd been easy to find due to his sweet trail!

Foiled plans

Several years ago, I met two friends. We went through some pretty crazy times together, and found that together, we have an amazing propensity for silliness and fun - as in laughing so hard that I wheeze, and someone almost has an accident.

Unfortunately, the silliest friend moved away, leaving just two.

We decided that we needed a reunion. We schemed and planned. We'd planned to travel to the friend, but it just wouldn't work. So we planned for her to come here. It was working. We planned more and I cleaned and cleaned - all last week. We completely cleared our schedules. She was supposed to arrive on Tuesday.

Tuesday morning, mother nature decided to flex her muscles, brought in a blizzard, and I got the phone call. The roads were closed and our friend had no way to access the airport.

We were devastated and depressed.
However, since we'd cleaned and cleared our schedules - we decided to carry on. We ate some amazing food, watched our bonnet and tea movies (yes - the English ones where the ladies are all wearing bonnets and drinking their tea,) relaxed, and laughed together.

It was pretty amazing while it lasted, yet, tomorrow, I'll be back to cleaning my house again.

Pay it Forward - Giveaway

While life continues with its busy monotony, I've thought about what I could blog about that is new. Not much as time continues its never ending ebb and flow.

My sister in law has been the recipient of service in the last months due to a sickness related to a tough pregnancy and mentioned Paying it forward. She put the challenge out to her readers to do the same.

Here are the rules:
3 names will be drawn from those who leave a comment on this post, and they will receive a handmade gift from me during this year. When and what will be a surprise. There's a small catch though...Post this same thing on your own blog and then come back and leave a comment telling me you're in. The deadline for commenting is March 16, 2009.

I think opportunities to reach out are all around us, sometimes we just need to look a little more closely - I'm in for the challenge!

Warm Spell

Yesterday I made my way to Denver - it was between 60-70 degrees outside. On the home front, it has been very warm as well. So much that Tuesday I did a 4 mile hike. Unfortunately, it was warmer than I thought and I kept falling through the snow - up to my knees - but it was absolutely beautiful. It is starting to feel like spring. I'm just wondering if it will last and be an early season, or if we will get the usual large amounts of snow that generally come in March and April?

The girls have been intermittently riding their bikes to school again, and are enjoying splashing and rolling around in the mud. The lot next to our house is empty and the other day I caught one of my children in her bare feet sploshing around in the mud on their lot - just oozing it between her toes. While I'm sure it was cold - I could definitely understand her need to get her feet into the dirt. She must take after her mom.

I'm headed out today to snowshoe while we still have some snow before it all turns to mud!

Wild Country

If you read my blog last year, you may have noticed my incessant ranting about the weather. I freely admit that I ranted. That said, I was thinking yesterday about how well I've done NOT even mentioning the weather this year and am very proud of myself - apparently, I've found other things to ramble about.

I also recognize that my attitude has changed in regards to the weather (namely snow.) I live in the mountains, where it snows. Sometimes A LOT. This year (in my humble opinion) has been much milder than last year was, and this year I've been able to begin snowshoeing again. I'm thrilled to say that of the past 8 weeks, I've snowshoed 7 of them. And I love it. We've been lucky, most of the Thursdays have been sunny and not too bitter cold (there was one week that was just awful bitter cold, but we made it.)

So, last Thursday as my friend and I were out shoeing, we went our normal distance and turned around to come back. As we got about 1/3 of our way back, we heard a howl. We pricked our ears and began to scan the mountainside. The howl came again and we were able to distinguish where it was coming from. A coyote. I have had no experience whatsoever with wild animals and didn't know whether we should continue on, or go back. However, my friend had her dogs with us, and she had just recently researched coyotes. Apparently, they shouldn't be out during the day (this one was) and they are often in packs (that's when we should worry.)

Now, on a side note, for years I've carried around mace on my keys - you know, just in case. I've also been teased incessantly these many years for carrying it around with me, as it is sort of big and bulky and cumbersome. But I didn't cave.

I have to say that I pulled out my mace and stood at the ready as we passed the coyote - he was still part way up the mountain, but he wasn't THAT far away, and he sort of followed us. I knew that my trusty mace, and the dogs would protect us. If not, it was a race between my friend and I as to see who would be lunch.

Several years ago though, I read an article about living in the mountains and wild country and a thought stuck with me. It is important to realize that these animals are not living in our territories, rather, we have moved into their territories and built houses, shopping etc etc. We need to respect the plants and animals whose territories we have moved into.

New Blog with my Favorite recipes

After constantly forgetting to send people copies of requested recipes, I decided to dedicate an entire blog to my favorite recipes. While I still have lots more work to do, this at least gives me a standard place to find my recipes when I need them.

