Ben Golfing!

Ben loves playing golf. He has a group of friends that he goes out with often.  He has gotten really good and really enjoys it!!

Hair Cut

I got a hair cut. I cut off about 4 inches and cut bangs.  I am excited for the change. Here are some pictures!

BEFORE

AFTER

Plowed Over By Annie

Saturday, we gave Annie a bath (When Annie get’s a bath she gets very hyper and excited. She runs around very fast with checks flapping) and so Ben took her in the backyard and was playing soccer with her. He kicked the ball; she would attack it (at full speed) and bring it back.  In the back yard area there is a small hill by a back fence, so I was standing up by the fence watching as Ben and the dog played.  Annie was running full speed past me when Ben kicked the ball and it hit the fence and rebounded forward.  Annie tried to change directions to get the ball, but in her hyper full speed, turned right into me and PLOW!! She took my legs right out from under me (hit by a 60 lb dog running full speed).  I flew until to the air and landed in a shocked heap on the ground. (Don’t worry Annie got the ball!) I just laid there on the ground trying to figure out if I was broken for a couple minutes while Ben roared with laughter.  (He is so sad he didn’t have a camera.) I was fine but as the day went on I kept finding bruises and sore spots from getting wrestled by a dog.   I still have not determined what lesson I should have learnt from this…incident.  Watch where you’re standing during soccer games?

New Car

For the past couple of months we have been looking for a new car to replace our Tarus. We bought the Ford Tarus right before we got married from Ben’s grandmother it had almost no miles but was almost as old as I was (19 years old). It has been a wonderful car lasting us through three blissful years of marriage but there have been some bumps along the way- fuel pumps, ect. Last year it started leaking oil and as a result- smoking. This smoke filled the car if ever the heat or ac was on- so the climate control was a problem. We finally decided this was an engine block problem and couldn’t be fixed; Hence us looking for another car.

After months of looking, we finally got another car!! There were some people in our ward who were selling a Toyota Avalon. It is older (’99) and is very FANCY (heat warmers and a sunroof). It is so nice and we feel so special having it!!

Ward Conference

Today was our Ward Conference. I was there early, practicing for the choir number and Ben was there early for meetings and to make sure the sacrament and Young Men were in order. About 15 minutes to the hour, as people were trying to sit reverently, a few were mingling in the back and families were arriving and finding seats a dull and ancient sounding chirp filled the halls of the church (but not the chapel- it only streamed in through the open doors). A few people took no notice, some looked around curiously, some went into the hallway to inquire at the awkwardly loud sound- yes, this was the fire alarm. Still, after this realization, no one took for the door or even started to leave- it was probably the act of a Primary child (the only look of panic is the mother taking toll of her children, making sure they are all accounted for and not the alarm pulling fiend). After a couple minutes of the sirens a member of the Stake Presidency entered the room and asked that we do indeed evacuate the building. While leaving, with the ward before us, we all utter silent prayers of thanks that the weather is warm, sunny and dry!

While waiting outside Jacob, my 5 year old nephew, looks at me with utter horror and says, “I left my scriptures inside, are they gonna burn?” I quickly told him it was just a practice fire drill, like at school, and his scriptures would be fine. We were let in about 5 minutes later, although our numbers had doubled as most of the rest of our ward had arrived for church.

Needless to say Sacrament started late (they could not get everyone to calm down or take their seats very quickly) and so started our Ward Conference…

Hello Dolly!!

For Christmas Nedra and Ron gave us tickets to the Boulder Dinner Theater. We all went together at the end of January (the post is showing up now because I have not taken the pictures off my camera-oops) to see Hello Dolly. It was great!!

The Boulder Dinner Theater is a wonderful theater in Boulder that still grasps the joy and magic of live theater. Ben and I saw “Hello Dolly” (one of my absolute favorites) in December and were again amazed by the music, scenery and wonderful talent of the staff at the theater. It was great going with everyone and being able to spend time together. Thank you Nedra and Ron!!!

