Valentines day.. and then some

Look at my beautiful flowers. Aaron surprised me with them. He brought them home on his lunch break. I told him I didn't need anything and was really surprised when he came in with them.
We had a quiet Valentines Day. Sent the kids to a sitter and 5:30 and then Aaron and I made pink waffles for dinner and watched the movie Courageous (really, really good). It was actually a lot of fun to have a little us time at home.

Saturdays are our wood cutting days. Right now the weather is really cold, 28 below zero one morning last week, and so we bundle up the kids and they haul wood in to me to stack next to the fire place while Aaron cuts those frozen logs (next year we will have more cut BEFORE it snows and freezes). It is our family job we do every week. Then we have hot chocolate and a snack. The day we took the pictures, we had warm brownies and hot chocolate.

The down side to having an older sister is that Cole gets to wear all her pink snow gear. We had some for Todd when he was little but have collected some hand me downs when Brooklyn was born that were a lot better and warmer. Poor Cole. Doesn't he look cute in that pink and white hat and those pink snow pants??
I wanted to add this picture. This was from the indoor triathlon a couple weeks ago. I didn't post the picture because I didn't like the way I looked. But why not show it off. We took 2nd in the the pair category. We both did everything, swim, bike and run, and they took the best times. Good thing I had Aaron. I only beat him in the swimming. So, this is me. 41 pounds down. My pants are a size 12 but they are obviously too big (hooray!)
I started losing weight because I didn't like the way I looked. It is amazing how much I love the way I feel now. I am in the young womens at church and I love that I can keep up with the kids. Last weekend we had a Valentines Dance and Aaron and I danced our gutts out. We didn't sit down the whole night. We taught the kids some Polka and the Waltz and the two step and some swing. It was fast moving and I was pooped at the end of the night but we kept up. About a month ago, we had an activity where we played games in the gym. We played this game where you lay on the floor in twos. Shoulder to shoulder. Two people are standing and one is trying to tag the other. The only way to be saved is to lay down on the floor next to someone and then their partner they were laying by gets up and runs from the person who is it. It was SO much fun. I had bruised on my knees and elbows and hips the next day. But I loved it and I was the only leader (man and woman) who played the whole time. The weight loss has been great but I love being physically fit.

I am shooting for a 10K in May and another in September. I have 12 lbs to lose to hit my goal weight. I have never felt so good.

Off to a good start

Made it through the indoor triathlon. It was awesome. Something that, surprisingly, I really enjoyed. Took 25th place over all.

It snowed that day a lot. Barely made it to the gym. I took this picture because I thought it was funny. I couldn't get my camera out in time to catch the two cop cars at the front and back, shutting down the main road (and highway for people going through). What was even funnier was when I started to recognize the people herding those horses. It was a family from my ward and a few of the young men. Aaron was super jealous.

This was on the way into the race. You can't even see the snow falling. It fell all day long. Lots of cars got stuck.

I wish I had my camera yesterday and today. I got stuck in Mindy's driveway while picking up kids for car pool. Got too close to the side and got sucked right in. She let me load the kids into her car and I took them to school and then went to my class in the gym. When I got back to her house, Aaron was there with our friend Phil and they successfully rescued the car.

Today, also picking up kids for car pool (I have filled my quota for the week) there was a car that was off the road. They were driving down a hill where their road "T"ed with another road and they apparently couldn't stop because they drove right of the road and down the hill. Made me laugh and groan for them.

Hope that the winter weather is treating you well!

Check this out

One of my favorite web sites is called Make it and love it. It is a site where she does a lot of sewing and crafts. Right now they are giving a way this awesome scale. So go a head and take a look here and maybe try and get one for yourself. Because I know that every one of you out there are looking to lose a little weight for you new years resolution... and mine is to lose a little more.

Training hard, getting owies.

Every January I set goals for myself. This year I want to do a lot of new things that push my me, physically. Last year, I discovered that I love to work out. I love to swim, I love to run, I love to rock climb, I love zumba... right now I am taking a circuit training class that I really enjoy. Last fall, I signed up to do an indoor triathlon in January. I have been working hard to be ready. But last Monday during a viscous game of volleyball with my husband and a few friends, I sprained my ankle. It hurt really bad for a couple days. You would have laughed seeing me crawl and jump around the house Tuesday morning getting Todd ready for school. Brooklyn has been asking me about my sore foot and then shows me her perfect foot and says she has an owie on her foot too. It is pretty funny.

The sad thing... my race is in 2 weeks. I have been sticking to the water since I got hurt. So, here's to healing and to kicking but in my first ever mini triathlon!

All things December

December is a big month at our house. We celebrated my birthday near the beginning of the month. Aaron took me out to lunch and then we had a yummy dinner and my favorite, Gemman Chocolate Cake.

