Skiing in Brianhead

Last fall, the Young Men held an auction to raise some money for Scout Camp.  We bid on a cabin in Brianhead and won, along with the Chugg family who joined us in the rental.  The kids were out of school on Monday for a Staff Development Day so we spent the weekend enjoying the winter weather up north.

We arrived Friday evening and settled into the cabin.  It was really nice with four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and two small playroom lofts upstairs; a big kitchen, bathroom, master bedroom/bath, and great room with a wood-burning fireplace on the main level; and a family room with 2 sets of bunk-beds, a big television, laundry room, and an organized mudroom on the basement level.  It was fun, cozy, and perfect for two families with 9 excited children. 

All of the boys, except Cole, slept downstairs in the bunk-beds where they had unlimited use of their DSes

We woke up Saturday morning to stormy weather--overcast, and snowy all day long.  We had a quick breakfast and hit the slopes by 9:00 a.m.  We enrolled the kids in ski school--Carter, Hanna, the Jakes, Katelyn, and Carlee.  They were full so Clark skiied with the adults, and Geneva actually relaxed at the cabin with Josh and Cole.  She made a wonderful dinner and even got to read a book and take a nap!  Lucky girl!

The kids were a bit bored in the ski school.  Unfortunately they were stuck with some kids that were scared to go down the hill so they spent a lot of time in and out of the ski lodge between snacks, bathroom breaks, and crying kids trying to gather up courage.  After lunch, they did hit the slopes and practice their technique.  They did really well and enjoyed it.  When the ski school ended, they skied the hills with the adults and were pretty excited.  They were sad that the day ended around 4:00.

Playing Uno while waiting for their instructors

Joe wasn't feeling too well that day so he spent most of the day sitting around the lodge and watching our kids in the ski school.  Clark and I stuck together skiing on the hills and he did really well and caught on to my amateur teaching quickly.  I haven't been skiing in about 20 years so we were on the same skill level.  We had a great time snow-plowing down the easy hills together but by the end of the day, we both had gained some confidence so we tackled a harder and longer run.   Since Joe was sick, Geneva was relaxing in the warm cabin with the younger ones, and I was too slow, pro-skier Jared hooked up with the scouts from our ward on the other side of the mountain for some harder runs but came back after a couple of hours declaring that the weather was worse over there.  He pulled Carter out of ski school in the early afternoon and they stuck together for a few runs.  After a couple of hours, Carter and Clark were skiing off on their own with Jared and I trying to catch up!

The Jakes (Stuart on top, Chugg on bottom)

Hanna

Katie

Clark

Carlee

Clark

Everything closed about 4:00 so we headed back to the cabin for some hot chocolate and a sweet pork taco bar for dinner.  It tasted so good after a long day out in the snow!  We all relaxed that evening talking, reading, drawing, playing video games on DSes, and alternating games of Neon Leon and Samurai.  Our kids get along so well and they had such a great time giggling, wrestling, and teasing with each other.

 Samurai (I look like I'm about to break out in song...)

We woke up Sunday morning to beautiful blue and sunny skies.  It had snowed all night long so there was about 15 inches of snow on the ground.  It was incredible!  After a delicious big breakfast, we let the kids go outside and play in the snow.  The driveway hadn't been plowed so there were huge snowdrifts and fresh snow for stomping through, making big bootprints, snow angels, and sled tracks.  The kids had a great time climbing on top of the snow drifts and sledding down into the driveway.  Joe took Clark and Carter up the mountain behind the cabin and made their own sledding hill.  There were a lot of snowmobiles driving around the cabin so Joe asked one of them to drive up the mountain to make a sledding track.

Carter

Clark

Jake C.

Carter

Jake S.

Josh

Geneva

Jake waving from the top of the snowdrift by the front porch

Cole helped Jared shovel the driveway to get the cars out

Joe sledding down their man-made sledding hill

Uh-oh!  Losing control

Wipeout!

Clark's turn

Clark and Jake made a smaller sledding hill that wasn't as much of a hike up the mountain

Geneva and I had a lot of fun taking pictures of the cabin, trees, mountains, and the cute kids all snuggly in their snowsuits with big grins on their faces.  After playing outside for a while, we came in for a family home evening lesson that Geneva had prepared in which we talked about character and which characters we want to be like, either from the scriptures, or modern-day Church leaders.  The kids drew pictures of who they esteem to be and they are going to be some great characters and examples for future generations!  Then we enjoyed a yummy potato bar with chili and all the fixin's.  We played more games that night--including Settlers, English Rummy, and Mexican Train.  After putting the kids to bed, the adults stayed up later playing some more.  It was a great Sunday.