Feel free to peruse, try out, and comment on anything.
The address is: www.triedandtruefavoriterecipes.blogspot.com

Enjoy!

It is official - after a night with 104* temperatures, we hung out at the Dr. office and the final verdict became - probably the flu, and positively strep - yes at the same time - how's that for a double whammy?

Sick

We are officially sick at our house. We thought we'd kick it, but all evidence points to the contrary.
On Tuesday I volunteered at the school. I arrived home for my 20 minute break before my lessons started showing up and received a phone call that one of my children had a temperature of 102 - would I please come and get her?
We decided to hang out at the DR. office and her flu test came back positive.

The whole family (except the sick one) received prescriptions for tamiflu and immediately began taking the medicine.
I went to the library that night to stock up on videos and boy - we've seen a lot of Harry Potter in our house. The thing is - she acts totally fine when she's got motrin in her for the fever - she drives me bonkers she's so fine. Then it wears off, and she's not so fine.
Well, she was bummed to miss her Valentines day party at school, but it came and went. And her sister came home on Friday with the same cough, and the beginnings of a fever. Tonight she was hitting the upper ranges of 102 as well. We did the cool bath thing and I started to get a little worried as her eyes started to roll - but I think we're okay. She had a blessing and we are bracing for a rough night and for another week for me with a sick kid at home.

Praying that I and my husband don't get it. I've had the same cough and had a couple of days where I didn't feel so good, but can't decide if it has just been the power of suggestion...

And yes - I'm apparently losing it because I thought that I should maybe post about this twice - I must need some sympathy, or an excuse to get out of my house since I'm obviously beginning to wander around in slippers and repeat things.

Do re-gifted flowers count?

Aren't my flowers pretty?

Someone just re-gifted these Valentines Day flowers to me.
I think my husband might feel relieved cause he's off the hook. The card says - "Just Because,
From, Your husband."

I couldn't stop laughing.

FHE ideas from Preach My Gospel

I was asked to teach a class for Enrichment tonight on:
Family Home Evening Lesson Ideas from ‘Preach My Gospel’
Since I went to the work of reading through and pulling out bunches of ideas, I thought that I'd better post them somewhere so someone may benefit from them.

Family Home Evening Lesson Ideas from ‘Preach My Gospel’
Get Inspired and determine your purpose - what is your purpose of FHE?

Start right - Songs & treats, flexibility & fun – no one likes a lecture or book report

Lehi’s vision. Suggested songs: Nephi’s courage (CS), The iron rod (Hymnal)
Week 1: Using a poster board read through and illustrate Lehi’s dream as found in 1 Nephi 8. Work in teams, or have each family member draw their own element of the dream. Post in conspicuous place, and during the week talk about what each item might symbolize.
Week 2: Focus on 1 Nephi 11, and label your illustration of Lehi’s dream with the symbolic meanings. Set up a rope (inside or out) which leads to a tree/plant which has marshmallows or divinity etc. hanging from it, have each family member follow the rope (possibly blindfolded) to reach the end. Focus lesson on holding to the rod and enduring to the end.
Week 3: Family flag and song. Based on Lehi’s vision, discuss faith, gospel ordinances, enduring to the end, attitudes, and sharing the gospel as they relate to Lehi’s dream. Discuss the story of Captain Moroni (Alma 46) and the title of liberty. Determine what is most important to your family, and discuss and make long term family goals, and identify short term goals which are necessary for reaching long term goals. Make a family flag and a family song as a reminder of the family goals.

Principles and topics. Start on page 30 and break each subject down (30-88.)
Remember it isn’t a marathon – break it down into topics such as:
God is our Loving Heavenly Father (pages 30-34) etc.
The Savior’s Earthly ministry and Atonement
The Apostasy
The Restoration – the First Vision
The Book of Mormon
The Holy Ghost
Etc.
Make sure you prepare beforehand (D&C 11:21.) Study the scriptures, suggested questions, activities, and ideas to figure out what YOU want to teach. Prayerfully determine what will be most important for your family.
As you focus on each topic, use the internet, primary manuals, conference talks, the Friend, church magazines, videos, publications, FHE manuals etc. to search for lesson ideas, stories, songs, object lessons, and games for each topic.
Suggested sites:
http://www.lds.org/hf/display/0,16783,4225-1,00.html
http://ldslivingmagazine.com/categories/show/3
www.sugardoodle.net
http://www.ldssplash.com/fhe/fhe_lessons/family_home_evening_lessons.htm
http://theideadoor.com/FHE.html

Gospel principles video. Have family members be news reporters. Divide into teams and research gospel principles of faith, repentance, baptism, and the Holy Ghost using the Bible Dictionary and scripture references found in the topical guide. Have each member or team ‘report’ and make a video (or at least present their findings by way of a ‘news cast’.)

