Snow Day Fun

The first week of Feb. brought lots of snow & the kids had almost a whole week of snowdays! Too snowy for school, but we opted to go swim at the YMCA. The kids each invited a friend (Brooke & Ashton) and used up some of that pent up energy.

Snowy Weekend

Toby getting some air

My very own snowman

Ok, so their snowman was a little bigger than mine...

Crepes for breakfast

Toby, Gage, Ryan

So now that I'm a North Carolinian I get to be REALLY excited about snow. Its funny, people 'round here go nuts for snow. They run out and buy up all the bread and milk and hole up in their homes for days. Saturday we got about 8 inches and it was a ghost town, no one was outside or on the streets. Jim had to go to the hospital and said there was about 3-4 cars on the road. The kids ventured out for a bit on Saturday but it was windy & cold so they didn't last long. We mostly stayed in, ate a LOT and watched movies. Sunday it was a beautiful, bright, sunny day and much warmer. We started the day off with some yummy crepes, then out we went. No more cabin fever, I couldn't take another day inside! Church was cancelled and we played outside lots- built snowmen & snowboarded. Oh, and school is cancelled for tomorrow for no other reason than there is snow on the ground :)

Scary Horse Moments

So the pictures aren't scary, but the events of the day were! A couple weekends ago Arielle & I traveled to her first Pony Club event that took place off site away from her home barn, Hidden K Stables. Arielle was allowed to take Lucky, her instructor's horse to the fundraiser activity. The day started out really great. Arielle had her first experience of traveling with horses and all the work, etc that that entails. She got to the arena and happily rode Lucky around and even cantered.

Then Arielle and 2 others girls took off for a trail ride. That's when things got interesting. One of the horses spooked which in turn got Arielle's horse freaked out and Lucky took off galloping with Arielle on her back! I wasn't there to see it, but luckily Arielle held on and was OK. Arielle thought it was exciting actually and something she "would have really liked if more prepared". One of the other girls was crying and not quite as excited as Arielle was about it. So we calmed down from that, Arielle rode around some more then it was time to put the horses back in the trailers to go home.

Here's where things got really interesting. Arielle was in the process of taking Lucky's bridle off and putting the harness on and she forgot to put the reins over Lucky's neck. Lucky felt a bit too free for a sec and took off galloping toward the arena full of riders. Another horse got excited too and ripped free from its ropes and took off as well. So here Arielle & I were, at our first Pony Club event feeling a bit STUPID! I didn't know if Arielle's instructor would ever let us come to an event again. Letting the horses loose at a show is a REALLY big, not so good deal.

Well, thankfully Arielle's instructor was a good sport and wasn't too phased, she had seen this kind of thing before. She has even invited us to another Pony Club activity and wants me to volunteer?! This was a very humbling day and reminded Arielle and me that we still have much to learn about these big, powerful animals!

New Year's Eve

Allysa, Gage, Arielle & Brenden toasting the New Year!

Toby & Gage are Runescape addicts!
Kids trying to make it to midnight!

Rockband


Cute Crowthers


Jaime, Christi, Melissa



We had a great New Year's Eve with the Parkes & Crowthers. Unfortunately my camera battery was dead after the Florida trip and I forgot to charge it for New Year's! Thankfully Melissa is such a great blogger and I stole her pics :)


We had some yummy vittles that night- brie cheese & crackers, homemade salsa, lucious chocolate trifle, caramel puffed corn, etc etc. I think I ate more this night than I did on vacation in Florida! The kids had fun running around, coloring, watching G-Force and playing Runescape. We played Apples to Apples and Are you Smarter than a 5th grader. Unfortunately Jim had to be at the hospital early the next morning so he bowed out early & I didn't get my New Year's kiss...ah well



We really appreciate the Parke's hosting! Our small little rental places get very rowdy with 15 people in them (especially when the majority are kids!)

Christmas In Florida (aka longest post ever)

We gotta kick out of this ride (Spaceship Earth) at Epcot - Its the ride inside the big ball! They take your pic and make a goofy story with it
Ah- some things don't change. We could have saved the money spent on Epcot and just found some water to play in :)

Carolers at Downtown Disney

Sea Serpent in the lake made of Lego's!

France backdrop all made of Legos

Arielle swore this mammoth had its eye on her!

Eating in the ice cave at "T-Rex"

Inside T-Rex Restaurant

E & E's with Grandmom

Gathering around the Christmas Giraffe!

Toby's new electric scooter

At Grandmom Hazel's house

Christmas morning at Dieckman's

Lights at Largo City Park

Largo Nature Park

ditto

ditto

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Jim & Karen

At Carlouel

Christi & Grandmom at Carlouel Christmas brunch

Grandmom Hazel's front yard

Grandmom Hazel's

Clearwater Bch Pier

Jim calls the bldg in the background the new "monstrosity" it replaces a quaint little hotel that we grew up with

Oh I had so much fun posting these pics and reflecting back on the great trip we just took! We ventured down to Florida for the week before and including Christmas. Jim hadn't celebrated Christmas with his parents in at least 15 yrs!! We have always been in Utah with my family and although we see Jim's parents almost every year, it was really special to spend Christmas with them with year. We also got in a great visit with my Grandmom & my Aunt Diane, Uncle Mark and cousins Garrett and Heather. We were treated like royalty.

