Today is Purple

For the last 6 months Kelsey has been telling everyone that her birthday is on Purple. Well - - TODAY IS THE DAY!!!! (Well - the 22nd was the day) She got an all Purple outfit.

How the time has flown by.

BABY 1 or 2 months old

4 YEARS OLD

We had a fun filled day planned. I subbed in the morning, so Kelsey went to Aunt Julie's house. Then I picked her up for lunch with Grandma and Aunt Jan (the other birthday girl). Kelsey was so excited... When I scooped her out of her bed to get ready for the day at 6:15 am, before her eyes were open she asked, "Is it my party?"

ALL DAY BIG GIRL!!

All ready for the day

On the way home after lunch.

We asked her what she wanted for dinner - - she said, "Cake". so we had cake and taco soup for dessert. It was a very fun and Purple day!

Snowmobiling

The first weekend in Feburary we went with Grandma and Grandpa Alger, the Johnsons, and the Busaths to West Yellowstone for a fun time snowmobiling.

This was the first time for our kids.

KELSEY

AUSTIN

AUSTIN AND SYDNEY

ALLYNN

KELSEY AND THE DAD

THE WHOLE FAMILY
The Dad, The Mom, Allynn, Sydney, Austin, & Kelsey

We all had such a great time, that we are now saving for two days of snowmobiling next year!!

14 years

Today is our 14th year anniversary. Boy... time flies.

During the last 14 years we have...

Gone to San Jose State University in San Jose
Had a daughter
Moved to Hollister, Ca
Made good friends
Moved to Singapore
Traveled around the Pacific Rim
Gone to Disneyland
Moved back to Hollister, CA
Had another daughter
Worked for ISCS/Sun Microsystems
Made good friends
Gone to Disneyland
Worked for McWhorter's
Worked for Dishnetwork
Had a son
Moved to American Fork, Ut
Worked for DirecTV
Moved to Reno, NV
Made more good friends
Gone to Disneyland
Gone back to school
Had another daughter
Gone Snowmobiling in West Yellowstone
Worked for Microsoft
Gone Camping with family
Watched lots of kids
Worked for Integra Telecom
Moved back to American Fork, UT
Gone camping in West Yellowstone, MT
Two graduations from University of Phoenix
Gone to Hoover Dam
Gone to Grand Canyon
Gone Snowmobiling with family
And just yesterday took kids and Husband cross country skiing for the first time.

We are already talking about more adventures we would like to have this year. We love eachother and are having a great time together.

Bravestar

After posting the Bravestar clips, even my family was wondering what I was thinking.

This is the cartoon that Peter used to watch over and over and over. I remember a couple of episodes were recored on VHS so he could watch them whenever he wanted. After going to see Sherlock Homes during Christmas, we were reminded of this cartoon. One of the episodes had Bravestar battling Moriarty who had built a time machine which brought him to the future. Anyway, different things over the years have reminded us of this episode and the chant of "Moriarty is king, we much do as he com ands. Na na na na na na, Na na na na na na." I tried to find that episode on YouTube but did not. So I just posted one for a memory.

Time flies

We have been so busy and I have been so lazy.

January flew by. The girls have been playing basketball and loving it. Allynn is on a 6th grade team so they get one night a week to practice and then play a game of two 20 minute halves on Saturdays. Sydney is on a 4th grade team so they practice for ab out 20 minutes and then play a 20 minute game on Saturdays. It has been fun to watch them. Watching Allynn play has brought back all my memories of playing basketball in West Yellowstone for the Lady Wolverines. I played 6th and 7th grade and then we moved in 8th grade. Then thinking of West Yellowstone reminds me of all the other stuff we did when we lived there. I will have to share more of those memories.

January also brought lots of opportunities for Jason to interview for different positions within the company he is currently working for. He did not get the new positions, but he is becoming known by the managers and his work is being noticed. So far for three positions he is the number 2 choice. We are hoping with a little more time and experience he will become the number 1 choice. He likes the company and would really like to experience new opportunities with them. He keeps plugging along for now. The kids and I like the job he has now because he leaves at the same time every day and comes home at the same time every day. We like having him around.

January also gave Jason an opportunity to interview with a company in Sacramento. A friend of his from Reno (actually an old boss) called him to say they might have an opening for a project manager in Sacramento. So we went out for a long weekend for that interview. Over the phone the job sounded great, but once we learned a few more details, we are not sure it is the right fit for our family right now. There has not been any offer yet, and the company wants to interview a few more candidates. We are kind of hoping we don't get an offer so the decision of whether to take it or not is an easy one. They told us it would be a while before they made any final decisions. We figured it wouldn't be until March before they made any headway. I guess they were still defining the job. We shall see.

