2014 Christmas Recap

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! 

I don't think it's too late to wish you good tidings. I'm squeezing it in under the "I haven't put away my Christmas decor yet" deadline, although the tree is already out because you know, fire hazard and all.

Here's how we celebrated in 2014.

I commissioned Audrey to do the chalk art. Didn't she do a lovely job? Take note: washi paper tape is not strong enough to hold a strand of seven vintage ornaments. The three big bells did not survive the fall. 

We spent the day before Christmas playing games and decorating cookies and generally having a good time. All that was missing was opening gifts. My Sour Cream Cookies are a must at Christmas. It pretty much goes like this: no sour cream cookies, no Christmas. The same is true for Valentine's Day so grab the recipe now.

For the past two years my side of the family has celebrated at Adventureland Inn. We all get rooms (gifted to us by my mom), bring in our supper and hang out for an evening. This picture wasn't even posed! They were all climbing on each other's back so I told them to look at me and it only took two shots to get it. I know! It's a Cousin Christmas Miracle!!

 We headed to Texas to celebrate with Bill's family. We spent the days talking, putting together puzzles, playing games, playing non-stop air hockey and foosball (Ben, all day long), going on walks (and runs), worshipping, visiting the Gainesville Zoo, and stopping at a motorcycle store. They were thrilled to see a pile of people come through the door but unfortunately, we left them sorely disappointed as we didn't purchase a thing. 

The day we visited the zoo was the only day I pulled out my big camera and as it turns out was the day my niece came down with a fever so she and my sister-in-law are missing. However, I mentioned that Tayla might like a Capybara and now I need to see if Amazon sells them. 

Part of the zoo has an elevated walkway to watch the animals from above. It was fun to see zebras, camels, kangaroos and more all in a large space.

This reminds me that I should direct you to Denise's blog The Animal Bridge. She and Roy traveled to the Dominican Republic and Haiti for week and a half. I think you might enjoy reading their stories but beware, However, I must warn you, Denise is a vet. Vets are very used to looking at animal wounds and such and marvel at them. They also take pictures of them and naturally think the rest of the world is enamored by such things. It's not really that bad but I feel it my duty to warn you there are some slightly grody pictures. 

We are thankful for our families and God bringing us together for another year of celebrating Him. 

Lucy loves everyone. And this beanbag. 

Slacking

This Spring we purchased a Slackline. A Slackline is like a tie-down for hauling only you attempt to walk across it. It's great for balance, core strength and entertainment. I had seen it on the web several times and asked Bill if we could get one. The one thing holding us back from getting one is that we had no way to set it up. We don't have any trees on our lot. Eventually Bill figured out a way. Somehow he anchored two things in the ground (very technical talk) and then tensioned the line over a step stool and limestone brick on one end and a bike stand and limestone brick on the other. It works just fine.

Like I said, it's great for balance, core strength and entertainment. Our neighbors sat on their back deck and watched us. 

Ben, Bill and I have each made it sort of across. Audrey, Luke and Lucy have not. :)  

So Now We Ski

About a month ago, 3M offered a family deal for a day of skiing at Seven Oaks in Boone. Except for Audrey, who had a band contest, our schedule was clear for us to go. We invited a friend of Ben's to come along. Ben and Luke had never been skiing before so we figured this was a great time and place to introduce them to it. I had been skiing once, but that was back in high school and honestly I couldn't remember the actual skiing part either so it was a good introduction for me as well.

Ben's friend has skied quite a bit and had his own gear which was quite nice since getting the four of us fitted with boots and skis is an ordeal the first time around! 

We let the boys go on their own. Gage taught Ben and was patient while Ben got the hang of it. 

I caught Ben once at the top of the practice hill and that was probably the last time I saw him until the end of the day.

Bill stuck with Luke and taught him. Bill had gone skiing during college with The Salt Co, in Colorado so he was a good to go. I should have stuck with him, but decided to try my luck with the instructors. Here's what I learned: three different ways to get up if you fall down. Awesome. So I got myself to the top of the practice hill, decided it was trial by fire and went for it. I didn't need my "how to get up lessons" until later that day when I attempted a regular hill.

Anyway, back to Luke. The beginner way of learning to control your speed and stopping is directing your skis in a pizza wedge. You can see Luke demonstrate this very well. In fact, we now call this Luke's signature move. You can spot him coming down by the toes in, elbows up, hands down. It's automatic- like airplane landing gear (sort of).

