Choose to Believe

Yesterday was a day I will never forget. Yesterday the roller coaster was going at warp speed.

They are out of Haiti.

Nathan and Brent (on Brent's birthday no less) left Haiti with nearly all of the kids from our orphanage. They landed in Miami last night.

Lori tells it all so much better than I ever could.

At 7:30 am I got the call from my mom in law that the pilot who was supposed to take off Thursday night refused to leave without the kids.

Unheard of.

Absurd.

Where do you think you are? America?

(Forgive the Fiddler on the roof reference but I'm a geek.)

And by some miracle it started to happen.

And they loaded the kids into tap taps and headed for the airport.

And they waited and waited.

And soldiers came to help.

And the papers came.

Signed.

A few kids had to be left behind.

And a lot of people cried.

A lot of kids cried.

We here in Utah were crying and staying near phones and computers all day long.

And they let them board the plane.

We all crossed our fingers and hit the ground to our knees to pray.

There have been a few times in my life that I have literally begged God to answer a prayer.

Times when the danger was real.

Times when it was life and death.

And I begged and sobbed.

Please please please please.

They closed the doors of the plane.

We all held our breath.

Then we waited......and word came-- they had landed in Miami.

And we all exhaled and shouted and everyone around us turned to look and see why we were standing in the middle of Shopko dancing with our kids and crying.

I have a good friend named Leigh. I posted on our "Evil Stepmom" Support board how things were going, how I was frazzled, how this was torture. the waiting, the wondering, being told yes and then "no," (then repeating it all over again.)

I said "I'm scared to believe, I'm scared not to believe."

Leigh said "I choose to believe."

That's right. It is always a choice.

Thanks, Leigh. You don't know how many times I said to myself yesterday "I choose to believe."

Thank you to all of my friends who have helped support and sustain our family through this.

Thank you for believing.

Thank you for reminding me that faith is a choice.

And thank you for having faith.

Welcome to America, little Nathan. Happy Birthday, Brent.

And thank you Father in Heaven. I am sorry the ground shook and the houses fell, but thank you for moving the other kinds of mountains so that these children could come home.

Knitting!

I did another hat today with thinner yarn. It went faster but I think I like the look of the thicker stuff I was using yesterday.

I was planning on going to knitting group to learn some decent flowers, but something came up that was more important.

I did pick up some knitting needles today, determined to try and figure it out. I have always wanted to learn to knit and today-- I actually figured out the basic knit stitch.

I am so happy about this, you have no idea. Yeas, I am the biggest dork on the planet, but I'm a knitting dork now.

I tried to figure out "purl" and my eyes went crossed.

I don't know how Joie, Betty & Sher do it. They make those cute socks that are so wonderful and here I am jumping for joy at an uneven rectangle...but a knitted rectangle.

Anyone who knows me knows I am a big quitter. I fully believe that if something starts to get too hard, bail on it as soon as possible. I've quit more things than I've started.

Wait...that's impossible, but pretty darn near close.

I am determined to figure this one out and master this and one fine day-- you too, my dear three readers of this blog, may be the lucky recipients of socks I knitted.

Unless it gets too hard.

Then I'll quit and instead crochet you a hat.

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The situation in Haiti seems to change every few hours. Right now my feelings for the Haitian government aren't exactly positive, so I haven't said much in the past few days about anything. I have some serious grief and anger right now and it's been hard for me to stay upbeat. The yarnwork is a distraction that keeps me from watching the news all day and crying.

The little ones are alive. It's a huge blessing. Nathan is with his Papa and WILL come home, we just don't know for sure when. it was supposed to be today. Hopefully tomorrow or the next day or the next. He needs to just get home to his Mama.

The Lord only knows what will happen with Jessica. It is in His hands now. I can't talk much more about it, because my pain is so close to the surface right now.

Pray for a miracle.

I Don't Know

Another adventure in Asperger's. This is math homework, and rather than leave the question blank and move on or ask for help, Grey just finished his paper with the accurate answer.

He doesn't know.

Homework finished.

Now...on to bigger and better things.

Nintendo is calling.......

I'm going to finish the Eternity Blanket tonight and I broke down and purchased knitting needles so I can start learning the basics of knitting. Family, friends, prepare yourself for some dishcloths if I can master it.

Lucky, lucky you.

