Right Back At IT

January is kind of a tough month. December is disorienting because everything that is routine gets put on hold while we celebrate. I love that. But somehow I can't seem to get my bearings again for a while when January starts. Our first week back after the holiday we had a lot of things come our way: the start of school, parent teacher conference, end of the quarter,  Noble started Snowblitz (an after school ski and snowboard program), Jessie flew out for the Western National Roundup (horse bowl national competition) in Denver, Mike flew to meet his brothers for a weekend ski trip, and we celebrated Tillman's 12th birthday, which included his receiving the priesthood, and being ordained as a deacon.  And I got sick at the most inconvenient time - when all my backups were out of town and everything was depending on me. We made it through. (Thanks to my sister Beth who answered Mike's text to look in on me. She hung out most of the day last Saturday folding laundry, bringing me lunch and taking care of the kids. I love my sisters!)

Abner trying out Noble's ride.

Utah's Horse Bowl Team at the Western National Roundup in Denver. They finished 9th overall out of around 30 teams. Jessie is still bitter at team Mississippi for knocking them out of the second round with one answer.

The Melton boys at Brian Head. They had an awesome couple of days together.

Mike tearing it up. Later he dislocated his thumb when he collided with an unseen obstacle under the snow and took a tumble. Ouch.

And suddenly he's 12!! Tillman eagerly waiting to blow out the  single candle on his cake and open his presents. We had family over later on Sunday after the ordination (which was awesome) at church to celebrate January birthdays with pizza, cookies and an FHE lesson about the priesthood. I should have snapped a picture or two.

And finally, to get you psyched up for the new year, here's a picture of Abner doing his thing...CONFIDENT and DETERMINED. I  need this picture hanging on my bathroom mirror. Make today, this year... AWESOME!!

A Fine Day for a Blizzard

Mitch-darling, the snow man.

We had made plans with some friends to do some snowshoeing on Saturday. So when that storm rolled in, we weren't about to throw in the towel. We did, however, compromise and head for a lower canyon.
It turned out to be one of our best snowshoeing excursions to date. We decided to leave the little boys at home for this one (something we've never done...but may again, as it turned out). Grace enthusiastically volunteered to babysit. (You would think trudging through the snow in a blizzard with the family wasn't her idea of fun or something. Go figure???)

It was really coming down. We all  had to keep brushing the snow off as it piled up on our jackets and back packs, to keep from being buried in it, or getting too wet as our body heat melted it. The melting snow froze zippers and pack straps. But it was BEAUTIFUL. I kept thinking how so many people would be hunkering down indoors on such a day...and how much they were missing.

We snowshoed farther up Neff's Canyon than we have ever gone in the past...which was awesome, since we brought some sleds along, and Mike and all the kids had a nice long ride back down. It was so much fun to jog along behind them, chatting with good friends, listening to the kids yelling and laughing ahead of us.

Ang looking surly

Thanks to J. we have a couple of pictures. We didn't bring a camera, but luckily, she had her  iPod.

Afterward, we loaded up kids and gear and headed to my new FAVORITE Vietnamese restaurant, which Mike and I discovered the night before, for some warm Pho ..and the best banh mi EVER. (You've got to try it.)

All in all, it was a great day to be alive.

A Boys' Day on the Slopes and Our Past Returns

I felt bad about not posting these pictures earlier from Mike & Noble's father & son day on the slopes...more than a week ago. It was definitely worth mentioning. Here you go.

Mike had promised Noble a snowboarding day, just the 2 of them,  if his grades were up to standard. So, Noble worked hard, and 2 Fridays ago Noble was excused from school (legitimately), for a more important pursuit: a day of snow and sun with his dad. Mike said Noble was greatly improved from the last time he went snowboarding (a couple of years ago), and crossed an important threshold in his snowboarding development: HE WORE HIS DAD OUT.  Noble went all day without even stopping for food (it was a good thing Mike had a few Cliff bars on him), riding every lift and run he could get to, even tackling some blacks. The snow was great, and they made some priceless memories.

