Pine Valley

On Saturday we went up to Pine Valley to go sledding. The snow was the deepest Kyle had ever seen up at his cabin. The kids jumped into a bank to see how deep it was and JoEllen's son George lost both of his boots, we only found one. We'll find the other one in May. There was also a cabin that had the most amazing icicles hanging from it. Josh couldn't believe it. He had never seen real icicles. He asked if he could go lick one, but I didn't want to re-enact the Christmas Story with his tongue frozen to it. So, we just took pictures of it instead.

Snow day and Christmas pictures

Christmas

Wow, what a fun time. So, fun in fact that I haven't had time to blog about it. This was our 1st Christmas in our new house and because it's a multi level it was harder to decorate. We had to get creative on how to keep the kids from seeing what santa had brought during the night. So, I used a roll of wrapping paper from the dollar store and wrapped up our stairs and put a baby gate at the bottom to keep them from looking over. It worked out really well. Christmas is always so much fun with little kids. They open one present and want to play with it and nothing else, until you make them open another present. I was talking to my Father-in-law on Christmas Eve and he was saying how nice it was that he didn't have any little kids there this year so he could sleep in. That is true. Sleeping in would be nice, but, Christmas morning without little kids would be boring. No laughing, crying, hitting, biting, oh wait, that must just be my house. It was fun none the less.

Family Pictures

SNOW DAY!!!!!

Yep, believe it or not they have called school off for tomorrow down here in sunny St, George. As of right this moment we have 2 inches that have stuck to the ground and it's still falling. For about 6 hours straight it's been snowing or what the people down here call snowing. I call it tiny little flurries. To me snowflakes are the size of a nickel and lightly flutter down to the ground. We don't get that kind down here. For the last 16 years that I've been here, we have only had 1 other snow day. It was in 1995. The people down here just don't know how to drive on the icy roads so they have to shut the city down. Our regular snowfall happens only once a year and it is usually the end of January. So, to see it snow twice already this year makes me wonder who the idiot is that says that we have global warming. In Southern Utah we are headed for another Ice Age!

Shelton's Annual Cookie Party

Every Christmas Jan bakes up several hundred sugar cookies, makes her famous frosting and we have a party like no other. This year Jan even bought new cookie cutters. A 3 piece choo choo train, a Christmas tree and a dachshund. The Dachshund is because the Shelton family has had a long line of them through many generations and Jan currently has 2. The dog of choice I guess. Along with the 10 other cookie shapes comes 9 different colors of frosting, in bowls and in bags with different tips and 30 different kinds of candy/sprinkles. Some people where very creative and some where just plain messy. My 2 year old wanted to see just how much frosting one cookie could hold and then he licked it off and started again with the same cookie. Every year Shayne makes a LEHI cookie for Brad, if he's not there, which started when he was on his mission and at Easter she would make a purple egg with his name on it. We also did some Christmas karaoke which is always so entertaining with this family. This year we even made a birthday video for my Dad who is turning the big 7-0 this Thursday. I am going to see if it'll download on here but really I'm not computer friendly so we'll see what happens. I love this time of year and all of the fun family things that we get to do together. The best gift we can give each other is time. And when it's time with the Shelton's then you always leave with a smile.

Pick a tree any tree!

I have to get rid of a tree! At least one. I am so sick of LEAVES! The first, and more than likely ONLY, snow we'll have this year and I had to run outside to rake up the last of the leaves before they got all wet and soggy. 5 Bags full! And it's not like I left them and let them pile up. They were bags number 16-21 of the fall! They are really fun when they first start to fall but then they have to drag it out for 3 months! Just let go already and dump them all at once! What are you hanging on for?!?!@*!
It ruined my whole snow day. Almost...then I started thinking about my childhood snowdays. I remember when we'd run outside when the first snow fell of the year (Oct)and play in it until dark. Oh the snowmen, snowball fights, catching snowflakes on your tongue, snowmobiling out at the Holbrooks farm, ice skating, tubing and eating the white snow. In fact I remember getting cups from inside the house and filling them up with snow then going inside to pour punch on them so we could have a slushie. Running in the house to sit by the fire until our fingers unfroze then hurrying back outside. I remember one time we went ice skating and Bob Allen was so excited to get out on the ice and on the first turn he fell and broke his arm. When I was 14 I used to put on my Penny loafers (because they had no traction and because they were totally cool!) and go over to Lori Hinckley's and she'd pull me and Ryan around behind her car down the middle of the frozen streets. I remember Me, Lori and Ryan doing the 12 days of Christmas to the Jones'. Ringing there door bell and running like crazy. I'm sure they knew it was us but they never led on.