I have a backup plan in case I'm too spazmo to figure it out, I'm making these cute hats. Nothing fancy but they look super cute.

That's what she said.....

So, I'm the last person on earth to discover this show, I know.

I'm having a wretched week, so much so that Matt stopped by the house at lunch yesterday and dropped off a dozen roses and candy to make me feel better. Unfortunately for the candy, I got mad and threw it at the TV while listening to a news report about the Haitian government.

And I said bad words.

And I cried.

And said more bad words.

And the day still stunk.

When Matt got home I climbed back into bed and turned on the TV. The Office was on. I've never actually watched a whole episode of the show, although we own Seasons 1-3 on DVD.

In 10 minutes I was laughing.

I stayed up late and finished season 1, and have had season 2 playing in the background all day today.

I think I've found a new replacement for swearing in dealing with stress.

It's no Miami Vice, but..........

I'm only 6 seasons late, but do you hear that?

It's the sound if me not swearing.

That box of chocolates helped, too.

A Funny Thing happened on the way to Salt Lake City.....

This weekend Matt and I escaped. My ex was in town and we took the chance to have another quick get away, we were happy it happened to fall over a weekend we would have been celebrating anyway.

We normally go to a bed and breakfast, this time we decided to look into a hotel, as long as it had a jetted tub. We booked a room at the Courtyard Marriot, downtown. It was a little less expensive than a bed and breakfast, checkout time was later, we had wi-fi but I think we still have a better time staying at one of the old mansions downtown, it feels more like a change from regular life.

We always find something local to do and we hit an art show that was filled with some of the most uninspiring stuff I have ever seen. Instead of spending hours there, we left after about 30 minutes and instead headed over to the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Museum.

I went there last year on a field trip with Grey and really enjoyed it. The kids were bored out of their heads, but I always wanted to go back.

The setup there is great, it's just case after case of random crap that was donated by these women over the years. Dozens of dental forceps throughout the whole museum, tons of handmade lace and just about every random thing you could imagine. The kind of junk girls hang on to for years, lots of personal mementos.

The hair art absolutely creeps me out. It's framed art that uses human hair all braided and twisted into elaborate designs, often with dried flowers Incorporated into the design.

I get that it was an art form and a way to remember your loved ones in Victorian times but if I die, bury my hair with me. ALL of my hair.

Do NOT let it show up in some daughters of Utah Mommy Bloggers Museum 100 years down the road.

Ick.

Matt kept cracking up at just how random everything is displayed there. When we got upstairs we found the guestbook. We signed it and flipped through a few of the other comments. Some I just could no resist posting.....

Wow. Smackdown. Because nothing says "social skills' like getting into an argument in a guestbook at the pioneer museum, evidently.

I thought the baby dalls were bewful, too.

And my favorite......

Yeah, he was well known for having some pretty awesome hair. I think he gets it from Vidal Sassoon. Or maybe Target. (Don't act shocked, I've said far more irreverent things than that.)

After the museum we went to the hotel where we battled a bubble bath with ADHD. I added the bubble bath and the jets went to town. We had about 8 inches of water and 3 feet of bubbles at this point and they were growing.
Oops.

We had to drain the tub and start over, this time with NO bubble bath. And we just could not stop laughing.

We enjoyed a nice lunch at PF Chang's and dinner was sparkling grape juice, crackers and Brie in our hotel room.

I don't care how sappy and spazzy it makes us, I am just madly in love with my wonderful, silly and handsome husband.

I can't imagine anything more wonderful than spending time with my amazing husband.

Well, maybe a chance to have some awesome hair like Joseph Smith.

Where can I get it?

Will you help?

See this little guy? This is my nephew, Nathan.

I know- cute, right? You have no idea.

He is so adorable.

So loved.

By God's grace Nathan survived the earthquake in Haiti that has killed over 200,000 people and left a million homeless.

By God's grace, in the middle of this terrible tragedy, Nathan and the children from his orphanage have been granted parole from the nightmare they live in Haiti and have been granted permission to speed up the adoption process (it's been 27 months so far) and come HOME.

Please help bring Nathan home.

Brent is there now, with Nathan, looking for Jessica. If he finds Jessica- no- WHEN he finds Jessica, Jessica comes home, too.

They need a plane and help paying for jet fuel. Most of us can't do anything but help pray for the plane, but we can all help with the jet fuel. Every penny helps.

