Extreme Makeover-Ski Edition

Last year I took up cross-country skiing. I had tried it once or twice the year before and liked it and then Clark gave me a skis for Christmas. I found a group of ladies that ski faithfully every week and I joined in with them and brought along Cheryl and Colleen (when she wasn't studying!) It has turned out to be a great thing. However, you have to know how I view the cold...I don't like it! I don't want to be cold, especially my hands and feet. So I did spend a little more money and bought ski socks and gloves. Love the ski socks, no gloves are good enough if you fall often enough and get them wet. I always ski with at least two extra pairs of gloves...and yes, I have gone through all of my dry gloves in one day of skiing before! So, great skis, warm socks and whatever other snow gear I could find at home. Let's see, usually a pair of the boys underarmor, my bib overall snow pants, my warm shirt, and one of the boys snowboarding coats where big and bulky is the style. Skiied that way all year! Yes my friends politely told me I was probably going to get hot, but I had it so I used it. Sometimes I did have to tie that bulky coat around my waist, but I was warm! I said I liked my gear because when I wiped out (often!) I had waterproof clothes and lots of padding. See my friends ski light, or so I thought by looking at their clothing choices...no way those cute lycra pants and vest will keep you warm! Technology in clothing is an amazing thing! The right fabric, no matter how thin, CAN do the job!! But still it was too overwhelming to go to the store and try to choose an "outfit". So I skiied all year in my style of clothes. Well, here we are and it is ski season again. I had to pass on the first couple of trips being too overwhelmed with Christmas shopping. But they called me again today and I decided to go. But I really wanted to match so I took Jordan's snow pants and coat and two pair of gloves and went to meet my friends. Of course, I was way overdressed again, but at least it matched this time! We got up to Sundance and they assured me I would roast if I wore that coat today...(I think they just didn't want to be seen with me...) I was given a lighter jacket and we went into the "Yurt" to get our passes. Well, there in front of us was a 40% off sale rack with some clothes. One of our ladies had bought these pants on Tuesday and loved them so I tried on a pair. Wow! They were nice and fit well. I was still worried that I would be cold, but since it was a warmer day, I decided to try it. And I even bought a new jacket too! Big stretch for me! Lisa walked in and said something like "Wow, you look like a professional skier!" That solidified the purchase for me! So off we went to ski! Perfect day! Beautiful, clear skies, a groomed trail and warm clothes that I didn't make me feel like Ralphie's brother in "The Christmas Story"! So, if my words aren't descriptive enough for you, here are the before and after pictures!


Before: long underwear, sweat pants and snowboard pants, an insulated shirt and coat with boots and gloves and ear warmers and extra gloves in my pockets!







After: Long underwear and cool pants and my shirt and a light weight jacket!

The Clark G. Christmas Tree

Saturday afternoon while I was working on some projects for Christmas, Clark came home from some shopping. He and Timmy came upstairs with a tree for our bedroom. A couple of years ago, I came home to a fully decorated tree in my bedroom, a gift from Clark. He shopped for the tree and decorations and then brought it home and decorated it! It was awesome. The next year I put up a tree in our room. And then the next year, it didn't happen. This year, I actually stopped at two trees instead of the usual three or four, until Clark came home on Saturday! Now, he knows what size tree will fit in our room, but this tree must have called out to him and he ignored the dimensions! After some wrestling up the stairs and sawing off a little on the top and bottom, the tree fit! He decorated the whole thing and cleaned up the needles that didn't stay on the tree! Now that is a gift of love! Thanks, honey, the room smells great and the tree is beautiful! We do like to joke, though, that the name Clark G. must mean you have to have a really big Christmas tree in your house! ( If you don't know what I am talking about, watch "Christmas Vacation" and see what kind of tree Clark G. (Griswald) brings home!)

There he goes, here he comes!

Our last couple of months have been spent sending off one missionary and getting ready for one to come home! Jordan left August 19 to serve in the Auckland, New Zealand mission, speaking Tongan. He has been in the MTC 6 weeks and loves everything about it!

On September 30, we met Adam in New York City as he returned from Russia!

And the rest of the family met us at the airport!

The next day, Adam went to the MTC and met Jordan and visited for about 30 minutes.
They enjoyed their time together, both being missionaries!

