A Christmas to remember

This has definitely been a Christmas to remember. Last Sunday morning, the power went out and our exciting week of "roughing" it began. As the temperature in our home slowly dropped, we began making plans to stay warm and entertained. It was so exciting for the kids to play outside in all the snow again. The sledding hills are great here, especially when no one is driving on the icy, snowy roads! Then we snuggled in for a long night. Monday morning we awoke to find the temperature in our house was 48 degrees, brrrrrr. The fireplace was not doing it's job, so we headed out to the store to buy a generator and a little portable heater. The problem was that there seemed to be no way to connect the generator to the furnace. We used it instead to run power to the fireplace fans to try and get the heat throughout the house. We dressed warmly and kept moving - the temperature rose to 50 degrees by the end of the day and we headed to bed.

Tuesday morning, the house was back to 48 degrees. Colby went to work and I spent the day keeping the fire going. You can just call me little pioneer woman - I had no idea how much work it would be to try and keep a house warm. I burned through a truckload of firewood, but the house was a whopping 52 degrees - Success! Luckily, I am married to a very smart man. He had figured out a way to hook the generator up to the furnace. He took a cord, cut off one end, hooked up the wires and plugged in the furnace - HEAT! I have never been so grateful in all my life (even though I was looking forward to the Marriott). Early the next morning, the power was on, but then back off again a couple of hours later. We ended up having a beautiful, quiet (no Christmas music, tree lights, etc.) Swedish Christmas dinner (we have a gas range) and Christmas Eve night. Christmas morning came and was wonderful. Santa found our house, even without any lights, and the kids were happy. I was amazed at how well the kids handled our little trial. Many of their presents didn't get delivered to our house, yet their attitudes remained positive and happy. I am so greatful for a warm house, lights and a happy, healthy family.

God Jul!

Nutcracker

Annika had the chance to dance the part of a Rosebud in her dance center's production of the Nutcracker. She loves to dance and had a great time, despite having a terrible earache. This was from Friday night's performance. It was cancelled today due to all the snow and ice. She was so upset because she loves to be on stage!

Snow!

Can you believe this snow in Portland?? We probably got 3-4 inches of snow at our house. They cancelled church yesterday (Colby was thrilled since he was suppose to speak in Sacrament Meeting!) and school today. It is unusually cold, 21 degrees, so we think the snow may stay for a while. Yea! This is a picture of our back yard. You can't even see the pool.

Happy Birthday Tanner!

Christmas Trees

Nine years ago, Colby and I were out with our friends, Thayne & Lanae, Christmas tree hunting - a tradition for the next many years to come. I was VERY pregnant with Tanner, who was due Christmas Day. Of course, we had to search and search to find the cheapest and best tree we could possibly find. We had been to so many tree lots and I was feeling so tired. My legs were hurting badly and I was having a tough time walking. Colby got the tree and we headed home, finally. It was such a great afternoon, but I just couldn't figure out why I could no longer walk at all and just needed to go to bed. Early the next morning, we were headed to the hospital and Tanner was born a few hours later. Ever since then, we always get our Christmas tree the first weekend in December. This year we decided to go out a little early since Grandpa & Grandma, and Dustin & Bre-Anna were in town.

Thanksgiving - 2008

Grandma and Grandpa Manwaring came for Thanksgiving and to help while Colby and I headed to the hospital with Arik. It was great to have them here!

Arik - the saga continues....

So our sweet little boy, Arik, has been ill since May. We are not sure what is wrong, but we are working towards helping him get well. Last Monday, he had surgery and they removed his tonsils and adenoids. He was such a brave boy and is doing so great. In fact, he even went to school and basketball practice yesterday! Here are a few pictures from the exciting day.

November 24, 2008

Before surgery...

After surgery...

The wheelchair ride out of the hospital. He was a little loopy from the morphine.

A few hours later, Annika had to snuggle because she was so worried about Arik. There really is nothing better than twins!