Now we are into Feburary. Bring it on.

Just because

Today I subbed for 1st grade

If you can't say anything nice...then don't say anything at all.

I guess that is all I can say about my day. Oh yeah, and I am going back for more on Tuesday. Maybe it will be like having a baby and by Tuesday morning I will have forgotten the pain until it it too late and I am in the middle of the day. :)

Busy days trying not to fullfill the deductable

I have not done too good about posting something everyday. I am sure I have had things happen blog worthy, I am just busy.

I did a half day sub job on Monday - I like those. I have not quite graduated from 1st grade (except for the one half day 4th grade - and one half day kindergarten). I am really liking 1st grade. There are three teachers from the same school that call me at least once a week. It is nice to have that one day out. I am still always nervous driving to the school, but once I am there I fall into the routine and all goes well. This week I will also be in on Friday and then Tuesday and Friday next week. I really like having the days planned in advance.

So... girls are in basketball. They love it. Allynn says there is much more running involved than she expected. (6th grade girls are playing the full court). Sydney has only had a practice so far. Not as much running yet. They are both having fun! Both girls were asked to play nice and not get hurt.

While taking Allynn to basketball practice today Kelsey informed me that she needed a ballet class where I could "drop her off... Not basketball...ballet". I guess I will be looking into 3 year old (almost 4) classes in ballet.

I posted previously about a sledding trip we took. Austin crashed into the post of a backstop. Anyway... He got a bruise and then seemed to be fine on Monday when it was time to go to school. He does not complain about any pain so we thought he was fine. Well, now he does not walk right. The Dad decided it was time to go to the doctor to make sure there is not any damage to his body we cannot see. The Dad goes to an Osteopath (for lack of a better description chiropractor/MD). This doctor did a great job of asking Austin questions about what hurts and what doesn't.

A problem we have with Austin is that he seems to remember everything we talk about - but not always in a good way. The dad and I have been talking about Austin's gait for a few days. We can see there is a slight crookedness to the way Austin is walking. We tried not to talk about it when his ears are listening because then a limp is added to the walk. The doctor had Austin do a few things which helped to determine if there was anything wrong. I am not sure if Austin walking back and forth in the small exam room gave the doctor all the information he needed, but I felt like it was a thorough exam. Then we were sent to get X-rays of his pelvis, left hip, and left knee. We should know more tomorrow.

All this brings me to the mail we got two days ago. In the envelope was the Year End EOB (Explanation of Benefits). Between The Dad and Allynn we hit the family deductible. Why couldn't Austin have had all this done before the 31st of December. I am really hoping we do not fulfill anymore maximum deductibles this year! (But if we have to... lets hit the mark by April so the rest of the year is paid for).

Let's Give'em Something to Blog about...

I am searching through pictures to find one of me that I know exists. I looked through my curtain bag. Tomorrow I will look through Julie's curtain bag. I looked through the left over pictures my mom has. I did not find the picture I was looking for, Buuuuut, I did find some lovely pictures of family and friends that would be fun to post.

Aunt Kathy posted one of me and my two sisters. I found some fun ones of her wedding. Some cute ones of Noelle and Andrea. I am starting to get overwhelmed I don't know where to start. None of them really have stories, they were just cute fun pictures. And I like to look at pictures.

Food

I actually went to Costco today - got everything on my list - and only spent $36.00.

I got...
4 gallons of milk
1 bag of 5 stalks of Romain Lettuce
1 bag of colorful bell peppers
1 large bag of broccoli
2 25lb bags of flour

I was so shocked at the register. I am resolved to make a menu and keep my food costs down.

Tomorrow night for dinner we are having Sloppy Joe's on homemade buns with salad and broccoli. It sounds good to me. I know Kelsey will eat the broccoli, Austin will eat the meat and bun, Sydney might eat the bun with or without meat, Allynn will eat all of it. The dad eats what I fix. Grandma and Grandpa... I hope they like it.

Basketball

This last fall Austin played 2nd grade basketball through the American Fork Rec. Center. He loved it. It was so nice to see him be active and make new friends. The biggest bummer of the season was that we missed the phone call about what time team pictures were, so we don't have a team picture. But we do have a picture of him in is uniform. He was number 4.