Speaking of memories...
Saturday evening Mike and I got together with some of our high school friends (actually mostly mine) for dinner. This was an historic event, as many of us hadn't seen each other in almost 20 years. Some of them I have met up with from time to time, some I had reconnected with on Facebook, and some were MIA.  It was kind of surreal because in many ways it felt like nothing was different. We seemed to have the same dynamic together as ever: the same jokers, the same edge-sitters, the same senses of humor, same mannerisms...in some ways I felt like I was sitting back at the lunch table at Bingham High School all over again. That part amazed me. Even with the baggage (and added inches) of 20 years, we could still connect so easily.
It was a LOUD, happy 3 hours. Lots of hugs and raucous laughter. I told Mike that I just felt super pleased and content watching these people with whom I shared so much all those years ago totally enjoying each other's company again. Like a family reunion. The funny thing is that back then we actually jokingly referred to ourselves as the Family Tree. That's weird.

 We had so much fun, everyone wanted to get together again soon...this time at Tadd's Splash Lab at BYU. That should be awesome.

** photo creds, Annie's phone **

Snow Weekend

So the weekend turned out a little different than we planned. We ran into some snags with babysitting so we decided that Mike would just take the older two kids skiing/snowboarding at Solitude, and that I would stay home this time with the three youngest. Mike put Noble in an all-day snowboarding class - since this was only his second time on a board. Noble wasn't too keen on the idea - I think because he gets anxious about new situations, especially the social component. Mike took his telemark skis and also his snowboard. He spent the morning skiing with Jess, and then got on his board after lunch - and did a few runs with Noble at the end of the day. Jess in that wild hat she insisted on wearing...

Noble... Solitude

Meanwhile...back at the ranch...
My bro Casey called and invited us on a little snow hike with them. So I took the three youngest with snowshoes and met them up Millcreek Canyon. The snow was packed down, but it was still good practice for the kids in their snowshoes...I didn't use mine. We had some fun sliding down some slopes there on the sled we brought. After a while Sully had had enough of the cold and started crying - so we headed back. Tillman was kind of cold and whiny - so, Grace stepped up and actually PULLED Tillman on a sled all the way back down the trail to the car. Then while I loaded T. and Sully, crying, into the car, she (without being asked, mind you) took care of packing all the gear into the back of the car for me. Wow. (That earned her a little extra cash at allowance time...)
We met Mike's Mom and Dad at Cafe Rio for lunch - and Sully downed more chicken quesedilla than the other two kids combined. Thanks Jacque and Howard...we had fun!
I realized that even a veteran parent like myself can be easily overwhelmed by three small children when alone. It made me grateful for the help my older children are to me - and Mike...and our families.

We also cut 10 inches off of Jessie's hair Saturday night -

She'd been growing it out for Locks of Love. She was pretty excited.

Next weekend looks like more fun in the snow...we're planning on a little get away to Brian Head with Mike's parents and brothers. (woohoo!)

Slow Learner

Between when our old computer bit the dust and now, our iTunes libraries/playlists, etc. have been all messed up. I haven't dared to sync the 30G with the computer even though we have lots of new music to add because I'm using it as my reference as I rebuild what we had before. Anyway, as a result my old running playlists have been lost - and that's probably a good thing because I'm a creature of habit. Now I get to create fresh new playlists. Also, in the last few months, the ancient 1st generation shuffle that I've used to run and snowboard with for years died suddenly. This also, turned out to be for the best. Mike got me a new nano for Christmas along with the Nike+ chip to keep track of my miles, etc. Only problem is, I'm slow with technology. The first time I tried it out I was annoyed by it, because I couldn't make it work right, my headphone jack was a really tight fit with it - and so I ended up messing with that the whole time too...it seemed to get in the way of just running. Since then life's been so busy that I haven't even been out running. Today Mike and I got out for a short 2-miler with the dog, and I was successful with the chip. Once I had it working right I really liked it. I should get one for Mike...he was on fire today.

Me...beet red...cooling my heals on the front porch after my maiden voyage with the Nike+

Saturday we're heading up to Snowbird with the kids. First time this season...I'm sad to say. I told Mike that we can't let this season go by without at least going once to make Jessie's 5th grade passport worth it - and he has a couple of passes to use up too. I'd like to make it to Solitude as well - it's our favorite. Life is pretty busy though - and taking 4 kids to the slopes is pricey, so we don't make it as often as we'd like.