I didn't get any pictures from our "Christmas Eve" Party, which we now do the Saturday before Christmas. Where as this year Christmas Eve was the Saturday before Christmas, we pushed it back to the Saturday before that. It is at my Grandpa Meyer's house every year and is the only tradition that my family still does since my Grandma's death and my parents divorce. I cherish this tradition. The yummy dinner, the songs we sing and music pieces we prepare for each other, my dad reads the Christmas story every year and Grandpa plays Christmas songs on his harmonica. Then we open presents and enjoy being together. I forgot the camera this year, but wanted to mention it.

The picture below was taken on Christmas eve as we were preparing cookies for our Santa plate. The sugar cookies were in the oven and we were getting the frosting ready.
Later on Christmas eve we acted out the nativity. My sister, Lisa and her husband, Brad were able to make it early enough to participate.

The Wise Man

Joseph and Mary

The angel dressed in black visiting Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus.

Aaron wearing Mary's pink headband that she put on him and me enjoying watching.

In Brad's family they have a tradition that they read a story every year and so he brought it and shared it with us this year.

Todd and Brooklyn opened their new Christmas outfit on Christmas Eve this year. I couldn't get a good picture of them because all they wanted to do was dance. (It's that Heward blood in them.)

After the kids were asleep. Sarah and Liz arrived and we set up.

Christmas morning, we opened Stockings and a few presents before Church and then saved the rest for after.

It was a good Christmas. This was the first year we have had a home big enough to have family come to us. It was SO much fun having our Aunts and Uncle come. Sarah also played the piano for Aaron and I as we sang in sacrament meeting and it was great to have her be able to do that for us. I can't believe the Christmas has come and gone. We are looking forward to the new year and all that it brings.

The Holidays

We had a lot of fun with Aaron's family for Thanksgiving. This is the classic olives on the fingers picture. Aaron's family plays a lot of Rook. It is the family favorite and a game we pull out at every gathering.
We love Grandpa!!
This is our Christmas tree. We put it up last night only to realize that we didn't have enough lights (many strands didn't work.) We laughed pretty hard as we striped out tree with the only two colors we had and left the top bare. The rest will have to wait until we can get to the store.
This is my favorite part of our house. I love the wood burning fire place in our family room. It has been fun to decorate this room, especially since we spend most of our time here.
This is Todd's version of our life. The log home, the one tree in the yard, only a little grass, the family and our dog buddy.
Last night for family home evening we worked on the food for our Christmas goody plates that we are taking out tonight. We made caramel apples and had a lot of fun smothering them in light and milk chocolate and then sprinkling on candy cane and nuts.
We also made caramel nut pull aparts. Yum! It has been hard for me not to eat them all day.
Santa has also come early to our home and I am loving our new car. It is a cross over- 4 wheel drive, seats 8, but is more like a car than an SUV and I LOVE driving it.
He also brought us our bedroom set. My sister is down sizing and gave us a really good deal on her bedroom set and all the extras (I am in love with the dual control electric mattress pad).

At our house...

Winter has hit us hard already. The snow has been beautiful and we have loved going sledding, enjoying hot chocolate and using our wood burning fire place. Saturday we got about 4 inches. Aaron decided we needed to get the rest of our wood split so after cutting for a couple hours, we bundled up the kids and went out to stack the wood in the freezing cold temperatures. We actually had a really good time working as a family.The cold weather has brought the animals up into our yard. We have been visited by lots and lots of antelope and some deer. The kids love pressing their face to the window and watching them. Todd has figured out that the males usually have antlers and will count and tell us how many there are of each gender. Tonight we had 4 female deer hanging out by our swing set and the night we took this picture, we had about 20 antelope in the yard.
I was called to the Young Womans presidency about 3 weeks ago and am absolutely loving it. The funny thing is getting home and seeing how Aaron has put the kids to bed. He reads to them until they fall asleep on the couch and when I get home, we carry them to bed.
Cole got his first hair cut on Saturday night. Aaron put him in the sink and he played with everything on the counter while he cut his hair. It is nice to have Aaron cut the boys hair. Using the clippers, usually all the boys- including Aaron- strip to their underware and cut their hair. Done and easy as that- One night every month, and Aaron always does a really great job.

I have become a gym rat- I go in and work out for an hour every day (week days only). The kids love that lady in the day care and the people know me by name. I have recently changed my workouts and have picked up Zumba- which I love- and rock climbing. I do a women only rock climbing class two days a week. The kids play and we take turns watching them while we climb. I am really surprised how much I enjoy it.

We are really excited for Thanksgiving this week and Christmas. My kids have been enjoying our Christmas movies- the Polar Express and, surprisingly, a Christmas story. Last week the churh hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for the town and it was a lot of fun to help with. I look forward to heading to Idaho this week for Thanksgiving... and to making pies. I love to make home made pies.