{Please send SNOW}

It's COLD . . . actually, it's FREEZING! Literally.  It did get above freezing today but the windchill was still in the 20's . . . even when I went out this afternoon.  I love blankets and staying warm and watching my sweet kids bundle up.  I don't ever want to be an empty-nester.  

Although I have 8 sisters, I think it's nice for India to be an only girl in the family.  I get a permanent BFF and . . . well . . . I don't have any competition . . .

until Raja joins the party!  He is definitely India's BFF!

Landon is SO fun and the little boy in him is alive and well.  He won't want to hear me say that but I love his deep voice and his little boy smirk - so glad he kept that.  It gives me hope that he won't leave home too soon.

Keaton is NOT cold.  He is serious about his P90X and the smile after a good workout is proof.  I know that this process will help him develop the self-confidence that comes from doing HARD things.  I made him a countdown chain.  Yeah, it's a bit "elementary school" but I can tell that it really means a lot to him.      

Cold can be fun . . . our snow-skiing trip in December is all a wonderful memory now.  Why can't we have SNOW when it's cold?

My fun loving Landon is growing so fast!

Isn't the snow beautiful?  Perhaps we shouldn't get this much snow in Texas but since it's cold, it would be oh, so nice!

Yesterday was COLD and RAINING and it made me wish for snow.  The cabana would be beautiful with snow!  If it's going to be cold, please let us have ONE snow day!  The sad cabana is ready for sunshine and a pool party but would be happy to have us get the fire going and bundle up inside it's beautiful surroundings to enjoy the snow.  No one wants sit and visit in the COLD RAIN.

Keaton and Landon know how to have a lot of fun dressing for snow weather.  It reminds me of the funny times they would dress themselves when they were little.

Sir Thomas, it's no wonder why I love him!  I'm definitely having a happily ever after.

Yes, this last picture with Keaton definitely makes me want a SNOW day.

{Two Days in a Row!}

A few more hours and another day spent with my blog.  I'm learning!  My dear sister Cari helped me with my background. (Thanks Cari!)  She's so wonderful.  I was SO excited.  AFTER adding the background, I decided to stalk some of my favorite blogs and discovered I had the same background as another amazing sister!  (Sorry, Sarah.)  Feeling rather competent after my initial success I decided to try again.  My second background instillation was successful!  Perhaps I'm actually competent after all??  This led to more blog stalking and my second discovery . . . I looked like a copycat AGAIN!  (Sorry, Janene)  I could NEVER make the background look as gorgeous as she did so . . . third times a charm?  Hopefully!  At least I learned an important lesson . . . finish stalking my favorite blogs FIRST.  I'm pretty excited that I got this background up!  (Crazy me.  It would NOT copy and paste so I typed in the code!)  I'm not totally in love with this background but tonight it will stay until I find something that makes me truly HAPPY.


I'll try another post soon and see how it goes!  (Step 2: add some pictures and a bit of LIFE!)

Slow & Incompetent . . .

It's true.  I'm slow and incompetent when it comes to blogs!  I want to update my blog and have spent hours just trying to get a new background.  Even after successfully seeing the new background appear . . . it disappears!  Perhaps blogging doesn't think I'm enough fun to keep around. Sigh.

I often think in blogs as opposed to musicals, which used to be normal for me!  (I wonder if anyone else speaks to themselves with a British accent straight from Lady Jane's Pride & Prejudice?) Sadly, when I begin to post a new adventure I become discouraged because . . . I'm incompetent. I need some serious blog tutoring!  It doesn't appear to be that hard, alas, I fail in my quest.  This time, I will not fail!  I will post and I will call my dear sisters - all 8 if I must - to get HELP!

My children are growing and I will need my blog when I am old to remember how much FUN they were!  I have man-teens now, a lovely soon-to-be-12 year-old princess and a real man-child!  Nolan is 20!  Sir Thomas is still the love of my life and I don't want to forget that either!  In spite of being slow and incompetent, I am HAPPY and life is oh, so GOOD.

P.S.  My blog and my computer aren't communicating tonight. :(  My blogsite isn't looking hard enough to find the picture I uploaded for this blog.  So I am a bit boring . . . and incompetent! 

January 2009: Durango Colorado

We caught a flight to Durango Colorado on New Year's Day for a little snow skiing / snowboarding at Purgatory.  Life is wonderful when you have amazing friends!  Nolan and I met Scott Allen with his twins, Matthew & Lindsey, when we went to work at The Sunflower House in Peru.  They quickly became wonderful friends and we discovered that they are also VERY generous! They live in New Mexico and own a condo across the street from Purgatory in Colorado and guess who they let visit . . .

Nobody complained about doing dishes here . . . even Keaton!

India waited for opportunities to go upstairs . . .

Nolan's specialty . . . eating!

Landon was always ready for family time . . . a movie!

The snow was falling and it was beautiful!  India played out in the snow for hours and decided to make her very own snow palace!  We all wanted to help however, Thomas proved to be the expert.  All dad's should know how to build palaces for their princesses!

The guys discovered that there were other ways to entertain themselves and us . . .


1.  Build a snow fort.

2.  Build a mini snowman.

3.  Look innocent after throwing snowballs at others.

4.  Juggle.

5.  Sled downhill - sometimes using sleds and occasionally . . . NOT!

And then, there was fun together time . . .

The boys had a wonderful time snowboarding while Thomas & India skied.  I skied some and even took lessons but bad news:  I'm still not a pro!  (I didn't expect anyone to be surprised.)

The snow was falling heavily during the first few skiing days.  The ski pictures resembled television static and the days were overcast, however we were having a fabulous time and the boys are excellent snowboarders while India & Thomas impressed me with their skiing abilities.  This wasn't our first trip but they are excellent occasional snow birds.

The last day was beautiful, complete with a blue sky and I was wanting to try snowshoeing!  I have the best family in the world and they all agreed to go with me!

We got our shoes and off we went . . .

I wasn't a professional at hiking up the mountain either!  We actually all slid down a few times!

Nolan made it look easy!  He blazed a trail and eventually, with his help, we all made it up to the top and had a magnificent view!

What a great way to start the year!

(P.S.  Thomas tied the camera to a tree, set the timer and ran to join the family!  He made it and we have a great family picture to capture our top-of-the-mountain memory!)

Girl in a Whirl!

I'm all on my own and attempting to post on my blog! Is this working or could I be wasting my time??? I've been searching for at least 5 minutes to locate the right button that will allow me to post new things and now that I think I'm on the right page . . . I may never figure out how to get back again! However, I'm hoping to make a girl in a whirl attempt at summarizing our life. For posterity's sake, I'm going to rewind to January 2009 and make a whirl wind review of the ultimate year!

Nolan has been safely deposited at the Provo MTC in the new and improved "kicked to the curb" fashion! We have anticipated this moment for the last 19 years and it came much faster than we could have imagined. I am so thankful the Lord inspired me to educate my children at home because I realize I have few regrets or thoughts of missed conversations I wish I'd had. What haven't we done?!?!

1. Adopt a million pets . . . check!

2. Dissect creatures for biology . . . check!

3. Attempt to adopt children . . . check!

4. Become expert practical jokers . . . check! . . . . . . .

We also foresaw this moment when our family dynamics would be changed for . . . well, forever. I hear a 21 year old return missionary is a very different character than the 19 year old I last saw. As we contemplated how our lives would change, we made a plan to create as many fun memories as was humanly possible this last year! I think we were very successful!!

I will now attempt to post this entry, figure out how to add pictures and blog 2009!