jan.  2013

oh, how much we love traveling and seeing new things.  and how much we love watching the amazing race, and the adventures those teams go through.  so when a friend mentioned tryouts were in denver, jarom and I knew we had to go for it.  yes, there are probably billions of teams trying out, but it was just fun being together.

we found out they wouldn’t let teams line up until 5am, so we left our house a little after 10pm the night before, got there a little after 11pm, and somewhat went in and out of consciousness until a little before 4am.  One team got out of their car, and went and sat by the front door of dick’s sporting goods.  so i think all the rest of us in our cars were keeping watch.  once I started hearing car doors opening and closing, I told jarom I was heading out.  he still wanted to keep sleeping, but I wouldn’t have it.  by the time I grabbed our chairs to get our spot, we were the 7th team in line, which actually , was awesome!  by the time the doors opened at 10am, the line wrapped around three sides of the building, and there were over 200 teams in line.   some super cool lady bought bags of breakfast burritos, and just shared them with everyone-so cool!  the news crew came, and interviewed the first couple teams, and teams throughout the lines, but we didn’t make the cut.  probably too normal looking.  but it was still awesome!

once inside, we signed a waiver, and headed over to one of two areas where the camera crews were set up.  we originally wrote a little rap song about us, and alex helped, but we read they didn’t want you reading anything.  so we winged it, and our minute went so fast, i don’t remember much of what we said!  but it was fun being there with my honey!  we had so much fun watching a funny sitcom, and chatting, and staying warm for the six hour sidewalk wait.  great memories!

they will have callbacks in february for those they would like to interview again.  that would be awesome, i’m not going to lie!  if it happens, i’ll post.  but honestly, i’m not holding my breath, but still think how awesome it would be!

jan.  11.  2013

jarom’s company put up everyone in a room at devil’s thumb ranch…a most amazing ranch in the middle of ski country.  absolutely gorgeous!  since we have four kids, more than everyone else, they paid for us to have our own little cabin for the night.  too cool…felt like little house on the prairie.  the heat came through the floors, we had one small sized room which was the kitchen and living room, two bedrooms, and a bathroom.  it was great, my kind-of camping!  the company paid for the game room for the night for the kids, which had it’s own little bowling alley, and other games to play, plus pizza and movies for them.  and then they had a really nice, elegant buffet in a huge rustic room with a fireplace for the adults’ dinner.

after all the festivities, we headed back to our cute cabin.  we love to play mexican train with the kids, we play it all the time, and it made it’s way to our cabin’s table, while we played multiple times while drinking our hot cocoa and eating treats.  we slept in the next morning, and loaded up and headed back home.  it was too cold to shoot the bows and arrows we brought, or to go sledding…you can see in one pic it was -20 degrees!  that was a first for me and the girls!  nevertheless, it was cozy and fun.  thanks trace 3!

december.  2012

nadia has wanted to take ballet for as long as i can remember.  i finally found a place close enough, and had enough energy to be able to take her.  she has absolutely loved it!  we were able to sit in on her christmas performance the kids put on for the parents.  it was so lovely!

after her first class, she cried to alex that night(they share a room), that she was the only one who didn’t have long hair.  oh, so sweet.  it’s growing, but very slowly.  i think it’s because her brain is so smart, it doesn’t leave enough of anything to let her hair grow.  she’s reading really well already, and has been reading for about a year.  i’ve taught her some lessons, but she’s been doing a lot of it on her own.

p.s.-photos taken with iphone across the room…a little blurry.  sorry.

december.  2012

we had a lovely christmas party, 30 women showed up!  that’s amazing for our small ward.  we had briscuit, homemade artisan european breads, chocolates to take home, and a cookie exchange with our own pedestal platters to take them home on.  we also had a beautiful harp and vocal performance.  it was lovely, a lot of work, but lovely.  we did the jar story, where everyone brings a gift in a jar, and while the story is told, you have to hand it off left or right.  it was fun, but i still think white elephant is a lot more fun!  it was a lovely evening.

