The Story of the Legendary Sledding Hill and the Feats of Courageousness

When I was down with the flu a few weeks ago, Zack spent a lot of time taking care of me. He made sure I got the medicine I needed, sat by me when there was nothing he could do for the nausea, and even put towels around the toilet so I wouldn't hurt my knees or be cold when I had to puke. Awwwwww.

When I started to feel better but still couldn't do anything, he went and bought me some books (thanks Allie and Angie!) so I could sit and read.

Now you're probably asking "What does this have to do with the Great Sledding Hill?" Well, I'll tell you... (she's going to tell! she's going to tell....)

While I was relaxing and reading my new books, Zack was outside shoveling all the fresh snow off our driveway, or so I thought. He was actually shovelling ALL the snow in our entire yard. All the snow on our driveway and all the snow on our grass. He put it all in the middle of the yard, making one great mound. That's right. A giant sledding hill.

After a few weeks of great snow and frigid temperatures, and several more shoveling sessions, the hill was finally worthy of people to come try it out. So we called my fambwy and invited them over for some way cool sliding down our way cool hill.

Megan, my three year old niece, was a little apprehensive about sledding down ANYTHING, let alone the giant hill. It took several times sledding with Dad down the "hill" that is our front lawn before she had the courage to go on any sled by herself. But fear soon turned into fun and she was ready to conquer the big one.

We couldn't be shamed by Megan so we all had to follow suit. Yes, we made the puppies go down the hill, but in our defense Maxwell LOVES it.

McKay kind of loves it.

Mike, like a cat, landed on both feet.

Kalli was a champ and even started sledding from the top, though I didn't get footage of that.

And Grandma couldn't let herself be outdone by her grandkids!

The hill is still out front, though some warmer weather has shrunk it a little. Next year Mike promises to make two sledding hills in his backyard named "Thunder and Lighting." I'm holding you to it, Mikey.

Happy New Year

This post has nothing to do with the new year except for the fact that it is written on the second day of the new year. I just wanted to be cool like everybody else and say Happy New Year on my blog.

How did we spend the first day of our new year? We drove for 11 hours. Salt Lake to Burlington is a nice, grueling 11 hour drive. We decided to take our puppies with us this time. It was pretty uneventful driving with 2 dogs in the back. (Not nearly as eventful as driving with three girls in the back...Chris and Allie....) We only had to stop 4 times and let them out. Aside from McKay throwing up twice things went well.

We spent the second day of our new year with Zack's dad playing various versions of Pinochle and eating junk food. Good tiiiimes.

The experiment on this trip was to see how our puppies would do left alone all day (8 hours) in a hotel room. I'm happy to say they passed with flying colors. Nobody pooped on the floor! And hopefully our efforts to soundproof the room by keeping the fan and the TV on worked and kept our puppies from barking at any strange noises coming from outside.

We decided this time around to go with the cheaper hotel room and save ourselves over a hundred dollars. So far, we are happy with our choice. It's amazing how good saving money can feel. The more expensive hotel has an indoor pool and a Continental breakfast, two things we haven't missed so far.

This motel hasn't been that bad. Aside from the cigarette butts, beer bottle caps and one creepy chicken leg that litter the patch of lawn outside our door, the cigarette burn in the bedspread of our "non-smoking" room and the lighter and bottle of pills we found under the bed, our new, cheaper hotel has been just fine. At least it doesn't have bugs on the floor of the bathroom. I draw the line at bugs on the floor. That's just gross.

Bonuses to this room include: A patch of grass right outside the door for our dogs to do their business (so long as we keep them away from the aforementioned creepy things), a fridge, a motel that's so old they don't care if we leave our dogs in the room unattended, and ESPN on the night of the Sugar Bowl so Zack can watch Utah beat the pants off Blabablama.

Merry Christmas

The important thing about Christmas is that we remember Him. We sing and laugh. We make treats and we give them away. We buy presents and we give presents. We love each other and try to be good like Jesus taught. But the important thing about Christmas is that we remember Him.

MUST do.

Amidst the chaos of the last 7 days of school before Christmas vacation I've solidified one thing to do on my "To Do" list when I have 16 student-free days. I'm going to read a book. And I'm going to start in the morning, still in my pajamas, and end whenever I get finished. Eating will be optional, cleaning will not. I won't do anything else that day except read that ever-loving stress-reducing book.
Problem is, I don't know what book to read.
I'll take suggestions.
But remember, it has to be ever-loving AND stress-reducing.

Mail Happenings

It's always a good day when this shows up in your mailbox.




That's right. A full-size rubber chicken. Jealous?

There are three great things about this chicken.

First, it's a CHICKEN.
Second, it's from a friend who obviously knows my taste and cares enough to send the very best.
Third, I don't know who sent it.

Why is it a good thing I don't know who sent it? Think about it. If you get a rubber chicken in the mail and don't know exactly who sent it, that means you have more than one friend capable of pulling off such hilarity. Your life is rich, indeed.

I wasn't the only one getting goodies in the mail. Zack got his prize from Marie.




It arrived intact with no meltage whatsoever. (However, if, by chance, your chocolate that you ordered online arrives melted, you just put it in the fridge and it hardens up, plus you get the chocolate for freeeee and also get coupons to buy more chocolate. But I digress...) Suffice it to say, mailing chocolate in the fall is much better than mailing it in the summer.

Thanks Marie! You're our favorite first cousin once removed living in California!

And I do have my suspicions as to who lovingly placed the chicken in my mailbox. You know who you are.

The REAL end of the world.

Forget the whole "the Second Coming is nigh" stuff we've been hearing for the past hundred years or so. The REAL end of the world, apparently, is February 17, 2009 when all analog signals will switch to digital... FOR GOOD.
AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

I was just reading the paper and read this quote from the president and CEO of the Public Broadcasting Service. She's talking about how some people just don't realize the magnitude of this change and probably won't be ready when the time comes.

"There are a large number of households that have a couple sets hooked up to the cable, but they've got the rabbit-ears set in the kids' bedroom or in the playroom or in the basement where the kids are hanging out. And I'm really worried about those kids suddenly getting cut off."

She almost makes it sound like a drug addiction these kids have. Almost...

What WILL we do when the T.V.'s of children around the nation are suddenly silent? They won't be able to watch T.V. in their bedrooms or their playrooms or their basements where they sometimes hang out! The kids will have to *shudder* play with their toys, talk to their friends and family, or, heaven forbid, go outside!

Too cynical? I can never tell....

(To help ease this lady's mind, the T.V.'s will probably only be silent for a day or two until the parents go to the store and buy a converter box or, better yet, a whole brand spankin' new (that's right, SPANKIN' new) digital T.V. for the kids.)

Sunday