Special Olympics

Idaho was fortunate enough to host the Winter World Special Olympics this year. The World Special Olympics are like the regular Olympics and are only held every 4 years. We had the opening ceremonies this past Saturday and the Olympics will last for a week. My sister-in-law, Karen, is hosting some athletes and a coach from El Salvador. As a thank you for hosting these athletes, she received tickets to the Opening Ceremonies. She had an extra ticket, so Carter got to attend.

Here is a picture of Carter and Natalie with the flame behind them.
Here is a better picture of the flame.

Winter

I was extremely busy in December with Christmas, company and a wedding, so when January rolled around I was excited to get my blog up to date. That is when I received some news that put me into a "funk". That is the best word to describe it. Well, I think the fog has lifted and I am coming out of it. Here are a few pictures from Christmas and events around it. I have a couple of recent things that I am going to post soon. Thanks for checking my blog and hopefully I will give you more to look at in the future.

Turkey Story

Please read the following story and the procede with this post...

http://www.idahostatesman.com/localnews/story/585559.html

This turkey is my sister-in-law's turkey. She raises turkeys each year and then slaughters them just before Thanksgiving. This big guy got out a week ago and ended up less than a mile down the road. The funny thing about the article is it states that there aren't any farms in the area, but they have a big sign in front of their house that states "Fresh Turkeys for Sale". I guess he decided that since he didn't receive a pardon, he was going to make a prison break.

This turkey may have "ruined" Thanksgiving but will make for a Merry Christmas!

We did have one of her other not-so-lucky turkeys for our Thanksgiving.

Twilight

We decided that a girls night was in order, since I am pretty sure Kate and I have never had a girls night out together. We decided to have some yummy dinner at the Olive Garden and then go to the movie. The day got a little stressful when my mom called and said she was way to sick to go. I tried to find someone else to go without any luck! How could I not find one person who wanted a girls night out to see Twilight? Then Kris was having some problems as well and didn't think she would be able to make the night out after getting the day off. Luckily for us, she was able to make the movie as well as Wendy. Here are Kate, Ivie and myself at the Olive Garden.
Here we are waiting in the ridiculous line!The line was so long because they kept adding showings of the movie. When I ordered tickets on line, there was only one showing for the movie. When we got there , they had added two more (totalling 3). By the time they let us into the theater (5 minutes before the movie was to start) they had added another. It took them 30 minutes to get the film ready to show on 4 screens. Finally, we got to see it! You should have seen the lobby when the movie was over! It was pure mania! I have never seen anything like it!

When I left, I had mixed emotions. I kinda liked it and kinda didn't. Movies are never as good as the book because they usually omit things or condense things, i.e. two dances into one prom. I know that they added some scenes to bring in the male population, but did so at the expense of the story. Oh, well. But now that I am a few days out, I am seeming to remember a lot that I liked about the movie (i.e kissing scene) and a desire to see it again! I must have liked it more than I originally thought! I am going to see it again tomorrow with my mom. I will have to let you know the final verdict. I hope you all enjoyed it.

What are you plans?

Lucky 13

Today is our Anniversary. Yep it's been 13 years! How is that possible? One day it feels like we just met and the other it feels like we have been together forever (that's not always a bad thing). :) Last Friday, we went on a date for our anniversary. We did a little shopping, ate at the Cheesecake Factory (for me) and then went to a movie (for him). We hardly get out with just each other, so it was nice.

So some of you may be wondering some lessons that I might have learned in 13 years of marriage. Well, I don't know if I learned anything big but I did learn a little lesson each year.

Here they are...

Year 1. It is really nice to married to a man who makes the bed every day.

Year 2. Always listen to your hubby when he tells you to go to the doctor. If I hadn't, I might be skinny, but I would be without 3 beautiful children and have a goiter the size of a baseball.

Year 3. Saving up for a house is worth it.

Year 4. Having a husband who makes the bed at all is only something that happens the first year of marriage.

Year 5. A child can bring even more love into a home.

Year 6. Follow your husbands promptings to sell your house. It is for the best sometimes.

Year 7. Rediscover each other.

Year 8. The seven year itch is real, but it can be overcome.

Year 9. Cooperation really works with 2 kids.

Year 10. We really do listen to one another.

Year 11. Building a house isn't that hard when you refer to 10.

Year 12. Having a baby and knee surgery in the same year could only work with the help of a good man.

Year 13. They really were not kidding when they said that communication is key.

What I can say is that I am glad to have this amazing man in my life. We have had a lot of great times and some not so great times but I would not change a thing! All of our times together have been worth it as long as he has been by my side!

I love you, Ryan! We have been counseled to find joy in our lives. You are mine. Happy Anniversary!

Four year olds!

It has become evident that I have a four year old running around this house. There are shreds of paper everywhere I look. He is constantly cutting and drawing and spelling every one's name in the house. If I have to spell "Carter" one more time, I'm gonna lose it.

His teacher told me a funny story about Spencer the other day. She saw that he was coloring a banana on the board and she asked him about it...

Miss Amanda: "Spencer, what are you doing?"

Spencer: "I'm trickin' it out!"

What else can I say?