i was excited to make the cookie platters, since i had loved it last year in georgia at a christmas cookie exchange i had attended.  my cookies for the cookie exchange were chocolate in between ritz crackers, dipped in belgian dark chocolate, and sprinkled with andes mints.  my gift in my jar was a hand stamped necklace i had made, that said, “love your journey,” with a sterling silver chain and a pearl.  it turned out lovely.

december.  2012

alex turned 14 this year, and to celebrate, she invited a friend to go ice skating on our super cool evergreen outdoor lake, and then to yummy pizza.  ok, as i’m blogging this, i still haven’t made her birthday cake.  wow, pretty bad!  she got a bit of a spending spree for clothes, since she desperately needed it, and the best part was, we finally figured out her style and what she likes.

christmas was completely laid back, and i wouldn’t post the picture i had of me anyways, in my pj’s without makeup, but it was nice.  our kids make gifts for each other, they don’t spend any money, and they were awesome!  the things they got from mom and dad and santa were nadia-polly’s and such.  camden-bow and arrows and spy stuff.  madison-bow and arrows and vintage working typewriter.  alex-a ukulele.  we usually don’t do anything traditional for meals, but i’m thinking next year we will…and only like on christmas eve…still enjoyed the no cooking on christmas, that was awesome!

the day after christmas, jarom’s brother, wife, six kids-one is married with a newborn, drove up from arizona, so we had 10 people come crash with us.  it was so much fun.  we took them to the evergreen lake, and went ice skating with the beautiful mountains, lodge, and stars all around.  pizza was involved, movies, skiing for some, and lots of snacks, and metal stamping for necklaces.  we enjoyed their visit a lot!

we went over to some friends’ house and not long after, the youth left to go to the dance.  this was alex’s first youth dance! jarom and i were able to visit until jarom had to leave to go pick alex up an hour away.  so i hung out visiting, the kids played, and then we met jarom and alex back at the house after midnight.  this is the first year jarom and i weren’t even together to ring in the new year together in 15 years.  but, it was a shift in our lives as our oldest is now doing more adult things.  am i old enough for this?

nov. 2012

well, being married to a techy, you’d think i’d never have techy problems.  but, i think i’m last on the totem!  jarom accidentally deleted all my photos, including our france trip and most of the holiday pic’s, but he says they’re backed up somewhere, and i hope he’s right!

thanksgiving, was a lot of fun.  jarom’s sister julie and husband and three kids came, but came unknowingly with the flu.  so 10 out of 11 of us were throwing up and other stuff.  but it just made us stay home and relax, and julie and i made all sorts of fun crafts!  iron on vinyl shirts, stamped metal jewelry necklaces, soldered necklaces, wool needle felting, and alex made scarfs.  we managed to get in pedicures too, right before all the barfing started, so that was good lucky timing!

oct.-nov 2012

i can’t even remember what month this happened, oct or nov, but our friends that just moved to spain, got onto “house hunters international.”  they were filming the back story, and did some filming at our house.  but you don’t see the house, they just filmed out on the deck.  it was a fun adventure seeing them get to do their story.  well, vance’s story…nicole and kids were already in spain, and filmed their side of finding their home over thanksgiving.  we went to lunch with the film crew, it was an interesting day!

jan.  29.  2013

it’s taken me awhile to get back into blogging.  maybe because the demands of life are relentless.  so many things going on, but i wanted to post this great picture of us arriving to denver.  remember, it was just me and four kids, about 12 pieces of luggage including backpacks and bags and suitcases.  it feels like a dream that we were even there, but i’m so glad it wasn’t.

jarom had flowers for all of us, the car filled with balloons, and a sign he had made to welcome us home.  i can’t even say how amazing this wonderful man of mine is.  what a blessing, i’m grateful for him everyday!  it was great sleeping in my own bed, especially after traveling for over 24 hours.  home sweet home!