Sledding down Mount Doom

It all starts out fun and innocent.....

People seem to be happy and having fun. The new motorcycle sled is awesome. Even for the adults...

Then Boy Wonder spots a jump at the bottom of the hill and cannot resist. The temptation is overwhelming. I cringed, but still managed to capture a few key shots.

I put the camera down to clean up all the blood. Mostly oozing from Boy Wonders cheek. He wasn't deterred for long, but stayed clear of the jump-wisely.

But someone thought, in a show of solidarity, he should go for the jump as well. I muttered to my mom, who was next to me-he is crazy, what is he thinking? But instead of yelling that out, I just put the camera into sport mode and held down the button.

The air doesn't look too high here, he seems like everything will turn out okay, but then...

Whoa-one of his feet disappeared entirely! How did that happen, where did it go? Don't worry, when we raced down the hill, we found him intact, for the most part. He took a while to get up, we thought it was dramatics from a distance.

But no, no dramatics, just pain, like you know, landing on concrete, or a snow packed icy street. And the sad,sad realization that his body is no longer a teenager, and has never been flexible. Luckily there was lots of ibuprofen at Grandma's house. I think Jack's expression says it all.

The force of the landing was mainly concentrated on his right shoulder. It is still hurting quite a lot six days later. He's hoping it will feel better soon so he can throw his body into ward basketball. Perhaps I should have got him some ice packs and braces for his birthday instead of a coat.

The next day they built this slide in the street in front of my parents house. I would look out the window and see the kids hovering above those bushes. It was kind of freaky, but no one was injured.

Happy Birthday Nathan!

35 Great things that happened to Nate this year!

1. He got to coach High School Football

2. Gets to drive a car that isn't purple

3. He got to go to Disneyland

4. He met Bronco Mendenhall

5. He went to the Beach

6. He got a fancy new coat

7. His team won the stake basketball tournament

8. He got LASIK

9. He went to Sea world

10. He won something at a work party

11. He was employed all year long

12. He blessed a niece

13. He learned how to install a screen door

14. He learned how to install a floor

15. He Baptized Jack

16. He camped in the backyard

17. He went to the rodeo

18. He did a lot of recording and music stuff

19. He cheered Bella on in soccer

20. He saw his son play and love football as much as he does

21. He learned how to install a microwave over a range

22. He went on a doughnut date with Jack

23. He got a bike

24. He got a new acoustic guitar

25. He went mini-golfing

26. He went sledding

27. He had a big family Thanksgiving

28. He got a few Sunday naps

29. He rode the Polar Express

30. He got put in the Sunday School Presidency

31. He got to go on all sorts of fun dates with Jill

32. He got a bunch of free t-shirts

33. He and Jill hung out watching The Office and LOST

34. He went trick-or-treating in nice weather

35. He gets to claim 35 years of blessings and accomplishments

Love you Nate!

Perfect

Driving into Provo/Orem I spotted this sign and it just made me laugh. It totally typifies this time of year for me. I start out trying to get one thing across, but somewhere along the way it all goes terribly wrong. And then I think to myself-what were you thinking setting those expectations? And then I saw this poor, poor sign, I mean you know what they are trying to say, but the struggle, oh the struggle. My appropriate response: Laugh and take a picture.

Oh the DRAMA

There were tears and blood and wailing. There were negotiations and compromise and string cheese. It's been getting closer and closer to falling out for days. I left it alone, thinking she would wiggle and wiggle until it was ready. Well, today was the day. The tooth could be pushed all the way back and all the way forward. She said it was hurting and she could barely manage to scarf down her lunch. Nate said it had to come out, or else she may swallow it. Which has happened here before-you just draw a picture for the tooth fairy, no big deal.