We had so much fun with Austin playing BBall that the girls wanted in on the fun. They both start this week. Allynn will have practices on Tuesdays with games on Saturday. Sydney will have a practice/game on Saturdays. I hope we have not over scheduled ourselves. Especially Allynn. Her Tuesdays will be busy - school all day till 3:30pm, then Strings from 4:00 to 4:40, then Basketball practice from 5:00 - 6:00, then Young Women's from 7:00 to 8:30.

I guess we are in the beginnings of very busy teens. But we may have found the family sport.

The New Sunbeam

I can hardly believe it but little miss Kelsey went to Sunbeams today. Last week she said goodbye to the nursery. She talked all week about going to Sunbeams. She knew the name of her teacher - Sister Schmidt. She new that Grandma Alger was going to be the substitute for this first Sunday. She woke up this morning talking about going to Sunbeams.

In the middle of Sacrament meeting, she told me she wanted to go the Nursery - not Primary. Then when it came time to go to Primary she still did not want to go. I should have taken her down the other hallway, but I didn't think walking past the Nursery would cause any trouble.

She was devastated. Huge tears as she walked by the Nursery door. And one of the teachers was in the hall greeting the other children. Kelsey and I kept walking. We got the to Primary room door and she would not go in. None of the other kidlets had a hard time going from Nursery to Primary. This was a new experience for me. I also needed to go in to sit with my class.

Sister Brown saw that she was in distress and lovingly helped her to her class. This is why we have a Primary Presidency to love and care for our children.

Once we started singing the opening song, she was fine. She even raised her hand to participate in Sharing Time, only her comment had nothing to do with the lesson. She just needed to make sure everyone knew her birthday was on purple.

Now that's the Kelsey I know. :)

Cleaning, shopping, crashing

Today we put away all the Christmas stuff. Kelsey was pretty upset when she came upstairs to find the tree put away. She got over it pretty quickly when we told her we were going to go sledding when we were done working. In fact, that got all the kidlets moving to get their jobs done. They worked quickly and efficiently to get their rooms picked up so we could go play in the snow.

Once everyone was done, we piled into the van to take all the Christmas boxes back to the storage unit and then to Costco to get a sled. Tuesday when Austin and I went to Costco they had lots of sleds. We talked about getting one at that time, but I wasn't sure if I had enough money. So we decided to come back another day. Well, today was the "another day" and all the sleds were GONE! We totally missed out. Next we went to Wal-mart since we had seen tons of sleds there, too. NOPE! All gone. Grandma Alger had already called a tire place to see if they had inner tubes, but they didn't. So our last chance was Cal-Ranch. I would consider Cal-
Ranch to be a country feed store with sections for automotive and hardware. We like the store. We find fun things there sometimes. We thought for sure they would have sleds. NOPE. The sleds were gone there too. So we looked around to see if we could find something else we could sled with.

Sure enough we found something. They were made for sledding, but they were just a flat piece of blue plastic with a hole in one end for a handle. The kidlets didn't care. They thought it would be fun.

We left the store and headed out to find some hills. We went to a park our cousins had told us about. And it was fun. Until Austin crashed. They all went down a few times. The blue plastic was harder to use than they thought it would be, but it was sure fast once they got the hang of it.

They started on the small hill and kept moving over until they were with the other kids going down a pretty long hill. Allynn, Sydney and Austin were having a great time. Kelsey didn't like the blue plastic so she found some little people around her age and bummed one of their disk sleds. That hill was much more of a gentle slop which was her right speed.

I didn't see what happened, but all of a sudden Sydney was coming over to us to say that Austin was hurt. I didn't want to have to trek over to where he was just for him to get up and want to go down again. Then we saw another parent looking down at him and felt the need to go check it out. Austin had gone down the hill and crashed into the poll of the fence at the bottom of the hill. He has a nice bruise on his left hip, and is limping around the house. I think he will be alright.

It was fun while it lasted. And we are glad we didn't end up at the ER with broken bones.

New day, New Month, New Year

I am looking forward to this new year. 2007, 2008, and 2009 were TOO hard where life is concerned. The end of 2008 was better when Jason got a job. 2009 got better when we moved and got even BETTER when I finished school. (My diploma came in the mail the other day!!)

I am looking forward to new opportunities and new adventures in 2010. I hope for more days of substitute teaching. The girls are starting basketball this month. I am looking forward to being busy with happy, uplifting things. I am looking forward to a new group of children to teach in Primary. Hopefully they will be more attentive than my own son was for me.

I am looking forward to the economy getting better, little by little. We certainly did our part during Christmas and New Years by having big FOOD parties.