Later that afternoon, Adam was released as a full-time missionary! It is great to have him home, but we know he misses his friends and his work in Russia. He quickly set up a Facebook page and downloaded Skype and has already talked to friends in Russia!

We love having missionaries! We love the lessons they learn and the service they give, and though we miss them a ton, we love the people they have become when they come home!

The Birthday Potty

August is one of the busier birthday months in our family. This year, my sister-in-law, Annie, turned 40 on August 5. I was trying to think of a fun way to wish her Happy Birthday when I remembered this story about her birthday a few years ago. Then I knew...she needed a Birthday Potty! I thought through a few options, most of them not really feasible...like delivering an "Andy Gump" to her yard or putting 40 toilets on the lawn...but I finally settled on this...a smaller porta-potty, balloons, and a sign on her front porch.




The next week was my birthday...I came home in the afternoon to my own Birthday Potty! My birthday potty was filled with treats, including my own potty hat! (If you don't know about the potty hats, refer to the link above!) When I called Annie to thank her she told me she wanted a picture of me in my potty hat, so I had to oblige!



After dinner, I decided that Jocelyn needed a potty hat too, so we took a picture together!


Jordan's birthday was three days after mine, but no Birthday Potty for him! He did, however, enjoy several dinners out as we tried to make up for the next couple of years of not celebrating birthdays with him...maybe next year he WILL get a potty hat!!!

Fourth of July-Bonus!

Finally, we have the video! On the Fourth of July we have a neighborhood "Cul de sac of Fire" to compete with the local "Stadium of Fire". This year we competed well! For the pre-show, we enjoyed a very talented dance band while everyone gathered and visited. We began with a speech from Governor Herbert, enjoyed the tribute to Michael Jackson by the 550 S. Dancers and, our personal favorite, The Bonus Brothers. Between performances we saw lots of fireworks, and finished with Carmen Rasmussen (American Idol finalist, Season 2) singing the National Anthem. It was a great way to celebrate the 4th! So here it is, in its raw, uncut form! The filmmaker was unaware of the change in stage setting, so hold on, we will get around to a front few very shortly! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCZ8X1ibNFA

A View From Down Under

For Mother's Day I received a new camera that I wanted. One of its features is that it is waterproof to 3 meters. Actually using that feature is a little scary! Who is comfortable sticking their camera underwater on purpose?! But today I did it! It is summer now and time for a new header on my blog. I was so glad that the rain left with the arrival of summer, well, the day after anyway! In case you don't live in Utah, at least 15 of the 23 days of June have had some amount of rain! It has been cool and cloudy almost every day! Today the sun was shining and we went swimming so I decided it was time to take a picture! You can see how well it worked by looking at my title picture. Pretty cool, huh? But I tried adding Jocelyn's feet and got this cute picture too! It wasn't what I had in mind for the title, but it was too funny not to share! Welcome Summer and please stay for a very long time!

For Feet's Sake!

When the title of your blog is "Footnotes" and you have a foot of note, you should share it! So, in preparation to run a 5K at the Draper Days Festival with Colleen, I decided I had better add running to my walking schedule. So I set off on Friday. I was literally 3 steps from finishing my run when I stepped on a rock and rolled my ankle flat to the road. OUCH! It nearly brought tears to my eyes! So I limped the last couple of blocks home and took some pain killers. After about an hour, it felt better. I could walk with no problem and went about the day. By that night, I could see that there was swelling around my ankle bone, but no big deal. Saturday, I looked down at my feet and realized my whole foot was now swollen. Being on it all day had caused it to swell, I guess. Today isn't much better so I thought I would share a picture so everyone can see my big, fat foot! Don't worry, it doesn't really hurt except for being tight from the swelling and I am sure it will be better in a few days. For those who like things by the numbers, there is a 1/2 inch difference in the circumference of my feet. Just thought I'd share that foot-note!

Journey to Middle Earth!