Anyway, as soon as he declared we needed to see if it would come out, the crying began. There were questions about how much this would hurt. When she pushed it forward I wiped some blood off the base of the tooth and then the crying escalated. I tried to convince her it would feel better when it came out. That the pain was caused by the sharp bottom of the tooth and it was also causing the bleeding. Reluctantly she agreed to let us try and lift it out. It came out really easily, but then there was more bleeding and thus, more crying. Then she realized it all felt better and didn't hurt nearly as bad as she thought. The crying stopped, a little stubbornly, and she asked to see the tooth. Then we cleaned her all up and took her to school. I don't know that she is happy about it. She kind of wants money from the tooth fairy-she has heard in class the going rate is five bucks, she is in for a nasty shock. She mostly wants her tooth back in. And to never have to lose another-again, in for a nasty shock. But in the mean time, here is her new smile, er grimace.

Pretty Lights!

Monday Night for Family Home Evening we headed downtown to Temple Square to see the lights then indulge in hot cocoa and cinnamon rolls. Last year was a bit of fiasco. We went on the same night as an event at the conference center and Shelly and I ran across the square where Nate and Jeff picked us up on the other side. But this year was one of the mildest nights in recent memories. It snowed lightly and we managed to walk around the entire place without getting hypothermia. The kids had a grand time and played together well past bedtime as their parents talked and caught up. It was nice and relaxing and festive. I needed the festive, I am not great at being festive at this time of year. But the thousands of lights and the good company helped a lot.

Sophie loved the snow. She watched the older kids catch flakes on their tongues and watched it melt on her blanket. She also loved watching K run around and have a ball. That kid was having the time of his life and couldn't contain himself. I love how magical things are for little kids. He couldn't have been more happy anywhere else in the world.

Choo Choo

Thursday we headed up to Heber to ride the Polar Express. We didn't tell the kids where we were going and they almost went crazy trying to guess. I was afraid it was going to be a let down after all the guesses they made. You see, a few years ago we loaded them in the car, didn't say where we were going and went to Disneyland. I mean, can you top that for a kid? Well, yes, for Jack if we surprised him with a Colts game, he would be more excited. But anyway, they wanted to know if we were leaving Utah. I hedged and said maybe (you know, the north pole isn't in Utah). They wanted to know why we had their pajamas with us and if they would make it to school the next day. At this point, I was really worried they would be disappointed. But then we got there and Jack saw the train and realized where we were and they were both thrilled. The thrill lasted for a minute for Bella and then she became terrified. I was perplexed by this at first because she loves the movie, she asks to watch it all the time, but she doesn't want most of the things that happen in the movie to happen to her. She had to make sure we wouldn't be getting on the top of the train. That we wouldn't be kicked off without our tickets, and that we wouldn't slide off the track and over a giant ice field, or get lost in Santa's workshops. I remember when I was little I thought it would be a blast to slide into the adventure of a movie. I always hoped I would find the Goonies when we went to Astoria, and I always wanted to go to summer camp because summer camp in movies was fabulous fun. Bella is much more grounded than I was apparently, but still believes in the magic of movies. I reassured her she would be okay and dad and I would be there the whole time. That there would be cocoa and cookies and someone would tell us the story. She relaxed a few minutes into the whole thing and started having a great time. A great time until we got to the north pole. Santa was there and he came on the train. Bella has a history of not liking Santa. And she has a little sister that feels the same way. He is persona non grata with them both. Later on the ride Mrs. Claus came on the train and they both loved here, so maybe it is a beard thing.

(I know, this is a mean, mean picture)

The kids had a ton of fun and loved the bells they got at the end of the ride from Santa's sleigh. I don't know that we would go every year, but maybe again when Sophie is older. I think the whole thing would be a bit more magical if when we arrived at the north pole, Santa was standing in snow, instead of in dry grass. I can't complain about that too much though. It has been nice having mild weather so far. We've been able to be outside a lot more and walk to school a lot more than in previous years. But I do want snow for Christmas, it seems so strange without it.

What a turkey!

Jack wanted a turkey cake for Thanksgiving (the kids aren't big on pie-me either). Anyway, he had a vision and I had the desperate need to find a way. This is what we ended up with. I baked the cake in a pampered chef batter bowl, and made the rest out of chocolate rice crispy treats. Then Jack cut out the pieces for the feathers. He was very pleased and thus, so was I.