Look at all that gorgeous white snow!

Cole

 

Josh made snowcones

Carlee

Jake S.

Giggly girls--Hanna and Katelyn

My biggest kid of all

Monday morning we again woke to beautiful, sunny weather.  Geneva and I took Carter, Hanna, and Katelyn skiing while Jared and Joe took the rest of the crew tubing.  The weather was warm and perfect.  The girls and I stuck together and Geneva took Carter on the bigger hills.  Katelyn was a bit more timid than Hanna so we were a little slow but they enjoyed just being together and gabbing all the way up the mountain on the ski lift.  It was cute to see them encourage each other when they were frustrated and teary. We even hit the longer, harder hill and they made it down slowly but surely.

The tubers had a great time also racing down 7 snow-packed sledding lanes and dragging their tubes back to the rope tow.  Cole couldn't go with an adult so he sat in the tube for a couple of hours while Jared just pulled him to the tow and sent him down the hill over and over again. 

After a full morning of tubing and skiing, we headed back for a quick lunch before packing up and cleaning the cabin.  When all was cleared out and we said good-bye to a fun stay, we were on the road back home but not before hitting Texas Roadhouse in St. George for a delicious steak dinner and the best melt-in-your-mouth rolls with raspberry butter.    A fabulous winter weekend with some fabulous friends!  Thank you, Chugg family, for a wonderful time!

Valentine's Day

A few days before Valentine's Day, I got a heart attack on my front door from the Activity Days Girls.  They surprised the Bishopric and Primary Presidency with love notes and hearts exclaiming how cool we are and how much they love and appreciate us.  It was so cute and such a nice surprise.  

Surprises for our husbands from the "Skinny Dippers"

For my Eternal Valentine

For my Sweet and Sassy Valentines

For my Rough and Tough Valentines

That evening, the Chuggs invited us over for their annual "Red Valentine's Dinner".  It was fun to join forces this year for a spectacular spread.  Geneva had the table decorated so cute and served pink rice with really yummy sweet and sour chicken, strawberries and apples, and pink lemonade.  I added pink noodles, rolls with strawberry jam, raspberry Jell-O salad, and chocolate fondue for dessert.  Everything looked so divine and we were all so hungry that we just dug in without taking any pictures of the food!

Great friends and video game gurus--Carter and Clark

Sweet singers and girly girls--Katelyn and Hanna

Couples in Love

Carlee was happy to taste-test the chocolate fondue before anyone else could.

 

After dessert we heard a bunch of laughing and when Geneva walked upstairs, the boys were enjoying some static cling!  Our kids have so much fun together.  They match up in ages and get along extremely well.  While these wild boys were jumping on the couches and making their hair stand up, Kate and Hanna were in Hanna's room listening to music, talking, and singing.

Yes, this kid is almost 12!  What a nerd!

Skinny-Dippers

Since living in Las Vegas, I have noticed a lot of puns and word plays on signs, in commercials, on billboards and around town.  Some of my friends have even picked up on it and started their own.  Ashley has her own business (Mutze by Ashley) with a knitting club called "The Hookers", a cute quilt store (Quiltique) in Henderson has a "Strip Club", Whitney named our photography group last year "Passion for Flashin'", and JaCoy came up with the "Skinny Dippers" for us to make dipped treats for our husbands for Valentine's Day.  It was so much fun and we came home with some really great yummies to share with our families. 

JaCoy ordered a huge, heavy brick of delicious chocolate and she and her mom, Cheryl, put us to work in the kitchen making turtles, peanut butter cups, nut clusters, chocolate covered almonds, pretzels, and cinnamon bears, toffee, macadamia nut clusters and caramels.  Everything was homemade and delicious including the panini sandwiches, fresh fruit, and salad for lunch.  I think the "Skinny Dippers" will be an annual tradition and next year we will have cute aprons to match!

