Merry Christmas

Loved this video! Take a look. Merry Christmas everyone!

http://www.youtube.com/mormonmessages#p/a/f/0/tXXwtFWpAI8

SANTA!

Did I mention how much I love the holidays? I am making cookies again today :) and just sooo excited for Santa to come I can hardly stand it!
Last weekend we were at Scott's parents for a fun evening of food and cookies, when guess who showed up!?!
That is right kiddles and those of us who are kids trapped in adult bodies! SANTA! It was a very momentous event and we even had some tears, BUT the magic was there!

Anja didn't want to have anything to do with the jolly old elf , she sent her brother to go get the gift he brought.
She was clinging to Rich like glue. And the kids were all looking very festive in their cute new jammies!

We had such a fun time along with the kids it was great. It is amazing how much they grow up each year! Carter is mister know it all (I know all about having heart disease), Jensen is always giving hugs and I love that! Nadia is the girl of the bunch and she even has a picture of me in her bedroom! I love that girl, and Anja is just a sweet little thing that can play and beat up the boys! We love all of you!

Fun with Uncle Scott

So Scotty was planning on being home for a few days and we decided to invite the boys over and miss Anja came...THANKFULLY! We all had lots of fun, baked and ate cookies, kicked each others butts at the Wii, colored, and chased the kitty's around.


The best part about the night was that fresh chocolate chip cookies ended up on the newly cleaned luv sac....and you should have seen Scott's face....Mine was smiling ;).

Husband for Sale

This is the photo I got of our entertainment room (aka...Man Cave) at 10:00 a.m. today. My first thought was...."I'm having a heart attack! Someone get the aspirin!" My second thought was "He's DEAD", and my third thought was "He's DEAAAAD" Seriously, when the luv sac directions say not to take the foam out....they mean it. Needless to say this foam is everywhere in and outside of my house....the man cave, the back porch, the family room, the washer (that's right my friends, the washer), AND apparently the dryer...although I haven't physically seen that one. Anyone want a husband...he is for sale.

Holidays

I am so happy that the holidays are here! AND that I figured out where and how to put my photo's on my blog from our computer! (Thanks Mandy!)
I love the holidays and always go overboard with the decor and the amount of ribbon I use :) This year we have five tree's....If I had my choice I would do one in every room and they would all be different, but I think Scott wouldn't come home if I did that.



This is the tree in the family room. When I bought the butterfly for the top...well, you can all guess what Scott said. It was something along the lines of "that's not going on MY tree." Fancy him! Thinking that something in the house is his! Ha! :) I'm kidding, I love you dear. You get your office upstairs, oh ya, and the redneck tent next to our house outside....

My creativity has been carefully put in a box lately, so I really spent almost all day putting things together. It was refreshing to think that I could still make things like "horrible" butterflies look beautiful. (sorry, I had to stroke my ego for a minute there) Here is the living room.


I was feeling bad though, as I was doing the tree's ...I think my children might hate their mother because she will have a coronary every time they touch the tree!

We hope you are all warm and happy this season! We love you and are most grateful for our many blessings and family and friends!

Girl Scouts

So, I would have LOVED to be a brownie when I was young....or maybe it was just the appeal of the cookies?? I had a friend that I went to girl scouts with when I was young, and I just remember loving everything we did there that day. WELL now that I am older...I got my chance to be a girl scout. I LOVE this program. My co- worker Mary got me involved in reading some of their training manuals a while back and I am very impressed with what they do, and the leadership that the program teaches. I went a few weekends ago to their Camp Cloud Rim. What a beautiful place, and with 50 other women it was even more beautiful.

Update

I am working on it! I promise :) How am I EVER going to handle children, when I can't even be attentive to a blog......

Recent Trip to Willard Bay....I shocked myself by getting right up on the wake board....and then went right back into my rhythm as I fell :) Scott blew me away, of course my man is good at everything :)

5K-Personal Victory

I did a 5K Saturday, and let's just say I spent the week before all wrapped up in nerves and very negative thoughts. I have just recently started running (I noticed my stress tends to melt away when I do.... :) ) and I am honestly someone that is not very good at it. I do it for a while and then I tend to give up on it. Well, I finally got sick of saying "Oh, I should sign up for that race" or "Oh, I could do that race" So, a month ago I signed myself up. It wasn't hard (the signing up part) it was the week of, I plagued myself with thoughts and dreams of being last place, and huffing and puffing, and of course....being dragged out of Sugarhouse Park on a stretcher.

So, game day was equally nerve racking. I got there and got everything situated and got my number, AND THEN had another 45 minutes to think about running away, and telling my husband I was sick and we needed to go home... THEN I found a friend. I still don't know her name, but she asked if I wanted to stretch with her. She rides her bike 75 miles a day....... :0. She has three kids and was so sweet, she talked my ear off the entire time! She really was my life line. I kept tabs on her the whole race. Fought of a nasty side ache on the second mile. AND finally, I saw my husband waving and cheering me on from his place on the grass with the dog. I cried....I won't lie, most of you know how emotional I am, and love me anyway. The second time I saw him I did it again, and then went back to concentrating on getting my side ache to subside. I came around the third time and was happy to be at the end, and there he was again, closer to the finish line....it made my heart melt, but then I looked at the clock as I went jello legged through the finish line......I almost stopped DEAD (literally) in my tracks.....Did I read that right? 33.12 I did it! Not only did I do it, but I knocked several minutes off my time at the gym this last week and was running 10 minute miles! I was doing a dance (while trying not to throw up)! PERSONAL VICTORY! It was so rewarding, I have never felt better! Again, ran to my husband (okay, so it was more like jelloed to Scott) And there I was again crying! Pathetic, I know, but I was so overcome with emotion. I came in 70th place in an age group of 129, and I am already planning my next one on the 11th of September. Buckle Up :) My cute friend came in a little behind me, and though I didn't see her again...frankly I was probably crying too much....I am very grateful for her whoever she is :)

Bottom line.......I know I can do anything that I sign myself up for... :) Snicker Snicker :)

I loved this :) Who doesn't right!

