sNOw more

We had record amounts of snow this winter in Nebraska. It wasn't magical. I probably would have died if I had to shovel our sidewalks and driveway one more time. If I had had a near death experience from shoveling snow, I would have thought that the white light was just more snow, and then I would have ran away from it. So I guess I wouldn't have died after all. But still.

Alex came home one day from school and made a snow man. That was at the beginning of winter. At the beginning it was fun.

I tried to make the most of it too. I talked Cora into coming with me to a snow sculpture festival. That was in the middle of winter. Hot chocolate, snow sculptures, cute little town - what's not to love?

But then it really started to get bad.

You start to wonder where you're going to put the snow when you're shoveling that much. After one storm we broke down and borrowed a friend's snow blower. It took an hour and a half to clear the driveway WITH the snow blower. Ugh. And then it snowed even more. In March. Which was just rude.

And sure, it looks pretty now, but it didn't seem so pretty then. Not to me. We talked constantly about moving to Florida, or Nevada, or somewhere warm. We fantasized about it. It was kind of sick.

New Baby Smell

Nothing is better than getting together with friends you haven't seen in a while. One of Cora's good friends from Germany had a baby, so we headed down to Kansas to see her. Nothing is better than holding a brand new baby. And my friend Mindy, who had been their seminary teacher in Germany, met us there.

While we were there we played a virtual reality video game. First time. It was SO fun! Nothing is better than a VR game....except for the other stuff  I already mentioned ;)

Late Thanksgiving and a Sesame Street Christmas

This year we postponed Thanksgiving a few days so that we could celebrate it with my sister Rebekah, who flew out here when flights were cheaper. We had a nice traditional dinner together, and helped her discover that we make really good homemade cherry pie (even though she says she has always hated cherry pie). I had a few other things planned to do with her, but I am always flexible, and it was HER vacation, so I let her take the reigns. What ended up happening is that I introduced her to the game Bananagrams, and it was all over after that.

If you've never played Bananagrams, you should give it a go. Rebekah was hooked immediately, and we proceeded to play hours, and then days of endless rounds of Bananagrams. I gotta say, it was fun, and Rebekah said it was the perfect vacation :)

Did we take any pictures? No. So for your viewing pleasure, I will add pictures of what we do every time we face time each other. I'm sure she won't mind at all. Raise your hand if you do this too.

If you raised your hand, I couldn't see it. Actually, we DID leave the house to go see a cute little nativity that Madelyn was in. One of her friends is a part of the local Presbyterian congregation, and they have a small youth group that Madelyn often attends during the week. It was a very different nativity, a little more upbeat and dancy, and even included puppets. Rebekah called it the Sesame Street nativity. It was fun.

I'm always grateful when my kids can experience other faiths and know that there are many good people in the world, no matter what they believe.

And then, before I knew it, it was Christmas, and we hadn't done anything Christmasy at all. But I DID get my annual picture of the kids with their stockings in their PJs. So I guess that's something.

Halloween Meh

We went all out for the Halloween party for Joseph, but Halloween just isn't what it used to be. We did have a ward party this year, so we all dressed up for that, but then I forgot to take pictures of everyone, even though this was the first year in forever that we've bought the kids new costumes! Ugh.

Cora and Joseph were Tommy and Chuckie from Rugrats. You guys, Cora had a freaking diaper, and I forgot to take a picture. I consider it one of my greatest failures in life.

Madelyn was....ummmm....I seriously can't remember what she went as. Good heavens, another fail.

And Alex was Harry Potter. I got a picture of him when he went trick-or-treating with his friend.

I dressed up as the bride of Frankenstein for the ward party too, and someone took a shot of me and my friend.

Plus I took a selfie.

Yes, people, I took a photo of myself, but not of my kids. Apparently I am THAT mom. Oh my word.

Sweet 16

If you know me at all, you know that I've dropped the ball too many times to count over the years when it comes to Joseph's birthday....BUT NOT THIS YEAR!!! For his 16th birthday I knew it needed to be special, so with the help of Cora (okay, it was mostly Cora), we gave him a surprise birthday party - Halloween themed. I'd been telling him all along that we could have some kind of a party, but I kept putting off making plans with him, and I really think he was starting to resign himself to being let down again. How sad is that?! But he suspected nothing, and isn't that the whole point of a surprise party? Anyway, Joe took him out to run errands ALL morning, while we decorated and put together food with the help of all their friends. It looked fantastic!

And then guess what I did? I forgot to take pictures of the actual party or any of the friends that came (bows head in shame). At least they had a great time. Joseph couldn't wipe the smile off his face. I love that kid. He is so smart, and funny, and loving. He's showing telltale signs of manhood. It's kind of crazy having your kids grow up right before your eyes.

Families are Forever

In October it had been a year since Antoine's baptism, so it was time for their family to get sealed in the temple. They chose the Salt Lake City temple. It was my idea - I'm so persuasive ;) They got sealed in the room right next to the room that Joe and I got sealed in. It made me wonder which rooms my parents and grandparents had been sealed in. It was a special day, and we were so happy and grateful to be a part of it.

Homecoming for the Kids Formerly Known as Mormons

I did it again folks. It's been MONTHS since I last posted anything. Honestly, I didn't even realize it had been so long. Time is flying. So here I go again. Wish me luck.

Cora didn't go to the high school Homecoming this year. She wasn't disappointed. But she DID want to go to the Homecoming put on by the parents in our stake, and luckily she was asked. She had such a great night, and she looked so pretty in her dress. She has a great group of friends here.