Winter Family Times

The beginning of the year is a time of LOTS of Birthday’s and togetherness.  It is always so great to get together with family during this season because life just seems so stagnant.  Christmas is so full of joy, family time, laughter and cheer and then… you get January.  It has been so wonderful to see family more often (with the occasional Birthday) and to be able to extend that joy, family time, laughter and cheer.  Here are some pictures…

Erica found the front screen on my camera!

Alice has make-up, like a Princess!

Andrew is in this new phase where he is scared of the camera.

I think this new phase is hillarious!

I love my family!!!

FROZEN DEAD GUY DAYS

The Midwest has no huge claim to fame like other parts of the United States. California and the west coast has the beach, Hollywood and all the celebrities. The Upper East coast is home to New York City, Boston, Philadelphia and DC some of the most historic, glamorous and substantial cities in the country. The south has great food, crocodiles and well, they are really good at sports. Texas…well we won’t go there. And there is Colorado, yes we have the Rocky Mountains (which if you live here you know this is enough to rank us coolest of them all) but to the world this is not much, so we must rank ourselves in other ways. Ben and I experienced one of these unique ‘High Ranking’ Colorado Experiences this past weekend as we went to commemorate, celebrate and participate in the world famous (or soon to be) FROZEN DEAD GUY DAYS of Nederland, CO. Let me explain…

Once upon a time there was a man named, Trygve Bauge, lived in a small mountain town in Colorado known as Nederland. Trygve’s Grandfather passed away in Norway and so, convinced that the science and technology of the world would soon skyrocket, Trygve had his grandfather first shipped to CA (on dry ice) where he was cryogenically frozen and then sent to CO where they kept the body in a shed in the backyard. Soon afterwards Trygve was deported for ‘visa issues’ and was forced to leave the country and…grandfather. The remaining family members, worried that grandfather would thaw, went to the authorities who (even though it was and still is illegal to keep frozen humans or animals in your possession in Nederland) luckily decided to help ‘keep Grandpa in Nederland.’ Soon, with the help of the town and ongoing help of tuff shed, Grandpa became great local news. Now to commemorate the wonderful town togetherness of saving Grandpa they throw a festival one weekend every March.

This festival houses Frozen Dead Guy look alike contests (points for looking dead, frozen and like Grandpa), the Polar Bear Plunge (jumping through a hole in the ice into the frozen lake), coffin races (carrying a ‘dead person’ through a maze), a hearse parade, frozen t-shirt contests, frozen turkey bowling, brain freeze competitions and so much much more. There have even been documentaries done on Grandpa, that are shown all weekend and there are (for $30 a person) tours to go visit Grandpa (yes he is still there- now 109 years old) in his Tuff Shed.

Here is a picture and video of the coffin races. There is a team that carries a coffin (that they had to make) holding a team member (aka 'dead person') through a frozen obsticle course. 

We were really excited to see this odd and thrilling side of Colorado and then…we got there. The sun was shinning and so was the wind (it was about 35 degrees and -4 with wind chill) it was literally a FROZEN day. We were expecting a high energy event with lots of people booths, exhibits, retailers, ect and that was not exactly what we found. We did find a LOT of people (and in a small town it looks like even more) but it seemed like there was only one event going on at a time, so the masses migrated from one event to another (like cattle or maybe to keep warm). It was like we had joined the ranks of pot smoking hippie rednecks- which was kind of entertaining to watch but again, not really what we expected (I guess I didn’t know what to expect in Nederland). It was fun, we left early because it was so cold, but we can now say that Colorado has something worth while to put us on the map…and we’ve been there, the FROZEN DEAD GUY DAYS!!

Homemaker Bug

Since house sitting these past couple of months I have gotten a homemaker bug.  When we were first married and up at school I got this bug, cooked sweets and breads every other day, and we both gained about 20 lbs. This time I have tried hard NOT to cook but instead to decorate.  It is a little hard to decorate an already fully furnished decorated house, so here is what I have been doing…

About a year ago I was at the Roundy’s house and saw a great wall hanging that I loved.  I took a picture of it with my phone and have been planning this for, well a year.  It was nine symmetrical squares hung on the wall with interesting patterns on them.  I liked this because, it was big (each square being about 12”x12”) and it was colorful and full of patterns. I am genuinely afraid of patterns, in my clothing and decorating, but I love them; so I figured a wall hanging would maybe be a less intrusive way to introduce this colorful spark to my life.  My plan: 12x12 scrapbooking paper mod podged onto some type of wood or frame. So I got the paper (months ago) and I was just waiting for the inspiration for the frames and waiting for the ‘bug’ to get me motivated. 