Saturday

When I was a little kid, it seemed like we always worked on Saturday. I remember my mom hating it (now I know that she just wanted to play on Saturday since she worked at home all week long). I am sure the tradition came from my dad and grandma. When I got married to the "yellow man" (he used to be all yellow, as in personality -- now he is mostly red, with a little yellow) -- we, of course, had to play on Saturday. Since our kids have become old enough to be in extra-curricular activities, our Saturdays are often filled with sporting events. Today our schedule went a little like this: 12:15 piano recital (for 3 kids), 1:00 basketball game, 3:30 Nutcracker dance practice, 4:00 basketball game. I absolutely LOVE being the "soccer mom". However, I think my sweet hubby would rather be swimming or skiing or hiking. But at least we were NOT working in the house or the yard!!

Hawai'i

Aloha!!

We are back from paradise and I still don't have a computer where I can download my pictures. Sorry. They will have to follow at a later date. The island was beautiful, relaxing and WARM! I love the way that climate can literally melt your worries and troubles away. Colby and I snorkled and lounged and ate -- over and over again for a week. Could anyone ask for anything more?

Pictures!!

What a hunk!

Snorkling at Hanauma Bay

Snorkling at Sharks Cove - North Shore

Here I am swimming under the waterfall in Waimea Valley.

The Laie Hawai'i Temple

Shrimp shack

our main goal every day was to find a great beach and eat good food

There really is nothing better than a great vacation with wonderful friends!

Halloween

So I still don't have *MY* laptop, just a loaner with strict no downloading rules (due to my magnetic personality that seems to break all electronics). I did take some great pictures at Halloween that will have to be posted at a later date. The kids had a fabulous time and it even stopped raining in the evening, just in time for Trick-or-Treating!

Ballerina, Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker

Ballerina, Dragon Ninja, Luke Skywalker

My Laptop

Three days ago my laptop died.... I woke up Thursday morning and the screen had some white words written on a blue screen. I followed the instructions, and it has been a black screen ever since. My sweet, smart husband tried to fix it, no luck. He currently has people trying to recover all my important *documents* (mostly pictures) from the hard drive. In honor of Halloween, we believe our house is haunted. In the past two months we have lost the following electronics.... one TV, one DVD player, three hard drives, and my favorite MP3 player (no, I do not have an IPOD --- my old MP3 player worked just fine!). Colby cannot decided if our house is haunted, or if my magnetic personality is, really, magnetic.

Soccer fun

Last night, Tanner's soccer team had a parent/child scrimmage. We had so much fun and laughed and laughed. I think the kids really loved playing against either Mom or Dad and always wasnted to be in the game when his parent was in the game. However, I am so SORE this morning. Now.... I run and strength condition, but I do not run sideways or kick a ball for an hour and my body is feeling it this morning. Sad, so sad, but mostly pathetic.

Pumpkin Patch

There is something magical about going to the farm in October. I always feel like I have stepped back in time, to the less complicated time of childhood. There is a crispness in the air, the excitement of autumn, playing in a hay maze, and picking pumpkins. The first graders had a field trip last Thursday to French Prairie Farms and we had so much fun. Here are Annika & Arik with their pumpkins. They were suppose to pick a pumpkin they could easily carry -- look at Arik, he even put down a larger one in favour of this *smaller* pumpkin.

TWISTER!

Annika LOVES babies!

Annika loves babies and always has. It is all she asks for when it is her birthday, or Christmas, or any other occasion. Colby always wants to give her something different or more exciting -- she will not hear of it. This past weekend, her Aunt Becky let her take care of little Meggin. Here are the results:

Mormor & Grandpa

Just a quick note to say we are having the best time at Mormor & Grandpa's house. We woke up this morning to 3" of snow!! The kids were so excited. It is the earliest recorded snowfall in Idaho since they began keeping records in the 1800s. Global warming?? I don't think so.

Nik, Arik, Tanner, Annika & Alex