I am looking forward to joining the Rec Center and have set a goal to use it everyday. (There is an indoor track. I think I can push myself to go walk around with Kelsey.) The Rec Center also has a pool and I would like to look into the Water Aerobics. I just want to feel better with less aches and pains and better breathing.

I am looking forward to the days getting longer. I am tired of the night and the cold. I have a nice sweater, so I am working on not being cold, but I would like the sun to be out more!

The one resolution I have for myself is to make sure I read the scriptures with my kidlets EVERYDAY! We have family prayer down pat. So much so that on Monday, the kids didn't have school so The Dad didn't wake them up at the usual 6:45 am. I thought they would appreciate the ability to sleep in. NOPE.

Austin: "Where's Dad?"
MOM: "He had to go to work."
Austin: "Dad couldn't have gone to work today."
Mom: "Why?"
Kelsey: "Because he didn't get me for famy payer"

So... for the rest of the week, they were woken up early - we said family prayer - and they all went back to bed. No grumbling at all.

So... Happy New Year to all. This will be a great one! I just know it!!!!

My Life in a Curtain Bag

For Christmas this year, my mom gave each of her children a pink binder. Inside the binder she has written her memories from birth to about 12 years old. It is great reading. Along with the stories, she has included the pictures that go with the stories. As she has been preparing this great gift, she has been pouring over the many boxes of pictures she has accumulated over the years. Not only of her, but of our family. As she when through all the boxes, she also sorted the pictures by child. So as a second gift, I recieved "My life in a Curtain bag".

Maybe I will share some of the stories I am reminded of after looking through these pictures.

Dinner and a Show with Austin

Tonight at dinner, we were serenaded by Austin. For some reason, this is a regular occurrence at the dinner table. We have been having discussions about not singing at the dinner table, but it does not seem to make a difference.

Anyway - tonight's song was Axel F. If you don't know what that is, it is only because you don't know the name of the song. I am sure that if you heard someone hum it, you would know in an instance. So, Austin starts singing it for some reason and the girls all join in. When they are done,

Grandma Alger says "Isn't that from 48 Hours?"

I say, "No, I think it is from Beverly Hills Cop, but they are both Eddie Murphy movies."

Austin says, "I don't know what those movies are."

I say, "They are 80's movies."

Without skipping a beat - - Austin says, "Oh, so they are in black and white."

OH, Austin.

Then last night we had issues with the kids all leaving the table and then coming back when we were having dessert. Grandma Alger clarified the rule that if you leave the table you are done eating, therefore not getting dessert. This clarification did not go over well, so the nice grandma that Grandma Alger is said, "OK - you all know the rules now but tonight you can have some dessert."

Tonight at dinner, Austin reminds us all of the rule about not leaving the table. We go through dinner (and a show) and have a lovely time. When Austin is done with his food, he stands up and clears his plate to the counter and begins to go downstairs. The Adults at the table are still talking away with no notice of what Austin is doing. UNTIL... He come running up the stairs and grabs the table and says, "I'm still touching the table."

It took us a minute to figure out what he was doing, but somewhere during his long journey down the stairs, he remembered that if he left the table, he would not get any dessert.

OH, Austin - We love you!!@!

Another Christmas Memory

Most of my childhood memories of Christmas have something to do with West Yellowstone, MT and snowmobiling. Since I was little, my dad worked for the Boy Scouts of America for the Great Salt Lake counsel. Every year during the Christmas break, groups of scouts would go to West Yellowstone to snowmobile. We were lucky enough to join my dad during some of these trips.

I don't remember a lot of details - - just bits and pieces. I remember one trip where my dad went up ahead of us and so we took the bus. I remember seeing cars stuck on the side of the roads along the way.

Another (could be the same - I don't know) we got tee shirts for night shirts. I remember wearing the shirts and jumping on the beds at the motel with the babysitter.

Just before I turned 8, our family moved up to West Yellowstone. Our parents ran the Big Western Pine Motel. The Motel is still there, but it has a different name now. I think I have more summer memories than winter after we moved there. But I am pretty sure we went snowmobiling every Christmas day (or the day after). What a great time we had.

One Christmas Aunts and Uncles and cousins came to spend Christmas with us. I remember that one because my sisters and I all got a camera for Christmas. We must have gone through 10 rolls of 110 film while they were all there. Not many of my pictures are in focus or even centered. But we sure had a good time.

When it was time for everyone to go home, we three sisters got to go home with the Wrights. That was fun. Then Uncle Ed and Aunt Mary brought us home. At least that is how I remember it.