Peanut butter cups

Nut clusters

The creative master-mind with a newborn baby, JaCoy

Jen and Melissa having way too much fun dipping chocolate

My newfound absolute favorite, chocolate-covered cinnamon bears

Homemade toffee (the best of the bunch)

We even tried chocolate-covered broccoli and it was great!  Everything tastes better covered in chocolate!

Some of the "kitchen help"  (Missing:  Melissa and Missy)

New Season

Clark started his new baseball season with tryouts the same day as my Lasik Surgery.  Amber took care of my kids and also took pictures of Clark at tryouts with her new camera.  He really wanted to be on the Angels team but is a San Francisco Giant.  Good luck this spring, Giants!

New and Improved

On Saturday, February 5th, I finally got up the nerve to get my eyes operated on with Lasik Eye Surgery.  I have dreaded thought about this day for several years.  I knew that I wanted to get it done when I was done having children and when my eye prescription wasn't changing.  Fortunately for me, my eye prescription hasn't changed in about 6 years.  I have worn contacts since I was 16 years old but have had glasses as a back-up also.  I got some new frames when we were first married but about three years ago, Carlee was playing with my glasses and broke the frames so I did the "nerdy look" and taped them together on the side with masking tape.  I only wear my glasses in the morning to drop my kids off at school (Hee Hee) and at night to read before going to sleep but Joe was giving me a hard time about the tape so I decided to order some new frames right after we moved to Las Vegas.  (Yes, I have been a nerd for three years, although others would definitely argue longer.)  We placed the order and some new glasses were going to cost around $400!  I decided that I would cancel the order and put that money toward Lasik.

Two years later, I was still wearing contacts and my taped glasses.  We went to dinner with some friends and started talking about it.  Our friend announced that he had just gotten it done 6 days earlier and was raving about it.  I have had many friends that have done it and all have said the same thing.  "It's the best money I have ever spent!"  "You will love it.  Just do it!"  "It's the best decision I have ever made!" "You'll regret not doing it sooner!" And I knew that they were right but I am a scaredy cat regarding things out of my control and especially surgeries.  I knew that I would be that tiny percentage that would have a complication or go completely blind!  Joe and I discussed it on the way home from dinner and after listening to all my worries and concerns, he put his foot down and told me that he would leave me if I didn't do it!  I told him that my eyes weren't worth the risk so he better start packing! 

Since my husband felt so strongly about it, I called Lasik of Nevada a few days later (I still had to think about it) and went in for my consultation.  The consultation was free so I had nothing to lose. They told me that I was a perfect candidate--young, healthy, strong corneas, steady prescription, etc.  After the consultation, they pulled out a calendar with some available dates.  I knew Joe's schedule and some of the dates would not work so that he could come with me.  And then she announced that they do surgeries on Saturdays!  So I scheduled the date and asked what the latest time would be to back out.  I texted the date to Joe and it was for 9 days after my consultation.  I think he was more excited than I was.

Joe gave me a blessing before we left and I was ready to do it!  I arrived and they checked my eyes to make sure we were good to go.  I hadn't been wearing make-up or contacts for the last week so we were all set.  We met with the doctor and he explained the procedure and the post-op care.  I sat back down in the waiting room and about 10 minutes later, they called me and I was first!  Joe watched from outside the operating room with a silly, excited grin on his face.  He was so happy to see me get tortured!

I laid down on the chair and they gave me a stuffed caterpillar to hold.  They numbed my eyes so that I wouldn't blink, taped one eyelid shut, and put the little speculum in the lids to hold my other eye open.  I remained calm and told myself to keep breathing while I watched a flashing red light above me.  The doc told me that I would feel some pressure and the light would disappear for about 10 seconds.  I didn't feel anything but saw the lights moving and get blurry and then everything went black.  He calmly counted and told me that the light would reappear after about 10 seconds.  I waited for that light to appear and then there it was!  Then they took the laser and cut the corneal flap.  The sound of crackling and popping with a nasty smell was a bit interesting and could cause some worry but I was prepared.  Then he taped that eye shut and did the next one.  The whole procedure took less than 10 minutes.

When I sat up, things were blurry and since I have high expectations of everyone and everything, I asked him if that was normal.  I had expected to see perfectly clearly when I sat up ;)  He explained that it was and my vision would slowly improve over the next 3 months as long as I used my eye drops and followed his instructions.  He looked at my eyes in the microscope and said that everything went smoothly and looked great.  Then I got some really cool, dark shades to wear for the rest of the day and some clear goggles to wear at bedtime for the next two weeks.  They were to protect me from my husband during the night so that he wouldn't accidentally hit me or cuddle me too much.

