My creative side

Well, with all else I have to do, I have been really loving making cards. I have a section in my house devoted to scrapbooking and card making. It is my solace in the crazy life we lead. I have recently been focusing on my Christmas cards since at that time I'll be in the middle of finals. So here's my showing off the cards I've made. The first card is Emma's party invitation. So leave a comment and let me know which one is your favorite.

The road less traveled

So we went back up to the cabin over the fall break at school. We thought it would be really cold and stocked up on the cold weather gear and it was actually very nice - about 60 degrees. We had a lot of fun. It was just me, Dirk and the kids. Gretta and Kyle came up and spent the night Friday night, but other than that it was very quiet and peaceful. We had a resident bald eagle across from the cabin. Nobody was really vacationing up there so we had the whole area to ourselves. We loved it. We went into Yellowstone on Saturday and then on Sunday we went home through the park. Normally we go back through Idaho to go home and it's about 4 hours. This time we wanted to go through Yellowstone, down through Jackson Hole, and back into Utah through back roads in Wyoming. It took us about 10 hours, but was a ton of fun. We saw things in Yellowstone we hadn't seen before (Moose Falls, Lewis Falls, a mountain goat up close, lots of elk and bison, and new and different geysers, etc.), We loved the drive through the Tetons (Athena reminisced about the time she hiked the Tetons (25 miles over the ridge in two days). We stopped at Jenny Lake and were amazed at the peaceful quietness of the lake. Then we went back roads through Wyoming. We passed over into Utah in the dark. Our trip over the Rockies was on a two-lane, pitch black, multiple switchbacks, 7-9% grade, 51 miles of no pull-outs, stores, gas stations, nothing. It was a little nervewracking to say the least. We were disappointed we weren't able to enjoy the scenery through this quaint area, but at that point, with fists clenched through the terrorific ride, we just wanted to get home. It was really nice taking the road less traveled and for once the kids never fought the whole ten hours. This is a trip to remember.

I lost my front tooth

Emma has lost her third tooth. This time it was a top front tooth and it wiggled for 2 months. The last week it was barely hanging on, but she wouldn't let anybody pull it out. She couldn't eatch much with her front teeth because it was so loose, but finally I bribed her and we pulled it out together. She's been singing the song "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" ever since. Funny, it's been two weeks and no sign of another tooth coming in, so we may have that song come true.

A trip to the Pumpkin Farm

So we decided to take the kids to the nearby pumpkin patch to pick out their pumpkins, go on a hayride, enjoy the fun games, and go through the corn maze. There were three cornmazes and they were fairly difficult. One we got through without the map, the others we needed to use the map to get through. I'm glad we went through in the daytime, we would have been totally lost at night. It was a lot of fun and we got some great pumpkins.

National Junior Honor Society

James was recently inducted into the National Junior Honor Society. A very nice thing for him - he's worked hard to be involved in school and church activities as well as keep high grades. They have already done many things including a halloween carnival for the women and children's shelter in town.

Emma's Party

Since we had just moved into the house when Emma turned six, we waited until school started before we had her birthday party. She invited several girls and it was a dress-up tea party. All the girls came in their fancy clothes and they had a fancy tea party. Jenni was nice enough to help them all make fancy gem bracelets as well. It was a lot of fun and they loved posing as models at the end.

Kids Golfing

So my kids have caught the bug for golfing just like their dad. Dirk will take them to the golf course driving range and let them hit buckets of balls. Gramps VanderMeyden got them all their own set of clubs, so they don't have to share. Me - I don't enjoy golfing - so I just take pictures and read while they do their thing. So here's their fun afternoons golfing.

Crazy hair day

The junior high had a crazy hair day and James who had shaggy hair decided to go whole hog for it. He had us shave chunks of his hair off and then we spiked it all. We called him cancer boy at home, his hair was that awful looking. He did win the craziest hair in all of 8th grade, though, so he said it was worth it. We then buzzed his hair after that day so it all looks nice again.

Our House

Well, at long last, we finally have finished the last room of the house and have cleaned the house well enough to take pictures of. So for all of you nosy nellies who like to see how everyone else lives - here it is. I'm kinda proud of it since I painted and decorated it all myself. It's an older house - my age - so it's got its bumps and bruises, but overall, we love it. So enjoy the pics. The pink room is Jenni's, the yellow is Emma's, and the green room is James'. Our house has three bedrooms upstairs with a living room, kitchen and dining room. Downstairs, we've got a huge family room with the pool table and computers and wii, a bedroom size pantry, separate room for the toys plus a really large separate laundry room with a full sink/cupboards, etc. Then we've got our room with an attached den for me to relax and scrapbook in. We've got three bathrooms. We've got a two car garage (we actually can fit both our cars in it and do), a separate shed in back, plus an extra large side driveway for an RV (or basketball court - whichever you prefer). Our backyard is fenced, with an apricot tree, three plum trees, three apple trees, a pear tree and about 5 pine trees. We're on the corner, so only one neighbor. We're very happy we found this gem - got a great price for it too - well below market price. I guess we'll stay.

Snow day

In September we had a crazy crazy snow day. It was at the end of the month, but it snowed and snowed and the kids had a grand time playing in it. As I speak now in early November, it's snowing again. I wonder if this is going to be a snowy winter - any predictions?

I'm still here

Okay, I'm still around. My life is crazy right now, as many of you know. When my kids went back to school, so did I. I'm currently taking three classes through BYU. Economics, Marketing, and Business Writing (yes, I'm getting my business degree - how could you tell?). When I finish this semester I will have 2, YES 2, classes and my thesis and I will be graduated. All my free time is currently taken up by studying. I occasionally check the blogs as a way of relaxing, but my posts may be a little up and down. What is fun is that I take the transit system to school. I have to give myself 1 1/2 hours to get there, but at least I'm not driving in the awful Salt Lake traffic. I drive 2 miles to the front runner station, take front runner (an elevated train - think the EL in Chicago) into Salt Lake City, then switch to the trax (an in-town electric train - like a trolley) to get to the Triad Center. It's nice because I can relax and not worry about driving in the winter with the snow and ice. The scary part is that one of my classes gets out at 10pm on Tuesdays, so I'm hanging out at a train station late at night - but there are lots of police around because of the homeless and drunks that are located in and around the Greyhound Station right next door. I guess I should buy me a tazer or can of mace, huh? I'm lucky because at least one other person in my class take the train home as well. The cost of commuting beats the cost of driving in about 6 weeks and my pass lasts all year so I don't have to buy one next semester. I'll try and get pictures to give you an idea of what I go through.