Snow Day!

Every couple years or so, when it rains, you we can see a light dusting of snow on the mountains above us. Chris always tries to get home early on those days, & we'll drive the windy roads up the mountains (along all the other townsfolk), and try to find a little patch of snow to play in, that hasn't melted yet. This year, we knew it was coming, so we planned ahead. I packed up all the kids winter things before chris got home, & as soon as he came, we all headed out the door. After driving just seven miles, we found the snow!

We turned up the mountain, & it was just *pouring* down!! (chris gets mad at me when i tell him the snow is "pouring". he says snow doesn't "pour." but i can't think of a better word.) This is the most snow I've ever seen in our area --and the closest to our home. it was so weird, because we could look down from the snow and see the beach! here are some pictures i took:

Zachy got cold quickly, & wanted to get back in the car.... i made him wait til i got a picture of him. :)

Chloe, Gideon & Chris made a snowman!

Evy didn't like the snow at all & cried to get back in the car, as soon as she was out. :)

Zachy catches snowflakes

I was a cold wimp & only came out for a few minutes before getting back in the car to get warm.

we had a lot of fun! on the way home, there were a lot more people out --probably came straight from work. One man, with his little boy, was still in his business suit. So cute! We saw another guy sledding on his surf board. And toward the end, we saw a couple who had gotten stuck on the side of the road, & helped pull them out. Once they got loose, the man kept going & almost crashed into us!!

it was a very fun special day. :)

For Heidi

I made this video for Heidi's birthday, but i'm only just now getting it onto the computer. Happy very late birthday, Heidi. :)

my day

well, yesterday we ended up doing a light school load, because I kept getting interrupted with birthday phone calls and visits. So fun! thanks everyone!

When chris got home from work, he took the kids out to buy me presents. Then, we went out to a lovely dinner (and some delicious cake!). Afterward, we went home & i opened my presents. The kids were so cute & excited! they got me some of my favorite candies (mounds & peanut butter M&M's), a sweet little card, a mother's day balloon, a birthday balloon, and a congratulations balloon. :). Chris also gave me a beautiful card (he's such a good card-writer!) and....

A new flash for my camera!!! i'm so excited! can't wait to use it. :)

Happy Birthday to me!

Today is my birthday. I'm 31. EEK! i suppose i should be all grown up now........

Chris took me out on a date for my birthday on Sat. night. I got to choose what we did...I thought of paintball, lastertag, shooting, skating, a comedy club, or a dinner theater, but none of them worked out. So we went to a nice dinner in a nearby city. They have THE BEST chocolate cake at this restaurant. i savored every bite! & then i saved a chunk to take home, so the enjoyment could last longer. The next morning, Evy got into it & ate it all. *sigh*

After dinner, we went to a nearby mall & walked around. While we were there, Chris bought me some new jeans, since the only pair that fit me had huge holes in each knee. YAY! And then we went to get the chain on my necklace resized. (the place we buy my jewelry is in this other city). While we were there, we looked at some other jewelry, just for fun. I fell in love with a $4,000 bracelet. it was SO CUTE!!! I never thought i could like fancy, expensive jewelry, but i liked that! :) And I talked chris out of buying a hideous gold pendant for chloe that says "daddy's girl" (whew!) THEN, as we were about to leave, chris bought me a necklace that i had been looking at!!!! so fun!!! i think chris is a sucker for jewelry. --which is fun for me! :)

So... we had a lovely evening together, & i got a very fun birthday present. :)

Today, the boys greeted me with hugs & kisses & "happy birthdays". Gideon asked me to give him a quarter for "a friend" who has a birthday today, but then decided he wanted to keep it for himself. Chloe made me a beautiful picture of me & her standing on a hill & it was raining gumdrops. She also gave me a gift certificate for a manicure & pedicure that she will give me herself (eek!). :)

Tonight, we'll go out to dinner with the family. Should be fun! :)

Wish list

Well, I know i'll probably come across as greedy, self-centered and materialistic, but as Christmas just passed, & my birthday is coming up, people keep asking me what I want. So I thought I would share my wish list with you. I'll continue to add to it as my greed increases, & i think of more things.

so... in no particular order...my wishlist:

New clothes/shopping spree
cute jeans that actually fit
an exercise machine
BIG serving bowls
a digital picture frame
Money to fly to Texas
cute dishtowels (Anthropologie)
gift certificate to Anthropologie or Urban Outfitters
cute funky dinner glasses
a good book on photography - esp. portraiture
untinted "sun"glasses for use on the scooter
laser hair removal for my legs
Dance lessons
croched snowflake christmas tree ornaments
Good Books (see my Amazon wishlist)
a visit from a far-off friend/relative
cute earings
a new dishes set
a passport
4 cute barstools

good answers.

