Christmas

We had a great Christmas this year!  I don't know why, but I really enjoyed it.  It was really nice having Christmas fall on a Sunday.  I loved going to church in the middle of the day.  It felt like a good thing to do on Christmas.  Too bad it doesn't happen every year.  And then it was really nice to have Jake home (mostly) the next day.

Christmas Eve was good.  We continued our tradition of Christmas Eve skiing.  There was a big storm this year so it was a little treacherous, but we were not about to miss our tradition.  Spjutes are taught at a young age that traditions are to be kept at all costs.  No matter what.  Even unto death.  And when we slid into the middle of the road with a bus 10 feet from us I thought it just might come to that.  Despite the near death experience and having to get pushed out of a parking spot we had a great time.  Really, these are the things that make traditions memorable and worthwhile.  Anyway, I let Sage set the table for a fancy dinner.  After that Jake pulled out his guitar and the kids were amazed at what Mom and Dad could do together.  We read, and watched, the nativity and shared thoughts about the Savior.  Another wonderful tradition.  And then we got to open the Christmas pajamas.  The kids are always so excited for these and Grandma Tracy never lets us down.

Before I go any further, I have to announce that we have officially entered a wonderful new era in the Jorgenson household.  This is the era of Zack assembling gifts, and its a Christmas miracle.  For reals.  For some reason Jake HATES, assembling toys of any kind.  Even he admits that his hatred is extreme.  So every time we have toys to assemble I brace myself for 'working words' and frustration.  This year there was none of that.  None!  Now, before you think we're horrible parents for making Zack assemble things during Christmas, let me assure you that he loves it.  Its like we're giving him an extra gift.  For reals.  There were a lot of gifts to be assembled this year, so thank heavens for Zack.  The girls got a huge american girl dollhouse.  And all of the kids got an air hockey table.  Zack and I assembled the doll house, and Zack assembled the air hockey table pretty much by himself.  Its the gift that keeps on giving.  Jake has decided that next year Zack should offer his services to others, for a fee of course.  So let us know if you'd like to be a recipient of Zack's assembly skills.

Back to Christmas.  The theme this year was 'things that will keep the kids busy and away from the tv'.  So we got an air hockey table, awesome laser tag, a basketball hoop (Zack still needs to assemble this), and a fun frisbee game.  The kids were all excited and sufficiently grateful.  Jake is working on mud room cabinets for my Christmas, but also managed to get me a nice ski coat.  What I got Jake has not been used yet, so I sense failure.  The agony.  After opening presents we got to go to church and remember what Christmas is really about.  Then we headed up to visit grandparents and cousins.  The perfect Christmas I think.  You'll just have to take my word for it because of course I didn't manage to take many pictures.  I must up my game in this area.  Merry Christmas and on to the new year!!

Sage and her BFF Kami

Skiing in the freezing cold while Jake and Kate were in Steamboat

Sage randomly came down dressed as a witch, with Snoopy tied on the back of the broom

Making graham cracker houses

Christmas Eve!

Huge doll house

The aftermath 

Christmas day plowing.  The family that plows together stays together...

Sledding fun

Steamboat

Jake has always wanted to ski in Steamboat, Colorado.  Not sure why, but its true.  This year for going to the Warren Miller movie you got a free early/late season pass to Steamboat.  Jake mentioned to Toby that they should go, Toby was down with it, so off they went.  And they were nice enough to take Megan and Kate with them.

They happened to go during a really weird storm where it rained a ton, and I mean a ton.  So I got to deal with a lake in front of the barn and they got to deal with skiing in the rain.  Neither of those is awesome.  But they managed to get up high to the snow and had a great time.  All reports are that Megan and Kate giggled the whole time.  I think it was funny at first and then mildly annoying.  It is rather amazing how much those two giggle.  Kate is the instigator I think, but she doesn't have to work too hard to get Megan to follow along.  Anyway, it was a fast but fun trip for sure.  Gotta love ski trips!

