I'm trying to find the longer version of this top video. It may not be a video, it may just be the audio portion that is longer. Has anyone heard it? It's so beautiful.
Here is another special video. I love Christmas. What a beautiful time to remember what is real.
I went to two weddings for two different cousins yesterday. Both weddings were at really neat locations. The first, for my cousin Lesley, was at the Olympic Park in Park City. It's so neat up there. We had a lot of great views of the ski jump from the rooms we were in. No one was practicing but the scenery was beautiful. After the reception I could have kicked myself for not bringing a camera because the lights on the bobsled track were so beautiful with all of the snow! I'll just have to go back and get a picture at night sometime. I'd also LOVE to go down the bobsled but if I remember right it's something like $250! Yikes! Still, it's kind of neat that that opportunity is available to the public.
Next, we went to my cousin Ryan's reception. It was held at the Rose Shop in Sandy. Pictures on their website DO NOT do it justice. It is absolutely magical in there. If you ever get invited to a wedding there, don't miss it!! Again, I wish I had my camera. It was incredible. I don't even know how to describe it. I was so impressed.
I really enjoyed hanging out with so many family members yesterday, especially those I don't get to see too often.
Note: I stole the picture of Ryan and Lanie from her Facebook account. I didn't take that picture (the picture on the left).
Check this out. Here is proof Santa likes to swim. I thought he would for sure be swimming at the swim party listed in a previous post, but now I'm thinking that Santa wasn't the real one, and that's why he wasn't swimming. Hummm...
Also, did you notice where this picture was taken? Sandy, UT - just a couple miles away from me on the corner of State and 90th. Santa seems to hang out there with his reindeer quite a bit.
I have really enjoyed the snow this year. I haven't always enjoyed the snow, but I do this year. Even shoveling the driveway has been fun because I've decided to be positive. I just think of it as an extra workout for the day. The snow really is beautiful and I'm glad I've chosen to enjoy it so much this year.
I was in charge of Luke's class Christmas party today. I love going to the school and helping in his class. I love knowing what is going on at his school. Luke's teacher is great and lets me hang out in the class a little extra, even if all of the volunteer work is done. I really appreciate the opportunity to help at least once a week. I even get to bring Megan since she is almost kindergarten age.
The party was insane. The kids were wild, but had a great time. We made ice cream in baggies, played a game (that didn't really work) and decorated their teacher like a Christmas Tree. The kids LOVED decorating their teacher. I wish I got better pictures, but at least I have pictures, right? I let the kids wrap up in wrapping paper and pretend to be presents under the tree too. Their teacher was such a good sport. She even let me tape a star to her forehead that one of the girls created!
Thankfully, my friend Angie worked like mad the entire party and my Grandpa Park was there to help too. Thanks Angie and Grandpa! By the way Angie, I bought that peppermint ice cream because I was craving it after your last blog post. I couldn't find the same kind you suggested but it hit the spot :)
Honestly, my favorite part of Christmas is GIVING presents. Really. However, I'm in the mood to talk about receiving presents today...
What kind of presents do you like? I personally LOVE practical presents. You could buy me a roll of toilet paper and I'd be happy. I'm slightly exaggerating but I really do love practical gifts. I love gifts that I will for sure use. I'm shocked when people complain about getting practical gifts. I think they are so GREAT! My sister-in-law Christina got me a gift certificate to Dream Dinners once. It took me forever to use it (don't ask me why) but I LOVED that present. Both my in-laws and parents buy us food storage and I love those gifts too.
I'm really curious how you all feel about getting practical presents. I'm also curious what your favorite types of presents are. I love to give practical presents but sometimes I worry others will think the presents are lame. Once I gave my MIL cleaning supplies. Her house is very clean so it definitely wasn't a hint to clean. I just thought it was a good gift... one I would have liked. That same year I had friends laughing at the practical presents they got and I got really nervous that my gift was bad.
Other gifts I like are ones that will entertain me, especially things like movie tickets that will not take up any room in my house :) I get so overwhelmed with the lack of storage space in our house. Once I got my sister and BIL tickets to Sundance for a guided night snowshoe tour to see Owls. I thought that was a neat gift because it's so different. They said they liked it. I hope they really did. I would have.
If anyone wants to e-mail Keith for me (hint), the present I want the most this year from him is either this pair of ice skates (size 9) or an annual pass for a couple to this place. I say a couple pass because Megan is free and Keith won't go.
My Grandpa Park brought this back to me from a trip to Pakistan. I have always loved it. It's one of my favorite things. I used to have it out all of the time but now I just get it out at Christmas time. One day I'll have a safe permanent home for it again.
