Soldier Hollow

It was a chilly but gorgeous day when we arrived at Soldier Hollow on the Friday morning between Christmas and New Year. I'd been wanting to try out their tubing hill for years.

Once we were checked in and tubes acquired everyone was towed to the top.

We then chose a lane, held on tight, and enjoyed the ride!

The kids had a great time racing each other down.

Abby claims she came in first.

Brian must have been in on it too. He's there on the far left.

I took a token "selfie" to prove I was indeed on the mountain as well.

We had a really fun morning going for speed and going for air. I loved when we would slide down in groups of two or three. I usually ended up screaming or laughing all the way down.

Travis and Kellie went down together for one of their last runs of the day. I wish I had recorded their skilled take-off, but at least you get a taste of the action.

December Days

December and the old year are quickly coming to a close.

2013 has taken these two down very different paths than the ones they anticipated.

Travis, too, has had a significant let-down, but my kids are OK and generally happy and I couldn't be more proud of who they are and who they are striving to become.

Travis built a roaring fire on Christmas Eve.

Evidently he is the master pyrotechnician at all scout campouts.

The kids insisted on roasting marshmallows. They had a tough time keeping a comfortable distance from the white-hot flames.

Christmas morning we woke the kids up around 8:00 am, texted Grandma S. to come on over, ate homemade popovers, and opened presents. In the afternoon we ventured to Grandma W's and visited with lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins.

(Grandma W.)

(Mark and Susan)

(Heather and Kellie)

Smiles for 2013 and smiles for the new year to come!

Dear Rachel (#19)

Dear Rachel,

It is now officially winter, but we've had snow on the ground for weeks.

During the day the sun's radiation usually burns the snow completely off the drive way and creates impressive icicles on our eaves that have pulled down the top row of our Christmas lights.

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Our fall birthdays are now complete. The gifts you sent the kids were so thoughtful and perfect. Travis opted for cake bites from The Sweet Tooth Fairy for his "birthday cake". The red velvet ones are his favorite.

I can hardly believe your "little" brother is now 18!

Abby's eyes . . . typical. For HER birthday, she chose her usual--your dad's homemade rice pudding.

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The church Christmas party landed on Abby's birthday this year AND she had a soccer game so we partied all day.

It seems that no matter how old you get, if crayons and paper are placed in front of you, doodling must occur. Abby drew a man with a mustache

while Travis drew a floating car.

They were both so thrilled with their artwork that when the party was over, they dismantled the "tablecloth" and taped their creations to our refrigerator. It's been a while since we've had kid art on our fridge.

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It's hard to believe that it has been almost a year since I was called as our Stake Young Women's President. Did I ever introduce you to these amazing women I get to work with?

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We will really miss having you and David here for Christmas this year. At least, we'll get to see you this summer. For now, enjoy this snowy view of home from our front yard.

 We love you LOTS and LOTS. Merry Christmas!

Love,
Mom

Orange, Blue, White

"Orange, Blue, White. T-Birds, let's fight!"

For some reason this cheer was running through my head in the middle of the night a few weeks ago--some time close to 3 am to be more precise. I'm sure it had something to do with the fact that I have been attending about eight basketball games a week for the last two months.

Travis (#54) is on Timpview's JV and Varsity teams. JV games typically start at 3:30 while Varsity tip-off isn't until 7:00 on both Tuesday and Friday nights.

Abby (#13) is on a Bantam league with other 8th grade girls. She plays Mondays and Saturdays.

In between Travis' games we are usually watching the Varsity girls play--hopefully Abby's future team. This makes for long afternoons and evenings, but honestly, there is nothing I love more than watching my kids' games.

My photos are often blurry due to the speed of play and dim light of a high school gym. However, despite this irritation, I still appreciate the "outtakes" I found in my attempt to capture the action.

Our season is officially over now, but I suspect I will still be humming . . .

"Hey, hey you! You know what to do. You've got to rock with the orange and roll with the blue!"

for a while yet.

The Snowball Fight

We've had snow on the ground for a good month now. When it was freshly fallen my "kids" all had an epic snowball fight in our backyard. They started by building opposing snow forts, but soon left their fortifications for hand-to-hand combat.

They were pretty worn out by the battle's end, but, oh, did this mother's heart smile!