First snow!

The boys were so excited to come home from school to SNOW! It snowed for several hours yesterday, and left us with enough white stuff to pull the sled around on and make snowballs and snow angels. Bennett spent hours outside yesterday, and had fun throwing snowballs to/at Lucy.

O, Christmas tree...

As promised, here are some photos of our tree. We love its twisted, curvy trunk the best of all. Oh, and the branches that are so weak that our ornaments slide off, and the fact that our star nearly pulled the tree over with its weight. (We might have to fashion a new one out of tinfoil.) But we love it!

Our little reader!

This is a sight that will warm Gramma Linda's heart. This is the first time I have seen him pick up a big chapter book and actually start to READ it! It's so exciting!

A new traditiooooon, tradition!

We had the greatest day today! Mom and Dad (and Jack) came up with Jaime and Tyler (and Porter), and we all went out into the woods to find and chop down our very own Christmas trees! Yes, we did obtain a permit to do so, and yes, our tree is a little scraggly and not the usual full wonder that I love. But we had such a great time, surely this will be a new tradition. Here are some photos of the event. The boys didn't care too much about the tree; they cared more about the "ice-skating," exploring, and the sweet rolls. It was SO COLD! But you'll notice Owen wearing nothing but a t-shirt. Brrrr. Really, we try to get him to bundle up, but he refuses. Please don't call DCFS.

We found our trees up above Willow Flat on the Cub River in Idaho, up a really steep road that the kids though we would surely slide off. It's always nice to have an occasion to really use the powers of our Landcruiser, and today was on of those occasions. Jason accidentally drove over a very deep frozen puddle/lake, and the Cruiser powered through the ice and mud with no problem. Phew! We drove home into the most beautiful sunset, and back to our house for a big chili fest.

So it was a wonderful day, and I will post pictures of our little tree after we get it decorated tomorrow. Get ready... Think Charlie Brown. :)

Aaahh, the glorious days of autumn...

I keep forgetting to post these pictures of an adventure with my fabulous Hawaiin friend, Rachel, and her kids at the skate park. When was this, Rachel? The first part of October? Anyway, it was one of the best days of the year for my kids (and me). Cole and Aidan inspired Bennett with their incredible skills, and now he asks to go to the skate part about 100 times a day. (Jason is usually more than happy to help out...) We need to go again soon before the park is covered in snow and/or ice!

For health and strength and daily food...

It is so easy for me (maybe for all of us, but I'll just speak for myself here) to get caught up in all the things we don't have. Lately I have been thinking of, yes, myself, and how flawed I am in so many ways, especially the shallow ones. As I find myself morphing into the pregnant version of me, it is easy to mourn the loss of whatever waistline I once had. It is also easy to be jealous of people with perfect skin, who actually do glow when pregnant. My skin just does a repeat of 8th grade for 9 months. (Owen has had to ask me, "What are those big red bumps on your cheeks, Mom?") I want to shed a tear when I think that I will never again wear my favorite jeans, and when I think that after this baby I may have to special order shoes. Okay, I'm getting silly here, but really, it's easy to get a little down during these months, and become preoccupied with things that frankly don't matter in the long run, but seem to matter a lot when you're in the middle of it.

So, I have found a solution. A way to take my mind up and away from whatever petty personal problems I might be suffering from on any given day. Here is how I discovered it (not for the first time, I might add, but it seems that I have to be reminded of it often).

My dance group was invited to provide the floor show for the Special Needs Mutual group at their Gold and Green Ball on Friday night. These are sweet people of all ages from around Cache Valley who came dressed up and ready to boogie. We just performed a few dances, and probably did entertain and uplift those in attendance, but not as much as they uplifted us. All it took was to watch a girl with multiple physical and mental problems out on the dance floor with a huge grin on her face, twirling and swaying to the sound of Leaping Lulu's version of Danny Boy to make all my problems melt into a puddle of pathetic silliness. I have nothing to complain about. Nothing at all. I am so grateful for a healthy, strong body and mind, and healthy, strong children. I have plenty of food to feed myself and my family, a solid home, a safe community, incredible family and friends, and the list goes on.

Brittney and I shared teary moment together watching the Special Needs kids take over the dance floor while two of our dancers were up performing a dance on the stage. Those on the dance floor were stomping and twirling all over the place, with eyes closed, faces upturned, loving every moment. What a timely reminder just before Thanksgiving about how much I take for granted. Just wanted to share.

Porter's big day

Last Sunday we drove to Ogden to watch sweet li'l Porter be blessed. He is such a cutie, and Jaime and Tyler are such awesome parents. Jaime also came up once this week to visit, which was so much fun! I never wanted her to leave! She is such a cute mama, and I am so proud of her.

These are some photos of the happy family, including Grandma and Grandpa Olsen and some of Porter's crazy cousins at their house after the blessing.

Some shots from Washington

Here is a look into parts of our week in Washington. The boys were so happy to spend time with cousins, aunts and uncles, Grammies, Grammas and Gr Grs. We are so glad they had so much special family time, during a time when we all realized even more how important family relationships are. We enjoyed lots of yummy breakfasts with Grammy and the rest of the clan, and enjoyed time with Gr Gr Bessie also.

As always, we enjoyed spending lots of time by the water. We'd never seen a windstorm like this one on the lake. It was beautiful. Watch out for falling branches! We also spent an afternoon at a small aquarium down by the BIG water of Bellingham Bay with fun touch-tanks where we saw the shy octopus come out from behind his rock... amazing! And Justise picked up a big dungeness crab... brave! The kids loved it and never wanted to leave until we took them out on the dock and saw a Coast Guard ship leaving. It was so cool!

Grammy Deb, you've got mail!

Uncle Johnny put Owen and Elise in the gigantic mailboxes on Northshore to surprise Grammy! What a treat!

Hello, again, hello.

Hi, everyone. I'm excited to be returning to blogland after a short hiatus. Our lives have been filled with the usual chaos and fun since our return from a beautiful week with family in Bellingham. Add in few high-stress church-related activities, and I've just been "off-line" for awhile. Now that Halloween is over, though, I feel some time to breathe a sigh of relief. Just in time for... the holidays.

Here are some shots of the young Jedi masters on Halloween. I'm happy to say that their costumes got finished on time (barely), with the exception of their boot covers, which are still sitting downstairs by my sewing machine. Maybe they'll want to be Jedi knights again next year. Yeah, right! Thanks to Jennifer for making the Yoda costume for her son, Luke last year. It was a little big on Jake, but soooooooooooo cute.

We had our annual homemade rootbeer fest and donut-fry on Monday with Jason's brothers who were in town, along with a couple of neighborhood families. It was so much fun, and I think the last of the deep-fried scent has finally dissipated. Phew.

I will post some pictures of our trip to Washington if I can ever remember to get them off Jason's computer. Again, thanks to everyone who helped out so much while we were gone, and for the kind wishes towards Jason. It was all so appreciated.