The Cabin

I am always amazed at how little we are home during the summer....I think our house misses us. Oh well, while it was still sitting here doing nothing we went to the cabin this weekend. I LOVE the Bywater cabin, and Vern (Scott's grandfather) is equally a wonderful entertainer!

I LOVE this window seat. It is great for naps! I actually was napping and listening to a book on my ipod....okay, so not really listening because I woke up and was very confused as to who's voice I was hearing.



Take a look at this! So my wonderful sister and I are frankly nuts when you get the two of us together. This swing is awesome and sends you right out over the meadow, however, when you are swinging on your belly you have to be careful not to hit your face.

All in all we caught many fish and had lots of fun, even though it was very cold! We went on some crazy four wheeling trails (Stefen is not allowed to lead again, however, I was the one dumb enough to follow...UP THE MOUNTAIN!) and enjoyed being together!
And finally, taking the Scout up is always an adventure in and of itself!

Who is He?

I think I am adopted

Girls Camp

Well, I made it...there and back :) And Whitney only looked at me questioning the reliability of the vehicle once. Although everyone knew when we pulled into camp we just kept on "trucking"
Ha Ha....
So, here is a quick run through of camp...I don't have children to blog about, so this is the closest thing I can find, and let's be honest, I was the mother for a week!


The lake was on everyone's list of fun....and us leaders (two parents and I ) got to get in a paddle boat. Despite accounts of the experience, even though I was in the middle, I still had paddles!

We made dresses out of newspaper and duct tape...this was a riot, all of the girls put a price tag on their dress.



Yes my dear friends and family...that is me on a wire 30 feet above the ground, I couldn't let the girls have all the fun at the ropes course!





Here we are getting ready to leave for our overnight hike. So, we didn't think that we were going to be able to go on this. When I left Monday morning I still didn't have enough priesthood leaders. Needless to say things worked themselves out and we went. We hiked about a mile to a meadow, had dinner, played tricks on Scott and Matt and then went to bed and didn't sleep all night. Well the leaders didn't anyway, the girls "had the best night of sleep in my life". We were cold, had some very large hooved animals come through our camp, and some tiny creatures at the bottom of our tent, but best of all was the 50 pounds on our backs...and notice I have the map....that was scary....
Unfortunately when I stepped out of the tent when it was finally morning, there was a lot of laughter...I have come to realize (and so has Scoot) when I have sleepless nights my hair takes the brunt of it. Good thing I was the only one with a camera, and would not surrender it.
(from left to right: Scott, Whitney, Matt, Kisandra, and me)


Happy Trails to all. We are thrilled to be going home to REAL mattresses!

(left to right: Whitney, Rachelle, and Brianna)

This is what I am driving to girls camp Monday morning.I know you're jealous, It's okay I am sure you will get over it quickly....just keep your phone on so that you're available if need be.

This is what you get when you put me in charge...
innovation! Or maybe that's called simplification??

This is what I want to be when I grow up.
Our cute niece Anja

Summer

Summer can only mean one thing for us. Visits to Orderville.

Okay, yes, the place does exsist, if you blink you miss it though (fitting that my family helped settle the area) and that is fine with us, we like things and places that are quiet and undisturbed. My granfather grew up here and luckily we still have this little house as part of the family. It is well over 100 years old, it sits on a sandstone and who knows what foundation, has no heat other then a few wood burning stoves, and if you start in the hallway and walk to the front door you feel like you are in a fun house....unfortunatly rain and sandstone don't mix. We did the best we could to push that corner of the house back up, but what can you do with sandstone! We have quite the history in this town...well, maybe not so much anymore now that our grandparents are now gone, but we can still mention the name Bolander and we get a few smiles. My sister and I have quite the reputation here as well. Jena more then myself I am happy to report, but we won't go into that. Just remember that "Orderville Boys" are as wild as they come. All joking aside, when I come here I don't want to leave! That happens more and more as I get older and have more on my plate! So, for now, I can't really live where there are no stores that sell Dyson (bummer) but I'll bet you that someday we may just disapear... now you'll know where to find us!

Life

Well, We have had quite the time lately. Obviously :) This post is almost a month over due!

Unfortunatly we lost one of the "kids". Remington, our sweet chocolate lab had to be put to sleep last month. Honestly, dealing with that was more difficult then I thought, and not really because I miss him (which I do!) but I have found myself a little lost with Scott. Scott and Remi go way back, and Scott really lost his best friend. So here I sit unable to fill that void, and I have come to terms with it (although it doesn't sound like I have) that he is a boy and he is different. Keep it simple stupid.

So in honor of our dear Remington, we have this beautiful plant in our backyard. We will miss him dearly, his protection, his snoring, and yes his ability to outwit Olive and the rest of us!

Okay, so here this goes. For those of you who know me....

this here is very impressive! I have to ask Scott to turn on the tv for me! AND, he didn't even help with the blog! I am totally thrilled!

For those of you who know Scott, his help went something like this "a blog????? Why???? We don't have kids???? What are you going to blog about!??!!!"

So here they are!!! Well okay, so two of them. The rest of the zoo couldn't make it. You can't pet them though you just have to look. :)

We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.- Winston Churchill