Got to stay at Grandmom's who lives on Clearwater Beach. Enjoyed waking up to a beautiful water view every morning. Grandmom likes to sleep in and go out to lunch. We would walk in the beach in the morning then go out to lunch with Grandmom. Some of our favorite places to go with her are Frenchy's on the beach where we can have fresh grouper sandwiches, also Carlouel Yacht Club where we enjoyed a gorgeous Christmas brunch a few days before the holiday. Grandmom also took us to E & E's and her new favorite- Wildflower Cafe. All were delicious!

Later in the day we would be treated to a gourmet dinner at Jim's parents house. Jim's parents love to cook delicious meals. The kind that kept them in the kitchen all day with prep. We sure did appreciate them- yum! Crabcakes, Shrimp Scampi, Lasagna Rolls, Ravioli and desserts like homemade Canolis, Cheesecake, Chocolate Mousse...I know, enough to make you drool isn't it?

After dinner a couple evenings we went on walks with Karen around her neighborhood. It was very festive with lots of lights. One night Chuck joined us and we went to Largo City Park which was covered in lights! One of our day outings with Karen included going to the Largo Nature Reserve where we hunt for gators, turtle and all kinds of birds. No gator sightings this trip (we have seen some in the past) but did see a Bald Eagle, other birds & turtles. Karen appreciates a good walk and seeing the sights whether it be nature or holiday decor. Fun for everyone!

We snuck in a mini trip to Orlando (a 2 hr drive from Clearwater Bch) and took the kids to Downtown Disney & EPCOT. Downtown Disney was really fun! We had never been to this one in FL. It is on the water and had lots of fun holiday festivities. Carolers, free chocolate samples, elves on stilts :) The Lego store was amazing! Lots of huge Lego creations including a water serpent in the lake! We ate dinner at T Rex which was an awesome dinosaur themed restaurant. We ate in an ice cave while a baby mammoth kept its eye on us.

The day after Downtown Disney we headed to EPCOT. Jim & I have always loved amusement parks. We were spoiled being raised so close to Disney World and that became a place where we spent many good times growing up. Some of our first dates were to amusement parks, just the two of us. We wanted to take the kids to EPCOT for old times sake. They have made lots of improvements and upgrades since Jim & I had been there 18 yrs ago! Our favorites were still there (Energy, The Land, Imagination, Spaceship Earth and all the cool countries of course!) And the newbies like Test Track , Mission Space and Sum of All Thrills were huge hits with us & the kids. We ate lunch in China to boot :)

Came back to Clearwater for Christmas Eve & Christmas Day. Treated to a nice dinner at Dieckmans then went to Cagnis where the kids played Wii with their cousins. Went back to Grandmom's for a short Christmas devotional & the kids opened their Christmas Eve gift (the annual PJ's- big surprise ;-).

Santa came to the Dieckman's Christmas morning. He even brought stockings for Chuck & Karen. I don't think Chuck & Karen have received stockings in 50 years, if ever. They were very surprised! They must've been extra good this year. The fireplace looked very festive with all the gifts Santa left!

We spent a nice morning at Grandma & Grandpa Dieckman's until they were run ragged :) Toby, Jim & Arielle rode Toby's new scooter around the neighborhood and Arielle started typing right away on her new typewriter.

Christmas afternoon we spent at Cagni's playing with cousins, snacking and opening more gifts! One of the favorites was "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader" which we played with Garrett, Heather, Mark, Diane & Grandmom

Lastly, finished off a nice quiet Christmas dinner at Dieckman's. We were very blessed to have a safe, wonderful trip and great visits with our Florida family!

Happy New Year!

I love the idea of fresh starts- blank slates! 2010 is here and we can make of it what we will. A quote that I heard a few months ago stuck with me and will be a motto throughout this New Year "We are a product of our choices". My New Year's resolutions will be few & simple so that I will be more likely to achieve them.

1. Be in the moment. Take time each day to listen to uplifting music, read uplifting books and surround myself with inspiration.

2. Give more of myself. Serve more and follow through when that still small voice gives instruction.

3. Be easier on myself. Realize I cannot be a perfect mom, wife, student, friend, sister, daughter, churchmember all the time. Focus on the priority of the moment and don't sweat the small stuff.

I think if I follow these 3 rules I will become closer to my God, my family and myself.

On a much lighter note (literally- ha ha), I really want the Jazzercise fit shirt for attending 150 times this year (that's at least 3x a week). Haven't made running goals for this week- I'm having so much fun with Jazzercise! But I expect I'll get pumped on running again in the Spring and plan to run a few road races this year.