Have you talked to your kids about Haiti? Have they wondered what they could do? Even the money they make from doing some household chores will buy precious jet fuel to help get Nathan and their group of 70 orphans home. These kids are all in the adoption process and have families here who miss them and need them home so they can be an eternal family.

How many gallons of Jet fuel can your family buy? 1? 2? 1/2 gallon?

It matters. It helps. It is real and these are real people with real families and real feelings. real hopes and dreams and real Aunties who walk by the pictures of her niece and nephew for 2 years and every day prays to Heavenly Father that they will be home soon. Families who feel real pain at being separated from their little ones.

100% of your donation goes to help pay for jet fuel. There are no overhead costs, no employees that get paid- 100% of this pays for drops of fuel to bring them home.

Please help. Please.

Please go to Lori's blog and click the "donate now" button- it's connected to paypal which doesn't get any easier. Then leave a comment on her blog, telling her who you are and sending words of support.

This is the final hurdle for our group.

You can directly help in bringing 70 children to their waiting adoptive families.

Children will get to hug and kiss grandmas and grandpas who have never been able to hold them.

Children will get to sleep in their own beds, with a night light for the first time n a home that is secure and safe.

Children will get to see snow.

Children will get to see Blue's Clues for the first time.

Children will have a hot bath and a warm meal that is healthy and tastes good.

Children will have their first full day when they won't be hungry even for a second. Where they don't have to wonder if the next day will bring hunger, machine gun fire, or a night of sleeping in the street.

Children will have toys and clothing that belong to them and nobody will steal them.

Children will finally understand what it means to have a Mama and a Papa.

Children will get spoiled by Aunties like me who will buy them annoying toys that make noise and sneak them dollar bills and candy every time she sees them as soon as they get older.

Fuel and a plane.

Please help, every little bit helps buy actual fuel for these children. You are connected. They are not just faces, these are children you- as a blog reader now have a direct connection to.

PLEASE help fly our Nathan home.

www.countdowntohomecoming.blogspot.com

Dateaversary

Tomorrow marks the 4 year anniversary of my first date with Matt.
4 years ago Rico Suave' here asked me out by saying "I'm not doing anything on Monday...not doing anything at all...."
I had just made the decision that I would no longer go out with guys who weren't even interested in me enough to take me out on a weekend.
I don't know why I agreed to go, but I think both Matt and I went into it thinking nothing would come of it. Within minutes of walking into my house, Matt knew everything had changed. It took me sleeping on it,( fact that he never lets me forget) but within 24 hours I knew.
We were split aparts.
We belonged together.
Being with Matt is absolutely the best decision I have made in my entire life.

Everything in life is better because of him.

I am still as in love with him as I was that first night when I mentioned it was cold and Mister Forward here said "I know how to warm you up!" and grabbed me and planted the biggest whopper of a smooch on me, right outside Chili's. I still can't believe he did that.

It's been a different journey than either of us ever could have imagined, but it's been the right journey and it's been one that consistently brings us closer together. We have way more happy days than we have sad days. Way more laughter than tears. Way more highs than lows and an ability to accept them both as part of life. When life has handed us lemons, we found that together, we make some really good lemonade.

Mostly, for me, the best part is at night, when the kids are banished to their rooms and we're sitting together in bed watching TV or reading and I can reach over and there he is, right beside me, the man of my dreams.... and he looks at me with those loving eyes and says........

"Sorry, did I gas it and not notice?"

I love you, Matt.
You're weird but I absolutely adore you.

Haiti update, Read-a-Thon

Update on Haiti: Brent is there now, they were able to land safely and unload supplies. I believe he is at the LDS church that is housing many of the orphans, meaning he is with Nathan. The director of the orphanage is going to the embassy today to try and process the paperwork to bring the children home.

Last night they held a read-a-thon at the kid's school last night. The kids were to wear pajamas, bring blankets and pillows and read. Grey was having none of the public pajama wearing, and it was so noisy there we really didn't get much reading done. They served cookies and popcorn and it was a fun little activity for us.

Afterwards I went to knitting group and stayed up giggling until the wee hours. Joie taught me a new border to finish what we have dubbed "the Eternity Blanket" that I really love. I told them I'd try and learn knitting once I finished the blanket I was working on and instead of ever finishing it, I just kept buying more yarn and making it bigger. It's huge and last night I finally deiced I wasn't buying any more yarn, so my supersized blanket is getting a border and I'm done with it.

