I have always wanted to try to make a gingerbread house from scratch. So since we were snowed in for a couple of days I thought now was my time to go for it! I am pretty sure the kids ate more candy then they actually put on the house, but hey, that is just another thing this year is all about, SUGAR!!!
Note: My Rylie's smile. I love this smile, every time she does it I laugh. This girl cracks me up!
So there was a prediction. When there is a weather prediction in Virginia everyone pays heed. It was told to us that at exactly 3:00pm the storm was to hit. The biggest storm Virignia has seen in several years. So schools were let out 2 hours early, people ran from their workplaces, mad dashes were made to the grocery stores, and I was left with very little doubt this storm could possibly cause the entire county to come to a stand still. Being from Utah where snow, no matter the depth, doesn't hinder anything; I was convinced Virginians were a little dramatic.
So I picked my kids up at 1:00pm; 3:00pm came around and no snowfall. About an hour later I gaze outside as Savannah is out with the chickens and I start to see the flurries. Within minutes the flurries turn to flakes and the snow is in heavy pursuit of our land. By the evening are visions were only of a winter wonderland. Throughout the night we heard wind like we have never heard before and I was certain of a power outage. By morning and after many prayers the power remained intact and the kids were out the door to explore. The snow holds many wonders; one in which can hold my kids attention for hours. I have to plead and bargain with them to come in; my only rule now being that when Carson's cheeks go from red to swollen with white blotches it is time to come in!
So after 12 inches of snow fall, our roads after 24 hours finally being plowed, our cars being stuck and every store in the county being closed; I have learned 2 things. 1) I will always heed VA weather predictions. 2) There is a reason why the world stops when it snows in VA; we now live in the country not the city and we don't have the luxury of plowed and salted roads.
I am grateful we were all safe and sound. We are all here together. I went food shopping the day before. And my kids are fun-loving snow babies! So let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
Our family was able to visit the beautiful DC Temple. Every December they decorate the surroundings with 1/2 million lights, nothing by Temple Square standards but still beautiful. It is an amazing spectacle to see this enormous white and beautiful structure surrounded by the colors of Christmas. In one direction you have a view of the LDS Temple which provides us with the reminder of what is most important; Families are Eternal. Then you turn around and you have full view of the Christus through the windows of the visitors center and the trees on the exterior are lit with every color of christmas light imaginable, which reminds us of what Christmas is really all about; the Savior and his life. I was so grateful to have the opportunity to show my children the temple and remind them of why we celebrate Christmas but even moreso what this life is really all about. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!
He awoke at 4:00am, feeling tired but nonetheless his normal state of health still being as it always is, strong and mighty. However, as he began his 2.5 hour drive down to North Carolina he started to feel a slight pain in his lower back. As the miles increased the pain increased. Soon the pain became so acute that it made even the mighty Harvey begin to falter under its sinew.
When he arrived to his destination he quickly called an ambulance. The pain edging him ever closer to insanity. As he arrived to the E.R. he began to feel nauseated. Never before having experienced pain to where it can cause one to feel nauseous he began to fear. As tests were taken and results were in; the drugs were administered and he felt relief. It was then he decided to make his situation known to his loving spouse.
As he made the call he abruptly began to feel the side effects of the habituate. Suddenly forming words became impossible. He heard his wife's voice and he muttered a, "Hi." His wife hearing the strange tone but not sensing that something was seriously wrong began to laugh. "What is wrong with you!" She exclaimed.
Now before faulting the wife for her non-spousal intuition an explanation is needed. In the 11 1/2 years of marriage; the man whom she married has been slightly ill only 3 times; seriously ill, never. Never barfed, never had a fever, and has only been administered an IV once, which was attributed to the food poisoning he got while in China. He guffaws at the weaknesses of man and has very little if any sympathies for when they get sick. He stands strongly by his convictions that mind over matter can protect you from most trifling illnesses that overcome the rest of us. So making the explanation known it should be quite obvious why the furthest thing from her mind would be that her Harvey was taken over and in the hospital.