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas Bus!

It seems like I mostly write once a month these days, so in keeping with that tradition here's my post for November.  With the addition of the Christmas Bus.

Really, November isn't an awesome month.  There's no snow to play in, its cold, everything is dead. Not my favorite month.  The highlight is definitely Thanksgiving.  We started off turkey day with our second annual turkey trot.  This year Zack didn't join us as he keeps having random knee pain, and believe you me, when he says he's knee hurts its better to nod and say sorry than try to make him do anything.  I ran with Sage and Kate ran with Jake.  Every time Kate would catch up to Sage, Sage would take off.  With the finish line in sight Kate decided to go for it and took off past Sage.  Well, Sage was having none of that and she sprinted with everything she had to pass Kate.  Competitive anyone?  It was great fun though and definitely my favorite tradition.

Thanksgiving dinner was eaten with Greg and Tracy and all of Jake's aunts and uncles.  It was good to see everyone and catch up, since it seems like we see them once a year.  The food was delicious of course, and we all ate more than enough.  Then we went to the hospital with my family to eat pie with Alicia so she didn't feel quite so bad about being there.  Had there been the usual number of people there I'm sure we would have been kicked out as the kids were definitely not quiet.  We had good fun though and I'm sure it will be a Thanksgiving to be remembered.

Zack has been working on getting his hunting license.  Finally.  So we all got to go to the shooting range together.  That's the kind of activity you do as a family in a small town.  It was a crowded place let me tell you.

Another thing you get to do in a small town is participate in the town creche exhibit.  To make a long story short, my kids volunteered (were coerced) into being the live nativity.  They had a couple of sheep in a pen and then my kids got to stand there and pretend they were Mary, Joseph, and an angel.  People were supposed to walk by and enjoy it, except no one was there.  And it was like 20 degrees, so they were freezing.  We were supposed to stand there for an hour (yeah right), I was hoping for 30 minutes, we made it 15.  Kate said it was the worst day of her life.  It was hilarious and my family enjoyed mocking the picture I sent out.  The whole time Sage (who can't ever sit still through dinner) was sitting very quietly, no complaints at all, patting the baby Jesus.  When I told them it was time to go she said she didn't want to leave.  When I asked her why she said, "Because Jesus is here."  So maybe it wasn't such a terrible experience after all...

And last night was the Christmas Bus.  My kids favorite night of the whole year.  My dad and Kathy kill themselves making everything perfect, and this year didn't disappoint.  There was some minor drama with the pizza, and for a second my dad thought his dreams had come true and we were going to be able to eat hot dogs.  But things were resolved and we were all even more grateful when we dug in to the pizza.  Then we headed to a rest home where we did some singing and the kids acted out the nativity.  Always amusing.  And then it was on to see the lights.  Beautiful of course!  We managed to not freeze and not lose anyone.  My definition of a successful night.  We got to ride in a new bus this year, which actually had a CD player, so we really got to listen to 'The Polar Express' while sipping hot chocolate.  Definitely a night to be remembered.  Way to go Dad and Kathy!!

I had to make this extra large so you could truly enjoy the moment.  My kids, in the live creche, right on Main Street...

They're both so excited:)

The whole group singing one last song

Turkey Trot 2016!

Sage was so excited to eat a drum stick.  Surprise surprise she didn't even finish half of it.

Kate at the shooting range

October Happenings

Wow I'm really good at writing a lot.  Life just seems fairly routine of late.  I'm experiencing writers block with what to write about on here.  So we'll cover the whole month.

Jake finally finished the backsplash in our kitchen.  Hooray!  Slowly but surely things are getting done around here.  I've asked for mud room lockers for Christmas in hopes that this will help push things along.  I'm not sure I can handle another winter of coats being all over the floor.