I'll post pictures when the border is finished. The new border is just a shell border, but it's new for me. Thanks, Joie, for teaching all of us who are yarn challenged a thing or two.

The Roller Coaster

Yesterday was a massive emotional roller coaster for me. To wake to find there had been another earthquake in Haiti- I just hit the ground and had a hard time thinking about anything else but Lori, Brent and the kids. Roller coaster down....

I spent some quiet time in prayer trying to find peace. The Lord delivered. I'm not going to go into details, but the comforter came and while I was still very very scared and emotional, I was able to go on with my day. Roller coaster holding steady....

By late afternoon word came that Nathan was found and accounted for and Brent was going to Haiti to help facilitate hopefully his and 50+ other orphans with families here in the states coming home. Roller coaster up.....

Then I start worrying about all the things that could go wrong. Roller coaster down.....

Then I got a headache, a bad one. Roller coaster screeching on it's tracks.....

Then I got criticized by someone who doesn't grasp that in spite of what a royal failure she sees me to be on the outside from her perspective, I am doing the best I can. Someone who had no way of knowing what I am carrying right now, therefore she couldn't be sensitive to it, but at the same time managed to make me feel like I was just about the wost parent on the planet and that everyone knew it. Roller coaster crash.

I came home and turned to pulp.
Major pulp.
And my sweet husband was there, comforting me and helping me see that the opinions of people who don't like me anyway don't matter. Normally I know that. Normally I'm pretty secure in not weighing what people who don't like me as a person think. Yesterday I was more fragile. That's okay. I'm human. Not everybody is always kind. If that isn't a life lesson I've had shoved down my throat in the past few years, I must be the world's slowest learner. Not everybody is kind, but more people than you think ARE. And those are the people you cherish and you value. The rest can bug off.
Matt took pity on me and helped the painstaking task of going over multiplication facts and reading aloud with Romy. I love her but it's like trying to hold water in your hand to get her to calm down and focus. The child is adorable, but holy crap, what a flibbityjibbit.

Thanks, Schmoop, for taking care of that. I'd have been trying to give myself a career ending papercut across my jugular after about 10 minutes of that.

Today, I needed to stay off the roller coaster. I'm no good to anyone when I'm pulp.

So, I went down to the scrapcave and played with my paper and glue. I want to get the creativity flowing before the upcoming layout a day (LOAD) challenge next month. I did 2 layouts (one digital) and a card for Matt's Aunt Gail who has just begun her brave battle with cancer.

I want to say thank you to Lain at http://knitandpurlgrrl.blogs.com/scraphappy/ for her sweet donation to Hope For Little Angels of Haiti. 100% of your donation goes directly to the kids and she was kind enough to donate the registration fee of those who joined the LOAD challenge last week to the orphanage.

See what I mean about most people being kind?

Miss Kreme Visits

This past weekend we had a surprise visit from my best friend, Kristine. (Romy has called her "Miss Kreme" since she was little, and I suspect Emma, Kate, and Jane think that is her real name.)Her grandma passed away and the funeral was in Idaho, so Kristine stayed with us overnight on Sunday. The kids love her to bits and of course, so do I. She's been my best friend since Zane was born, we worked together and were pregnant together but really hit it off after Zane was born and we discovered that Zane was the cure for Quinn's endless screaming fits. She'd come to my house, totally stressed out, plop baby Quinn next to baby Zane and Quin would let out a big sigh and would stop bawling the whole time he was with Zane.

These kinds of mothering moments bond you,lol.

That and a love of pecan pie.

Matt made Chex Mix.

The air mattress went flat twice from kids rolling on it.

And everyone enjoyed Matt reading bedtime stories while they ate ice cream.

I wish Kristine lived closer, its always always wonderful to spend time with her (and her family.)

Prayers in Darkness

When you have family members who are in Haiti right now, something you don't want to see when you wake up in the morning is this:

No television. The storm knocked the cable out this morning.

While I'm glad the weather has taken away all of the ugly smog in our valley, I need that morning news to hear the latest.

For the past three nights I've been dreaming about Lori and Brent and the kiddos in Haiti and right now more than ever, they need prayers.