A very tiring week

Last week I was a first grade teacher. I don't know how I got through, but I did. I have been subbing here and there for the last 6 weeks, but really only one day a week. The only reason I even have gone that many times is that I found a friend from high school on Facebook. After chatting with her back and forth, I found that she is a teacher here in Alpine. I felt a little dumb, but I sent her an email telling her I was registered with the district to substitute teach. She thought that was great and would keep me in mind if she ever needed a sub.

About two weeks later, Ms. Jones gave my number to the teacher next door to her. That was the start of my subbing. This teacher, Mrs. Bjornberg, is pregnant and needed a teacher while she had a doctors appointment. She was so organized. (I think I have blogged about this already).

Anyway - Ms. Jones then needed me to come in some days. While I was there, Mrs. Bjornberg asked if I would be interested in subbing for her class the week before Christmas break. She was due to have her baby on the 22nd of December, but it looked like the baby was going to come earlier than that. I told her I would be happy to sub for her. In the back of my mind, there was a little voice YELLING at me - - WHAT ARE YOU DOING??????? A WHOLE WEEK?????

I did it. I survived and the students did too. I actually had a lot of fun. The first day I went in early so I could read through her plans. The first item was the explanation of the PARENT CHRISTMAS GIFT which turned out to be a wood ornament that the students got to paint. WHAT??? I WILL HAVE TO PAINT WITH 1ST GRADERS????

This is not my cup of tea. I have a hard time painting with my own kids. So much so that I don't ever let them do it.

Luckily, Mrs. Bjornberg has an AWESOME assistant that comes in the mornings to help with things the students are doing. She pulled the kids back a few at a time and had all 28 students done in two days. It was great. I never had to get close to the mess, and she helped them keep the paint only on the ornament.

The other thing this class did was share different traditions their families have. Each day two to four parents would come in and share with the students a family tradition. Many were the same, but I learned about some new ones. The one I thought would be fun to do with my family is the white elephant game. Make sure to have a gift for everyone, then while reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, pass the presents around in a circle. You will know when it is time to pass the present every time you hear the word THE. Read that poem sometime - - there are a lot of THEs.

I was very thankful to have a good group of kids. For the most part. There were a few I wished would be swept off to their Disneyland or cruise vacations a few days early. But I had a good time. And have already talked to Ms. Jones about being in her class for a week in January when she gets married.

I didn't think I would like subbing, but it is working. I am always nervous during the drive there in the mornings, but I am excited and happy when I am there.

Christmas Memory

I have a vivid memory of a ward Christmas party when we lived in Holiday, UT. I must have been 5 or 6 years old. I can picture the gym full of people and stations where we did different crafts. That was the year we did Shrinky Dinks for Christmas ornaments. There was a coloring page station and the best of all, a Santa Station.

Santa sat on a raised platform. I remember having to climb the stairs up to talk to him. I remember his hands. They were so familiar. Then I looked in his eyes and knew right away who he was. I then whispered in his ear - so no one else could hear me - "I know it's you Dad. I won't tell."

Do we ever slow down?

I thought that finishing school would mean that I have more time to do whatever I want. So far that is not the case. I have just replaced school work with substituting.

I did get some fun books at Barnes & Noble. Digital Fortress by Dan Brown, Deception Point by Dan Brown, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins.

I read Digital Fortress in two days. It was nice to not have to do anything for a couple of days. But then someone complained about not having any clean clothes to wear so I had to get laundry going. Then it seemed as though there was nothing to eat even though there was lots of food, so I had to go to the grocery store. I did start Deception Point. I am about half way through, but then I decided I better get some Christmas presents done. Then a teacher called for me to substitute for her class for Friday and Monday.

After subing for the whole day Friday, I came home made dinner and watched TV. My brain was fried. At 7:30 pm I was ready for bed - so I went in and thought I would read for a little while. I got through 2 pages and couldn't keep my eyes open. I was asleep before 8. I have not done that for a VERY long time. But at 6:15 am when Special K (that is the name grandpa is testing - we are not sure if she will let it stick) came in to poke my face, I was rested and ready to snuggle with her.

Then today I went with grandma to Ross. I don't think when we started at 9 am that we thought we would be gone until 3:30 pm, BUT we did get all of our shopping done. I have all my Christmas shopping done - all that's left is to wrap. And maybe a few more stocking things, but Santa can take care of that for me!

SIDE NOTE:
I did get my grades back on my finals - - B for Geology and A for Education Class. That means I passed both classes with a B and C+ respectively.