Ghosts of Christmas Past and The Best Day Ever

OK, I know Christmas was 2 months ago, but we're a little slow around here getting pictures uploaded to the computer. I am going to try to be better about that now that I have my own camera. Just wanted to post a few photos, Christmas memories, and the best day ever (according to my sweet Father-in-Law).

Haydn was in his school play in December. He played Felix the elf.

Jason was asked to help put make-up on the kids. How cute 

Haydn in the play.

Haydn with the picture that his character was painting. Jason actually painted it! 

We spent Christmas at the Cabin in Island Park. In the first two days we were there, we received 30  inches of snow. We couldn't do a whole lot of snowmobiling because of the weather. So we hunkered down and played a lot of games, and ate way too much food.

Autym is  past the age of wanting toys for Christmas (Waaah!). She wanted an Aeropostale sweatshirt, DC shoes, and spa stuff.

Haydn asked for a Magic Kit and Legos

Norrah wanted a Baby Doll and Martian Matter.

Mom and Dad wanted a Wii, so we got it and pretended it was for the kids. Ha!

A few days after Christmas, we went to Mountain River Ranch to hear Grandpa Hale sing. He entertains up there during the Christmas season with his folk group, "The Not Brothers." It is fun to go up there, have a sleigh ride in, and then eat the best prime rib ever while listening to Grandpa sing. This year, Autym got asked to go up and sing with them.

One day in January, Grandpa Nielsen came to stay with us so he and Jason could go look at the elk in and around Jackson. We decided we would all go.

 We had fun that day looking at elk, and then going swimming in Jackson. After swimming we went to Autym's favorite restaurant, "Merry Piglets" for Mexican food. Grandpa called it, "The Best Day Ever!"

check out this blog for a laugh

Yeah, yeah. I have plenty of my own stuff to write about, and I will just as soon as I figure out how to download pictures from my new camera.
But check out seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com if you want to have a good, look at me, I'm a perfect Mormon laugh. Just know that the whole thing is made up and the author is just a make-believe character!

Valentine's Day

We went to Idaho Falls for a combination of Valentines's day/President's day. OK, really when you live in Star Valley, just having an extra day of school is an automatic reason to get out of town. This year we had two extra days off school due to Parent Teacher Conferences. We had a blast in Idaho Falls cramming all we could do into one weekend.

Thursday, we drove to Idaho Falls. Jason and I went to the temple while grandma and grandpa Hale watched a movie with the kids.

Friday, we went to Leo's Place and let the kids play on the big jungle gym there. They also played lots of video games thanks to grandma and lots of tokens. That night we went to Johnny Carino's for an early birthday dinner for me. 

Saturday, my mom gave my kids hilarious suckers that had plastic lips instead of sucker sticks for Valentine's day. We got some great pictures with the lips. I laugh every time I see them. 

We went to our friends' Rob and Elizabeth Willis' house for dinner and games. They have kids Haydn and Norrah's age that love to play together. Rob made awesome chocolate fondue that we dipped all kinds of yummy stuff into. It was fun learning the game "Ticket to Ride," and playing it with them.

Then we went to Nathan and Amy Taylor's house to play "Settlers of Catan." Our kids also love playing there, and Settlers is one of our favorite games. 

I had to lead the ward choir on Sunday, so we had to come back for church. Sunday, Jason decided he wanted to go back to Idaho Falls on Monday to get a new bow. Nathan bought Jason's half of the four-wheeler that they had bought together a few years ago, so Jason used the money from that to buy a new bow. I'm sure I'll have posts about dead deer and elk as a result later.

Smarty Pants(es) :-)

This week was Parent/Teacher Conferences. I always ask Autym and Haydn what their teachers are going to say about them. They always say they will say they are doing great.

Last semester, both kids' teachers said they were doing well, but Haydn was having some trouble with his spelling, and he's never held his pencil right. She wanted the OT to look at him and see if that was a sign of something else. 

Last semester, Autym's teacher said she was doing well, but she had a hard time following directions sometimes. I was curious to see if they had improved.

We knew the OT had looked at Haydn and figured out that the way he held his pencil had nothing to do with anything, and that he was actually a lot smarter than anyone knew, bordering on genius, it was just that he wasn't that interested in school, so he wasn't trying as hard as we should. We told Haydn about what the OT said. This semester his teacher reports that ever since we told him about the OT's tests, it's like someone flipped a switch. He's excited about school, and happy to be there, and he is trying harder. Haydn got all A's and one B+ on his report card. His teacher says he is the best singer in his class, and kind of a class clown, but not in a disrespectful way (thank goodness!).

Autym got all As on her report card, bringing her Math score up from an 88% to a 100% and her Spelling from an 88% to a 97%. Her teacher tells us that she is a million times better at following directions, and that she is a delight to have in class. She is very helpful to others. Yay! I guess it looks like I'm raising a couple of smarty pants(es). :-)

25 random things

OK, so the new facebook craze is to post 25 random things about yourself. I figured I might as well post it here to save for all posterity. So here goes.