Dad commented on my last post, that i should have some sort of answer to give people when they make their comments. I agree, but unfortuntely, i'm not very quick verbally. --even when i plan ahead, can't do it.

The most common comment i get from people is, "wow, you have your hands full." I actually apreciate it when people say that, because it says to me that people care about the amount of work i put into raising my children. I usually hold up four fingers (representing my 4 kids) and then show the other six & say "not yet. I still need six more." :)

Anyway, i found this funny website awhile back that has clever answers to people "lots of kids" remarks. you can check it out here.

They're pretty funny, but here are some of My favorites:

Haven't you heard of birth control?
(for dad) Yes, but I just can't find a rubber that will fit me! (BWA-HAHAHAHA!)

Are you planning to have any more?
Before we were married we planned on having 2, but I didn't know that my husband couldn't count!

Don't you know what causes that?
*Oh yes, we finally figured it out and we now keep the tooth brushes in seperate glasses!
*Oh yes, I now wash my husband's underwear seperately.
*Water or sex but I don't want to give up either.

Are they all yours?
*No, this is not all of them, my oldest is at home with the triplets.
*No, actually two are the mailman's and I am not sure whose is that one.....
*No, a couple of them starting following us a few minutes ago. -- This is especially funny when you look at your kids and realize that one of them really ISN'T yours -- he had just started following you and you didn't notice before...
*No, I picked up a couple extra in the produce aisle.
*Of course they're all mine. Do you think I take six (or fill in your number) kids shopping for fun?
*Yes, and they're such good kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (the kids love that one!)
*Of course they are..wait..who is that one?Hes not ours.....oh,yeah,#5,I forgot I had him.
*I don't know. How many do you count?
*Yes. But if you have any you don't want, I'll gladly take them, too
*No. I've been an avid collector for years and just picked these up in the food court!
*Yes, at least that's what I tell my husband. (hee-hee!)

Is four a lot?

I get my share of people asking me questions about my kids, like, "are they all yours?" and that doesn't phase me much. when you have four little kids running around in every direction, it can seem like a lot. But today... we ran into a man at the pet store, & he asked if they were all mine (in a much more incredulous voice than most people), and when I said yes, I think he was truly shocked. And then he said, "you need to be taking more cold showers!" (can you believe it??) but it didn't stop there.

"Are you Catholic"

"no."

"a good little Mormon girl?"

"nope." (if I were a bad Mormon, would that make a difference?)

akward pause while he tries to figure out why on earth anyone would have "so many" children.

Finally I said, "We just love children."

that shut him up.

but sheesh! It's only four kids! it's not like I had 15 or 10 or even 6! And later in the conversation, he tells me how he had 3 boys. so what's the big difference between 3 and 4?

Anyway... like I said, lots of people comment on my "many" children, but this guy's tone of voice & attitude showed that was really bothered by it.

When he asked if they were all mine, I shoulda said, "Yes... all but this one, I just found her in the next isle over. I think she'll make a great pet, don't you?" >:)

you can do it!

okay... since i have nothing interesting to talk about, i thought i'd post this commerial. i forgot about it when i was talked about commerials earlier. what tickles me is that the first time i saw it, i was going, "this is so corny, it just canNOT be real." and i was so pleased to find out that it wasn't! :)

I have nothing interesting happening in my life

so i'll have to talk about someone else... today is my sister Heidi's birthday! Happy Birthday Heidi!

A rose for you

Happy fluffy cookie day!

you may remember my cookie lament some time ago. Ever since I got married, I have been unable to make a decent cookie. they always turn out WAY flat. i've tried all sorts of things! i tried a brand new box of baking soda...i've tried refrigerating the dough first. I even tried martha stewart's chewy cookie recipe, & i folloed the directions to a T... but no luck. the only thing i haven't done is substitue the butter w/crisco. that's my last resort.

anyway, the other day, i made cookies, & thought i'd try adding a bit more baking soda....maybe it would make them rise a little more. no luck.

not only were the completely flat, but they were hard & crunchy on the outside--almost burnt, and completely *uncooked* in the middle! >:( So before cooking the next batch, i added a bunch of extra flower. My cookies turned out perfect!
Chris even said they were the best cookies i've ever made. the truth is, the best cookies i ever made were before we got married, when i wasn't stuck to the Toll House flat cookie recipe, but whatever. Anyway.... this was a huge accomplishment for me.