 Seven Oaks also has a hill for tubing and I took Luke down a few times before the day was over. For him, this was the best part of the day. The whole process- how they hook the tube up the tow rope and you ride your tube to the top, the "half pipe" you slide down to release the tube from the tow rope and the "G's" you must be pulling as you fly down the hill. Luke said he thought he was going about 12 G's! 

We definitely had a good first experience and it snowballed from there. 

When we got home, we discussed more skiing options and suggested going somewhere for Spring Break which was in two weeks or so.

We are all in love with the North Shore of Minnesota. Even though there are other beautiful places in the U.S. to visit, we can't get away from the North Shore. We've now visited three years in a row but it no one ever complains about going there. This time we were going to try it in a different season. Lutsen Mountains and the rental companies were offering some good deals on multiple day stays and lift tickets. Bill ended up finding us a gigantic house for a great price. We don't really need a space this big but there was no other reasonable option, so okay, it'll do. 

The interior of this house was all pine with a smidge of stone. Pine flooring. Pine paneling. Pine furniture. It was adorable in a large pine tree sense. I felt a little like Goldilocks in the three bears house.

We spent our first night hanging out and relaxing. I wrote the blog post about the Leprechaun 10k before diving into Sophie Hudson's A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet. Book review: If you want good story telling with a Southern twang that all have a huge dose of humor (laughing myself into tears in one chapter), a huge amount of tenderness and love for dear people in your life (crying and deeply reflecting in many, many parts) and a realness that is so tangible this could very well be snippets of your own life, then you would enjoy this delightful book.

Audrey cuddled up with her own book. Notice the giant pine everything?

And Bill taught the boys to play poker. It didn't take on them as they didn't ask to play it any other time. Probably because Ben won. 

 The next day, after we rented all the appropriate gear, then purchased some more gear, bought and secured all the lift tickets, we took a nap. Because that was again, an ordeal. It wasn't hard- but we are still novices. Only Bill knew a thing or two and the rest of us had to learn all of the lingo and so forth.
Alright- we didn't nap. Ben would have none of the napping. We were here to ski so let's get to skiing. We practiced a bit more on their practice slope before heading up Ullr Mountain where we stayed the rest of the day trying different slopes. Audrey had a pretty good wipeout and we were thankful she had a helmet. She skied a bit more then called it a day. We were worn out but not any less enthusiastic about our new adventure.

This was the gearing up scene for the next two days. 

We didn't all ski together all the time. Bill spent time with each of the kids, helping them gain confidence and skill. I stayed with whoever was leftover. We all took one run down Moose Mountain but only Ben found it thrilling. The rest of us decided it was a little too much for us even though we all did it and we headed back on the gondola while Bill and Ben stayed to ski more runs. 
The way my children learn and respond to things is so amazing to see and at the same time so typical of them (in good ways). Ben: must learn, must master, must go up and down as many times as possible. We are here to ski, so ski we will. Luke: timid at first. Has to be patiently coaxed. His "sensations" first start out with scared and eventually he loves it (or he doesn't). One time, during the third day, after he had fully fallen in love with skiing, we were at the top of Eagle Mountain, just having gotten off the ski lift and were skating our way to one of the runs when Luke yells out "I can't believe this is real life!!" and then he takes off- swish, swish, swish- with all his little might.

 Audrey loves new things and she's so good at adapting to new situations without hyper-ventilating or freaking out (unlike her mom). But she does have at least one thing that causes panic in her and this trip forced her to deal with it over and over- heights. 

 Some of the chair lift rides to the top weren't so bad and then some were. The wind at the top of the mountains was bothersome to her also. She's my sweet girl who can throw out a casual "Not a fan." about certain things but then try it anyway. We only had one time where she was beside herself but then she did it. 
I'll confess- I'm a lot like her. When I was on my first chair lift ride in Boone, I was so nervous. I would seriously rather run up those hills than try something new and ski down them. It was a tremendous learning moment for me. To be brave and to try something new. When we discussed skiing as a family, I wanted to go to Lutsen because I was hoping to get a run on the Superior Hiking Trail before the race in May. They were snow-covered and I couldn't. I'm comfortable running. After a full day of skiing, I would go out for a run on a gravel road instead and it was like my body was saying to me "Now this is what I know." That's a good feeling. But I never would have discovered that had I not tried something new. Had I not decided to be an adventurer. To be brave. 