So as the bug hit me I went to home depot; bought wood, had it cut, bought screws and hinge-things, drilled, screwed, hammered, painted and…. the frames are about an inch to big on every side.  I made 12x12 frames but did not account for the width of the wood and they are too big for my paper. So, onto plan B.

I went and bought some cute fabrics; washed them, ironed them, stretched them around the frames, stapled them to the back, hammered and WALA!! Now the only problem is, it’s not my house so I can’t hang them on the wall, but I have them so when we get a house I have cute wall hangings!!



Oh and I used some of the cute paper to mod podged a 'N' for...well you know!!



This is what is should look like on a wall, however this is on a floor!!

Then I had all this extra fabric from the wall hangings so I decided to make a table runner. So I started and…so far I have not finished it (a lot of pinning and matching thread is needed), but I will.





Then I decided to make some pillows (you must know that I am not an expert seamstress, mainly because I am not very patient. I am not patient enough to get a pattern. I am not patient enough to rethread the machine every couple minutes. I am not patient enough to change the color of thread, bobbin or even refill the bobbin. I am not patient enough to iron, pin, iron, sew, iron, and then iron again.)  I also am not a confident seamstress because, even though I shouldn’t, I compare myself to my family.  I come from TWO families jam packed of amazingly talented women and they can sew (not just mend ripped jeans but really sew).

 So I made one pillow, which was okay, straight lines all the way.  Then I got ambitious and decided to make a round pillow (I saw Rachel do it once, it was so cute and not that hard…right?).  It was a disaster.  In the end Ben said it looked like an inappropriate human body part and laughed and laughed at my attempt (he said we couldn’t use it). 



Can You Guess Which Pillow is the Good One?



So I still want to make some successful cute pillows but… I am a little discouraged (I still have to finish that table runner).  Maybe I will cook for a while…we will see!!!

 

Let it Snow!...all the way to China

We have been having a crazy Colorado Winter. (We feel like we are back in Rexburg- it has been soo cold).  There have been a couple days that they closed school and some businesses (not our works- sad) because it was so cold for people to go outside.  But when it started warming up (aka got out of the negatives) it started snowing.  We have got A LOT of snow, but  it is always fun in to play in the snow- it is more fun to play with a dog in the snow! When off the leash Annie runs around like a joyful rocket, in the snow that joy exponentially grows.  She slips and slides (and it seems like sometimes she tries to slide). She loves to dig in the snow (I think she is digging to China) and she will dig down until she starts digging up grass and dirt (probably going to notice that when the snow melts-oops). 

Our only mishap so far was when Annie was on the leash and got this 'joyful rocket' energy and pulled me (because we were walking on slippery snow packed ice) off my feet and face first right into the snow.  I thought it was funny (and I am sure the neighbors hiding in their homes found it amusing) but I now make extra sure I am walking on dry land (no more slipping or sliding while holding the leash)!!

Annie is digging to China- she almost made it!

Santa Clause is coming to town!!

Girls Night Out

A couple weeks ago a good friend of mine invited me to go with her on a girls night out.  We started the night by going out to dinner at the Vesta Dipping Grill in Denver.  This is a great restaurant that serves different sauces with your food for you to dip it in…it was delicious.  I had the duck, which I have never had before and it was to die for it was so good.  Afterwards we were going to go country dancing (but the club wasn’t open yet) so we went to a sports bar and played pool.  We were all REALLY bad and soon had people watching because we could NOT sink the 8 ball.  Finally it was time to dance, it was fun to be in a dancing atmosphere again (even though I have no idea how to country/line dance).  It was a fun night that made us all feel young and alive again!! Yay for girls nights!!

