Kids are back in school...

We had a great Christmas - nice and quiet here by ourselves. I'm glad that we weren't planning on traveling anywhere because the weather was so extreme here in December. We had lots of snow - lots of places in the state have already broken records. Now our snow is gone and we've had crazy wind this week.

One tradition we have for Christmas is to pick a menu for dinner all new - things we would typically not fix. This year everything was good and it didn't take us ALL day to prepare. We had grilled lamb chops with fresh herbs (these melted in your mouth - YUMMY!), whipped rosemary & garlic cheese potatoes, tangy garlic tortellini salad, glazed maple acorn squash, savory cheese bread and chocolate mousse napoleons with strawberries and cream.

Here are the kids playing in the snow. I don't know who had more fun - Mark or the kids he was pulling around. We went up to the church parking lot so we could have more room. It was a blast!! We went with the Holladay family and Ethan Ellsworth on a couple different days before the snow all melted. Kehli and I both tried out the cross-country skiis. I was happy that the parking lot was flat!

New Years Eve we went out with two other couples to eat at Famous Dave's BBQ and the came here to play games. We had fun with the Wii. Mark and I kicked butt probably because he is so coordinated with the remote as you can see by the light saber that he drew in about 10 seconds. I need lots more practice!
We got the house back on the market last week and had two showings this weekend. One couple came back tonight and they have made an offer, but it is contingent on them selling their home first. We'll see how that works out. We repainted the laundry room and put up a new border and also did some updating in the master bedroom. Both of those rooms look much better now. Hopefully it sells soon....

I am on a team at the gym that is involved in a 6 week contest. Every week there is a new challenge to complete as well as at least 3 regular workouts. This week was easy - only 300 jumpropes. It's a good thing it is easy because our team also signed up for group training sessions 3 times per week for 30 minutes each time. I didn't think I'd be sore because I have been exercising regularly, but I can hardly walk today. Tomorrow is going to be a nightmare, but after that I should be okay. Can't wait to see the results after 6 weeks!!

The kids are all doing great. Brett started pitching lessons last month getting ready for baseball season this spring. They changed the baseline length this year to match the next league & middle school ball. So, he has been taught a new way to pitch. He's doing great. Erin is doing well with her violin and seems to really enjoy it. She twisted her ankle at recess today and I'm hoping it isn't broken. We told her to sleep on it and we'd see how it was in the morning. It wasn't swollen so I'm not too worried. Kehli keeps growing taller and taller - she's about the same height as Erin now. She is so happy that it is basketball season and can't wait for the first game. Bubba is impressing me with her reading. At school she has reading in Spanish so I didn't expect her to be so "advanced" with her English reading. She's very good at sounding out the word one letter at a time. Evan is my little wild man. He loves to go to the gym and play in the kids room and then come home and fly the remote control "hopter" (helicopter). His day revolves around that hopter - play, charge battery, play, charge battery... Jaylee has decided to go back and live with her Grandma. We are sad and a little hurt, but continue to pray for her and hope she is happy. I guess having a cell phone is more fun than having chores!