The mission papers arrived and after waiting a few hours for family members to get off work, Jordan opened his mission call! If you are a "Lord of the Rings" fan, then you know that according to the movies, New Zealand became Middle Earth. If you aren't a fan, then I will tell you that Jordan will be serving in Auckland, New Zealand speaking Tongan. He is very excited! He studied Samoan last year in school and Tongan is similar. He will report to the MTC (mission training center) on August 19. Here would be a good place to insert some Tongan saying, but I don't know one, so we will have to leave that part out!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

I was doing my usual thing today when I realized it was June 1, Dad's birthday! I thought about him and missed him and wondered what he would think about all of his family now! I decided he would love today's technology! He was always aware of the newest advances in his lifetime. I think he would have loved the internet...all the news he could want all day! I even think he would have embraced blogs and Facebook! If my math is right, he would have been 75. He would have loved knowing all of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, but actually, I know he does know them and that he is enjoying Claire and Lily right now! So, in honor of Dad, I pulled out some pictures to share with you. Happy Birthday, Dad!

My Favorite Missionary (move on over Adam!)

JORDAN HAS FINALLY FINISHED HIS MISSION PAPERS! After this Wednesday evening Jordan will have completed all the paperwork and interviews required to serve the Lord. We're very sad to see him go, but happy because that means Adam's almost home! We'll keep you posted on the call, but until then take your pick of the listed options and we'll see how you do. All those who pick the winning answer (the one that matches his call) will receive a dinner on me to the MELTING POT accompanied by Jordan and myself (there can be MULTIPLE winners!) After you vote, please leave a comment telling me where you picked (the poll doesn't show who voted for what). Also, if you pick other, pick a place and tell us. Good Luck!

My Favorite Cougar!

BYU lost in a heartbreaker tonight! It was the semi-finals for the National Championship in Men's Lacrosse and BYU lost to Chapman 10-9 in overtime! It was a great game to watch, close from the 2nd quarter until the end. Although he did not play in this game, Jordan was spotted on TV two times. After the game, Clark texted our condolences and said, "but you looked good on TV." Jordan's response: "I always do!" A fun side note, after Tuesday night's game when BYU beat Oregon, Jordan said he saw "a miniature Cory Jenson" (friends from California who now live in Denver.) Someone called his name and he looked up and saw Ken Jenson and some of his family. They had come to watch the game and came over to say hello. He was excited to talk to them. He was glad to be able to talk to them again tonight. We have had a fun time following BYU Lacrosse this year and no matter the outcome...win, lose or tie...Jordan will always be our favorite Cougar!!

Sweet Treats!

This week I had a baby shower for a friend. It is her first baby after many, many years of waiting and I wanted to something a little different. We have had a couple of bridal showers in our ward recently, so I was trying to decide on dessert. We ended up with cupcakes! They seem to be pretty popular, but at $3.50 and up I knew I would have to make them. I found some recipes online and from Cheryl and this is what we ended up with...carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, white with raspberry filling, strawberry with strawberry frosting and chocolate with one of three frostings: chocolate, strawberry or white. This was one of those things that I wanted to do, but wondered if it was too big of a project. I just decided to do it so I made 3 kinds of cupcakes on Sunday and 2 more on Monday morning. Cheryl came over Monday afternoon and helped me frost them. Thank heavens for her wicked decorating skills! It really went pretty fast! In the end, I totally enjoyed the whole process and it really did turn out the way I pictured it!!

Here Are Some Pictures

When we first saw the beach in Cayman I thought, "It looks just like the pictures in the travel magazines!" The water is as blue and the sand is as white as it looks in the pictures. Since a picture is worth 1,000 words, I will use lots of pictures and just a few extra words to show you what we did! Some of you have asked to see pictures...

The view from our room the first evening...every sunset was equally spectacular!

One day we just played in the water...there were jet skis, kayaks,
a banana tube ride behind a boat etc. We also rode jet skis to
different snorkel spots one day, very fun!

Went to church on Sunday...great branch!

The resident iguana by the pool!

The view from my chair!

Swimming with stingrays!

Up close!

We went to town to shop...

We visited "Hell" on Cayman Island!

We played with the turtles at the turtle farm...

One last look at the beach! I would definitely like to go back here!

Anyone want to come with me???

If The Sun Won't Come To You...

