I've Been Tagged

My friend Khrista "tagged" me. Here is how it works:

The rules are:

1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.

2. Share five random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog.

3. Share the five top places on your “want to see or want to see again” list.

4. Tag a minimum of five random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment in their blog.

5 Random Facts About Me:

1. I love to garden, and we usually have a pretty good "harvest", but I ALWAYS kill houseplants. I can't keep anything alive inside!

2. I have high cholesterol. :o( This is a recent discovery, which perplexed and saddened me. We eat healthy foods and exercise regularly... I think it must be mostly hereditary. Good think I like oatmeal and cheerios, since I will now be eating a lot of them!

3. I am somewhat OCD about my kitchen cupboards... I HATE when my pots & pans or measuring cups are stacked. Robert always does this, and I have learned to not complain (or he threatens to never to do the dishes again!), so I just go behind him and unstack everything the way I like it. :)

4. I have had 4 "major" car accidents, but have never been pulled over for ANYTHING else.

5. I LOVE cheese, it is probably one of my favorite foods. But cheese on my burger or my sandwich grosses me out.

5 Places I Want to See, or See Again...

1. GREECE - I have always wanted to go there... it looks so pretty! Robert's grandmother has a house there, so we have somewhere to stay already!

2. AUSTRALIA - There seems to be so much to see and do there! And great photo ops of course!

3. HAWAII - I've never been, and just recently developed a desire to visit. Not sure why, other than the obvious... gorgeous weather, wonderful beaches, beautiful scenery

4. SOUTH AMERICA - We spent some time in Chile and Argentina last year for a mission trip, and I would love to explore those and some of the other countries nearby for a longer period of time.

5. MAINE - I've visited most of the other "lower 48" but haven't made it there yet. All the pictures I've seen make it look so peaceful and romantic. Plus, GREAT seafood!

I am tagging
Christina
Kylie
Chandra
(I don't know two other people with blogs)

Snow Days

We have had so much snow this year! I know, we live in Idaho, so most of you probably think we always have a lot of snow. That is true for some parts of Idaho, but here in Boise we usually only get a little snow maybe 2 or 3 days a year. This year, according to friends who have lived here a long time, is the most snow we've had in 10 or 12 years at least! There have been many mornings that we have woken up to a world of white. And several days, we've gotten 6 inches or more! (I know, to those of you who live in New York and Alaska and other crazy why-would-you-live-there places, that's nothing!) I must admit, when it first falls and it's early in the morning, it is pretty. If I never had to leave my house, never had to drive in it, never had to see the dirty, muddy slush it turns into after everyone has driven on it all day, never had to slip and fall on the ice, maybe I would enjoy winter. Maybe.

The kids enjoy it though, and had fun sledding on Superbowl Sunday... for a few minutes at least! Then they were done with it too, and ready to come inside for banana splits and warm blankets!

For now, all the snow is gone. It has been pretty warm (40ish) here for the last few days. Hopefully, it stays that way! I have seen enough snow to last me at least until next winter!

Soccer

Robert has been able to play soccer again, after taking a couple years off due to a back injury. He is VERY happy to be able to play again, and I really enjoy watching the games. He is on an indoor league right now, but their last game is Wednesday. He hasn't decided yet whether he will play outdoor in the spring. Jonas, Isaak, Elyssa and Audrey got to go with us to one of his first games, and then we went out for ice cream after. Yummy! :)

The Interview With God

THE INTERVIEW WITH GOD

I dreamed I had an interview with God.

“So you would like to interview me?” God asked.

“If you have the time” I said.

God smiled. “My time is eternity.”
“What questions do you have in mind for me?”

“What surprises you most about humankind?”

God answered...
“That they get bored with childhood, they rush to grow up,
and then long to be children again.”

“That they lose their health to make money...
and then lose their money to restore their health.”

“That by thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present,
such that they live in neither the present nor the future.”

"That they live as if they will never die, and die as though they had never lived.”

God’s hand took mine and we were silent for a while.

And then I asked...
“As a parent, what are some of life’s lessons you want your children to learn?”

“To learn they cannot make anyone love them.
All they can do is let themselves be loved.”

“To learn that it is not good to compare themselves to others.”

“To learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness.”

“To learn that it only takes a few seconds
to open profound wounds in those they love,
and it can take many years to heal them.”

“To learn that a rich person is not one who has the most,
but is one who needs the least.”

“To learn that there are people who love them dearly,
but simply have not yet learned how to express or show their feelings.”

“To learn that two people can look at the same thing and see it differently.”

“To learn that it is not enough that they
forgive one another, but they must also forgive themselves.”

"Thank you for your time," I said humbly.

"Is there anything else you would like your children to know?"

God smiled and said, “Just know that I am here... always.”

-author unknown

Birthday, Holidays

I know I am way behind! Robert's birthday is in November and he turned 32 a couple months ago. We went to McCall for the weekend and stayed at the Ashley Inn, a really nice, old-fashioned hotel. They make fresh cookies every night, and a big breakfast in the morning. Yummy! The whole weekend was rainy and gray, but it was perfect weather cuddle in the hotel... or sit in the hot tub! We went for a drive on Saturday and looked a the property for sale around Cascade (way out of our price range!) We found some great lots on Roberts Lane. :) We also stopped a couple times along the river to admire the scenery (I LOVE the mountains!), and we stopped for lunch at a little bar (the only restaurant in the town) on the way home to watch the BSU v. Idaho game. On Sunday, we were back at home and went out for pizza with a bunch of family and friends. They even made him a special dessert pizza that said "Happy Birthday".

Thanksgiving
Every year we go to Twin Falls the day after Thanksgiving, and we go with Robert's family to Christmas In the Nighttime Sky at the nursery. They have free baked potatoes and chili, hot chocolate, big bonfires, live music, Santa and a fireworks show. It's a lot of fun, and this year we got to see a lot of Robert's extended family, which was pretty fun, since I had never met some of them before. We saw this fountain in some person's yard in Twin... don't you think they would have turned it off?!


Christmas






New Years Eve
We went out for a nice dinner with a big group of friends, then to our friends Gary & Catherine's house to play the Wii until about 2 a.m. :)

Found Some More!

I downloaded the pictures from my camera (finally!) and found some more pictures from the last few months, so here they are...

Here are a few from Isaak's Thanksgiving "feast" at his preschool. His friend Konrad, Arin & I went to enjoy the yummy food with him.

Tayden being silly... I think he was showing off for me when I came to visit. :)

Dinner at the Melting Pot with our friends T.J. and Karissa. Mmmmm... sooo good!!

I taught him how to eat the olives off his fingers... he thought it was soooooo funny! When he got full, he wanted to keep doing it, so then he would just spit them in his hand and throw them at his Aunt Audrey. :) Probably not the best thing to let him do, but it was pretty funny at the time!

Bailey's favorite place to be.

Random... pretty sunrise, me coloring Karissa's hair, Baby Danika