As she tried to converse with her husband the nurse saw the trouble Harvey was having in communicating his predicament and decided to take over the phone conversation. Soon the wife was given full detail of the situation and after arranging schedules and calling upon dependable friendships she set off on her journey to the south to rescue her once mighty man.
As she entered the hospital she approached the front desk and was soon brought to her husbands bedside. There she saw the man who once prided himself in never having been in hospital; laying on the bed, dressed in a hospital gown and covered with tubes and IV's. Her heart broke to see him there in that condition. She was then debriefed on his circumstance and he was quickly discharged. As she walked her pale, drugged, and pained husband to the car; she realized that the mighty had fallen. Although it was a brief fall and grateful it wasn't a greater one; he did fall. His fall came in the form of a concretion composed of oxalates and phosphates; or what she likes to say, "a small granule made up primarily of carbonated beverages; otherwise known as a kidney stone."
In all seriousness though, I am grateful that Harvey is generally healthy and that he is rarely sick. Don't worry my love you will rise again and when you do I will be there with a proud smile and a humbled heart full of love, gratitude and admiration! I love you Harv and I am so glad you are rising once again to your superhero status.
We had an eventful Thanksgiving this year! Loads of fun, but it also came with its problems! Harvey and our dear friend Darrell attempted to deep fry the turkey this year. After a one hour delay and many complications they finally got that bird frying, and it was absolutely the best turkey I have ever had. Job well done Darrell the master chef!
Our meal was full of delicious food and we were so grateful to share it with the Manning's,Papa and Lil' Sis Manning, the Smith's and those sweet and very hungry missionaries! After the ravenous devouring of food the kids went away to play only to have Madison fall from the monkey bars and her and I had to cut the evening short with a trip to the ER. Lucky for her she only had a buckle fracture. It could have been much worse! But she is in a splint now and the worse pain she is dealing with is the realization that she can't go to gymnastics for awhile!:( Poor baby!
But all in all it was a great day spent with the company of the greatest friends ever! We feel so blessed that although we miss Thanksgiving with family every year we have the love of friends to surround us and help that homesickness subside. As we discussed what we were grateful for this year as a family we came to the conclusion that we were definitely grateful for family, friends, the gospel, Jesus Christ, our home, a job, and our health.
Happy Thanksgiving all! Oh and Natasha and Cressida I am so grateful that you guys scoured my house before you left. Nothing felt better than to come back from a 3 hour anxiety ridden trip to the ER and find my house shining and clean. You guys are the best!
As I sit here with my sweat pants on, my over sized T-shirt, slippers, no make-up and chocolate; I have to ask myself, why? Why don't I have any motivation to get off this couch? Why don't I have the desire to clean, cook, or do any menial task that my job as homemaker requires?
Is it the pregnancy? (31 weeks and counting)
Is it depression? (I do weigh more than I ever have in my whole life at the moment)
Is it the weather? (It has rained for 5 days straight)
Is it just a collapse from pure exhaustion? (Halloween, Primary Program, motherhood)
Whatever it is the only good that is coming from this couch is more weight gain, indulging the depression, feelings of guilt and my husband occasionally coming in giving me looks of wonderment and then walking out. So I guess today will be my last day of unambitious exercises. I must manage to get off this couch, make those beds, paint those walls, plan birthday parties, prepare for hosting Thanksgiving, get started on Christmas shopping, and maybe just maybe I will walk a few miles and burn this pound of chocolate off I just devoured. Actually that may take more than walking a few miles!:) Oops! The time has come and this bum must manage to peel itself off the now permanently indented couch and rise above the lack of motivation. Watch out world, here I come!
I got to go on a field trip with Carson this week. We went to a local dairy farm. I learned two things on this trip:
1) I hate dairy farms
2) Carson may be a future dairy farmer
The boy loved every minute of this experience. Especially the baby calves; where he was the only child that dared stick his fingers in the cows mouth so it would suck on them; I watched and nearly barfed. I stood by in bewilderment knowing full well I birthed this child but realizing we couldn't be more opposite in this very thing. I stayed far, far away from the cows and breathed through my mouth the entire time; while he plunged deep into the hay, breathed in the manure and relished in the experience. Here are some cute pics I got from the outing though.
