I'm Back!

You're so excited I know.  All two of you.  I've thought about posting on hear numerous times over the past couple of months.  I'd think about it, and then I honestly couldn't think of anything worth writing about.  Writers' block, the winter doldrums, not sure what but I'll try to do better.  Its not like this winter has been awful.  We had lots of fun skiing (despite the awfulness of my last post), and we did lots of other things.  I guess there just wasn't anything that felt worth writing about.  But I shall do better.  Must capture those small, but significant moments...or something like that.

Anyway, its taken a truly momentous occasion to actually get me back on here.  I know, you're on the edge of you seat.  Well, the Jorgensons have added another member to our family.  No, not a baby (much to Sage's dismay), not a dog, cat, or any other animal.  We have finally purchased a camping tailer.  Let's hear a big WAHOO!!!  Sage just informed me the trailer is named Tiny, so there you go.  Why would we do something so foolish you ask?  Well, some of you might remember our failed attempts at camping last year.  We tried to go camping four times, actually succeeded only once.  This is unacceptable.  We love camping, so once a year is not okay.  I decided the only way to remedy this was by getting a trailer.  Now hear me out...Jake works more hours in a week than almost anyone I know.  He's always working.  Always.  This means we only have time for a quick one night camping trip.  I have no problem camping in a tent, but its a lot of work and that work is NOT worth it for one night.  No way.  Is the light bulb going on yet?  Yep, if we have a trailer we're all ready to go.  We just throw some food together, and off we go.  A night of fun and amazing family memories.  This is what I think anyway.  Jake has other opinions.  It took much negotiation and discussion to get him to agree to this trailer (Tiny).  I'm still not sure how it happened.  A moment of weakness on his part I'm sure.  Yes, I realize that this means any time there's a problem with the trailer it will always be my fault.  I'm prepared to take this stress upon myself in the name of family togetherness away from all cell phones.  Now I'm sending mighty prayers up that this will be as good of an experience as I've made it sound.  If its not, and we end up hating this trailer for some reason, I realize that I will never hear the end of it for the rest of my life.

Tiny (not so tiny in case you were worried)

So, if you need to find the Jorgensons this summer, you will have to drive up to the mountains.  Because that's where we'll be....The Jorgensons and Tiny.  Living the good life.  Feel free to join us for these memory-filled trips.  It will be well worth your time.

Family Ski Day!

Sage on the lift

Sage practicing her reverse snow plow

Jake and I are determined to teach our kids to ski.  We live so close to so many resorts it would be sad if they couldn't ski.  Plus, let's face it, winters here never end so you have to do something fun.  Teaching your kids to ski shouldn't be that hard, right?  Wrong!!  It is way harder than it sounds, let me tell you.  But we will not quit!  (A side note here:  teaching your kids to ski is not hard for everyone.  We, however, seem to be handicapped in this area)

So, this is how skiing goes in our family.  Jake grew up skiing and snow boarding.   He's amazing and loves it.  I did  not grow up skiing or snow boarding.  I'm trying to figure it out, but almost every time I've skied I could also tell you a story of some mishap.  Zack has had a bunch of lessons this year and has gotten pretty good.  I will admit that he gets down the mountain faster than I do.  He loves to go through trees and off jumps (little ones mind you).  Kate is more timid, but determined all the same.  The important part is that she loves it.  Sage is going to be our extreme skier I think.  The faster she goes, the more she giggles.  We really need to get her a helmet....

We're making progress, you see?  (well, everyone but me)  So this year I signed Zack and Kate up for ski lessons so that their times overlapped.  Kill two birds with one stone I thought.  Ends up that its not so easy.  Here is an example of a day of skiing with three kids:

We have passes to PCMR, and their parking is limited.  Very limited.  No worries, you can park at the high school and ride a shuttle.  No problem, right?  Wrong again!!  This past Saturday was Sundance.  That means Park City is packed with people.  That's ok, we plan ahead and leave really early.  The PCMR people told us a shuttle would be running to the high school.  So we parked at the high school and waited, and waited...  It finally became apparent that no shuttle would be coming, so Jake dropped me off with Zack and Kate.  We waited in line and got Kate's rentals, then ate lunch.  Got Kate geared up and into her class.  Deep breath, first one done.  Now to get Zack his gear.  Done and done.  So Zack and I manage a couple of runs before his lessons start.  During this whole time poor Jake and Sage are driving around, trying to figure out where to park.  Finally, two hours later (they did take a break for lunch), they were able to join us at the resort.  I get Zack to his lessons and rush to meet Jake and Sage.  Jake runs to the bathroom and right after he gets back Sage says she needs to go.  Of course.  Jake runs off to take her super fast while I wait, and wait, and wait.  Finally they get back.   What took so long?  Jake's nice Oakley glasses fell into the toilet while he was helping Sage go to the bathroom.  Awesome.  So we re-group to get some skiing in.  Make it down a couple of runs and then its time to get Kate from her lessons.  Kate's tired and doesn't want to ski anymore so Jake and Sage take off without us.  I put my skis in the rack along with my poles and Jake's poles (he doesn't use them when he has Sage) and Kate and I head downstairs to return her gear.  Fifteen minutes later we're back, but my skis are gone.  Yep, gone.  Are you kidding me??!!!  My poles were there, but the skis and Jake's poles were gone.  This might make sense if I had really nice skis, but I don't.  They're awful and ugly.  So I look all around and think I find them in another section of the racks.  So I take them and we head off to pick up Zack.  While we're waiting for Zack I look at my skis more and realize that they're really not my skis.  So Jake collects the kids while I walk back to the ski racks.  My skis are still gone.  Seriously.  So I head to the lost and found to tell them I took the wrong pair of skis.  The girl whose skis I stole had already been to the lost and found, so she got her skis back.  Unfortunately, she didn't have my skis.  Where in the world did my skis go??!!  I hope whoever took them breaks a leg or something.  Grrr.  So I finally tromp back to the car and we head home.  I think I walked like a mile in ski boots.  My feet still hurt.  Note to self:  Get new boots when you get new skis...

If you could see into the car on the way home, this is what you would see:  Three kids in the back seat totally happy with their day of skiing, completely unaware that anything had been difficult.  But when you look in the front seat you see two exhausted parents wondering if this is really worth it.  One of us in tears due to lost skis (that was Jake not me).

I would like to go back to the fact that the kids were happy, thus, success.  At least that's what I tell myself.

The moral to this story?  (there are many really)

1. Don't schedule ski lessons at the same time.  Its harder than it sounds.
2. Don't schedule ski lessons during Sundance.  There is no parking.
3. Forget about wearing ski boots until you're actually ready to ski.  Way to painful.
4. Don't put your sunglasses in your pocket when you go to the bathroom.
5. Keep your skis with you at all times, even if they're crappy and ugly.

All Things Christmas

Kate - not sure how we missed her opening her doll (Jake was taking pics)

Sage and her doll Kit

Zack with his legos

Christmas Eve nativity

sledding with my family (just pretend you can see everyone's faces)

I suppose I should say something about Christmas.  It was wonderful, of course.  There's nothing like Christmas with little kids.  I love it and I try to enjoy every second of it because I know it won't last.  This Christmas was the perfect blend of doing our own things, combined with extended family activities.  Its always so good to spend some extra time with family.

The kids loved their presents.  Zack got all kinds of things to put together.  He keeps himself busy for large amounts of time now:)  Kate and Sage got American Girl Dolls.  They were so excited.  Good thing, because it was pretty much their only present.  Jake continues to give me all kinds of grief about spending so much on dolls, but he is a man and cannot understand.  I held firm, and now they have their dolls.  I think Kate would take her doll to school with her if possible.  I love it.

Anyway, Christmas was good.  I don't feel like going into long, boring details of everything.  And I'm sure you don't feel like reading it.  Think of this lack of detail as my Christmas gift to you (whoever you are - all 2 of you).