Then I started getting sad to think that my kid will never experience any of that. This is a picture of Ben licking snow off of a leaf! What the HECK!!! So So Sad. It made me want to cry. If you look down at his feet you will see that he had sandals on. I think I owned maybe 1 pair of sandals each year and you only wore them for June July and Aug. It's December! Poor deprived kids. I guess they will be o.k. if they never know what they are missing. Right? As for me, I know what I'm missing and every year I love it when I hear S the local complain about the "crappy" weather. Little do they know that I'm the one praying for it. Thank you Lord for giving me one day a year to reminisce on the good old days. But, my ice skates still are collecting dust in my closet.

Bad Teeth

I want to go down on record that My teeth are fine but not the strongest. I never got braces and they look pretty good. Joel's teeth are so strong that he could pull a bus but they are HUGE. Together we have already bought our Orthodontist a new Caddy and are sending him to Hawaii for Christmas. Shayne got her Dad's huge strong teeth and my mouth to try to fit them in. So, braces for 3 years. Her smile is gorgeous and if her wisdom teeth mess that up then they will PAY! Sophie had top braces for a year and a half and then had a year off before they put top and bottom braces on her. She has the same problem as Shayne but worse. She had to have 4 permanent teeth pulled to make way for her canines to come in and they are taking there own sweet time. So, we are just waiting. Josh, I thought, looked good as far as teeth and spacing went but much to my dismay this is what we found yesterday.(see picture)

We were hoping that it was an extra tooth. Not uncommon in this family: Joel had an extra tooth when he was young, Shayne had an extra tooth come out of the roof of her mouth and Ben had and extra tooth come down right by his other tooth when he was 2 and had to have it removed. So, we were praying that it was just an extra that could be pulled. We went to see Dr. Mason Wells today and no luck. It's a permanent tooth and it is sick of pushing the other tooth out so it's coming out the side. Oy Vey! Merry Christmas Dr. Christian. Here's another 4 grand from the Beckstrands. Have fun in Hawaii.

Our Fall Leaves in December

When everyone else is getting snow, we are getting leaves. They fall from the sky just as graceful and are 1000 times bigger than your average flake but, for some reason it's just not the same. Especially when you have to clean them up. Oh, I know it's all fun to jump in them and throw them at people (our version of a snowball fight). But after the fun's been had then it's good old Mom to clean it up. Yesterday I raked leaves for the 3rd time this year and decided to take some pictures. Well, in order for that to happen I had to move the entire pile into the sun because our trees still have enough leaves to cause shade. Hopefully by New Years they'll be all gone. Just in time to bloom up again in Feb. I miss the 4 seasons.

Thanksgiving Bird Flu

My Thanksgiving couldn't have been better except maybe if I didn't get the flu and puke up my guts all night long. I spent the night on my sisters cold, hard, tile, bathroom floor. It started at 10:30pm and by 2:30am my legs had cramped up so bad from being dehydrated that I couldn't walk. Somehow I made it up the 2 flights of stairs and fell into Paula's bedroom where I scared them to death. Charles then spent the next 15 minutes rubbing my entire leg out from the knee down. It hurt soooo bad. I always got cramps in my legs and feet when I was pregnant and when I stood up they'd stop but not this time. After everything settled down and I assumed the position on the bathroom floor and had just fell back asleep when I heard someone throw up and it wasn't me. Then I heard poor Paula and Charles up again helping someone else. It was my son Ben. All over Tyler's bedroom floor. So, Ben ended up next to me on the bathroom floor next to the tub just in case he needed to throw up again. I told him that I couldn't do anything to help him except rub his back because I was so weak and dizzy. Sure enough an hour later I rubbed his back as he filled Paula's tub with Thanksgiving dinner. Then he was done. We both laid down and got about 2 hours of sleep. The next day was supposed to be full of Black Friday shopping. But, I still was really weak and didn't want to try to drive myself anywhere. So, my wonderful father drove me and 4 grandkids to the mall so we could go to Build-A-Bear. The only place I HAD to go, because we don't have one down here and that is all Sophie wanted for Christmas. Luckily the flu was only the 24 kind. The bad part was that it spread like wild fire and it was all my fault. Sophie started throwing up later that night and Saturday morning, and right as we left we heard Abby tossing her cookies. I have no idea who got sick next. I've been afraid to call home and see for fear of them not letting us come up for New Years. So, this Thanksgiving I am very thankful for family who will clean up your throw up and not complain. For Dads who will do anything for a child in need even if it means taking the kids around the mall so you can sneak in some shopping without them seeing and for the Lord who put us in our families because he knew what and who we needed.