25 Random Things

1. My real name is Tamera. My dad thought I would want a more grown up name when I got older. He was wrong. Sorry dad!

2. My all time favorite book is "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn." I've read it at least 10 times, probably more, and just listened to it on CD.

3. Cheesecake is my favorite food. I've eaten New York cheesecake in New York.

4. I'm going back to school to get my Library Sciences endorsement. I want to be a middle school librarian.

5. I don't dye my hair. An occasional highlight, yes.

6. I'm afraid of heights but I want to skydive, just so I can feel like I did something cool in my life.

7.I'm happy more than I'm sad.

8. My favorite color is yellow.

9. I'm a Broadway geek. I've been in more than 35 plays and musicals. My favorite roles have been Annie Oakley in "Annie Get your Gun," Elvira in "Blithe Spirit," and Lina Lamont in "Singin' in the Rain."

10. I'm so claustrophobic that I purposely married a man with a small nose so his nose wouldn't squish  mine when we kissed.

11. I just finished the book of Mosiah in "The Book of Mormon."

12. I learned to waterski only 5 years ago. I'd rather waterski more than almost anything.

13. I think carrot cake is of the devil.

14. I have amazing parents that would do, and have done nearly anything for me.

15. One time, during the above mentioned "anything for me," my dad went with me to my storage unit to help me cut through my lock because I had lost the key. When we got the lock cut, and lifted the unit door, I realized we had cut the lock off the wrong storage unit. I had accidentally transposed the numbers.

16. I wet my pants on stage once. OK, I had a really bad sinus condition that was causing me to lose my voice. I was taking medicine for it that helped dry my sinuses, but also gave me really bad cotton mouth, so I was drinking tons of water. One night, during the melodrama, another actor handed me what was supposed to be a letter. When I opened it, it was really a picture of a naked man. I was so shocked that I started laughing and peed my pants.

17. Sometimes I am jealous of my grandpa because he is with my baby.

18. When I was a little girl, my best friend and I made stilts. I could walk all up and down the street on them.

19. I prefer to sing Opera over anything else.

20. I played volleyball and softball in high school. Most people just think I'm a girly girl and don't know I'm an athlete. I smile when I pitch.

21. I love Disneyland. I cry when I enter because I'm so excited. Mostly I just love watching how happy my kids are there.

22.I dream of visiting warm places, but live in one of the snowiest places ever.

23. I have paid for my family's Christmas the past 10 years by selling crafts.

24. I teach private voice lessons and a children's performing group, but being a mother is my favorite and most rewarding job. I have amazing kids.

25. If I had a million dollars, I would probably still live the same lifestyle. I'm pretty low maintainance.

A Crap Filled Twinkie

I stumbled upon this realization the other day when I was writing an email trying to explain the good intended, but poorly carried out actions of one friend to another friend. I typed out the words, "Bless her heart." It then occurred to me that the minute you hear the words, "Bless their heart," that you know it's going to be followed by something kinda bad. It's like saying, "Bless thier hearts," then excuses the bad comment that is sure to follow.

It's kind of like hearing the words, "No offense, but," Um, yeah, you know you are about to hear something that is going to totally offend you, but the offender now has the right to say it because he prefaced this comment with, "No offense." 

I was telling this observation to my dad this weekend, and he said, "Yeah, it's the crap filled Twinkie. You sugar coat the crap with the nice spongy cake so that you don't sound as hurtful. The crap filled Twinkie is closely related to the crap filled Oreo, in which the offender says, "You know I love you, but... (insert offensive comment here)...but you know I love you right?  

I thought the descriptions of the crap filled Oreo and Twinkie were pretty funny, and had to be shared here. If you're still reading, go ahead and say it! Bless your heart Tami, you know I love you, but your blog really sucks!--No offense! 

Homemade French Fries

First of all, I have to say that this blog thing is harder than I thought. Brooke, I need you to show me how to get all the cute things on my page, and how to even save my new page, cause I've tried to switch backgrounds a couple of times, and nothing happens.

When I was a kid we had a tradition on Snow Days. My mom would get out the deep fryer and make homemade french fries. This was such a huge treat for us! This was back in the dark ages when you didn't eat fast food at least once a week, so any kind of french fries were a treat, but there is just something about homemade french fries that is awesome. They are so greasy, and hot and yummy. We would eat them plateful after plateful.

Fast forward 20 years or so, and the snow day is a thing of the past, especially where I live. It could be snowing a foot an hour and the temperature 20 below zero, and the kids would still be in school. Last year every school for a 200 mile radius around us was closed except for us. We're Star Valley cowboys, we're tough, we can handle it. Okay, whatever. So I started having our own snow day on Martin Luther King Jr. Day (I think the PC way to say it is Civil Rights Day). Since we're never going to get out of school for a snow day, I might as well make my own right? It is fun to see my kids eating plateful after plateful of hot crispy golden homemade french fries. And, thanks mom, now it's easier with my new french fry cutter. Even now as my tummy is bulging, and I'm thinking, Why the heck did I eat that many french fries?" I'm still happy because I'm keeping old traditions and making new ones with my own kids.