Journal Night. Have a Journal FHE. Read some important passages from your journal to your family or from an ancestor’s journal. Have each family member come up with a question, and have everyone respond to it in writing in their journal. Answer the questions in the Personal Study activity on page 18.

Ideas for Study and Application. Use ‘Preach My Gospel’ as a manual, using the activities and suggestions found at the end of each chapter under the Personal, Companion, District and Zone conferences and Mission president headings. Many different ideas, penetrating questions and related scriptures compiled in these sections. Simply modify for your family’s needs.

Blue Box discussions. Use the blue boxes in the text (page 8 for example) – they have a question and a theme. Read the related scriptures together and have a gospel discussion. A great way to start is to try and restate a verse in one’s own words, or use a dictionary to discover words that children aren’t familiar with. Make it fun by having a scripture chase to find each scripture or act it out.

Activity Boxes. Use the activity boxes – full of ideas and applications – make your lesson from these (i.e. p. 22.)

Get to know your scriptures. Learn how to use the Topical Guide, Bible Dictionary, Maps, Gazetteer, and Abbreviations

Scripture Marking. Lesson on learning to mark scriptures, page 24

A Picture is worth a Thousand Words. Organize family into groups and assign a chapter from the Book of Mormon. Have each group identify a story, scripture event or teaching that is meaningful from their chapter. Have each group sketch or describe how they visualize this, or their mental image they have formed regarding what they read and why it is meaningful to them. Identify the doctrines found and discuss them. Moroni 10:3.
For a twist, give them a piece of paper and have them make something (origami style) that was talked about in their chapter.

Kids teach. Get children involved in the discussion by preparing beforehand and having them teach the lesson or tell the story.

Missionary Night. Work with kids before the lessons, and have them be missionaries teaching parents and family members the principles.

Size and Time adaptations. Use suggestions found in text (pages 30-88) which break lessons up into small, medium or large lessons.

Word Match & Definitions game. Page 44

Questions of the Soul. Make a list of questions of the soul. See if your family member’s questions are similar to the ones found on page 107. Put the questions in a jar – have someone read out the question, as well as the chapter it is found, and have a scripture scanning race to find the answer within that chapter.

References of Christ. Personal study activity on page 112 (#1)

Sermon on the Mount, Contrast and comparison. Personal study activity on page 112 (#4)

References of Jesus Christ in the Book of Mormon. Highlighting references of Jesus Christ in the Book of Mormon activity - page 114 (#6)

Sunday Talks. Practice preparing and giving talks – use page 124 ideas 1 & 2 and prepare talks to give to each other pretending it is sacrament meeting. Practice sacrament meeting behavior.

Personal attributes exam. Pretend that your family has just been resurrected and the personal inventory questions on page 126 are the questions you will be asked at the judgment bar. Have each family member complete the self evaluation and grade themselves, then identify focus areas and record personal insights and goals in their journals.

Cultural Night - Once a month have a ‘cultural night’ and study the ideas, beliefs, foods, and customs of a different culture. Take time to focus on different religious backgrounds

Different religions FHE - explore different religious ideologies and customs. Pages 45-46 give a very brief overview of a few.

Family ‘To be a friend’ action plan. Use ideas from page 167, 215-217. Figure out what you and your family can do to be part of this process. Make fellowshipping goals; put them into action and report back.

One minute messages. Divide the family into teams and put several principles or topics into a jar to be drawn out. Time each family member and give them two minutes. One minute to think and plan, and then one minute to teach the principle.
This could be adapted into a game show with a competition between both teams teaching, and being scored by the judges etc.

Elder Ives Likening the scriptures game. Two contestants face each other and an abstract word is given. The first contestant to figure out how to liken that word to a gospel principle wins a team point. Contestants then go back to their teams, and the teams are given a specific scripture (seminary scripture mastery – whatever, but the same one (Family Feud style)) and a time limit within which they must come up with as many personal applications as possible. Points are awarded for each valid personal application which does not duplicate the opposing team’s answers.

Service lesson by a five year old. 45 seconds talk about the importance of service - that it makes you strong, and helps others and helps Heavenly Father.
Thinking of musical chairs, hand out stuffed bears or animals, one less than participant number. Instead of musical chairs, play musical bears, and while singing a song, pass the bears to each other around the circle. When the music ends, whoever doesn’t have a bear gets to have an on the spot service done for them by the other participants (i.e. backrub, foot rub, glass of water, make their bed etc.) Continue until everyone has had a chance to serve and be served.