Refugee visas have been extended to those who are in the adoption process in Haiti right now. This means the little ones could be home shortly, but unfortunately, Lori and Brent's little ones are among a small group who are not accounted for from their orphanage. You can't fly home a child who you can't locate. The fact that they are among a group of kids who were all together is positive, it means they are probably safe (well, as safe as they can be in this nightmare) they are together, but whatever staff worker took them to safety hasn't met up with the other group yet and may have no way of knowing where that group is- the group that will help get the kids home to America while this window is open.

In my dreams, I'm in this massive house searching for the kids, checking room after room, empty bed after empty bed growing more frantic as I search in this house that seems to go on forever. Some rooms are full of rubble, some rooms, just ornate, empty beds.

I can hear Lori in my dreams, she's yelling, giving out instructions for people of where to search, digging through piles of trash in some of the areas of the house trying to find the kids. I see people in hardhats, searching. I see the men in the family, searching. I see women who I know to be mothers of the children who are missing, hysterical and digging through rubble. Lori isn't hysterical, she's focused. She's determined.

I wake from these dreams and I cry. I cry for my brother and sister in law. Good Lord, this journey has been so long and so hard and now this. It makes no sense and it hurts. I cry for Nathan with his chubbity cheeks and eyes that say to you "bring me home." I cry for Jess, the sassy little girl with the giggle that makes you want to squeeze and pinch her in all sorts of Auntie ways. I feel that sharp pain thinking of Malot, (where are you?) of Lexie, the little girl who looked like her tummy ALWAYS hurts.

Please pray for my family. Pray for Lori and Brent and for Nathan and Jessica and all of the little ones in Haiti. Pray that they all are found and come home soon. Pray for Collin, pray for mercy from leaders of a nation that hasn't been very good about putting the needs of it's people first, pray that they will send help to those who need it most. My niece and nephew need it most right now.

They need to be found and come home.

Pray that wherever they are, that the person who is caring for them has food and water and that she will feel inspired to bring them to the LDS chapel nearby, or to send word there of where they are so that someone can come and get them and get them home to their Mama and Papa.

Last night the storm knocked out power to the house, my kids did not freak out, they were not scared. They all gathered at the top of the stairs and quietly waited for Mom and Dad to come to them, to bring light. Matt and I got the candles and flashlight and saw them all there, calmly waiting for us to find them in the dark and to bring them downstairs to safety and comfort.

As they all camped out on our floor for the night and Matt read to them by candlelight, I prayed that Nathan and Jess also are in a position where they feel peace in the knowledge that they are not alone in the darkness. Someone is coming, someone knows to bring them light, to gather them safely in.

Lori and Brent's story was featured in the Herald today:

http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/north/lehi/article_4192014b-59da-5a2e-b3e1-eceaa6d3776c.html?mode=story

Photobomb

Saturday night Matt and I chaperoned the stake dance. Outside of that being a surreal experience in itself (there was an actual dance-off, I kid you not) it was great to see the kids hanging out with friends and having such a good time.

The boys had less of a good time than Emma did, but the boys are buttheads.
Before we left we snapped a few pictures......


Thanks, Matt. You're a complete spazoid and I love you for it.

Happy Birthday Abbie

Yesterday we had a really busy day. Everyone was out of school, so Matt took a half day and we went to the Auto Show in Sandy. It was......an auto show. It was something to do,I guess. I forgot to bring my camera, so just imagine that I took a bunch of pictures of the kids looking at cars in the South Town Expo Center.

Then we stopped by Grandma Moe's so I could pick up the genealogy files. Matt and I love going to the temple as a couple, but I really don't know where to begin with doing the genealogy myself. One of the women in my knitting group just started teaching a genealogy class for Sunday School and works over at the Family History Center, so I'm looking forward to spending some time with my friend Betty as she teaches me the ropes.

Afterwards, everyone ....and I mean EVERYONE (except Aaron) went to Grandma & Grandpa Olson's to visit and wish Abbie a Happy Birthday. I was really tired and just full of stupid inappropriate jokes that bombed. Sorry about that.

It was a great time with all of the babies there to hold and talk baby talk with. Thanks everyone for a fun evening.

Still praying for and sending all of our love to Lori and Brent and the little ones. If any word comes in about their babies, I'll let you know, in the meantime, stop by and give them some words of love and support on their blog:

http://countdowntohomecoming.blogspot.com

Sweet Dreams

One of the joys of having a husband who is seen by some as freakishly tall (or by me, the perfect height) is that a standard bed just doesn't fit him. We simply have to have a California King in order for him to be able to sleep comfortably.
Just listen to me complain about that.......

