Just Asking for Another Broken Back

Even after John's broken back incident sledding a few years ago, we still enjoy going sledding (Don't ask him about how sore his back is though). We found another great sledding hill in Bountiful.

It was a very long hill...

Which made for a very tiring walk up.
Natalie insisted on sledding down by herself, so John hiked her
down about halfway so she could go on her own.

Can't beat the view.

Word on the Street...

If you've heard the word on the street...I am here to officially declare the word true. John will be finishing up with Orbit Medical on Friday, February 12th and starting a new job programming software for the Air Force's solar telescope network projects at Hill Air Force Base on Monday, February 15th. Might I say his commute will be *ideal*...a mere 15 minutes from our house. Need I say more?

Wait, I did think of something. All those government paid holidays I didn't even know existed. Nice :)

What? Bangs aren't in style anymore? Perfect...

Thanks to some magic scissors Natalie came across,
she no longer has any bangs.
Stylin', huh?

New Year's Fun

This year for New Year's Eve we went to a party that included an invigorating game of dodge ball. Nothing like playing a game that kills two birds with one stone...1) Fun and 2) Sheds those party treat pounds.

A few other tidbits:

John was flying his bird the other day, and while John was turned getting some food for Orion, he flew on top of his head. In the process, he left his signature on John's head. Nothing like cleaning bird crap out of your hair.


Also, I have cause to celebrate today because the two oldest girls have gone back to school. I have my sanity back (mostly)! The two youngest were being so cute other than cleaning up a few incidents from Natalie (cookie dough munched into the carpet, pieces of Alicia's pictures she had sitting out cut up into pieces, and a broken cd player).

Natalie was so excited to have Megan's fingers wrapped around
her finger. Megan actually looks pleased herself :)

Here Megan is playing with her lady bug friend. She was fascinated!

Surviving

I'm still here...barely.

Dealing with four kids all day while they get cabin fever is proving to be enough to make any sane woman question her sanity. Don't tell anyone, but I'm letting them have free rain over the TV, computer, and Wii just so I can survive this school break.

We had a lovely Christmas though and enjoyed our usual traditions.

Making Cookies for Santa. With two decorated cookies from
each girl, Santa rolled out of our house this year!

John and I got a string this year leading to a ping pong table down in our basement. So far it's been a hit with the kids and I am remembering how much I love ping pong. I have many fond memories playing with my family growing up - especially my dad when we originally used a table made out of plywood and saw horses.

Orion is a Ute!

The biggest question haunting me lately was whether or not Orion (my recently returned Kestrel) was a Ute or a Cougar. Now I know; he's a Ute! Now to convince him to become an Aggie! :)

During Orion's life on the lam, a kind photography couple from Murray who frequently visits the Farmington Bay Wildlife Refuge kept tabs on him. I would receive several updates each week. To repay their kindness, I brought Orion to work yesterday and stopped by their house with him. It was a good chat and they were quite excited to see him up close.

While at work, I placed the sports section of the SL Trib under his perch to keep things clean in the office. I didn't notice at the time that the left half of the front page was an article discussing the U's chances at the Poinsettia Bowl, and the right half was an article discussing the Y's chances at the Las Vegas Bowl. Near the end of the day, one of the guys in the office pointed out that Orion had "left his mark" repeatedly on the article discussing BYU's chances at the Las Vegas Bowl. It got quite the rise from my Cougar manager.

Christmas Fun

We have been having fun getting ready for Christmas around here, which has meant some fun old and new traditions.

Gingerbread House Making - a fun tradition we have been doing for many years now.

A New Tradition - the Christmas Village in Ogden with the Rimingtons. Dozens of small houses are decorated for Christmas. You peer through the windows and enjoy all of the sights and lights. We were there for an hour and didn't get to see everything! This is definitely a tradition I would like to continue in years to come.