My new brother-in-law Matthew, went skiing with us the other day. The kids were so excited to have him with us! Grandpa Park came too (but only watched). I love spending time with both of these men. My kids are still extreme beginners in the skiing department but I'm determined to help them be able to zoom down the mountain by the end of the year. It's absolutely amazing to me how good some of these tiny skiers are on the slopes! My kids aren't afraid to fall if they are going really slow, but going fast is still too scary and they rarely want to let go of me yet. That's ok. They'll get it. I figure we'll be like the tortoise and win the race eventually :)
The other day I go to the gym and all of the lights are out. I figured the person who opens the gym must have slept in but thought it was weird the neon lights were all dark too. Later that day I drive by again to see what is going on and found out they closed my gym! It's my understanding they didn't even let the employees know until the day before. How sad to lose your job right before Christmas with no warning.
So, I went gym shopping. First I went to Gold's. It's a beautiful gym but SO EXPENSIVE and crowded. I really would love to go there because some of you go there, but I am way too cheap. Next I went to Planet Fitness (10 minutes away and right by Witmore Library). I did not expect to join but it's only $10 a month and there is no long term contract. It's just a month to month contract. They were doing a special where you could join for only $1 (it's normally only $39) so really there was no risk in joining. Planet Fitness is REALLY nice. It's got great machines, everything is new and clean too! There was one machine (an arc trainer) I really loved there. It is a cross between a stair stepper and an eliptical. I was suprised how high it wanted me to lift my legs. I felt like I got a great work out.
Still... I'm wondering what you like about your gym (if you go to one). If you go to Gold's I'm wondering why you chose that gym. I'm still shopping a little bit.
I took this picture a couple years ago. 20 minutes down the canyon (where I live) there was no snow on the ground at all. Yes, the snow was this high in the mountains. They had to dig out this sign so people could see it.
Awesome!! I love living here.
This is a project I created for Scrapbook Memories TV (a PBS scrapbooking show). I made the cover and my BIL Kraig bound the book for me. Last spring I was supposed to go to Ohio to tape this segment but decided to just let the hosts do it. It would have worked out just fine to go because I had to be in Pennsylvania the next day anyway, but I decided even though I'd only be gone a total of three days, that one extra day away from my kids was too much. It was a crazy trip. I was in Philly one day, then I had a meeting in both New Jersey and New York the next day. I drove from Philly to NYC for my second time that trip. It is such an empowering feeling to drive to NYC by yourself :) I can't tell you how much I love doing that. I love traveling on planes and figuring out how to get places by myself too.
I found the video online if anyone wants to watch it. If you are a digital scrapbooker you'll know the hosts didn't exactly know what they were doing but it's ok. You can see the video here. Jill's little boy Weston is in one of the pictures. I think it's lame you have to register to see the videos, so I'll give you my user name and password. However, it's free to register if you just want to.
user name: april@digitalscrapbookmemories.com
password: DSM
After you sign in, if you don't automatically get the right video you can search for SM_13012.
If you aren't automatically taken to the segment.
If I went to the show to tape the segment I would have concentrated on these three things:
1) Why journals are important, even if you scrapbook.
2) How to take existing scrapbook pages and alter them for other projects. I created this journal really quick by taking the scrapbook page shown below and altering it a bit.
3) How to turn your handwriting into digital form. See Megan's name on the cover? I had her write her name using a black sharpie on a white piece of paper, then I scanned it and turned it into a brush. You can learn how to make a brush here in my tips section on my website. It's soooooo easy!
By the way... for those of you who have said you don't have enough money for Photoshop, you are wrong. Well, unless $20 is too much for you. You can buy older versions of Adobe Photoshop Elements on Ebay for really cheap. I got some for $10 actually. I'd look for new, unopened ones so it's legal.
Last night we went swimming with Santa. I expected him to be in a red wet suit or something, but as you can see, he didn't actually get in the water. He did let all of the wet kids sit on his lap though. My kids were so excited to talk to him. I can't tell you how happy that makes me.
In the past week in a half we have been skiing twice, swimming three times and ice skating twice. Wow. We need to stay this busy all the time! I'll have to post some ice skating pictures sometime. Luke especially loves ice skating. It's exciting for me because I love it so much! Actually I love all three activities fairly equal (skiing, skating and swimming). It is great that my kids are finally to an age that I can do these things with them easier. I figure the more I take them, the better they will get and the more fun it will be for me.
As long as we are only gone 2-3 hours, I have discovered it is actually more relaxing to go out and do things than it is to sit at home and try to entertain the kids. I find if I'm gone much longer than that I'm exhausted when I get home. Also, the more we go, the better my system is for leaving the house which makes things so much more fun for me.
We are decorating the tree today. Are we the last ones? I feel like it.