Joe and I headed home.  He kept asking me to read road signs and look far ahead but I was supposed to keep my eyes closed for the next few hours.  We had to stop at the hospital for him to round on a patient and during my wait, my eyes started watering like crazy.  That was expected with possible stinging or irritation but it was a little ridiculous.  Tears were streaming down my face and my nose was running.  That is why they tell you to go straight home, take a sleeping pill, and sleep the misery away.  Two hours after my surgery, we arrived home (after making two more stops) and I immediately took a Tylenol PM to sleep off the rest of the watery eyes.  Luckily, I didn't have any pain, stinging, or the feeling of irritation at all. 

When I woke up about 3 hours later, it was completely silent in my house and Joe had taken the kids out to dinner.  I just laid there in the dark trying to go back to sleep.  I woke up again about an hour later to the commotion of my family arriving home and the smell of my Red Robin barbecue chicken wrap.  Red Robin, Yum!  My eyes had stopped watering, there was no pain, I felt great, and I could see much more clearly through the dark shades of my sunglasses.  It was awesome.  After eating, I got ready for bed and went back to sleep for the night.

The next morning was Sunday and I had a post-op appointment, so while Joe took the kids to church, I actually drove myself back down to the eye center.  It was so great to be able to see things without the hassle of contacts.  Dr. Rothman said everything looked fantastic and when they performed the eye exam, I could see 20/15 in both eyes and was tied for first place with the best vision from his Lasik patients the day before.

I now can share my testimony of the joys of Lasik eye surgery.  It truly is a lifestyle change and an improvement.  I don't need to worry about contacts falling out of my eyes when I'm water-skiing, tubing, four-wheeling, running, dancing, or wrestling with my family.  I can see which child comes into my room at night or in the morning.  I can see the clock in the middle of the night.  I can see my husband's goofy facial expressions as he's teasing me when I am across the room from him.  I can see things more clearly outside.  I can read road signs and street addresses without having to squint.  It is fantastic!  I agree wholeheartedly with all of the opinions of friends and acquaintances that have had Lasik for years.  It is a lot of money but worth every penny and I do regret not doing it about 6 years ago.   Cheers to Lasik Surgery and my finally getting up the guts!

Four-Wheeling

Our friends, the Hathaways, took us four-wheeling at the Amargosa Sand Dunes and we had a blast.  The kids had so much fun driving their own four-wheelers.  There was a little bit of a breeze and it was overcast some of the time so it wasn't too hot or too cold.  We took out a picnic lunch and enjoyed some yummy snacks and s'mores over the fire.

Clark, Kate, and Jake had been four-wheeling with them before so they were old pros at driving them around the desert.  Carlee had never been and once we got her on one, we could not get her off.  She started off riding with Joe on the big one but then wanted to ride her own.  I tried to sit behind her and let her drive but she kept pushing me off so that she could drive all by herself.  When she took off, I was freaking out.  She was going so fast and I didn't know if she would even be able to steer.  I kept imagining her flying over the handlebars and hitting her head on a rock, or crashing into one of the other kids, or being run over.  She was a maniac taking the turns sharply and driving so fast.  I had to turn my head away so that I didn't see her.  She was making me so nervous. 

They had two 50's, and two 90's for the kids so they had to take turns riding.  Carlee was very possessive of hers and there were many tears shed when it was someone else's turn.  She could have ridden that thing all day and all night if we had let her. 

Here's Carlee all by herself

Katelyn and Audrey did get lost at one point which was a scary experience for them.  They had followed the dads out to the big dunes and rode for a while but then decided to head back to camp.  Mike pointed the way back but the girls took a wrong turn and headed in the other direction.  When Joe and Mike got back, they asked where the girls were but we thought they were with them so Mike took off on his four-wheeler to find them.  About 15 minutes later, he came back with two girls and two dirty, tear-stained faces.  We had no idea that they were lost.  After giving them hugs and making sure they were all right, we all started giggling picturing those two girls huddled together on their four-wheelers crying with their helmets on.  The fact that they were lost wasn't funny but the way they looked sure was cute.  Baby wipes for the sand dunes are a must!