Right after we married we went and purchased a ginormous pillowtop Serta dream bed that I just loved. This Christmas I decided to take this whole Princess and the Pea fantasy even further and we bought the big mother of all memory foam that was delivered today. This bad boy is 4 inches of heavy duty memory foam happiness.

I die.

It arrived, as hard as a rock looking like this:

Over the course of the day it poofed up and is now on our bed. Our bed is now a good 3 feet off the floor, possibly more.

So soft.

Such happiness.

I'm looking forward to the night of sleep I'm going to have. Last night was rough. I slept funny on my neck and had weird dreams. I dreamed I was working at Stephanie Nielson's house ( of the NieNie dialogs) and I was getting frustrated because her house was a mess and she kept starting new craft projects and expecting me to clean them up. I've never met her, but I am sure she'd never make me clean up her craft projects. It's not like she's Romy.

I woke up with a migraine and a desire to make sure I threw out any glitter we might have lurking in the house.

Anyway, I've come to realize that I'm going to need to sew some sheets for our freakishly tall bed. I have no idea where to really begin with that, do they make patterns for fitted sheets for mattresses that are two feet deep?

Maybe Stephanie Nielson would know. I think she owes me at least that much for cleaning up all those markers and pipe cleaners last night.

On another note, she's just undergone another big surgery at the maricopa Medical Center and we hope she feels the love of all of us out in here in blogland who are pulling for her and thinking of her.

Silver Lining

A scrapping blog I frequent had a theme this past week to do a layout about a "Silver Lining."

I created this digital page reminding me that there was a silver lining to our struggles with Grey this year. We got a diagnosis and while that diagnosis hit me like a punch in the gut, it was hard to hear, having the formal diagnosis of High Functioning Autism/ Asperger's helped us at least know what we were dealing with and gave us a direction to go with him.

He's gone from not making it through a single full day of school last year, to Mom being able to exhale and know he's not only going to stay in school all day, but he's happy and productive as well.

We still spend most of our Sundays at church with him covering his head, hiding under the pew, but we're making progress and we all understand a heck of a lot more.

The Great Clean up of 2009 begins.....

One of our goals for 2010 is to totally declutter this house.Both Matt and I have a little bit of the pack rat in us and in our attempts to organize, we have far too many storage solutions that don't work for our lifestyle and just take up more space.

We're getting rid of things that don't work or are simply ugly. We want to have a home that only holds things we love.

One of the things we've had taking up space was this gaudy, hideous oak filing cabinet. It had a funky smell and it was just as ugly as sin. We've been meaning to toss it for some time, but never got around to it, it was such an effective dust gatherer.

The other night, Matt said "I can't stand this ugly thing being in my house one more minute" and took it outside and broke it down so it would fit in the trash. As he started to break it down he had himself a nice little Office Space moment...

Good riddance to what was one of the most worthless pieces of cheap-o junk in our house.

Let this serve as a warning to the cat--shape up or else.......

Christmas Break Wrap-Up

Christmas break got a little derailed with the funeral and all of us trying to deal with losing dear Marcus, so a few of the things we had planned, we just didn't have the heart for.

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Activities are nice, but family and relationships are not built on activities, they are built on spending time together and in building one another up in both good times and bad. They are built on knowing who you are as a family and not letting the pressures and temptations of all the excitement that is out there distract you from the meaning of life. Those may bring some fun memories, but if you don't have something deeper, you really don't have anything at all.

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Activities provide some great memories, some great photo ops, but it's those things we cannot take pictures of, that we do not blog about or scrapbook, those deeper waters that make a family. This week much focus was on the deeper waters.

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With that said, by the weekend we were feeling up to doing a few of the things we had planned. Emma had some grade money burning a hole in her pocket, Roe had some Christmas money she was dying to spend. (Thanks Grandpa Eckert!)

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We picked up some hot cocoa and headed down to Robert's (craft store) for Roe and clothes shopping for Emma. Both girls spent every dime of their money. We had lunch together and shortly after the girls ran out of money, I hit a wall anyway and was so tired I couldn't believe it, so we headed home. I feel fine most of the time now, but once my body gets tired, it knocks me off my feet.

