Christmas with the Lakes....Winter Wonderland

The Lakes didn't even own a snow shovel, so Cody headed out to Home Depot to pick one up (the only store in town that had one)! They had a chance to do a little service by shoveling for some elderly families in the ward.

The kiddies had so much fun sledding and making snow angels!

This is from a nice Asian family in the neighborhood that built this cool igloo! We stopped and they were excited to let us take pictures in their igloo!

Last Saturday we loaded up the car, and headed to the Northwest. We left at 3:30 am in hopes to just barely miss the big winter storm hitting Portland, Saturday late afternoon. Well, we were so lucky to not hit any bad weather until the Columbia River Gorge. It was a little scarry going through the Gorge and lots of cars were pulling over to chain up. Cody took it slow and steady and even though it took us 2 hours to go through, instead of the usual 1 hour, we still made it to the Lakes in 12 hours! Cody drove the entire time...what a wonderful husband!! The kids were so excited to see their cousins, and they have had so much fun playing in the snow everyday! For those not familiar with the NW....it seldomly snows here, and when it does, its usually just an inch or two. They maybe have 2 or 3 snowplows to cover the whole area! So the streets were packed with lots of snow and it was very slick and icy. We've been lucky to leave the kids with my 12 year old nephew Griffin to babysit a few times while we go to the gym, and went to see the movie 7 pounds, with Will Smith, which was very good!

Christmas with the Lakes

these are called SLED RACES and we had to run pushing 25 lbs weights down the gym

this is where we flipped these huge tires over all the way down the length of the gym...it was no picnic!

At IKEA, we loved these cute little "show rooms". This is a 335 sq ft apartment...darling!

Kiddies waiting patiently for their dinner @ Spagetti Factory

Visiting with Santa & Mrs. Claus

We started the morning off with a killer boot camp class @ 24 hr fitness (where Stacey works). I guess there is usually about 40 people, but the "big storm" and all, there was only about 12, so the trainers had a lot better chance to yell at us when we tried to take a little break! We then took an outing to IKEA and put the kids in the little "kids playplace" that they have, while we shopped around for 30 min. They loved the playplace! Cody and I had never been there before and only covered probably 1/8 of the store. Cody says I should NEVER be left alone in a store like that because there is so much little stuff that you think you NEED! I only bought some cute little bowls, cups, & plates for the kids....all under $8! We then headed over to Spagetti Factory, where Todd treated us to a delicious dinner! Thats the first time my boys have been there & they LOVED the mizithra spagetti! Even Jaken, my "non-eater" ate his whole plate! We were lucky enough to see Santa & Mrs. Claus there!! The kids got to talk to them for a few minutes and remind them of some things they were hoping for! What a treat to see Mrs. Claus....she doesn't get to leave the North Pole very often because she is so busy cooking and cleaning for all the Elves!

Christmas with the Lakes

Last night we headed out to the Trailblazers/Nuggets basketball game. My old friend Ryan Gibson that works for the Blazers hooked us up with suite tickets! It was a lot of fun, and I even got to see Stacey get some drunk guy kicked out of the suite! The picture above is Todd & Cody checking out the Blazer dancers.....nice!

Last Winter

Our new home in Perry

Here are just a few pictures of our new home. I didn't take ones of the boys room, my bath, the office or the basement (soon to be finished!)

Fun with my Family

Cody was so great to stay with the boys for 4 days while I went to Las Vegas with my parents and sisters to watch my Dad receive the LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD from The American Ambulance Association. We also went to the amazing production of Phantom at the Venetian, shopped, ate yummy food, played games late into the night, and hiked in Red Rock country.

Elfie Last year my friend, Tiffany Jensen, gave me this idea:

Get an elf and write a note to the children of the house explaining that Santa has sent her to live with them during the Christmas Season to watch their behavior and report back to Santa. Move the elf around the house so it looks like she is watching them from several different locations. Once in a while, have a treat next to her in the morning when they wake up and explain that Santa is rewarding them for good behavior.

Having done this for two years now, I can vouch for the fun of this idea. The boys love Elfie, and look for her when they wake up! If Jaken is being bad, Caleb will remind him that Elfie is watching.

He's Back!

Jaken was leery about the Man in Red at first. He sat on his lap but would not lean into him or even look at him. When the sucker was produced, he became more of a fan. Caleb was happy to sit on Santa's lap (my dad) and share his one-item list. Santa spoke with many accents, I lost track at six! It proves he is real because he knows so many languages.

Everyday Appreciation

We spent another week-end at a cabin in Bear Lake with my family, and I read a thought- provoking book by Richard Carlson entitled: DON'T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF, and I really liked this thought...Everyday, Tell at Least One Person Something You Like, Admire or Appreciate about Them.

How often do you remember to tell people how much you like, admire, or appreciate them? For many people, it's not often enough. In fact, when I ask people how often they receive heartfelt compliments from others, I hear answers like "I can't remember the last time I received a compliment." "Hardly ever, " and "I never receive them."

There are several reasons why we don't vocally let others know about our positive feelings toward them. I've heard excuses like, "They don't need to hear me say that--they already know," and "I do admire her, but I'm too embarrassed to say anything." But when you ask the would-be recipient if he or she enjoys being given genuine compliments and positive feed-back, the answer nine times out of ten is, "I love it." Whether your reason for not giving compliments on a regular basis is not knowing what to say, embarrassment, feeling that other people should know their strengths and don't need to be told, it's time for a change.

Telling someone something that you like, admire, or appreciate about them is a "random act of kindness." It takes almost no effort and it pays enormous dividends. Many people spend their entire lifetimes wishing that other people would acknowledge them. They feel this especially about their parents, spouses, children, and friends. But even compliments from strangers feel good if they are genuine. Letting someone know how you feel about them also feels good for the person offering the compliment. It's a gesture of loving kindness. It means that your thoughts are geared toward what's right with someone. And when your thoughts are geared in a positive direction, your feelings are peaceful.