Also, i thought i'd google fluffy cookies & see what i could come up with. I found this GREAT website that breaks down what the different ingredients do for a cookie. to summarize, " For light, puffy cookies, use shortening or margarine and cut back on the amount of fat; add an egg, cut back on the sugar, use cake flour or pastry flour, use baking powder instead of baking soda and refrigerate your dough before baking." it goes into a lot more detail, if you're interested.

... so i think the next time i make cookies, i'll make them w/a little less butter & a little less sugar, & see what that does.

but at least for now, i'm no longer a cookie failure.

Poor little bunny

My dad was sick over the holidays, so this became a running joke w/the family. loved this video!

The Man-Flu - For more of the funniest videos, click here

The end of the year

well... christmas vacation was fun and unusual.

A couple months ago, Erik told us that it was getting to hard to travel with Katie, so they wouldn't be going to Texas for christmas, like they usually do. after some discussion about whether to join him in colorado, we decided to make our usual Texas trip. Since Josh wasn't there either, that left me & heidi & our families. It was sad to not see *everyone*, but the nice thing about having fewer people is that you get to spend more time with the few who are there.
anyway.... some highlights from our trip:

flew in on friday night. didn't get the car we needed to fit our luggage & family. good thing Dad met us & took our luggage in his car.

saturday, chris went motorcycle riding with Dad, & the kids & i hung out w/mom & decorated cookies.

sunday, spent the day with Glenna & chad. so fun to see them again! :)

Sunday night, had a birthday party for Evy. She's two now!

Monday: Christmas Eve! time to wrap presents... quite a challenge to figure out how to tell chris i was giving him a digital frame when we got home. finally, i had heidi draw frame made out of fingers. Then we put this picture inside:

Get it? "digit"-al? :) i was very proud of that.

we broke our usual christmas tradition, & got mexican food to go along w/the traditional hamburgers & french fries.our tree was sad because there were so few presents under it. we were done by 8 (which never happens), but we had lots of fun anyway.

Gideon got a new suit. loved this photo, 'cause he looks like a business man. :)

Tuesday, Christmas: went chris took me & the kids to breakfast at ihop. hung out at the house til evening when people were bored. so we thought we'd go up to reunion tower. but it was closed. so we decided to go look at christmas lights.

some of my favorites:
texas longhorns:

Falala:

Friday, packed up our things & got ready to celebrate Heidi's graduation from college. Just before the celebration began, we got the news that Katie died. :( had a bittersweet celebration for heidi.

Taylor asked me & mom to pierce his ears, so i said yes. that way, every day for the rest of his life, when he looks at himself in the mirror, he'll remember me. :) --and how hard can it be, right? Well, let me just say that if you want your ears pierced, it's WAY better just to spend the $20 at claire's. It's not as easy as it looks!! poor taylor. he's one tough kid! And now he has his ears pierced. :) i can't believe i didn't take any pictures!

Saturday we flew all day. got home, went to bed & woke up early on sunday, so i could fly to Colorado & be with Erik & Dawn. the whole family was there (w/the exception of Chris & the kids, and jody & her kids). it was so good to be with everyone.

Katie's service was beauitful. the thing that touched me most was to see how many people were touched by this one little life.


Flew home tuesday, & have been recovering ever since. :)

during all my flying time, i read Quiet Talks on Prayer by S.D. Gordon. Wonderful book! will be adding it to my "must read" list.

for those of you who were worried about Gideon, he had a high (105) fever all weekend. when i got home on mon. night, we laid hands on him & prayed & gave him some tylenol. Tues. morning, he woke up & was fine. Chloe & Evelyn got slight fevers, but they're fine now, too. Thank you, Jesus!

Happy new year, everyone!

if you'd like to see more photos, you can click on these links:

Colorado

Dallas

Evy's Birthday

She went walking and leaping and praising God!

Most of you are familiar with my neice, Katie. When she was born with severe brain damage, the doctors only gave her a year to live. But Jesus & Katie didn't think that was quite long enough. So Katie blessed our family with her presence for many years.

A little over 15 years later, on December 28th, Jesus decided that Katie's work on earth was done, and freed her from her body, so she can join the dancing in heaven. :)

Wish I could shimmy like sister Kate....