1st Annual Pine Wood Derby Race

One of the most exciting things we have done this year is attend the Pinewood Derby Race with Carter.  He has waited for the day he can be a Cub Scout and work with his dad building a race car!  I can't quite tell who had anticipated this race day more...but my guess would be Carter's Daddy! 

I have a philosphy about The Pinewood Derby and that is...Dad's are so excited to finally have the opportunity to make the car, since their dad made theirs...hence the cycle continuing.  Well, I tried really hard to insist that Matt let Carter do all the work, but when the time came, it also went, and they were hurrying to complete the job.  I would say that they shared the work and the creation of....Sponge Bob Rectangle Racer.

We have a guy in our ward who literally "went-all-out."  He owns his own metal race track that is fully-loaded with camera's (for the photo-finishes), loops (for the trick racers), projectors (for the fan's easy viewing),  dozens of signs (for the transformation of the gym into a race track), and you get the idea.  I must say that there was even wiring with sensors for I can't remember what.  Anyway, it was very exciting!

The boys started off by taking a written "Driver's License Test."  They had to pass the test

in order to drive their race car. 

The Driver's License was followed by an Eye Exam. 

All lined up, with engines pur-r-r-r-ring.  Doesn't Sponge Bob look like he is a 

wanna-be Bob-sledder?

Carter told his Dad that he wanted a Sponge Bob car, and after the car was near completion, Carter told Matt that what he really wanted was Sponge Bob riding in a race car. 

Any guesses on who might have been the winner at the finish line?

After all the different race heats.....Carter was the 1st Place winner!  He only lost one heat and that was by Quinn Divett, the reigning champion from the last 2 years. 

Dad, and Mom couldn't be more proud and Carter went away telling people that he got 2nd Place.  He figured that because he lost once, he didn't deserve to take the 1st Place ribbon.  Matt told us that he won his first pinewood derby race also, years ago.  Way to keep up family tradition Carter!  :)  Carter also won the "Funniest Car" Award.

The evening ended with cupcakes.  I think the boys enjoyed refreshments as much as the race.  Hey, I totally agree with the boys!  What a fun and eventful evening!  Way to go Carter and Daddy!

In Order to Get Things Done

This morning, I was really pressed for time in order to get a lot of things done.  I normally spend much of my day trying to herd these two little kittens.  They run circles around me giggling, fighting, whining and especially un-tidying up the house.  This day...was different.  

I came downstairs and found them all buckled up nicely in their car seats.  Yesterday, we had brought the car seats in the house to clean them (don't ask me why!) and it worked to my great advantage this morning.  I had a brilliant idea...well it was their's actually...I moved them in front of the t.v., gave them a bowl of popcorn and ran around the house as fast as I could to take advantage of every last second of this captivity.  The blessing of it all is that they can't get out of their seat belts!      

No, I have not done this since and do not plan on making a habit of it.  :)  Although, when push comes to shove (that sounds a little like fighting) it just might come in handy again.

Who's Got the Gum-Gum?

We are among the many parents who allow our children to have gum on rare occassions, expecting that they keep the rules of the Gum-Gum.  Well this little girl, LOVES gum!  She notices anyone and everyone chewing it.  One of the rules is that if you take it out of your mouth, you lose it.  This morning, I was too slow in grabbing it from her.  I think she is the first of all 4 kids to get gum in her hair.  Thank goodness for the old peanut butter trick, I learned from my mom!  It worked like a charm! 

She was oh, so proud of her debut!

She almost looks like a cute little unicorn!

This was perhaps the look she gave me when I told her she couldn't have gum again...for the rest of her life!

Carter's First Talk

So, Carter has somehow slipped through the hoops for many years in Primary.  He is quite shy when it comes to speaking and has never given a talk.  He has given the scripture and prayer on occassion, but never the talk.  A year ago, he even prepared one and then "lost it" in the car on the way to church, so he wasn't able to give it. 

This time, he actually followed through and did a wonderful job!  He didn't even look nervous as he spoke.  Here is what he said...

"On a beautiful spring morning in 1820, Joseph Smith went into the woods near his home to pray.  He did not know which church to join and decided to ask Heavenly Father.  Joseph looked around to make sure he was alone, then knelt and began to pray.  He was immediately overcome by some evil power.  Thick darkness surrounded him and he could not speak.  Joseph thought he was going to be destroyed, but using all the energy he had, he asked God to deliver him from this unseen enemy.  Just as he was about to give up, he saw a pillar of light over his head, and he was released from the evil force that held him.  The light came down and rested upon him, and Joseph saw two Personages whose brightness and glory were beyond description.  They were standing in the air above Joseph.  One called Joseph by name and, pointing to the other, said, 'This is My Beloved Son.  Hear Him!'  These Personages were Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. 

From Joseph Smith's experience, we have revealed to us the first Article of Faith.  'We believe in God, the Eternal Father and in his son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.'