Three Years

It's been three years since Mom passed away.  Seems like forever and seems like yesterday all at once.  I was reading in her journal and thought I'd share some words of wisdom she wrote:

"My thoughts continued to ponder on the adversity in life.  While I was laying down I remembered a talk someone gave me by Bruce Hafen called "When Do Angels Come?"  He reminds us of all the times angels have come to help people including Christ.  But the part I liked best is when he talked about angels ministering and nobody saw them.  Joseph Smith "saw the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb,...in foreign lands standing together in a circle, much fatigued, with their clothes in tatters and feet swollen, with their eyes cast downward, and Jesus standing in their midst, and they did not behold Him.  The Savior looked upon them and wept."  The Prophet also "saw Elder Brigham Young in a strange land, in a desert place, upon a rock in the midst of about a dozen hostile men.  He was preaching to them in their own tongue, and the angel of God standing above his head, with a drawn sword in his hand, protecting him, but he did not see it."  And so I wondered to myself if angels and Christ himself have been in my midst and I didn't know it.  I have learned that there are times in adversity when the Lord leaves us alone for a minute perhaps so when the light comes on we will see its brightness better.  Maybe I didn't have that quite right - he doesn't leave us, we just don't know He is there.  While I was laying there thinking about all this I picked up the Ensign (Sept 2009) and read Elder Holland's talk, Lessons from Liberty Jail.  He gave this talk last September and our family felt like he was giving the talk just for us.  He says that when we feel that God has abandoned us and doesn't hear our prayer that He DOES hear and He does LOVE us and He DOES see us.  "It is imperative that we remember He is right there with us - where He has always been!  We must continue to believe, continue to have faith, continue to plead with heaven, even if we feel for a time our prayers are not heard and that God has somehow gone away.  He IS there.  Our prayers are heard.  AND WHEN WE WEEP HE AND THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN WEEP WITH US!"  And so I found myself saying 'Remember, remember," how the Lord has carried you before just like all the prophets remind people through history about how Jehovah brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt.  I must remember and the family too about how we have always been saved and sustained especially in our deepest trial of losing Lindsey.  He carried us through those dark times and continues to comfort us.  Let us not forget.  and just as the prophets told their people to 'remember' this great thing, our Spjute family needs to always remember in our history that we were saved and sustained in our greatest time of need."

She was so wise.  I love reading her words and thought they were too good not to share.

Best. Tradition. Ever.

Sometimes traditions cause a groan, or the desire to run away screaming.  Don't get me wrong, I'm a firm believer in tradition.  But some traditions are definitely better than others.  And this tradition is the best one of all.  Notice that I'm already calling it a tradition, even though its the first time we've done it. I have faith that due to the enjoyment of the activity it will be repeated every year for the rest of forever.  With my dad in charge I'm sure this will be the case as he is the king of all things tradition.

What did we do you say?  Well, we rode on a bus to Temple Square to see the lights.  So what, right?  Lots of people do that....Wrong!  Nobody does a bus like the Spjutes/Binghams do a bus.  We had a bus come to my dad's and pick us up.  That's right, kind of like a taxi, or a limo, but it was a bus.  And this wasn't just a short bus.  No way.  Spjutes/Binghams don't belong on a short bus.  This was a full-sized, real-life school bus.  Big.  Yellow.  Did I mention big?

the bus parked in out front...big right?

The kids were so excited.  Let's be honest, some of the adults were as excited as the kids.  My dad was so excited waiting for everyone to show up that I thought he might explode.  The most exciting part of the ride?  Going down the big hill by my dad's house.  It was like being on a roller coaster without the seat belts.  We all put our hands in the air and screamed.  Good times.

Sage loving life

The kids at the back of the bus

On the way to Temple Square we sang all kinds of Christmas songs, and of course included "Wheels on the Bus".  When we got to the horn on the bus Clarence, the bus driver, even honked the horn.  So cool.  Then we were dropped off right at Temple Square.  That's right, no dealing with traffic, no stress of where to park, no walking from the parking lot.  Just dropped off right there.  We were super cool.

Sage riding in style

Zack and Kate

Kate and Sage

So we walked around and enjoyed the lights.  Or at least the ones we could see through all the people.  Still beautiful though, even with lots of people.  Zack's still trying to figure out exactly how many lights there were.  I'm sure he'll be able to tell us next year.

Sage...mouth full and hot chocolate in hand

On the bus ride home we listened to Polar Express, ate cookies, and drank hot chocolate.  We went so slow up the hill to my dad's that we were hardly moving.  I thought the bus was done for.  Especially because there was a strange buzzing sound like something was going to explode.  Anyway, we made it home and all was well.  My kids were exhausted, but happy.  We're going to have to re-visit our other traditions so they maybe stand a chance against The Polar Express Bus...

