In need of sunshine....

We are in the middle of too many days of rain and not enough sunshine. I shouldn't complain and really I'm not, well maybe I am, but I know we can always use the rain...to wash away the pollen that has accumulated and to help with future drought issues, etc. The thing is I need to see the SUN! So I decided to post these pictures of MY sunshine in hopes of brightening my day and maybe someone else. :)

Basketball and Bicylces

Caleb played Upward Basketball this year at our local Baptist church. This is his 3rd year to play and was in the 4th-6th grade division. He was on a pretty good team. I think they finished up 6 wins - 2 lost. Caleb got a lot of play time as did all the boys. It was a little different this year than past years because they kept score and the referees were more diligent to make calls on the boys. Above are a few pictures of Caleb in action. He is number 34 and in the 2nd picture he is making the shot...his hands are in the air and the basketball is almost in the basket!



It was a beautiful day here and Macy decided it was just the right day to learn how to ride a bike with just two wheels!! We are SO proud of her for making up her mind to do something and keeping at it until she accomplished the goal. You can hear the joy in my voice and you hear her Daddy coaching her from start to finish. Yea, Macy!!

No Sew, easy....

Calling all Momma's with girls.....

Girls night out....Project night at Heidi's house!!! This nights project was a "tutu". It's a no sew project that anybody can do even the un-crafty (not a word but you know what I mean). I just had to share and if anybody needs instructions on how to do this I will be glad to pass them along. It makes a great dress up skirt and would be a fun, unique, and inexpensive gift. I think in total I spent $6-$7 dollars. You could easily make it more expensive with more ribbon. The supplies are 1 inch elastic, about 4 yards of toile and I used about 2-4 yards of ribbon (easily could have used more). Thank you Heidi for a fun time!

and now for the rest of the story.....

Canada turned out to be one of the best vacations we have gone on as a family. John and I honeymooned in Canada (Banff/Lake Louise) 12 years ago March 16th. We said we would go back for our 5th anniversary but Caleb came along and a few years and another child so it took a little longer than we planned. I am glad we went back...not same location but just as beautiful. Caleb turned his first day of skiing around and by the second day he was riding the ski lift and going down green runs. I was really, really impressed with his ability after only 3 days on the slopes. The last run he took was with his Daddy from the top of Whistler to the base. GO CALEB!!!
Macy on the other hand was more interested in the social aspect of skiing--making friends and having fun. Nothing wrong with that, she still learned how to ski and by the end of her 3 days was able to "Pizza" stop and go down small hills. Yea Macy!
John enjoyed skiing 2 days by himself and the third day Caleb, John and I all skied together. That was my favorite day. We did some skiing, ate lunch at the top of Whistler Mt. and then skied down Blackcomb Mt. taking the Peak to Peak gondola from one to the other. What a ride!!




One activity I would recommend for a day off from skiing is tubing. Oh what fun for kids of all ages. Even Macy enjoyed her time and kept wanting to go down again and again.
The location was beautiful (highly recommend), the food was good, and the accommodations where within walking distance from the slopes. Add all that up and we couldn't have asked for anything more.
Five things i've learned from this trip:
1. Vancouver no matter what time of the day is a traffic nightmare
2. I should have revisited my conversions -- Fahrenheit to Celsius and Kilometers to Miles
3. Salt Lake City Airport is rather large when you are running from terminal "A" to "C" -- despite my friends from this area saying other wise!! :)
4. Even though the pool is heated, -8 Celsius (you do the conversion) makes the run to your
towel/clothes and the door to get inside - a very chilly sprint!
5. Just because a meal is expensive doesn't mean it is going to taste good :( FONDUE???

OH CANADA.....HMM, HMMM,HHHMMMM....EH?

I might should have titled this post trains, planes and automobiles but we left out the trains. It was an interesting trip getting here but we made it, yea! We started out knowing that we only had a 25 min. lay over in Salt Lake City but when the stewardesses were late getting to the plane we were 1 hour late getting off the ground. Some how we made it with 5 min. to spare and Caleb and John took off running and then caught a sky cab to the gate and Macy and I were following in another taxi of the terminal!! They waited on us and two other guys running crazy through the airport to make the flight. Up we went and then as we flew into Vancouver, they were experiencing a very unusual fog that covered a layer of the ground so that we were able to see above it but as we approached the airport we never saw the landing strip until the wheels touched down. Macy and Caleb did SO good the whole trip. Here is a picture of them on the first plane doing what the could to stay busy for 3 1/2 hours!















We got up on Saturday and Caleb, Macy and I went to ski school and John hit the slopes. As we expected Macy did pretty good (her instructor mentioned she needed to work on her stops) and Caleb had a rough day. He was tired very quickly and had a problem with his feet hurting. It is an active sport and requires a lot of stamina that is for sure. I hope their second day will be better and they come away having a great experience for their first time skiing. I was proud of myself that ski school went well,I didn't get hurt and had a fun time. By the end of the day I was able to go 3/4 of the way up the mountain and ski all the way down without falling or having too much trouble. John skied down with me and it was fun to have him along for the ride. He took a big fall (luckily I didn't see it) but recovered well and I hope won't be too sore tomorrow. Here are a few pictures of the kids right before their lesson.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year ???

Yvonne, Macy and Natalie with our cookie making aprons on!


Is it over already? It's hard to believe the holiday has come and gone. We had a very nice time and great visit with my Dad and step-Mom over the 5 days they were here. This year was our first Christmas with a new Mom, Yvonne. (side note to those who don't know the whole story...my Mom died of Pancreatic cancer June 1999. After 9 years of singleness Dad finally found a wonderful woman to share his life with. They have many common interest and are a great pair.) So this year I wanted her to incorporate something from her traditions into ours and she suggested a birthday cake for Jesus and we attended a very nice candle light Christmas Eve service. Christmas Day was spent with my brother and his family and his wife's parents. We had a house full, but it was a lot of fun. I was exhausted by the end of the day and couldn't believe it was over.
Now, back to school, work and the old getting up early routine.
I just can't believe it's 2009....already. Time does go by too fast.








Rolling out cookie dough





Building Santa's house with Papa




The whole gang decorating cookies

Always love a little Macy video...so here is goes. She came out and saw the Christmas tree and this is what she said to me. We don't like the kids saying "Oh my gosh" too close to the original OMG, so we ask them to say "oh my goodness". I had to have her repeat what she said so I could get it on tape for the memories!!

Chicago, COLD, and could it be true i'm 40??

And we are off....our flight took off at 6:50am and arrived in Chicago around 8:45ish. When we landed it was 12 degrees....how fitting for 12/12/08! Very cold would not really do it justice...but we persevered. We got an early check in and then off to check out the town.


Our first stop, Gino's East for some yummy, yummy Deep dish pizza. It was spicy, cheesy, hot and good! We didn't realize that a Chicago pizza takes about an hour to cook -- so our next meal at Oprah's chefs restaurant ( Table 52) that we had reservations for 3 months ago -- was not as appealing as it should have been. The food was good but not the best meal of our trip.
After dinner we had tickets, great tickets, to see WICKED. It was enjoyed by both of us and highlight of the trip.

Taken in the theater right before the production started.

The next day we went to the The museum of Surgical Science (being a surgical nurse) and some great eateries and we did some shopping. Because of the cold we didn't do as much as we would have in better weather...but it will give us something to do the next visit. Just a few more pictures from Saturday... First to Lego World and a visit with Lego Man....

The Bean







John???