Then you go to the sun! There is still sun, even if we haven't seen much of it in Utah. We found it here in Cayman and it is great! I've never seen bluer, warmer water and softer beach sand. The people who live here say they are sorry for "the weather". Apparantly the wind is stronger than usual and there are some clouds and somedays a few minutes of rain! I guess that is "bad weather"...not to me! It is fun to relax and we celebrated our 26th anniversary. Thank goodness for great kids who can hold their own at home with extra help from the grown up "kids". Thanks Romney and Scott and Jordan! I can't download my pictures yet so I guess I'll have to post some of those later. I mostly thought it would be fun to send an international post instead of just from my computer in the kitchen, like I usually do!

Something New!

I am learning how to scrapbook on my computer! I bought a book, took a couple of classes and have been trying to figure it all out. Romney did a page before me and between the two of us, we can usually figure it out! If you look on Romney's blog you can see her pictures of Jocelyn and her chocolate rabbit on Easter. Here are my first (well, second, I made one in a class with just a couple of pictures on it and lots of help!) scrapbook pages of Jocelyn and her bunny. (If you want to see it bigger, just double click on the image...in case you didn't know you could do that!)

From Russia With Love

Adam sent us a package this week. It was filled with stacking dolls! We didn't even know they were coming, just a very fun surprise. The first picture is the traditional dolls. The second picture is a set you may not have thought of before! We think they are pretty cool!

Ladies Who Lunch

I was going through this week's pictures and found this one from lunch with my sisters. I wanted to blog it because I had a great time on Wednesday. We had rescheduled from the week before and then it was crummy weather. But we had a project to work on and wanted to get it done, so we got together. It wasn't anything way out of the ordinary, but we laughed alot and had a great lunch. I didn't think I "had time" but who really every has time? Or is all we have time? I just know that when it was all done, I didn't have time NOT to do that once in a while. When I decided to blog about it I remembered, for some strange reason, a song called "Ladies Who Lunch" and thought it was a perfect title. Then I looked up the lyrics...we are not those ladies, but I still like the title! So, if you are fortunate enough to have sisters, call them up and have lunch...if not call me or some other great friend and take the time to go to lunch!

Promises of What's to Come...

Monday morning it felt like spring had arrived! I took a picture of my crocuses and even caught a bee doing his work to help the flowers! The rest of the week was gorgeous and I was loving this glimpse of spring...then the winds changed and now it is cold...

A few weeks ago, we took the family and went to the Draper Temple open house. I loved having all of my family (except Adam, because he was excused) in the temple with me. It filled my heart to overflowing to all be in the Celestial Room together and I loved this glimpse of eternity... Then today we all went together to the Dedication services. Again, my heart was full...another little glimpse of Heaven...I know that the winds will change and my glimpse will fade away and I will have to face more winters in my life, but all the little glimpses I am given assure me that spring will return, Heaven will come and it is all worth the wait!

Drum Roll, Please!

I know you have all been waiting for the big news, so wait no longer! We would like you to meet our new car! We call it "Willy Wonka, the Amazing Chocolate Car!" Thanks to Ed (you know, ED-the Exceptional Difference at Ken Garff Porsche, Volkswagon, and Audi in Orem) we scored a great deal. (If you need a car, he can help you, too!) Everyone seems to be happy with our new family member and the kids are all cheering that it is NOT a minivan. We are leaving in the morning for a quick trip to Idaho to visit the grandparents. On the way, we will bid the van goodbye after we check and make sure we left nothing important inside and retrieve 300 lbs. of rock salt that we had in the back for weight against the winter snows! We have arranged to drive during the bright daylight in hopes of avoiding another series of unfortunate events! Wish us luck! This time we WILL watch for deer!

I've Been Tagged!

Not in the gang sense...no grafitti here! My friend tagged me with the following activity...

Here's what you do...

1. Go to your my documents/my pictures
2. Go to your sixth file
3. Go to your sixth picture
4. Blog about it
5. Tag 6 people

So here is my picture. Actually, I cheated a little. I went to the sixth file and sixth picture, but it wasn't a great one so I went to the next sixth picture and this was it and I loved it. It was Valentine's Day 2006. Everyone came over for dinner and we were all together! We haven't all been together for 18 months so it was a fun picture to see and remember!

So now I tag Romney, Heather, Jessica, Charlie, Dale and Cheryl (do you have separte photo files???). I let Colleen off the hook because of school...Sorry guys, but I only have a couple more readers and they were already tagged! Thanks, Deanna for giving me something to blog about!