Mapleton Hike

It is the last weekend of January in Colorado and it was sunny and 63 degrees and…I didn’t have to work. Annie and I decided to pack a picnic (pb&j- yum) and go on a hike up Mapleton…it was beautiful. The Mapleton Hike overlooks Boulder and, no matter the season, it is quite a sight. We had fun hiking through the woods and slushy muddy snow!!

It is tricky to get a picture of you and a dog when you are the one taking the picture (and the dog is not interested).

Da Dog

 Here are some pictures of Annie, the dog, mainly for the pleasure and relief of her owners but also for proof to all you nay-sayers that Ben and I are actually caring for a dog. She is so well behaved and go much fun (like a personal toy). Here are some pictures and videos of things we have been doing with her. (These are things that are probably normal to a ‘dog owner’ but since this is Ben and my first dog experience, or pet for that matter, everything is exciting and worth documentation!!)

Annie loves plastic milk (and orange juice) containers.  Here is a video of Ben giving her one. The reaction is not as... BIG as it usually is (I think she was confused because we were both watching).  But it becomes her favorite toy for days (or as long as I can stand having a milk container sitting around the house).

Annie decided to roll in the snow on our hike.  She rolled long enough for me to laugh, pull out my camera and take a picture. It really was funny!!

Annie on the Mapleton Hike

 Annie likes the snow, and snowballs. On our hike this weekend there were little patches of snow that I would randomly scoop up and throw at her.  This is a video of one "snowball fight" that we had.  What you don't see is that between each snowball Annie is running into my legs trying to dump me into the slippery muddy snow!! (Hence me constantly telling her that I am indeed getting her another one...)

Annie had to get a bath after our hike, she was muddy and slushy.  After her bath's we rush her outside because she get's hyper and wants to run. Here is a moment of that 'after-bath-exuberance'.  For the split second that I actually catch her running on camera- you can see pure joy on her face!!

Home Repair: Frozen Pipes

Two of our good friends (Forsyth's) had the opportunity to move to London for work for a couple of months. While they are gone we have moved into their townhouse to ‘house sit’ and ‘dog sit.’ Yes, dog sit! Ben and I are foster parenting a super well behaved black lab, Annie. We were a little nervous (neither of us being dog people and having a slightly negative dog-sitting life ratio) but it is going well and we love her. We moved in on Monday and are enjoying having our own place again; cooking meals, organizing and walking around in our underwear (which we totally DON’T do).

Last night we had our first ‘problem’ with the house. It has been getting colder and we were warned and have been cautious about the pipes but alas…the pipes froze. We tried space heaters, high powered blow-dryers, blankets, and having the water ‘running’ (with nothing coming out) all day. Both of us had to work (with me coming home every couple hours to make sure the house wasn’t flooded) and we both worried all day. So when Ben got off work he (and his brother Jesse) decided to make sure this never happened again. Here’s the home repair process…
   

They cleared everything out from under the sink, pulled out the bottom floor board and cut a hole in the ground to see where the pipes went.



Here is the hole. (About 4"x4")



Here is what they found.  The pipes were running next to the concrete foundation (which is cold) and therefore they were freezing in that one spot.  They stuck the blow-dryer in the hole aimed at that bend and wala, we had water. Now to PREVENT the problem.

They found some pipe insulation coveres- now the only trick is getting the pipe (which is in that little hole) covered!

He said "No Butt Shot!" So I shifted to the left. It was a little tight down there.



Finished Project- covered pipes!! Hopefully more insulated and freeze free!



1.1.11 11*

On the first day of the first month of the eleventh year it was eleven degrees and… it was BEN’S BIRTHDAY!!!  For Ben’s Birthday we had shrimp, cheese fondu, a yummy salad and chocolate raspberry trifle for dessert.  Ben got lost of cool presents (which we all enjoyed dangling dangerously over his head) and we had a great time with family.  HAPPY 28^TH BIRTHDAY BEN!!

Ben in his new PacMan SNUGGY!!

You know your getting old when your
cake sets off the fire alarm!