Okay so halloween in the States is a CRAZY time of year! I can't believe how busy we were last week with parties and costumes and candy! However, we did manage to have an amazing amount of FUN! After all the school parties we decided to throw one of our own which included a campout as well! We will post pics as soon as our good friend and photographer Darrell sends them our way! The following day we finally went trick or treating after 3 years! The kids loved it, even though it rained on them! Here are a few pics of our halloween costumes this year:
Our Rylie Bear, a beautiful princess; we only wish she behaved like one!
Before I had children I had beautiful hair. Hair that I totally unappreciated. It was full, long and naturally curly. But with each child I have born my hair gets straighter and straighter.
So totally feeling ugly, one day I desired that curly hair to return. I went to the salon and after some shocking looks from my request to get a perm; they finally consented. 3 hours later, I was left with a massive mushroom shaped head of curly hair. I left in horror at the HUGE mistake I had just made. There are many reasons why 80's fashion is terrifyingly disgusting, and the perm is one of them. Now as I try to cope with the days until my perm (gag) settles down it is back to pony tails just as it was before this horrible mistake was made. And just to prove I am not the only one who dislikes this hair, and that small children do know how to lie; this was a conversation Harv and I had with Carson the other day.
Harvey was trying to encourage Carson to get dressed. As he was attempting to explain to Carson how awesome his pants were Carson declared, "No they are not! They are ugly!"
Harvey quickly replied, "They aren't ugly son they are cool pants!"
Carson, "No, they are not cool, they are very, very ugly."
Harvey, "Son, what do you mean they are ugly?"
Carson, "They are ugly, like CURLY HAIR ugly." And then directly looks at me.
Harvey (laughing now), "So you think curly hair is ugly?"
Carson looking straight at me, now realizes what he just said in my presence, "No, it isn't ugly, I like curly hair."
Yea right!!!!!!!!
When I see someone out running on a beautiful fall day or even on a rotten horrible snowy day I get a tinge of jealousy. How I long to be feeling that freedom of the road. Just me and my thoughts and no interruptions. I love the smell in the air as you run with that slight breeze blowing your sweaty smell into your nose (yes, really I do). I love how I feel after the run, the accomplishment of a good run and the feeling of healthy lungs and a strong beating heart. I am always reminded of the gratitude I have for the ability to run.
But even more than the day-to-day run I love the races. I love the atmosphere of the race. The nervous feeling that trickles through your body and the adrenaline rush as the gun goes off and like cattle your herded through the starting line. I love the thoughts that pop into my head as I feel I am about to give up, those thoughts urging me forward, encouraging me onward; the only time I as a woman give myself any credit.
At the moment my desires for a good run have been willingly put on hold. They now consist of me walking while pushing Rylie in the jogging stroller and as I find that downhill slope I pick up the speed to a slight jog just so I can feel that pleasure of the pounding pavement.
But this last weekend I was able to pass the torch (for just a few more months) onto my oldest daughters. This last weekend they ran a race. It was one designed especially for children. I encouraged Madison and Savannah to run this race. Madison's age group ran a 1/2 mile and Savannah's age group ran 1 mile.
As the girls waited for their age category to be called I could sense the anticipation they were feeling. I became almost giddy with excitement as I watched them at the starting line waiting for that gun to go off. It was as if I could visibly see the adrenaline kick start them as they began their race. As we waited for them at the finish line nothing could give me more pleasure than to see their tired faces come around the corner. As they heard their family members cheering them on I felt within them a spark of that adrenaline come back as they picked up speed to finish strong.
Yes, for that moment I was able to feel and enjoy all those feelings I feel during my runs and races. And it is okay to live vicariously through them as it gave me so much pleasure to see their happy and proud faces, and to hear them articulate just how proud they were of themselves and how much they look forward to the next one.
I was so proud of my daughters that day. I was proud of the goal they set and the goal they achieved. Job well done my ladies!!!
My Girlies right before the race
Savannah and her running club at school
Madison at the starting line (can you see her?)
Madison after the race with her trophy
Savvy finishing strong; Maddie ran out there to encourage her on
The Girls at the end of the race, pooped out but very happy and proud!