I heard this from Jon Acuff in a podcast and it has stuck with me.

"Bravery involves a lot more crying and wanting to throw up than people want to admit."

It might seem I'm making this a bit more dramatic than what it is- a black diamond out of a bunny hill- so to speak. After all, this is just skiing and people do it all the time. It's just that it fits. Can you relate at all?

    

So here we are all sunshine and smiles and ski gear and to quote Luke "I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS REAL LIFE!!" 

Where would you suggest we ski next?

Aunt Denise Gets Married, Part 3

It's 2:00 on the dot. 

The ushers/groomsmen have seated all the guests and the groom is excitedly awaiting his bride. I'm not sure exactly how excited he was because I barely saw him that morning and I'm thinking Roy didn't see Denise either and since these two were inseparable at the rehearsal, I mean to the point that Denise's Uncle Don, who's a pastor, could have married them that night and they would have been just as much happy, and given the fact that they counted down the weeks, days, hours and minutes publicly on Facebook, I guess it's pretty safe to say, Roy was excited. (Also, I'm terribly sorry for that awfully long run on sentence. I just felt it all needed to be said in one sentence whether grammatically or punctually correct.)

The parents have each lit their respective child's single candle.

And the ring bearer and the flower girl have each made it down the aisle with no calamities. 

I'm showing you the wedding pictures Audrey took. There isn't much difference between standing and singing (All in All), standing and praying, standing and hearing the wedding message (very good, including some knot tying), standing and repeating vows and standing. Here, however they are standing and lighting the unity candle.

At some point, after the singing, knot tying, candle lighting and vow saying, it was time for Luke's big job. He stepped up, was given the rings from the best man and matron of honor...

Brought the pillow forward to the bride and groom...

And stepped back to his spot. He did well the entire time though his shoes were tight and bothered him quite a bit and he quietly wiggled around trying to make them more comfortable. It brings no comfort to an eight year old when all the men tell you that rental shoes are always that way and there's nothing to do but grin and bear it. 

Okay, you missed it but a kiss to place in between the rings and Denise receiving her flowers from Tia. I promise you, they kissed.

Luke and the flower girl are almost done except for getting back up the aisle together. Even though they rehearsed it the night before it, they had a little bit of a time getting their arms linked correctly. Made for more cute stuff.

Roy and Denise dismissed their guests themselves and we hung out until it was time for group pictures. First it was in the back of the church and then we went back into the sanctuary where we let Luke take off those shoes. 

And inspect the flower basket.

They reassembled themselves for formal pictures though.

I think I stopped Audrey from taking pictures of everything the photographer was taking (mostly because I hated that from my own wedding and it slows down the photographer) but she did capture this one. Of course, Tia and I are missing but here's the last link to the family. Yes, the little links are missing too and hopefully some future little links will come along... uh, I'm going to stop with the link thing.

You've seen Luke plenty and Jabin from the rehearsal and just to let you know, both Jabin and Ben were at the wedding as well.

Ben enjoyed the day when he could stay out the camera's way and hang with Jabin. 

I think Audrey caught him just as he looked at the camera.

Yup. He's outta there.

Time for cake! 

They are all happy and smiley because they're married and it's cake time.

And it's stuff it in your new bride's/groom's face time.

This is just a coincidental shot but it is literally my favorite shot of their entire wedding. I think words would fail to do it justice.

The entwined arms punch drinking thing is much less dramatic.

Denise and Roy put together a crossword puzzle about themselves for guests to fill in while waiting.  

It was a small wedding, which is fine of course, but it does mean the bouquet and garter crowd is a little thin. Here two single men and two boys (single) were gathered to catch the garter. You can tell the men didn't make a dash for it and instead my son ended up with it (to the great sorrow of the other little boy, who's parents picked him up and distracted him with something shiny).

The sun was starting to set and the horses needed to get home, so the bride and groom left to bubbles and cheers and well wishes.

And someone yelling "Kiss Her!"

 Roy and Denise left for their honeymoon and I have no pictures of that. 

I think 95% of these pictures were taken by Audrey. She took many more and I simply can't share them all. 

More than anything, we are all very happy for our Aunt Denise and our new Uncle Roy!!

Part 1 Part 2