Tagged

I generally don't respond to tags but since I've been mentally away from blogging for a while, I thought I would - thanks Lauren
i am: content
i think: that generally I should keep quiet about what I really think.
i know: that someday my house will stay clean
i want: summer to be here
i dislike: lots of things
i miss: the beach
i fear: losing my husband and kids
i feel: like I have too much to do, and I don’t want to do any of it
i hear: wind chimes, a plane flying by and my child turning pages of her book
i smell: like Carolina, one of my favorite perfumes, and I’m congested
i crave: simplicity
i cry: mostly only during movies and books
i usually: mentally debate whether I really want to exercise or not each morning
i search: for peace – I’ve fallen in love with the Book of Mormon again, I get so grounded from it.
i wonder: what life will really be like once my husband is officially DONE with school.
i regret: speaking before contemplating the full effect of my words
i love: life
i care: about those around me
i always: seem to be humming something
i worry: about bad roads
i am not: high maintenance
i remember: details, but not as much as I thought I did
i believe: that I am a daughter of God and that He loves me
i dance: in the kitchen with my husband and with the kids around the house
i sing: or hum constantly
i don't always: make my bed, or clean my house, sometimes I just read
i argue: to explore ideas
i write: all over the place in my scriptures
i win: few battles with my children
i lose: almost any game I play against my husband
i wish: that I was independently wealthy and that I had a housekeeper to clean for me
i listen: mostly to 80’s and Spanish rock
i don’t understand: some people
i can usually be found: busy
i am afraid: of cranky people
i need: to laugh - OFTEN
i forget: to express my love towards my family
i am happy: pretty much overall, just trying to savor each moment

I tag anyone who wants to respond

Harry Potter fest

While our kids had the chance to go to 'learn to ski' two days last week with their school, one of them came home with a nasty cough. She fought it and finally lost the battle, the dr. said something about bronchitis, and her flu test came back positive.
Yuck! We picked up a puzzle she and I have been working on and since she's been reading Harry Potter, we checked out some videos from the library and have been having a Harry Potter fest. I don't think she's missing school very much!
The bummer is that she missed Valentine's Day at school last year as she was at grandmas while we were away celebrating our anniversary. This year, she'll miss is cause she's sick.
Poor thing!

Neglect

It is true - I've totally neglected blogging for a while - due to some other diversions which came up. After finishing my cell phone contract a year ago, I had been thinking about getting a new phone. I did lots of research and finally decided on an LG Incite. While this is a pretty cool phone, I found recognized something important about my self. Mainly, I'm a simple girl who doesn't have the time or energy for lots of distractions. There were some amazing aspects about the phone, but when it came down to it, there were so many bells and whistles to sort through, I could never find the application I wanted without taking a year. I just wanted simplicity, and I learned I really hated the touch screen and the time it sucked from my life.

As such, this morning I sent it back my bells and whistles phone and received my simple phone yesterday. My new phone is an adventure.

While it is a simple flip phone, it has some pretty cool features which include meeting U.S. Military Specifications 810F for: shock, vibration, solar radiation, high temperature storage, altitude, high and low temperature operation, and blowing dust. I'm pretty relieved that my phone will make it through solar radiation! Cheek aside, I'm excited to have a new phone that will do what I need it to without much fuss, and I'm happy to have my life back.

Yes, I said Skijoring

Yep, that IS a horse dragging a skier with a rope through the snow. Here in our little rural mountain paradise, it is one of the highlights of winter. Officially called skijoring, it is quite the trip to watch.

First you arrive about 30 minutes late. You find that all of the snow from part of a field has been scraped off to make some awesome jumps, and so you are mucking around in the mud (wait - I thought it was mud.) You find a great place in the middle so that you can see all of the action, and then you wait for about two hours while the officials realize that the wiring for the timer isn't working. You wander on down to the port a potties, and then later to the concessions stand for a pulled pork sandwich. Back to your observation point and about thirty minutes later, the action begins.

How to describe this sport? I like to think of waterskiing. Except the skier is on snow, going over big jumps, and catching rings on a stick - kind of like jousting...oh, and the skier is pulled by a horse. Snow, by the way, is much less forgiving than a lake - so there are always paramedics standing by to help with the dislocated shoulders and such.

To warm up, the skiers are whipped around, pulled by snowmobiles, and then after they ski, (or jor), they get dragged back to the starting place to do it again.

As a friend coined it - a cross between hardcore cowboys, and dead head ski junkies - the perfect mix!

I have to be honest - this is one of the funnest snow spectator sports I've ever seen - I love it! And our kids - well, they had fun sliding and jumping down the snowbank the entire time.