Oooooohhh! I'm so excited for Christmas!
...with a private jet to take my family with them all around the world.
Then I need this house to come home to...
It's currently for sale a few miles east of me :)
Honestly, I'm happy where I am, but I love to dream.
As part of my church calling (stake secretary to the Relief Society) I occasionally get to do some fun jobs I wouldn't normally be a part of. Right now I'm part of the Housing and Accommodations Committee for open house for the new Draper, UT Temple. The committee name is kind of misleading. Our main job is serving refreshments to the million (plus) people they expect will come to tour the temple. If I remember right that is about 260 people every ten minutes! We are serving water and nice soft cookies in case you are curious :)
The open house is for ANYONE who wants to see inside a temple. You don't have to be a member of our church. You have to be a worthy member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to enter a temple after it is dedicated, but not before. It's pretty neat to see inside a temple, so if you don't live in my area you could check (at the bottom of the page) here and see if they are building any near you.
Some people on the committee get to serve a really sumptuous buffet to many dignitaries who are invited to attend the temple open house. They won't tell us who is coming, but it would be fun to know wouldn't it? I don't get to help those days anyway.
My assignment is to help my presidency organize about 150 volunteers to help over a two day period (75 people a day). I think it will be fun. There is a need for over 250 volunteers helping in all of the open house assignments each day. That is a lot of people! Especially when you consider the open house lasts for two months.
If you want a ticket to the open house you can get them here for free. I think I'm helping on February 3rd and 4th. I'd be happy to find you the biggest, softest cookie I can find, if I see you.
If you don't know the Salt Lake area very well look at this picture too. It shows the temple from a different direction so you can see the gorgeous mountains that surround it.
I highly recommend asking Santa for Zoobs. They are so much fun to play and build with! I had been looking at these for a while and then finally got them one day when I REALLY needed a break from my kids. My kids played with them nearly non stop for over a day. They are a little pricey but totally worth every single penny. I don't think you can get them at most of the big box stores, but Amazon and specialty toy stores will have them.
If you go to the Festival of Trees in Sandy, UT make sure you pick up some of our CDs. All the money goes to the Primary Children's Hospital. Keith and I have a real soft spot in our hearts for that hospital after staying there a week with our little boy in 2004. I can't imagine not having good insurance and having to deny my child the benefit of good health care. I am so grateful for charity events like this that raise money for children who need it.
Pennies by the Inch is another excellent way to give money to the hospital. In Utah most people get a knock on the door from church groups asking for donations to this charity. I was in charge of this at one time. Most people give a handful of pennies and while every bit helps I wonder if people know that the goal is to raise a lot more than pennies. When the volunteers come by they have envelopes you can take and mail in your donation if you prefer. I KNOW most volunteers don't mention that so keep that in mind and mail in a larger donation.
Here is the box I gave for the festival today. I recommended they sell our Santa Claus CD for $3 instead of the current sale of $5 or the regular price of $7. I also recommended the sell a package of 3 CDs (Family, Flower Patch and Santa Claus) for $30 rather than $47. It's a great deal so go buy them!
Yesterday I took both kids skiing at different times. It's so awesome living so close to so many ski resorts. First I took Megan while Luke was in school. Then, as soon as Luke was out of school, Keith met me at the base of the canyon and we traded kids. Megan had a great time but was totally content to be done after an hour and a half. Luke could have skied all day and was sad to leave. Both kids are just learning to ski. I can't quite figure out how to teach them to turn and stop yet. I guess that will come with practice, but I'd love teaching tips if anyone has some good ones. Fortunately both kids kept smiles on any time they fell. Sometimes they even fell on purpose.
We got season rentals from Canyon Sports this year. You get to keep the ski equipment at your house all season. I love that. I just couldn't justify buying the kids their own equipment to grow out of each year so this is a great option for us.
We are going to spend most of our time at Alta this year. Alta has a free tow rope all day and a free chair lift from 3:00 to 4:30 every day. I love that i can pack up my stuff, leave my house, drive to the resort, gear up, ski, gear down, and drive home in just three hours. Very cool. Later in the season we'll head to Snowbird a couple times too. Keith got us some passes there :) If anyone ever wants to meet us for skiing, let me know. I'd be willing to go almost any day between 3 and 4:30 and we would love some ski pals.
Embellishments from the Santa Claus Lane CD.
While we watched the kids play with sticks this past weekend, my BIL Kent told me that they just put the stick in the Toy Hall of Fame. I thought that was kind of funny, yet appropriate. I found this article on CNN. It's really not that interesting of an article but I still thought it was blog worthy to mention :) Also, why, why, why would the baby doll be a new inductee?