Derby Time!

Zack's car being set in place

The car and the scout

Since Zack turned 8, I've entered the world of scouting.  And quite a world it is.  I feel like its a strange secret combination complete with special handshakes, cheers, vocabulary, the list goes on.  I know nothing about scouting.  I'm not sure I really want to know about scouting.  I have learned, though, that some people take scouting very seriously.  Very seriously.  There is to be no joking about scouting.  This is serious business.  Like I said, secret combination...

Anyway, surprisingly, Zack is loving scouts.  He loves every activity they do and could spend all day doing anything related to scouts.  This could be challenging for me if it wasn't for my wonderful hubby.  Jake loves doing all things scouting with Zack.  Who knew?  So now my husband and son get great bonding time, and I don't have to do scouts. This is definitely a win-win situation.

Last night we experienced our first pinewood derby.  I have a fading memory of my brother Greg coming home after his first pinewood derby with a blue ribbon for first place.  I'm not sure I ever remember my dad being so excited.  So when Zack's derby came around I figured this was a big deal.

Zack designed the car on the computer, and Jake cut it out per Zack's specifications.  Then they painted it.  Zack decided on a shark design (not sure where this came from) and the number 80 (?).  I was proud of Jake for letting Zack do the work.  When it came down to speed we weren't so fast.  Maybe we should have done a little more research on this aspect.  However, Zack had a good time and didn't seem phased by his slow car.  If Zack's happy, I'm happy.  Who needs a blue ribbon anyway?

Turkeys, Lights, and Stitches

Cute Sage

Watching the fountain show

An eventful week for sure.  Thanksgiving has come and gone.  We gathered at my dad's and ate until we couldn't move.  I decided the reason you get so full at Thanksgiving is that all of the foods have large amounts of carbs.  Major carb overload for sure.  We decided to go to the fountain at Farmington Station after dinner so that we could make room for pie.  The kids had good fun.  Really, they had good fun all weekend with their cousins.  Kate and Megan are bosom buddies and spent their time putting on plays for grandma and grandpa and playing with American Girl dolls.  Sage loves Max and Sam and follows them both around.  I think they're not quite sure what to make of her.  Zack plays with whoever is willing to build with him.  I wish we lived closer so they could play together more.

Feeding the scary geese

On Friday we decided to fit everything fun into one day.  We started by feeding the ducks at Farmington Pond.  Ducks and geese I should say.  Quite aggressive they are too.  There were moments when the kids feared for their lives due to the hissing geese.  Following this, we promptly devoured all leftovers.  The best part of Thanksgiving.  Then we hurried to the Bountiful Bubble to swim our guts out.  My poor non-swimming kids tried their best to keep up with their fish cousins.  After swimming it was on to see "Wreck It Ralph".  Super cute show for sure.  By the end of the day the kids were exhausted, but happy.

Jake dangling from the roof

Yesterday was spent doing all things Christmas.  We got the Christmas decorations up.  Not that this is a huge feat at our house.  I have maybe half the amount of decorations most people do.  Oh well, we all have our things, right?  Just not sure what my thing is yet.  Anyway, we also took a deep breath and proceeded to put up Christmas lights.  This is no easy task with our tall house.  Poor Jake dangles 20 feet in the air, risking his life as our family illumination specialist.  It's all worth it when the lights come on though.  At least, that's what I tell myself.  Not sure Jake agrees.

Sage's stitches

We added a little drama to the day yesterday.  I was outside working with Jake when Sage came out crying.  She pulled one of the stockings down, along with the heavy star that was holding it in place.  Apparently the heavy star landed on her head.  This isn't too surprising considering the size of her head.  It would have been more surprising if it had missed, really:)  Upon closer examination I saw that there was a big gash in her head.  Off to the doctor for stitches we went.  She got three stitches and was a trooper.  I realized this is the first experience we have with our kids getting stitches.  Guess our time was up.  By the way, our stockings are now on the floor.  No more heavy stars waiting to fall and smash my kids.

Anyway, deep breath, that was our weekend.  Busy, fun, good times for sure.  Now a really deep breath for Christmas....Ready, set, go!!