I know these things are true.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

New Year's Resolution

Where has the past year gone???  I have completely run out of time to finish my last year goals!  Oh wait, I didn't really set any for last year.  I decided to try to "let it go" and figure out what I really wanted to accomplish in life.  Click here to read about last year's resolutions.  Looking back, I think I made some progress, which brings me to this years resolution. 

I only have one and it is something I have needed to work on for years now.  It is something that has become harder as the daily life tasks have quadrupled.  Regardless, it is something that, if accomplished, will make life a little more simple...I do believe. 

So, my one little goal is to Follow Through!  I am posting this phrase everywhere, in hopes that it will become part of my reality.  I have so many thoughts daily...thoughts to do service, thoughts to call those whom I love, thoughts to be a little kinder to my children and husband, thoughts to make my world a better one, and often those thoughts go un-noticed if I do not follow through.  My life may or may not be affected by my lack of taking action, but those around me definately may be. 

I love to organize and have always felt pretty confident in my abilities to organize, but if I do not follow through with the order I have created, it will become chaos...rather quickly!  So, may this year bring many finished projects, completed kind deeds and many worthy acts of love shown to those who may not feel my affections.  With this being said, I must get busy, following through!

Christmas in New Mexico

This year we had a really fun and exciting Christmas!  We had Grandma Polly and Aunt Krystal come for the party!  Christmas Eve was full of surprises.  We had Chinese food for dinner (Panda Express a family favorite) and then we divided into groups and put on a Lip-sync Show.  It was a really great experience!

The first group consisted of

Daddy, Grandma Polly, Chloe and Mason. 

They performed Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree.

We shall say... "It was really rockin'!"

 Our own little Karen Carpenter look-alike!

(Isn't she adorable?)

 Grandma Polly really rockin' out!  She loves to sing and dance

so this activity was perfect for her!  Check out her cute

poodle skirt pinned to the front of her pants.  :)
(It's the same one I wore for a dance recital when I was young.)

 I am not exactly sure who the cat drug in here...

but well, he was quite a site. 

Love the hippy wig and especially the man in it!

 They're still rockin'!

Mason was having a really fun time rockin' in his

green vest with the pirate jacket over it.

Gotta love dressing up!

 Wow!  We didn't expect this finale! 

The leather jacket hid a bare belly to shock us all!

Way to be Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree!

(Did you take notice of the mini-tree in the middle of the

floor that they were dancing around?)

 The next group was

Aunt Krystal, Mommy, Carter and Josie.

They performed Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow
by Martina McBride.

We were really hoping that the snow clouds would hear us and

pour out white blessings for us to wake up to Christmas morning.

We also performed Must Be Santa because Chloe was

singing it for her Kindergarten Christmas Program at school.

Carter plays the part of Santa and

Krystal is his cute little elf.  :)

Josie had fun playing on the "stage" and getting bumped around.

 Who laughs this way, "Ho, ho, ho?"  Must be Santa!

The camera had major red-eye, so this was a terrible attempt at

getting rid of Carter's red-eyes.  They look a little creepy...we just

opted out of editing the rest of the red-eye pictures. 

Carter, you are a handsome Santa!  :)

Christmas Eve, we opened our traditional Christmas Eve present.

Nice warm Pajamas!!!

What is Mason doing?

Oh, Daddy's "bare belly move" must have left an impression.

I guess I better explain. 

Matt's brother Mason loved his belly (his own, not Matt's)

so he always showed it off by lifting up his shirt and rubbing it.

He knew it made people uncomfortable and so

that is exactly why he did it...often!

Mason passed away 4 years ago, so Matt had to

do it "in memory" of Mason.

Kind of ironic that our little Mason

(who was named after Uncle Mason)

is now doing the bare chest/belly thing.

After putting on our pajamas, we all piled in the car for a traditional

drive around town looking at all the Christmas lights

and singing Christmas songs.  Fun times and memories! 

Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas morning we got up early, of course

and the kids were thrilled to open all their presents.

Here they are with all their loot.

Josie

(Look at that wild hair!)

She's loving that sucker ring and she loves all her stuffed animals!!

I made each of the kids a scarf this year.  Aunt Krystal also made

each of the kids an adorable fabric bag for all their books!

Mason

Notice his boots?  All the kids wanted boots this year. 

Josie got fancy red shoes instead of boots.

Chloe ~ Our little cowgirl!

All she really wanted for Christmas was her own cowgirl boots!

(We ended up having to take them back and exchange them

for "red" instead of white.)

Carter

Notice his boots as well.  We had to exchange them

also.  Darn Santa!  He can't get anything right!

I believe someone tried to touch her stuffed animal!

I am sure they are re-thinking their decision about now.

We had a wonderful Christmas and were all spoiled again.  It seems like every year we try to "downsize" more and more, to no avail.  We had someone leave a big box of presents for the whole family.  It included toys and a couple outfits for each of the kids, presents and gift cards for Matt and I to Kohl's Dept. Store and a Walmart gift card.  We felt really grateful, but unworthy of such gifts because there are so many people in the world much less-fortunate than us.  We continue to be amazed at the generosity of people in the world.  We have an incling that it was a great family from the Rivers Edge Ward.  No matter, it was truly thoughtful and we feel so blessed.  We really felt the Spirit of our Savior this Christmas being surrounded by family, an accomplishment of a college graduation, our first child's baptism, a 12 year anniversary and the charitable acts of love and service from those around us.  We truly are blessed!