Dad took the other kids out to the Nickle Arcade and out for Mexican food.

Saturday we went to Grandma and Grandpa Olson's for our yearly sledding day and to let the kids who missed her, get to meet Lilly, our newest niece. The Larsen's were there as well and so were Caleb and Abbie for a little bit. We brought Rosie to start getting her socialized with other dogs, it freaked her out a great deal but I think it was a good first meeting. Patch and Sadie are three times Rosie's size, but Rosie wasn't quite convinced that she wasn't the alpha dog.

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Sorry Rosie, yap away- you're not the alpha dog in someone else's home. Gosh, I know adults who could benefit from an understanding of this concept.

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Rocco has got to be the most mellow kid I've ever seen. Whatever they're spiking his bottles with, keep it up. He is just adorable and he looooooves his Grandpa. :)

The older kids quit sledding earlier than the younger ones, grey could sled all day if we let him. Matt took a fast dive down the hill with Kate and they ended up in the storm grate and popped his sledding tube. Nobody got so much as a scrape on them, but the super tube is dead. R.I.P. SuperTube.

I took better pictures last year, but I only spent about 10 minutes out there this time. Quite frankly, you see one set of sledding pictures, you've seen them all. The only difference is that the coats have changed.

What happens when you give kids $10 at Walmart...

[From Matt] When you give teenagers $10 giftcards at Walmart:

When you give Grey $10 at Walmart:

36 pink sno-balls. Well done, young man. Well done indeed.

New Year Shmoo Year

I'm not going to post a 2009 year in review like last year. I reviewed the year and decided, I'd rather forget 2009 as quickly as possible.

I have high hopes for the next decade. All of our kids will turn 18 in the next 10 years. This part of the story will end. The boys will all leave on missions hopefully and by the end of the next decade, I probably will have a grandchild or two.

Holy smokes. The roller coaster ride is moving even faster now. Here we go......
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It's been snowing pretty much all week, while the stuff is wretched and cold, you can't deny how pretty it looks and how happy the kids look in the three minutes they can stand playing in it before they realize it's freezing and we have hot cocoa and Nintendo in the house.

Zane came home form Phoenix and we all loaded up and went out to lunch at Chilis. The bill was staggering, but thankfully we had a gift card from the parents to help with that. Thanks, Mom and Dad Olson.

For New Year's Eve we had two activities going on. The first was a party at the Smith's house. They had a white elephant gift exchange and an ugly sweater contest. Emma wasn't planning on going at first so she was ugly sweater-less, but we managed to find something of mine that was pretty ugly anyway. I have no idea why Romy is making that face, the second shot was even worse. Matt won second prize for the men, I won second for the women. Jane was the overall kid winner.

Truth be told, I still think Kate had the worlds ugliest sweater.

It was even sparkly, like vampire sparkly. I know....gross. We left the party early to drag these three to the church dance. Parker and Emma have avoided them long enough and with Zane being 14 as well, none of them will just be left alone at the dance. Zane was dubbed the wing-man for both Emma and Parker. Lucky Zane. Parker was the most thrilled, as you can tell from the picture. We picked up Jake Denter and everyone hit the dance and mingled. Okay, they all stuck together like a pack. (Not a pack of vampires though because that would be even grosser than just kicking it with your siblings- but just barely.)
Parker and Zane were not about to ask anyone to dance. Neither was Emma. One boy decided Emma was just his type and hit on her for part of the night, they shared a romantic chicken dance where he about ripped her arms out of the sockets before she escaped. The boy asked if her brother's were going to beat him up, and Emma laughed. Clearly his boy underestimated how dedicated Parker and Zane were to sitting on the folding chairs drinking gallons of lemon water. (Although if anyone would have messed with her, the boys absolutely would have protected her in a heart beat.)

Parker had a girl scoping him out all night and never picked up on it. After the dance was over this girl run after him and hugged him and wished him happy new year. Parker got pounced on. he was being hunted down all night and never knew he was prey. I'm going to bet that girl is at the next dance and I'm going to bet Parker doesn't leave the next dance with out that girl grabbing him by the scruff of his neck and dragging him to her lair.

(Not a vampire lair though, because- ew.)

In spite of their expected weird quasi -social interactions, they all came back smiling and happy. Church dances are where you learn this stuff. None of them met their eternal companions there, but each one of them had a fun enough time that it was a good experience.