my favorite christmas picture

This kid got a nerf long shot from Santa. We'll see if you're on the nice list next year, Thomas.

This is my second favorite picture.

a recent experience

This is from a family newsletter I send out....

I thought the BYU ski class was awesome, I was put in level 0- ‘never put on skis before’. My class was full of Asian exchange students, the only other white kid and I snuck off on our own on the second class and tried to go down a blue square. The slope was pure ice where I fell and rolled down the mountain. One ski didn’t come off and my leg was wrenched around with the ski. Of course I tore my ACL. I was so mad, after playing years of soccer and watching every other teammate tear their ACL or sprain their ankles, I got off scotch free. Until my ski class. I wanted to keep skiing, so I didn’t tell anybody, I just taped it up really tight and didn’t fall the rest of the time. I’m sure Tanner and Grace are and will be MUCH better skiers than I ever was.

Grace stayed the night with us and the next morning we went to REI to rent me some x-country skis. All of their skis were up at Mountain Dell for a Demo Day. We went up there, got some pretty sweet skate skis (for free) and took a little skate ski lesson- which was totally for my benefit. After the first go round, the instructor asked Grace if she had skied before and where. She looked like a pro, I looked like a wobbly deer. After the lesson, we skied around the course. It was pretty nice, although a little hilly. Apparently at Mountain Dell, they grade their x-country ski trails. It was all happy going until we came to a sign with a BLUE SQUARE on it. Oh no, I thought, my arch-nemesis. Should I meet my foe or ski away in fear? I watched Grace ski down the slope and followed with trepidation. Although a novice skier, I am a profession snow plower; I employed my skills and made it to the bottom still upright. Now, HOW WAS I GOING TO GET UP THE HILL? Are you kidding me? I looked like a duck on steroids, trying to ski up a hill even steeper than the one I came down. I will admit to one fall, and as I turned around to see how close the people behind me were, I saw two men fall flat on their faces. Ha ha, I was better than that, so I found the strength to get up and keep skiing. Cross-country skiing is EXHAUSTING, true I did a lot of weight lifting the day before, but every muscle in my body was burning and I was sucking more wind than the first week contestants of biggest loser. Lest you think I am a exaggerating, when we came to the end of our blue square run, we hit another steep slope. I took off my skis and walked to the top. No more steroidal duck for me, thank you. As I side note, Grace does not look like a duck on steroids, that’s just me. Thank goodness we were hidden by trees and brush.

FYI

A couple of people asked me where I got the pattern for the little car caddy. No pattern, but it's super easy...I saw it in www.createstudio.blogspot.com. Look for the Cozy Car Caddy.

Happy Birthday!

The Birthday

Monday was Talmage's 2 year old birthday. Wow, time really flies. We went in his bedroom, early Monday morning to wish him happy birthday. This is what we found.
A half-naked boy playing with his trucks and cars. He insists on bringing them to bed with him. It's okay with me because he is contained and happy and that makes me happy.
We ate some birthday pancakes (complete with candle, that he would not blow out) and opened some very modest gifts (one dollar matchbox cars from the dollar store). I also made him this little car caddy to carry his cars around in. He loved it. He drove his cars in and out of the pockets, parked them backwards and then forwards, etc....it feels good to be appreciated.
It folds up like this.
We had another little party that night...check out our awesome decorations (also from the dollar store). Andrew was really happy to be there. Too bad I didn't get a picture of him in the wet suit he bought earlier that day, it was also awesome.
No party is complete without some cake...truck cake, that is. You can't see the mold very well with chocolate cake, but I have a cake pan with truck molds. It's always a big hit, who doesn't like truck cake? We also put candles in the trucks and no, he would not blow them out.
That was our big day. It was so fun to celebrate the two years we've had with our little guy. He has been such a blessing in our lives. He keeps us happy and mindful of the most important things- family.

Whew

We got through croup with only 2 sleepless nights, one scary breathless encounter, heavy-duty humidification and lots of juice. The baby didn't get sick and Talmage learned a lot about trucks, city sanitation and fire trucks. We're looking forward to his 2 year old birthday on Monday....woo hoo.

Bad News

Talmage has croup. He's doing okay.
To appease him, we've watched redbox's 'Mighty Machines' about 20 times. It'll be a miracle if I have any cognisant ability after this is over.
If we can get through this without the baby getting sick, I'll be happy.