Merry Christmas!

12 Years Celebrating in Durango

This year Matt and I celebrated our 12 Year Anniversary.  We were married December 20, 1997.  We had much to celebrate!  Matt graduated December 18th, Carter was baptized December 19th and we have gratefully survived 12 years of marriage on December 20th.  Since we haven't gotten away together alone, once the children started coming...we decided it was time to get away! 

Matt's mom Polly, and sister Krystal came for all the celebrations and then stayed with us through Christmas, so we had free babysitters for 3 whole days!  We hopped in the car and didn't look back!

Three hours away, we found ourselves in the Winter Wonderland of Durango, Colorado.  It was a perfectly beautiful time to make our first visit there.  We think it is our new favorite place! 

We arrived mid-day and checked into our cute little 1920's hotel and then walked downtown to get some lunch.  It was snowing gigantic snowflakes and the atmosphere was so peaceful amongst the busy Christmas shoppers rushing around us.  We came upon a little place called Carver's where we enjoyed a delicious sandwich. 

After lunch, we headed for the RAPP Corral where Matt had arranged our own Private Sleigh Ride.  That was simply amazing!  As we sat all bundled up on the sleigh, there were even more thick flakes of snow quietly making their way to blanket the earth.  Everything was covered in white. 

This was a couple coming in from a ride.  The fancy lady had a fur hood on her coat and it was frozen solid.  Question:  Who wears a fur coat in the snow? and Why?

Here we are with the owner lady.  She was a sweet and hard-working woman.  It was fun to visit with her and learn of her business.  We would definately refer her as your guide.  She was a great driver!

                                       Some really neat photos we took on our peaceful journey.

Look at the snow on this picnic bench!

Here is the Rochester Hotel.  It was like going back in time!  Matt wishes

 we lived in the 20's!

They have a couple ladies who cook breakfast every morning.  There is a fresh fruit and muffin bar every morning.  They also come and take your order for a special homemade breakfast.  It consisted of something like scrambled eggs with asparagus and swiss cheese.  Delicious!  They had homemade granola and hot chocolate also.  Sweet ladies and very good cooks! 

They even suprized us one evening with homemade cookies.  Yummy!

After the sleigh ride, we went to dinner and then to the movie Blind Side.  Very Good!  After the movie, we went home and it was such a quiet night, we decided to take pictures in the snow.

The next morning we went on the Durango-Silverton Train.  Read all about it here.  It was a 2 hour train ride to where we stopped for lunch.  It was a gorgeous day for train ride.  It was a clear day and because of the snow storm the days prior, the scenery was amazing!  We have hundreds of pictures to prove it.

We loved looking down at the river and seeing how the snow and ice was covering it, but the water still carved its way through.  BEAUTIFUL!

This is where the train had to stop and refill with water.  The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad is one of the World's Top Ten Train Rides.  It is one of the few Steam Powered Locomotives. 

I think this is one of my favorite shots.  It is the chain that connects the boxcars looking down at the rail on the train track.  It is blurry because we were moving.  Great explanation, huh? 

Great picture, terrible description!  :)

The base of the train tracks were only 3 1/2 feet wide because of the narrow mountainside.  There were parts of the trip that we could reach out and touch the mountain rock wall.  Of course we didn't, because we're just not that stupid!  But we could have, and that's the point.  Same goes for the drop off on the other side of the train.  We literally felt like the mountain dropped off right underneath the train going straight down sometimes.  I definately didn't get too close to that side!

This is also the same train that takes the kids on the Polar Express during the holidays.  We hope to do that sometime with our kids.  You have to book tickets almost a year in advance though, but it would be a great time!  So, much fun!

The coal.

On the way back from lunch, we stopped and got off the train for a Snow Mobile Tour.  It was so much fun.  Matt and I rode together and we had fun laughing with and about the people we on the tour with.  There were these 3 older siblings.  Two brothers, who wanted to torcher their sister.  This lady should not have been allowed on a snowmobile alone!  We were all in danger!  :)  Thankfully, she agreed with our previously mentioned thoughts, and told the tour guide he had to ride with her.  Keep in mind, he was young and relatively attractive, so a wise choice on her part.  He consented because he knew she was dangerous.

Had to grab a quick shot of this cute little lady.  She really was hysterical!

Ok, this lady was a little obnoxious as well!

After returning home from an exhausting day, we took some pictures of this pretty little pink tree that was outside of a fancy little Yarn Store.  We fell in love with the little frozen drips on the leaves.

Then we had dinner at this Italian Restaurant called Mutu's.  It was really tasty!

Here is Matt the last morning eating breakfast.  What a great place to stay!  We loved the Rochester Hotel and will hopefully have the opportunity to stay there again!

Durango.  Our New Favorite Place.