Sweetheart Weekend...Get away!

The ladies wearing their matching shirts and posing...being cheerleaders, just whatever!

I couldn't bend over in my pants so Brandt went and got his spandex on (from the ski trip) and then he did a dance....he is one funny guy! He is the one who pops up skiing in a speedo too.

Mary was trying to be like me...I got my 5 marbles to stick in 13 seconds and they said I wasn't even looking...she was making fun of me! But I celebrated big!!

BEAT THAT!

We have a group of friends that are hilarious and great fun! Plus they have fantastic "stuff", so we can go and have fun together. A cabin - that is waaayyy nicer then my house, is that "stuff"? Well, I say - YES! The Erhart's have a cabin (a gorgeous home) at Bear Lake and they invited 7 couples to go for Valentines Weekend. We went up on Friday at noon and stopped in Logan to eat, then we drove up to Bear Lake and we laughed and everyone handed out gifts - everyone except ME- I didn't get the memo! The Jardine's couldn't come (neither could the Vest's) and Tonia still even sent a gift! WTH? Angie made every couple a darling platter and had sugar cookies on them all wrapped up! Marla made everyone glittered red wine glasses that were personalized with treats in them! Mary bought all the ladies heart t-shirts! Kristie got our favorite chocolate chip cookies all wrapped up cute! SERIOUSLY- when will I ever learn? They still love me!

Then Saturday, everyone went skiing, except me! I see a pattern?!? Why do they even invite me? I better step it up or I am going to be OUT! I stayed in the lodge, played on Angie's Ipad and listened to music and then that evening we had a BLAST! We played games from MINUTE TO WIN IT...Some of them were: blow me (blowing cups off the table with a balloon), bite me (picking up paper sacks that got smaller with nothing but our mouths and not touching the ground), sticky balls (rolling marbles on the table and having 5 stick to double stick tape at the other end) etc....Girls against boys and I think the boys won. Travis Erhart better watch out...we are signing him up to go on the show- he did so good at every game! We laughed at each other all night. We then played a card game from Sweden and then another game, we stayed up half the night and laughed. Then we came home on Sunday! It was a great weekend that has become a new tradition. They said we would go up in the summer too and bring the boats - all but us, since our boat NEVER works! Oh well, we will go and just wait on the shore....haha!

The Biggest Loser

Another reason I haven't had time to blog is because I have been busy exercising! Since the first of the year, Brad and I, along with a group of others, have been participating in the biggest loser challenge. I did this back in November and it was so hard and why am I doing this again? Well, I need to lose a few pounds, but more than that I need to have self control and do some exercise, and I don't mean run from my bed to the fridge and back! It was much easier the 2nd time! I am glad I did it. I didn't lose a lot of weight but I did lose some inches! But Brad lost 20 pounds! Since he has been diagnosed with an irreversible lung disease, silicosis, that has no treatment- the dr's only suggestion was to exercise and get into shape and keep his lungs active. He feels better, he looks GREAT and he has stopped snoring! To end the biggest loser, we all went to 5 Guys Burger and Fries to give out the prizes. Kent was the man's winner, Dean came in 2nd and Brad got 3rd, but Brad did lose the most weight, but he couldn't do all of the challenges because of work. Theresa won for the women! Angie got 2nd and Marla got 3rd! And between all that went to dinner that night, we lost 144 pounds in 5 weeks so Kristie put 150 lbs of potatoes on the table and the mangers about died, "that is a liability"! They made fun of me because my only award was the alarm clock award- I was ALWAYS late to Zumba!! We are doing it again in April to get ready for summer!

Basketball...sort of!

There is basketball. Then there is girls basketball. Then there is girls CHURCH basketball. New low level of skill....haha! Miss Grace went into young women's in November and when they announced basketball was starting, she was excited! She played every Thursday for 5 weeks. She practiced at the community center when she could and she used it for one of her value projects. She did ok. She didn't even wear real tennis shoes, she wore Vans, what is up with that? She is not an athlete but she is athletic (she is a great tumbler and dancer). She had fun, she was committed to going for her ward. And when she invited my dad to come watch, I was horrified! But he was a good sport and all I can say is...it's over!

Old Friends...Good Times

Brad and I met in high school. We had great friends back in the day. Over the years, we have all gone in different directions, some went to dental school, law school, some went into law enforcement and there wasn't enough action in West Valley, and we have stayed here in Utah, less than 3 miles from where we both grew up! We have remained close with some of our friends but with kids and work etc...we let months and years go by without seeing each other. I always send Christmas cards but sometimes that is our only contact. But since Facebook (which I joined to keep my eye on my kids) we have reconnected with so many old friends and it has been fun to know what they are doing! Well..Andy Shavers was one of Brad's best friends growing up and he is a DEA agent currently in Afghanistan, he comes home (to Utah) once every 6 months. Last summer we had a bbq at our house and everyone came over and this time, we went out! Not everyone could come but we added a few others and we had a great time with friends, food and laughter! They are some of the best people we know!

More and more basketball

We have been so busy that I haven't blogged, it seems like forever, but it has been awhile. Why have we been so busy??? Well every Tuesday and Friday we are at CHS basketball games. Stockton is a sophomore and they play at 3:30 and then he gets to play some J.V. at 5:15 and then he dresses (the only sophomore) varsity at 7....So we are there for 5-6 hours on those nights. Well the varsity team is horrible, they have only won 1 game so far and it doesn't look like they will get many more...but they played Weber tonight and Stockton got in on the varsity in the 1st quarter!! He does get in at the very end when they are getting killed but I was excited when he got in when it was still the 1st quarter. He isn't a threat offensively, he WON'T shoot, but he is a great defender! So they used him! Next year we will only go to the JV and varsity games...

Snowboarding in 2011

Sara snowboards for about 2 hours then she likes to join me in the lodge for some quality computer time...

Snowboarding/skiing has been such a big part of my kids lives since they were 4. And since Stockton made the basketball team, he wasn't allowed to go (because of injury) but even before this...he had said he wasn't going to snowboard? I still can't figure that out...he has had season passes since the 5th grade and now he isn't going to go? WEIRD!

BUT the girls are in the 5th and 6th grade and in Utah they have passes in those grades to get the kids hooked! 5th graders can ski/snowboard at any Utah resort 3 times with a paying adult, the 6th graders can go to each resort once. So the girls hadn't been this year (Grace went once over Christmas break with friends) so finally I took them up on a Saturday to Snowbasin. We took Easton and they had a great time. The next week Kelly took them to Wolf Mountain and then Brad has taken them again while off track. It definately hasn't been the ski season we are used to...but it is still snowing so they will probably go a few more times before spring FINALLY gets here :)

Science Fair....LAME but Grace got 2nd place!

I. HATE. SCIENCE. FAIR. Do you understand? I think science fair projects are dumb. It becomes a project that the parents do and I don't think the kids learn a thing from them. BUT being the parents we are....we do it!

Sara's project was which finger nail polish stayed on the longest! Awesome, she picked it herself and we got polish at different price points and she and I wore them each for a week (it took all of December to do the project) and we decided that OPI was the best! Marla Call was interested in the result of the test, plus we used some of her purple polish, THANKS Mar...

Grace's project was which bubble gum blew the biggest bubbles. Stockton, Sydnie, Sara and I participated and Grace won 2nd place!! Great job....

But as you can see Brad and I put the boards together. I am so glad that I have a husband who helps with homework and thinks that it is as important as I do. He is the best husband EVER!