We did a small amount of mountain biking, but the leaves were beautiful.  I love this time of year.  I had another birthday which means I'm in my final year of my 30's.  Gloom and despair.  When you're in your thirties you can pretend you're not that old.  But when you hit 40 there's no getting around it, you're old.  I was doing some calculating and realized that when Mom was my age I was a senior in high school.  Holy crap.  I'm going to go buy a Ford Mustang in honor of my mid-life crisis.  It will be awesome and make my life worth living:)

Yesterday was the annual witchy-poo party.  My kids count down to this every year.  And this year my dad and Kathy really outdid themselves.  The decorations were amazing.  They work really hard to make this happen every year and we really appreciate it.  There was haunted house decorating, games played, yummy food eaten, and of course witches brew made.  Kathy has pity on the adults and supplies real live Root Beer so we don't have to partake of the witches brew.  This year the witches brew started exploding.  It was a great touch to the whole event.

And I'll end this little post by saying that Christmas is on its way and I've done nothing to prepare.  Ahhhh!!!

Our beautiful backsplash!

Ok, it really doesn't get prettier than this

Oh yeah, Jake and Zack went hunting.  Zack looks so excited...

Sage and her cute friend on their way to their dance party

At the witchy-poo party.  A cheerleader, deer, and hunter

Love this picture!

Decorating haunted houses

Hanging with the littles in the sandbox.  So cute

Faces being contorted to get an oreo from your eye to your mouth, no hands allowed.  Dad was especially good at this.

Skeleton relay

Witches brew.  People were backing up here to avoid being hit by exploding brew:)

September Happenings

Holy cow!!  I can't believe its been so long since I wrote!  Its definitely been busy around here.  The kids started school and are getting settled quite nicely.  So far everything is going well.  Zack loves having lots of different classes so he doesn't get so bored.  He's also been able to design something to print on a 3-D printer and start things on fire in science club.  His dreams have come true.  Kate is busy with morning choir, piano lessons, and orchestra.  We decided to throw swimming in there so she can do something besides music for a second.  And Sage is speaking excellent spanish and dancing up a storm.  I'm loving the quiet hours when the kids are all at school, however I thought I'd have a lot more time not being busy than I do.  Crazy how that happens.

We had a busy couple of weeks with a house in the Park City Showcase of Homes.  Really good marketing, but really stressful and busy.  So glad its over and hoping to not do it again for a while.

Last week Jake and I got to go to Savannah, Georgia.  Just us, no kids.  Alicia and Dan were super nice to come stay with the kids while we were gone.  It was such a great trip.  I'd never been anywhere in the south before, so this was definitely a first for me.  Jake was in meetings all day Thursday and Friday, so I got to wander around and do whatever I wanted all day long.  It was pure bliss.  Seriously.  Our hotel was in the historic area of Savannah, so there were tons of old homes and cool things to see.  I loved all of the beautiful old buildings and homes.  So different than what we have around here.  Every night we went to dinner with the people in Jake's builder group.  It was fun to get to know everyone, but it was even more fun to eat real southern food.  Talk about delicious.  I got to eat a real southern biscuit and it was heavenly.  I also tried grits and shrimp, catfish, bread pudding, fried chicken (beyond delicious), fried pickle chips, and a southern quesadilla (a quesadilla full of meatloaf, mac and cheese, bacon, and country gravy to dip it in).  All of these things were delicious.  I would weigh a million pounds if we lived there.  On Saturday Jake and I went to the beach.  So beautiful and fun to swim in water that isn't freezing cold.

All in all, a really great trip.  I'm officially a fan of accompanying Jake on business trips.  A mix of time to myself, time with Jake, and time in a great place made it one of my favorite trips ever.

First day of 7th grade (this may or may not have been taken after school)

First day of 2nd grade

First day of 5th grade

Beautiful old houses in Savannah

Savannah cathedral

Cool haunted house

Really old cemetery

Awesome building along the Savannah River

Running at Forsythe Park

The beach! (the weather was better than it looks)

The river right next to our hotel

Beautiful fall leaves (love this time of year)