Once There Was a Snowman, Snowman, Snowman...

We had a little storm last week, I guess it was big enough to get Brad out of work (if the wind blows enough, they shut everything down here). Appearently, a mini tropical storm-type thing will do the trick. The pleasures that come with a small storm are imense; work shuts down early, we get rain storms (my friend even got her slip and slide out because it works even better in the rain!), a bit of lightening (don"t worry, it was far away from the slip and slide!), and snow!

We decided to make the journey up our mountain after church on Sunday. To get ready for church was quite an accomplishment! We left the house with church bags and books, lunch bags, changes of clothes, about 10 pairs of jammies per child (the only warm clothing they own besides jeans, which were in the bag too), socks and lots of baggies and rubberbands (this was for my mitten invention-socks on hands with baggies on top with a rubberband holding it all together. Baggies shoved in your pants too...worked great!), along with 3 boogie boards. Neadless to say, we had a full carload.

When we got pretty close to the top, we pulled over for a minute and Kaili was so excited, she left her shoes behind, in the toasty car! She is definitely a warm blooded child!

Work at it!

I loved some of the quotes by Elder Oaks in this week’s lesson! He talks about helping a marriage last and avoiding long lasting arguments. His advice is great for any couple at any point in their relationship!

He said: “Don’t treasure up wrongs, reprocessing them again and again. In a marriage relationship, festering is destructive; forgiving is divine. Please for the guidance of the Spirit of the Lord to forgive wrongs, to overcome faults, and to strengthen relationships.”

He also said, “The best way to avoid divorce from an unfaithful, abusive, or unsupportive spouse is to avoid marriage to such a person.”

Most would say, “Uh, duh! But obviously, 50% of the population didn’t take this advice!

This quote was also a great one! ”We should realize that a good marriage does not require a perfect man or a perfect woman. It only requires a man and a woman committed to strive together toward perfection.”

I am so pleased to know that I should not be expected to be perfect. This is good, because there is about 4 loads of laundry in my bedroom that has been there for the last week. I know a perfect person would have had it folded before bringing into the room, but since I don't need to be that perfect person, racing scooters with the kids again this afternoon is A-okay with me!

One pie, Two pies, Three pies, Four...

Ah ha! I found it! Without a link to My Blog page...I still found it! I'm so pleased with myself :-)

I am Internet-less, at the moment. When you move, you are supposed to switch over your Internet, which takes about 5 minutes. But if the cable connection is turned off, you have to start over from the beginning. This process takes about 3 months. Actually, I'm not even sure about that time frame, because when I called to make the appointment for Roadrunner to come back out and hook it up again, they didn't even give me a date, they said, "We'll look at our schedule, and when something opens up, we'll call you." Can you believe that! I might be moved out by the time I get my Internet line hooked up again.

Needless to say, we don't have the Internet. "How," might you ask, "Am I able to do my INTERNET class?" Well, not very easily...right now, I am borrowing Joanna's computer, and between this and my iPad, which is wonderful, but oh so limited, I have gotten through, kind of. I think about half of my assignments over the past few weeks have not been turned in. Can we blame that on the holidays, or kids, or computers, or just life in general...I think those are all really good excuses!

Well, our Thanksgiving was great! I made about 10 pies (the question is NOT, "what did you make?" The question is,"What did I NOT make!") I did not make a peach pie. :-)

I also make rolls. My Grandma's recipe-yum! I ended up making 5 batches, so we still have bread coming out of our ears, but it's so good! As I was kneading, I noticed I got some dough in my ring (the ring was actually Grandma's wedding ring, I asked for it when she passed away). I thought about all the times Grandma must have made bread, nearly every day when she was younger. I thought she must have gotten dough stuck in her ring when she wore it too. It was nice to remember her. She always made the most delicious Thanksgiving dinners!

Kaili also stepped on another bee last week, apparently, she is not allergic, which is nice. Auntie Amy put some baking soda on the sting and it made it all better, literally! Kaili was riding the scooter about 2 minutes after she was stung. It must be like peeing on a jellyfish sting...the chemical reaction does the trick! I will have to put that in the back of my brain for future emergencies.

This week for school, we had to interview 2 people about the stages of life they were currently in. I asked my mom and my Grandma Donna. I asked them what was hard about now, what was great about now and what was their favorite part of life? I wanted to post what my mom said, because it made me a little teary and I think it's worth remembering. She said:

"I loved all the stages. I know you'll think that is trite. But it's true. I loved nursing in the night and holding the little tiny baby fingers and touching their face that was so soft. I loved tickling little girls and having Christmas ready on Christmas morning. I loved seeing the first steps and seeing the first drawings and hearing the first words. I loved singing with you in the kitchen when you were about 4 years old and singing 'The Lord Needs Valiant Servants' and dancing as we sang. I loved going skiing as a family at Lake Tahoe and riding bikes at Sun River and going to Rockaway and doing an Easter egg hunt at the beach. I love all my girls right now. I love sitting in the kitchen and talking our heads off with Dad in the other room going crazy with all that girl noise! I love going shopping like to Black Friday this week. I love talking on the phone and hearing all about your family and you and the things you love, like reading. I love exercising with Janelle and getting hugs. I love picking up my grand kids and getting big sloppy kisses. I love taking German with Janae and getting to try out our latest phrases. I love getting some 'sons' finally as you guys get married. I just love being a mom. I really do.

Love, Mom"

Awww, Mom, Love you too!

P.S. My pants are getting too tight, I need to stop eating pie for breakfast, and lunch, and dinner, and dessert, and midnight snack...Hmmm, but really, there couldn't be a worse time to try to diet, or at least eat resonably... I guess I'll wait for the new years resolutions to take place, just like the rest of the world :-)