Jacob was a wild man, speeding around and not really paying attention to where he was going.

Clark was cautious and loved riding the hills of the dunes with the adults

Here's Katelyn. 

 

Evan, Carlee and Ava are pushing the coveted four-wheeler back to camp after it ran out of gas. 

The girls also had their first experiences using a port-o-potty behind the Hathaways' trailer.  They were disgusted as they sneaked behind the trailer when the boys weren't looking.  And of course, my boys loved just using the dirt several yards away as their bathroom.  We drove home with exhausted, dirty children that were begging us to go again.  We had such a great time and are so thankful for Mike and Jackie being sweet and generous enough to take us out there and let us enjoy the day with them.

Welcome 2011!

New Year's Eve was spent with our traditional party and fondue dinner with friends, including the Whites, Aikeles, and Bodilys.  Joe cooked up some great steaks and shrimp and we had all the fixin's of salads, French bread, roasted potatoes, fresh veggies, and crackers for cheese fondue and fresh fruit, cream puffs, marshmallows, and pretzels for chocolate fondue.  The food was fabulous and we had a great time playing Bunco with the kids, talking, eating, watching movies, playing games, blowing horns and toasting in the New Year with sparkling cider.  Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures because we were having so much fun! 

I love the start of a new year.  Even though I love the holiday season, I love packing away the Christmas decorations and putting my house back in order.  I love that things slow down and nothing is scheduled.  I love re-organizing closets and rooms.  I love junking the old and finding places for the new.  I love adding fresh new labels and storage bins to keep things organized.  I love setting new goals for myself and my family.  I love setting up new chore charts and incentives to keep my kids on track so we have a happy, organized home and family.   I love starting fresh.

For Family Home Evening, we sat down and made our New Year's Resolutions for each of us personally and as a family.  Everybody gave suggestions on what we needed to work on as a family and then we talked about all the ideas and put them to a vote.  The five we decided on were:

* Reading the scriptures at 6:30 a.m.--This one was a hard one for me.  I am not a morning person so I was not thrilled to wake up four children to read 2.5 hours before they needed to be at school.  But to accommodate my husband so that we can read as a family, we have to get up early.  It has been a great thing for me and the kids are doing really well at getting up.  It's actually a great time because they are sleepy enough that they don't wrestle or bug each other while reading ;)

* Family Prayer both morning and night--We do great at night but not so well in the morning.  With our scripture study in the morning, we also have prayer.

* Weekly planned Family Home Evenings--We usually have family home evening, but sometimes they are rushed or are not planned in advance.  This is something we are all thinking about and working on as we take turns planning the lesson.

* Maintaining a healthier lifestyle--We all make sure we exercise regularly and eat better and more nutritious foods.  There are always the exceptions but as a whole we are trying to eat more healthy.  Sweet Saturdays are the days that we get to have a yummy dessert or go somewhere fun to eat.

* Picking up after ourselves--Since we have moved into our new house, there has been a problem with some family members leaving trails of items all over the house--backpacks, lunch boxes, shoes, socks, blankets, papers, books, toys, etc.  Everyone is working on picking up after themselves and utilizing the organizational shelves and bins that Mom has so lovingly placed strategically around our home.

Some of the personal goals that we discussed and are going to help each other with include:

*Working out everyday
*Getting clinic notes done on time
*Praying together
*Studying scriptures together
*Using a patient and loving voice
*Be on time
*Go to bed early and wake up early
*Attend the temple once a month
*Stop ugly scream
*Don't talk back or use naughty words
*Ride my bike
*Don't ignore Mom
*Keep my room clean
*Stop biting nails
*Practice the piano without being told multiple times
*Use time wisely
*Use a quiet voice
*Stop arguing and fighting over silly things
*Run faster
*Get strong abs and hit a lot of balls in baseball
*Be a good helper to Mom
*Put toys away

I have to admit that our family constantly rides the New Year's Roller Coaster.  We do really well for a few weeks and then we head downhill and then we re-group and go back up the hill trying to achieve those goals and resolutions.  My main focus and hope is to turn our roller coaster into a New Year's Train and stay on a level, steady course travelling across 2011.  My justification is that things come up and there are circumstances or exceptions that arise but if we can start those good habits and be straight and steady as we go along, our goals can be accomplished and we will have a great year.  Welcome 2011, I see good things to come!